During his last visit to the Maharishi in 1917, the Saint revealed something that greatly surprised the Sadhu. Though he was quite aware of the matter in question, the Sadhu simply did not know it as thoroughly as the Maharishi.
Thus began a most precious telling of God’s providence in the elderly saint’s own words: “The Spirit of God is doing a wonderful work in these days openly and secretly. This work is done to prepare the way for the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. You need to know everything about the hidden Sanyasi Mission. Let me give you a brief background and history about this Mission.”
When the Lord Jesus was born three wise men from the East guided by a certain star in the sky came to Jerusalem to see Him (Matt 2:2). One of them was a pandit—a Hindu Vedic scholar, from Benares, India, named Vishwamitra. [A pandit is a scholar-teacher, particularly one skilled in the Sanskrit language, and who has mastered the scriptures contained in the four Vedas, Hindu rituals and Hindu law, religion, music, and philosophy, all under the guidance and direction of a guru.]
After meeting with the child Jesus Vishwamitra returned to India and began to tell the people that Lord Christ, the Giver of Salvation called Nishkalank, in the Hindu Vedas, had been born. The other pandits ridiculed him saying that the Nishkalank could only be born in India and not anywhere else. Undaunted, Vishwamitra began to share his new found joy about the birth of Jesus to many people.
Many years went by and Vishwamitra, well advanced in years, travelled to Israel again, desirous to meet the now grown up Savior of the world. He finally met up with the Lord Jesus during one of the Lord’s ministry trips to Bethsaida. Prostrating himself before the Immaculate One, Vishwamitra fell down and kissed the Lord’s feet in worship and adoration.
Looking down at the aged devotee the Lord Jesus was moved by such a display of humble, undisguised devotion. He then blessed the old man with the same power He gave to His twelve disciples: “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons’” (Matt 10:7-8). Parting finally with the Indian disciple, the Lord Jesus left him with the charge to set the people free.
Infused with the power of God, Vishwamitra began to preach and do miracles in Israel with boldness and holy abandonment. The disciples chanced upon him and, finding him belonging to a different race, looked at him with contempt. They quickly distanced themselves from him. When the pandit realised that he could not work together with the disciples of Christ, he parted their company and began to do his work separately.
Their discontent with Vishwamitra’s ministry in Jesus’ Name made the disciples go to the Lord in contempt: “Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us” (Mk 9:38). Perceiving all that that had taken place the Lord wisely answered: “Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me. For he who is not against us is on our side” (Mk 9:39-40).
After this, while walking alone along a meadow, the Lord Jesus Himself chanced upon the pandit seated upon a rock, looking sadly dejected. He immediately lifted the face of Vishwamitra and kissed him on the forehead, an endearing gesture practised in the Indian tradition by a parent towards their child. Overwhelmed by the Lord’s kindness and fatherly love, the pandit fell at the feet of the Lord, lost in grateful worship.
Lifting the pandit up to his feet, the Lord Jesus counseled him to return back to India and preach that the great Giver of Salvation—the Great God of heaven and earth—had come to die for the sins of the whole world. He would be killed, rise up from the dead, and then return back to this world to judge and rule. The Lord then told the pandit that he would receive the martyr’s crown for his faithful service.
Vishwamitra returned back to India and began to preach the Christ with great zeal. The other pandits of Benares were offended with this new religion that Vishwamitra was propagating. They debated him fiercely. They warned him not to preach about the strange new religion. Undaunted, Vishwamitra persevered in his witness, winning many converts to the way of the truth.
Incensed by the many who now chose to turn away from the Hindu gods to the Lord Christ, the other pandits sought an occasion to kill Vishwamitra, just as how the Pharisees and the Sadducees plotted to take the life of his Master.
One night they entered stealthily into Vishwamitra’s house and seized him with evil violence. They stuffed a cloth into his mouth so that he could not shout for help. They then tied his hands and feet, threw him into a gunny sack, and flung the faithful witness of God into the Ganges River. The dead body of this true disciple of Christ could not be found anywhere. He met his martyrdom as the Lord had predicted.
Didn’t the Lord Jesus say, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain”? (Jn 12:24). After his martyrdom, the disciples of Vishwamitra began to continue the work of preaching Christ, albeit secretly.
About this time, Thomas, one of the twelve apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, came to India to preach the good news of God. Upon learning of the arrival and the ministry of one of Jesus’ handpicked disciples, the disciples of Vishwamitra sought out Thomas. They joined themselves to the holy apostle and together preached the gospel with boldness and fervor. The number of Christian converts began to increase rapidly in India. This group of disciples then translated the Bible into Sanskrit in the second century A.D.
