Tantrik Maharaja of Darbhanga

I have written before about Maharaja Rameswar Singh an extraordinary King as well as a Tantrik Sadhaka. I amazed having gone through the glimpses of his Worldly manifestation.

The daily routine of महाराजा  रमेश्वर सिंह , the king of दरभङ्गा  (Mithila Region) was an extraordinary occultist and sadhak. He was an exponent of  the science and technology of occult secrets. Maharaja used to get up at 2 AM and do the complete reading of दुर्गा सप्तशति  sitting on his bed itself. After that, he would complete his bath by 3.30 AM and perform सन्ध्या वन्दन  along with सहस्र  गायत्री जप . Thereafter, he used to offer पिण्डदान  of one मण  (approx. 40 kgs) of rice. He used to complete the daily worship of पार्थिव शिवलिङ्ग  in the ब्रह्ममुहूर्त  and then proceed to the temple of Goddess भगवती . Here, he used to perform तान्त्रिक संध्या   and do the पात्रस्थापन  according to the तान्त्रिक  rites. After that he used to perform the worship of Goddess  महाकाली , आवरण पूजा ,जप , पञ्चाङ्ग पाठ ; and then offer पुष्पाञ्जली  along with ककरदिसहस्त्रनाम. After that he performed the  

पूजन तर्पण of कुमारी ,सुवासिनी ,बटुक and partake the महाप्रसाद  and be ready by 10.00 AM.

After taking rest for an hour, he used to perform and supervise his royal duties from 11.00AM-3.30PM. Then, he used to take bath; perform Vedic सन्ध्या and गायत्री जप and complete पार्थिवPuja during प्रदोष  time. During the night, he performed ‘Sngopang Nisharchan, 108 Brahmins collectively chanted Durga Saptashati and 51 Brahmins performed theरुद्राभिषेक . Even otherwise, there used to be continuous reading of सप्तशति , Vedic and तान्त्रिक japa of गायत्री Rudrbhisheka without any break during the day. The king who had converted his entire life into महाअनुष्ठान  was well-read and great scholar. He was an expert in English, French, Bengali, Hindi, and Sanskrit. He was a master of the science of Tantra. In addition, he was well-versed in  वेदान्त , साङ्ख्य योग  and व्याकरण .

He was a generous king who gave whatever was asked of him by the needy. He was a just king who loved by his people. He had n ardent desire that people should be aware of the scientific aspects of Tantra. That is why he organised a conference of all eminent scholars of Tantras during the autumn of the year 1908. Scholarly Brahmins, great sadhaks and scientists attended this conference. पण्डित प्रकाशनन्द झा  of Vaidyanath Dham, पण्डित शिवचरण भट्टाचार्य of Kashi, श्रीविद्या  साधक  पण्डित सुब्रमण्यम शास्त्री , John Woodruff, the president of आगम अनुसंधान समिति , Kolkata were amongst the prominent participants. It was John Woodruff who gets the credit for taking the knowledge and secrets of Tantra to the western world. Alone with Sir John Woodruff, Ivan Stevenson, a great doctor from Britain and scientist by name William Hopkinson had also come. On this occasion, Maharaja of Patiala Bhupendra Singh, who was a friend of Maharaja Rameshwar Singh had also come. He had also become sadhak of Goddess Shakti. Maharaja himself was taking his guests to all the nearby place called Mahishi is the Bhagawati Ugratara Peeth.

The responsibility of presiding over the conference was entrusted to पण्डित शिवचरण भट्टाचार्य, who had given special guidance to the Maharaja in तन्त्र  साधना . He was also the Guru-initiator of John Woodruff. It was the Maharaja who had inspired John Woodruff to get initiated into शक्ति साधना  by पण्डित शिवचरण भट्टाचार्य. Panditji was telling – “Tantra is the science of study and research of energies that flow within an individual and in the entire creation. Tantra believes that Shakti energises every atom of the universe. It is a different matter that this energy flow is sometimes dormant and at others active. This energy manifests itself in infinite forms. But there are 10 fundamentals energy streams that are also called ‘दश महाविद्या 

