Sadguru Swami Nigamananda For Young Readers

The book Sadguru Swami Nigamananda For Young Readers is being published by the divine blessings of Sadguru Swami Nigamananda. It is offered as a gift of love and as a treasure trove of knowledge for young readers whose primary language is English. This book is a transliteration of the book "Pilanka Nigamananda" which was translated into Oriya from the original Bengali text written by Maa Narayani Devi, the adopted daughter of Sadguru Swami Nigamananda and published by Nilachala Saraswata Sangha, Puri, Odisha, India.

While every effort has been made to preserve the style and the flavour of the original text, some modifications and adaptations have been made to enhance readability. The need for this book in English became obvious when a group called "Young Aspirants" started meeting and having periodic but regular meetings in the United States and in the United Kingdom. The "Young Aspirants" are children of immigrants from Odisha, India, but unlike their parents, have adopted English as their primary medium of instruction and the language of choice for both reading and writing. The occasional readings during the "Sunday School" have now been compiled as a book. It is our hope that this book will inspire young readers all over the world, enthusiastically offered to and read by children of all ages.

Sadguru Swami Nigamananda was a great sage and an enlightened saint born in India. He lived an exemplary life. At a very tender age, he gained spiritual enlightenment by following the process of Tantra, Gyana, Yoga and Prema. Through his writings and through subsequent discourses and advice to his disciples, he made these four-fold major avenues of spiritual enlightenment simple and self-evident, all achievable in the course of living a simple, ordinary life in general human society.

The law of the Universe is such that, from time to time, the Divine takes the human form, an Avatar, to cleanse the world of evil. But there are also ways to help individual men and women realize and become aware of their 'true' self, and thus transcend to a higher level of consciousness. The revelation of these paths is made possible through the guidance and the blessings of a Sadguru, a true guide and an enlightened coach. Further, with the help, the guidance and the blessings of a Sadguru one gets spiritually awakened and enters a life of unending joy and bliss. Swami Nigamananda is such a Sadguru! He has assured his disciples that he will continue to live in the inner depths of their hearts and guide them when they forego their ego to willfully accept him and learn to "love him a little".

This book for the young readers is an introduction to the life of Swami Nigamananda who, out of his compassion, returned to society after his enlightenment to show us the way, the right path to a virtuous and abundant good life.

It is for the young to learn more about him, and by knowing about him, learn to love him and accept him in their lives. There is no need for Swami Nigamananda's disciples to look for a successor Guru. He took the mantle of Sadguru only after receiving assurance from the Mother of the universe that his disciples would gain salvation in no more than three lives. It is our prayer, that over time, our revered Sadguru will become Guru for all men and women spread across the continents (Biswaguru) who voluntarily accepts him as such after knowing him and reading his teachings. This will happen as more and more of us become aware of, and embrace him as our spiritual guide and learn to "love him a little" by living a life worthy of his ideals, teachings and his principles.

The guidance and the supervision of our Central Body, Nilachala Saraswata Sangha, Puri, Odisha, India, is gratefully acknowledged and the combined collaborative effort of the young and the old (or, not so young) of America Saraswata Sangha (AMSAS) for this book is also recognized. Members of AMSAS rejoice this publication. Yet, we remain humble and accept responsibility for all errors and omissions.

It is extremely gratifying that a laudable attempt has been made by America Saraswata Sangha, a branch of our Nilachala Saraswata Sangha, Puri for the preparation of an English version of the book `Pilanka Nigamananda' (Children’s Nigamananda) in Oriya language written originally in Bengali language by Shri Narayani Devi, the famous biographer of Sadguru Swami Nigamananda with a few modifications, additions and alterations where necessary.

The Preface written by the President of our America Saraswata Sangha for this book amply describes some relevant details about Sadguru Swami Nigamananda, about the original text in Oriya language and the purpose of publishing this book in English.

I have gone through this book, the English version of the Oriya text and am fully satisfied with the quality of the English rendering and the appropriate additions / alterations made.

I have no doubt that this book will be of immense help to the young readers of India and abroad to get a good idea about the life of Sadguru Swami Nigamananda, a great and eminent sage of India.

This book is one more valuable addition to the list of English publications of our Nilachala Saraswata Sangha, Puri. All out efforts have been made at our end in India to publish this book with due care to the satisfaction of the young readers.

I pray before our revered Gurudev Sadguru Swami Nigamananda for blessings for all those who are connected with the preparation and publication of this book.

Any suggestions for improving the contents and quality of this book will be gratefully acknowledged.