Swami Samarth Maharaj
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Shri Swami Samarth Maharaj (?? - 1878). He is also known as the Akkalkot Swami Samarth from the place where he stayed most of his life. There is nothing known about his life before he came to Akkalkot.
All his devotees consider him as the fourth avatar of Shri Dattatreya. However, nobody is aware of his life before he came to Akkalkot. Once one English Barristor and one Parsi fellow asked him where he came from, for which he answered, "First I went from Karadali-van (The jungle of Karadali trees) to Himalaya. Then visited cities like Calcutta and also visited Kali (the goddess). Then visited Haridwar and kedareshwar. (then he mentioned about hundreds of places of pilgrimage). Afterwards along the Godavari riverside visited Hyderabad and then from there via Managalvedhe, Pandharpur, Begumpur, Mohol, Solapur, I arrived in Akkalkot".
From this statement that he came from "Kardalivan", the place where Shri Narasimha Saraswati ended his avatar, that he is also considered as Shri Narasimha Saraswati's incarnation.
Mr. Raosaheb Mulekar who has written Shri Swamiji's biography, writes the following story: In North India to the north of Bhagirathi river, there is a big forest where all saints and yogis are doing meditation and tapascharya. One wood cutter while cutting the woods came near the place where Shri Swamiji was doing his meditation and broke his trans. The injury mark from his axe is seen on Shri Swamiji's thigh.
There is no mention of any other stories about his origin other than these two. Most of his life is recorded in his biography after his arrival in Akkalkot.
[edit] References
- The Sumpreme Master (Swamy Samartha's Comprehensive Biography) online.
- Shri Dattatreya Dnyankosh by Dr. P. N. Joshi (Shri Dattateya Dnyankosh Prakashan, Pune, 2000).
- Datta-Sampradyacha Itihas (History of Datta Sampradaya) by Dr. R. C. Dhere (Padmagnadha Prakashan, Pune).
- English Biography (Charitra) of Akkalkot Niwasi Shree Swami Samarth Maharaj
- Shri GuruCharitra (Sri Gurucharitra) (new, abbreviated version) online.
- Shri GuruCharitra (Sri GuruCharitra) see point 2 on this page to see the difference between modern and old Shri Guru-Charitra.
- Shri Akkalkotniwasi Swami Maharaj yanche Charitra by G. V. Mulekar
- Shri Akkalkot Swami Maharaj Charitra by R. S. Sahasrabuddhe
- Swami Samarth's Aarti
