Swami Shankarananda Becomes a Mahamandaleshwar

Introducing Sri 1008 Mahamandaleshwar Swami Shankarananda of the Mahanirvani Akhara

Around the corner of a dusty road in Ganeshpuri, India they swept – the orange-clad Mahamandaleshwars and Mahants who were to instal Swami Shankarananda, head of the Shiva Ashram in Melbourne, Australia, as a Mahamandaleshwar in the Mahanirvani Akhara. Of the 80 Mahamandaleshwars in the world, Swamiji Maharaj is only the second Western-born swami to receive the title from this ancient organisation of swamis.

Mahamandaleshwar Swami Vishveshwarananda Maharaj presided over the installation. His guru, the late MM Swami Brahmananda Giri, had given sannyasa initiation to Swami Shankarananda and others in 1977 at the behest of Shankarananda’s guru, Baba Muktananda.

That the ceremony was held in Ganeshpuri, the seat of the Siddha lineage, and not at one of the Kumbha Mela sites in Northern India, was also unusual. The Mahamandaleshwars were keen to visit the Samadhi shrine of Bhagavan Nityananda, Swami Shankarananda’s Paramaguru, about whom they had heard so much.

The ceremony itself was simple and moving. Under the banyan tree where Bhagavan Nityananda used to meditate, a large decorated mandap was assembled and filled with over 250 guests, including over 90 devotees, many of whom had come from Shankarananda’s ashram in Mt Eliza, Melbourne. At the culminating moment, the presiding Mahamandaleshwars performed a Pattabhishek (ritual anointing) for Swami Shankarananda and then lifted him from his seat on the ground to join them on the dais. It was an ecstatic moment greeted with loud cheers. In the talks that followed by the presiding Mahmandaleshwars, Swami Shankarananda’s tireless work over 35 years in spreading the Sanatana Dharma worldwide through his teachings and writings on meditation, Self-inquiry, interfaith dialogue and the spiritual awakening of seekers, was celebrated and acknowledged.

Swamiji was then swathed in garlands and shawls as, one by one, each of the Mahatmas and then the other guests and devotees, honoured him and received blessings. Finally, the new Mahamandaleshwar addressed the gathering. He said that in his life he had received much grace. Mother India had called him. Baba Muktananda had reached out to the Akharas when he initiated his swamis because he wanted to connect his work with the ancient traditions. Swamiji said, “There is so much materialism and suffering in the world. The world needs this Sanatana Dharma, the wisdom of the Atman, the goal of Self-realisation, the methods of spiritual sadhana, and the knowledge of the Guru. … Today I have joined the army of the Sanatana Dharma.” A few minutes after the ceremony ended, the late monsoon rains began to fall again: Lord Varuna had held them back during the event and now was giving his blessing.