Salvation in Kali Yuga. Swami Vankhandi Maharaj: Interviews, Satsangs, Teachings, Parables
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Salvation in Kali Yuga
Swami Vankhandi Maharaj: Interviews, Satsangs, Teachings, Parables
Gleb Davydov
Edited by Gleb Davydov (Siddharth)
Cover design Marianna Misyuk
Hindi transl. Alla Doroshenko
English transl. Nadezhda Parashkova
Acknowledgments Niranjan, Anupriya Srivastava, Parvati, Ravee, Karuna Sah, Shanta Om, Marcie Romano
Acknowledgments Amit Suntha, Anil Tiwari, Yatin Kandpal, Deep Chandra Tiwari, Shaktinath Satchidananda (Sachin Sah)
Photos Alexandr Korolyov, Ela Hristoforova, Pranava (Denis Bulgin), Siddharth, Niranjan
Cover photo front cover photo: Alexandr Korolyov; back cover photo: Alexandr Kritski
© Gleb Davydov, 2025
ISBN 978-5-0065-7491-5
Created with Ridero smart publishing system
From the Compiler
India, foothills of the Himalayas, May 2024. We’re ascending a mountain trail from Lake Sattal to the summit of Hidimba Parvat. The atmosphere around us is alive with birdsong, surrounded by forest freshness. The air is crystal clear and nature here is breathtaking. Massive pine trees sway gently in the spring breeze, releasing the subtle fragrance of pine needles. These aren’t like the pines in Russia – they’re much taller, with fewer branches and cones the size of an adult’s foot. They say tigers roam these forests. For now, though, we only see monkeys leaping from branch to branch and an occasional deer hastily retreating at our distant approach.
This area is now a sanctuary. But before Swami Vankhandi Maharaj arrived here, nearly fifty years ago, and began watching over these forests, this was merely another Himalayan foothill slope, gradually being invaded by human activity – trees were being cut down and litter was beginning to accumulate.
«Vankhandi" translates from Hindi as «Knower of the Forest.» He came here and became the guardian of this place. I wrote «merely another slope,» but that’s not entirely accurate. This hill is actually an ancient pagan site, where people have worshipped Mother Nature since time immemorial. Vedic sages once lived here, performing tapas (profound spiritual practices for mastering the mind). Even the legendary rakshasi, Hidimbi, after whom this hill is named, underwent significant spiritual transformation here, evolving from her original nature to achieve the status of a Goddess. To this day, she is revered and worshipped as the Goddess of this Power Place.
We’ve come to Vankhandi Maharaj’s ashram hoping to conduct one or more interviews with him. I’ve long wanted to meet this holy sage, having heard so much about him.
Swami Vankhandi Maharaj, Hidimba Parvat hill. may 20, 2024
His full name is Bankhandi Swami Akhandanand Saraswati. The last part of his name indicates his affiliation with a branch of the «Dashanami Sampradaya» spiritual order, established in the 8th century by the great sage Adi Shankaracharya. This Vedantic lineage is also known as the «tradition of the single staff of renunciation» and requires complete detachment from worldly affairs while selflessly serving all living beings.
At the time of my visit Swami is nearly 105 years old (born December 14, 1919). He is a genuine sage who dwells in a stable state of «sahaja-nirvikalpa-samadhi.» In India, such individuals are known as «siddha-purusha» – a «perfected soul who has attained liberation.» I heard this characterization from an important scholar-swami who had come to pay respects at Maharaj’s ashram. In Hinduism, the term «siddha» also refers to those who have achieved significant extension of their physical lifespan and various supernatural abilities – though such individuals rarely demonstrate or publicize these powers.
Swami typically remains silent when asked about his past, family, or similar matters, because for a sadhu who has renounced the world, worldly concepts like family cease to hold meaning. Thus, biographical information about him is scarce. What is known is that he spent over thirty years high in the Himalayas, living among the glaciers in complete surrender to the Divine Mother. Even about this, he speaks rarely or briefly. Nevertheless, readers will find some fragmentary accounts of Maharaj’s life, both in the Himalayas and in the ordinary world, scattered throughout this book.
During the couple of weeks I spent at the ashram, I came across several Russian translations of Vankhandi Maharaj’s satsangs1 from 2021 to 2024. These contained invaluable, practical, and simply fascinating material. Additionally, I managed to conduct the planned interviews, three extensive interview-satsangs about nama-japa practice, self-inquiry, the phenomenon of shaktipat, and the subtleties of seva, selfless service. All of this ultimately formed the foundation of this book.
My notebook also accumulated several personal impressions and observations from my stay at the ashram, and I was somewhat uncertain whether to include them in the book. However, during the compilation process, I received this message from Maharaj: «Write about how you lived in the ashram, what you saw here, whom you met, how people live here, what they do. Describe your own experience.» Therefore, I decided to keep these notes – as brief introductions to the interviews and satsangs.
PART ONE. INTERVIEW
Vankhandi Maharaj lives in the flow. And he speaks in the flow too – turbulent yet measured. This flow is impossible to control or direct. For this reason, the three conversations presented here aren’t exactly interviews. It seems Maharaj needs just one true question for his answer to transform into a discourse. Even if the answer to the specific question has already been given, Maharaj continues to dive deeper and further into areas tangential to the question asked. Like a tree growing lightning-fast before your eyes, sprouting new branches here and there… And it’s very difficult to interrupt this flow to ask the next question when it arises during his response. Truthfully, you don’t want to interrupt. However, Maharaj, while continuing to speak, often mysteriously begins to answer questions that arose during his monologue but were never voiced – when they truly require an answer.
First Conversation: From Jiva to Atma
Anupriya, who agreed to come with me to the ashram to translate, introduced me, telling Maharaj that I wanted to ask him questions to later publish the answers in Russian. «Thik hai»2, he agreed without visible enthusiasm but with readiness. It wasn’t that he was indifferent, but it seemed that reading the newspaper, from which we had thus distracted him, was more relevant to him at that moment than conversations.
Siddharth: Maharaj, I want to ask you several questions. I was inspired to do this by your Russian disciple Niranjan. He believes such an interview will generate great interest and benefit people, especially the Russian people who surround you. I have already interviewed many different spiritual teachers, and some of these conversations later became books. Niranjan read these interviews and books and suggested creating a similar book about you to spread your teaching. That’s why I’m here.
Vankhandi Maharaj: You will write a book for Russian people? Many Russians live here now, they come to do sadhana, to engage in practices. I always tell them: the main thing is kindness. Approach everything with kindness. Do seva with a kind attitude toward the world and with great love for all surroundings. But without attachment. Don’t quarrel, don’t be hostile. Don’t hold evil in your heart. You shouldn’t be angry with anyone. Often people don’t restrain themselves, they get irritated and pour out hatred on each other. But you can’t go through life with hatred and irritation, you won’t achieve anything through these. On the contrary, you’ll only harm yourself. Irritation and anger deplete a person, rob them of energy. The energy