Shri Hans Ji Maharaj

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Shri Hans Ji Maharaj

The so-called "His Royal Highness Yogiraj Param Hans Sadgurudev Shri Hans
ji Maharaj" (1900 - July 16, 1966) was a guru in India within the Sant Mat
tradition. There is a Wikipedia biography. He claimed to be the Satguru or
Perfect Master of his time though he was not accepted by the majority of his
Master's other followers. He married twice, the second time to Jagat Janani Mata
Shri Rajeshwari Devi, also known as "Mata Ji" and they had four sons and he
had a daughter with his first wife. He was certainly not reticent in describing
himself as God incarnate in human form and attacked his competitors
unmercifully. In 1953 he called the gurus of the Hare Krishna movement the
biggest frauds in what was meant to be a Parliament of Religions.
Guru Maharaj Ji, what do you owe to
your father?
I won't tell you what I owe. If I took all
the birds, the sun, moon and everything
that exists in trying to repay my father, I
wouldn't even be able to repay a single
pennyworth. You know He has given me
such a lot. Such a lot that He has made
me king of the whole universe. So how
can I repay Him? As a Guru. I regard Him as my father because He is
my real father, and He is my Real Father. Real father and Real Father,
real to Real. He is my real father because He has given me birth, and
He is my Real Father because He has shown me the path. How can I
repay Him for this real thing He has given me? I can't even imagine
repaying Him for it, but He says that if I can just do meditation it will
be much more than He has given me. I don't think so. I don't think it is
true.
In 2009,
Words of

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Peace Global
released a
video
detailing
Rawat's
Perfect
Master
lineage in
which he
discussed his
father's career and told a story about his father's orders to the young Bal
Bhagwan Ji. A story which supposedly confirmed his own claim to have
inherited his father's spiritual authority and divinity.
According to his followers, Shri Hans was early in his life an egalitarian
iconoclast, and an opponent of the Hindu caste system. He was originally a
member of the Arya Samaj, but left that movement after he met a guru of the
Sant Mat tradition, Sri Swarupanand Ji Maharaj. Swarupanand initiated him into
the four techniques of Knowledge or kriyas, which are the centrepiece of his
religion. In the 1930s following the death of his guru, he began to travel in Sind
and Lahore and later to Delhi.
The death of a guru is nearly always followed by dissension as to whom should
be the new Satguru (see Radhasoami Reality by Professor Mark Jurgensmeyer).
Rawat's father was not accepted by Swarupanand's followers as the new Satguru
because he was a "householder" ie a family man. Their concerns were shown to
have some basis when Prem Rawat was disowned, disinherited and deposed by
his mother and elder brother due to his "unspiritual lifestyle" and the subsequent
public scandal which both brothers have attempted to hush up. It is not unusual
for successful gurus with families to pass their property and "spiritual capital" on
to their children. Hans' following grew informally for many years, spreading
across northern India. Apparently he could not foretell the future as the Punjab
where he had done most of his preaching and where the majority of his followers
lived became part of Pakistan in the Partition cutting him off from them. He
showed little sympathy for their suffering:

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The refugees remembered God while escaping from Pakistan; had

they continued to remember Him with the same enthusiasm they could
have been relieved of all sorts of miseries. But being engrossed in
worldly comforts, they have again forgotten God. So they will have to
suffer miseries again.
He demonstrated a good head for business by setting up shop in a strategic
location on the outskirts of Haridwar knowing pilgrims on the way to the
Vaisakhi festival will pass by. He founded the Divya Sandesh Parishad or Divine
Light Mission in 1960 though he had resisted setting up a formal organisation.

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The best internet resource for information, albeit hagiographical, on Hans

Rawat, the father of Prem Rawat was the Manav Dharam website of his
'apostate' eldest brother, Bal Bhagwan, or Shri Satpal Ji as he now calls himself.
Satpal no longer has this information on that site but I copied the pertinent
information and it now seems that this site has the largest repository of
information about and by Hans Rawat. Shri Bhole Ji Maharaj continues to
promote his parents on his Hans Lok website. While Maharaji and his
organisations have sometimes mentioned his father they no longer have any
information about him available on the internet. Most of the publications
containing information about him available in the West were destroyed in the
early 1980's on Prem Rawat's direction. In the past, Rawat often acknowledged
that everything he had came from his his Shri Maharaji but his reservations
about the efficacy of the meditation techniques to change people directly
contradict many of the claims made by his father and his father's direct claims
about his own divinity are probably now embarassing.
One of Hans' methods of gaining publicity and possibly new followers was
performing 'yatras' basically a combination march and procession.