After the martyrdom of the Apostle Thomas in 53
A.D. the band of Indian disciples began to slowly lose their
zeal and vigour to preach. In time, they became placid and lukewarm. Like the church in Ephesus, by and by they lost their first love. And they eventually became dormant like the church in Sardis (Rev 2:4; 3:1).
Centuries later many missionaries began coming to India with the gospel of Christ. Among them the most notable one was William Carey, who came to India in 1793. The disciples of Vishwamitra found a kindred spirit in the ministry of this loving Englishman and their faith was rekindled. Inspired once more, they began to preach the gospel with the same passion and zeal their predecessors once possessed. The number of converts soon began to grow in the hundreds of thousands in India.
More than half of the then population of India had heard the gospel from the lips of these disciples of Vishwamitra. In 1917, when the Maharishi revealed in full the history and development of the Sanyasi community to the Sadhu, the community numbered some twenty four thousand secret missionaries who serve the Lord Jesus without any salary or recognition. “I am one of them,” the Maharishi declared to the Sadhu. “Service by means of prayer is my only duty.”
Upon hearing this fascinating narrative, Sadhu Sundar Singh said to the Maharishi: “I do believe what you say, because I personally have had on several occasions met with and preach together with several members of this group.” Let me now tell of the Sadhu’s personal experiences with this secret Sanyasi group to substantiate the Maharishi’s account.
At a place called Srinagar in Garhwal, Sadhu Sundar Singh had a most unexpected experience. He knew that this was a dangerous place to speak concerning Christ Jesus.
One day as he was preaching outside the city some young men taunted him, saying, “You better not dare to say such things inside the city.” Instead of backing away in fear, the Sadhu felt impelled to rise to the challenge. Entering the city and heading straight to the market place, he started to preach. Upon seeing this some unhappy bystanders brought the Sadhu to the pandit of the place, hoping he would refute the Sadhu’s statements and put him to open shame.
Walking up to the Sadhu, and in front of all the people, the pandit took two fore-fingers and placed them on the Sadhu’s mouth. He said, “I have done this to prove that we are brothers, and not enemies as you think. For we both believe in Jesus Christ as the Saviour.” The crowd reacted with shock and confusion, not knowing what to make of this strange turn of events. But slowly, they dispersed, along with the persecutors. The Sadhu then had a good conversation with the pandit. Much to his joy, he learned that the pandit, clad in saffron clothes and living amongst the Hindus, was seeking to bring others to the light of the knowledge of the true living God.
Towards the end of 1912 the Sadhu went to Sarnath (the place of Buddha’s first preaching). There he met some sanyasis. Upon conversing with them he found that they too were Christians, and they belonged to the same secret Sanyasi Mission. The Mission numbered hundreds of thousands and they confirmed the words of Maharishi regarding the existence of twenty four thousand missionaries, who were scattered all over India.
The secret Sanyasi Mission had a very elaborate system of administration. The believers were divided into two classes: Shishyas (Disciples) and Swamis (Teachers or
Enlightened Ones). The Disciples were ordinary members who did all the mundane chores of everyday life. The Teachers, who numbered about seven hundred, were dressed like sanyasis in saffron-colored clothes. They were essentially unpaid preachers who conducted services among the disciples.
These secret believers practiced Christian rites such as Water Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Groups of them were found all over India, and in the most distant and unexpected places. It was due to the kindness and care of some of these good people that the Sadhu was on one occasion nursed back to life after imprisonment and persecution in Nepal.
In 1914 Sadhu Sundar Singh entered Nepal knowing that he ran every risk of ill-treatment and possible death. He left his Tibetan convert Tharchin behind, and went from place to place preaching the gospel until he came to a town called Ilom. He had not been there long before he was told that he must discontinue preaching or face some evil consequences.
An order was issued for his imprisonment. So while in the midst of passionately preaching the gospel with love the Sadhu was seized and thrown into the common prison together with murderers and thieves. But this very fate filled him with joy—for now he could suffer for the Lord’s sake. Does not the scriptures say: “For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake”? (Phil 1:29).
Under the moon-light that night, locked behind bars, the Sadhu wrote this remarkable confession on a leaf of his New Testament Bible: “Christ’s presence has turned my
prison into a blessed heaven. What will it be like in Heaven itself?” The humble servant of God was filled with such joy he could not help but sing praises to His Maker all through the night.
The prison walls could not shut out his witness of the living God. Undaunted, the Sadhu soon began to preach to an audience of unhappy prisoners. He boldly testified of the power of Christ to change men’s hearts, even bring peace to hardened consciences of hopeless criminals trapped inside dismal walls of incarceration. Many prisoners believed his message. With new found joy they gladly accepted Jesus Christ into their lives as their Savior and Lord.
