Sw Ishwar Samarpan

with Gunaben and Osho in Bombay

energy darshan in Pune

in 2007

(Ishwarlal Naranji Shah, aka Ishwarbhai aka Ishwar Babu)

Ishwar Bhai was born in a village in Kutch, in Gujarat, in 1922. While still a teenager, he came under the influence of Gandhi and became a freedom fighter, a fiery speaker traveling around Gujarat. It was while doing this that he met his future wife Gunaben.

He met Osho in Mumbai in the 60s and fell in love again, applying his revolutionary energy to organizing events and publishing for Osho, in the process setting up his first organization, Jeevan Jagriti Kendra. He was a central figure in JJK before and during the Bombay/Mumbai era, known primarily for his role in publishing Osho's books but also for his early recording of Osho's talks, before Laherubhai came along to take that over. In the Bombay heyday, he and Laheru would meet Osho two and three times a day to talk about what needed to be done.

He also started Osho's first meditation center, Om Rajneesh Dhyan Kendra, in the heart of Bombay, and stayed behind when Osho moved to Pune, publishing more books under the banner of Om Rajneesh Dhyan Kendra Prakashan, books that he saw as being neglected by Osho's publishing arm in Pune. He first took sannyas as Sadhu Ishwar Samarpan but eventually converted that to "full Swami".

Lots more can be found on Ishwarbhai in the Osho News remembrance article linked below. Note that his name there is spelled as Ishver(bhai). As it is written by his quite literate children, it has to be taken as reliable. And "Ishwar(bhai/lal)" has to be taken as reliable too, since it appears that way in so many books as the publisher's name and is a more standard form around India and the outside world. For now, the wiki will stay with the books and attribute the difference to a Gujarati variation in spelling and pronunciation.

Perhaps this "discrepancy" in his name can be said to fit well with this description in the Osho News article:

Ishverbhai was happy to switch between being a foot soldier and taking the personal lead to inspire others and get the work accomplished. A very noticeable thing about his work is perhaps that not many would know his valued contribution to such significant achievements. He was a "silent" worker, not looking for recognition when serving the Ashram's needs. His undying love for and total surrender to Osho were his motivational drivers to do whatever needed to get it done.

Ishwarbhai left his body in 2007.

Contact Details

address

the hereafter

see also

an extensive remembrance in Osho News written by his children