Mahant Avaidyanath (original name- ‘Kripal Singh Bisht’, English: Mahant Avaidyanath, born- 28 May 1921; died- 12 September 2014) was an Indian politician and former Peethadheeshwar of Gorakhnath Math. He was elected to the fourth Lok Sabha from Gorakhpur Lok Sabha. After this, he was also elected to the ninth, tenth and eleventh Lok Sabha.
Mahant Avaidyanath was born on May 28, 1921 in village Kandi, district Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand, in the house of Rai Singh Bisht. His childhood name was Kripal Singh Bisht. Later, he became famous as a politician of India and the Peethadheeshwar of Guru Gorakhnath Temple. Mahant Avaidyanath promoted social Hindu practice along with spiritual practice of Hindu religion and considered social awakening more important and emphasized on social engineering of Hindu religion. The inspiration of youth organizations like Yogi Adityanath’s ‘Hindu Yuva Vahini’ was also somewhere the inspiration of this social engineering.
Mahant Avaidyanath, who was deeply influenced by Shaivism after his journey to Himalayas and Kailash Mansarovar and his meditation, met Digvijay Nath for the first time in 1940 during his Bengal visit through Meman Singh. On 8 February 1942, he became the successor of Gorakhnath Peeth and thus, at the age of just 23, he became immortal forever by becoming Mahant Avaidyanath from Kripal Singh Bisht. Mahant Avaidyanath, who stayed away from controversies all his life, was a detached sanyasi, a gentleman, simple and sweet and a man of few words, not only gave impetus to the Ram Janmabhoomi movement but also protected and nurtured it in every way like a patron.
Mahant Avaidyanath entered politics after being deeply hurt by the incident of mass conversion of Scheduled Caste people in Ramanathapuram and Meenakshipuram of South India. Important steps were taken to ensure that this incident does not spread to North India and by staying in politics, he foiled the devious attempts to polarize conversions.
Mahant Avedyanath represented Maniram seat in Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha in 1962, 1967, 1974 and 1977 and was Lok Sabha member from Gorakhpur in 1970, 1989, 1991 and 1996. Mahant Avedyanath, who gave momentum to Hindutva in Indian politics and protected social interests by being associated with ‘Hindu Mahasabha’ and ‘Bharatiya Janata Party’ for 34 years, kept himself away from opportunism and position and in this way he used Hatha Yoga very well in Raj Yoga. How many positions he himself adorned and took blessings by coming to the feet of Maharaj Ji.
Ajay Singh became quite famous due to his active participation in the Ram Mandir movement. By then Ajay Singh had succeeded in making his mark among the youth. In 1992, Ajay Singh participated in the ABVP meeting regarding the preparations for the Ram Mandir movement. Mahant Avaidyanath was also present in this meeting. As soon as he saw Ajay Singh, he sensed his future. Ajay Singh was so impressed by Mahant Avaidyanath that he decided to spend his life in his company. After the meeting, Ajay Singh returned to his home but could not stay at home for long. Ajay left the house telling his mother that he was going to Gorakhpur.[1]
When Ajay Singh reached Gorakhpur and met Mahant Avaidyanath, he expressed his wish to become a sanyasi. Guru Avaidyanath gave initiation to Ajay Singh and transformed Ajay Singh Bisht into Yogi Adityanath. Yogi Adityanath started living in the ashram. When Ajay Singh did not return home even after six months, his mother sent his father to Gorakhpur to find his son. When Ajay’s father reached Mahant Avaidyanath’s ashram while inquiring, he was shocked to see his son dressed as a yogi. He asked his son to return home, but Ajay, who had become a yogi, refused. Guru Avaidyanath convinced Ajay’s father to give one of his four sons for social service.
Mahant Avedyanath died on 12 September 2014. He was buried according to the Nath tradition. He was ill for a long time. He was admitted to Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon for a month. When his condition worsened, he was brought to Gorakhpur by a special plane, where he left his body.