Lord Simandhar Swami

Who is Simandhar Swami?

Shree Simandhar Swami is a living Tirthankar, who is present in another world known as Mahavideh Kshetra. By praying to Him and accepting His shelter, He can guide us on the path of achieving ultimate bliss and ultimate liberation (moksha).

Lord Simandhar Swami lives in Pundarikgiri, the capital of Pushpakalavati, which is the eighth division of the total of 32 divisions of Mahavideh Kshetra. Mahavideh Kshetra is millions of miles away in the north easterly direction of our world.

Lord Simandhar Swami was born between the reign of the seventeenth Tirthankar Shree Kunthunath and the eighteenth Tirthankar Shree Arahanath. Lord Simandhar Swami's father, Shree Shreyans was the king of Pundarikgiri. His mother's name was Satyaki. From the time He was born the Lord was handsome and with unparalleled beauty. He came with three types of knowledge (gnan): mati, shruta and avadhi gnan.

His physical body stands around 1500 feet (500 bows) tall. Princess Rukamani was the fortunate woman to marry the Lord. Lord Simandhar Swami took diksha (renunciation from worldly life) when Lord Rama's father King Dasratha was the reigning king in our world. This was also the time between the existence of the twentieth Tirthankar Munishivrat Swami and Shree Neminath Bhagwan. At the moment of His diksha, He attained the fourth gnan called manaparyay gnan. After a thousand years as a sadhu (ascetic), during which all His Gnan obscuring karmas exhausted, the Lord became fully Omniscient and attained Keval Gnan, full Enlightenment. Lord Simandhar Swami and nineteen other Tirthankaras in Mahavideh Kshetra will attain final liberation after completing their life span of eight million four hundred thousand years.

Eighty-four ganadhars, one million Kevalis (fully Enlightened), one billion ascetics, one billion nuns, nine hundred billion male and female married followers are surrendered at the feet of the Lord for the universal work of salvation. The Lord's protecting celestial deities are Shree Chandrayan Yaksha Dev and Shree Panchanguli Yakshini Devi.

Simandhar Swami is now one hundred and fifty thousand years old and will live for another one hundred and twenty-five thousand years. He was born long before Lord Rama. Lord Ram was a Gnani and although He was born here on the Earth, He was able to see Simandhar Swami. Simandhar Swami is responsible for the salvation of the world.

Simandhar Swami has an account with India (Hindustan). Of the twenty current living Tirthankaras, Simandhar Swami has to be particularly revered because He is the closest to our Bharat Kshetra and He has an obligation towards it, due to a subtle bond from interactions of past karmic deeds.

Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan always used to say that when Simandhar Swami's images take residence in every home, and when these images are worshipped with deep reverence, when His aartis are sung in every home, when His temples are constructed all over, there will be heaven on Earth.

What is the importance of the Living Tirthankar Shree Simandhar Swami?

There are three types of Tirthankaras:

• Tirthankaras of the past,
• Tirthankaras of the present
• Tirthankaras of the future.

The Tirthankaras of the past are gone. Worshipping of these Tirthankaras binds merit karma.

However, it is entirely a different matter when you invoke the current living Tirthankar. Adherence to His instructions will give rise to worldly religion (dharma). This is beneficial in guiding people towards moksha. He has the supreme value. It is like money in the form of cash; cash is more useful. Money that is yet to come is called 'future income'. And that, which is gone, is gone. So what we need is cash. This is the One who is presently living. "This is the cash bank of Divine Solution!" You should have cash on hand not in the form of a credit.

People continue to pay obeisance to the twenty-four Tirthankaras of the past, do they not? The enlightened Ones have said that the twenty-four Tirthankaras are Tirthankaras of the past. They were Tirthankaras in the past and are no longer here. Therefore, one should look for a living Tirthankar. One makes progress in the worldly life by worshipping the Tirthankaras of the past, but one does not gain any benefit towards liberation. Liberation is only attained through the Ones who are living and present.

Shree Simandhar Swami is the current living Tirthankar and there is tremendous benefit for us from the presence of a current Tirthankar because the vibrations of His absolute, pure Self and atoms of His physical body are floating around in the atmosphere. Recognizing the living Tirthankar (Living God), awakening one's devotion for Him, establishing a connection with Him through His worship day and night, and finally attaining His live, direct darshan and acquiring Keval Gnan (absolute enlightenment), is the only step on the narrow path of liberation.

