History of the Sacha Lineage (Part 1)

The saint who was a few centuries old

From a historical point of view, the story of the Sacha lineage starts at the beginning of the 20th century. At that time, there lived a great saint whose origin and name were unknown. He was so old that some people that he was 250 years old, while others thought he was more than 400 years old. He had no ashram, for he constantly travelled around India, and his disciples were to be found all over the country. However, he frequently went to stay on the Girnar mountain in Gujarat, and that is why he became known as “Sacha Baba Girnari”, i.e. “the Father of Truth from the Girnar Mountain,” or the “great saint from the Girnar mountain”. He was also more simply called “Grinari Baba”. It was said that he was the incarnation of Devarishi Narada. His spiritual stature and powers were so great that he drew huge crowds and inspired great devotion. His disciples came from all levels of the society, from the humblest to Maharajahs, from illiterate people to intellectuals, from the poorest to the richest. And all these men and women gathered at his feet wherever he stayed temporarily.

Why start afresh?

One day, while he was on the Girnar mountain, he wondered who the greatest saint in the world was. The answer to this question came as a vision where he saw that it was a saint who was living in Jalhupur near Benares. He immediately set off to find him. He did indeed find him. According to tradition, this meeting took place in 1906.However Girnari Baba was intrigued to see that the great saint was reciting a mantra for the purpose of dissolving the world. The destruction of the world! So Girnari Baba asked him why he, his illustrious host was doing that. Kacha Baba replied that humanity had completely degenerated, and was now only a shadow of itself, so deeply it had fallen into ignorance of divine wisdom while only spending its time enjoying worldly pleasures, which inevitably caused great suffering in the form of diverse illnesses and problems. So, out of compassion, to avoid man’s falling more deeply into such a negative and painful situation, he wanted to dissolve the world, after which a new one would appear, and in which true virtue and love would rule the life of each human being.

But Girnari Baba did not see things that way. He knew that Kacha Baba possessed immense powers which could progressively transform men and bring them to live according to virtue and love as Kacha Baba desired. He therefore told the latter,“If you transfer your power to me, then I will transform humanity little by little and bring men to God without it being necessary to destroy the world.”

Everything in life must be merited

Kacha Baba did not give an answer this request right away, but submitted Girnari Baba to a series of trials which lasted several years, to see if he had the necessary qualities to lead such a mission. When, after these long years, Kacha Baba saw that Girnari Baba had succeeded in all the tests, he told him that after few days, he Kacha Baba would die, and on that occasion he would transfer his powers to him. What he said did indeed happen, and his powers were transmitted to Girnari Baba. He was thus ready to carry out the gigantic task which he intended to do – that of bringing humanity to God.But who was Kacha Baba, to be given such vast powers which allowed one to destroy the world, or transform it? It is said that he was the incarnation of Lord Vishnu Himself. He won great fame at the time and is still well-known today. (Continued in Part 2)