In a popular play Shakespeare enumerates the saint-like virtues of man:

"As justice, verity, temperance, stableness, bounty, perseverance, mercy, lowliness, devotion, patience, courage, fortitude." and adds

"Give me that man And I will wear him In my heart's core, in my heart of hearts."

Verily, hundreds of thousands of Dr. Agam Prasad Mathur's devotees wear him in their heart's core, in their heart of hearts. He is equally loved, admired and revered by even a larger number of his friends and well-wishers outside the fold of his religious faith. This is because of the fact that Dr. Mathur is full to the brim with all the humane and saintly virtues enumerated above. His is a multidimensional personality in whom the qualities of head and heart are so co-mingled that they are held in perfect balance.

These are the observations not of a casual visitor or a chance favour - seeker but of one whose close association, in one capacity or the other, has traversed through a course of four decades. As a proverb goes, what the time has tested as true must be true, and therefore my assessment of Dr. Mathur's personality and acquisitions cannot be wrong.

Being a direct descendant of His Holiness Hazur Maharaj Rai Salig Ram Bahadur, the founder of Radhasoami Faith and Satsang, Dr. Mathur is the Head of the Peepal Mandi Branch of Radhasoami Faith. He has a following of lakhs of devotees all over the country and abroad. In an 'Age of Interrogation', an age of science and rationalism, when religion is losing its roots, when citadels of established institutions and authority are cracking down, it is nothing short of a miracle that under Dr. Mathur's patronage the Peepal Mandi Radhasoami faith is expanding in its range and dimensions. Dr. Mathur has added immensely to the spiritual lustre and glory of the faith. This is because this faith is not an archaic creed but a living and dynamic institution covering all aspects of social life. It aims at eliminating all barriers of caste, creed and race and all types of social evils and abuses. Dr. Mathur's Satsang practises what it preaches and this accounts for the pulsating life that energises it. This pulsating life emanates from the dynamic personality of Dr. Mathur.

The celebrated city of the Taj has a hoary history of religious, cultural and spiritual confluence, A galaxy of saints and sages, seers and prophets, mystics and incarnations have hallowed the soil of this region from age to age. One such holy and hallowed spot in the town is the celebrated "Hazuri Bhawan" situated at Peepal Mandi. It is a huge and splendid palatial mansion, the Mecca and Jerusalem to the followers and devotees of the Radhasoami Faith. It was within the portals of this mansion that the founder Guru of the Radhasoami Faith, Param Purush Puran Dhani Hazur Maharaj first preached the basic precepts of his faith to his disciples even as God preached his Ten Commandments to Israelites through Moses on the Mount Sinai.

This was some time in the middle of the nineteenth century when Hazur Maharaj delivered his orations. Three generations have passed since then but the words of His Holiness Hazur Maharaj are still vibrant in the air of Hazuri Bhawan. They say words never die. Yes, the echoes of the words of Hazur Maharaj can still be heard by 'the inner ears of conscience' in the corridors of Hazuri Bhawan. The air is still surcharged with his spiritual halo. One has to enter to feel it. The moment one crosses the threshold of this holy mansion, one gets spiritually transformed and enlightened.

Hazur Maharaj was an inexhaustible reservoir of wisdom, spiritualism, mysticism, philosophy and knowledge. Intellectually he was a Colossus. He was fully conversant with the principles and precepts of all great faiths and religions enshrined in the Vedas, Upanishads, Bible, Quran, and such other holy scriptures. Nothing was outside the ken of his knowledge and wisdom. He founded and propounded the pristine precepts and principles of his faith, which were reverentially accepted and practised by his disciples and followers. But after his departure to his heavenly abode, intellectualism came to be slightly neglected. The succeeding Gurus, great spiritualists and mystics as they were, laid more emphasis on spiritualism, mysticism, devotion, and meditation over intellectualism.

This lack of intellectualism was taken advantage of by some other local 'gurus' at different places and they set up their own branches and seats there. The original Satsang was thus split up into several streams and branches and their local 'gurus' assumed too much of pride and conceit. This was against the true spirit of this great faith. In such a situation the faith only needed another holy soul to incarnate to consolidate the original 'Satsang' and to restore it to its pristine spiritual lustre as well as intellectual force. A balance between spiritualism and intellect needed to be established.

Dr. Agam Prasad Mathur (Dadaji Maharaj) is this soul incarnate to whose lot has fallen the onerous task of consolidating, strengthening and expanding this great faith. He was also required to interpret its fundamental tenets and precepts rightly and to bring them into actual practice. Dadaji has succeeded in doing so to an amazing degree both in theory and practice. He practises what he preaches, and preaches what he practises. He is the living spirit of the faith, an emblem of everything that is good and great in it, the real soul incarnate of Radhasoami Dayal. Like his great ancestors he is simplicity and dignity personified. He lives in the midst of fabulous splendour and glory, and yet lotus-like he lives beyond and above it. He is loving and affectionate, kind and merciful, considerate and charitable to one and all. His 'Satsang' is a veritable congregation of all faiths, all religions, all castes, colours, and nationalities. Under his aegis the spiritually charged and intellectually electrified atmosphere of Hazuri Bhawan affects and draws everyone who passes around it even casually. Hazuri Bhawan is the sanctum santorum of this faith and Dadaji is its Presiding Deity.