Upasani Maharaj, born Kashinath Govindrao Upasni,[1] (15 May 1870 – 24 December 1941[2]) was an Indian spiritual teacher, considered by his disciples to be a satguru.

His father was a copyist attached to the legal profession at the civil court of Dhulia; he had moved from Satana, leaving his son under the care of his grandfather and uncle.

[4] Gopala had served as a court advisor on religious and literary matters to Khanderao II Gaekwad, Maharaja of Baroda (rgd.

[7] Kashinath was more attracted to stories of the power of mantra (sacred invocation) and tapas (austerities) recorded in the Mahabharata, Ramayana and Puranas than to academic subjects.

[8] Kashinath was clearly influenced by his grandfather's asceticism (following the Ashrama tradition, Gopala later adopted sannyasa) and practiced sadhana (spiritual disciplines) with fervour, both at home and at a nearby cremation ground.

Kashinath felt that the only way to resolve the situation was to leave home and adopt a mendicant life, but senior members of the family decided that he should be married.

High up a precipitous cliff he discerned a small cave, and the desperate thought arose that this would be the ideal place for prayopavesha (fasting to death with full consciousness to attain union with Brahman).

The deaths in the family and the mounting debts had shocked him into the realization that he must act, and he left for Sangli to study Ayurvedic medicine and Sanskrit grammar.

A photo of Kashinath during the period shows him as a professional man with a painted mark of Lord Vishnu on his forehead, typical of a high Brahmin.

[18] He moved to Dhulia to stay with his brother, but the breathing problem became so painful and laborious that, in sheer desperation, he set out alone in search of a yogi who might cure him.

Kulkarni Maharaj attributed the ailment to intensive yogic practices and advised a visit to Sai Baba of Shirdi, whom he described by the Muslim term of aulia (wali).

He had been tutored by his grandfather, a respected Brahmin pundit, had followed Hindu codes of asceticism, and had enjoyed professional and financial success as an Ayurvedic physician in a high caste society: the idea of visiting a Muslim saint for guidance was alien to his worldview.

[20] Sai Baba was a faqir and guru, revered by both Hindu and Muslim followers, in Shirdi, a small agricultural village in the Ahmednager district.

He talked to local Hindus who eulogized the saint, but Sai Baba's open use of Muslim teachings and rituals discouraged Upasani from following him.

Alone, he would run a sugar-cane crusher, draw water for a farm, plough a field, and crush stones to small bits.

He gained many Brahmin devotees, but concentrated on assisting the Bhangi caste, sweepers who cleaned the streets and removed the refuse of the houses.

Upasani's moods remained erratic in response to the attention he received; he continued to beat and abuse some of those who approached him, for what must have appeared to onlookers as inexplicable reasons.

Sakori became a permanent ashram for Upasani Maharaj's work and helped dispel the resentment of the devotees who had reacted to the suggestion he was Sai Baba's spiritual heir.

A third book dealing with the duties and role of women in society bears the title Sati Charitra (The Character of a Wife).

[37] Upasani's influence continued to broaden; he had devotees throughout India and had a great effect on Hindu contemporary culture and the country's social and political leaders.

[39] The gesture was lost on Gandhi, who at that time still defended the Caste system, and who in 1921 had written that the Hindu prohibition against intermarriage and interdining is essential for the rapid evolution of the soul.

[40] Gandhi's subsequent experiences and reflections led him to annul this orthodox belief in November 1932, when he described the same two prohibitions as weakening Hindu society.

The nuns received training in Sanskrit, bramanical methods of memorizing and reciting sacred scriptures such as the Vedas and Upanishads, and performing religious ceremonies.

Articles appeared in magazines and newspapers, and various civil suits and a criminal cases against Upasani arose, but in all these the court declared him innocent.

Apparently minor transgressions from devotees could provoke angry outbursts, in which he would beat or throw stones at them, and yet in the next moment he would shower them with love and affection.

[48] Yet the ‘language’ of Upasni Maharaj required that the listener adapt to something other than words: My talk is not in accordance with the method of exposition as laid down by the Shastra.

[51]Upasani's last years were filled with extensive travel, meeting his devotees scattered about the country, teaching the kanyas in the ashram, and supervising the construction and dedication of shrines and temples made possible through the gifts of his followers.

According to Meher Baba, who had received God-realization in January 1914 from Hazrat Babajan, Upasni Maharaj gave him knowledge of the divine.

[53] Charles Purdom recounts that, at the end of December 1921, Upasani made several comments relating to Meher Baba.

"[54] After a separation of nearly 20 years, Meher Baba and Upasani Maharaj met for the last time on 17 October 1941 in Dahigaon, a small village in Niphad taluka in the Nashik district of Maharashtra, just two months before Upasni's death.