The Eternal Charioteers-1: AKKAL KOT MAHARAJ

The Eternal Charioteer-1

Sree Swami Samarth Maharaj of Akkalkot

Swami Nrusimha Saraswati popularly  known as Sree Akkalkot Maharaj is one of the most revered God men in India.

Life & Times

Birth

The great saint was born to Madhava and Amba Bhavani . He is supposed to have been born around 1275 AD i.e.,in the 13th century in Karanja Nagar in Karnataka South India. He lived a life full of penance spreading enlightenment wherever he went and travelled widely in the subcontinent as well as in near by countries. His leelaas extended well beyond physical limits of the ordinary.He attained Mahaa Samadhi on 30th of April 1878. I leave it to your reasoning about his age, as i have integrated that he must have lived for over 600 years from what has been recorded about his life span.

Childhood

Akkalkot Maharaj was unique from his birth. The child never cried and recited AUM.He was otherwise quiet much to the anguish of his parents who performed the sacred thread ceremony under the impression that he would have a fresh lease of life after being born again when he was 7-9 yrs of age.The child left everyone shocked as he started to recite the four vedaas and left for Kasi in Uttar Pradesh India, after that.

Advent of Swami Nrusimha Saraswathi.

After rigorous penance at Kashi Swami Sri Krishna Saraswati swami initiated him to sanyasa and imbibed him into the order as Srimad Nrusimha Saraswati. He was considered a saint of the highest order and the direct descendent and infact AN incarnation OF LORD DATTHATREYA.

His Mission and Path:
His mission was to definitely spread the order of the gurus in the spiritual realm and both sustain and nurture the parampara.
The saint of Akkalkot was known for rigorous penance! It is said that after reaching Kasi at a young age he performed rigorous penance so much so that Sri Kishna Saraswati had to initiate and rechristen him. Later he performed rigorous penance in the kadali forests on the Sri Sail mountains for 150 years! also it is said that he went into penance for 250 years in the himalayas in the later part of his life.

Another important aspect of his life was piligrimage and extensive travelling. As he  was born in karanja Nagar in karnataka and went to Kashi Uttarpradesh. On his return he stayed at Gangapur Karnataka for a long time.Then he went to Kadali forests and later on it is stated that he visited Asian countries like JAva Sumaathra, Indonesia, and Japan. There are also some testimonials of his visit to China and even Australia. The Maharaj then visited Himalayas to do penance and after that travelled extensively in the sub-continent. Finally he chose Akkalkot as his abode and stayed at the place in Maharastra for 24 years before he attained the maha samaadhi. 

Srimad Nrusimha Saraswathi was very well known for guiding  common man as well as the most enlightened souls known to the modern world. He was known to be very loving towards his devotees and disciples, going to any extent to alleviate their suffering and generate and sustain faith in them.

 Apart from the common man of the time, whose life was touched by the great saint in a manner unparalleled, quite a few of the great souls that graced the earth were guided by him on their mission with him as their Guru. Notable among them are Sai Baba of Shirdi, Swami Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Sri Nrusimha saraswathi of Alandi Popularly known as Alandi Maharaj.

He is also known for his biography which is very popular and is known as the Sri Guru Charithra that talks extensively about his various miracles and his guidance to his devotees. 

Different facets of the Maharaj

The Saint was known by different names at different places till he settled at Akkalkot. Besides being known as Srimad Nrusimha saraswathi he was known as Chanchal Bharathi at some places and Digambar Swami at some places. His long stay at Akkalkot earned him the name Akkalkot Maharaj!

Swami was recorded to be of weird behaviour sometimes and uttered words and phases in strange languages. He was known to have knowledge of past present and the future.However his mannerisms were often weird with hidden spiritual meanings which were difficult to be deciphered by the ordinary.

His profound love for his devotees was what that made people flock to him.He was popular for not discriminating between human beings treated everyone the same irrespective of caste, religion and social class.

Abhijjna explores:

Travel: I found this blog very informative about visiting and Exploring  Akkalkot.

Books: Read online gurucharithra in English -SriGurucharithra

Articles & Info: Found this very helpful.