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Shri Hans wanted his "Knowledge" to be proselytised in the West. He was naive
enough to have letters sent to President John F. Kennedy and Bertrand Russell.
He was assertive to the point of megalomania in his claims to divinity in his
teaching. He proclaimed that using his methods of meditation and under his
guidance world peace could be achieved but "it is absolutely necessary that the
politicians of the world be counselled and if necessary obliged to realise Divine
Light by personal contacts with living Realised Soul and then the humanity will
be saved from ruination without much efforts." The major source of teachings,
doctrines, etc of Prem Rawat's father are his speeches that have been translated
into English and were published in official Divine Light Mission magazines in
the 1970's and on the web site of his eldest son. These are mainly
extemperaneous, contain many quotes from the Sant Mat religious tradition,
attacks on other Hindu sects and beliefs and are very repetitious to an English
reader. On July 19th, 1966 Shri Hans Ji Maharaj died at the age of 66.

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Video of Shri Hans Rawat

Hans Rawat was a canny businessman and successful Godman so he could
afford to be filmed and some video is available of him. There are clips
interspersed through many of the films, videos and DVDs published by Rawat's
organisations.
SatGuru Has Come - 1971, DLM film
Who Is Guru Maharaj Ji? - 1973, DLM film
Mysterious Miracles, Aliens from Spaceship Earth, A Spiritual Odyssey this film used some footage from Who Is Guru Maharaj Ji?
Evolution - 1989, International Learning Center
Fulfillment - 1998, Visions International
Books By or About Shri Hans Rawat
Some books by or about him are published on this site, including:
His "masterwork" "Hans Yog Prakash" published by the Divine Light

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Mission in India in the 1960s

the booklet Antidote to Nuclear Bombs published by the Indian DLM in
1962
and a book about him "Satgurudev Shri Hans Ji Maharaj" edited by C. L.
Tandon, Secretary Divine Light Mission published on 8th November, 1970
by the Indian DLM. This includes Shri Hans' teachings on the Bhagavad
Gita from 1956.
The Light Of Wisdom: Shri Hans Ji Maharaj Life And Teachings
Speeches of Shri Hans Rawat
Some of his speeches (or "satsangs") are published on this site, including:
Satsang and the Thief (excerpt) August 7, 1952 in Gandhi Ground, Delhi
My Holy Abode Delhi on August 7, 1952.
Indestructible, Ambrosial, Holy and True 8th February 1953, Gitabhavan,
Karnla Nagar, Delhi
God's Fascination is Endless August 28th, 1953
The Meaning of Religion 27 March, 1954, Parliament of Religions;
Constitution Club, New Delhi
The Real Shrine May 9, 1954, Company Bagh, Delhi, India, Divine Light
magazine
The Real Shrine May 9, 1954, Company Bagh, Delhi, India, Divine Times
magazine
The Divine Light Illuminates the Heart Delhi, March 21, 1955, India
The Goal of Human Life June, 1961, Prem Nagar, India
Antidote To Nuclear Bombs "Congregation of Saints of the Country", 18th
November, 1961, Gandhi Ground, Delhi, India
The Highest Seat September, 1963
The Gateway to Liberation Delhi, India, November, 1963
Infallible Technique For Improving Human Behaviour Delhi, India, 18th
November, 1963
Permanent peace lies within Excerpt: New Delhi India, 18th November
1963
The Practice of Devotion February, 1964
Supreme Peace February, 1964 in Delhi, India

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Realize The Oneness February, 1964 in Delhi, India

Remembrance is the Unbreakable Devotion March, 1964
Give Us this Day our Daily Breath June, 1966, Dehra Dun, India
Shining Like Pearls
How To Save Mankind From Extinction Prem Nagar Ashram, Hardwar,
India
Perfect Published in 'And It Is Divine' Magazine, Volume 2, Number 2,
July 1974
A Prayer to His Perfect Master Sarupanand Ji Maharaj Published in
'Affinity' Magazine, Issue 52, June 1979
A series of his satsangs were formerly published on the Manav Dharam website
from 2007. They are reasonably short and presumably edited to nearly identical
lengths.
Search, but in the Right Direction
Redemption Is Possible Only Through Meditation
True Religion Stands For Harmony And Goodwill
Human Life Itself Is The Door Of Salvation
The True Master Imparts Spiritual Knowledge
Know The True Name Of God
Experience God Through Divine Vision
Know The Truth
The Spiritual Master Eradicates The Inner Darkness
Remember God's Name
Human Life Is A Waste Without Devotion To God
Meditation Is Essential For Realisation
True Achievement Only Through Satsang
Selfishness Leads To Miseries
Holy Name - The Redeemer
The First Step In Devotion Is Satsang
Know The Supreme Master Within
Remembering The Master Removes All Obstacles
The Spiritual Master Imparts True Knowledge
Saints Live Only For The Sake Of Others
The Way To Integral Peace And Happiness

