Obituary : Pramukh Swami Maharaj (7 December 1921 – 13 August 2016)

On 13 August 2016, His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj the fifth successor of Bhagwan Swaminarayan passed into eternity. Under his guidance, the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha became a vibrant Hindu movement spearheading social service and spirituality. In typical Hindu fashion, it also transcended the sectarianism of creeds to sow the seeds of genuine love and peace. It is said it takes one great soul to recognise another.

The world would have considered Pramukh Swami Maharaj as just another spiritual leader who gave lectures and spiritual solace to his devotees but for Dr APJ Abdul Kalam who had an inborn navigational ability to identify the spiritual sources of energy and highlighting their contribution to nation building.

In his book ‘Transcendence’, the late former President recorded his ‘spiritual experiences with Pramukh Swamiji’. This book provides amazing insights into the significance of the work that this spiritual giant has done in transforming Indian populations which came in contact with him into networks for making India achieve her mission of creating the future empire which should be the empire of the mind.

Dr Kalam first met Swamiji soon after he penned down his best seller ‘India 2020’. That was in 2001. The picture shows the missile scientist seated on the floor with the other saffron-robbed disciples of the Swamiji and listening earnestly. The Pramukh Maharaj asked Dr Kalam also to add faith in Divine to his five thrust areas.

He also gave a simple but effective direction - development through spirituality. Since then in many of his subsequent lectures and books Dr Kalam had championed this idea - he had pointed out how spirituality can become the vehicle for socio-economic development and can even become technology hubs for the alleviation of human sufferings.

If today other spiritual organisations like Mata Amritanandamayi Institutions show a particular interest in becoming technological centres of excellence for social development, it is because of this inspiration which Dr.Kalam disseminated. BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha itself has made tremendous contribution to environment: seven million aluminium cans and 5000 tons of paper recycled; 1.5 million trees planted in 2170 villages; 5475 wells recharged in 338 villages; solar energy and biogas installations in its temples; 497 rainwater harvesting projects completed; 34 National livestock awards for the cattle farms they run. (Pankaj Jain, Dharma and Ecology of Hindu Communities: Sustenance and Sustainability, 2016).

In the book, Dr Kalam narrates an extraordinary event in the life of Pramukh Swami Maharaj. In the Saurashtra region, there existed bitter rivalry between two villages: Kukad and Odarkra.And it had also engulfed forty-four surrounding villages. With each succeeding generation, the bitterness and intensity of violence increased, and it became a usual occurrence that men got killed, and cremation fires always burned in the village borders. This hostility continued for 200 years. Starting from British authorities to independent India, the Gujarat government could not bring peace there. In 1980 Pramukh Swamiji transformed the life of the most violent person in the Odarka village, and this had a cascading effect. On 12 April 1990, Pramukh Swamiji gathered the meeting of the village communities. That was the first meeting the villagers had assembled without weapons and with open hearts. The villages had earlier made rules not even to share water. The sage gathered water from the wells in the sacred pot and performed Puja. Then he personally served the water to each of the warring leaders thus dissolving their pledge not to share water with his love. Dr Abdul Kalam narrating this episode concludes: ‘Pramukh Swamiji gave life to the Vedic concept of ajastashatru - one with no enemies.’

The following passages of Dr Kalam shall remain forever the best tribute made to the great soul which has merged in the cosmic silence:

The genius of Dr.Kalam is that he saw the global activity of BAPS under Pramukh Swamiji in the context of India’s role in a globally interconnected humanity.

Today both Dr APJ Kalam and HH Pramukh Swami Maharaj are not with us physically. But they have left us enriched and empowered with their thoughts, words and deeds. In taking further their mission and vision lie our real tribute to their memories.