Publisher's Note-The Autobiography of Ram Chandra Vol I

It is with the greatest pleasure that we present to or readers all over the world a very important and valuable publication, the Autobiography of Shri Ram Chandraji-Founder President of Shri Ram Chandra Mission, Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was with great difficulty that the Master could be persuaded to write his autobiography, the main difficulty being his aversion for publicity in any form.

The city of Shahjahanpur in the Indian State of Uttar Pradesh has the good fortune of being his birth place. The Hindu Kayastha family to which he belongs, has a great historic past, and its hoary history can be traced to the times of the great Mughal Emperor Akbar. One of his ancestors served in the court of Akbar as a Mir Munshi, a post equivalent to a Minister, and was granted the title of Bagara meaning brave. He held a Jagir at Talgram in Avadh, and the estate remained in the family for several generations. One of the later descendents in the family, Bakshi Kundan Lal, was the Chief Army Officer under Nawab Shujauddaulah, and commanded the armies in the Third Battle of Panipat in the year 1761. Hafiz Rahmat Khan, another ruler, was so very impressed with the courage and bravery of Bakshi Sahib, that he borrowed his services from Nawab Shujauddaulah and appointed him as his Army Officer. However, in the battle of Fatehganj (near Shahjahanpur) in the year 1774 between Rahmat Khan and Shujauddaulah, Bakshi Sahib was killed along with his new Nawab. The surviving members fied the place to save their lives, and got scattered in various place.

It was in the year 1824 that Dewan Sri Shadi Lal the grandson of Bakshi Sahib, and the great grandfather of the author of this book, Mahatma Sri Ram Chandra Ji Maharaj, was appointed Dewan or Minister of the then Nawab of Shahjahanpur. His son Shri Janki Prasad, the grandfather of the author Mahatma Shri Ram Chandra Ji, joined the Civil Court, Budaun, as Munsarim under British Rule.

Shri Badri Prasad, the revered father of the Author was born at Budaun on the 12th July, 1867. After a brilliant academic career, he started legal practice in 1892 at Shahjahanpur. Soon he became a leading lawyer of his time and, ere long, rose to great fame, and was appointed Special Magistrate 1st Class. He was a great scholar of History, and his work on the Hind’ in Urdu, still in manuscript, is of rare value. His research on Lord Krishna’s lineage written in Urdu, yet unpublished, is also very valuable.

The above is a short family history of our Master whose autobiography we have the privilege to publish. It is our belief that the comments made by the Revered Master on the spiritual condition and diaries will prove most interesting and revealing to seekers of Truth following the Sahaj Marg system of meditation. The sensitive seeker will gain much insight regarding the progress one makes while moving forward on this road to God Realisation.

Basant Panchami.
PUBLISHERS.
28 January 1974.

Download