Vedmurthy Taponishtha Pt. Shriram Sharma Acharya - A Visionary of Bright Future
In the long, slow, tedious and meandering march of evolution of human consciousness, culture and civilization, over the millennia, it has been only on rare turning points that Avatar like multi-faceted geniuses with superhuman attributes have appeared on the human scene to raise human consciousness to a higher nobler plane. The Saint-Scholar-Philosopher Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya, undoubtedly, belongs to this small rare group of divine vibhutis. Born on September 20, 1911, in the village of Anwalkheda in Agra District, U.P., India, Acharyashri's whole life was devoted to Bhagirath-like tapasya in clearing the way for the emergence of a new era of universal peace, harmony, and goodwill that could lead to an era of the Descent of Heaven on Earth.
Acharyashri (known as Gurudev by the disciples) scrupulously carried out the biddings of his divine Guru, a great Himalayan Yogi. When he was only fifteen years of age he completed 24 Mahapurascharanas of Gayatri Maha-mantra; took part in the non-violent struggle for India's independence as a volunteer; went to jail a number of times as part of the freedom struggle, and embarked upon the task of social and moral upliftment through spiritual means with the blessings of Mahatma Gandhi.
A sage, a visionary, a social reformer, Acharyashri a 100-points Yug Nirman Yojna for social, intellectual and spiritual evolution. He lived a simple, disciplined life full of devout austerity, visited the Himalayas several times and attained spiritual eminence and foresight.
He translated the entire Vedic Vangmaya in lucid Hindi with eloquent comprehensive introductions and accomplished a feat of writing more than 2400 enlightening books in Hindi on all aspects of life. His writings encompass far-reaching, sagacious and feasible solutions to the innumerable problems of today. The Gayatri Pariwar fraternity, Shantikunj Ashram (the headquarters of Gayatri Pariwar), an academy for moral and spiritual awakening; Brahmavarchas Research Institute which strives to synthesize science with spirituality, Akhand Jyoti Sansthan, Mathura, Gayatri Tapobhumi, Mathura and thousands of social reform and sadhana centres (Shakti Peeths) around the globe are other grand contributions of Yugrishi Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya to the modern world.
Millions of people in India and abroad have been kindled with missionary enthusiasm and zeal to transform their own lives and the society as a whole in the light of Yugrishi's messages. He voluntarily shed his physical sheath on Gayatri Jayanti, June 2,1990 but even after his physical departure from the scene, the Mission spread to global dimensions and 41 Ashwamedha Yagyas (32 in India, 9 abroad, including the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, and South Africa) were performed to carry forward the tasks initiated by the Yugrishi.
Mata Bhagwati Devi Sharma
When Gurudev took Mahasamadhi on June 2, 1990, on the day of Gayatri Jayanti, Mataji took over all the responsibilities of the mission and carried them on with great courage. In October 1990, under Mataji's guidance, the Grand Shraddhanjali Samaroh, a programme to pay homage to Gurudev, was organized. Over 15,00,000 devotees from all over the world participated in it and resolved to carry on the work of Gurudev for the dissemination of the philosophy of Gayatri and Yagya.
In 1992, on Gayatri Jayanti Day, Mataji disclosed Gurudev's message from the subtle and astral realms for the spread of Dev-Sanskriti (divine Indian culture or religious culture) all over the world, for which a series of Grand Ashwamedha Yagyas was to be performed. The series of Ashwamedha Yagyas started from Jaipur in November 1992. Till now, twenty-seven such grand Ashwamedha Yagyas have been celebrated in India and abroad, besides the grand Anwalkheda (birthplace of Acharyaji near Agra, the city of the Taj) Pratham Poornahuti Samaroh in 1995.
