Welcome to Manav Dharam

What is the Power which energizes you? What is the mystery behind the process of respiration?
What is the vital energy on which everything depends?

That life-energy isn't something which can be expressed verbally, yet it is the source of all
languages. It is invisible, yet it makes us see. It cannot be known through logic or philosophy, yet
the powers of reason and memory spring from it. It is the Self in every single being and
experiencing it, realizing it, is our natural dharam, or Manav Dharam ('the dharam of mankind').

Manav Dharam is realizing ones own innate potential and to evolving it to its ultimate levels. It
means realising the common bond which encompasses the whole universe. It is universal,
eternal, ever present and beyond matter and mind. Man is not merely a mechanism of body and
mind but is Spirit in its truest sense. This is why it is said that we are one in spirit. In fact spirit is
life and life is spirit. Manav Dharam therefore in simplest terms can be summed up in the phrase
Know thyself!

Shri Satpal Ji Maharaj, the expounder of Manav Dharam, travels constantly to inspire and
encourage others to experience this inner life force which is our true essence. He reveals the
same techniques of spiritual insight to all, irrespective of nationality, caste or creed. Manav
Dharam encompasses the teachings of all religions and is the source of them all. It is the eternal
wisdom flowing from the practical Knowledge of the Soul.

Shri Maharaj Ji is the founder of the organization 'Manav Utthan Sewa Samiti', which aspires to
manifest 'Knowledge in Action'. It operates a wide range of charitable and social services
through its network of more than 3000 ashrams and centers.
We welcome you to our website and hope you find it inspiring and informative.

What is Manav Dharam

Dharma is the practical experience of God. When a dumb man tastes candy, he experiences its
sweetness, but he is incapable of describing it. Similarly, someone who has the divine experience
forgets himself totally and is silent this state of silence is dharma. So, dharma is the
experience of the Self which is within each one of us. Swami Vivekananda said, Religion means
realisation. When people preserve this experience in their lives, it is dharma. In other words,
dharma is not book-knowledge but the practical experience of the Self and this experience is
called atma-gyan or self-realisation. Real dharma is self-realisation.

So self-realisation is the soul of dharma. It is the basis of all religions; it is religion in its purest
form. By bringing it into our lives we are not only evolving ourselves, but helping the human
race to evolve. That is the true religion of mankind, and that is manav dharma. Nowadays, we
have restricted ourselves, we have encased ourselves in the walls of religions and call ourselves
Muslims, Christians, Sikhs or Buddhists, but before being Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, etc.
we are human beings. So what is the religion of all human beings, what is human religion
(manav dharma)? This is what we must consider and understand.

After Lord Buddhas departure, we started believing in Buddhism. After Mahavir Swami we
believed in Jainism. After Lord Rama and Lord Krishna we called ourselves Hindus. After Jesus
Christ we became followers of Christianity. Since the time of Guru Nanak and the other Gurus
we believed in Sikhism. But what religion existed before all these Masters? Before Christ,
Buddha, Rama, Krishna, Mahavir and Mohammed came along, what religion did people believe
in? We should know that eternal religion which has existed since time immemorial and will
continue to exist even after the end of this world.

We have to know that human religion which was part of us even before we were born and will
remain so even after we leave this world. Our various rites and rituals performed after death are
limited to the grave or the crematorium, but what is that religion which goes with us beyond the
grave? That is mans true religion, which we call manav dharma (human religion). So religion
is not merely a pastime, it is not merely a set of social rules and customs. It is to know the way,
the truth of where we came from and where we will go and also our true compostion.

Nowadays many religious ideas are being spread but the need of the hour is for the religion
which will unite us, not divide us. In this day and age we need something like a spiritual
revolution, a religion which can encompass all human beings; a power which can combine and
unify all the various beliefs. We need a unifying factor which can thread all the flowers of
different sects and religions into a single garland and with this in mind we organise Manav
Dharam Sammelans (spiritual conferences) all over India. Spiritual programs are held overseas
as well.

In these congregations, people see delegates of different religions speaking from the same stage;
we can listen to people talk about the Gita, the Ramayana, the Koran, the Bible and the Guru
Granth Sahab from the same stage and setting all prejudice aside, offer the public the
quintessential truth.

