Narrator:
Shantikunj, Rajpur Mahashashan, is the ashram of the secret practitioner Shyama Khepa. We are joined today by a follower of Yogiraj Shyama Charan Lahiri. In this special episode, we present the first part of his conversation with Shyama Khepa.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Greetings! Where is your home?
Devotee:
My home is in Serampore.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Iâve heard you are a Kriya Yogi and a believer in Kriya Yoga.
Devotee:
I wouldnât call myself a âYogiââthat is a very high state. I am a practitioner on the path of Kriya Yoga shown by Yogiraj Shyama Charan Lahiri. I follow that discipline. Great Yogis are in a different realm altogether, beyond our imagination.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Look at this picture Iâm showing you. Do you recognize him?
Devotee:
He is known as Babaji Maharaj, the Guru of Yogiraj Shyama Charan Lahiri. However, this is a painted portrait, not an original photograph. There are many stories regarding this, which I will explain in detail later.
Devotee:
First, let me say that we are here at Shantikunj Ashram, the place of practice for Shyama Khepa. He has a website where he shares episodes on Tantra Sadhana. He is interested in publishing some episodes on Yogiraj Shyama Charan Lahiri's Kriya Yoga. Through his channel, if this message reaches people, they might find a new path. Though there are many paths, the original path is one. The Brahman is one. Whether you call it Tantra, Yantra, or Mantra, everything ultimately merges into that Brahman. He is a Tantra practitioner, and I am a follower of Kriya Yoga.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Even though I practice Tantra, I have deep faith in Kriya Yoga and a great love for it. The Kriya practiced by Lahiri Mahasaya is legendary. We are like the dust of their feet. If we can follow the rules they taught us, I believe India will progress immensely. Many young people are coming to me now, wanting to learn Yoga. This requires self-effort; Kriya must be practiced personally and on time.
Devotee:
My Guru was Mahopadhyay Bachaspati Yogacharya Sri Ashok Kumar Chattopadhyay. He worked in the police department and was the grandson of Yogacharya Sri Satya Charan Lahiri Mahasaya (the grandson of Yogiraj). Before him, his gurus were Panchanan Bhattacharya and Anyada Charan Sastri, from whom he first received Kriya.
Devotee:
He also received Kriya from Sri Sundarlal Lala, a disciple of Harinarayan Palodhi. He eventually attained the higher stages of Kriya Yoga. Though he is no longer in his physical body, he is omnipresent to me and my fellow disciples. Before we begin, I bow to the Guru: Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru Devo Maheshwara; Guru Sakshat Param Brahma, Tasmai Shri Gurave Namah. I am not a great orator or a scholar. I will say only what my Guru inspires me to say. Any merit belongs to him; any mistakes are mine.
Devotee:
My Guru always told me to speak about Yogiraj Shyama Charan Lahiri and to practice Kriya. Yogiraj is God Himself, the Brahman. He used to say that âKriyavansâ (practitioners) are the true deities.
Devotee:
Why did he call them deities? Because all deities practice this same sadhana. The word âDebâ (deity) comes from âDib,â meaning the sky or space. Those who reside in the sky/space are deities. That âAkashâ (space) is the âBrahmakash,â and its smallest manifestation is the body, the âGhatakash.â Everything that exists in the universe exists within this body. The Kali, Vishnu, or Tara we see externally also exist internally. The day one realizes this internally, they move beyond the external world. Ramprasad Sen said: "Knowing Tara is the Brahman, I have left all religion and irreligion." Once he realized Tara is Brahman, he transcended all worldly rituals and merged into Samadhi. Great saints like Bamdev, Lokenath Baba, and Tailang Swami all practiced and reached that formless Brahman. There is no difference between their paths.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Iâve heard that Kriya must be practiced very secretly. Even the person sitting next to you shouldnât know. I read a story about two disciples of Lahiri Mahasaya who worked at the same office, at adjacent tables. They didnât know the other was a Kriya practitioner. One day, on the Guruâs birthday, they both went to his house and were shocked to see each other there!
Devotee:
Exactly. Kriya is practiced secretly, with care and diligence. Kriya is the work of the breathâthe air that keeps us alive. Controlling and utilizing that breath is the essence of Yoga.
