Swami Shankar Purushottam Tirtha

His Holiness Sri Swami Shankar Purushottam Tirthaji Maharaj was born in 1889 in the Vikramapar division of Dacca district which belonged to the Bengal province of undivided India. He was originally called Rohini Kumar Chattopadhaya. His father was a highly devoted orthodox brahmin. Even as a child he was drawn to the spiritual path of yoga; the path of love. after His student years, at age 18 He joined the freedom movement, but always found time to worship the great saint Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa in His heart. However meditation developed a building spiritual urge, and a lessening of interest in fighting.

One day while worshiping before a picture of Sri Ramakrishnaji He earnestly beseeched Ramakrishna's blessings to find a competent guru who would be friend, philosopher and spiritual guide on his path to achieve moksha, the ultimate destination of one's spiritual journey. Suddenly the figure of Ramakrishna transformed into a new ascetic whom He had never seen before. His desire to find a guru became so paramount that He was always in a state of agony and torment. One day a friend invited Him to a nearby village where, to his great astonishment, he saw the very ascetic from the picture.

The saint's name was Sri Narayan Dev Tirtha. The yogin also behaved as if they already knew each other. They spent the night in meditation with other followers and in no time, He was submerged in an ocean of spiritual ecstasy and inexplicable joy and happiness. He realized that he had found his guru. He spent the next eight years as a brahmachari. Expressing to Narayan Dev Tirtha His interest in becoming a Dundar Swami (traditional), He was sent to meet Jagadguruji, Sri Swami Bharati Krishna Tirtha Maharaja where he was initiated into sanyas (order of renunciates).

Swami Shankar Purushottam Tirtha descended from two monastic lines. He was first initiated into Siddhayoga by Swami Narayana Dev Tirtha [born circa 1879], whose own spiritual lineage was through Swami Gangadhara Tirtha. Swami Shankar Purushottam Tirtha then took sannyas under Jagadguru Shankaracharya Swami Bharati Krsna Tirtha in Puri.During Jagadguru Shankaracharya Swami Bharati Krsna Tirthaji's visit to America, Swami Shankar Purushottam Tirtha was asked to maintain the holy seat of Shankaracharya of Puri Govardhan Mutt. Swami Shankar Purushottam Tirthaji was not keen to be bound by the obligations pertaining to the office of Shankaracharya, including administrative responsibilities. His greater objective was to spread the thought of God among all people. As a result, brushing aside the honour of and fascination for the position of Shankaracharya, he set out, proceeding to the north in the direction of the Himalayas, always an attraction to yogis, seers, and sages as the ideal place for sadhana. The The king of Tehri Garhwal, appreciative of the blessings he received from Swamiji, expressed his desire to donate a vast stretch of land by the Ganga, but Swamiji accepted only a modest plot after repeated entreaties of the king. Thus, the ashrama named "Shankar Math" Uttarkashi was established in 1933. Later, another Math in Varanasi's Chhoti Gaibi, named "Siddhayogashram" was founded in 1934. Swami Shankar Purushottam Tirtha wrote several books such as Yogavani, Japa Sadhana (available in Hindi and Bengali),Yoga Vani: Instructions for the Attainment of Siddhayoga (available in Bengali, Hindi and English)and Guruvani which were originally written in Bengali, later translated into Hindi. He also wrote a short treatise in English, entitled Who Am I?[8]His Holiness installed Swami Narayan Tirtha as the head of the Siddhayogashram. His Holiness Sri Swami Shankar Purushottam Tirthaji Maharaj left his mortal body in 1958 at Calcutta.

Swami Shankar Purushottam Tirtha [1888-1958] was the guru of Swami Narayana Tirtha [ -2001]. Swami Vishnu Tirtha was another disciple of Swami Shankar Purushottam Tirtha. He was initiated in 1939.[9] Swami Shivom Tirtha, a disciple of Swami Vishnu Tirtha,[10] has a website dedicated to him that explains the Tirtha Siddhayoga lineage tree in more detail.[11]

The Tirtha lineage of Jagadguru Shankaracharya Swami Bharati Krsna Tirtha [1884-1960] traces itself back to Sri Adi Shankaracharya. In legend the lineage (parampara) began when Lord Narayana passed the eternal Vedic wisdom to Brahma, Brahma to Vasishtha, onto Shakti, to Parashara, to Veda Vyasa, and to Shuka. Thus far the lineage was from father to son. From Shuka it was passed on from guru to shishya, to Patanjali, then to Gaudapada, Govinda, Chandra Sharma and so to Adi Shankara. This began the tradition of wandering monks. Vyasa told Govinda of the advent of the incarnation of Shiva as Adi Shankara, to meet and give him sanyas diksha, Shankara's purpose in incarnating was to comment on the Brahma Sutras.[12] Shankaracharya set up four religious seats in the north, south, east and west of India to act as a lighthouse to guide religious seekers towards the truth for the millennia to come and also set up the ten monastic orders. 1) Tirtha, 2) Ashrama, 3) Vana, 4) Aranya, 5) Giri, 6) Parvata, 7) Sagara, 8) Saraswati, 9) Bharati, 10) Puri.[13] Siddhayoga