Sant Rampal Ji Maharaj

Sant Rampal Ji Maharaj

Introduction

Sant Rampal Ji was born on the 8th of September 1951 in village Dhanana, District Sonipat, Haryana, India. Sant Rampal ji was of very religious nature from childhood. After obtaining a diploma in engineering, He was appointed as a junior engineer in irrigation department in Haryana Government. One day Sant Rampal Ji met Swami Ramdevanand Ji, a 107 year old Kabir Panthi saint who gave Sant Rampal Ji the true knowledge about Supreme God and the way to salvation. Sant Rampal Ji took naam (initiation) on 17th of February 1988 and did worship of Satnam and Sarnam and as a result saw and met Supreme God Kabir Sahib. In 1994 Sant Rampal Ji was ordered by Swami Ramdevanand Ji to give naam (initiation).

Sant Rampal Ji thereafter started propagating the true knowledge of Kabir Sahib and the path of true worship. This duty was overwhelming and therefore in 1995, Sant Rampal Ji Maharaj resigned from his job after serving for 18 years. The propagation of true knowledge has led to a social and religious reform in the society, at least amongst his disciples.

Teachings

Sant Rampal Ji says that we are all children of One Supreme God and we should only worship Him, The Creator.

जीव हमारी जाती है, मानव धर्म हमारा।

हिन्दू मुस्लिम सीख ईसाई धर्म नहीं कोई न्यारा ॥

The knowledge that Sant Rampal Ji gives proves that Supreme God Kabir Sahib is the Creator. He is the Master of infinite universes. Brahm (ब्रह्म) is the son of Kabir Sahib and is the master of 21 brahmands. Brahm is also known as Kaal (काल), Jyoti Niranjan (ज्योति निरंजन) or Kshar Purush (क्षर पुरुष). God Brahm / Kaal is the father of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, and Goddess Durga is their mother. Kaal has woven a web via Durga and his 3 sons (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva) which has misled people into an illusion. As a result of this they do not worship the Supreme God. They worship various gods and goddesses and thus incur misery and cannot find eternal peace and are far far away from salvation. This is very clearly evident in the Bhagavad Gita but is not known to the masses.

Social Reform

The rules laid down by Sant Rampal Ji promote equality, better moral values, good conduct and denounce social evils like dowry and consuming intoxicants. All the disciples are required to follow a few rules to be able to take naam (initiation). If they do not follow the rules, they cease to be a disciple of Sant Rampal Ji and have to take naam again. Some of the rules laid down by Satguru Rampal Ji are as follows

  • Consumption of intoxicating substances such as alcohol, tobacco, cannabis etc is prohibited. Disciples are not even allowed to offer these things to anyone let alone consume them.
  • Consumption of meat is prohibited. To kill a living being and then eat them is a sin and hence is prohibited.
  • Untouchability is prohibited. All human beings are considered equal and disciples are required to refrain from practising untouchability.
  • Men and Women are considered equal. Men and Women have equal privileges be it religious or social. Both men and women can take naam (initiation) and do worship without any restrictions.
  • Giving and accepting dowry is prohibited.
  • Adultery is prohibited. Adultery is considered a heinous sin.
  • Gambling & playing cards is prohibited. 
  • Singing and dancing is prohibited. Dancing has got nothing to do with devotion and hence is prohibited. Likewise, singing vulgar songs is prohibited as it is derogatory to human values.
  • Unnecessary charity is prohibited. It is better to feed a beggar than giving them money as alms, as it can be misused.
  • To criticise and hear criticism is prohibited.

Religious Reform

Sant Rampal Ji has based all his teachings upon various Holy Scriptures such has the Vedas, Shrimad Bhagavad Gita, Shri Guru Granth Sahib, Quran Sharif, Bible, Purans etc. Apart from these, the spiritual teachings and worshipping practices are based upon texts of Kabir Sahib and Garib Das Ji Maharaj.

Mainstream religious practices prevalent currently among various religions and especially in Hinduism have digressed gradually overtime and differ a lot to what has been professed in the religious scriptures. Sant Rampal Ji has denounced some prevalent practices and shown the right way of worship based upon our holy scriptures.  Some of the religious reforms that Sant Rampal Ji has propagated are as follows.

  • Idol Worship is prohibited.
  • Going to places of Pilgrimages is prohibited.
  • Worship of deceased ancestors (Pitras) is prohibited.
  • Worship of various Gods and Goddesses is prohibited. Only the worship of One Supreme God is professed.
  • Arbitrary practices of worship are prohibited. Practices such as arbitrary worship on the arrival of a new born is prohibited. Likewise, going on a pilgrimage to the place of a deity to get a child’s head tonsured is prohibited.
  • Arbitrary practices of worship on someone’s death and performing last rites is prohibited. This relates to immersing the ashes in river Ganga (Ganges) and doing unnecessary worships on someone’s death. All these practices are against the scriptures and arbitrary, and therefore prohibited.
  • Superstitions are not to be followed.

