Dr Chaturbhuj Sahay (Hindi: चतुर्भुज सहाय ); known as Guru Maharaj, 3 November 1883 – 24 September 1957, was an Indian mystic and capable master (समर्थ गुरु). Due to the spiritual atmosphere at home the love of God was sown within him in early childhood, and his heart was colored with a slight color of detachment. From a young age he used to meet Saints and Yogiraj or learned ascetics (

Sanyasi ''Sannyasa'' (Sanskrit: संन्यास; IAST: ), sometimes spelled Sanyasa (सन्न्यास) or Sanyasi (for the person), is life of renunciation and the fourth stage within the Hindu system of four life stages known as '' As ...

), and was influenced by several religious traditions. He started spiritual organization Ramashram Satsang, Mathura in the name of his Guru Mahatma

Ram Chandra (Lalaji) Ram Chandra (Lalaji) (2 February 1873 – 14 August 1931) was a spiritual guide from Fatehgarh Uttar Pradesh India. He was popularly known as "Lalaji" among his followers. He is said to have re-discovered the ancient Indian system of transmission ...

, where the method of transfer of Soul Power has evolved to such an extent that the soul power is transferred not only on one to one basis but from one to many, which has now acquired India wide influence in the spread of spirituality and is spreading to other countries. The system of meditation he preached is a synthesis between

Karma Karma (; sa, कर्म}, ; pi, kamma, italic=yes) in Sanskrit means an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptivel ...

(action),

Upasana Upasana (Sanskrit: उपासना ') literally means "worship" and "sitting near, attend to". The term also refers to one of three ' (, parts) of Vedas, one that focuses on worship. The other two parts of Vedas are called Aranyakas and Upanish ...

(devotion) and Gyaan (knowledge), 'Love' is mingled in all its methods, central focus is on the Spiritual Master, who by Soul-Power uplifts the aspirants and makes them experience the higher stages of spirituality.

Early life

Dr Chaturbhuj Sahay was born on 3 November 1883 (

samvat The Hindu calendar, Panchanga () or Panjika is one of various lunisolar calendars that are traditionally used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, with further regional variations for social and Hindu religious purposes. They adopt a s ...

1940,

Kartik (month) Karthik or Kartik ( hi, कार्तिक, link=no, ta, கார்த்திக், link=no) may refer to: People with the given name Kartik * Kartik Aaryan (born 1990), Indian actor * Kartik Chandran, American environmental engineer * Ka ...

, Shukla

Paksha Paksha (also known as ''pakṣa''; sa, पक्ष, Nepal Bhasa: ''thwa'' and ''gа̄''; ) refers to a fortnight or a lunar phase in a month of the Hindu lunar calendar. Literally meaning "side", a paksha is the period either side of the Fu ...

Chaturthi Chaturthi () refers to the fourth day of a lunar fortnight in the Hindu calendar. Festivals * Karak Chaturthi (''Karvā Chauth''): It is celebrated on ''Chaturthī'' of Krishna Paksha (waning lunar phase) of Kārtika Month as per the ''Purnim ...

), in the village o
Chamkari
in the

Etah Etah is a municipality city which is also the headquarters of Etah District of the Uttar Pradesh state in India.Etah district is a part of the Aligarh Division and is located at the midpoint of the Delhi-Kanpur Highway(NH 91) Known as G.T Road ...

Province, of "

North-Western Provinces The North-Western Provinces was an administrative region in British India. The North-Western Provinces were established in 1836, through merging the administrative divisions of the Ceded and Conquered Provinces. In 1858, the nawab-ruled kingdom ...

" (of Agra) into a well to do, pious, and orthodox Kulshreshtha family. His father's name was Shreeyut Ramprasad Ji. His father was an ascetic and an accomplished astrologer, he wrote some books on astrology that are available today as manuscript. He was taught

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Persian language Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and ...

by a Mawlawi and

Devanagari Devanagari ( ; , , Sanskrit pronunciation: ), also called Nagari (),Kathleen Kuiper (2010), The Culture of India, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, , page 83 is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental Writing systems#Segmental syste ...

by a

Pandit A Pandit ( sa, पण्डित, paṇḍit; hi, पंडित; also spelled Pundit, pronounced ; abbreviated Pt.) is a man with specialised knowledge or a teacher of any field of knowledge whether it is shashtra (Holy Books) or shastra (Wea ...

. Later he studied medicine and practiced in the field of health. He was married to Smt. Indira Devi and had two daughters and three sons. His eldest son Dr Brijendra Kumar retired as Medical Superintendent of a Government Hospital in Mathura, his second son Shri Hemendra Kumar helped him in spreading his spiritual message, and the third and the youngest son Dr Narendra Kumar retired as a Professor from Jaipur University. His three sons treated their father as their Guru and whenever time permitted traveled India wide to spread the message of their Guru. They lovingly called their father Chaachaa ji. His two daughters Smt. Shraddha and Smt. Sudha also were married into spiritually inclined families.

