Hanut Singh

Hanut Singh, revered by those who knew him as one of Shivabalayogi's most senior and respected devotees, and a great saint in his own right, completed his earthly life of almost eighty-two years on Friday, April 10, 2015.

Since taking Shivabalayogi's initiation in 1968, Lt. Gen. Hanut Singh Rathore (ret.) practiced meditation daily without fail during front-line service in wartime (see World Peace) and throughout his active service as a senior officer in the Indian army. Even in later years as his health deteriorated, General Hanut insisted upon maintaining his meditation practice.

General Hanut's passing matched his spiritual greatness. This last Friday during his regular meditation, General Sahib simply remained in samadhi, his body and head erect. After some twenty hours in samadhi, his soul left his body.

True mahatmas, the great spiritual souls, often remain out of the public eye. General Hanut was such a spiritual giant. He avoided public controversies, and rather than talking about spiritual matters, he quietly practiced them. Yet his contribution to Shivabalayogi's devotees is immense.

Those who have read a book about Shivabalayogi and been inspired, should know that it was General Hanut who put together and wrote the first comprehensive book on Swamiji,  Shri Shri Shri Shivabalayogi Maharaj, Life & Spiritual Ministration, which was the basis for all other books written on Swamiji.

Read more about General Hanut
at the Shivabalayogi website.

If anyone has had the opportunity to visit the Shivabalayogi ashram in Dehradun, it was General Hanut who was largely responsible for preserving it for Swamiji's mission. It was Shivabalayogi's idea that Gen. Hanut should build his retirement cottage on the ashram grounds. Shri Swamiji would spend a few weeks each year at the Dehradun ashram, but when the great Yogi was away, General Hanut's presence, his encouragement for Seenu Dixitar, the ashram caretaker, and a degree of financial support, and the General's own intense spiritual practice all helped preserve the ashram for over two decades. One can only suspect that this was Shivabalayogi's plan.

During the uncertainty and confusion after Shivabalayogi's own mahasamadhi, when Seenu was compelled to sit for five years of meditation in the Dehradun ashram, it was General Hanut who supported and protected him, enabling Seenu to assume the name and role of Shivarudrabalayogi.

Through the example and devotion of General Hanut, many other Indian army officers came to Shivabalayogi and became not only devotees, but sincere sadhakas, those who practice sadhana — meditation. They would spend time with Shivabalayogi at the Dehradun ashram and helped organize devotees' excursions to visit Badrinath and Kedarnath in the Himalayas and bathe in the Ganges.

Those who know a little about this great saint should will surely be inspired by his example. Shivabalayogi's only teaching was to encourage the daily practice of meditation. Shivabalayogi has many devotees, but few were able to take his teaching to heart. General Hanut was universally respected as one such committed devotee.

Certainly, all Shivabalayogi devotees owe a large debt of gratitude to the great soul who lived the life of General Hanut Singh.

The Passing of Chinakka, Swamiji's Sister

Dear Fellow Devotees of Swamiji Shri Shri Shri Shivabalayogi Maharaj,

We wish to inform you of the sad demise of Swamiji’s elder sister (the younger of His two elder sisters) at 12:30 AM on Monday the 3rd of March 2014 at Adivarapupeta. Her name was Sathyam Bondu, however she was known to devotees of Swamiji as "Chinnakka." She was about 88 years of age and died of old age. She was the last surviving sibling of Shivabalayogi.

She was doing quite well until the last few days and used to participate in the mass feeding being conducted at the ashram every fortnight – on the full moon and new moon days.

I had been to Adivarapupeta, along with forty other devotees from Bangalore, to participate in the Mahashivaratri celebrations on the 27th and 28th of February. We missed Chinnakka at the ashram during the Mahashivaratri. We were told that she was at the ashram towards the end of January but later fell sick due to high blood sugar levels and was hospitalised for a couple of days. She was discharged from the hospital two days before she passed away. We were at Adivarapupeta when Chinnakka passed away. Early in the morning we went to the house of "Annavaram," one of Chinnakka’s sons, to pay our last respects to her by garlanding her body and performing a puja to it. Later, her body was taken around the village in a procession as per the local custom and was also brought to the ashram to Swamiji’s Samadhi. All her surviving sons and daughters-in-law were with her during her last days as they had been informed about the deterioration of her health.

She is survived by four of her sons, daughters-in-law and several grandchildren. Chinnakka and her children served Swamiji for several years traveling with Him and attending to His personal needs. May Swamiji bless her soul with peace!

Regards, Jagadish.

Passings: Bhadra Rao & S. Veereshaiah

We remember Kaleakanda Bhadra Rao (left), who was a childhood playmate of Swamiji in Adivarapupeta, and Mr. S. Veereshaiah (right), who hosted Swamiji in Dombivli (Bombay suburb). Both recently passed away. The links are to pages about these devotees in the Soul Connections section of the Shivabalayogi website.

Tabla Thatha Thimmappa

Tabla Thatha Thimmappa passed away peacefully at about 6:00 PM on April 23. He was about 110 years of age.

Tabla Master, so known because of his skill playing the tabla drums during bhajans, was an ardent devotee of Swamiji since 1963 and a very active member of the Bangalore bhajan group. He could often be seen at the Bangalore ashram, encouraging the bhajan group, singing, and driving the beat playing cymbals. He was a short man, well built, and of seemingly timeless age.

It was Tabla Master who helped instigate the practice of the Bangalore and other pilgrims parading through Adivarapupeta village behind a photo of Shivabalayogi on their way to the ashram for Mahashivaratri.

He was quite healthy right until the end -- besides being hard of hearing and cataract in both eyes. He stopped taking solid food for the previous few days and lived on fluids.

Several of Thatha Thimmappa's children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren are Swamiji’s devotees now.

We know that Shri Swamiji will guide this devotee on his onward journey with much peace.