Parama Pujya Shri Shri Nimishananda: Divinity Personified
It is Sunday evening and the air is thick with anticipation - the fragrance of jasmine, rajnigandha, rose and tulsi that bedeck the elegant peetha transport one to the land of devas. Bhajans in praise of the Guru and the other myriad manifestations of godhood in the background resonate with bhakti rasa. Devotees and disciples, their palms filled with offerings of flowers and fruits, or simply enjoined in a humble namaskara, wait with bated breath for their beloved Pujya Guruji to appear. The atmosphere is suddenly heightened as Pujya Guruji enters, magnificent in his all-white attire with a vermilion angavastra, hands raised in blessing and a benevolent smile playing on his lips. As he takes His seat, devotees rent the air with cries of
‘Ananta-koti Brahmandanayaka, Rajadhiraja, Yogi Raja,
Parabrahma, Sacchidanada Swaroopa, Nimishamba roopa,
Shri Shri Nimishananda Sadguru Bhagavan ki Jai!’
“Lord of the Universe Infinite, Lord of Lords, King of Yogis,
The Creator of the Cosmos, the Personification of Bliss Supreme,
The Manifestation of the Divine Mother Nimishamba Devi,
Victory to the Sadguru Shri Shri Nimishananda!”
Shri Shri Nimishananda is all this and more to his ardent disciples and devotees. Under His Divine and benevolent and gracious shade lies the World of BLISS – where one can always Be Living In a Spiritual State.
To his young followers, He is a friend who jokes around but gently infuses the right values at the right time, exposing them to nuggets of wisdom, setting them on the divine path that leads to a life filled with success, love and laughter.
To those who come seeking solace from life’s troubles, He is a Divine counselor who heals and protects, and then teaches them to survive worldliness and by developing Godliness.
To people already on the path, He acts as a catalyst to accelerate their spiritual quest, reminding them of their true purpose in life, which is Mukti or Salvation, and eases their journey by walking along them.
To the elderly He is a kind and compassionate guide, a soothing beacon of hope and happiness in their twilight years.
To all who come into His presence, His Holiness showers His grace and love with timely guidance, a kind word, a direct gaze, a gentle smile and a fruit prasada charged with His blessings that have the power to wipe out the karma of a thousand births.
In His electrifying presence, seekers are transported to another world - a world filled with love, laughter, faith, devotion, blessings and divinity. In Him, devotees see all the 33 crore gods manifested. “When I saw Him for the first time on the dias, delivering a discourse, the sun was setting on the horizon” says Rajaram Hegde, a devotee, “but I felt as though the Sun God, before setting, had transferred His brilliance to Shri Shri Nimishananda”. Read more
To another disciple Savita, Pujya Guruji is not only a Guru but a father, mother, brother and friend. She shares her innermost feelings with Him easily, and says she experiences a divine force-field around His ‘amazingly satwic’ personality. “I surrendered to Pujya Guruji completely, the very first time I met Him” she adds. “Ah! The tender loving care He displays, the concern with which He listens to everyone! He is utterly guileless like a child, with His soft speech and flawless hospitality - a personality that appeals to each and everyone - from a child to an aged person!” Read more
In His divine presence, tears of devotion and joy well up in the eyes of devotees. Receiving prasada from Pujya Guruji for the first time, Shylaja Shiva sobbed uncontrollably, and felt she had finally reached home. Read more
Such is the reverence and confidence Pujya Guruji inspires in each and everyone who crosses His path.
Shri Shri Nimishananda’s words, gentle but firm, are looked upon as commands by all His disciples. They are always ready to do His bidding, with great love, devotion and faith. To them, the shloka ‘Gurur Brahma Gurur Vishnuhu...’ is not just an expression, but they see a trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara personified in Him. In all His compassion and mercy He is indeed the Divine Mother Nimishamba Herself, who bestows boons and fulfils desires in a minute.
Therefore, to such a Guru, who is the highest being, who is present in every form and every atom of energy from Brahman to a blade of grass, who is resplendent in everything movable and immovable in this Universe, we bow again and again.
Jai Guru Nimishananda.
About five years ago, I had attended a programme organized by the ‘Meditation and Study Circle’, in which I had my first darshan of Parama Pujya Shri Shri Nimishananda Guruji. That beautiful evening, I was seated in the audience ten minutes before the event was scheduled to start. The assembled audience appeared to be far larger than usual. The strains of the flute playing in the background seemed to set the stage for the spiritual experience that was to come. The cool breeze rejuvenated my body mind and spirit, which had flagged a bit by the end of a long working day.
Exactly at the appointed hour, Pujya Guruji, looking resplendent, entered the assembly and adorned His seat. He shone brilliantly, as if the sun who had just then set in the western horizon had himself manifested in human form. After a prayer and brief introduction, Pujya Guruji began the discourse. With closed eyes and hands enjoined, He first offered salutations to the Divine Mother. As I heard His soft and deep voice, I felt it resonate in my being. Next he recited the ‘Om’ thrice; I could not take my eyes off Him and had an unusual experience- instead of His form, He appeared to me as a column of light. Under His brilliance, the other electric lights on stage appeared dull. I felt a light shivering in my body, and my breathing became long and deep.