पण्डित शिवचरण भट्टाचार्य, the pre-eminent scientist of Tantra was revealing these facts. He was telling that the energy that flows in the universe flows in the individual in the form of the प्राण . It is through these energy streams that the universes have been created. He then requested महाराजा  रमेश्वर सिंह to speak on the topic of streams of प्राण that flows in the individual’s body. He also announced that the flows of energies in the universe will be explained by पण्डित सुब्रमण्यम शास्त्री. Maharaja accepted this command of पण्डित शिवचरण भट्टाचार्य hesitantly and got up to speak. He was looking extremely majestic and grand with his round face, bushy moustache, towering height, wheatish complexion and a tilak with ashes in the middle of his brow.

“The five प्राणand five उपप्राण described in the Vedas are the ‘दश महाविद्या present in the body of individual which connect him to the universe.

(1).The first महाविद्या resides in the reproductory organ in the form of महाकाली  – अपान  and its उपप्राण  in the form of कूर्म .

(2).षोडशी  and भुवनेश्वरी – प्राण  and its उपप्राण  resides in the heart in the form of नाग .

(3)भैरवी and छिन्नमस्ता  reside in throat in the form

of उदान and देवदत्त .

(4)धूमावती  andबगलामुखी  res ide in the navel region in the form

 of समान  and कृकल .

(5)मातङ्गी  and कमला  reside in the brain in the form of व्यान  and धनञ्जय .

Maharaja paused for a while and then said – “I have had the vision of महामाया  in all these forms as I have described till now.”

Everyone present was stupefied at the knowledge that Maharaja shared from his experiences. After Maharaja has taken his seat, पण्डित शिवचरण भट्टाचार्य signaled  पण्डित सुब्रमण्यम शास्त्री to deliver his talk. A few years ago, he had initiated Maharaja in a special दीक्षा  called साम्राज्य  मेधा  of Tantra Sadhana. He had a brilliant voice.

He began to speak in a serious tone:

“In this vast universe, the energy of आदिविद्या महाकाली  is active from midnight 12 O clock till sunrise.  महाकाल is the भैरव  and he is worshipped during the महारात्री .The भैरव   of महाविद्या तारा  is अक्षोभ्य . Her energies are active during sunrise and the best time for worship is क्रोधरात्री . Theभैरव  of षोडशी ,  is the five-faced शिव  whose power is active during the दिव्यरात्री . The भैरव  of fourth महाविद्या भुवनेश्वरी  is त्र्यंबक शिव . The time of sunrise is the period when this power is active. The upasana is done during शुद्धरात्री . The fifth महाविद्या is भैरवी and her भैरव  is दक्षिणामूर्ति . The active period is after sunrise. The upasana is done during कालरात्रि . The sixth महाविद्या is छिन्नमस्ता  and her भैरव   is कबन्ध शिव . The active period is during the afternoon and the upasana is done during वीर रात्रि  Seventh महाविद्या is धूमावती and her भैरव is अघोर रुद्र . He is active post-noon. The upasana is done during दारुण रात्री  Eighth महाविद्या is बगलामुखी and her भैरव is एकवक्त्र महारुद्र . The active period is in the evening and upasana is done during वीर रात्रि  . The ninth महाविद्या is मातङ्गी and her भैरव is मातङ्गशिव . The first phase of night is the active period and upasana is done during मोह रात्रि .भगवती कमला  is the tenth महाविद्या  and her भैरव is सदाशिव . The second phase of the night is the active period and upasana is done during महारात्रि . It is with ten महाविद्या that universe has been created and hence this is also called the science of creation (सृष्टि विद्या ).”

In this way, several expansive discussions took place during the conference untill evening. After seeking Maharaja’s permission, John Woodruff and his scientist friends examined Maharaja using several instruments. After their measurements, they had to announce that the levels of pranic electricity and bio-magnetism in a तन्त्र साधक  were extraordinarily higher than found in a normal person. On hearing this, महाराजा  रमेश्वर सिंह laughed and said – “Actually this is the result of union of the visible with the invisible.”