Where is Mahavideh Kshetra?

It is completely separate from this world (Bharat Kshetra). It is in the northeast direction. All the kshetras are separate. It is not possible to go there.

Tirthankaras continue to be born in Mahavideh Kshetra, whereas here, in our Bharat Kshetra, Tirthankaras are born only during a certain period of the time cycle. During certain time periods, there are no Tirthankaras here. But at the moment, Simandhar Swami is present in Mahavideh Kshetra. He is going to live for a very long time.

Presently on Earth, the current time cycle is not conducive for the presence of Tirthankaras because it is that of Kaliyug, whereas Satyug is always prevalent in Mahavideh Kshetra. In Kaliyug, there is no unity in thoughts, speech and actions and in Satyug, there is.

What does Lord Simandhar Swami do in Mahavideh Kshetra?

He is the Lord. People do His darshan (to look upon or see with reverence, to experience what He is experiencing spiritually) there. When He speaks, His speech is without any attachment and therefore is liberating for the listener. This speech is called 'deshna'.

He does not have to 'do' anything. His actions are dependent upon the unfolding of His karmas. His ego is completely gone and He remains in Gnan (absolute awareness) all day long, as did Lord Mahavir. He has a lot of followers and devotees around Him.

Is life and the interactions of the people in Mahavideh Kshetra similar to ours?

People in Mahavideh Kshetra are just like the humans on Earth, with similar physical bodies and emotions. They have a very long life span, but other than that, they are just like us. Their day-to-day conduct is just like ours was during the fourth time cycle. People of this fifth time cycle have learnt to steal from others and gossip amongst their relatives. Such interactions are not to be found there.

People bind karmas there too. They also have the awareness of, 'I am the 'doer'. They also have ego, anger, pride, attachment and greed. There is a presence of Tirthankaras there right now because of the fourth time cycle; otherwise, everything there is just like it is here.

The only difference between the fourth and fifth time cycles is that in the former, there is unity of the mind, speech and body, whereas in the fifth time cycle, this unity is broken. People in the fifth time cycle do not say what they think and they do not do what they say. In the fourth time cycle, people say and do exactly what is on their mind. If a person living in the fourth time cycle says he feels like burning down the whole village, you can rest assured that he will do so. Today, there is no substance in what people say or think.

How can we go to Mahavideh Kshetra?

After receiving Gnan (the knowledge of the Self) in this lifetime, one goes to Simandhar Swami and there he attains moksha. Some may even take two or more lives, but never more than four, provided they abide by Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan’s Agnas. In fact after Gnan, one experiences moksha right here in this world.

When you follow Agnas (Instructions from the Gnani after Gnan) you are binding merit karma that will take you to Mahavideh Kshetra. By following the Agnas, you are in dharmadhyan (meditation devoid of anger pride, greed or deceit), and that will give rewards. As long as you remain within Agna, you are binding that much merit karma, the fruits of which, you will enjoy in the presence of the Tirthankar.

How to worship Simandhar Swami?

Gnani Purush Dada Bhagwan in His infinite grace has made a link for all spiritual aspirants with the Lord through the following obeisance: "With Dada Bhagwan as my direct witness, I hereby give my highest obeisance to the Tirthankar Lord Shree Simandhar Swami, who currently moves about in Mahavideh Kshetra."

The words above are not the actual connection, but while reciting these words, the aspirant experiences the live obeisance to the Lord. That is the connection.

The specific words, "With Dada Bhagwan as my direct witness…," are used because in this manner one establishes a direct connection with the Lord Shree Simandhar Swami, via the name of Dada Bhagwan, who has a direct and constant contact with the Lord. He becomes the medium through whom our obeisance reaches the Lord. The benefit you derive through this obeisance is the same as standing in front of the Lord and doing obeisance to Him. For example, if we want to send a message to America from here, we hand over the responsibility to the post office, and after mailing the letter we become absolutely free from all doubts and responsibility. We know that the message is going to get there. The responsibility then falls upon the post office and they are able to fulfill that responsibility. In the same token, Param Pujya Dadashri takes on the responsibility of taking our obeisance and delivering them directly to the Lord.

