- Swarupanand
Beli Ram, Sri Swami Swarupanand ji Maharaj (1884 - 9 April 1936) was an Indian
guru of theAdvait Mat lineage. He was also known as "Second Master", "Param Sant Ji" and as Sri Nagli Sahib. [Pur, Anand, "Paramhansa Advait Mat: A life sketch of the Illustrious Master of the Mat" (1975), p.145-6, Shri Anandpur Trust ]Born in
Kohat ,India , the young Beli Ram was initiated into thesanyasa s in the early 1900s inTeri byAdvaitanand Ji , who named him Swarupanand Ji. During Advaitanand's life, Swarupanand created an order of "sannyasin s" (or renunciates) in northern India and founded several centers with the purpose of disseminating his master's teachings. [Sri Swami Sar Shabdanand Ji, "Shri Swarup Darshan" (1998), pp.17-59. New Delhi: Sar Shabd Mission. ]In 1935 he moved from Punjab to
Delhi . He died a year later on 9th April 1936 in the village of Nagli, near Meerut. [Vaudeville, Charlotte. "Sant Mat: Studies in a Devotional Tradition in India" in Schomer, K. and McLeod, W. ISBN 0-9612208-0-5 ] At the time of his death Swarupanand had ten thousand followers and more than three hundred ashrams in northern India. One of his discples wasHans Ji Maharaj , who went on to establish theDivine Light Mission . [Melton, J. Gordon, Bauman, Martin. "Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices" (2002), p.427, ISBN 1576072231] There were reported indications made by Swarupanand about Hans Ji Maharaj being his successor that were later contested by a group of mahatmas that did not appreciate the fact that Hans ji was married , making him a "householder", a status that in their views as renunciates was not acceptable. [Geaves, Ron. "From Totapuri to Maharaji: Reflections on a Lineage (Parampara)," (2002) Paper presented at the 27th Spalding Symposium on Indian Religions, Oxford. March 2002.] According to another account, Swarupanand was succeeded by Shri Swami Vairag Anand Ji Maharaj, also known as the "third master". [Pur, Anand, "Paramhansa Advait Mat: A life sketch of the Illustrious Master of the Mat" (1975), Shri Anandpur Trust (originally published in Hindi, date unknown)]Swarupanand is sometimes confused with
Anand Swarup of theRadha Soami lineage.References
External links
* [http://srinanglidarbar.org/swarupa.html Shree Nangli Darbar website]
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