Hans Ji Maharaj
Overview
Haridwar
Haridwar is an important pilgrimage city and municipality in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, India...
, Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand , formerly Uttaranchal, is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the Land of Gods due to the many holy Hindu temples and cities found throughout the state, some of which are among Hinduism's most spiritual and auspicious places of pilgrimage and worship...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. His parents were Ranjit Singh Rawat and Kalindi Devi. He was considered a Satguru
Satguru
Satguru does not merely mean true guru. The term is distinguished from other forms of gurus, such as musical instructors, scriptural teachers, parents, and so on...
by his students who called him affectionally "Shri Maharaji" or just "Guru Maharaji."
He had a daughter from his first wife Sinduri Devi, and four sons from his second wife Rajeshwari Devi, later known among followers as "Mata Ji" and "Shri Mataji".
At the age of eight, not long after starting at the village school, Hans Ji's mother died.
Quotations
"Religion does not mean to surrender to dogmas and religious scriptures or conformity to rituals. But my religion constitutes an abiding faith in the perfect values of truth and the ceaseless attempt to realise them in the inner most part of our nature." Satgurudev Shri Hans Ji Maharaj, (1970) Albion Press
"God has created the human frame for the express purpose of giving man the opportunity of realizing the Divinity."