Anurag Sagar, A Very Gnostic Book -- Eastern Gnosis
Anurag Sagar -- The Ocean of Love, an Epic Poem Used by the Dharamdasis and Other Branches of Kabir Panth & Sant Mat
The Ocean of Love -- The Anurag Sagar,
Edited by Russell Perkins,
Published By Sant Bani Books,
Sanbornton, New Hampshire
From the Introduction
By Russell Perkins
Russell Perkins: "Anurag Sagar occupies a very unusual place in the literature of the Masters; it is at once one of the most venerated and least known of all esoteric books. It is the Masters themselves who venerate it, and they have often made use of it in one way or another; they themselves are able to read it, but most of their disciples know it only by hearsay, mostly because it is written in the pre-Hindi dialect called Braj which, according to the leading modern scholar on Kabir, had "already by Kabir's time. . .become the lyrical language par excellence" but which is extremely difficult for modern Indians to read; it relates to Hindi as spoken today somewhat as Chaucerian or Middle English relates to our language. There are also problems of interpretation: as with other mythopoeic treatments of these themes (particularly those of Blake, who of all Western writers is closest to Kabir both in spirit and in poetic genius) the poem is dense, at times enigmatic, and always demanding; so that to understand it fully without an authoritative commentary is not easy....
"....The alert reader of Swami Ji's Sar Bachan or the books of Sant Kirpal Singh will notice many points of contact. Tulsi Sahib devoted a major portion of one of his principal books to a detailed commentary on certain aspects of the poem. Baba Jaimal Singh considered it to be the most authoritative book on the teachings of the Masters as the following account by his disciple and successor Sawan Singh shows:
"'On the fourth day I went to attend Satsang. Baba Ji [Baba Jaimal Singh] was at that time explaining the meaning of Jap Ji Sahib. Well, I started my volley of questions-so much so that the audience got tired and began to feel restless at the large number of questions I had put . . . Now he wanted to point out the way, but I had read Vedanta. When I read Gurbani, my opinion was different; when I read Gita my opinion was again different, and I was unable to come to a decision. At last I applied for eight days leave to enable me to study the teachings of Baba Ji. He advised me to read Kabir Sahib's Anurag Sagar. I immediately ordered eight copies of this book from Bombay so that I could also give some to my friends...
"'After several conferences with Baba Ji, I was thoroughly convinced and received initiation from him on the 15th day of October in 1894.'
"That Baba Sawan Singh continued to hold Anurag Sagar in high regard after he became Master is shown by the following account, written by one of his secretaries:
"'Hazur [Baba Sawan Singh] one day told Seth Vasdev, whose car is always at Hazur's disposal, that he should read Kabir Sahib's Anurag Sagar (The Ocean of Intense Love). Hazur said that without studying it, one cannot fully understand the difference between Kal (the negative power) and Dayal Mat (the Path of the true and Merciful God), nor can one fully grasp the teachings of Sant Mat.'" (Rai Sahib Munshi Ram, "With the Three Masters", Vol. 2, p.187)
Some Reflections About the Anurag Sagar (Ocean of Love)
by James Bean
In dozens of Sant texts used in the Kabir line of Masters Kabir represents the universal Master, and his gurumukh disciple Dharamdas represents the satsangi, the disciple. These texts feature a dialgoue between student and Master, Q and A sessions between "Kabir" and "Dharamdas" that provide the spiritual seeker much insight about The Path of the Masters. They also motivate the initiate to do simran (Remembrance of God), the mental repetition of God's Name(s), and to meditate upon the Sound Current every day in order to abide in the protection and grace of the Positive Power that defeats Kal (the universal mind, negative power, the Gnostic false god known as the Demiurge) in the lower worlds of illusion, mind and matter.
"The Anurag Sagar of Kabir" is an epic poem attributed to Guru Kabir that probably was authored by Sant Dharamdas or someone in the Dharamdasi branch of the Kabir lineage after the time of Kabir. It is a faithful presentation of the teachings of the Masters including Kabir. Anurag Sagar has become a great spiritual classic of the East, a kind of Sant Mat "Book of Genesis" or "Gospel" of the Four Yugas of time, vast epochs referred to as: Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga, and Kali Yuga. To some degree it reminds me of the Gnostic creation as well as Fall of Sophia myths found in the Nag Hammadi Library and Pistis Sophia.
The out-of-this-world mysticism of the Masters, including the teachings found in the Anurag Sagar, has been called "Esoteric Santism" by Professor Mark Juergensmeyer in his book, "Radhasoami Reality," Princeton University Press. "Esoteric Santism" is his term for the very developed, detailed decriptions of the experience of inner heavenly regions, the heaven-ascending mysticism practiced by a certain branch of the Kabir lineage known as the Dharamdasis, also by Sant Dariya Sahib of Bihar and his spiritual successors, Param Sant Tulsi Sahib of Hathras, Swami Ji Maharaj of Agra, Huzur Maharaj of Agra, Maharishi Mehi, and Sant Mat Masters in certain lineages up to the present time.
Download the Anurag Sagar PDF File and Listen to MP3 Satsangs Based on the Anurag Sagar, by Russell Perkins:
https://www.spiritualawakeningradio.com/anurag-sagar
