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Radhasoami, Beas Secret History, radhasoami, shabd
*Note ; Spiritual Gems, 1980, p. 118-9 Sawan Singh says "Tulsi Sahib used to visit Swami Ji at Agra and used to stay with Him, and both were on very affectionate terms with each other". See Truth Unveiled, R.K. Khanna, p.1. Professor Puri's book also notes 'Tulsi did not die before he gave a glance to Swami Ji.' RS Agra confirms Tulsi and Girdhari relationship to Swami Ji. Legend has it Swami Ji immediately began his mission upon the death of Girdhari Das. That would be the 1861 date Swami Ji opened his satsang. Both Tulsi and Girdhari used the five name initiation, the same Swami Ji used. Tulsi's
groups from Hathras, always considered Swami Ji
a breakoff lineage from the beginning.
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Souvenir,1961,RS Dayalbagh,p.22, " Soami Ji once went to Tulsi Sahab at Hathras....and to Lucknow also to see Girdhari Das, chief disciple of Tulsi Sahab, when he was very ill before his death". Chachaji in his 1902 book called Girdhari "chief disciple", also.
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'Babuji' Madhav Prasad Sinha said, "Soamiji Maharaj had no guru. In conformity with the established convention, He used to treat Baba Girdhari Das Ji who was one of the chief disciples of Sahebji or Tulsi Saheb of Hathras, and who used to reside in Agra, as a guru, more or less in the same way as Kabir Saheb had treated Ramananand Ji." Biography of Babuji Maharaj,Agra,p.377,1971
Pre Swami Ji possible lineage :
Tulsi Sahib d.1843
Girdhari Das d. 1861? unknown
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Agra lineage :
'Swami Ji' Shiv Dayal Singh 1861-1878,
'Hazur' Rai Saligram 1878-1898,
Brahm Sankar Misra 1898-1907,
'Bauji' Mahewari Devi 1907-1913,
'Babuji' Madhav Sinha 1909-1949(overlap woman guru)
end Agra gurus
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Beas lineage appx. :
1861-1878 Swami Ji,
1878-1884 Salig Ram,
1884-1903 Jaimal Singh,
1903-1907 Sankar Misra,
1907-1913 'Buaji' Maheswari Devi,
1909-1915 'Babuji' Madhav Sinha(overlap),
1915-1948 Sawan Singh,
1948-1951 Jagat Singh,
1951-1990 Charan Singh,
1990-current Gurinder Singh
end Beas gurus
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Note** Jaimal may have been initiated by Girdhari Das (a Tulsi Sahib disciple), not Swami Ji.
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1878-1894 Radhaji, Swami Ji's wife, was guru at Radhasoami Gardens.
Chachaji, Swami Ji's brother, initiated for her. Chachaji died in 1911.
Sudarshan Singh lived till 1935 and Babuji was his master when he died. When both Bauji and Chachaji died near the same time period, Sawan self proclaimed himself as master at Beas, as Agra had their hands full with the Dayal Bagh breakaway.
Truth Unvarnished, S. D. Maheswari part 2,1970, p.193, states "Sawan Singh continued to owe allegiance to the Council during the time of Chachaji Saheb. Afterwards, under the influence of some of his hot headed and ill advised companions, he gradually became independent."
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Remember, Beas claims Sawan was powerless and inept when Jaimal died. Jaimal said to go to Chachaji when he died according to Beas; and for the secrets of the sound currents in Sat Nam, not Sawan. Hence, Sawan goes from powerless and inept in 1904, to self proclaimed sat guru around 1913-1917.
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The beginning date for Jaimal as self proclaimed master, starts when Beas said he began initiations in 1884. From Dec.25, 1902, Jaimal and Sawan were only initiators for Agra Sat Gurus Misra, Bauji and Babuji Sinha.
Jaimal appears as a wildcat in history, whom Chachaji tries to control. Jaimal died in Dec. 1903. Remember Jaimal told Misra he was 'not a sant'. Chachaji and Sudarshan were both under Council gurus from 1902 onward. It should be noted Jaimal had his house next to Salig Ram's ashram in Peepal
Mundi and attended his satsangs. He accepted Salig Ram as
successor to Swami Ji obviously, as he set up Radhasoami Satsang Beas and initiated with Radhaswami nam. He did not set up Sant Mat (T.M.) Satsang Beas. Dr. Agam Mathur in his book Radhasoami Faith
says Beas attributes this Radhasoami name to Saligram.
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Since Salig Ram was the founder of the Radhasoami faith as Swami Ji stated in his last will, it's quite obvious you can't leave him out of the lineage. Hence most Beas satsangi's don't even know who started their own faith. Salig Ram did not give permission to Jaimal
to initiate. Hence the break occured in 1884, when Jaimal first initiated without historical authority.
