In a popular play Shakespeare enumerates the saint-like virtues
of man:
"As justice, verity, temperance, stableness, bounty,
perseverance, mercy, lowliness, devotion, patience, courage,
fortitude."
and adds
"Give me that man
And I will wear him
In my heart's core, in my heart of hearts."
Verily, hundreds of thousands of Prof. Agam Prasad Mathur's
devotees wear him in their heart's core, in their heart of
hearts. He is equally loved, admired and revered by even a
larger number of his friends and well-wishers outside the
fold of his religious faith. This is because of the fact that
Prof. Mathur is full to the brim with all the humane and saintly
virtues enumerated above. His is a multidimensional personality
in whom the qualities of head and heart are so co-mingled
that they are held in perfect balance.
These are the observations not of a casual visitor or a chance
favour - seeker but of one whose close association, in one
capacity or the other, has traversed through a course of four
decades. As a proverb goes, what the time has tested as true
must be true, and therefore my assessment of Prof. Mathur's
personality and acquisitions cannot be wrong.
Being a direct descendant of His Holiness Hazur Maharaj Rai
Salig Ram Bahadur, the founder of Radhasoami Faith and Satsang,
Prof. Mathur is the Head of the Peepal Mandi Branch of Radhasoami
Faith. He has a following of lacs of devotees all over the
country and abroad. In an 'Age of Interrogation', an age of
science and rationalism, when religion is losing its roots,
when citadels of established institutions and authority are
cracking down, it is nothing short of a miracle that under
Prof. Mathur's patronage the Peepal Mandi Radhasoami faith
is expanding in its range and dimensions. Prof. Mathur has
added immensely to the spiritual lustre and glory of the faith.
This is because this faith is not an archaic creed but a living
and dynamic institution covering all aspects of social life.
It aims at eliminating all barriers of caste, creed and race
and all types of social evils and abuses. Prof. Mathur's Satsang
practises what it preaches and this accounts for the pulsating
life that energizes it. This pulsating life emanates from
the dynamic personality of Prof. Mathur.
The celebrated city of the Taj has a hoary history of religious,
cultural and spiritual confluence, A galaxy of saints and
sages, seers and prophets, mystics and incarnations have hallowed
the soil of this region from age to age. One such holy and
hallowed spot in the town is the celebrated "Hazuri Bhawan"
situated at Peepal Mandi. It is a huge and splendid palatial
mansion, the Mecca and Jerusalem to the followers and devotees
of the Radhasoami Faith. It was within the portals of this
mansion that the founder Guru of the Radhasoami Faith, Param
Purush Puran Dhani Hazur Maharaj first preached the basic
precepts of his faith to his disciples even as God preached
his Ten Commandments to Israelites through Moses on the Mount
Sinai. This was some time in the middle of the nineteenth
century when Hazur Maharaj delivered his orations. Three generations
have passed since then but the words of His Holiness Hazur
Maharaj are still vibrant in the air of Hazuri Bhawan. They
say words never die. Yes, the echoes of the words of Hazur
Maharaj can still be heard by 'the inner ears of conscience'
in the corridors of Hazuri Bhawan. The air is still surcharged
with his spiritual halo. One has to enter to feel it. The
moment one crosses the threshold of this holy mansion, one
gets spiritually transformed and enlightened.
Hazur Maharaj was an inexhaustible reservoir of wisdom, spiritualism,
mysticism, philosophy and knowledge. Intellectually he was
a Colossus. He was fully conversant with the principles and
precepts of all great faiths and religions enshrined in the
Vedas, Upanishads, Bible, Quran, and such other holy scriptures.
Nothing was outside the ken of his knowledge and wisdom. He
founded and propounded the pristine precepts and principles
of his faith, which were reverentially accepted and practised
by his disciples and followers. But after his departure to
his heavenly abode, intellectualism came to be slightly neglected.
The succeeding Gurus, great spiritualists and mystics as they
were, laid more emphasis on spiritualism, mysticism, devotion,
and meditation over intellectualism. This lack of intellectualism
was taken advantage of by some other local 'gurus' at different
places and they set up their own branches and seats there.
