The Sant Mat Guru Lineage Revealed: From Kabir to Sant Tulsi Sahib and Radhasoami, Compiled by James Bean

♦ June 22, 2024

 

The Sant Mat Guru Lineage Revealed: From Kabir to Sant Tulsi Sahib and Radhasoami, Compiled by James Bean


Image courtesy of, The Anurag Sagar, Sant Bani Ashram Press: Kabir Battles Kal and Sets the Captives Free


“This artwork shows King Ravana attacking Sant Kabir in His Incarnation as Maninder during the Treta Yuga or Silver Age as He approached the palace. The gatekeeper described Kabir’s form by saying ‘O Ravana, His form is white. He has a white necklace, and His tilak is beautiful. His beauty is as the moon! His clothes are white and everything He has is white.’ Maninder held a piece of straw as a shield, and mighty Ravana was striking against that. The Anurag Sagar of Kabir is a great epic and enigmatic poem describing Kabir’s battle throughout Eternity which eventually rescued all Souls from Kal, the Negative Power.” (Bill Yee)

Big Picture View of the Sant Mat Guru Lineage, the Path of the Masters from Kabir to Modern Times: Kabir to Sant Dharam Das to One of the Successors of Dharam Das to Sat Seheb to Sant Dariya Sahib of Bihar to Sant Tulsi Sahib of Hathras and Successors Including Sant Girdhari Sahib of Lucknow to Swami Ji Maharaj of Agra


“The fact that Dariya refers to several Saints and mystics of the fifteenth, sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, such as Kabir (1398—1518 c.e), Dharmdas (successor of Kabir), Nanak (1469-1538 c.e.), Nam Dev (1398-1518 c.e.), Mira Bai (1498-1546 c.e.) and Goswami Tulsi Das (1532-1623 c.e.), and makes no mention of Saints of the later period, lends support to the above dates (1674—1780 C.E.). This shows that he left this world only thirty-eight years before the birth of the famous Saint of Agra, Seth Shiv Dayal Singh, better known as Soami Ji (1818-1878 c.e.).” (from the Introduction to, Sant Dariya Sahib – Saint of Bihar)


“There are some who claim


To be followers of Guru Nanak and Kabir,


Yet they eat the meat of goats and other animals.


This indeed is an unutterably despicable act.”


— Sant Dariya Sahib of Bihar


The 2017 edition of, Tulsi Sahib – Saint of Hathras published by Beas mentions, “…Dariya Sahib (who may have been Tulsi Sahib’s own Guru)”, as Sant Dariya Sahib of Bihar is the one-and-only contemporary guru named and quoted by Tulsi Sahib. Dariya was a very obscure figure during the time of Tulsi Sahib and remains so to-this-day but Sant Tulsi put him on the same level as Kabir, Nanak, Mirabai, Namdev, etc… As I argue, this strongly indicates Sant Dariya was Tulsi’s guru (if Tulsi Sahib was initiated at a young age), or that Tulsi was initiated by one of Dariya’s immediate successors if he was initiated later in life. Tulsi Sahib’s references to Sant Dariya is analogous to someone in the 1930s saying that Hazur Baba Sawan Singh was one of the greatest of masters (the Great Master). Anyone saying that would have very likely been a Radhasoami. So for Tulsi Sahib to be saying this about Sant Dariya, as I argue, strongly suggests some actual connection. Simple as that.



Sant Tulsi Sahib’s List of Sants


“Nanak, Dadu, Dariya Saheb, Mira Bai, Soor Das, Kabir and Nabhaji have all reached the Nabh (sky, high region) and have given out the secrets. Their Surats have got across and merged there.” — Sant Tulsi Sahib


“Said Tulsi Saheb ‘Listen, I will now explain what I mean by Sant. To mention a few Sants, I pick up the names of Dadu, Mira, Nabha, Nanak, Dariya Saheb and Soor Das. Kabir’s name, I mention again. And there have been many other Sants.”


This is a Shabd (Hymn) of Sant Dariya Saheb embedded in the writings of Sant Tulsi Sahib and it sounds similar in style of Swami Ji’s Sar Bachan Radhasoami Poetry:


“The gateway to the August Darbar of the Lord has opened to me.


“Lightning flashes and darts forth like a fast current, illuminating like a shooting star. The veil of clouds over the moon is removed and the dense darkness vanishes.


“When love and yearning are engendered in Surat, it beholds the moon-lit courtyard. Surat moves about happily in the firmament and opens the gate to Bank-nal.


“Like a spider moving along the thread drawn out of itself, Surat, ascending on the bow, rises up like a current. On meeting the Beloved, Surat merges in Him the way a stream merges in river.


“I have seen the Form which, indeed, is formless and beyond all description. It is boundless, having neither beginning nor end. Dariya Saheb says that when his mind became humble and meek, he was able to cross the ocean of existence.” (one of many examples of Sant Dariya Sahib being cited by Sant Tulsi Sahib)



In the Radhasoami Faith Sant Tulsi Sahib is also named as one of the greatest of Sants in the history of India:


“A few names of perfect and true Saints and true Sadhs and Faqirs who manifested themselves in the last 700 years are given here. They are: Kabir Sahab, Tulsi Sahab, Jagjivan Sahab, Garib Das ji, Paltu Sahab, Guru Nanak, Daduji, Tulsi Das ji, Nabha ji, Swami Hari Das ji, Sur Das ji and Raidas ji and among Mohammedans, Shams-i-Tabrez, Maulana Rumi, Hafiz, Sarmad, Mujaddid and Alfasani. From a perusal of the discourses and the writings of these Great Personalities one can know how far they had reached and what was the region they had come from.” (Sar Bachan Radhasoami Prose, Book I, 39, Huzur Maharaj Rai Saligram’s Introduction to Swami Ji, The Essence of the Teachings, Dayalbagh translation)