The news of the conversion of the prisoners quickly reached the authorities. The Sadhu was promptly taken to the market square for public humiliation and punishment. He was stripped of his clothes and made to sit on the bare earth. His feet and hands were fastened into holes in upright boards. He was made to remain all day and the night immobilized within stocks that kept him in an awkward crippling position.
No food or water was offered to this kindly wayfarer, the bringer of good news. To add to his torment the sadistic officer placed leeches on his naked body. Those relentless bloodsuckers immediately fastened their hungry jaws onto the tender flesh of the holy man of God. A mocking crowd stood around to watch this cruel amusing sight. No one was merciful enough to offer him even a cup of water to relieve him of his misery and pain.
Yet throughout all these physical abuse and mental torture the Sadhu’s heart was filled with nothing but joy.
Praises, worship, and adoration of God gushed out of his soul to fill the square. He then began to preach to those standing around him. Nevertheless as the hours passed by, his agony intensified, and he grew weaker and weaker from the unceasing loss of blood. Finally, the new morning arrived. Somehow he was still alive. When his tormentors saw the Sadhu’s tranquil face they were filled with a superstitious dread, for surely he held some strange powers which they did not understand.
So they decided to release him from the stocks and set him free. This ordeal, however, left the Sadhu so weak that he fell unconscious to the ground like a log of wood. After some time, and having regained some level of consciousness, he struggled to crawl away from that spot. Thankfully, in that place were some secret believers belonging to the Sanyasi Mission. These kind brethren quickly took their wounded brother into their loving care until strength returned to his battered body.
After being nursed back to health and feeling refreshed in his body and mind, the Sadhu made his way to Ghoom in Darjeeling. There at the home of his traveling companion Tharchin, the Sadhu confided that he was rescued by members of the secret Sanyasi Mission.
These secret believers the Sadhu encountered had the practice of gathering secretly very early in the morning in “Houses of Prayer” temples. These temples did not contain any images or pictures of Christ Jesus or any Christian paraphernalia. The Bible was read and expounded and Christian magazines are distributed to everyone. Eastern methods of worship, such as complete prostration of the body in prayer, were meticulously followed. They also firmly believed that if men prayed in perfect faith they
would have constant visions of the Lord Jesus. Yishu Narsi Nath Ki Jai, meaning “Victory to Jesus of Nazareth” is the password of this secret Sanyasi Mission.
Their method of work was purely Indian in every outer form, and to a large extent their ministry was individual in nature. Secrecy was instilled in the disciple’s mind, so much so that sometimes not even family members were aware of a change of faith even in the face of noticeable changes in character and behavior.
Belonging to this secret Christian Brotherhood were various sadhus and hermits of recognized holiness. A large number of them were highly educated and wealthy men of the highest caste among Hindus, the Brahmins, who freely donated towards the maintenance of the organization. The Sadhu frequented their services. On several occasions he was even mistaken as being one of them. Earnestly the Sadhu urged these secret believers to openly confess Christ. They promised that they would do so at the right time.
On one occasion while the Sadhu was preaching on the banks of the Ganges River, his audience told him that while they liked him as a sanyasi they did not like his message about a foreign God. These Hindus requested him to visit a great “Hindu” preacher who lived close by and who was attracting large crowds. For three days the Sadhu tried very much but could not get near to this “great Hindu preacher.”
One day, however, he was able to meet him alone. It was then that the Sadhu learnt that the “Hindu preacher” was indeed a Christian. The preacher embraced him and said, “Brother, we are doing the same work.” Surprised at this unexpected remark, the Sadhu said that he had never heard him preach Christ Jesus.
“Is there any foolish farmer who will sow without preparing the ground?” the Hindu preacher mused. “I first try to awaken in my hearers a sense of values. After a hunger and thirst for righteousness is created I preach to them Christ Jesus. On the banks of this ancient river I have baptized twelve educated Hindus during the past year.” He then showed the Sadhu the Bible he always carried with him.
In one of the holy cities of India some of these secret believers took the Sadhu to an old temple. There they showed him an ancient Sanskrit manuscript which detailed the account of Pandit Vishwamitra visiting the child Jesus. This evidence authenticated the Maharishi’s account of Vishwamitra’s conversion to Christianity.
While preaching at the central market place in Kantzi, the Sadhu was mobbed by an angry crowd. They physically assaulted him until he fell unconscious, then wrapped a blanket around his limp body. A demonically frenzied crowd of ordinary people and priests witnessed this brutality with rapturous glee.
