Radha Soami Agra Dayalbagh Satsang

Dayalbagh is a town situated in Agra, Uttar Pradesh where the headquarters or dera of the Radha Soami sect are based. At this very dera, the eighth revered leader or the Sant Satguru lives and conducts his satsang. The Dayalbagh Agra dera preaches the teachings of the Radha Soami sect like active and disciplined way of life, Bhent, Surat Shabad Yoga etc. This Radha Soami Dayalbagh dera has an educational institute called Dayalbagh Educational Institute and the Radhasoami Satsang Sabha is the chief working committee of this dera.

Dayalbagh and Soamibagh

• Dayalbagh is the place from where the Radha Soami Satasang sect began while Soamibagh is adjacent to Dayalbagh. Headquarters of the Radhasoami Faith are situated at Soami Bagh on the very land that was purchased by Soamiji Maharaj (Shiv Dayal Singh Ji).
• The construction of the Shiv Dalayal Soamiji’s Samadh started in the year 1905 by Guru Maharaj Saheb.
• Soamibagh is basically the former house of Shiv Dayal Ji while the current location of Soamiji Maharaj’s tomb – shrine is owned and controlled by two these organizations – the Radhasoami Satsang Central Administrative Council and the Radhasoami Trust.
• On the other hand, Dayalbagh is fully owned and controlled by the Radhasoami Satsang Dayalbagh Sabha.
• The major differences between these two neighboring areas are that the members of the Radhasoami Trust claim that the Trust is the ‘parent stock’ of Radha Soami and therefore, it must rule the RadhaSoami religuion/sect.
• Due to this religious hegemony, the Dayalbagh Sabha members feel insulted plus the members of the Dayal Bagh Sabha feel that they should get all the access of the Soami Bagh tomb – shrine.
• To resolve this issue, the Dayal Bagh Sabha organized ‘SPIRICON 2010’ which was a conference of many different organizations who respect and admire Shiv Dayal Singh Ji in order to promote mutual respect. A petition to get an access to the Shiv Dayal Singh Ji’s tomb – shrine was also moved in this conference.

Radhasoami Dayalbagh Gurus

The Radha Soami movement was started by Shiv Dayal Singh Ji in Agra and in the present day, the Radha Soami sect has over 30 different groups competing across India and the world. According to the Dayalbagh Agra branches of the movement, the nameless God beyond the Gods is given name which is called Radha Soami. The followers of the RadhaSoami Agra branches i.e. Dayalbagh and Soamibagh dera believe that RadhaSoami is the Supreme Being itself, represented in the form of Dhwanyatmak (sound) and Chaitanyam (light).

The lineage of the Radha Soami Dayalbagh Agra dera is as follows:

• Shiv Dayal Singh
• Salig Ram
• Prem Saran Satsangi

The Radhasoami Faith

Shiv Dayal Singh and Salig Ram

• Shiv Dayal Singh Ji, often regarded as ‘Soamiji Maharaj’ by his followers is considered as the first incarnation of the Radhasoami Faith. He was born in the Ceded Provinces of British India in Agra city.
• His family used to follow Sant Tulsi Saheb of Hathras, India and after the death of Sant Tulsi Saheb in the year 1843, Shiv Dayal Ji started practicing Surat Shabad Yoga in a secluded room for about 15 years.
• In 1869, Soamji Maharaj began holding Satsang on Vasant Panchami which went on for 17 years and today, the day of Vasant Panchami holds huge importance for the Radhasoamis.
• After the death of Shiv Dayal Singh Ji in 1878, Salig Ram took over and became the second Sant Satguru by establishing the Radhasoami Faith.
• There were three successors of Salig Ram namely – Salig Ram’s son Ajodhya Prasad who continued the satsang practice at Huzuri Bhavan in Pipal Mandi (Salig Ram’s house)1, Brahm Shankar Mishra who started Radhasoami Central Administrative Council, Shivbratlal Varman who started Radha Soami Dham at Gopi Ganj, Mirzapur, U.P.

Radha Soami Dayalbagh Sabha Foundation laid by Anand Swarup Ji

• The Dayalbagh Agra dera was established on 20^th January, 1951 (the Basant Day) by Sir Anand Swarup aka Huzur Sahab Ji Maharaj.
• Swarup Ji Maharaj is the Fifth Revered Leader of the Radhasoami Agra dera. This foundation laid by Maharaj Ji was a Dayalbagh colony was an ashram built for the the Radha Soamis by planting a mulberry tree.
• Early residents of the area contributed and volunteered for the construction of the Radha Soami Dayalbagh dera and this contribution goes on till today.  
• After becoming the second Sant Satguru after Sarkar Sahab in 1913, Sahib Anand Swarup Ji founded Radhasoami Educational Institute and a co – Educational Middle School. Later, on both these schools expanded and went on to become Dayalbagh Educational Institute.

Prem Saran Satsangi: Present Head of Dayalbagh Agra Dera

• The 8^th and the current head of the Radha Soami Dayalbagh Agra dera is, Prem Saran Satsangi. He is also seated at the East of the Integrated East – West Forum at The Science of Consciousness Conferences Emeritus Chair since 2012.
• He is called as ‘Param Guru Huzur’ by his devotees. Prem Saran Satsangi Ji is a very learned and educated man who holds a degree in engineering and later on joined IIT Delhi in 1964.
• Prem Saran Ji has done Ph.D. and wrote his thesis on ‘A physical systems theory modeling frame work generalized for large scale economic system’ in 1968.
• Then in May 1993, Prem Saran Ji left IIT Delhi and joined as a director at Dayalbagh Educational Institute. He worked as a director for 9 long years and did his academic administrative duties. May 2003 was the time when Prem Saran Satsangi Ji was unanimously elected as the 8^th Respected Leader of the Radhasoami Dayalbagh Dera.
• It was under guidance only that on June 13^th, 1958 the Radhasoami Satsang Sabha was initiated into Murar Declaration. This directly meant that a strong step was taken for bringing unity smong different Radhasoami communities.