The original Satsang was thus split up into several streams
and branches and their local 'gurus' assumed too much of pride
and conceit. This was against the true spirit of this great
faith. In such a situation the faith only needed another holy
soul to incarnate to consolidate the original 'Satsang' and
to restore it to its pristine spiritual lustre as well as
intellectual force. A balance between spiritualism and intellect
needed to be established.
Prof. Agam Prasad Mathur (Dadaji Maharaj) is this soul incarnate
to whose lot has fallen the onerous task of consolidating,
strengthening and expanding this great faith. He was also
required to interpret its fundamental tenets and precepts
rightly and to bring them into actual practice. Dadaji has
succeeded in doing so to an amazing degree both in theory
and practice. He practises what he preaches, and preaches
what he practises. He is the living spirit of the faith, an
emblem of everything that is good and great in it, the real
soul incarnate of Radhasoami Dayal. Like his great ancestors
he is simplicity and dignity personified. He lives in the
midst of fabulous splendour and glory, and yet lotus-like
he lives beyond and above it. He is loving and affectionate,
kind and merciful, considerate and charitable to one and all.
His 'Satsang' is a veritable congregation of all faiths, all
religions, all castes, colours, and nationalities. Under his
aegis the spiritually charged and intellectually electrified
atmosphere of Hazuri Bhawan affects and draws everyone who
passes around it even casually. Hazuri Bhawan is the sanctum
santorum of this faith and Dadaji is its Presiding Deity.
His Birth
In the spiritually hallowed atmosphere of Hazuri Bhawan was
born a child on 27th July, 1930 at 8.45 p.m. in the same room
in which his revered grandfather, father, and later his other
brothers were born. His grandfather named him 'Agam', which
means eternal, immortal, immeasurable, inscrutable. This child
more than proved the justifiability of his name 'Agam' in
later years by his extraordinary precociousness, prodigiousness,
intellectual and spiritual calibre, and an unusually wide
range of other talents and acquisitions. It is this child
who in course of time became the Head and 'Guru of the time'
of the Radhasoami faith and who is today universally known
as "Dadaji Maharaj."
Prof. Mathur's parents played a very vital role in moulding
and shaping his complete, perfect and balanced personality.
He also inherited sharp intellectualism from his maternal
side. His maternal grandfather was a renowned scholar. His
mother (Bauaji) was equally a learned and highly talented
lady. She was the very idol of love, affection, generosity
and farsightedness. She always took sagacious, impartial and
independent decisions and firmly stuck to them. She laid the
seeds of high morals, noble ideals, firm character and strict
discipline in all her children. Prof. Mathur was very especially
attached to her and followed all through his life the high
ideals and values enunciated by her. She was certainly a unique
and ideal mother.
Prof. Mathur's father was the only son of his father and only
grandson of his grandfather. He was born and brought up in
an atmosphere of wonderful plenty, prosperity and splendour
on the one hand and deep spirituality and intellectualism
on the other. But personally he loved simplicity and austerity.
Though he served in the Postal Department for about 25 years,
he did not involve himself in gross worldly affairs. He had
a deep understanding and appreciation of the basic tenets
and precepts of Radhasoami Faith. He was by all means a man
of high ideals. His understanding of men and matters, situations
and problems, was always correct and penetrating. He had an
extraordinary knack to take correct decisions in the most
difficult situations. He took deep interest in Prof. Mathur's
education from the very beginning. He moulded and shaped Prof.
Mathur into a self-respecting and independent person. He wanted
Prof. Mathur to play a very decisive and leading role in the
further development and expansion of Radhasoami Faith. Prof.
Mathur always remembers his father nostalgically with great
reverence and veneration.
Prof. Mathur is the eldest son amongst his eight brothers
and sisters. His brother next to him, Dr. Shabd Prasad, has
gone to his heavenly abode. His other two brothers are Soami
Prasad and Prof. Saran Prasad. Among the sisters one Shiromani
Jiji is elder to him, and three younger sisters are - Santosh,
Saroj, and Naveen. They are all happy, healthy and well off.
