Rajguru Pandit Haridutt Shastri

Brief Life History of Rajguru Pandit Haridutt Shastri,

Vidyaratna, Vidyalaankar, Dharmadhureen, Dehradun

As written by Brahmadutt Trivedi[1]; English Translation: Anisha Shekhar Mukherji

India has always been a land of philosophers from countless ages. Great and uniquely endowed souls such as Rama, Lakshmana, Krishna, Shivi, Dadhichi, etc. have taken avatars here for the well-being of the world. Similarly in the middle ages, there have been luminaries such as Shankara, Ramanuja, Kabir, Sur and Tulsi, because of whom this world has been rendered proud. Even today there have been men of this age such as the greatest among poets, Rabindra, and the father of the nation, Gandhi, who have lifted India’s banner high. The position of Rajguru Dharmadhurin Haridutt Shastriji in contemporary Indian philosophical life has the same significance.

Born in Samvat 1932 in the month of Pausa in Tehri Garhwal, his mother was named Nandini. His father, Pandit Krishna Chandra Joshi, was of the lineage of the Diwans of Jihan Kumaon. Pandit Krishna Chandra Joshi Diwan came to Tehri in 1903, and despite his entire life being devoted to the service of the kingdom, remained a great scholar of Jyotish and Tantra Shastra and a practitioner of Yoga. Pandit Haridutt Shastri’s maternal grandfather Rajguru Pandit Radhapati’s son, Pandit RamaKrishna was also a Rajguru.

When Shastriji was four years old, his father passed away. He had left behind instructions not to send his son to any pathshala, but to keep writing with vaghav beej ashwagandha on his tongue. This was done. 

Mother Nandini was a scholar of Jyotish Shastra and had deep knowledge of traditional plant lore and medicines. Constantly impelled with the wish to serve the poor and needy, whenever she heard of any children in ill-health in her village or town, she would immediately go there with her roots and plants and heal them of illness.

She got the child Haridutt’s Upanayan ceremony done when he was eight years old, and after that he would accompany her everyday to bathe in the Ganga. She taught him to recite and learn Rudradhyaya and Durgapath. One day while he was on his way to bathe in the Ganga, a karal snake bit him and he was unconscious for 24 hours. But then a sadhu came and revived him by chanting a mantra. He then taught him Amarkosh and the first few chapters of the Ramayana. His initial education continued at home with his mother, who taught him Jyotish through history and sometimes taught him about planets by studying the evening sky. 

At 12 years of age, he started teaching young boys Sanskrit as a way to earn his livelihood. Everyone was amazed at the fact that this child had such knowledge of Sanskrit without any formal training. The Maharani then summoned him with reverence and organised the katha of Ganesh Purana. For two years, he enumerated the katha of the Puranas at the court.

In the summers ascetics often went to Uttarkashi, which is at a distance of 41 miles from Tehri. Since Tehri was a small town, mother Nandini would invite the Mahatmas who came there and honour them at her home. When Swami Dayanand Saraswati came there, mother sought his blessings for her son. He then blessed him saying, “Son, may your proficiency in vedä and vyakaran increase”.

(This is part of the translation, the rest of Panditji's life-history as written by Shri Brahmadutt Trivedi will follow)

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[1] The biography of Rajguru Pandit Haridutt Shastri appears in the Preface to the Commentary written on Lalitasahranam by Rajguru Pandit Haridutt Shastri (Published by Mansukhrai Mor, Calcutta, 1^st edition Vikramsamvat 2010, CE 1954.)