We all want brotherly love, we all want peace and stability in our communities, we want to have
unity, but what we actually see is mankind running in the other direction. Instead of oneness
there is division, there is fighting everywhere, mankind suffers dreadfully from the disease of
rivalry, consumed by the flames of envy and hate. Mankind has abandoned the power of love. In
such disastrous times when people are crying out for help, there is a great need of manav
dharma. So we hold programs (Manav Dharam Sammelans and Sadbhawana Sammelans) all
over India and abroad, so that people may learn to love each other again, experience their inborn
and natural dharma and become harbingers of love, peace and unity.

Wars have been fought for many reasons and religion is one of them. To bring an end to all this
there have been great souls who came into this world to break the shackles of religion, who
swept aside the narrow-mindedness and taught in such a way that it enhanced the feelings of
universal love within people.

Our objective is to promote spirituality, which is the basis of all religions. It is the essence of
everything. If religion is a story, spirituality (the experience of spirit) is its gist; if religion is a
flower then spirituality is its fragrance. A flower has dimensions but its fragrance is
dimensionless. When a person has the spiritual experience he no longer differentiates between
people all he sees is spirit. He rises above the dimensions of so-called religions and loves all
mankind. He sees no difference in an ant, a dog, an elephant or a human being.

He sees all human beings alike. God is one and the same for all humanity, for all Hindus, for all
Muslims, for all Buddhists, for all Christian brothers and sisters. The same earth, sun, water and
air are there for everyone. The same power of God makes us all breathe, so the knowledge of that
divine power must be one and the same for us all. The religion which is the same for all of us is
manav dharma, which does not build up walls of caste and creed. So, we promote manav
dharma because it transcends the limitations of caste, creed and religion.

We see suspicion and prejudice everywhere and only spirituality can eradicate it. A bee visits
different kinds of flowers and extracts their nectar, from which it makes honey. In the same way,
spirituality is the nectar, the essence of all religions. Putting it into practice in our own lives and
propagating it is the true religion of mankind. This is the manav dharam described by all saints
and scriptures since time immemorial.

Dharma (Religion) has been and will be around as long as human beings exist, because it is our
true nature; it is the essence of what we really are. Experiencing the soul, which is our true form
and following the path of self-realisation and let it manifest in our life is manav dharam, the
true Dharma, the true religion.

Elements of Meditation

The Self in each one of us and the Universal Self are one in essence. Once the living links with
God are revived and the channel opened, man regains God-consciousness. Spiritual Knowledge
doesn't refer to information acquired via the senses or from books, but to the knowledge which is
revealed from within, to the revelation and wisdom emanating from the depths of the inner Self.

The sacred and revealed books of all times and civilisations glorify this Knowledge. They place
man at the pinnacle of creation, because human beings can reach the plane of absolute Truth,
Consciousness and Bliss and thus realise the ultimate Reality. Lord Buddha said, There is a
state where there is neither earth nor water, nor heat, nor air...neither infinity of space...it is
without stability, without change. Here is the cessation of sorrow. Jesus Christ was describing
this state when he said, The Kingdom of Heaven is within you and, Don't you know that you
are the temples of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you?
Initiation into Knowledge gives us access to the four facets of Divine Energy the Holy Word,
Divine Light, Celestial Music and Nectar. We can know God through them. These four aspects
are like the petals of a flower. Only a flower in bloom emits fragrance. Similarly, it is only
through the manifestations of these aspects of the Divine that the full splendour of God is
experienced and salvation attained. God unmanifest is like a bud It is the potential energy
hidden in every particle in the universe. When this potential energy becomes kinetic and
manifests itself, it takes the form of the Word, the Light, the Music and the Nectar. When
scientists split the atom, the potential energy in the atom expresses itself as blinding light, a
tremendous sound, intense heat and powerful radiation. This indicates that the universe is a mass
of energy. The greatest wonder of all is that everything is charged with energy but no one knows
from where it comes. Science can observe and classify any expression of this energy in Nature,
but it can't observe its origin. Spiritual Knowledge, on the other hand, gives a direct experience
of this energy in its perfect and purest form it can unite the Self with its Source.

The Masters who had the direct living experience of God claim, In the beginning was the Word,
the Word was with God and the Word was God. Here, Word does not refer to an alphabetical
word, because all languages came into existence after the Creation. St John is referring to the
Primordial Vibration that is the First Cause of creation. All vibrations are emitted by the Word
and ultimately merge in it. This is the real Name of God. All other names used to describe God
are not the real name as they are not all-permeating. As Lao Tzu said, The name which can be
named is not the real Name. The Tao which can be expressed is not the everlasting Tao. Psalm
33 says, By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made and all the host of them by the breath
of His mouth.

