Ranjit Maharaj was born in Bombay on January 4th, 1913. Intensely spiritual as a child, he used to fervently worship Lord Krishna. “But when I saw my guru I forgot Lord Krishna,” he would say later.
At the age of 12, he met his master Siddharameshwar Maharaj, a great guru from the Navnath Sampradaya tradition who was also the master of Nisargadatta Maharaj. Ranjit Maharaj stayed with his Guru from this time until Siddharameshwar's death in 1936.
While Siddharameshwar’s guru taught the long and difficult path of dhyana or meditation, Siddharameshwar directly communicated knowledge, gyana, of the Final Reality to his disciples, including Ranjit Maharaj. This way, he said students could attain enlightenment very fast, like a bird flies from tree to tree and so he called it Vihangam Marg or the way of the bird as opposed to the Pipilika Marg or the way of the ant taught by his Master. It was this path that Ranjit Maharaj also taught his disciples.
After meeting his guru, Ranjit Maharaj continued to live a normal life. After completing his schooling, he tried his hand at various jobs, including that of a bar manager, before becoming an accountant. Because of his shy nature and respect for his senior colleague, Ranjit Maharaj refrained from taking on disciples of his own. When faced with a request, however, from his guruu's son Yashwantrao, to give mantra diksha to his daughter-in law, he could not refuse and ultimately agreed to carry on the spiritual lineage.
Ranjit Maharaj did not begin to teach until 1983 at the age of 70 when increasing numbers of seekers kept showing up at his door, following the death of Nisargadatta Maharaj two years earlier.
Satsangs took place every day at his small flat in a busy commercial area in Mumbay. His teaching were in the continuity of his master's, which emphasizes simplicity and directness in language.
Ranjit Maharaj made his first tour to the west only in 1996. He visited and gave talks in USA and also in Europe.
In early 2000, Ranjit Maharaj suffered a stroke, which left him paralyzed on one side. In a touching expression of his devotion, even in this state of health, he traveled almost 1,000 km by ambulance for the annual pilgrimage to Siddharameshwar’s Samadhi in Bagewadi in Karnataka.
Ranjit Maharaj passed away on November 15th, 2000 at 6:16 PM at his residence in Bombay. Maharaj's words during his last few days were:
It is of no use now, this has to go
Nisargadatta Maharaj speaking about Ranjit Maharaj
(A quote from an interview with David Godman about his memories of Nisargadatta Maharaj)
Ranjit Maharaj once came to visit during one of his morning sessions. They chatted in Marathi for a few minutes and then Ranjit left.
Maharaj simply said, 'That man is a jnani. He is a disciple of my Guru, but he is not teaching.'
