Mirtola

Mirtola
—  village  —
Mirtola Location of Mirtola in Uttarakhand and India
Coordinates	29°35′50″N 79°39′25″E / 29.59718°N 79.6570°E / 29.59718; 79.6570Coordinates: 29°35′50″N 79°39′25″E / 29.59718°N 79.6570°E / 29.59718; 79.6570
Country	India
State	Uttarakhand
District(s)	Almora
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Area • Elevation	• 2,118 metres (6,949 ft)
Codes • Pincode • 263623

Mirtola, also known as ‘Uttar Vrindavan’, is a village 10 km. away from Almora, in Uttarakhand state in India, most known for an Ashram by the same name, set up by 'Sri Yashoda Ma' ^[1], a housewife turned ascetic in the 1930 ^[2], along with her disciple 'Sri Krishna Prem' (1898-1965)^[3], a mystic of the 20th Century. The ashram was later run by his disciple, 'Sri Madhav Ashish' (1920-1997) ^[4], another Englishman, who also later settled in India.

'Uttar Vrindavan' or Mirtola, is en route to Pithoragarh from Almora, 3 km to the left of the main road after Panuanaula, 25 km. after Almora. The place is also known for a Radha-Krishna temple built in 1931 ^[5] by 'Sri Yashoda Ma', the founder and the spiritual head of the Ashram ^[6].

History

Yashoda Ma (née Manika Devi) ^[7] was the wife of Dr. Gyanendra Nath Chakravarti, the first vice-chancellor of Lucknow University, who was a well-known theosophist ^[8].

Meanwhile, Ronald Henry Nixon, a young English fighter pilot in the World War I, who later took a degree from Cambridge University, came to India in 1921, after he took up a job as a lecturer at the Department of English at the newly opened Lucknow University, it was here that became close to the Chakravartis ^[9][10]. In 1927, when Manika Devi moved to the hills on doctors' advice, Ronald Nixon, followed his Guru, and together they stayed in Almora for a while.

Later, in 1928, Manika Devi took the vows of sannyasa (renunciation), under the name 'Sri Yashoda Ma' ^[11], and a shortly afterwards, Ronald Nixon under the name, 'Sri Krishna Prem'; he was later known as Gopal Da, at the Ashram, which they together established in 1930. Amongst its early inhabitants were Moti Rani (Yashoda Ma's youngest daughter) and Major Robert Dudley Alexander, who retired from his post of Principal, Lucknow Medical College prematurely, to be with Shri Krishna Prem. In October 1943, noted Indian saint Sri Anandamayi Ma, visited the Mirtola Ashram ^[12].

Sri Krishna Prem went on to take over the running of the Ashram, after Yashoda Ma’s death in 1944, Gopal Da himself passed over on November 14, 1965; before that he wrote books like, 'The Yoga of the Bhagavad Gita' and 'The Yoga of the Katho-panishad', amongst others and handed over the working of the Ashram to Sri Madhav Ashish in 1955 ^[13]. He has the distinction of being the first westerner, to be included in the Vaishnav form of Hinduism ^[14], he also was fluent in Hindi and Bengali ^[15].

Sri Krishna Prem (Gopal Da), was followed as a guru, by his disciple, 'Sri Madhav Ashish' (Ashish Da), previously 'Alexander Phipps', was an english aircraft engineer assembling Merlin engines , who came to India during the Second World War in 1942, and met Sri Krishna Prem at Mirtola in 1946, and soon became his disciple. In the following years, they together wrote many books including their two-part work on the Stanzas of Dzyan, contained in the Book of Dzyan, 'Man, the measure of all things: In the stanzas of Dzyan', and 'Man, Son of Man'. Mirtola Ashram became a pilgrimage for Indian theosophists and started working extensively with the local communities pioneering hill farming techniques which he encouraged them to adopt^[16], a work for which Sri Madhav Ashish was awarded the Padma Shri in 1992 by the Indian government ^[17], he later died on April 13, 1997 ^[18].