The Sadhu was in a state of almost total unconsciousness, his mind and eyes barely making out what was happening to him. Cocooned within the blanket, only his head and feet were visible. A rope was fastened around the blanket very tightly. He was trapped like a larva, except that there was no way he could wriggle himself out his body suit. This blanket was going to the Sadhu’s burial shroud.
Many villagers were more than happy to give a helping hand to drag the Sadhu’s body into the forest lying on the outskirts of the village. He was left to die in the forest at the mercy of leeches, scorpions, snakes, and wild leopards.
When the Sadhu regained his consciousness he hardly realized where he was. His lips parched, his throat burning, pain shot through his entire body like a sprinkler fountain delivering only constant agony and no relief from thirst. He could not move any of his limps. He felt dead like a corpse. Tilting his head skywards with great difficulty he saw some luscious fruit hanging on a tree. At that moment he felt a sudden sting on his ankle, apparently from a scorpion, and slipped into unconsciousness again, this time facing certain death—or so he thought.
The Sadhu awoke with a start not only to find himself still alive but his face being washed. His limps were now free. The fruits hanging on the tree now lay beside him. His wounds were bandaged. In the moon-light he made out the blurry image of two men standing before him. After the Sadhu had mustered enough strength for himself the two strangers led him to safety out of the forest.
Initially the Sadhu thought that once again God had sent his angels to minister to him and to protect him. But a surprise awaited him. Before his rescuers left him they whispered these words in his ear: “We are secret disciples—members of the Sanyasi Mission.”
In one of the large northern cities of India the Sadhu was introduced to a famous Hindu preacher who was considered a profound scholar of the Vedas. He heard him lecture on the Hindu Scriptures, and towards the end the lecturer said: “The Vedas reveal to us the need of redemption from sin, but where is the redeemer? The ‘Prajapathi,’ of whom the Vedas speak, is Christ Jesus who has given His life as a ransom for sinners.” When questioned afterwards by Hindus how he could speak of a different
religious god the lecturer said: “It is I who truly believe in the Vedas and not you. Because I believe in Him whom the Vedas reveal, that is Christ Jesus.”
“The great need today is that the Church should have a broad vision,” Sadhu Sundar Singh said. “The Christian should transcend the limitations of sect and creed and be prepared to recognise the Spirit of the Lord in whatever form it may manifest itself. The Secret Sanyasi Mission has the blessing of the Lord. Though it has taken a form we are not accustomed to, yet its leaders are doing great things in India—beyond the scope of our conventional churches.”
What can we really make out of this revelation? Does a secret Sanyasi organization really exist? Do born- again and Spirit-filled sanyasis, sadhus, and rishis really live in India in these modern times? This was the question upper-most in the mind of the author while first penning this book in 2009. Unable to find concrete evidence for it the author felt best to leave this material out. But a year after the first edition was released, the author came across an amazing testimony of a high-caste Hindu that substantiated the existence of the secret Sanyasi Mission.
AN AmAZING TESTImONY
Dr. Srinivasa Bhattachary comes from the 145th direct generation of Sri Vaishnam Bhattachary, the royal priesthood community of Nepal. He comes from a family of priests. All of his family members are Bhattacharyas, priests serving gods who have eyes but cannot see, who have ears but cannot hear, who have noses but cannot smell, who have hands but cannot touch, who have legs but cannot walk.
At age six he wore the poonool, a sacred thread worn over the shoulder by high-caste Hindus. He was sent to an Ashramam (a Hindu theological residential school) for studies on Hindu theology. From his childhood he poured himself into the study of a whole range of important Hindu religious texts, including the Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samarveda, Adarvarnaveda, Nalayiram Lijya Prabhandtha, Ethihasa, Purana Ramayana, Mahabharatha, and the Bhagvatgeetha.
Once his early education in Hindu philosophy was completed, he was sent to undertake doctoral studies at the Benaras University in Uttar Pradesh, India. There he completed the Siromony doctorate degree in Sanskrit and a Ph.D. in Grandha. In 1992, while he was studying at the university, fundamental Hindu fanatics came to destroy the 14th century Babri Masjid Mosque at Ayodhya, also in Uttar Pradesh.
Since he was a Bhattachary and was completing a double PhD from a prestigious Hindu University, Dr Srinivasa was chosen as the national youth leader for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (National Patriotism Organization), a voluntary right-wing nationalist, paramilitary and, allegedly, militant organization. The objective of the RSS organization is to stop foreign religions, particularly Christianity, from coming into India.