At what time should we worship Lord Simandhar Swami?

The time between 4:30 to 6:30 in the morning is the most auspicious time for prayers. When you remember or invoke a Tirthankar, the Gnani Purush, or the Gods and Goddesses who protect the path of liberation, during this time, your prayers will be among the first to be accepted. This is because later on it gets very crowded! It starts to get crowded from 7 o'clock onwards. Then at noon it is extremely crowded. So the first person that goes there would be able to do His darshan right away. As soon as he says, "With Dada Bhagwan as my witness, I offer my obeisance to Lord Simandhar," it will reach Simandhar Swami because there is no crowd at the time. Therefore, the time between 4:30 am and 6:30 am is the most auspicious. Those who are young should not let this opportunity go.

Is there a difference between worshipping Simandhar Swami in my home and worshipping Him in a temple?

There is no presence of the formless (amurta) in an idol, but pratishtha (installation of spiritual life force within an idol) of the formless has been done within the idol in the temple. The Gnani has made the idol alive; life force has been instilled through a specific ceremony, and there is also the protection from the celestial deities. Therefore, there is a certain atmosphere and the effect is greater in the temple. Therefore, there is a difference between praying at home and praying in a temple.

What is the importance of a temple of Shree Simandhar Swami?

The temples are very necessary. They should be built because they are a medium through which people can recognize and connect with the living God. But, there is no point in building a temple of those who have departed. In the case of Shree Simandhar Swami however, it is a different matter. He is present and people can benefit by worshipping the One who is present. He is the living Lord and salvation is achieved by doing His darshan.

The temple of Simandhar Swami is not simply a temple of an idol; it is a temple of the formless One as well. So even those who do not have the knowledge of the Self, will benefit by doing darshan of Simandhar Swami.

Prayer to Living God: Tirthankar Shree Simandhar Swami

O detached Lord of this universe! You are free from all attachments and passions. You are the embodiment of pure eternal awareness. You are the natural eternal bliss. You are infinite knowledge, infinite vision, and illuminator of the past, present and the future world. With the live presence of 'Dada Bhagwan' as my witness, I hereby offer my obeisance filled with infinite devotion and accept your most exclusive protection. Dear Lord, by granting me a place at your divine feet, grace me by ending the horrendous wanderings of infinite lives. Please grace me, grace me, grace me!

O universally revered fully enlightened Lord! Your real Self is my real Self. But because of ignorance I do not understand this full Self that I am. So let me see this real Self of mine continuously, as I behold you. Grant me this energy, grant me this energy, grant me this energy!

O liberator of liberators, the Lord of all celestial Lords! Since the beginning of worldly interactions until this moment, infinite faults have been committed towards the mind, speech and body of living beings, knowingly or unknowingly. Grant me the energy to see each one of these faults and to do pratikraman. For all these faults I ask for your forgiveness. I am recalling them, repenting for all of them, and avowing that I will never do them again. Grant me the awareness to see these faults. For this grant me energy. Grant me energy. Grant me energy!

A pure world of pilgrimage is established with each footstep of yours O Tirthankara Shri Simandhar Swami! Let there be no intent of any kind towards all the living beings of this world and let there be total acceptance and devotion towards all the Self-realized beings of this world in my heart. I give my obeisance to all Gnanis of the past, the present and the future.

Dear Lord! Please shower me with such grace that I encounter here in this world, a Gnani Purush representative of yours, or a Self- realized being, and after satsang with Him, become deserving of His grace, whereby I become worthy of reaching thy supreme divine feet.

O celestial Gods and Goddesses who are the protectors of the reign of Lord Simandhar! O Panchanguli Yakshini Devi ! O Chandrayan Yaksha Dev ! O Padmavati Devi ! Please grant us the exclusive protection that ensures that no obstacles shall arise in our path towards the feet of Lord Simandhar. Grant us the absolute energy to remain as the Self.

Shree Simandhar Swami's enormous idol is right in the middle of the Trimandir. Due to His past karmic ties with Bharat Kshetra, from a previous birth, devotion towards him will help to attain liberation. By doing His darshan you can achieve His unconditional grace.