'Shivdayāl Singh Seth (called
"Swami Ji" by followers and
devotees) was born 25 August
1818 ( Agra, Uttar Pradesh)
and died 15 June 1878 (Agra).
At the age of five, he was
sent to school where he learnt
Hindi, Urdu, Persian and
Gurumukhi. He also acquired a
working knowledge of Arabic
and Sanskrit. The recitation of
the Sikh scriptures was an
article of faith in his family.
His father, Sardār Dilwali
Singh Sethi was a Sahejdhari
Khatri Sikh, belonging to the
order of Nanak Panthis.[1][2]
[3] His family including his
father, mother, mother-in-
law, sister and his wife Nārāini
Devi (called "Rādhāji" by
followers and devotees) were
followers of Param Sant Tulsi
Sahib from Hathras, India.[4]
[5]Sant Tulsi Sahib initiated
him at the age of six.[6][7]i.
*Early Life:- At the age of five, Shivdayāl
Singh was sent to school where
he learnt Hindi, Urdu, Persian
and Gurumukhi. He also
acquired a working knowledge
of Arabic and Sanskrit. The
recitation of the Sikh
scriptures was a regular
practice in his family. His
father, Sardār Dilwali Singh
Seth was a Sahejdhari Khatri
and Nanak Panthi.[8][9][10] His
family including his father,
mother, mother-in-law, sister
and his wife Nārāini Devi
(called "Rādhāji" by followers
and devotees) were followers
of Param Sant Tulsi Sahib of
Hathras, India.[11][12] Sant
Tulsi initiated him at the age
of six.[6][13] *Adulthood:- His marriage to Nārāini Devi
(later known as Radha Ji),
daughter of Izzat Rai of
Faridabad was arranged at an
early age. She was of a
generous disposition and was
very devoted to her husband.
Shivdayāl was selected direct
from school to act as a Persian
expert to a government
officer in Banda. As the job
did not suit him, he gave it up
and took another job as a
teacher of Persian with a
talukdar of Ballabhgarh
estate. His spiritual cravings,
however, were so intense that
worldly attainments no longer
attracted him and he gave up
even this lucrative job. He
returned home for devoting
his entire time to religious
pursuits *Practice:- After the death of Sant Tulsi,
Shivdayāl practiced Surat
Shabd Yoga for 15 years in
almost total seclusion in a room
within a room. He started
holding satsang publicly on
Vasant Panchami (a spring
festival) in 1861, and
continued for 17 years. *Teachings:- Shivdayāl originally referred
to the Supreme Being with the
names "Sat Nām" (True Name)
and "Anāmi" (Nameless). The
term Rādhā Swāmi
("Rādhā"="Soul" and
"Swāmi"="Lord", hence "Lord
of the Soul") was used after
Salig Rām became a disciple.
[15][16] The yoga system
taught by Shivdayāl is known
as Surat Shabd Yoga.
Shivdayāl has described the
secret of divine and True
Name (Sat Nam).
His bani (poetical compositions)
and sayings from satsang
were published in two books
after his demise. Both are
called Sār Bachan or Sār
Vachan (meaning 'essential
utterances') :[17][18]
Sār Vachan Vartik (Sar
Bachan in prose)
Sār Vachan Chhand Band
(Sar Bachan in verse)
Sār Vachan Vartik is in two
parts: part one being an
introduction written by Rai
Saligram and part two
compiled of notes taken from
the discourses of Shivdayāl,
which he delivered in satsang
up to 1878. They cover
important teachings of the
faith. His poems in Sār Vachan
Chhand Band are replete with
emotional appeal - a
successful blending of popular
poetic expressions from
different languages of north
India such as, Khari-Boli,
Awadhi, Brijbhasha, Rajasthani
and Gurumukhi. *This site is under construction* *NOTE:-"This is not an official site of Dera Baba Jaimal Singh,Radha Soami Satsang Beas,you can visit the official website of Radha Soami Satsang Beas on www.rssb.org we at www.rssb.wapsite.me are the followers of Radha Soami Faith." 11
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