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Jaimal and Sawan may have had a room at Chachaji's satsangs after Swami Ji died, but remember, both Chachaji and Radhaji accepted Salig Ram as founder of RS Faith. Chachaji stated Salig Ram was the true Gurmukh and successor of Swami Ji. Salig Ram and Radhaji both accepted each other as successors to Swami Ji and had a close relationship.
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No mention is being made of Rai Bindraban, whom used 'satgur ram' as mantra when he acted as a full fledged guru. Brindraban was Swami Ji's younger brother whom acted as a guru in Oudh until his death in 1872. He had a substantial following and wrote a few books. He was initiated by Swami Ji whom endorsed his seperate satsang and activity. The group was somewhat different in philosophy from Swami Ji's. Basically a Guru Nanuk-shabd type religion. Brindraban's wife was mentioned in Swami Ji's will as one to have respect for and her arti was performed. ................
Salig Ram, founder of RS Faith, was Postmaster General of Uttar Pradesh. He wrote the massive RS philosophy in numerous volumes. When Sawan broke from Salig Ram's lineage he evidently lost rights to publish these books for Beas group. Sawan retired in 1911. In March 1910 Dayal Bagh group started its break away from the main lineage and in 1915 did so(Souvenir,1961,RS Dayalbagh,p.287). It appears the Council would not allocate enough money to Dayal Bagh and this caused a rift. It began one of the longest court cases in Indian history and went to the Supreme Court under the British. Sudarshan made it crystal clear the above Agra
lineage was true and correct in his mind. ..................
'Babuji' Madhav Sinha acted as Sat Guru
for the woman master 'Bauji' Devi from 1909 onwards till her death May
21, 1913....and then till 1949 his death (Biog. of Bauji(Devi),Agra,1983,p.15). Babuji Sinha acted for Bauji Devi till her death, as women couldn't function fully in the old days as guru. Babuji Madhav Sinha had been initiated by Swami Ji and he was blood relationship to
Swami Ji's family. Bauji Devi was the sister of Sankar Misra. Hence, Beas lineage may actually have 4 sat gurus missing from their lineage,
since we know Sawan considered Babuji Madhav Sinha as genuine and broke after Babuji Sinha
had started to act as Sat Guru for Bauji Devi in 1909.
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Babuji Madhav Sinha did not recognize
Sawan's initiations as valid, nor did he consider Sawan a sant, according to court testimony. Sudarshan was sort of a popular friendly ambassador to the various groups. But, he stated in court Babuji Sinha
was the sat guru of the time and his master as the prior Agra lineage gurus had been. Sudarshan also confirmed
the excommunication of Jaimal in court, which he himself had signed as a member of the council and had introduced the resolution with a second from Babu Shyam Lal.
.................... S. D. Maheswari(personal secretary to Babuji)Correspondence Vol.2, 1962,p.257 says "Sudarshan Singh...offered all his earnings and belongings (cash, jewlery, house property...valued at several lakhs of rupees) as bhet to Babuji Sinha Maharaj and his Council and the Trust." Same page, " Pratrap Singh (Chachaji) handed over the Soami Bagh Garden to Hazur Maharaj ( Salig Ram) and Maharaj Saheb (Misra). Page 276, same book, Deposition of Lala Ajodhia Prasad,
(Salig Ram's son) June 13, 1926, his deposition in Dayal Bagh suit stated, " I am president of RS Central Administrative Council...at Allahabad. .... The 28 names selected for the formation of the Council (in 1902) included the name of Baba Jaimal Singh. The name of Jaimal Singh was included because he had agreed that he would give up
acting as a guru. ... He was given general power of initiation in the very first meeting of the Council. But, he did not stick to his undertaking and the said general power of initiation was cancelled."
(Above quote also referenced pp.267-268, Privy Council Paper Book.)
Adjohia became president of Council at Chachaji's death.
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Page 280 Correspondence Vol. 2 results of Council elections (those whom lost in balloting):#21 Kama Prashad Sinha,53 votes (he became master at
Dayal Bagh in March 1910 breakaway and died 1913, don't confuse with Babuji Madhav Sinha); (Anand Swarup followed Kama in 1913 till d. 1937) ; #22 Baba Jaimal Singh, sadhu, Punjab, 36 votes; #25 Sadhu Garib Das, blind sadhu mentioned in Beas books at Serai Rohilla Delhi, (group faded out, became strange) 23 votes ; #26 Babu Shyam Lal of Gwalior, 16 votes (founder Dhara Sindh Pratap group). Page 281, same book, Chachaji's letters to Jaimal carried common salutation on top common for day and do not carry significance.
