A true devotee of the True Master:

DR. DES RAJ JI
FORMER PRESIDENT SANT NIRANKARI MANDAL

Dr. Des Raj, President of the Sant Nirankari Mandal, Delhi left for his eternal abode on November 18, 2001.  He was 82.  The cremation took place at the Electric Crematorium in Delhi the same evening.  His Holiness Baba Hardev Singh Ji Maharaj, Nirankari Rajmata Kulwant Kaur Ji and Pujya Mata Sawinder Ji joined the funeral procession.  Baba Ji attended the funeral also. 

Dr. Des Raj Ji was born on January 10, 1919 in a small village called Pind Dadan Khan in district Jhelum, now in Pakistan.  His father, Bhagat Ram Ji and mother Guraan Dai Ji were religious minded persons with deep faith in Sanatan Dharm.  Dr. Des Raj Ji lost her mother when he was a child of 6 months only.  His father too merged with the Almighty, when Dr. Des Raj Ji had just passed Class IX.   Earlier, the family shifted to Sargodha, a big town in West Punjab (now Pakistan).  After the sad demise of his father, Dr. Des Raj Ji joined his elder brother, Madan Lal Ji in Peshawar, still another big town now in Pakistan.

Now that Dr. Des Raj Ji could not continue his studies, he got a job with Dr. Anup Singh.    While in the job he also began to receive training as a Physician.  Subsequently, he worked with Dr. Sewa Ram Ahuja and Dr. Avtar Singh on similar basis.  At one stage, Dr. Des Raj Ji started his own practice but could not succeed.  Then, he joined Dr. Sant Singh's clinic, who was kind enough not only to pay for his job but provide a thorough training also.  Consequently, Dr. Des Raj Ji could do the diagnosis, prescribe medicines and carry out injections, etc. 

In the meantime, Dr. Des Raj Ji married Ram Chameli.  During the partition of the country in 1947, Dr. Des Raj Ji and his wife migrated to Kurukshetra, where Ram Chameli's brother looked after them for about two months.   After this, they settled in Nabi Karim in Delhi.  Here Dr. Des Raj Ji started his practice in 1948.

As regards his spiritual leaning, Dr. Des Raj Ji had stared visiting the local temple along with his father at an early age of 6 or so.  He could sing the prayer with a keen sense of faith and devotion.  This religious interest continued even after his father left for his eternal abode.  While at school in Sargodha, he almost decided to renounce active life and become an ascetic.  He was inspired by the example of a schoolmate who had left home for a place of pilgrimage once for ever.   In the meantime, his father expired and Dr. Des Raj Ji had to shift to Peshawar.  Fortunately, Dr. Des Raj Ji came in contact with a shopkeeper named Sain Dass, who introduced him to Baba Buta Singh Ji, the founder of the Sant Nirankari Mission.  Dr. Des Raj Ji received God-knowledge at the holy feet of Baba Buta Singh Ji.  Naturally, he gave up the idea of leaving home.  In fact he took keen interest in taking the voice of Truth further.

After migrating to Delhi, Dr. Des Raj Ji continued to attend Nirankari congregations under the benign guidance of the then Head of the Mission, Baba Avtar Singh Ji.  When Baba Avtar Singh Ji constituted the Sant Nirankari Mandal on September 14, 1948, Dr. Des Raj Ji become Vice-President in its first 7-Member Executive Body. 

Ever since Dr. Des Raj Ji received God-knowledge (Brahm Gyan), he showed an exemplary faith in and devotion to the True Master (Satguru).  And when he was made Vice-President of the Sant Nirankari Mandal, he started working with all the more enthusiasm.  The Mission became the first priority in his life so much so that he would motivate even his patients to join it.  Secondly, he would carry out whatever Baba Ji said, without raising any question or expressing doubt.   As he himself put it, his job was to act leaving the outcome to the Master.  In 1975, he gave up his medical practice as Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji wished him to devote all his time and energy to the Mission.  

The first President of the Mandal, Pradhan Labh Singh Ji, left for his eternal abode on August 15,1979.  The then Spiritual Head of the Mission Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji asked Dr. Des Raj Ji to officiate as President.   He was formally given this responsibility from November 12, 1979, which he discharged till his last breath. 

Dr. Des Raj Ji continued to show the same respect to His Holiness Baba Hardev Singh Ji Maharaj, who became the Spiritual Head of the Mission in April, 1980, as he had done in the case of Baba Buta Singh Ji, Baba Avtar Singh Ji and Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji.  In fact, he emerged as an important link among the succeeding Heads of the Mission.  He could explain various aspects of the Mission's philosophy with a great sense of authenticity.

In 1984, Baba Hardev Singh Ji Maharaj asked Dr. Des Raj Ji to look after the work related to the Charitable Dispensaries run by the Mission.  He continued to discharge this responsibility till a full-fledged medical department was created in 1993 and placed under the charge of a Member of the Executive Committee.

Similarly, Dr. Des Raj Ji took keen interest in resolving grievances of the devotees, whether against fellow-devotees or the Management.  In fact, he was known as a trouble-shooter right from the beginning. 

Rich tributes were paid to Dr. Des Raj Ji at a special congregation that marked the Uthala ceremony on November 20, 2001.  The speakers included Shri Gobind Singh, General Secretary of the Mandal, Shri Mangal Sain and Shri K.R. Chadha both Secretaries of the Mandal, Prof. J.S. Puri, Head of the Mission in USA and several other Mahapurushas who had worked with Dr. Des Raj Ji right from the days when he was the Vice-President of the Mandal.  Some of his relatives also remembered Dr. Des Raj Ji for the kind treatment they received from him.  His son, Shri Subhash Kohli said that he always inspired members of the family to look after the visiting saints with full sense of devotion and dedication.

Addressing the gathering, His Holiness Baba Hardev Singh Ji Maharaj recalled that with the departure of Dr. Des Raj Ji, the Sant Nirankari Mandal lost the last member of its first 7-Member Executive Body.  He said that Dr. Des Raj Ji acted as per the wishes of Satguru and inspired other devotees also to do the same.  He continued to show the way to others even when he was physically weak.  Baba Ji said that he was a personality of strong will.

Baba Ji said that like a true devotee of God, Dr. Des Raj Ji took full advantage of his life and dedicated it for the spiritual elevation of self as well as others.