Pandit Dina Nath Muju
Dina Nath Muju
P.O. Sanat Nagar
Shrinagar, 190005
Kashmir, India
14 th October, 1974
Dear Friend,
I am in receipt of your letter of 3rd September and thank you for the same.
I am enclosing a brief sketch of Swami Lakshmanjoo's life and teachings, as desired by you. I read it to him and got the facts about his life events and teaching verified by him. Beyond this, it is my own. I hope it will answer your purpose.
As Swamiji does not usually write, especially in English, I had written a few pages on Kashmir Shaivism, giving a brief summary of 112 ways of transcending at the end of it and got it approved by him.
But then, your letter under reply came, in which you have expressed your deep interest in Vijnaya Bhairava Tantra. So, with Swamiji's approval, I have undertaken to write out a complete translation of all the 112 ways, bringing out the meaning of each verse as clearly and fully as possible.
I get each portion corrected by Swamiji weekly, as Swamiji is rather busy these days and cannot spare more time. Besides, I also do not live near him. I think it will be ready within a fortnight. The whole thing will be from Swamiji and only edited by me.
As the language is mine, if you find anywhere a necessity to change any grammatical constructions, you may kindly do so. I shall be thankful.
You have asked for photographs. Will you kindly tell me which photographs you would actually like to have?
Yours sincerely,
Dina Nath Muju
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A short story by Pandit Dina Nath Muju:
The Eternal Throb
Dr. T. N. Ganjoo and Others Remember Their Dear Friend
It gives me a great honour to write this introduction to this rare publication on my teacher and guide Pandit Dina Nath Muju. These writeups, I am sure, will be a source of inspiration and a guiding force for those who want to travel on the Holy Path, as these are pregnant with meaning and depth and are put in simple words. The simplicity of the language and the depth of meaning contained in these writings reflect the simplicity and depth of thought of Pandit Dina Nath Ji himself for which he was loved and respected by all those who came into contact with him. These qualities of the great soul are vividly described by some of his admirers, whose tributes find a good and deserved place in this book.
The reader will, of course, realize for himself the greatness of this simple-living and high-thinking man by going through these pages and learning of his association with great personalities such as J. Krishnamurti and Professor Srikanth Toshakhani, who influenced his life.
The late Pandit Dina Nath Muju was a saintly scholar, renowned educator, and a teacher in the real sense. He was a highly respected person with vast knowledge who lived a very simple life and possessed an unassuming personality.
His writings include some very rare manuscripts in the Sharda and Persian languages and copies of some rare books on Theosophy and J. Knshnamurti.
One of the most important books that the late Dina Nath Muju possessed was the manuscript of his own written book on Kashmiri Language and Grammar. In this, he used the diacritical marks introduced by Professor S.K. Toshkhani for transcribing Kashmiri vowel sounds in the Devanagari and Roman scripts, in which he had published his introductory books Acchhar Zan and Acchhar Mai, for those interested in learning the language. He had written this 200-page book for non-Kashmiri people, with Hindi and English versions, and which was the product of long labour.
It may be relevant here to give a brief account of the life history and martyrdom of this great soul and scholar. Somewhat shy of public appearances and praises, the late Pandit Dina Nath Muju never liked any sort of demonstrative description about his abilities and would most of the time prefer to remain silent and sit in a meditative and pensive mood. Looking towards the sky, or downwards, with eyes closed most of the time, he would be seen reflecting seriously over something very important and absorbed in his thoughts. However, once he would start talking about some subject, he could continue to discuss it for hours together. Talking was perhaps one of his passions. Age and social class did not present any barrier between him and his interlocutor.
Like a good teacher, he would take pleasure in talking to anyone who would care to listen to him or seek his company. It would be a pleasure to listen to his discourses, which would be full of references, anecdotes, examples, and varied interpretations and explanations to the minutest detail possible. Speaking with an open heart and an unbiased mind about our disintegrating social fabric, corrupt practices in society, and falling values of life, it would look as if he were trying to be cynical at times, which he was not. He was deadly against rituals and formalities.
An ardent reader of J. Krishnaamurti and a student of Theosophical thought since his youth, when he came into contact with the late Professor S. K.Toshkhani—a doyen in Kashmir Education and Professor of Philosophy—Pandit Dina Nath Muju had developed a very strong spiritual bent of mind. His contact with Professor Toshkhani changed the whole course of his life.
Bom in a middle-class family, he lost his father when he was only three years of age. His mother, who was mentally a very strong lady, took upon herself to bring up the boy and his elder sister on her own, along with one handicapped cousin in the family. Having passed matriculation, the late Pandit Dina Nath Muju could not go to college but continued his education privately till his graduation. He got a job in the forest department but did not find the job suitable to his temperament and left it within a period of a few months only. Being primarily interested in education, he preferred to go in for a teaching job. He went to Mysore to do a B. T. on his own. (There were no facilities for doing a B. T. in the State). Returning, home, he got a job in the State Education Department as a teacher and was posted at Kargil, where he came into contact with Shri Shridhar Joo Dulloo, a very noble soul and again a name in the educational history of Ladakh.
