Sant Nitanand Ji Maharaj: A Brief Bio-Sketch Sant Nitanand s childhood name was Nand Lal. he was born at Lal Haveli, Misrawara Mohalla, Narnaul (Haryana) to Smt. Saraswati Devi and Shri Durga Dutt who was the fifth descendent of Raja Birbal; and during 1700 AD he was a Diwan in Raj Darbar of Maharaja Surajmal of Bharatpur (Rajasthan). Nand Lal served as Tehsildar at Vrindavan of Bharatpur Riyasat. His service came as blessing in disguise as here Nand Lal came into contact with the famous Vaishnav Sant Swami Gumani Ram Ji. Accidently, in the year 1763 AD, his father s haveli at Narnaul was looted and leaving his father dead in utter shock. tx es a FkksMk+ thouk] djs gosyh ckx A Jag mein Thora Jeevana, kre havelli bag furkuun os py x;s] fp.kh fp.kkbz R;kx AA Nitanand vai chal gayai,, cheeni cheenai tyag. With such belief, Nand Lal immediately resigned his job. Maharaja tried to persuade him and offered more pay & perks but Swami ji did not budge and left Bharatpur with just one horse which the Maharaja presented to him with the hope that if he changes his mind, he may return to Bharatpur. One day Swami ji meet Swami Gumani Ram ji in the forest of Rewari Swami ji left the horse in his maternal grandfather house. His maternal grandfather Sitab Rai was as a Raja of Rewari (Haryana) who also tried to dissuade Swami ji from following the path he had chosen. However, Swami ji remained firm on his decision. Here from, Swami ji stayed in the Ashram of Sant Swami Gumani Ram Ji in the forest nearby Rewari. Swami ji begged for diksha from Guru Gumani Ram ji. Considering true will and request of Nand Lal, Sant Swami Gumani Ram ji accepted him as his disciple and renamed him as Nitanand.
Vs<s+ Vs<s + pkyrs] Vs<+h /kjrs ikxa Tedai Tedai Chaltai, Tedei Dhartai paag xq: xqekuh nkl th] fn;k Kku csjkxaa Guru Gumani dass ji, Diya Gian Vairaag One day Swami Gumani Ram ji went out leaving Swami ji in the ashram. Seth Himamt Ram of village Bahoo Jholari came and sat on pious seat of Guru Gumani Ram Ji. Swami ji could not tolerate this deed and asked the visitor to leave the seat. Seth Himmat Ram ji in exchange uttered no word and left the Ashram. After this incident, Swami ji remained upset for the whole day. When Guru Gumani Ram ji came back in the evening, he narrated the entire episode to Guru Ji who immediately came to realize the gravity of Swami ji mistake. As the following vani says: xksfoun ls xq: vf/kd gs] xq: ls vf/kd gs lk/k A Govind Se Guru Adhik Hain, Guru Se Adhik Hain Sadh, furkukun ;g xr y[ks] ftu dh cqf+) vxk/kaa Nitanand yah gat lakhe, Jin ki Budhi Agadh. In fact, even as a grihastha, Seth Himmat Ram ji of village Bahoo Jholari was an enlightenment Swami Gumani Ram ji. Swami Nitanand ji go to Seth Himmat Ram s place and keep quiet till Seth ji says something to him. On reaching village Bahoo Jholari, Swami ji stood quiet in front of the gate of Seth Himmat Ram ji. One whole day (24 hours) passed before Seth s wife exhorted Himmat Ram ji to be kind on this sadhu standing quietly on gate since long. Baba Himmat Ram smiled and asked Swami ji to come in and stay in house. Actually, Baba Himmat Ram s wife was so bitter and ill-tempered that servants could stay long in her association but Swami ji had to learn tolerance. The same has been narrated through his vani: furkuun djok opu] eq[k ls dns uk cksya Nitanand karwa vachan, mukh se kadai na Bol. tks dksbz cksys vkidks] rks eu jk[k vmksy AA Jo koi bole Aapko, Tou mun Rakh Adol.
