The modern world is characterised by continuous struggle and instability. People in every country are suffering from the pressures of cultural change, technological shifts, economic uncertainty and fragile mental health.
In India, our reliance on the timeless wisdom of spirituality is fading, and atheism and scepticism are on the rise, especially amongst our younger generation.
According to Hindu cosmology, our present era of Kali Yuga, the fourth age in the cosmic cycle, is described as the age of darkness, hypocrisy and corruption. At this time, there is a severe decline in spiritual, moral and ethical values, and imposters and frauds who lack genuine knowledge mislead people with distorted interpretations of the scriptures.
The Jagadguru tradition
Over the last 2,500 years, to counter the damaging effects of Kali Yuga, a tradition arose of recognising a single authoritative spiritual figure — someone who was both shrotriya (learned in scripture) and brahmanishtha (God-realised) — who would serve as a reliable source of authentic knowledge for spiritual seekers.
Such a saint was given the title of Jagadguru (‘world teacher’). In this long period of time, only four descended personalities have been accepted as original Jagadgurus: Adi Jagadguru Shankaracharya, Jagadguru Ramanujacharya, Jagadguru Nimbarkacharya and Jagadguru Madhvacharya. These are all towering spiritual figures who significantly advanced the public’s understanding of the eternal truths of spirituality.
The fifth original Jagadguru
In 1957, around 700 years after the last Jagadguru, another descended saint was given this title, making him the fifth original Jagadguru. He is Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj, revered as an unparalleled Rasik saint who made the timeless wisdom of the ancient scriptures accessible and applicable in the modern world. Through his philosophy, his compositions, his personality and his commitment to the welfare of humanity, he represents the most valuable gift that India has given to the world: our spiritual heritage, the knowledge of the most profound eternal truths of life.
Born on Sharad Purnima in Mangarh
His birth itself was an indication of his divinity: he was born at midnight on the auspicious night of Sharad Purnima in 1922 in the small village of Mangarh, Uttar Pradesh. It was on this very night of Sharad Purnima 5,000 years ago that Shri Krishna bestowed the highest form of divine love upon selfless devotees in the Maharaas.
In his early days, he remained in elevated states of divine ecstasy, manifesting the same states that were witnessed in Chaitanya Mahaprabhu 500 years earlier. After some time, he also began to reveal the truths of the Vedic scriptures to spiritual seekers.
Jagadguruttam: Recognition in Kashi
In January 1957, the Kashi Vidvat Parishat, a council comprising 500 of the most elevated experts in scriptural knowledge across India, invited him to address their assembly in Kashi. Accepting their invitation, Shri Kripalu Ji delivered a series of discourses in Sanskrit over 10 days, during which he demonstrated a flawless and effortless command of the vast ocean of scriptural knowledge.
Spellbound and overwhelmed by his profound understanding of these esoteric spiritual subjects, the scholars unanimously acclaimed him as the fifth original Jagadguru and gave him the unique title of Jagadguruttam — the supreme amongst all Jagadgurus. This historic event took place on January 14, 1957, when he was just 34 years of age.
Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj began a spiritual revolution in which his philosophy of universality was perfectly matched to the needs of the times. He taught that spirituality is not something confined to a mandir — it can be practised in any situation in everyday life. To this end, he introduced a practice known as roopdhyan, which involves loving visualisation of one’s chosen divine form of God. It can be practised by anyone, anywhere and at any time, and requires no qualification, mantra or special knowledge.
The Sadhana Program
In 1966, he established a month-long spiritual retreat at his birthplace, Shri Kripalu Dham Mangarh, about 60 kilometres from Prayagraj, focusing on sankirtan and meditation. Beginning on Sharad Purnima in October, it continues to this day and attracts thousands of seekers from India and all over the world.
The primary focus of the devotional practice in this Sadhana Program is the purification of the mind. According to Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj, purifying the mind is the main goal of sadhana. The scriptures declare that the mind is the cause of all the wrongdoing and suffering that we witness in the world. If everyone in the world were to purify their mind through practising devotion, then corruption, wars and divisions would gradually come to an end one day, and world peace would automatically follow. In this way, he highlighted the indispensable need for spirituality to provide balance to our lives in this world of stress and anxiety.
Service to humanity
Beyond the impact of his spiritual teachings, Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj uplifted countless lives through his extraordinary charitable activities. This work is carried forward today by Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat, under the leadership of his daughters, Vishakha Tripathi, Krishna Tripathi and Shyama Tripathi, and continues to grow in scale. A free school for girls provides high-quality education to thousands of girls from poor families, from pre-school through to university. Multi-speciality charitable hospitals offer completely free medical treatment to many thousands of people every day. Throughout the year, large-scale distributions bring essential items for daily use to tens of thousands of poor villagers, sadhus, widows and underprivileged schoolchildren. At the heart of these efforts is the ideal of selfless service that Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj taught and lived by: to give without expecting anything in return. The profound joy, deep purpose and spiritual solace he brought to millions of lives were an invaluable gift to humanity, and his sublime philosophy of Bhaktiyoga is as relevant and important today as it has ever been.
The writer is a retired IAS officer, former Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh, and a trustee of the Shiv Nadar Foundation; Views presented are personal.