Nijatamanand Ji

Shri Swami Nijatamanand Ji Maharaj was a direct disciple of Swami Swaroopanand Ji Maharaj and is counted as the third guru of the Nangli Sahib and Sar Shabd Mission line of the Paramhans Advait Mat. He remained at Shri Nangli Sahib until his death and led the community through the upheaval of Partition in 1947.

He was born Bhakt Hemraj Ji. On receiving sannyas initiation, Swaroopanand Ji gave him the name Nijatamanand Ji, explaining it as "one who lives in the bliss of one's own soul," a reading connected to the phrase Atmmadarshiyowaach from the Bhaktmal. His guru also called him affectionately Bholey Shankar and Double Shankar, describing his devotion as "completely devoid of cunning or conceit" and as representing "the path of love." The name is also transliterated Nijatmanand.

A twentieth-century historical figure with no classical iconography. Veneration is through photographic portraits and through his association with Shri Nangli Sahib, where he served for the greater part of his life.

Before renunciation he was a wealthy money-lender at Lakki Marwat, known for charitable works including the building of dharamshalas. After some six months of wandering in search of spiritual guidance he was brought to Shri Swami Swaroopanand Ji at Teri, Kohat district, through his relation Bhakt Sidhu Ram Dudeja, and took initiation there. The moment most often recounted comes at Bhakhrewali Ashram, when Swaroopanand Ji, departing, declared of him: "Swami Nijatmanand Ji will still remain here. Regard him as me, he being my other form." That statement is the basis on which his line understands his spiritual authority.

His guru was Swami Swaroopanand Ji Maharaj (1884-1936), the second guru of the lineage, whose own guru was Swami Advaitanand Ji Maharaj, Paramhans Dayal Ji. Shri Nangli Sahib is associated with all three of these gurus together, being the samadhi of the second and the seat at which the third served. The Sar Shabd Mission succession continues from him as follows:

1. Shri Swami Advaitanand Ji Maharaj, Paramhans Dayal Ji 2. Shri Swami Swaroopanand Ji Maharaj 3. Shri Swami Nijatamanand Ji Maharaj 4. Shri Swami Sar Shabdanand Ji Maharaj, who established the Sar Shabd Mission in 1972
2. Shri Swami Gurusharnanand Ji Maharaj, named successor by handwritten will in 1980
3. Shri Swami Dharmanand Ji Maharaj 7. Shri Swami Sar Bodhanand Ji Maharaj, the present sitting sant

He represents the continuation of the lineage at Nangli Sahib itself after Swaroopanand Ji's samadhi, and the line from which the Sar Shabd Mission subsequently developed. His role in relocating the community during the 1947 Partition, when the tradition's earliest sites at Teri and in the north-west were lost to the new border, is central to how this line understands its own survival. He is associated above all with Shri Nangli Sahib in Meerut district, and with Satguru Nagar, a short distance outside the main village. Sourced accounts also connect him with Bhakhrewali Ashram, with Lakki Marwat and Teri in what is now Pakistan, and with ashrams in Punjab including Khichian, Gojra and Bhupalwala. Observances follow the calendar of the Sar Shabd Mission and of Shri Nangli Sahib rather than any pan-Indian festival date, and should be confirmed directly with the relevant trust before publication.