His Childhood
Prof. Mathur was a favourite of his parents from the very
beginning. But he was by far more attached to his grandfather
and grandmother. He constantly remained in close proximity
with his grandfather. He used to sleep and play and walk with
him. He specially watched the spiritual activities of his
grandfather - how he bowed his head before the Samadh of his
Guru, how he walked, how he dressed, how he spoke and how
he preached. Prof. Mathur tried to follow and emulate him
even in his sport as a young boy. His grandfather remained
a model and an ideal for him all his life.
Prof. Mathur became so excessively attached to his grandfather
that he came to look upon him as a being omniscient and omnipotent,
eternal and immortal. To him his grandfather's word was a
divine oracle, a final word in all matters - personal or general.
Even in sport he would sit on the pulpit and play the role
of his "Babaji". Even as a young lad he used to
read and recite chosen lines and verses from Prem Patra. At
the early age of ten he was formally initiated into Radhasoami
Faith. Ever since then Prof. Mathur has stood out as a symbol
of the spirit and soul of Radhasoami Faith.
Prof. Mathur lived a princely life from his very childhood.
Every shade of his will and desire was instantly fulfilled.
He was a highly "protected" child. He was strictly
prohibited from going outside his home or mixing with other
children. But he was free to play all kinds of indoor games
and some outdoor games too within the house. Prof. Mathur,
as a child, himself did not feel at home in the company of
other children of his age largely on account of the crude
language they used. As a result he grew into an introvert
child. From an introvert nature to meditation there is but
one step.
His Education
Prof. Mathur's early education began at home. A private tutor
came to teach him English, Hindi and Mathematics at home.
He proved himself to be a very sharp, intelligent and highly
promising student from the earliest stage. He had equal hold
on both Hindi and English. He started reading Hindustan Times
and Illustrated Weekly, since his grandfather also read them.
As per directions of his grandfather, he looked up every word
he could not understand in the Dictionary. This cultivated
in him the habit of consulting Dictionary which is the first
and most important step towards mastering any language. One
of his teachers taught him stories from Panchtantra which
gave him some penetrating glimpses into the world of hard
realities. It was at this stage that he gradually read out
all the parts of Prem Patra. These early studies made a lasting
impact on his mind and personality.
The school education of Prof. Mathur started with class IV
at St. John's Inter. College from where he passed his high
school exams. with high marks. Subsequently he passed Intermediate,
B.A. and M.A. from St. John's Degree College. He was specially
proficient in English and used to obtain very high marks in
English. He was primarily a Hindi student but he acquired
good working knowledge of Urdu which he has retained to the
present day. He has even composed poetry in Urdu of a fairly
high level.
The subjects in his B.A. exams were History, Economics and
English Literature and that of M.A. was History. In those
days the classes of M.A. History were jointly held at St.
John's and Agra College on alternate days. Thus Prof. Mathur
attended the classes in both the colleges and derived the
best from the teachers and traditions of both these great
Colleges of the town.
Besides his academic interests, Prof. Mathur took keen interest
in extra curricular activities. His outstanding oration was
highly applauded by all and many a time he won prizes and
medals in debating competitions. He also held the posts of
the Secretary History Association of St. John's College and
Leader of Opposition of the College Parliament. His interest
in English Literature kept him associated with the Literary
Society of St. John's College as its active member. The field
of sports and games also did not remain untouched and Prof.
Mathur enjoyed playing Cricket, Badminton and Table Tennis.
During all these years of Prof. Mathur's education and literary
and social life the protecting and blessed hand and the over-seeing
eye of his grandfather was always there.
As soon as Prof. Mathur took his Master's Degree in History
in 1952, he thought of doing some job because he wanted to
be independent and an earning hand. In the same year he was
appointed a lecturer in History at Agra College, Agra.
His Marriage and Family
Prof. Mathur was married on 15th February, 1956. His wife
Smt. Usha Mathur, comes of a highly respectable family. She
is herself a highly refined, religious and devoted lady who
has so ably supervised her family as a mother. Prof. Mathur
has three children - one daughter Veera, and two sons Achint
and Atul. All the three are married and well settled in their
respective fields and are happy and well off.
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