After the destruction of the Muslim mosque, Srinivasa began working on a research paper at the university. His thesis was “How will man go to the kingdom of God after his death?” He was seeking to answer the question: “How will a man reach the Brahma path or Sivan Narayan path or how can we go to the kingdom of God.”
One day, while he was reading some books in the library, a very old sanyasi came to the library and called for him. This sanyasi had a long beard and very long hair. He wore only an ordinary dhoti, which is a loin cloth wrapped around the body. He bid Srinivasa to come to him, handed over a small piece of paper, then walked away without a word.
Srinivasa did not know who that stranger was or where he came from. He looked at the small piece of paper in his hand. On it was written: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, for whosoever believeth should not perish but shall have everlasting life – John 3:16.” The more he read this scripture the more it ate at his heart.
He went to all his gurus and asked them who this “begotten son” was. They supposed that the begotten son was either Krishna Paramatma or Rama Paramatma, both of whom were Hindu mythic gods. That answer did not satisfy Srinivasa, whose thirst for truth ran deep. For one whole month he searched desperately for a better answer.
One particular morning, sitting in his dormitory, Srinivasa looked intently at the troubling piece of paper once more. Tears rolled uncontrollably out of his eyes. He had to know who this begotten Son of God really was. All of a sudden he heard a voice asking him to read the Rigveda. He reached for the ancient manuscript and turned to a passage written in Sanskrit: “Santhakaram purakasayanam, pathmanabam suresham, vishwakaram mekavarnam lakshikanthan yogikirtham vandal bishnumbam, survalokayika.” Translated into English, it reads: “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will have everlasting life.”
Srinivasa was shaken to the core of his being. Confronted with the same Bible scripture in his own Hindu scriptures, the Rigveda, he resolved within himself that if he were to die he must still obey this only begotten son. He also purposed in his heart there and then to surrender his life to this God.
When the results of his doctoral program were announced, Srinivasa could not be more surprised. He achieved the distinction of coming out first among all the doctoral candidates in the whole of India in both his doctorates. For such an accomplishment he was awarded the President’s Gold Medal at the Indian Parliament, surrounded by distinguished parliamentarians.
A great vacuum, nonetheless, remained in Srinivasa’s heart as he made preparations to return to his home-town in Tamil Nadu. Throughout the journey on the Ganga-Kaveri express train, Srinivasa pondered over John 3:16. Something inside urged him to keep on meditating this scripture throughout the journey.
The train pulled into Madhya Pradesh for a brief stop and break. While in a state of meditation he heard an inner voice telling him to get down at this station. He wondered why. He did not have any relatives living there. However, the more he refused to listen to the voice the more persistent it became. Finally he gave in and got off the train. He found himself standing all alone on the platform.
After a while he heard the now familiar inner voice instructing him to start walking. After walking for nearly three kilometers he came to a place called Baratpur, a town in the city of Jabalpur. The moment Srinivasa came to a
particular spot where stood a cement arch, he saw the same old sanyasi who had earlier accosted him at the university library.
Pointing his fingers at him the sanyasi came towards Srinivasa. “The Lord whom you wanted to know in your life is Jesus Christ; the only begotten son whom you are seeking is Christ Jesus,” the old man began as he laid his hand on Srinivasa’s head. “He loves you and forgives your sin. He is going to cleanse you from all your sinful natures. He is going to give you a new life.” The words of this unknown saint sank deep into Srinivasa. He humbled himself and surrendered himself to the life-giving God.
After Srinivasa had confessed Jesus as Lord and Christ the sanyasi took him to a place called Bidagarh, where the Narmada River flows. They crossed the river and went to the other side where there were no human beings. The sanyasi took Srinivasa into a cave in the forest. Inside the cave the sanyasi knelt down and started reading the Bible. After that, he began to explain the gospel and the eternal truths of the Bible to the new convert.
He explained to Srinivasa how God created the heavens, the earth, the rivers, the seas, the plants, the animals, and how He created human beings. The sanyasi also explained how man fell into sin and how the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world as the Messiah. He also described how much the Son of Man suffered on the cross at Golgotha and how He finally died.
Srinivasa stayed for two months with the saintly sanyasi in the forest. Every morning they would kneel down together in the presence of the Lord for hours to pray and to meditate on the word of God. After being discipled
for two months Srinivasa was baptized by the sanyasi in the Narmada River.
After being baptized in the water the sanyasi prayed for Srinivasa to be filled with the Holy Spirit. After Srinivasa was baptized with the Holy Spirit, the sanyasi told him to go back to his own community and preach to them the gospel.
This testimony, the reader will agree, proves the existence of the secret Sanyasi Mission.
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