The dwelling of the divine

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