Excerpted from the Introduction to, The Anurag Sagar, by Russell Perkins


“The alert reader of Swami Ji’s Sar Bachan or the books of Sant Kirpal Singh will notice many points of contact. Tulsi Sahib devoted a major portion of one of his principal books to a detailed commentary on certain aspects of the poem. Baba Jaimal Singh considered it to be the most authoritative book on the teachings of the Masters as the following account by his disciple and successor Sawan Singh shows:


“‘On the fourth day I went to attend Satsang. Baba Ji [Baba Jaimal Singh] was at that time explaining the meaning of Jap Ji Sahib. Well, I started my volley of questions-so much so that the audience got tired and began to feel restless at the large number of questions I had put … Now he wanted to point out the way, but I had read Vedanta. When I read Gurbani, my opinion was different; when I read Gita my opinion was again different, and I was unable to come to a decision. At last I applied for eight days leave to enable me to study the teachings of Baba Ji. He advised me to read Kabir Sahib’s Anurag Sagar. I immediately ordered eight copies of this book from Bombay so that I could also give some to my friends…


“‘After several conferences with Baba Ji, I was thoroughly convinced and received initiation from him on the 15th day of October in 1894.’


“That Baba Sawan Singh continued to hold Anurag Sagar in high regard after he became Master is shown by the following account, written by one of his secretaries:


“‘Hazur [Baba Sawan Singh] one day told Seth Vasdev, whose car is always at Hazur’s disposal, that he should read Kabir Sahib’s Anurag Sagar (The Ocean of Intense Love). Hazur said that without studying it, one cannot fully understand the difference between Kal (the negative power) and Dayal Mat (the Path of the true and Merciful God), nor can one fully grasp the teachings of Sant Mat.'” ([Rai Sahib Munshi Ram, “With the Three Masters”, Vol. 2, p.187, old edition] Anurag Sagar – The Ocean of Love, Sant Bani Ashram)


The writings and hymns of Dariya Sahib’s Guru Sat Saheb and Sant Dariya Sahib represent a kind of sequel to, or continuation of, the Anurag Sagar.


“After some time passed in this way, he [Sant Dariya] was blessed with the grace of his Satguru and obtained the gift of the holy Word or the Sound Current. Dariya refers to this fact as follows:


“After some time was spent, knowledge arose


“And I realized that the true Lord [Sat Saheb] had showered his grace.


“He showered his grace with the exceedingly blissful Sound Current,


“And I continued my holy repetition with love and devotion. With the deepening of love, the reflection became pure


“And I obtained the knowledge imparted by the Guru, the true Nam in entirety.”


“It was at the age of twenty that Dariya had the full illumination of inner wisdom. As he says:


“After twenty years had passed,


“The reservoir of inner illumination welled up,


“So that I had the inner experience of all


“And I realized the state of emancipation, free from the cycle of the world.”


“Dariya took the members of his family into confidence and explained to them the way to obtain the secret wisdom through the Satguru. He emphasized the importance of abstaining from eating meat and fish and of abandoning the worship of various gods and goddesses. He pointed out that sages and Saints alone are worthy of our worship. Dariya’s parents, brothers and wife — all accepted his teachings. It is at this time that he completed his first work, Dariya Sagar.”



Rare Words from Sat Saheb, the Guru of Dariya Sahib


“The ultimate Realm is Akah* (Unspeakable)


Which is fully contained within the inner mirror.


The Akah* is the source of true Naam (the Sound Current)


This (Naam) is the truest spiritual technique.”


(Sat Saheb)



[*NOTE: The term “Akah” has been used by Kabir also as the ultimate Abode of Anami Purush.]



“You have been given the seal to imprint the souls,


And you know that the transaction is carried on


through the True Name (SATNAM).


“Whosoever comes, bearing the imprint of your hand


I will take him to the other shore.


“Priceless indeed, is my Name.


Let one hold fast to it with proper concentration.


Near such a person Kal [lord of time, death and illusion] shall not go.


While rising or sitting, let him fix his attention on it,


And let him develop love for the Divine Light within.


Let him abandon all deceptive worship


of the gods and the goddesses.


Let him be absorbed in his real Lord,


realizing Him to be the Truth.


While rising and sitting, the Supreme Lord


should be the center of his attention,


And let him remain merged into the Sound Current.


By taking refuge under the Truth in such a way,


he will certainly overcome Kal.”


— Sat Saheb the spiritual master of Dariya Sahib (speaking to Dariya about his future mission as a Sant Sat Guru. The quote is from K.N. Upadhyaya’s book, one of the few in English to feature excerpts from the many writings of Sant Dariya. And, via email, Domain Singh of the Sant Dariya Mission has expressed to me his approval of Upadhyaya’s book.)



Says Kabir:


“I was being crushed


like seeds in an oil-press —


but the True Guru set me free.


Love, old as all my births,


flickered once again.”


(Songs of Kabir in the Adi Granth, Nirmal Dass, SUNY Press, NY)



For much more, see these excerpts from Kabir and Sant Dharam Das (Dharamdasi Kabir Panth) Texts: Anurag Sagar, Sat Saheb (the guru of Sant Dariya Sahib), and links to documents online related to Guru Kabir, Sant Dharam Das literature (Anurag Sagar and other “sagars” like Amar Mul, and, Brahm Nirupan), and Sant Dariya Sahib of Bihar: https://tinyurl.com/KabirSagars





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