scribbled on twenty-five pages, he wrote twenty-five pages of slokas. Occasionally, she would return for a second session of scribbling and Shastriji wrote more pages of poetry.
The book Shastriji was beginning to write was "Shrisadashiv Charitamrit," the book which chronicles the "Babaji leela" from discussions among the gods, through His manifestations in the eras of Lord Ram and Lord Krishna, and on up through that of 'Old Haidakhan Baba' (and now - as of December 1983 - the latest manifestation of Shri Babaji). While Shastriji was writing this book, Mahendra Maharaj used to come to Shastriji's home every week or ten days to check on the progress of the writing.
One evening, as Shastriji was reciting to Mahendra Baba what had been written recently, he came to a description of the Divine Mother. As Shastriji recited this, he saw Mahendra Maharaj's body turn into that form of the Divine Mother that his slokas described. Suddenly, there was 'Ma,' wearing a red sari, with a big red spot of kum-kum in the middle of her forehead, wearing a jeweled nose-ring - altogether a beautiful form beautifully adorned. Shastriji was greatly frightened, but he could not stop his recitation. This experience continued for a full twenty-five minutes, while Shastriji recited, by the end of which he was drenched in sweat from his nervousness. When the recitation ceased, the familiar form of Mahendra Maharaj was straightening out his beard and mustache; he slapped his right thigh and said to Shastriji, "You got scared by just this much?"
The following day Mahendra Maharaj enriched Shastriji's powerful spiritual experience by directing the family to a Hanuman temple some miles outside of Rajgarh where Mahendra Maharaj sat, with Shastriji at his side, and sang a religious song to Lord Hanuman three times. By the time Mahendra Maharaj had repeated the song the third time, Shastriji saw the statue of Hanuman come alive and begin to expand immensely. Shastriji was so frightened that he fainted. When Mahendra Baba brought Shastriji out of his faint, Mahendra took the family on to an ancient and particularly holy Shiva temple. There, both Mahendra Baba and Shastriji took ritual baths and then Mahendra Baba directed Shastriji in giving the Shiva lingam at the temple a ritual bath.
The result of this series of powerful experiences was to put Shastriji into such a trance that for a full six months thereafter he had no feelings: he did not experience hunger or thirst; he did not feel like temple worship because if he went to a temple or to a Shivalingam he saw only Babaji standing there blinking His eyes.
Shastriji had no desire to speak and he remained silent. His wife became quite worried about Shastriji and called some doctors to examine him; they reported that he was perfectly all right, he was just not speaking.
Throughout this six months, Shastriji 'saw things' - "like a whole show, going on and on." He watched these 'visions' and wrote what he saw - whatever passed before his eyes. He had never gone to Haldwani or been in that area, but, during this period, he had visions of how Haidakhan started (early in Creation), how it changed and grew. He saw the Haidakhan Cave formed, saw the trees as they grew. He saw the similar growth of each of Shri Babaji's ashrams. He 'saw' Lord Shiva and other gods and 'listened' to their conversations; he saw Shiva/Babaji play His role in Lord Ram's time and in Krishna's time. And what he saw, he wrote - in Sanskrit verse, in the same meter in which the Ramayana was written. And when, years later, he went to Haidakhan, Siddhashram, Kathgharia, and other Babaji ashrams, he saw that his descriptions were accurate.58
The visions were received by Vishnu Dutt Mishra in 1954 and 1955, and he wrote then the Sanskrit slokas which describe what he saw. In the following two years, Shastriji composed Hindi verse translations of the Sanskrit slokas and added commentary in Hindi. The book, with eight chapters, was published in 1959, and the Rajah of Alwar had a limited edition printed in gold leaf.
The second chapter of "Shrisadashiv Charitamrit" relates a number of conversations between Lord Shiva and other gods and goddesses. One of these conversations, between Lord Shiva and His Shakti (called Jagadamba, the Universal Mother, in this instance) contains the following statements.
Jagadamba requested Lord Shiva to go to the world to help mankind, and Shiva replied:
"To make You happy, I will go to the world as Sadguru Mahavatar Shri Haidakhandi Baba."
Jagadamba responded:
"As I am the other half of Your body, I should be Your first disciple. I would like to precede You in the world and tell Your world about Your Glory. I will be instrumental in bringing all the people of the world to You. As Your disciple, I want always to remain with You. My name should be Shri Charanashrit Shri Paramguru Mahendra Maharaj."59
Lord Shiva granted Jagadamba's request and continued:
"When I come to the world, I will first go to the Kumaon and appear in a cave at the base of Mount Kailash. Although I will go around the world as an immortal saint, I will come for some time to the caves of Kumaon.
"In that place there is an herb called 'Haira'; the Gautam Ganga flows there twenty-four hours a day; nearby there is a beautiful cave. This place will become famous in the world as 'Haidakhan Vishwa Mahadham.'60 This place I love. I will become known as 'Haidakhan Baba.' People of the area will have My first darshan in the form of a divine, pure, peaceful sadhu."
"Whoever reaches this place will not be touched by the evils of the Kali Yuga. I shall grant the wishes of all who come. I shall perform great yagyas [fire ceremonies] there and people from all over the world can have My darshan there. I Myself shall tell people how they are to worship Lord Shiva. I will give the greatest mantra to the people - Om Namah Shivaya - and I will go from house to house, telling them to repeat this mantra."61
The fourth chapter of "Shrisadashiv Charitamrit" records, among other things, teachings of Shri Babaji as He spoke (in Shastriji's visions) to saints and siddhas who came to Him and asked Him to teach them. One of the basic teachings of Shri Babaji in these visions centered on the repetition of God's Names. Babaji is quoted as saying:
"To realize the Universal Soul - the Soul of men and of Nature - only the Name of the Lord can help. There is no difference between Name and Form. By practicing the repetition of the Lord's Name, the devotee becomes the Name Itself - the Name of the Lord. His Form and the one reciting the Name unite: the Name is the Lord. To reach the Ultimate, the practice of the repetition of the Lord's Name is the best practice."
"The Lord Himself resides in the heart of him who recites His Name."
"The mixing of Truth, Simplicity, and Love with the Lord's Name gives 'tasty food'; then the Lord is happy. The best and easiest religious practice (sadhana) in the world is nama japa [repetition of the Name]. Its recitation with faith leads to the ultimate happiness. To recite the Lord's Name with every breath is the way to work properly; it creates a divine atmosphere.
"All material wealth, all attachments will pass; the one thing that is permanent is the Word of the Lord. Awake, and forget your worries!"
Shri Sambasadashiv is quoted in this Chapter as saying:
"I Myself always recite the Name of the Lord; that is why I am happy. Only those reciting the Name of the Lord with every breath are true karma yogis.62 There is no knowledge without the Name of the Lord. You speak so many words, but not the Name of the Lord."
"Have faith! Reciting the Name of the Lord is not the first, but the last stage of spiritual practice."
"When lions enter the forest, the other animals run away. Likewise, all evil thoughts will vanish with the recitation of the Lord's Name. Reciting the Name of the Lord will bring you the company of good people and you will be near saints. Blessed are the few who will discard the kingdom of the world for the Lord's Name. Such a devotee always resides in My heart;"
