builder of houseboats in Srinagar who had similar
aspirations for his son. Yet, in early childhood,
the boy exhibited actions of a spiritual nature
and appeared to be on the path of becoming a
yogi. At the age of three he made a clay Shiva for
his worship. He spent long hours in MEDITATION,
which caused him to act oddly. Out of concern for
his well-being, his parents approached the family
guru, Swami Ram Joo, who assumed care for the
boy’s spiritual education.
Lakshmana learned the discipline of Shaivism
first under the guidance of Swami Ram, and then,
when the latter died, under Swami Mahtab Kak.
His father’s illness forced him to look after the
family business while still a teenager. He ended
his formal education but continued to practice
YOGA and study under Mahtab Kak. During this
time he began to learn the Shaiva Sastras.
Lakshmana endured great struggles with his
family as his spirituality developed. At the age of
13, he refused his parents’ request for an arranged
marriage. When he experienced SELF-REALIZATION
for the first time at the age of 20, he became
uninterested in his family’s business and felt a
strong urge to practice his SADHANA (spiritual
search) in solitude. He left home and traveled
to Sadha-malyun Ashram in Handawara, Kash-
mir. His parents searched frantically for him and
eventually found him at the ashram. His father
convinced him to return home only after promis-
ing to build an ashram for him. Four months later
he moved into an ashram located on the slopes
of a mountain opposite Srinagar. Lakshmanjoo
continued his studies of the Shaivite Sastras
for the next seven years under the guidance of
the scholar Maheshuvar Nath Razdan. During
this time he accepted the daughter of Sri Jai Lal
Sopori, Sharika Devi, as a student and taught her
the practice of Shaivite YOGA. After she attained
self-realization under his guidance, the ashram
attracted other devotees.
During the 1930s, Lakshmanjoo traveled
throughout India, making the acquaintance of
Mohandas Karamchand GANDHI in Sevagram, Sri
AUROBINDO at Pondicherry, and RAMANA MAHARSHI
at Tiruvannamalai.
In 1957, Lakshmanjoo commissioned a new
ashram, Ishvara Ashrama, in the village of Ishaber,
where his public teachings attracted a large num-
ber of devotees. Disciples began to call him Swami
Ishvara Svarupa, a name given to him by Sharika
Devi. Lakshmanjoo taught the Shaivite tantras
(see TANTRISM) and other texts of the tradition
to his disciples and to scholars from India and
Europe. He gave Sunday talks on Shaivite yoga
and received other spiritual teachers and scholars.
As the last in an unbroken lineage of masters of an
“oral tradition,” he dedicated his life to the sacred
teachings of Kashmiri Shaivism. He also estab-
lished the Ishwara Ashram Trust and, in 1982,
the Universal Shaivite Trust, which served as the
foundation for the Universal Shaivite Fellowship.
Lakshmanjoo embodied the full yogic tradi-
tion, on both the practice side and the theoretical
side. During his life he experienced all the trans-
formative disciplines of the Shaivite tradition—he
was a jnani (realized sage).
The knowledge of Kashmir Shaivism was tra-
ditionally passed along by oral communication or
other unseen means, directly from master to dis-
ciple. Some material was written from the eighth
century, but the texts were often intentionally
obscure in an effort to prevent misunderstanding
and misuse. The texts dealt with yogic experi-
ences that are extremely individual and difficult
to describe in words, and the practices involved
are emotional. A living master, founded in the oral
tradition, was always needed for guidance.
To forestall the loss of these oral traditions,
Lakshmanjoo published works in Sanskrit, Hindi,
and English. He was universally recognized for his
scholarship as well as his perfection in Shaivite
yoga. He received an honorary doctoral degree in
1965 from the Varanaseya Sanskrit University for
his contribution to Sanskrit and to tantra. He is
best known for reviving Kashmiri Shaivism as a
vital philosophy. His influence on the scholarship
of Shaivism extended into Europe and the UnitedLakshmanjoo 257 J