Sawan Singh

2021-08-22T13:59:37Z

2409:4050:DC3:A64:8C85:43F8:1C52:D0EA:

{{short description|The second Satguru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2018}}
{{Infobox religious biography
| name = Sawan Singh
| alias = Sawan Singh
| honorific-prefix = Hazur Maharaj
| image = RS sawan.jpg
| religion = [[Sant Mat]], [[Radha Soami]]
| nationality = [[Indian people|Indian]]
| citizenship = British subject
| birth_date = 20 July 1858 (in Radha Soami Satsang Beas) or 27 July 1858 (in Ruhani Satsang)
| birth_place = Mehma Singh Wala, Ludhiana, [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]], Indian Empire
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1948|4|2|1858|7|27}}
| death_place = Dera Baba Jaimal Singh, [[Beas City|Beās]], [[Punjab Province (British India)|Pañjāb]], Indian Empire
| alma_mater = [[Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee|Thomason College of Civil Engineering]]
| occupation = civil engineer, Military Engineering Service
| institute = [[Radha Soami Satsang Beas]]
| period = 1903–48
| predecessor = Baba [[Jaimal Singh]]
| successor = Sardar Bahadur [[Jagat Singh (Sant)|Jagat Singh]]
| post = [[Satguru]]
| known_for = Developed Dera Baba Jaimal Singh colony
| influences = [[Jaimal Singh]]
| influenced = [[Jagat Singh (Sant)|Jagat Singh]], [[Charan Singh (Sant)|Charan Singh]], [[Julian Johnson]]
| background = #FFC569
}}

'''Sawan Singh''' (1858-1948), also known as "The Great Master" or ''Bade Maharaji'', was an [[Indian people|Indian]] Saint or ''Sant''. He was the second [[Satguru]] of [[Radha Soami Satsang Beas]] (RSSB) from the death of Baba [[Jaimal Singh]] in 1903 until his own death on 2 April 1948.<ref>Sondhi, S. L. (Ed.) (1981). ''Radha Soami Satsang Beas: Origin and Growth''. Dera Baba Jaimal Singh: [[Radha Soami Satsang Beas]].</ref>

Before he died, he appointed [[Jagat Singh (Sant)|Sardar Bahadur Jagat Singh]] as his spiritual successor.<ref>''Radhasoami Reality: the logic of a modern faith'' by [[Mark Juergensmeyer]]. p.52. Princeton University Press, 1991</ref><ref>David Lane. ''The Radhasoami Tradition: A Critical History of Guru Successorship'' (1992). Garland Publishers, New York {{ISBN|0824052471}} {{cite web |url=http://elearn.mtsac.edu/dlane/rs3.html |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2011-10-16 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810193224/http://elearn.mtsac.edu/dlane/rs3.html |archivedate=2011-08-10 }}</ref>

==Honorifics==
Although he did not refer to himself with these, the following appellations and honorifics have been used to refer to Sawan Singh:
*Bade Maharaj Ji
*Hazur Maharaj
*Sawan Shah
*the Great Master
*Hazur Baba Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj<ref>{{cite web |title=A brief life-sketch of Hazur Baba Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj |url=https://www.ruhanisatsangusa.org/BabaSawanSingh.htm |website=www.ruhanisatsangusa.org}}</ref>

==Life==

Sawan Singh Grewal was born into a Grewal [[Jat people|Jat]] [[Sikh]] family in the village of Mehma Singh Wala, District Ludhiana, in pre-partition Punjab. His father was Subedar Major Kabul Singh Grewal and his mother was Jiwani. He was married to Kishan Kaur and together they had three children. He passed engineering at [[Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee|Thomason College of Civil Engineering]], Roorkee and later joined the Military Engineering Service.

He studied scriptures of various religions but retained a strong connection with the [[Guru Granth Sahib|Gurbani]] of the Sikh religion.<ref name=Gems>Spiritual Gems, Letter No.1.</ref>

He had contact with a mystic of Peshawar named Baba Kahan who he hoped to get initiation from but was refused:

:"I associated with him for several months and during that time he showed supernatural powers on several occasions. When I asked him if he would shower grace upon me by initiating me, he answered: 'No, he is somebody else; I do not have your share'. I then asked him to tell me who that person was so that I could contact him. He replied: 'When the time comes, he will himself find you'."<ref name=Gems />

Later when Sawan Singh was stationed at Murree, he met Baba [[Jaimal Singh]], who said to his companion that he had come to initiate Sawan. After much philosophical debate, discussion and several conferences with Jaimal Singh, Sawan Singh became thoroughly convinced and received initiation from Jaimal Singh into the practice of [[surat shabd yoga]] on the 15th day of October, 1894.

Sawan Singh retired on government pension in 1911 to Dera Baba Jaimal Singh (Beas), the "camp of Baba Jaimal Singh" where Jaimal Singh had settled in 1891. During his ministry the Dera expanded greatly, with houses for both permanent residents and guests, a library and a Satsang Hall. Sawan Singh sheltered victims of the communal holocaust of the [[Partition of India]]. His following included Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, and for the first time, thousands from abroad. He had initiates from America, England, Switzerland, Germany, most notable of whom being the Americans physician-surgeon Dr. [[Julian Johnson]] and chiropractic-osteopath Dr. [[Randolph Stone]] and the Swiss physician-homeopath Dr. Pierre Schmidt.

==See also==
* [[Radha Soami]]
* [[Surat Shabd Yoga]]
* Swami [[Shiv Dayal Singh]]
* Sant [[Jaimal Singh]]
* Sardar Bahadur [[Jagat Singh (Sant)|Jagat Singh]]
* [[Charan Singh (Sant)|Charan Singh]]
* [[Sant Kirpal Singh Ji Maharaj|Kirpal Singh]]

==Notes and references==
{{Reflist}}
{{Refbegin}}
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==Further reading==
*Sawan Singh, ''Dawn of Light''.
*Sawan Singh, ''Discourses on Sant Mat''.
*Sawan Singh, ''My Submission''.
*Sawan Singh, ''Spiritual Gems''.
*Charaṇ Singh, ''Spiritual Heritage''.
*Jaimal Singh, ''Spiritual Letters''.
*Kapur, Daryailāl, ''Call of the Great Master''.
*Kapur, Daryailāl, ''Heaven on Earth''.
*Kirpal Singh, ''A Brief Life Sketch of Hazur Baba Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj''.
*Moss, Cami, ''Glimpses of the Great Master''.
*Munshi Ram, ''With the three Masters''.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Baba Sawan Singh}}
*[http://www.rssb.org Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB)]
*[http://www.scienceofthesoul.org Science Of The Soul Research Centre]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sawan Singh}}
[[Category:People from Ludhiana district]]
[[Category:1858 births]]
[[Category:1948 deaths]]
[[Category:Radha Soami]]
[[Category:Sant Mat gurus]]
[[Category:Punjabi people]]
[[Category:Indian Sikhs]]
[[Category:Scholars from Punjab, India]]

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Sawan Singh