Dharmanand Ji

Shri Swami Dharmanand Ji Maharaj is counted as the sixth guru of the Sar Shabd Mission line of the Paramhans Advait Mat, seated at Shri Nangli Sahib in Meerut district. The Mission's own account records that he ascended the spiritual throne in August 2000, in succession to Shri Swami Gurusharnanand Ji Maharaj, and that he travelled continuously thereafter to give discourse at every ashram and satsang kendra of the line.

He was born Bishan Daas Ji. The name Dharmanand Ji was taken on entering the renunciate line. The spelling Dharamanand also appears.

A twentieth and twenty-first century historical figure with no classical iconography. Veneration is through photographic portraits and through the ashrams and satsang kendras of the Sar Shabd Mission.

The Mission's account of his turning point places it in June 1959, when he first met Shri Swami Sar Shabdanand Ji Maharaj, the fourth guru of the line, at a temple during a spiritual discourse. It records that the fourth guru recognised him then as destined for substantial work in the spiritual field. After several days of service he received Naam, the Name-word, in 1959. Note the sequence carefully: his initiation was from the fourth guru, while his succession to the seat came later, after the fifth.

He received Naam from Shri Swami Sar Shabdanand Ji Maharaj (fourth guru), and came to the seat by succession to Shri Swami Gurusharnanand Ji Maharaj (fifth guru). Unlike the 1980 handwritten will recorded for the fifth guru, no instrument or ceremony of conferral is described in any published source for his own succession. The Sar Shabd Mission succession:

1. Shri Swami Advaitanand Ji Maharaj, Paramhans Dayal Ji 2. Shri Swami Swaroopanand Ji Maharaj 3. Shri Swami Nijatamanand Ji Maharaj 4. Shri Swami Sar Shabdanand Ji Maharaj, who established the Sar Shabd Mission in 1972
2. Shri Swami Gurusharnanand Ji Maharaj, named successor by handwritten will in 1980
3. Shri Swami Dharmanand Ji Maharaj 7. Shri Swami Sar Bodhanand Ji Maharaj, the present sitting sant

His tenure is described in terms of reach rather than doctrine: from August 2000 he toured extensively, widening the scope of satsang and of initiation, and giving discourse monthly at each ashram and satsang kendra of the line. Works attributed to his direction at Shri Nangli Sahib include the Sar Charitable Dispensary at Akhand Dham, and a parking and residential block for visitors. Sar Shiksha Sanstha, the tradition's education body founded in March 2017, was established under his inspiration, and the meditation centre Tapovan is also attributed to him. His Awataran Diwas is observed on 19 November, one of the few observances in this line's calendar fixed to a Gregorian date rather than a tithi.

He belongs specifically to the Sar Shabd Mission line seated at Shri Nangli Sahib. The parallel Shri Anandpur branch of the same Advait Mat lineage, which diverges after Shri Swami Swaroopanand Ji Maharaj, recognises a different succession entirely and does not count him. Wikipedia's Advait Mat article follows a different branch again, and its succession list does not include him.