Jai Gurudev

Jai Gurudev
Jai Gurudev
Personal
Born	Tulsidas Maharaj; c. 1896; Khitora District,; Etawah, Uttar Pradesh, India
Died	18 May 2012 (115/116); Mathura, India
Religion	Hinduism
Philosophy	Sant mat (Surat Shabd Yog Saadhna)
Senior posting
Guru	Pandit Ghure Lal Sharma
Honors	Certified Indian Freedom Fighter

Last updated July 25, 2019

JaiGuruDev was the name used by Tulsidas Maharaj, a religious leader in northern India. He was imprisoned for 20 months during a period of political unrest in 1975 and led the Doordarshi political party in the 1980s and 1990s, unsuccessfully campaigning for election to the Indian national parliament. He died in 2012 at an unconfirmed age of 116.

India is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.

The Doordarshi Party also written as Door Darshi Party) was a political party in India. It was founded in Ahmedabad on 24 March 1980 by religious leader Baba Jai Gurudev on a platform of social reform and spiritual growth. The party did not receive significant support and withdrew from electoral politics in 1997.

Early life

No firm information is available on Baba JaiGuruDev’s birth date or early life. A hagiography has grown around him including stories that hold special meaning to his devotees and are considered evidence of his divine nature. JaiGuruDev is said to have been born in a Yadav family in Khitora, a small village in the Etawah district in Uttar Pradesh, India. His father was a landlord. When he was a child he lost his parents. As she died his mother is said to have asked him to find Lord Krishna and avoid being ensnared in transient worldly pleasures.

A hagiography is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader. The term hagiography may be used to refer to the biography of a saint or highly developed spiritual being in any of the world's spiritual traditions.

Etawah is a city on the banks of Yamuna River in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Etawah District and is about 165 km west of Kanpur. The city was an important center for the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Also is the place of sangam or confluence between Yamuna and Chambal. It is the 26th most populous city in Uttar Pradesh.

Uttar Pradesh is a state in northern India. With roughly 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populous state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was created on 1 April 1937 as the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh during British rule, and was renamed Uttar Pradesh in 1950. The state is divided into 18 divisions and 75 districts with the capital being Lucknow. The main ethnic group is the Hindavi people, forming the demographic plurality. On 9 November 2000, a new state, Uttarakhand, was carved out from the state's Himalayan hill region. The two major rivers of the state, the Ganga and Yamuna, join at Allahabad (Prayagraj) and then flow as the Ganga further east. Hindi is the most widely spoken language and is also the official language of the state.

Imprisonment

On 29 June 1975, during the Emergency, he was imprisoned. He was first kept in Agra central prison and later on moved to Bareilly Central Jail. Due to the crowds of followers he attracted, he was moved to Bangalore Central Jail then Tihar prison near New Delhi. He was released at 3:00pm on 23 March 1977. Every year his followers celebrate this day as Mukti Divas, fasting until 3:00pm.

In India, "the Emergency" refers to a 19-month period from 1975 to 1977 when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had a state of emergency declared across the country. Officially issued by President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed under Article 352 of the Constitution because of the prevailing "internal disturbance", the Emergency was in effect from 26 June 1975 until its withdrawal on 21 March 1977. The order bestowed upon the Prime Minister the authority to rule by decree, allowing elections to be suspended and civil liberties to be curbed. For much of the Emergency, most of Gandhi's political opponents were imprisoned and the press was censored. Several other human rights violations were reported from the time, including a forced mass-sterilization campaign spearheaded by Sanjay Gandhi, the Prime Minister's son. The Emergency is one of the most controversial periods of independent India's history.