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Beas records Sawan's first initiation July 24, 1904, 7 months after Jaimal died. Sawan stated it
was necessary to have a living master, so that fake negative inner radiant forms of the master could be found out by their fake 'eyes' that could deceive the disciple. But, Sawan made it blantantly clear he was not a master when Jaimal died. Hence, he could have only initiated for the Council gurus until he magically turned into a Guru himself. Sawan changed Bachan 250 in Sar Bachan prose to say the initiate could visualize the form of the initiator, instead of the master in Beas versions. It is obvious why he did so.
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It should be noted there are hundreds of thousands of people
in India that know Salig Ram was the founder of their faith, coming
off that lineage, but Beas people seem to be completely in the dark, despite the fact their Sar Bachan book clearly states this in Swami Ji's last commandments shown as 19 paragraphs. (Sar Bachan, Beas, 1971, pages 20-23)Swami Ji says "My Mat were of Sat Nam and Anami, and Radha Swami Mat has been started by Saligram. Let this also go on." ........................
Maheswari also notes a few times Salig Ram had wished to create a body
under the guidance of the sat guru and had a "rough scheme drawn out for the purpose" to keep certain persons from taking possession of satsang properties between guruships and "to administer for all time the properties of the Satsang" (under orders of Sat Guru if living), Correspondence Vol.2,p533, also Biography of Babuji, 1971,Agra,p.468. It appears Chachaji was fulfilling Salig Ram's desires in starting the Council. .....................
S.D. Maheswari Correspondence,1962 vol.2,p.310 states Chachaji and family were unhappy guruship had left their family. But, Chachaji (and friends) "reconciled himself to the inevitable. On such ocassions it was Radhaji who pacified them and curbed these tendencies. Chachaji had so much attached himself to Hazur Maharaj (Salig Ram) that he was once or twice seen cleaning the drain of Salig Ram's house with a broom and a bucket of water."
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Page 309 same book "after Swami Ji had departed some self seekers gathered round Chachaji and wanted to drag him into the vortex of gurudoom." Books by Dhara Sindh Pratrap group of Gawilor, which considered Chachaji as successor to Swami Ji, stated
Chachaji replied to Swami Ji's approval of gurudoom if he so desired with
the statement, "No, I do not want to be a master. I wish to remain a servant. I shall perform whatever service I can, while remaining as an humble servant." Other groups have similar quotes of Chachaji not wishing to be a guru. ..............................
It should be noted there are dates called 'manifested' dates. Such as 1885 for Salig Ram, 1902 Misra, 1909 Bauji Devi and 1858-1861 for Swami Ji. What this means is unclear, as these masters may have initiated in mass before these dates. It is best to think of manifestation as meaning full manifestation. Such as believers in Beas lineage might say Sawan manifested around 1915, even though he may have initiated since 1904. Some books not of Agra origin show 1907 as beginning of Dayal Bagh breakaway. ....................
Charan Singh stated upon his new guruship, "My love for (Sawan), and the commands of (Jagat Singh ) ... compel me to carry out the wishes of Sardar Bahadur Ji to serve the sangat and the Dera.
I wish to tell the sangat quite frankly that I do not make any claims whatsoever to spiritual attainments. I do not find in myself even
those excellences that a good satsangi should possess.
These orders were communicated to me . . and I have no choice but to serve the Dera and the sangat according to his orders." Heaven on Earth, Daryai Lal Kapur,1986, Beas.
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In Dec. 1932 Sawan signed an agreement with Dayal Bagh master Sahabji Maharaj to initiate his disciples with 'Radhasoami' instead of 'Sat Nam' and that Beas satsangis would accept Radhasoami as name of Supreme Creator. This was issued in Dayal Bagh Satsang newspapers. Sawan did not do so after agreement, Souvenir,1961,RS Dayalbagh,p.14. ..................
Soami Divyanand was initiated on orders of Swami Ji by Sanmukh Das and this is confirmed by an existent Sudarshan letter.
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Regarding Shiv Brat Lal; guru of Faqir Chand, he was not much accepted
as a successor to Salig Ram because he had only met him 3 times, for a few days each time and did not start his satsang at Manavta Mandir until 7 years after Salig Ram died. Yet, Faqir Chand has become a great legacy as an honest Guru, whom no doubt was advanced beyond his contemporaries.
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Maheswari's massive
books usually only were produced in editions of 1000 copies. It is because of this few Westerners know the history of Beas. Dr. Agam Mathur's History of RS was scarcely circulated also and he was Vice Chancellor at Agra college. He is current master of Peepal Mandi
group (called Dadaji) and rated a world class historian in his own right, having been a professor of history and the best living Radhasoami historian at this time. Maheswari wrote about 105 books on RS before his death. He often printed material and letters seemingly not positive to his own Agra lineage, or that he knew could be misinterpreted. Hence, he is known for excellent scholarship.
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