Over the years, the Ashram evolved a unique philosophy based on Eastern mystical thought from the Bhakti traditions, ideas of Shri Nisargadatta and western philosophies like that of G. I. Gurdjieff, Theosophy of Madame Blavatsky, and Jungian dream work, among others ^[19]. Amongst the noted disciples of the 'Mirtola Ashram' are, Seymour B. Ginsburg, the co-founder of the Gurdjieff Institute of Florida; Dr. Karan Singh ^[20], former Indian Ambassador to the US and present Member of the Indian Parliament, the Rajya Sabha, and travel-writer Bill Aitken ^[21]. Besides that, many followers of Gurdjieff teachings continued to visit the Ashram for several decades ^[22]

See also

• Theosophy
• Madame Blavatsky

References

1. ^ The Hindu, May 04, 2003 The Hindu, May 4, 2003.
2. ^ Guru by Your Bedside, S. D. Pandey, pp. 45
3. ^ Testament of faith The Hindu, December 6, 2005.
4. ^ Madhav Ashish Biography
5. ^ Letters from Mirtola, Sri Krishna Prem and Sri Madhav Ashish, pp.89
6. ^ Excursions from Almora
7. ^ Women Saints in Gaudiya Vaishnavism
8. ^ Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar, Chennai India
9. ^ Coming to the path - S.D. Pandey Indian Express, July 13, 2000.
10. ^ Yogi Sri Krishnaprem profile
11. ^ Letters from Mirtola, Sri Krishna Prem and Sri Madhav Ashish, pp.88
12. ^ Anandamayi ma life history Sri Anandamoyi Ma Official website.
13. ^ Poet seers
14. ^ The First Western Vaishnava
15. ^ May 1938 visit by a Ramana Maharshi's disciple; THE MAHARSHI magazine, August 1995
16. ^ International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development Report
17. ^ India International Centre, New Delhi
18. ^ Obituary: Sri Madhav Ashish The Independent, May 6, 1997.
19. ^ Interview of Seymour B. Ginsburg
20. ^ December 8, 1958 - first trip Heir Apparent: An Autobiography, by Singh Sadr-I-Riyasa Karan, Karan Singh. Oxford, 1985. page 41.
21. ^ Footloose in the Himalaya
22. ^ Gurdjieff Unveiled: An Overview and Introduction to Gurdjieff's Teaching, by Seymour B. Ginsburg. Published by Lighthouse Editions Limited, 2005. ISBN 1904998011. Page 102.

• Chapter 10, Uttar Vrindavan, Footloose in the Himalaya, Bill Aitken. 2003, Sangam Books Ltd. ISBN 8178240521.
• Introduction, Guru by Your Bedside, S.D. Pandey. 2003, Penguin, ISBN 0143029541.

Further reading

• The Yoga of the Katho-panishad, Sri Krishna Prem.1955 John M. Watkins.ISBN 0722400748.
• Yogi Sri Krishnaprem by Dilipkumar Roy. 1968 Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.
• The Yoga of the Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna Prem.1973 Penguin.ISBN 0140035729.
• Initiation into Yoga, Sri Krishna Prem, 1976, ISBN 0091256313.
• Yoga dalam tindak pemulaan, oleh Sri Krishna Prem, Tek Hoay Kwee, (Indonesian),1962 Swastika.
• Writings of Sri Krishna Prem : an introduction, Narendra Nātha Kaul. 1980 Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.
• Man, the Measure of All Things: In the Stanzas of Dzyan by Sri Krishna Prem, Sri Madhava Ashish. 1969 Theosophical Publishing House. ISBN 9780835600064.
• Man, Son of Man by Sri Madhava Ashish. 1970 Theosophical Publishing House. ISBN 0835600114.
• In Search of the Unitive Vision: Letters of Sri Madhava Ashish to an American Businessman, 1978-1997. Seymour B. Ginsburg. 2001, New Paradigm Books, ISBN 1892138050.
• Guru by Your Bedside, S.D. Pandey. 2003, Penguin, ISBN 0143029541.
• Letters from Mirtola: Shri Krishna Prem and Shri Madhav Ashish. Ed. Jyotsna Singh, 2004, Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan. ISBN 8172763565.
• The Unknowable Gurdjieff, memoir, by Margaret Anderson, 1962, Arkana. ISBN 0140191399.
• The Secret Doctrine as a Contribution to World Thought:Sri Madhava Ashish H.P. Blavatsky and the Secret Doctrine: Commentaries on Her Contributions to World Thought, by Virginia Hanson. Quest Books, 1988. ISBN 0835606309, 9780835606301.page 47-56.
• What Is Man? Selected Writings of Sri Madhava Ashish. Foreword by Karan Singh. Penguin Book, 2010. ISBN 9780143065746.
• Chapter VII: In the Realm of Krishna Himalayan Memoirs, by Navnit Parekh. Published by Popular Prakashan, 1986. ISBN 086132126X.

External links

• Places around Almora, almoraonline
• Excerpts from, "Yogi Sri Krishna Prem " by Dilip Kumar Roy, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai
• A description of Sri Krishna Prem's encounter with Ramana Maharishi in 1948
• Article by Dilip Kumar Roy