Bareilly Central Jail was built in 1848 at Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, India, at a time when the authorities of the British East India Company were introducing a policy of constructing central prisons to house those convicted for long terms near to military bases so that soldiers could be called upon to quell any violence within them. This policy arose from a two-year enquiry that had begun in 1836 and included Macaulay among its members. As another strand of the policy, these new prisons were governed by police inspectors rather than, as previously, being under the control of District Collectors. It was deemed that the Collectors' many and varied other responsibilities caused them to have little time to oversee matters relating to the prison system but in due course it was also found that the police officers were similarly affected and thus dedicated prison superintendents were introduced. The change in responsibility caused members of the Indian Medical Service to take over from those of the Indian Civil Service and reflected the enquiry's concern regarding prison conditions, which it had considered to be chaotic, arbitrary, unsanitary and disease-ridden and the cause of high death rates. Despite these progressive conclusions, which also created a two-tier designation of "simple imprisonment" and "rigorous imprisonment", the principal purpose of the central prisons remained that of punishment rather than rehabilitation, with prisoners kept occupied in the performance of dull, repetitive tasks and with no provision for education or reward for good behaviour.

Politics

He entered Indian national politics in the 1980s and 1990s with his Doordarshi Party.^[1]^[2]

Non-profit organization

Baba JaiGuruDev led a non-profit organization named JaiGuruDev Dharm Pracharak Sanstha that operates from his ashram in Mathura, with a mission to spread the messages of the Sant Mat doctrine.There are more than 20 crore followers of baba jaigurudev from around the world who believe and follow the way of sant mat.

Sant Mat was a spiritual movement in the Indian subcontinent in the 13th century CE. The name literally means "teachings of sants", i.e. mystic Hindu saints. By association and seeking truth by following sants and their teachings, a movement was formed. Theologically, the teachings are distinguished by inward, loving devotion by the individual soul (atma) to the Divine Principal God (Parmatma). Socially, an egalitarian understanding stands separate from qualitative distinctions of the caste system, and to those between Hindus and Muslims.

Death

JaiGuruDev died at 10:30 pm Indian Standard Time on 18 May 2012, at the unconfirmed age of 116.^[3]^[4]

Indian Standard Time time zone, observed in India and Sri Lanka; UTC+05:30

Indian Standard Time (IST) is the time observed throughout India, with a time offset of UTC+05:30. India does not observe daylight saving time (DST) or other seasonal adjustments. In military and aviation time IST is designated E* ("Echo-Star").

After death, his assets were estimated at 120 billion Indian Rupees (approximately US$2.15 billion), including 250 luxury cars. His trust owns hundreds of acres of land beside the Delhi-Agra national highway.

Controversies

JaiGuruDev's ashram and his followers have had confrontations with local farmers, landowners, with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC).^[5]

Archaeological Survey of India: The ASI stated that JaiGuruDev's disciples damaged 14 mounds of historical importance by digging in search of ancient artifacts or constructing the ashram, and have not handed over any artifacts found to the ASI.
UPSIDC: The UPSIDC filed 16 cases in the Mathura court accusing the ashram of encroaching on hundreds of acres of industrial land.
Farmers: The Mathura district magistrate received 23 complaints from farmers, alleging that their land had been taken over forcefully by the ashram.

A report from the Sub-Divisional Magistrate indicates that the JaiGuruDev ashram is spread over 33 hectares, of which more than 13 hectares do not belong to them. Of this encroached land, 11 hectares belongs to the UPSIDC and the rest are common land owned by the local village council (gram samaj).

Related Research Articles

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References

↑ "Jai Gurudev still pulls weight in UP". Times of India. TNN. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
↑ "Ramdev launching party evokes cold response from political opponents". Daily News & Analysis. Press Trust of India. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
↑ "Baba Jai Gurudev, 116, passes away". Newstrack India. Indo Asian News Service. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
↑ "Spiritual guru Baba Jai Gurudev passes away". 19 May 2012.
↑ "Mathura godman's treasure-hunt becomes ASI's nightmare". Indian Express. Archived from the original on 22 December 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2016.

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[1] "Jai Gurudev still pulls weight in UP". Times of India. TNN. Retrieved 19 January 2012.

[2] "Ramdev launching party evokes cold response from political opponents". Daily News & Analysis. Press Trust of India. Retrieved 26 September 2016.

[3] "Baba Jai Gurudev, 116, passes away". Newstrack India. Indo Asian News Service. Retrieved 19 May 2012.

[4] "Spiritual guru Baba Jai Gurudev passes away". 19 May 2012.

[5] "Mathura godman's treasure-hunt becomes ASI's nightmare". Indian Express. Archived from the original on 22 December 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2016.