That evening’s discourse was on the meaning of Sadhana, how to engage in it and how to conquer the five elements before embarking on it. As I listened to his pearls of wisdom, tears rolled from my eyes of their own accord. An hour elapsed without my knowledge. I offered my pranams to Pujya Guruji, and thanking the organizers with all my heart for this wonderful experience, I followed the road that led to my house, or should I say I followed the path to truth since then?
It is difficult indeed to be in proximity of a great soul; the experience is beyond one’s understanding and has an amazing effect.
-Rajaram Hegde
Even as a youngster I had no faith in esoteric things like astrology and saints and miracles. My family background was such that I did not stress much on rites and rituals either. I had faith only in God. This faith and devotion in God is the only strength which has led me close to Parama Pujya Shri Shri Nimishananda Guruji.
I surrendered to Pujya Guruji completely the very first time I met Him. For one who did not believe at all in saints and sadhus for so long, I found myself confessing to him my innermost feelings and sharing my problems. Ah! The tender loving care He displays, the concern with which he listens to everyone- an amazingly satwic person, utterly guileless like a child, with His soft speech and flawless hospitality- a personality that appeals to each and everyone- from a child to an aged person! I have certainly experienced a divine force-field around Him that I have never come across before.
Every time I have met Pujya Guruji, he has evoked different emotions in me; sometimes I feel I am talking to my father; sometimes to my elder brother; sometimes to a friend. Pujya Guruji is everything to me- father, mother, brother, friend, and my own personal God in human form.
-Savita
I am Shylaja Shiva, a resident of Rajarajeshwarinagar, Bangalore. In the December of 2005, I had gone to the local Ganesha temple on the occasion of sankashta chaturthi one evening. As I came out, I noticed a person clad in white robes holding a sermon on the Bhagavadgita in an adjacent area attached to this temple. A flower-bedecked photograph of the Divine Mother lit up by lamps was placed beside the speaker, and the whole place looked very attractive. I am not normally attracted by swamijis and saints, but that day I was compelled to go inside and listen to the discourse. I was captivated by the person on stage- the smile playing on his lips, the brilliance surrounding him (tejas), and I felt divine feelings arising within me. But my intellect was not ready to accept these emotions, as my limited understanding acknowledged divinity only in God and not in anybody else. My logic was, if saints and sanyasis could alleviate the suffering of people, why did it still prevail in society? Then I returned home and engaged myself in routine work, forgetting all about this experience.
That night, as I went to bed, the face of the divine person I had seen flashed before my eyes in that silent night. I couldn’t sleep at all; vague feelings of uneasiness assailed me as I wondered why this person had such a profound effect on me, whereas no saint or swami had affected me thus so far. I spent a week in this state. The next Thursday, I attended the satsang after much debate, deciding to have one more go at it. That evening, Pujya Guruji was talking about the four varnashramas or castes as described by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavadgita. I was thrilled by his explanation- his message was so appropriate for our society plagued by caste and communal problems. I felt as though he was an avatar of social reformers like Kankadasa and Basavanna. I felt a deep reverence arising within me for this person, certain that he was divinity personified. As I stood in line for his darshan and Prasad at the end of the discourse, I was amazed to see that he was blessing each and every person ‘may you prosper’ without a hint of discrimination or partiality. At that moment, I could see God in Him.
As I stood in front of Him for His blessing, I started shivering, as I felt I was in the presence of a magnificent personality. It was an un-describable experience. I felt tears welling up, my mind was utterly quiet, I was floating. I felt as if all my troubles past, present and future, would vanish with His blessings.
From that moment I started worshipping Parama Pujya Shri Shri Nimishananda Guruji as my Guru. My faith and respect for Him grew day by day. Once, I wanted to ask Him for a solution for a personal problem, and in that day’s satsang, He said “Don’t have blind faith; first develop faith and then become blind”. That message was for me to leave everything to Him, surrender at His feet, and all problems would solve themselves.
I am now His ardent devotee. My faith is so strong that nothing can shake it. The one lesson I have learnt from His teachings is that we ourselves are responsible for all our problems and sorrows, because of our attitudes. 'Yad Bhavam Tad Bhavati' says Pujya Guruji- ‘The way we feel shapes our lives.’ It is useless to blame anyone or any situation for the same. I remember these golden words and transform myself whenever I feel like blaming others for my troubles. With this simple formula Pujya Guruji has shown me how to lead a simple life. My career and personal life have now stabilized. Offering my pranams at His Lotus Feet. I beg Divine Mother Shri Nimishamba to increase my faith in Him evermore day by day.
