History

   His Holiness P. P. Sadguru Shree Mamasaheb Deshpande, a great spiritual leader and the true convergence of the three divine streams, ShreeDatta Sampraday, ShreeNath Sampraday, and ShreeBhagwat Sampraday, was born on 25th June, 1914 to highly devotional and illustrious parents, Matushree Parvatibai and Shree Dattopant Deshpande.

  Both parents taught Shree. Mama virtue, instilling in him religious and social values, spirituality, and devotion in childhood itself. Matushree Parvatidevi was a disciple of Sadguru Shree Swami Samarth Maharaj of Akkalkot, who used to fondly call her “my beloved child”. P. P. Shree Mama Maharaj was initiated by P.P. Sadguru Matushree Parvatidevi, who blessed him with Diksha, as well as Dnyaneshwari. With the grace of the divine trinity – Shree Vamanrao Gulvani Maharaj, Matushree, and Pitashree, he started the lineage work based out of Pune.  

    After completing his formal education, he did several pilgrimages to all over India (The Himalayas, Gangotri, Jamnotri, Harivdar, Hrishikesh, Girnar, Dwarka, Jagannathpuri, Kashi, Trimbakeshwar, Rameshwar, and Kanyakumari, to name a few). He loved the company of saints and visited Pandharpur and Alandi consistently multiple times as part of Wari (foot-pilgrimage).

    He used to get immersed into Jnaneshwari & devoted his life to live the Jnaneshwari principles. He explained real knowledge and wisdom by giving simple, day-to-day examples from Jnaneshwari to many seekers. Thus, he contributed to the enlightenment & awakening of society in the way Shree Mauli dreamed it! With adherence to the Shastras, Vedas, and Upanishads, he set an example of ethics, virtue, moral and social values along with spirituality.

    After giving the initiation rights of Shree Datta Sampradaya to P. P. Shree Mama, His Holiness Shree Vamanrao Gulvani Maharaj blessed him by saying, “Only you will take forward the lineage”. We can see it has turned to Truth. P. P. Shree Mama performed various rituals like Shravan Anushthan, Yagyam, and food donation at the Mauli Ashram in Pune. He established “Shreepad Seva Mandal" (SSM) charitable trust, currently having more than 100 centers all over the world. Under his guidance, the SSM Sadhak family expanded with more than 25,000 disciples around the world and is still expanding. For the attainment of the objectives of "Self-Realization", "enlightenment", and "spiritual progress", seekers get initiated into Namdiksha and Shaktipat.

    He guided many needy families and individuals through Sahaj Yoga/Sadhana, starting their journey from materialism to the spiritual path, and evolved many through spiritualism. Shree Mama’s spiritual and philosophical heirs, P. P. Sadguru Matushree Shakuntala Agate and P. P. Sadguru Shree Shireesh Shantaram Kawade, received Shaktipat Diksha and initiation rights from Shree Mama to take forward the lineage.  

    He started ‘ShreeVamanraj Publication’ and ‘ShreeVamanraj periodical’. He was a renowned writer, who wrote and published multiple books on Shreedatta Sampraday and Shree Jnaneshwari. He built a family of hundreds of seekers through Yoga (Spiritual Practice) and Bodh (Spiritual Guidance & discourses by means of Books and other material).

    During later years (1974 to 1990), he constantly traveled to build centers at Pune (Shree Mauli Ashram), Mumbai, Goa, Bhilai, Kolhapur, Nagpur, Wardha, Mohol, etc. He built a divine temple of Lord Shree NrusinhaSaraswati Swami Maharaj at Helwak, a holy place near Koyana Nagar. He also did the emplacement of Shree Akkalkot Swami Maharaj idol in an auspicious temple at Mahad. To enable and facilitate seekers to practice spiritualism in a natural, sacred environment, he initiated multiple projects, like the temple of Lord Shreepad Shreevallabh Swami Maharaj at Jalgaon Jamod and the temple of venerable Shree Vasudevanand Saraswati Tembye Swami Maharaj and Lord Shree Krishna at Amberi, a holy place near Mangaon, Kokan.

    P. P. Sadguru Shree Mama decided to set up a project at Siddhabet in Alandi, the sacred land where Shree Jnaneshwar Mauli spent his life, so that seekers can follow the spiritual practice & Sahajyoga Sadhan in the holy lap of mother nature to attain the state of true bliss. To make this dream come true, he established the Shree Jnandev Siddhabet Tapovan Trust and engaged the right members with moral virtue. After going through tremendous hardships and multiple judiciary rounds, he could get the holy land allocated for the project. Nothing could stop him from taking forward the divine goal, neither the harsh weather nor the ill behavior from others. During the journey of fundraising for this divine purpose, he faced lots of opposition, defamation, insults, and innumerable worldly difficulties, but that could not de-glorify his passion for the project and the eternal goal to create the excellent Tapovan and study facilities for seekers to achieve Self-Realization. On the morning of March 21, 1990, P. P. Shree Mama attended Mahasamadhi, after which the spiritual heirs of lineage, P. P. Sadguru Matushree Tai and P. P. Sadguru Shree Dada, are taking forward this eternal goal.