MORARI BAPU

MORARI BAPU

Contents

• Introduction
• His Sermons
• Early Life
• Crucial Upbringing
• Spiritual and Intellectual Pursuits
• Guru of the Guru
• Published Works
• Message

Introduction

Morari Bapu is the modern age Spiritual Guru who has huge number of followers (listeners/shrotas) all over the world. The Guru has earned immense fame and recognition for his famous 9-day sermons (kathaas) which he conducts in his mother tongue, Gujarati, and Hindi worldwide. His sermons have brought him millions of listeners/shrotas from the U.S., the U.K., South Africa, Uganda, Kenya and many other nations. Morari Bapu has been successfully conducting his highly enlightening sermons since the mid 1970s, and the Guru is well known for conducting his discourses in cruises and even airplanes.

 

 

His Sermons

Morari Bapu has, till date, conducted over 700 sermons (kathaas) all across the world. Most of his kathaas are founded on the pioneer Hindu Scripture, Ramcharitmanas, written by Sage Tulsidas.

Along with other important works derived from the life history of Lord Rama, his spiritual discourses are also rooted in the popular Gopigeet (songs of Gopi) which revolve around Vrindavan’s gopis singing the glory of their dearest Lord Shri Krishna.

Early Life

Morari Bapu was born as Moraridas Prabhudas Hariyani on 25^th September 1947. He was born in the small village of Talgajarda in the vicinity of Mahuv, Gujarat. On the auspicious day of Maha-Shivratri, Morari Bapu was born to Prabhudas Bapu Hariyani (father) and Savitri Ben Hariyani (mother), in a family of eight siblings, six brothers and two sisters. When Morari attained a marriageable age he got married off to a suitable bride and the couple bore four progenies, one son and three daughters.

Crucial Upbringing

Since childhood, Moraridas (Morari) was brought up in a perfect spiritual and religious ambience. His grandfather was an ardent devotee of Lord Rama and he imbibed into young Morari the habit of memorizing five couplets (chaupais) of the Ramacharitamanas and thus he grew up into becoming a Ram Bhakta of the highest stature.

His family nurtured the religious traditions of Vaishnav Bava Sadhu Nimbarka Sampradaya (lineage). From his grandmother, Amrit Ma, Morari inculcated the knowledge of Indian mythology by listening to innumerous interesting folktales based on Indian tradition and culture.

Simultaneously, under the guidance of his paternal great grandfather, Mahamandleshwar Vishnu Giriji Maharaj, who as then at the helm of Kailas Ashram at Rishikesh, Morari excelled in learning the Bhagavad-Gita and the Vedas.

Unlike his other counterparts, young Morari used to memorize and understand the scriptural verses in his mind while walking to and from his school. Owing to his spiritual and religious virtues, soon Morari became his teachers’ favorite. As Morari reached the age of twelve, he started reciting Ramacharitamanas on his own. The elders in the village often used to test his scriptural knowledge, but every time Morari would leave them spellbound with his in-depth cognition and reciting abilities.

Spiritual and Intellectual Pursuits

After passing his secondary school, Morari enrolled himself into a Teacher Vocational Course at Shahapur College near to Junagadh. After completing his training, he returned to Mahuva where he joined J. Parekh High School to teach young children various subjects including English. He worked as a teacher for many years and simultaneously he continued conducting Ram Kathaas at various distant and nearby places.

During the next ten years, he indulged himself into many spiritual activities and encountered many prominent speakers and most revered spiritual leaders. His love for Indian literature and poetry also grew meteorically and he started attending literary speeches of high ranking orators regularly.

Over a period of time, Moraridas himself started organizing Ram Kathaas and his excellent oratorical speeches gradually began attracting crowds. His listeners affectionately started calling him ‘Bapu’, the father of all.

Thus Morari Bapu organized his first Ram Katha at Talgajarda’s Ram Mandir in the year 1960. From that time onward till today, it has been over fifty years since Morari Bapu – one of the greatest exponents of Ramchartimanas – has been reciting sermons i.e. Ram Kathaas throughout the world.

The main objective of his sermon is to spread the divine message of truth, love and compassion. The unique fact about Morari Bapu’s Ram Kathaas is that although derived from the ancient Hindu scriptures, people from all faiths and religions attend them with great focus and belief. He changed the meaning of religious and spiritual discourses in India and today people from all walks of life and of all generations attend his sermons.

It is worth mentioning that at the age of 30, Morari Bapu conducted his first international Ram Kathaa at Nairobi, Kenya.

Guru of the Guru

Tribhovandas Bapu, his paternal grandfather, remains the only Guru of Morari Bapu as mentioned by him.

Morari Bapu has his own individual style of preaching as he doesn’t ever make his listeners his disciples (shishyas) by initiating them like other spiritual and religious leaders do. Morari Bapu, in fact, believes in enlightening his countless listeners (shrotas), distributed all over the world, through his speech.

In spite of being a Hindu, Morari Bapu has always adopted the virtues of all other religions in a liberal manner. Bapu’s attitude towards life is symbolic to ‘Ganga pravah’ i.e. the flow of River Ganges which keeps on replacing its current stream by flowing continuously and thus evolving herself.

Published Works

Morari Bapu nu Amrut Ramayan – Morari Bapu

Mangal Ramayan – Morari Bapu

Message

Important messages which reflect on Morari Bapu’s philosophy of life are as follows –

• The seven parts of Manas are a ladder. Keep this ladder with you, for even if you are unable to climb it, the One from above will come down.
• My work is not building temples instead my work is to make each home a temple.
• There are some things that appear to be small. A Mantra, a Naam is so small and yet accomplishes such big things.
• Our sufferings become austerities, when we accept sorrows of life as God’s prasaad, offering.
• Human life is the biggest miracle of all.
• Tusli says that a saint should be shuddha (pure) and not siddha (with accomplishments). There is no possibility of the pure falling.
• Rama naam frees us from fear, Ram naam frees us from disease, and lastly His name frees us from our flaws.
• Listening is a great Bhakti itself.
• Don’t take every gain to be auspicious, but all that is good and auspicious should be taken as a gain, be it small or large.
• Samadhi is not the final stage. Samadhi also has its own fruit and that is Ram Naam, Hari Naam.
• Recite Hanuman Chalisa without any fear or greed.
• Tulsi’s message is the name of Rama and the work of Rama, taking the name of God and fulfilling duty and service.
• Love and Renunciation are the only two things that can fill the internal emptiness of man.
• When in conflict don’t take a decision, for during conflict we are not in the right state of mind.
• When those closest to us start to condemn or denounce us, then understand that Truth is drawing close.
• Bliss/ happiness is born out being natural and true to one’s own nature.
• Following Guru’s instructions/ orders is the highest form of service to Him.
• Speaking without thinking is a defect of speech.
• The three most important things of Guru Griha: Guru’s speech, Guru’s feet and Guru’s eyes.
• The main place for truth is the tongue, love resides in the heart, and compassion lives in one’s eyes.
• It is good to keep a temple in your home; but make your house a temple.
• Our heart is the abode of our Guru.