The Vedas describe the Word thus, God was certainly alone before this universe. The Word
certainly was His only possession. He then desired, 'Let Me emit this very Word. It will pervade
the whole of space'. It rose upwards and spread as a continuous stream of life.. Guru Nanak
said, With his one Word, in the cosmic reality of Creation with its vast expanse, the rivers of life
burst forth.

In Genesis we read, God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living
soul. The difference between a living body and a corpse is the difference of the Word. In the
living body, the Word is circulating in the form of the life breath, while in the dead person it has
demanifested. So real meditation is actually tuning into the life-breath and resonating with it.
Tuning into the constant vibration of the Word makes the flow of energy natural and spontaneous
within man. This is called in the Gita the 'yoga of mental equilibrium'. Lao Tzu said the same
thing: Continuous return to the root is called repose. The activity of everlasting Tao is in the
inner kingdom. To possess inner life we enter by our own private doorway.

The scriptures also describe the form of God as pure and perfect Light. In the Koran it is said,
Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth. His light shines as a candle in a niche, although
no flame has touched it. Light upon light! Lord Buddha called it Amitabha, the unbounded
Light, the source of wisdom. St Augustine described it thus, With the eye of my soul I saw the
light that never changes. It was above me because it was itself the light that made me. What I
saw was quite, quite different from any light we know on earth.

One of the most famous mantras in the Vedas is the Gayatri Mantra, which says O God, the all-
permeating, the all-sustaining Energy, You are self-effulgent Light. I pray that You withdraw my
mind from all directions and focus it on Your radiant Form. Lord Krishna told his disciple
Arjuna, You cannot see My true form with these eyes. I will give you the Divine Eye of
Knowledge. Through the 'third eye', or 'eye of Knowledge' this Light can be seen. Jesus Christ
said, If your eye be single, your whole body shall be full of light. To open the third eye, a
living Master is essential.

Music is divine. God is the expression of the highest harmony and melody, which resonates in
the form of music. This is self-generating 'unstruck' music, which resonates in man when
consciousness reverts back to pure consciousness. St Kabir said, The whole sky is filled with
sound, and that music is played without fingers and without strings. The middle region of the
sky, wherein the spirit dwells, is radiant with the music of Light. St Augustine also said, My
soul listens to sound that never dies away.

Divine Ambrosia, or 'living water', 'soma of the gods', the 'Nectar of Immortality' are some of the
words used to denote the endless, ever-flowing 'divine wine' within us. No artificially-induced
intoxication can possibly compare with the bliss and ecstasy which this inner Nectar gives. St
Brahmanand called it the mother of yogis..which takes a person across the ocean of mortality.
Jesus Christ told the Samaritan woman, Whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him
shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up
into eternal life. The priests today not seems to be aware of this well of living water, but the
early Christian saints did. St Augustine said, My soul...tastes food that is never consumed by the
eating.

So the all-embracing unity of Cosmic Consciousness expresses itself unceasingly within and
without. Truth shines in all its splendour with its four facets, the aspects of spiritual insight.
Knowledge is knowing, practising and experiencing this. Realisation is the flowering of
consciousness. Love manifests these aspects of Divinity, and the more they are manifested, the
more love surges in the human heart. In this process, perfect love manifests itself and God
becomes the love, the light and the joy of the devotee.

A mystic saint of India, St Brahmanand, has beautifully described the four aspects of the spiritual
experience in one of his hymns:
O saints! I have seen a great miracle. I have seen a bell, a conch and a drum creating music
without being played. A deaf man hears this sound and, in ecstasy, totally forgets himself.

'A blind man sees light where there is no sun and there is a palace, without foundations,
shimmering with Light. The wonder is that a blind man relates everything in detail.

'There is a well of Nectar in the middle of the sky. A lame man climbs there without a ladder and
drinks that ever-flowing Nectar to his heart's content.

'The miracle is that a man who is living in this world dies and becomes alive again with a great
energy that has no external nourishment. Only a rare saint recognises my experience.

The meditator who experiences this extreme state of awareness can exclaim, as did Lao Tzu,
Without going out of my house, I know the universe.

