ii Hari Om Tatsad ii
SADGURU SHRI SHARADCHANDRA SWAMI
Biography
Sadhguru Shri Sharadchandra Swami Maharaj's spiritual tough journey !
Date of Birth: 25.10.1931 (Ashwin Shukla Chaturdashi)
Date of Mahanirvana: 12.12.2016 (Shuklapaksha Chaturdashi)
Shirgaon’s famous devotee Sharadchandra Murarrao Shetye, Upadhyay Appa i.e. Sharadchandra Swami, the devotee of Datta to all. He was born on 25 October 1931 (Ashwin Shuddha Chaturdashi) in Shirgaon. He studied in the village till the seventh grade. His father was a farmer. Apart from this, he also had a Maadi business. Swami, like other youths, went to Mumbai on 2 December 1950 at the age of 19 in search of a job in the industry. There he got a job as a Mukadam in Kurla Municipality. During 1966, he did not wanted to live in Mumbai. He always used to remember the temple built by Shri Pawar in the village. At the same time, he started missing Shirgaon. But when he saw Datta Jayanti in every house in Mumbai, he also started celebrating it. While living in Mumbai, he kept going to Ganagapur continuously for 26 years. He used to worship there in the presence of Datta every year. He used to go to Akkalkot for the darshan of Swami. While taking bath in Gangapur, he met a Brahmin. He guided him and gave him the mantra “Om Tatsad”.
Sharadchandra Swami’s glory started spreading everywhere. But as he had no addiction, he remained absorbed in the contemplation of God, interacted with people of all classes and gave them spiritual experiences. His followers and disciples from Shrivardhan, Kharepatan, Mumbai, Chiplun, Margathamane and many other places came to meet and have darshan of Swami. People came to Swami with devotion to solve their family and various problems. Swamiji gave them complete guidance. As a sign, he used to give vibhuti. He has corrected the path of many and has done good to their families. He never asked for anything from anyone. Ratnaprabha Sitaram Shetye came from Kharepatan and met Swami. She asked Swami some of her questions. The answers given by Swami were completely acceptable to her and with great devotion she gifted the idol of Datta Maharaj to Swami. This idol was installed personally by Sharadchandra Swami on 3 June 1971.
Swami had the powers. He used to observe fast every Thursday. Swami used to observe 21 days of silence from the first Thursday of Shravan. He observed this silence since 1959 when he was in Mumbai. This silence used to be observed for 7 days. After coming to Ratnagiri-Shirgaon, he started observing it for 21 days. The end of the silence was celebrated on the 22nd day. He himself ensured that all the people who came here were not allowed to leave without taking Mahaprasad. Apart from this, Datta Jayanti, Shri Nrusinha Saraswati Jayanti (Paush Shuddha Dwitiya) and Guru Purnima were also celebrated with great joy. Swamiji has three sons. The image of Sharadchandra Swami, dressed in saffron clothes without any pretense of saintliness, was always seen walking on the streets like a common man. The person who saw him would have constant enthusiasm and happiness in his heart. He used to perform Aarti twice a day at 6:00 am and 6:00 pm and Naivedya was offered at 11:30 pm. This was his daily routine.
Being selfless and always thinking about the welfare of others, he was always happy. Truth is faith is his message. Sharadchandra Swami says that criticism does not hurt anyone, if people criticize you then do not worry, thinking that you should hand over your burden to God without getting disturbed by anything and should not be sad. But he repeatedly said that it is important for everyone to think inside why they criticized. God is not in the idol but in the heart of every human being. Remember instead of touching. A sprained foot can be cured once. But the word spoken from the mouth cannot be regained. Devotion is the means of salvation. This is how he taught the devotees who came to him.
He met with Mahanirvana on 12 December 2016 on Margashirsha Shukla Paksha Chaturdashi at the age of 85.
Contact: Shri.Rajesh Sharadchandra Shetye
Address: 512 (K) Shirgaon Shetyewadi ,Dist-Ratnagiri
Mobile No : +91 989 026 1940
