Shiv Dayal Singh, called by the honorific "Param Purush Puran Dhani Huzur Soami Ji Maharaj" by his disciples and devotees, was born on 25 August 1818 in

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...

in the colonial era

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

(present-day

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), 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 so ...

), and died on 15 June 1878 in the same city. His parents were followers of a spiritual guru Tulsi Saheb. Shiv Dayal Singh was the founder and first spiritual leader of

Radha Soami Radha Soami is a spiritual tradition founded by Shiv Dayal Singh in 1861 on Basant Panchami Day in Agra, India. p. 90 note 5, Quote: "The date of Seth Shiv Dayal's first public discourse is Basant Panchami Day, February 15, 1861"., Quote: " ...

a 19th-century spiritual sect.

Early life

The parents of Shiv Dayal Singh were residents of Punjab, but moved to

before his birth at the behest of the colonial British government who had set up a major military center there and relied heavily on Sikhs from the Punjab region to staff the base. At the age of five, Shiv Dayal Singh was sent to school where he learnt

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and

Gurumukhi Gurmukhī ( pa, ਗੁਰਮੁਖੀ, , Shahmukhi: ) is an abugida developed from the Laṇḍā scripts, standardized and used by the second Sikh guru, Guru Angad (1504–1552). It is used by Punjabi Sikhs to write the language, commonly r ...

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

and

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 ...

. His father, Seth Dilwali Singh was a Sahejdhari Khatri. His mother's name was Mata Maha Maya. He had two brothers named Seth Partap Singh (alias Chachaji Saheb) and Seth Rai Bindraban. His marriage to Mata Naraini Devi (later called "Radha Ji" by followers and devotees), daughter of Lala Izzat Rai of

Faridabad Faridabad is the most populous city in the Indian state of Haryana and a part of Delhi National Capital Region. It is one of the major satellite cities around Delhi and is located 284 kilometres south of the state capital Chandigarh. The ri ...

was arranged at an early age. He had no children. His family including his father, mother, mother-in-law, sister and his wife were followers of

Guru Nanak Gurū Nānak (15 April 1469 – 22 September 1539; Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ; pronunciation: , ), also referred to as ('father Nānak'), was the founder of Sikhism and is the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. His birth is celebrated wor ...

, and Sant Tulsi Saheb of Hathras. During hiv Dayal Singh's childhood, the family also sought the spiritual tutelage of as a living guru from Sant Tulsi Saheb. But, he didn't take initiation from him. Shiv Dayal Singh acquired no spiritual guru in his life.

Adulthood

After Shiv Dayal Singh completed his education, he became a Persian language translator to a government officer. He left the job and became a teacher of Persian language. Once his brother gained an employment at Indian post office, he left his Persian language job, and joined his father's moneylending business. He spent increasing amount of his time, to religious pursuits. He began giving spiritual discourses based on the scriptures of

Sikhism Sikhism (), also known as Sikhi ( pa, ਸਿੱਖੀ ', , from pa, ਸਿੱਖ, lit=disciple', 'seeker', or 'learner, translit=Sikh, label=none),''Sikhism'' (commonly known as ''Sikhī'') originated from the word ''Sikh'', which comes fro ...

and writings of Tulsi Sahib of Hathras.

Practice

After the death of Sant Tulsi Saheb in 1843, Shiv Dayal Singh practiced

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’, ...

for 17 years in almost total seclusion in a room within a room. He started holding

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 ...

(spiritual discourse) publicly on

Vasant Panchami Vasant Panchami, also called Saraswati Puja in honor of the Hindu goddess Saraswati, is a festival that marks the preparation for the arrival of spring. The festival is celebrated in Indian religions in different ways depending on the region. ...

(a spring festival) in 1861, and continued for 17 years. Thus Basant Panchami is a very special day for the followers of the Radhasoami Faith.

Teachings

Shiv Dayal Singh originally referred to the Supreme Being with the names "Sat Nām" (True Name) and "Anāmi" (Nameless). The term Rādhāsoāmi was used after Hazur Rai Saligram Bahadur became a disciple. On the request of Saligram Bahadur, Singh declared Satsang open on Basant Panchami Day on 1861. The spiritual practice taught by Shiv Dayal Singh is called as Surat Shabd Yoga by his followers. He used to consider Sat Nām, Sār Nām, Sār Shabad, Sat Purush and Sat Lok the same thing, which he would call formless. Shiv Dayal Singh also used to smoke

Huqqa A hookah ( Hindustani: (Nastaleeq), (Devanagari), IPA: ; also see other names), shisha, or waterpipe is a single- or multi-stemmed instrument for heating or vaporizing and then smoking either tobacco, flavored tobacco (often ''muʽassel' ...

and asked his disciples to prepare it for a guru as a service. SethShivDayalSingh

His ''bani'' (poetical compositions) and sayings from satsang were published in two books after he died. Both are called ''Sar Bachan'' or ''Sar Vachan'' (meaning 'conclusive utterances') :"I have a book in my collection called the Sar Bachan written by Sardar Seva Singh, which is the teachings of the Sound Current, and acts as practically my Bible!" —