Shri Satpal Ji Maharaj

Shri Satpal Ji Maharaj, the son of Paramsant Satgurudev Shri Hans Ji Maharaj, was born on 21st
September 1951 at Kankhal in the holy town of Hardwar. His father's life was one of selfless
service to humanity and of tireless devotion to the ideal of awakening man's dormant spirituality.
Birth in the family of an enlightened Yogi, combined with his own inherent tendencies,
facilitated Satpal Ji Maharaj's spiritual development from a very early age. By the age of two and
half he was already sitting for long periods of meditation and he encouraged others to do
likewise. His father once remarked that his consciousness was naturally drawn inwards but was
to be drawn out for the benefit of others. Growing up in a spiritual environment, under the strict
guidance of his parents and surrounded by mahatmas and devotees, he very soon became a
master of the spiritual science.

When he was three years old, his father arranged a large procession through the main streets of
Delhi in his honor. Thousands of devotees and interested people participated. At one point, a
gigantic traffic jam halted the procession. Little Satpal Ji himself stood up and directed the traffic
so that the way was cleared. So, even at a tender age, his innate leadership and organizational
abilities were evident.

Besides his spiritual education at home, he received a formal education at St. George's College,
Mussourie. Right from the start he showed a keen interest in science. Practical by nature, he
would not accept anything until he could verify it through objective analysis or practical
experience.

Totally devoted to his own Master, Shri Satpal Ji Maharaj demonstrated the path of service in his
own life. His life is an example of service, dedication and also to inspire others for the same. His
father passed away in 19th July 1966, bequeathing his mission and unfinished work to his eldest
son. When the time came, young Maharaj Ji took command with his characteristic zeal and
efficiency, dedicating himself to fulfilling his father's dreams. He has never deviated from the
ideals and path taught by Shri Hans Ji Maharaj, no matter what the cost. His integrity and clarity
of vision, his noble character, self-discipline and patient effort have earned him the respect of all
sections of society.

He teaches the deepest esoteric mysteries of spirituality in a very down-to-earth fashion. He

makes spirituality a living, practical reality in the lives of his followers. He emphasises the need
of first living religion and then talking about it. Thus, spirituality has become a way of life for
him and his disciples and he is the living embodiment of what he teaches.

Shri Satpal ji Maharaj is a multi-dimensional personality. He is a humanist, social activist, a

reformer and claims to serve humankind. But he is even more than this. He is primarily a
spiritual scientist and an enlightened teacher. He takes life in totality and wants to bring about a
peaceful spiritual revolution in human consciousness, which will then transform society. To
enlighten man and enlighten the Universe is the motto of his life.

He has been disseminating this spiritual knowledge, the living essence of all religions, for more
than three decades. He teaches no scripture but believes in all, he stands for no rituals, but
opposes none. He respects the great religious books and frequently quotes from them to indicate
that the essence of all religions is one. And this essence is 'Know thyself'. Know the image of
God in which you are made, know your real entity, know the all-permeating consciousness.

His work, as he sees it, is to "restore respect for the past, find solutions in the present and devise
a proper course of action for the future

Message of Peace
Saints and sages have always taught that hidden inside us is the universe,but we don't know
ourselves. That is why we wander everywhere in search of peace, but we don't find the peace that
we are looking for.

Every father wants peace in his family. Relatives want peace in their homes. All members of
society want peace. Citizens of a nation also want to live in peace. Why do we have such huge
armies and police forces? To maintain peace. The United Nations was created for peace, so that
nations could discuss, negotiate and talk about peace. However, until our lives are peaceful, until
our family life is peaceful, our society cannot be peaceful.

The saints said that the Holy Name is the giver of peace, of bliss and perfect joy and if you
meditate on it, you will feel peace. This mental peace has been expressed in different words, such
as knowledge, samadhi, experience of God. Different religions have given it different names, and
so different beliefs have arisen from the difference in languages, but peace is the same for
everyone. Everyone wants peace and to get it, we have to search for the Truth. The Chinese saint
Lao-Tzu said, A journey of a thousand miles begins beneath your foot. In the same way, your
search for Truth must begin within yourself.

We all want to have peace, but we tend to take the longest route. We always want to go though
maya, through materialism, but peace is not there. If you cannot find peace within, then you
cannot find it elsewhere. So all the saints have taught that if you want peace, then go within.
Saints have the power to change human nature, to change society through Knowledge. This
spiritual revolution is a revolution of individuals, because it changes individual natures. It is not
a violent revolution.