These were the days when the second World War started.
While at Kargil, he lost his sister’s husband at Srinagar, at a very young age of 4forty-eight years. This was a big shock and loss and an unbearable tragedy for Muju Sahib.
Coming into contact with Prof. S. K. Toshkhani, he joined the Kashyapa Lodge of the Theosophical Society, which introduced him to J. Knshnamurti, whose teachings and books and lectures became his guiding star for the rest of his life.
J. Krishnamurti: On Choiceless Awareness
Before joining the Government service, Pandit Dina Nath Muju worked in the Womens’ Welfare Trust Schools on an honorary basis. The Womens’ Welfare Trust was an association founded by Professor S. K.Toshakhani in 1926, under the aegis of the Theosophical Society, with a special permission from Maharaja Hari Singh to impart education to the women folk of the Valley, as education among women was a thing almost unheard of.
It was an uphill task to venture such an institution. However, Professor Toshkhani, along with some other theosophists such as Aftab Kaul Nizamat (father of Col. S. Kaul, former Principal Govt. Medical College, Srinagar), Shri Rugh Nath Razdan (retired Treasury Officer), and some other people started the schools with five girls, who were to be brought to the school and then to be dropped back at their respective homes. The Womens’ Welfare Trust thus became the pioneer, and the first institution to start schools for educating female folk in the valley. The timeless efforts of these devoted theosophists resulted in the spread of education among women folk, and by 1950 the Trust was running as many as eighteen schools in the State, including one for Harijans in Jammu.
Pandit Dina Nath Muju joined the band of young theosophists and worked for the development of the schools. The members of the W. W. Trust and even the teachers who were working on a meagre pay of Rs.3/- per month would sweep the floors of the schools. Such was the dedication and devotion for a cause. Though he served the Trust schools for a short period only, his love and concern for these schools remained ever increasing. and he remained associated with the Kashyapa Lodge of the Theosophical Society, the Women’s Welfare Trust, and its schools till the last days of his life. Though he never aspired for a high post in the Lodge, management of the schools or the Trust Board itself, his views mattered a lot in running the Trust and its Schools and keepmg the spirit of Theosophy alive by holding regular meetings of the Kashyapa Lodge.
The influence of Theosophical thought made Mr. Muju travel to Madras and Varanasi to attend Theosophical functions, and having found a teacher in Shri J. Krishnamurti through the Theosophical Society, it because his passion to study his lectures and listen to his talks every winter in Bombay, Delhi, and Madras, or wherever Krishnamurti would go.
And of course, his other companion with him, most of the time, was Professor S. K. Toshkani. These two people were responsible for introducing Krishnamurti to the State, when J. Krishnamurti visited Kashmir in 1960, for the first and and only time.
Studying and discussing J. Krishnamurti, Theological literature, and discussing Krisnmurti’s lectures, became almost a passion. and it became customary with him to purchase a large number of copies Krishnamurti’s books, such as At the Feet of Master, and distribute them among all his friends and all those who would come in contact with him. He would even get some copies of Krishnamurti’s lectures and distribute them among his friends. Wherever he went to stay for a brief period, he would make friends by sharing his views about Krishnamurti with people around.
Of course, Srinagar being the place of his residence, he even extended his circle so far as Krishnamurti was concerned to Kanpur, where he used to go every year to be with his second son, Professor at I. I. T, and Bombay, Madras, and Varanasi. Even at Acchabal Anantaag, Kashmir, where he would go to stay with his youngest son, working in the State Sericulture Department, he enjoyed his stay at Ramakrishna Krishna Mission Ashram, Nagdandi, Achhabal and made good friends with the locals. While Krishnamurti continued to be his spiritual mentor, Pandit Dina Nath Muju, simultaneously, developed his contacts with Swami Laximan Ji, a highly evolved soul, saint, and a reputed scholar of Shaivism and most probably his school mate as well.
Swami Laximan Ji had an Ashram at Ishbar, Nishat, Srinagar. He would conduct classes Shaivism there. Pandit Dinanath Ji developed a great interest in Shaivism and started attending Swami Ji’s classes on every Sunday or as per the programme drawn by Swami Ji himself. Swamiji too developed great love and affection for Pandit Dinanath Ji and had at times remarked that if anybody in the class understood Shaivism, it was only Dinanath Ji. This was perhaps becasuse of the great similarity between Shaivism and the teachings of J. Krishnamurti, who used to address him as Dinanath Ji whenever they would meet.
Pandit Dina Nath Muju's loving wife speaks of her dear and kind husband's life and accomplishments.