This way household chores and under guidance of Seth Himmat Ram continued for about one year. Afterward, Seth ji directed Swami ji to move from there for further penance in the forest named Jatela that is about 13 miles away from village Bahoo Jholari. The same place, now-a-days, is known Tapobhoomi Jatela Dham. During those days, there were two famous ponds, Jatela which was in between forest and the Jagsisar near village Bigowa (Mahmudpur). The surrounding village is Majra (Dubaldhan) in the East, Village Baas in the West, Village Siwana in North and Bigowa (Mahmudpur) in the south. As commanded by the Guru, Swami ji started a tough living is the forest and did Tapsaya dedicatedly and fearlessly on less food collected in alms from the nearby villages. The beggar cannot be a chooser and during whole day, Swami ji used to beg only once from seven houses. Without speaking, he would take breathe thrice in front of one house and would hastily move to the next. In this way, he would collect food in alms if some were quick in offering him happily. Many times he would return without food. Actually by this time, Nitanand had attained the highest spiritual stage of Godhood. He says in vaani:- Jis Van Mein Pritam mile, Dhan Dhan Van Soai ftl ou esa izhre feys] /ku /ku ou lks;sa Jaal Karil Suhavanai, Rahe Kalap Taroo Hoai tky djhy lqgkous] jgs dyi r: gks;saa Nitanand had experienced the real abode of God and said:,d :e ds rst esa] lwjt dksfv vuura Ek room ke tej me, Suraj koti anant,slh Nfc ml iho dh] furkuun csvuraa Esi chhabi us peev ki, Nitanand beant On one occasion in village Mahmudpur, a Charandassi Mahant organized satsang. Nitanand heard the voice of music and song when he by chance had gone near Jagsisar pond. He decided to attend the satsang and it was first time Nitanand also sung his song in such a gathering and so melodiously:
lks;h tu elrkuk] tks ikos in fuozkuka Soi Jan Mastana, Jin paya pad Nirvana furkuun egcwc xqekuh] vc fu p; dj tkukaa Nitanand Mahboob Gumani, Abh Nischey kar Jana. Till then, the village people used to call Swami ji a mad sadhu. On hearing first ever melodious song of Swami ji, The Mahant was astonished and praised him. The deep and true meaning of the song being spiritual of highest order, impressed upon every listener Swami ji used to go on begging after sunset. One day, a Jat had prepared Kadai (Delicious Food) for Devi Maa but in haste offered alsm to Nitanand from the same food without offering the same to Devi Maa first. On the same night, Devi Maa appeared in dream and said to the Jat that she was still hungry because Sant Nitanand whom her food had been offered was much more powerful than her. Thereafter, Jat was awakened and decided to worship the Sant in future and not Devi. His family has been worshiping in Jatela Dhaam since then on every purnima. After this the fragrance of enlightenment made Swami ji famous in the area. Thirteen disciples came and obtained Diksha from him. Swami Dhyan Dass ji, the first disciple of Swami Ji started collection of spoken and written sabadvani that Swami ji had attend here and there written on the plain walls with a piece of coal apart from writing on available papers and in total about 5026 vani have been collected and compiled. Now these have been printed in book form and titled as Satya Sidhant Parkash Sabad Vani Sangrah of Swami Nitanand Ji. All the vani was being written in Makan Saheb which was near village Majra in these times. The whole of the Granth Saheb was written and uttered in Makan Saheb. It is the main seat of Swami Nitanand ji. Once the village Majra experience a severe draught, even fodder could not became available for the animals. All villages decided go to Malwa (Now in Madhya Pradesh) Swami ji also accompanied them. There Thakur Mahu Singh served Swami ji with intense devotion. One day Swami ji decided to leave his body which make all the disciples and followers said. On the prayer of Swami Dhyan Dass ji Swami ji consolidated them that he will be in his body for 16 years on returning to Majra.