Opposition from Society and Struggle for Justice

It is obvious that someone who holds a different opinion especially in religious practices would draw controversies. The first group to oppose Sant Rampal Ji have been the Arya Samajis. Arya Samajis follow Swami Dayanand Saraswati. The reason behind this opposition from Arya Samaj was that Sant Rampal Ji quoted a few points from the book “Satyarth Prakash” written by Swami Dayanand Saraswati and compared it with the Vedas, which basically proved Satyarth Prakash to be wrong. Moreover some points were impractical and anti-social. Sant Rampal Ji made these observations in the Satyarth Prakash public via print and broadcast media. However, the Arya Samajis could not tolerate this and were up in arms. This resulted in an attack on Satlok Ashram Karontha in July 2006 and then another one in May 2013.

The Arya Samajis have a very strong local presence in Rohtak, Haryana, and as a result were successful in forcing the government and the administration submitting to their demands by violent means which was a travesty of justice and the judicial system of India.

Attacks on Satlok Ashram and ongoing Court Cases

 A quick word about Depraved Media & Uninformed Listeners / Readers

People are quick in formulating opinions and delivering verdicts without holding any basic knowledge about someone. Pen is of course mightier than the sword, and the media takes full advantage of this weapon in propagating false / incomplete information. The so called literate class of the society who have acquired academic knowledge often fall for the tactics employed by these manipulators because they lack the vision and lateral thinking. Strange it may seem but most so called literate people these days especially in India lack analytical reasoning. Despite having the resources and the brains and opportunities, still India lacks far far behind in world in terms of new research, inventions and discoveries. The reason is simple, they don’t apply reasoning. People are very sensitive and often accept things at face value without giving it a thought at all. That is why, it is so simple to polarise a whole strata or a class or a section of society in India. All that is required is a news and a way to present it to the public in a sensational way. Such is the case of Sant Rampal Ji & Satlok Ashram.

People often see an event or an episode as a starting point. Only the very learned try to go to the basics and find a root cause. Issues can arise on anyone, but to go in to the nitty gritty should be the duty of those propagating it. Management studies often talk about root cause analysis and scrambling a subject to get to the bottom of a problem, but unfortunately this knowledge is not common place. People form opinions about others without knowing them and that is the first step towards failure. Being judgemental and delivering verdicts without looking at both sides of a coin is a common mistake people make as a result of which they devour from reality and find themselves in a fantasy land formulated by assumptions.

Looking at Sant Rampal Ji & the events that happened at Satlok Ashram Barwala, no one has tried to delve in to the reasons as to why such situation arose. It is very easy to point out a fault in someone, but it is also important to find out the reason that led to that situation.

False Cases being framed and No Justice being served

On 3 separate occasions whenever a dispute arose, false cases were imposed upon Sant Rampal Ji.

On first occasion in Satlok Ashram scandal of 2006 when Arya Samajis attacked the ashram, many were injured and one youth got killed. Sant Rampal Ji was falsely implicated in a case of murder then. Forensic Science Laboratory investigations have proved that the youth did not die from any bullet pertaining to the weapons seized from the ashram. The case is still ongoing and no justice is being served.

On second occasion in May 2013, arya samaji perpetrators again attacked the ashram. The Supreme Court had ordered that the ashram be given to Satlok Ashram Trust. Inspite of the court orders, the arya samajis attacked the ashram. The High Court ordered the DGP haryana and Home Secretary Haryana to provide security to the ashram to furnish the court orders. However the arya samajis and the villagers paid no heed and attacked the ashram. In the tussle between the arya samaji villagers and the police, more than 100 were injured and 3 got killed. The police were unable to control the perpetrators and rather than doing something about them imposed section 144 on the ashram itself and forced the ashram inmates out and then took the ashram under its control in defiance of the orders of the Apex Court. Again no justice was served. They even lodged a fake FIR against Sant Rampal Ji for murder of one of those killed in police action whereas Sant Rampal Ji was not even present in Satlok Ashram Karontha at the time! Sant Rampal Ji was actually present in Satlok Ashram Barwala, which is around 120 kms away from Karontha, and meeting his disciples.

On third occasion in July 2014, Sant Rampal Ji was falsely dragged in a contempt of court case. Sant Rampal Ji had gone to Hisar Court on a hearing. Thousand of his followers also went to the city and the court to get his audience. The lawyers allege that followers of Sant Rampal Ji misbehaved with a few lawyers inside the court premises. If we believe this to be true then why Sant Rampal Ji has been implicated in the case? The police and the court should register a case against those who are guilty of the offense. But the High Court did not listen to any pleas and maintained a stand that Sant Rampal Ji should appear before the court. This is totally unjust. The question is very simple, if followers of Narender Modi or Rahul Gandhi create some trouble somewhere, would the court then register cases against Narender Modi or Rahul Gandhi? Of course not. But in cases pertaining to Sant Rampal Ji, no justice is being served. Who would have faith in such a judicial system? The question is harsh, but valid.

Repeated requests for Justice & CBI enquiry

Umpteen requests for CBI enquiry have been made. Memorandums have been given to the Prime Minister, President, Chief Minister, Deputy Collector and numerous other officials over a period of 8 years but no action has been taken so far. Sant Rampal Ji has been calling for CBI enquiry, but none of his requests have been entertained. Why would someone implicated in a case ask for a CBI enquiry repeatedly? Simply, to seek Justice.