Param Sant Tulsi Sahib

 

Tulsi Sahib was born in 1763 AD and expired at the age of 80 in 1843 AD. He was Brahmin by caste and had a noble ancestry. He belonged to the Royal lineage of the Peshwas. Tulsi Saheb was none other than Amrit Rao, the grandson of Peshwa Baji Rao I. Peshwa Baji Rao II was Amrit Rao’s brother by adoption. Tulsi Sahab repeatedly stresses the need for a Master in his works. In no uncertain terms, he says: “Without the guidance of a perfect Master, no one can ever get release from bondage, be he a god, man or sage. Even the trinity, the gods of creation, preservation and destruction, cannot help.” That he had a Master, is reflected in many of Tulsi Sahab’s writings. Expressing his gratitude to his Master, he says,

“O Tulsi, the kind and merciful master has blessed me and made my life blossom… He has given me a new life.”

Gradually, Tulsi Sahab attracted a large number of followers and disciples from among the high caste Brahmins as well as the low caste Sudras. They came from the poor classes, as also from the affluent. He used to visit towns and cities in U.P. and among his disciples were Seth Dilwali Singh Sahab of Agra [Soami Ji’s father], his wife Mahamaya, his mother, his mother in-law and sister. They were all keen disciples of Tulsi Sahab. He used to pay visits to them in Agra, stay in their home in Panni Gali, and hold satsangs there.

In his well-known work Ghat Ramayan, Tulsi Sahab deals with the various religious doctrines and explains their meaning in the light of Sant Mat…

As per Tulsi Sahab’s Ghat Ramayan, it is imperative for us to understand that, Dashrath, Ram, Sita and other characters are actually symbolic characters. They are in-fact spiritual forces and currents acting on individual spirit entities.

The teachings of all Saints are essentially the same. They speak of the “Kingdom of Heaven” which is within. They show the path and impart instructions to attain it. They do not claim to teach something new or different from what other Saints have taught. Tulsi Sahab declared that he was giving the same teachings as those of Kabir Sahab, Nanak Sahab, Dadu Sahab and other Saints. Tulsi Sahab, for the first time, used the expression “Sant Mat” or “the teachings of Saints” to stress the basic unity of the teachings of all Saints.

Tulsi Sahib’s Tenets

Sheikh Taqi, a Muslim divine, while returning from his pilgrimage to Ka’aba, happened to pitch his tent near Tulsi Sahab’s hut. In his dissertation on God-realization, Tulsi Sahab explained to the Muslim divine that, the human body is the real mosque, in which “Khuda” or God resides. He does not live in artificial mosques of brick and mortar made by man. The way to meet Him is also within the body, through the third eye. The eye center holds the entire mystery of Creation. The Kun, the Word, or the Sound Current is the key to the Lord’s mansion and it can be attained only through a perfect Master. After a few days, the Sheikh returned to Tulsi Sahab and begged him for initiation with tears of devotion in his eyes.

Managiri, the head of a group of ascetics, was a learned scholar of the Vedas and other scriptures. To him Tulsi Sahab points out that the essential teachings of Sant Mat are beyond the reach of the Vedas and Puranas. “They know not the mystery of the Path. Sant Mat is different and higher.” “The ascetics try to give up the world, but this act itself brings them back to the ocean of the world. Putting on saffron colored, yellow or blue robes, giving up food or eating from the hands, taking vows of silence, are all external observances and are of no avail. They do not lead the soul to realization of the Lord.” Managiri was eventually initiated by Tulsi Sahab and given the blessing of such inner experience as changed his entire life.

The method of Sant Mat is always one and the same. People have, in the course of history, given it different names and have thereby created confusion… All those who have reached the highest and merged into the Supreme Being give the same message. Those who have gone within and realized the Lord, narrate the same truth. Whatever the earlier Saints have said, the same Kabir Sahab has taught. Kabir Sahab has told us of the five immortal melodies; he has told us of their five stages…

After being convinced of the truth of Tulsi Saheb’s interpretation, Phooldas a Kabir Panthi Mahant (priest) who had drifted, away from the path of Shabd Yoga asked for initiation, saying, “I have now realized that thyself and Kabir art, indeed, one. Being a high priest, pride had rendered me blind. This lowly one could not recognize thy greatness, O Master.”

In his dialogue with Priyelal Gosain, Tulsi Sahab discloses: “The Lord who has created the universe, the regions material and spiritual, Himself resides within the human body. He is apart from Pind, And and Brahmand (The physical, the astral and the causal planes, respectively) and yet He is close to man and is ever present within him. His knowledge can be obtained from Saints alone, for they give the key to the soul, which enables it to go within and realize Him… But you, a human being, the top of creation, consisting of five elements, stoop to worship stones that consist of only one element. You adore idols as being pure and holy, but scoff at the so-called low caste humans as impure and profane, who, like you, are perfectly sentient and rational. You bathe with great ostentation in ‘holy’ rivers, but do not see the accumulated dirt on your own mind.”

Priyelal Gosain, after a long discussion with Tulsi Sahab, was convinced. He discarded his saffron gown, necklace of beads and the sacred thread, and asked for the gift of Naam.

A Nanak Panthi, called Palakram, also came to Tulsi Sahab. Truthful, honest and humble, he regularly read the Japji and Sukhmani (compositions from the Adi Granth). However, he knew nothing of the path of Shabd, which Guru Nanak and other Saints had taught. In the course of his talks with him, Tulsi Sahab said that Guru Nanak was also a Saint of the highest order, having come from the abode of the ineffable Shabd, the home of the Lord. He imparted the same truth that the other Saints have given. In Japji and some other hymns, Guru Nanak sings the praises of Saints and of the Naam that they give. On reading the Adi Granth one finds the importance of a living Master stressed at every step. Guru Nanak also sings praises of the Fourth Realm, beyond the reach of Brahm and Parbrahm and beyond destruction. He gives the method of joining Surat (the Soul) with the Shabd within, of crossing the astral and the causal regions, and of merging in Sat Purush (the Supreme Lord) in Sach Khand.