In Riyasat Jaipur, Swami ji alongwith Dhyandass ji and other sadhus proceeded to visit Dadu ji Gurudwara at Nirana. When Dhyan Dass ji asked Swami ji about some valuable gift to offer in gurudwara, Sawami ji said that vani would be the biggest Gift to Daduji. Here five famous vani were spoken by Nitanand ji to pray and worship Sant Dadu Ji: nknw vknw ihj gsa]a vejiwjh ds jkoa Dadu Adu Pir Hain, Amarpuri ke Rao. furkuun fltnk djs] cm+h HksaV gs Hkko AA Nitanand Sijda Karai, Bari Bhaint Hain Bhav. nknw th rqe dks ueksa] lc laru ds lkfk A Dadu Ji Tum Ko Namo, Sab Santan ke sath. furkuun fny ls djs] lqfu;ks lrxq: ukfkaa Nitanand dil Se karai, Sunio Satguru Nath. vejiqjh ds pksd esa] nknw dk fu kku A Amarpuri ke Choke Mein, Dadu ka Nisan. furkuun ns[kh dgs] le>s lar lqtkuaa Nitanand Dekhi Kahai, Samjhai Sant Sujjian. nknw vknw tqxka ds] vkt dky ds ukghaa Dadu Adu jugon ke, Aaj kaal ke Nahein. jke punz yadk p<s+] nknw ny ds ekgha AA Ram chander lanka chadhey, Dadu Dal ke Mahin. nknw th vkxs x;s] ge Hkh ihns tk;sa Dadu Ji Agai Gayai, Hum Bhi Pichhai jayai furkuun dks fey fy;ksa] yech djds ckgasaa Nitanand Ko mil Lio, Lambi karke Bahin. On Return from Nirana Gurudwara, Sawmi ji heard that Baba Himat Ram had left for heavenly abode leaving behind his wife alone. Nitanand visited village Bahoo Jholari time and again to consol her and one of the disciples was left permanently in the service of that old lady.
One day Birjoo of village Majra got involved in a fight and the enemy cut his neck by hitting a sword. Birjoo holding his neck immediately rushed to meet swami ji so as to save his life. Sant showed mercy on Birjoo who in turn found his neck soon recovered in its original shape. lrxq: dh izhfr ls] dv tk;s dky dyada MSatguru ki priti se kat jai kaal kalank furkuun mits ugha] tue ej.k dh kadaa Nitanand upjai nahi janam maran ki shank. A contemporary Sant Hari Dass ji (Dadu Panthi) was closely known to Sawmi ji, therefore Dhyan Dass ji was directed to go to call him from village Raneela. Actually Dhyan Dass Ji was very emotional by nature so Swami Ji wanted to leave for heavenly abode in his absence so that he could not interrupt in this deed and accordingly in vikrami samvat 1896 Bhadav Sudi Eakam Swami ji departed from this world saying that my body neither be buried or burnt but to be left in open and quoted Vani: tks izk.kh ej tk;] mls uk tkfj;sa Jo purani Mar Jayai, Usey Na jariae. gkfkksa gkfk mbk;] taxy esa Mkfj;s Hathon Hath Uthai, Jangal Mein Dariae. lc i{kh fey [kka;as] fd phjsa pke dksa Sab paksi Mil Khain, Ki Chirain Cham ko. Hkj tk ftug dk isv] nqvk ns jke dks AA Bhar jai Jineh Ka pait, Duva Dain Ram Ko. Popularly it is known to the people of this village that the khadau (paduka/wooden sandels) which were left with the dead body had suddenly fallen from the sky in front of the gathered public when they were departing from Jatela on this occasion. People astonishingly looked back and saw the body of Sant was not where they had left it. It is believed that Nitanand departed in heavenly abode along with his body leaving behind his Khadau (paduka/ wooden sandels).
The old belongings of Sant Nitanandji are still preserved at Makan Saheb Majra and these are: (1) One Niwar made Cot (2) One gudrei (Bed Sheet) (3) One lotta to Utensil for drinking water (4) One katori (5) Pair of Paduka (Wooden Sandles). On Annual celebrations, every year in Phalgun festival on Purinima (Holi), Dhulandi these are shown to the devotees. PANTH PARNALI Satguru Swami Gumani Ram(Istdev) Founder Sant Swami Nitanand Maharaj ji Swami Dhayandass Maharaj ji Swami Vichitardass Maharj ji Swami Bisandass Maharaj ji Swami Gokuldass Maharaj ji Swami Danidass Maharaj ji Swami Chitradass Maharaj ji Swami Bharatdass Maharaj ji Swami Rajenderdass Maharaj ji (Present Mahant)