Sawan Singh (1858-1948), also known as The Great Master or Bade Maharaj ji, was an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

Saint or ''Sant''. He was the second spiritual head of

Radha Soami Satsang Beas Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) is a spiritual organization in Radha Soami movement. It is headed by Gurinder Singh. The main centre of RSSB is located on the banks of the Beas River in the northern Indian state of Punjab. Establishment of ...

(RSSB) from the death of

Jaimal Singh Jaimal Singh (1839–1903) was an Indian spiritual leader. He became an initiate of Shiv Dayal Singh (Radha Soami). After his initiation, Jaimal Singh served in the British Indian Army as a sepoy (private) from the age of seventeen and attaine ...

in 1903 until his own death on 2 April 1948. Before he died, he appointed Jagat Singh as his spiritual successor.

Honorifics

Although he did not refer to himself with these, the following appellations and honorifics have been used to refer to Sawan Singh: *Bade Maharaj Ji *Hazur Maharaj *Sawan Shah *The Great Master *Hazur Baba Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj

Life

Sawan Singh Grewal was born into a Grewal Jat

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

family in his mother's home at the village of Jatana, District Ludhiana, in pre-partition Punjab. Sawan Singhs ancestral village was Mehma Singh Wala, District Ludhiana in Punjab. His father was Subedar Major Sardar Kabal Singh Grewal and his mother was Mata Jiwani Kaur. He was married to Mata Kishan Kaur and together they had three children. He passed engineering at

Thomason College of Civil Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (abbreviated IIT Roorkee) is a technical university located in Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India. It is the oldest engineering institution in India, and was founded as the College of Civil Engineering in B ...

, Roorkee and later joined the Military Engineering Service. He studied scriptures of various religions but retained a strong connection with the

Gurbani Gurbani ( pa, ਗੁਰਬਾਣੀ) is a Sikh term, very commonly used by Sikhs to refer to various compositions by the Sikh Gurus and other writers of Guru Granth Sahib. In general, hymns in the central text of the Sikhs, the Guru Granth Sahi ...

of the Sikh religion.Spiritual Gems, Letter No.1. He had contact with a mystic of Peshawar named Baba Kahan who he hoped to get initiation from but was refused: :"I associated with him for several months and during that time he showed supernatural powers on several occasions. When I asked him if he would shower grace upon me by initiating me, he answered: 'No, he is somebody else; I do not have your share'. I then asked him to tell me who that person was so that I could contact him. He replied: 'When the time comes, he will himself find you'." Later when Sawan Singh was stationed at Murree, he met

, who said to his companion that he had come to initiate Sawan Singh. After much philosophical debate, discussion and several conferences with Jaimal Singh, Sawan Singh became thoroughly convinced and received initiation from Jaimal Singh into the practice of

surat shabd yoga Surat Shabd Simran is a type of spiritual meditation in the Sant Mat tradition. Etymology ''Surat'' is "attention" or "face", that is, an outward expression of the soul; '' Shabd'' or ''Shabda'' has multiple meanings including ‘sacred song’, ...

on the 15th day of October, 1894. Sawan Singh retired on government pension in 1911 to Dera Baba Jaimal Singh (Beas), the "camp of Baba Jaimal Singh" where Jaimal Singh had settled in 1891. During his ministry the Dera expanded greatly, with houses for both permanent residents and guests, a library and a Satsang Hall. Sawan Singh sheltered victims of the communal holocaust of the

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: India and Pakistan. T ...

. His following included Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, and for the first time, thousands from abroad. He had initiates from America, England, Switzerland, Germany, most notable of whom being the Americans physician-surgeon Dr.

Julian Johnson Julian P. Johnson (1867–1939) was an American surgeon and author of several books on Eastern spirituality. He spent much of 1932 to 1939 in India, was associated with the Radha Soami Satsang Beas movement and Surat Shabd Yoga, and wrote five ...

and chiropractic-osteopath Dr.

Randolph Stone Randolph Stone (February 26, 1890 – December 9, 1981) was an Austrian-American chiropractor, osteopath and naturopath who founded polarity therapy, a technique of alternative medicine. He had an interest in philosophy and religions, and encou ...

and the Swiss physician-homeopath Dr. Pierre Schmidt.

Books

He wrote following books. * Tales of the Mystic East (English) * Spiritual Gems (English) * Philosophy of the Masters (English) (five volumes) * My Submission (English) * Discourses on Sant Mat (English) * The Dawn of Light (English) * Shabd Ki Mahima Ke Shabd

Notes and references

External links

Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB)Science Of The Soul Research Centre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sawan Singh People from Ludhiana district 1858 births 1948 deaths Radha Soami Sant Mat gurus Punjabi people Indian Sikhs Scholars from Punjab, India

Honorifics

Life

Books

See also

Further reading

Notes and references

External links