Shri Satpal Ji Maharaj once said during a discourse at Bodh Gaya, What is going on in society
today is there for all to see. Even though India is the land where Divine Masters lived and taught,
nowadays the poison of untouchability and prejudice is eating away at society like a cancer.
Despite all the laws and legal structures which have been created, man still hates man. Why?
Doesn't he realise the God also dwells in the lowly and the downtrodden? We feel like this
because we have lost our spiritual vision. We have forgotten the Knowledge which turned a
prince into a Buddha. We have lost contact with the experience which changed people into saints
and sages.

'Here at Bodh Gaya, where Buddha meditated and discovered the Way for one and all, we
eulogies that experience and hope that it can spread throughout the world, so that man may tear
down the walls of mistrust and prejudice and love all people as fellow human beings. India is
crowned by the world's highest peaks which seem to be saying, 'Make yourselves lofty like us!
Knock down the walls of hatred and nurture noble thoughts in your minds!'
People from other countries have always been attracted to India. Throughout history, famous
explorers and travellers journeyed to India from China, Japan, Tibet, Indonesia and Europe,
because India has always been known as the land of spirituality. India's saints and sages
developed a universal spiritual path which can guide the entire human race. India has always
exalted the ideal of non-violence. Mahatma Gandhi said, Real education is the evolution of the
spirit, but nowadays we are making zero spiritual progress. Our spiritual heritage teaches us to
help one another, to love our fellow man. Whatever you share with others comes back to you
multiplied.

A little while ago, here in the Temple, I wanted to light some candles. I didn't have any matches,
so I used a lit candle to light the others. In the same way, divine Masters are like lit candles. Why
do thousands of pilgrims come to this Temple? Because Lord Buddha was himself a lighted
candle, and simply by his touch those who were in darkness, like unlit candles, saw Light. When
a snake hears music i.e. vibrations - for instance, it forgets its natural tendency to bite. In the
same way, the vibration of Spiritual Knowledge neutralises the negative tendencies within us.

So we are here to pay homage to the divine experience that Siddhartha had, due to which he is
worshipped around the world. If we have the same experience, our lives will also be transformed.
Society and the times can only be changes when we ourselves change. When we change, society
will also change and our children will inherit a Golden Age.

Padyatras

Shri Satpal Ji Maharaj is well-known as a social reformer. During his extensive Padyatras(tours
by foot) in the northwestern Himalayan region of Garhwal, Maharaj Ji came to know about the
endemic problems of the area and has been actively advocating various social welfare programs
to promote literacy, employment and a fair deal for women ever since. His task, as he sees it, is
to "restore respect for the past, find solutions in the present and devise a proper course of action
for the future". He is trying hard to unite all sections of society under the banner 'One Nation,
One Flag, One Spirit'. He urges people not to rely on the Government to solve their problems,
but to break through their mental barriers and caste prejudices to uproot communal hatred, in
order to work together for the sake of society as a whole.

Years of tireless effort and extensive touring of India, Nepal and Bhutan led to a series of
padyatras (a long march with a spiritual and/or social purpose).

First Padyatra
The first Padyatra, the 'Bharat Jago Padyatra' (India Awake foot-march!) began on September 24,
1983, from Badrinath in the Himalayas (elevation, 10,000 ft). The 600-km route, covered
entirely on foot, included historical places such as Pandukeshwar, Joshimath, Karnaprayag,
Rudraprayaag, Devprayag, Rishikesh and Hardwar. In addition to that, he visited 500 villages
and met more than 3,00,000 people on the way, talking to them and listening to their grievances.
The poor and needy people were also given blankets and medicines.

At each of the 24 stops along the way, evening programs were held to acquaint the local people
with the aims of Padyatra and to inspire them to realize their inner potential, both spiritual and
social. Speaking out against corruption, social injustices and lawlessness, he said, "We are
advancing materially but are losing spiritually and that is the cause of all the problems and
sufferings in the society. A government can punish a criminal, but can't reform his criminal
tendencies. This can only be mitigated by an inner transformation. That is the power of
spirituality." The Padyatra ended on 28th October 1983 with the spectacle of 60,000 people
marching peacefully through the streets of Delhi, calling for a spiritual and social renaissance.