Devotee:
Yogiraj did not want self-publicity during his lifetime because he knew people would swarm him. Yet, many high-level practitioners became his disciples. There is a story about Dr. Gopal Bandyopadhyay, a disciple who visited Tailang Swami. He asked Lahiri Mahasaya to visit the Swami. Lahiri Mahasaya went to Manikarnika Ghat wearing his usual kurta and pyjama. From a distance, Tailang Swami saw him and ran to embrace him tightly. The Swami was usually silent and didn't embrace people like that. When asked why he did so, Tailang Swami wrote: "The state I am trying to reach by being naked and renouncing everything, this 'Bengali Babu' has reached while living a worldly life and wearing clothes." That was the great recognition he gave him.
Devotee:
Shyama Charan Lahiri was born on September 30, 1828 (16th of Ashwin), in Ghurni, Krishnanagar, Nadia. Itâs ironic that he was a Bengali, yet many Bengalis donât know him. His father was Gourmohan Lahiri and his mother was Muktakeshi Devi. Due to some property disputes or a flood, they moved to Varanasi when Shyama Charan was five years old.
Devotee:
In Varanasi, he studied at Joy Narayan Ghosalâs school. He mastered English, Hindi, Urdu, Persian, and Sanskrit. He also studied the Vedas and Upanishads under a pundit named Nag-Bhatta. He later married the daughter of Deonarayana Bachaspati Sanyal. He got a job in the Military Engineering Service (MES) as a clerk and was eventually promoted to the post of SDO. During his service, he was transferred to various places like Ghazipur and Ranikhet.
Devotee:
While in Ranikhet for a road construction project, he was walking in the hills when he heard a voice calling: "Shyama Charan, come here! Shyama Charan, come here!" He wondered how anyone knew his name in such a remote place. He thought it might be a great saint or perhaps a dacoit who knew of his official status. He ignored it and went to work. But as he returned, he heard the voice again.
Devotee:
Finally, he decided to see who it was. He climbed to the peak and saw a young sanyasi. The sanyasi said, "Shyama Charan, come and sit. Do you know me?" Lahiri Mahasaya said no. The sanyasi asked, "Do you remember this place? This blanket? This water pot?" He remembered nothing. Then, the sanyasi touched his forehead, the 'Kutashtha.' Instantly, his past-life memories returned. The sanyasi told him, "In your previous life, you practiced sadhana here in this cave. You died while practicing. I was your Guru then. I have protected your belongings. I orchestrated this job transfer for you so I could initiate you again. I sent you to be born in the house of Gourmohan to live as a householder until the time was right."
Devotee:
He was then initiated into Kriya Yoga. This is not a new practice; it is the Kriya Yoga mentioned in Patanjaliâs Yoga Sutras and the Karma Yoga/Raja Yoga of the Gita. It is 'Sahaj Karma'âthe natural work of the breath we are born with. The day this breath stops, everything ends. This is the 'Rajvidya' (King of Sciences), the most secret and sacred practice.
Devotee:
After his initiation, his Guru told him to initiate five people waiting outside the cave. Lahiri Mahasaya was hesitant, saying, "Why should I initiate them when you are here?" His Guru replied, "My connection is only with you. Your connection is with the worldly people. I kept them waiting for you." When it was time for Lahiri Mahasaya to return to Varanasi, he cried, saying he didn't want to leave his Guru. But Babaji Maharaj told him, "You must return to your wife and children. You must show the world that one can be a householder and still reach God. People think only sanyasis in caves can find God; you must prove them wrong." He promised to appear whenever Lahiri Mahasaya needed him.
Devotee:
That sanyasi had no known name. Since Lahiri Mahasaya called him 'Babaji Maharaj,' that is how the world knows him. He is said to be over 2,500 years old and resides in the Himalayas.
Devotee:
Lahiri Mahasaya returned to Varanasi and lived a secret spiritual life. He kept 26 diaries in Bengali script but written in Hindi. In them, he noted his meetings with Babaji, sometimes calling him 'Guruwa Baba.' He eventually realized that Babaji Maharaj was none other than Lord Krishna, the indestructible Narayana. He wrote: "He who is Krishna is Guruwa Baba." Everything we see in this world is Him.