Paul Twitchell Paul Twitchell (born Jacob Paul Twitchell) (died September 17, 1971) was an American author and spiritual teacher who created and directed the development of the new religious movement known as Eckankar. Twitchell described himself as "The Mah ...

in a letter to future wife Gail, 8 July 1963; in Paul Twitchell, ''Letters to Gail'', volume II, Menlo Park: ECKANKAR, 1977, page 149. ("Sardar" Seva Singh was the

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 ...

translator of the ''Sar Bachan'' into English.) * Sar Vachan Vartik (Sar Bachan in prose) * Sar Vachan Chhand Band (Sar Bachan in verse) Sar Vachan Vartik is in two parts: part one being an introduction written by

Salig Ram Salig Ram, popularly known by the honorific "Huzur Maharaj" and by the government-conferred title "Rai Bahadur," was born in Peepal Mandi, Agra, on 14 March 1829. He served as chief inspector of post offices in British India, and, in 1881, was ...

and part two compiled of notes taken from the discourses of Shiv Dayal Singh, which he delivered in satsang up to 1878. They cover important teachings of the faith. His poems in Sar Vachan Chhand Band are replete with emotional appeal - a blending of popular poetic expressions from different languages of north India such as, Khari-Boli,

Awadhi Awadhi (; ), also known as Audhi (), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in northern India and Nepal. It is primarily spoken in the Awadh region of present-day Uttar Pradesh, India. The name ''Awadh'' is connected to Ayodhya, the ancient city, w ...

, Brijbhasha,

Rajasthani Rajasthani may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Rajasthan, a state of India * Rajasthani languages, a group of languages spoken there * Rajasthani people, the native inhabitants of the region * Rajasthani architecture * Rajasthani art ...

and

Soami Bagh and Dayal Bagh

The locality called "Soami Bagh" ("Soami Ji's Garden"), the former home of Shiv Dayal Singh and the present location of his tomb-shrine, is currently owned by the Radha Soami Satsang Agra branch, and controlled by the twin organizations known as the Radhasoami Satsang Central Administrative Council and the Radhasoami Trust (called "the Council and the Trust" for short). Its across-the-street neighbor " Dayalbagh" ("Garden of the Merciful") is owned and controlled by the organization Radha Soami Satsang Dayalbagh. Dayal Bagh and its founder-guru Sir

Anand Swarup Sir Anand Swarup, Kt. (6 August 1881 – 24 June 1937) also known as Param Guru Huzur Sahabji Maharaj was the founder of Dayalbagh. He was the fifth revered leader, or Sant Satguru, of the Dayalbagh branch of the Radha Soami sect, who succeeded ...

, Kt. were broadcast to the Western public by

Paul Brunton Paul Brunton is the pen name of Raphael Hurst (21 October 1898 – 27 July 1981), a British author of spiritual books. He is best known as one of the early popularizers of Neo-Hindu spiritualism in western esotericism, notably via his be ...

in his famed ''A Search in Secret India''. Sir Anand Swarup received a knighthood for the massive social construction work performed at Dayal Bagh. The two organizations, Council/Trust and Dayalbagh, are both existent and functioning. The major dispute between the two groups is due to two divergent views: The members of Council/Trust claim that Council/Trust is the "parent stock" of Radhasoami faith. The members of Dayalbagh Sabha want access to the tomb-shrine of Shiv Dayal Singh. The tomb-shrine (called ‘Samadh’), was built over 100 years by efforts of the Council/Trust. Soami Bagh Council/Trust allows all satsangis and tourists to visit Samadh, but does not allow religious processions in the Holy Samadh from anyone outside the Council/Trust. In this light, Dayalbagh Sabha organised "SPIRICON 2010", a conference of various organizations who revere Shiv Dayal Singh (boycotted by Council/Trust), to promote mutual respect and to petition access to the tomb-shrine of supreme guru Shiv Dayal Singh.

References

External links

* http://www.radhasoamisatsang.org * https://web.archive.org/web/20080410220324/http://www.radhaswamidinod.org/faith.htm * http://www.aors-dbbs.org/index.html * http://www.sikh-heritage.co.uk/movements/radhasoamis/The%20radhasoamis.htm * http://malankazlev.com/kheper/topics/chakras/chakras-SantMat.htm * https://web.archive.org/web/20080509170243/http://www.seekersway.org/seekers_guide/radhasoami_1_g.html * http://www.radhasoami-faith.info/Books_Frame.shtml
Radha Soami Satsang Beas

Science of the Soul

* http://radhasoamidayal.net/GuruIntro.html * http://eacharya.inflibnet.ac.in/data-server/eacharya-documents/548158e2e41301125fd790cf_INFIEP_72/110/ET/72-110-ET-V1-S1 {{DEFAULTSORT:Shiv Dayal Singh 1818 births People from Agra Radha Soami Sant Mat gurus Surat Shabd Yoga Modern yoga gurus Indian yoga teachers Indian spiritual teachers Founders of new religious movements People considered avatars by their followers 1878 deaths