The dwelling of the divine
In the backyard of a sleepy hamlet near Bhairahawa, Nepal, lies a tiny building—the Mahagathe Ashram. The place is accessible only through mud pathways that serve to mark the boundaries of the fields around. Only a discerning seeker can spot this obscure ashram hidden away from the humdrum of life.
Young, cheerful, and unassuming, Adhishri Paramanugrahito Mahamunivandaru Sritha Mahagatha is the living patriarch of the elusive Rudra Sampradaya. The story of his grace began in a small town in the southern districts of Kerala, a five-hour drive away from the southernmost tip of India— Kanyakumari. When a young man, born into an orthodox Christian family, was led to the Himalayas in 2003, little did he know that he was led by the mystery of Kanyakumari and Kailash. He had nothing to rely upon except the vivid memories of his past lives that spurred him to look for a hermitage in the high Himalayas to complete his spiritual quest. Meeting his master, Shivaswarupa Trika Mahalaya, put an end to his quest.
In 2011, the guru anointed Mahamuni Sritha Mahagatha as the Mahadhibhu of the Dakshina Marga Samayachara Rudra Sampradaya. It is the continuing lineage that traces its origins back to Adiguru Dakshinamurty, the one from whom Mahamuni Sanatkumara received grace and passed it on to Devarshi Narada. It was Devarshi Narada’s intervention that became instrumental in the creation of the magnetic field of spiritual upliftment that links the southernmost point of India with the highest point on earth, the Divine marriage of Kanyakumari with Kailash, immortalised in sanayasa.
Mahamuni Sritha’s mission was decided for him—that of carrying the knowledge of absolute fulfilment to the masses without compromising upon the solitary and contemplative nature of the order. While blissfully staying in his tiny cave beside the master, the young disciple was woken up to the challenges of his mission when the master asked him to go live in the world. The master would often whisper in his ears, “Create a home for the tired seeker.” The Mahagathe Ashram was born from this sacred whisper.
In the valleys of the sacred Himalayas waits a master for the discerning disciple to reach the pinnacle of tantra—Kailash. The ones who cannot make the ascent are not left behind. The master is busy creating clever institutions to keep them on the path. A treasure trove of the ancient vidyas to ascension, passed down carefully from master to master, the Mahagathe Ashram, today, is within the reach of anyone who approaches saying, “Teach me, O venerable one,” the same way as sage Narada approached Mahamuni Sanatkumara.
For more information on Mahagathe Ashram, visit www.mahagathe.org