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The Essence Of Life Is Remembering Holy Name

The True Name Of God Is The Basis Of Bliss
Don't Waste This Rare Human Birth
Discourse - Param Sant Sadgurudev Shri Hans Ji Maharaj
Hans Rawat was certainly not a shy person nor a dull dresser. He dressed as
Krishna (as his son did out of the public eye) and in his later years was up and
dancing and singing on stage at the drop of a mala.

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Further Information:
Shri Maharaj Ji Divine
Times, Millenium '73
Edition
An Introduction to
Divine Light Mission
Divine Times, Millenium
'73 Edition
The Holy Family And It
Is Divine: Millenium
Edition, November 1973
The Unbroken Garland
And It Is Divine:
Millenium Edition,
November 1973
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The Unbroken Garland

And It Is Divine:
Millenium Edition, November 1973
Prem Rawat's Childhood: The Legend Divine Times Volume II, No. 23 December 11, 1973
Endless Treasure And It Is Divine: Volume 2, Number 5, October 1974
A Swan Takes Flight Divine Times - Volume 4, Number 9, November 8,
1975
Guru Puja Divine Times - Volume 7, Number 4 June/July 1978
My Real Father Divine Times - Volume 7, Number 6 September/October
1978
Connaissance, A French language Collection of Hans Rawat's Teachings
and Photos
A Swan Takes Flight
Peace Is Possible pages 79-87
Satgurudev Shri Hans Ji Maharaj book
Hans Yog Prakash
The Light Of Wisdom: Shri Hans Ji Maharaj - Life And Teachings book
Hans' Letters to World Leaders
Antidote to Nuclear Bombs with A Practical Guide to Integral Happiness
Who Is Guru Maharaj Ji? book
Satguru Has Come film
Prem Rawat's Teaching about Shri Maharaj Ji (his father) - In His Own
Words
Hans Rawat's Teachings
Further Information - External Resources
Shri Hans Ji Maharaj Web Site
Prem Rawat aka Maharaji Information Resource
Manav Dharam Web Site
Hanslok Web Site
Ex-Premie Org

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These clips are from Elan Vital videos and come with commentary promoting
the youngest son, Prem Rawat. No doubt, the eldest son, Satpal Rawat, has
similar commentary in his videos, as he stresses his inheritance through his
father and mother, though they would be in Hindi.

" his own father.

Shri Hans Ji
Maharaj, who was
of Royal Indian
descent, formerly
conveyed this
message throughout
India."

"Maharaji does not

teach a religion,
dogma or doctrine
nor is he the first
person to impart this
message. Many
people have done so
before him
including his own
father. Shri Hans Ji Maharaj, who was of Royal Indian descent, formerly
conveyed this message throughout India."

"Maharaji does not teach a religion, dogma or doctrine nor is he the first
person to impart this message. Many people have done so before him
including his own father. Shri Hans Ji Maharaj, who was of Royal Indian
descent, formerly conveyed this message throughout India. Taking the
initiative of travelling to his audiences Shri Hans Ji Maharaj was able to reach
people who could not come to him."

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By the 1990's Prem Rawat had begun to reminisce about his childhood in a new
way where his father needed his help to draw crowds. He claimed that he was
the one who attracted the crowds for his father, His Royal Highness Param Hans
Ji Maharaj, whose organisation apparently couldn't raise a crowd advertising
their "Perfect Master". The days when he spoke of his father not needing anyone
to attract followers were gone but that is what he had claimed in the And It Is
Divine, Volume 3, Issue 4

"I've been doing it

since I was very
young. My father,
Shri Maharaji, he
would have events,
they would
advertise them and
they would do the
whole thing and the
time for the event would be coming and I would look out the window and see
how many people were there and many times there was nobody there so I'd go
out there and I'd start speaking and when I would start speaking they'd see this
little bitty thing there speaking and they'd all start coming and when the hall
was full my father would come and he would talk. It's not something I went to
school for, it's a gift too, it's a gift that I can show you how to catch that magic
when it happens."

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