Morari Bapu

Morari Bapu was born to Prabhudas Bapu and Savitri Ma Hariyani on the auspicious day of Maha-Shivratri in Talgajarda, a small village near Mahuva in the District of Bhavnagar and State of Gujarat, India. Born into the Vaishnav Bava Sadhu Nimbarka lineage (parampara) where every male is called “Bapu” from childhood, Morari Bapu is commonly referred to as “Bapu” (meaning Father). Bapu has five brothers and two sisters, and is married with one son, three daughters and several grandchildren.

Bapu spent most of his childhood under the guidance of his paternal grandmother, Amrit Ma, often spending hours listening to folk tales from her of traditional India. At the age of five, Bapu began learning the Ram Charit Manas from his paternal grandfather, who is his only Guru, Tribhovandas Bapu. Both of Bapu's paternal grandparents were the influential guiding forces behind his upbringing.

Tribhovandas Bapu, affectionately called Dadaji, was a principled and learned scholar of the Ram Charit Manas. He would teach Bapu five couplets (chaupais) with its meaning each day. As the nearest school was approximately seven kilometres from Talgajarda, Bapu would utilise his time while walking to and from school to memorise the couplets with their meanings he had learnt earlier in the day, often singing to the trees and the plant life on his path. Upon his return home, Bapu would recite back to Dadaji what he had memorized.

At a young age, Bapu was also encouraged through letters from his paternal grandfather’s brother, Mahamandleshwar Vishnudevanand Giriji Maharaj, an ascetic of the Kailas Ashram in Rishikesh, to be proficient in the Bhagvat Gita and the Vedas.

At school, his teacher Ram Shanker Bhatt, remembers Bapu as a young boy who was an introvert, quiet and an independent student. The High School Headmaster, Narotam Mehta, recalls Bapu as being an intellectual student with an unusually high regard for cultural and religious values, and as a good student of the institution.

At the age of 12, Bapu began to recite the Ram Charit Manas by heart. As years went by, Bapu began to attract the attention of the elder villagers who would test his knowledge of the Ram Charit Manas , and on every occasion, young Bapu would leave the elders stunned. After graduating from secondary school, Bapu started a teacher training course at Shahapur College near Junagadh. Upon completion, he returned to Mahuva where he became a teacher at the J. Parekh High School teaching various subjects including English.

During his ten years as a teacher, Bapu often took time off to listen to prominent speakers and to meet some of India's most revered spiritual leaders. At the same time, Bapu's interest in Indian literature and poetry grew fonder and he regularly attended sessions on various literary subjects by high ranking orators.

Bapu's extraordinary command and oratory style quickly gathered crowds. His first Ram Katha was held at the Ram Mandir in Talgajarda in 1960. Bapu's name, command of the Ram Charit Manas and his heart rending narrations brought people from all over India in the thousands to listen to his Ram Katha, often overwhelming listeners and organisers alike. This was the beginning of a new era of listening to Ram Katha in large numbers by people from all walks of life and of all age groups. Bapu’s first Ram Katha outside India was held in Nairobi, Kenya in 1976 when he was merely 30 years old. To date, Bapu has recited Ram Katha in countless places all over India and the rest of the world.

Bapu moves among people continuously. In his everyday life, one can see a conglomeration of ideals that are the basis of a good social structure, and on the other side, smoothly harmonized spiritual practices, devoid of all harshness. His entire living is to bring many different branches and sects of religion (even of other faiths) and the different levels of society to a common ground of undivided understanding, love and unity. He shows a way of uniting not just one nation, but.gif the entire human race, while at the same time, preserving their individuality. He refers to his Ram Katha as a prem yagna where people gather in the name of love and expressly calls out to humanity for love and respect for each other.

In Bapu’s words, the summary of righteousness (dharma) is threefold: truth (satya), love (prem) and compassion (karuna). Bapu’s life is like the flow of the river Ganges (Ganga pravah) – similar to how new water continuously replaces the current stream, Bapu believes in flowing traditions (pravahi parampara) that evolve with the times.

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