It very important to trace the Guru Parampara up to a pivotal point, i.e. three successive Gurus, to gauge the greatness and reputation associated with our lineage.
Sri Prakashananda Natha, 1877 - 1962
Sri Prakashananda Natha was a well-known authority on Sri Vidya, a highly reputed Sanskrit and Vedic scholar and also a sincere and rigorous practitioner of all Vedic rites as ordained in Dharma Shastras. He was a Nityagnihotri, obtained Sanyasa in his later years and attained Mahasamadhi in Varanasi, India. He also wrote “Yati Dharma Pradeepika,” an authentic book on all the duties of a Yati (Sanyasi) and Vedic rituals associated from the beginning to the end of a Sanyasin’s life. He passed on total and complete knowledge of Sri Vidya and Vedic Dharma Shastra to his Sishya Sri Vimarshananda Natha - Our Guru.
Sri Ramananda Natha, 1856 - 1920
Sri Prakashananda Natha was the direct disciple of Ramananda Natha, who was the Principal of a reputed Sanskrit college in Kallidaikuruchi, Tamil Nadu. Apart from performing all Vedik rituals and Yagnas as ordained in our Shastras, Sri Ramananda Natha was an intellectual giant, a scholar par excellence, a man of very high calibre in Sanskrit who mastered all four branches of Shastras - Mimamsa, Vyakarana ,Nyaya & Vedanta. He was a realised soul, a Jeevan Mukta (liberated soul while living), a Tantric and Vedantic Guru of the highest order. Both a Seer and Sri Vidya upasaka, he was a living example of a rare fusion of theoretical truths of Vedanta made practicable by Sri Vidya Upasana. During Ramananda Natha’s period in South India till he departed to Varanasi, he was served and taken care of both physically and religiously with utmost devotion and dedication by his prime disciple, Sri Prakashananda Natha and his wife Sri Vimarshamba. In his later years, Sri Ramananda Natha finally settled down in Varanasi. Kashi Maharaja & other learned pundits patronised him as a mark of respect for his rare genius, wisdom and his intellectual knowledge in Vedanta. He authored an independent Vedantic work namely “Shroutakhandartha Siddhi” published by Kashi Maharaja. He installed an idol of Supreme Mother Goddess Sri Rajarajeshwari in Hanuman Ghat, Varanasi at the banks of Divine River Ganga. He attained Mahasamadhi looking at Mother Ganga in a meditative and tranquil posture.
Sri Kameshwarananda Natha, 1835 to 1891
Guru Sri Kameshwarananda Natha is the Moola Purusha (Kutastha) of our Parampara. He adopted Ramananda Natha as his prime disciple. Sri Kameshwarananda Natha was hailed as an Avatara Purusha and was considered an incarnation of Supreme Mother Goddess Sri Lalithambika . There is folklore describing divine signs like a shower of flowers, a drizzle of rain and lightning at the time of his birth signalling the arrival of a great divine soul. True to this prediction, he became a giant amongst his contemporaries, walking his path like a colossus. He was a Vedic scholar par excellence and performed every conceivable Vedic sacrifice prescribed in the Vedas.
He performed Soma Yaga every year, which in those times was normally done once or twice in a lifetime. He performed Vajapeya Yaga and many other major Yagas. To crown it all, he performed Poundarika Yaga, a very rare Vedic Sacrifice which only a selected few can perform. He also conducted Yagnas for Kings & Chieftains. He travelled the width and breadth of India and conducted a major Yaga for Maharaja of Dharbhanga.
He is revered as a Siddha Purusha - an accomplished soul having very rare and various occult powers at his command. He used to spend six months every year in forests in isolation to do intense penance and meditation to achieve the wisdom of Sages. He would then come back home for the next six months to fulfil his obligations as a Grihastha (householder). He was a Tantric Yogi of a very rare kind. It is said that several times in the midst performing a Pooja, he would go into the Yogic Meditative mode and become fully immersed in Samadhi Yoga for days together. During this period, he would appear completely dead to outside world and fully awakened to inner consciousness. When he came out of the Samadhi state to regular consciousness, he would pick up at the exact place in the Pooja where he had left off. He founded Sri Lalithambika Mutt and temple of Goddess Sri Raja Rajeshwari in Suthamalli Village, situated on the banks of River Tamrabharani in Tamil Nadu, India. He also established a Veda Pathasala in the Mutt to impart oral learning of Vedas. He moved to Varanasi later in his life and attained Mahasamadhi there.
Written by Sri Ramakrishna Dikshithar, poorvashrama son of Sri Vimarshananda Nathendra Saraswathi Swamigal