The first Padyatra, the 'Bharat Jago Padyatra' (India Awake! March) began on September 24,
1983 from Badrinath in the Himalayas (elevation 10,000 ft) and concluded in Delhi
Bharat Jago Padyatra
The first Padyatra, the 'Bharat Jago Padyatra' (India Awake foot-march!) began on September 24,
1983, from Badrinath in the Himalayas (elevation, 10,000 ft). The 600-km route, covered
entirely on foot, included historical places such as Pandukeshwar, Joshimath, Karnaprayag,
Rudraprayaag, Devprayag, Rishikesh and Hardwar. In addition to that, he visited 500 villages
and met more than 3,00,000 people on the way, talking to them and listening to their grievances.
The poor and needy people were also given blankets and medicines.

At each of the 24 stops along the way, evening programs were held to acquaint the local people
with the aims of Padyatra and to inspire them to realize their inner potential, both spiritual and
social. Speaking out against corruption, social injustices and lawlessness, he said, "We are
advancing materially but are losing spiritually and that is the cause of all the problems and
sufferings in the society. A government can punish a criminal, but can't reform his criminal
tendencies. This can only be mitigated by an inner transformation. That is the power of
spirituality." The Padyatra ended on 28th October 1983 with the spectacle of 60,000 people
marching peacefully through the streets of Delhi, calling for a spiritual and social renaissance.

Gandhi-Yatra
It was Mahatma Gandhis dream to see India grow into a strong and secular state, built on the
sound principles of amity, non-violence, love and tolerance. He had the vision and wisdom to
foresee the ugly situations of communal discord and acrimony which the country is in fact,
facing today. Indian politics is mired in communal turbulence and the fires of sectarian violence
are being stoked by certain political groups for their own gain.

Unfortunately these days there are a huge number of religious leaders, each propagating a
distinct ideology or set of beliefs. What India really needs is a teacher who can elevate society
above the differences of caste, creed and community through spirituality. What India needs most
today is the renaissance of the spiritual ideals of tolerance, love, compassion, universal
brotherhood and, above all humanity, which is the quintessence of all religions.

Shri Satpal Ji Maharaj believes that to salvage the situation, India will once again have to infuse
public life with Gandhian philosophy. In order to once again revive these doctrines, Shri Maharaj
Ji organised a 'Gandhi Yatra' from Maghar to Lucknow in October 1993. Maghar is the place
where St Kabir departed from this world, leaving his Hindu and Muslim followers dumbstruck,
so the story goes, when his body disappeared into thin air while they were arguing whether to
cremate or bury it.

The 600-odd kilometre route of the Gandhi Yatra was covered in 2 days, with rallies held at
Maghar, Mhow, Gazipur, Varanasi, Jaunpur, Sultanpur and finally at Lucknow. In a moving
display of support, crowds lined the streets to welcome the marchers. This Yatra culminated in a
Sadbhavna Sammelan at Lucknow to convey the message of religious harmony, mutual respect
and the universality of God. It was preceded by a silent march by all the participants along the
4km distance from Charbagh to Begum Hazrat Mahal Park.

Shri Satpal Ji Maharaj's 'Gandhi Yatra' in October 1993 started from Maghar (where St Kabir
was cremated and where a mosque and temple share a common wall) and went on to Lucknow.
Shraddhanjali Padyatra
In 1995, Shri Satpal Ji Maharaj undertook Shraddhanjali Yatra which started from Gopeshwar in
Uttarakhand Himalayas and ended at Muzaffar Nagar in UP. This yatra was aimed to pay
homage to martyrs who laid their lives for a noble cause.

Sadhbhawna Padyatra
In November 2002, Shri Satpal Ji Maharaj undertook the Sadbhawna Padyatra (March for Peace
and Goodwill) through the state of Gujarat which had been torn apart by horrific religious riots.
When the social fabric starts unravelling, when hysteria and fanaticism fan the fires of religious
prejudice and mistrust, it becomes imperative for people of conscience to step forward with the
message of peace and brotherhood, mutual respect and trust. This is what Shri Maharaj Ji
attempted to do with the 22-day Sadbhawna Padyatra from Dandi to Gandhiji's Sabarmati
Ashram in Ahmedabad. He intended that this march should remind the people of Gujarat of the
ideals and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, who undertook a padyatra from Sabarmati to Dandi
in 1930 to protest against colonial rule and injustice.

The second Padyatra, 'Jan Jagaran Padyatra' (People Awake! March) began on 11th
March, 1985 from Gandhi Maidan, Siliguri (West Bengal)and finished in Gangtok,
Sikkim.