Religious practices and teachers

At the age of eighteen he had to go to his maternal grandparents place at Fatehgarh, and there he remained for many years. The cleanser of sinners, the pure dark Bhagirathi

Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

flowed a furlong away from the house. For his recreation, at times in the evenings, he would go there. Ascetics (Sadhus) and Mahatmas were also there at the shores of

. Out of them most were materialistic and hypocrites, but even then, at times, good Saints and

Yogi A yogi is a practitioner of Yoga, including a sannyasin or practitioner of meditation in Indian religions.A. K. Banerjea (2014), ''Philosophy of Gorakhnath with Goraksha-Vacana-Sangraha'', Motilal Banarsidass, , pp. xxiii, 297-299, 331 Th ...

or learned ascetics (practitioners of

Sannyasa ''Sannyasa'' (Sanskrit: संन्यास; IAST: ), sometimes spelled Sanyasa (सन्न्यास) or Sanyasi (for the person), is life of renunciation and the fourth stage within the Hindu system of four life stages known as '' As ...

) too came there. He liked to serve such saints, and to keep their company (

Satsang A satsanga (), also rendered satsang, refers to the practice of gathering in the company of good people for the performance of devotional activities. It also refers to an audience with a Satguru for yogic instruction. Satsangas are group events, o ...

) and to converse with them. He learned from them many types of

Pranayama Pranayama is the yogic practice of focusing on breath. In Sanskrit, '' prana'' means "vital life force", and ''yama'' means to gain control. In yoga, breath is associated with ''prana'', thus, pranayama is a means to elevate the '' prana'' ''sha ...

, many methods of Rajyoga and

Hatha yoga Haṭha yoga is a branch of yoga which uses physical techniques to try to preserve and channel the vital force or energy. The Sanskrit word हठ ''haṭha'' literally means "force", alluding to a system of physical techniques. Some haṭha ...

, and to some extent he also practiced them, but he could not be satisfied by these people. Their methods were not favorable for him. Therefore, he could neither connect with any of them, nor make anyone his Guru.

Arya Samaj

Many of his friends followed

Arya Samaj Arya Samaj ( hi, आर्य समाज, lit=Noble Society, ) is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. The samaj was founded by the sanny ...

. In their association the views of

impressed him, and he too became a follower of

. During those days

was a good institution. Its members were straight forward, honest, and simple, and followed Karmakand (Karmakanda (

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

) is that part of the

Śruti ''Shruti'' ( sa, श्रुति, , ) in Sanskrit means "that which is heard" and refers to the body of most authoritative, ancient religious texts comprising the central canon of Hinduism. Manusmriti states: ''Śrutistu vedo vijñeyaḥ'' ( ...

Vedas upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...

writings which relates to ceremonial acts and sacrificial rites). During those days its members did not search for other people's faults like those of the present days, and they did have the attitude ‘to do something for one’s self’. They, with body and mind, used to serve others. The inclination to work was there also within him; therefore, he too joined with them began shoulder to shoulder and started helping them in their cause. He worked for many years in Fatehgarh and Agra within the high circle of

. He did not like fights that disturbed the peace. These started becoming a hurdle in his spiritual practice. Therefore, he resigned and separated from them.

Guru

He met his Guru Mahatma Ram Chandra (Lalaji) ji around the year 1910 or 1911. Wife of Samarth Guru Mahatma Ramchandra Ji was unwell. In that connection he first met with Mahatma Ramchandra Ji, his "Shri Gurudeva", in the capacity of a medical practitioner. He continued to meet Mahatma Ramchandra Ji for two years regularly, but he did not come to know more than this that Mahatma Ramchandra Ji was a very simple and honest person. Mahatma Ramchandra Ji had put a garb of service and householder around him and his real form was not visible. His neighbors, relatives, and friends those who sat near him day and night, all of them only knew him as a good person and that is all. Pujya Dr. Chaturbhuj Sahab ji was one of the seniormost disciple of Lalaji Maharaj. His life was devoted towards spiritual upliftment of mankind. According to the directions of Lalaji Maharaj, he tried very hard to spread the divine message of Pujya Lalaji Maharaj to as many people as possible. He has a number of spiritual publications for the benefit of the common people. According to lalaji Maharaj ’s wishes he translated the core principles of Pujya Lalaji’s mission in hindi which was originally in Urdu so that it could be accessible to common people.

Principles

# God is energy, has no name or form, whatever name one keeps is alright. # To seek God one need not renounce household and wander in the forest; one can live at home and still reach God. # You have not seen God, hence first meet that person who has seen God. Only that person can enable you to see God. # Infuse inner happiness into your life, it is a divine virtue. # Peace is in the knowledge, you will not get it from outside. Knowledge is within you. For this you will have to make internal efforts. # Devote more time to worldly activities, give some time to these efforts. But for this much time forget the world. # Two activities are very important for spiritual seeker – first, earn an honest living and second, keep busy with work. # Knowledge is infinite. If one Guru could not complete it then seek the guidance of another Guru. However, after finding a fully self-realized Guru one should not seek another Guru. # Do all worldly work but with a spirit of service, not as owner. # Live in this world as a guest. Think of everything as belonging to someone else. Leave "me and mine," and learn the lesson of "you and yours".

References