Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj By: Priya Dasi

Prayers to Shri Gurudeva Om Ajnana Timirandhasya Jnananjana Shalakaya Cakshur Unmilitam Yena Tasmai Shri Guruve Namaha Namah Om Vishnu Padaya Radhikayah Priyatmane Shri Shrimad Bhakti Vedanta Narayana Iti Namine

Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj Born around 1750 He lived for at least 144 years He appeared in a very wealthy and high-class family in a district known as Tangai, East Bengal As a child, he had a strong interest in spirituality After concluding his studies, he left home and went to Vrindavan

Sweepers of Vrindavan When Babaji was living in Vrindavan, he accepted Roti from street sweepers of Vrindavan Other devotees criticized him Babaji convinced them that sweepers are also devotees of Krishna

Babaji Babaji was a very humble, simple living, strong devotee and a very straightforward preacher Once a professional Bhagavatam speaker came to see him. Babaji explained to that speaker that earning money for speaking Bhagavatam is no better than a woman who sells herself for money His preaching changed the man’s heart and he became a true devotee

Meeting Bhaktivinoda Thakur Babaji first met Bhaktivinoda Thakur in 1881 at Vrindavan Bhaktivinoda Thakur was so impressed by Babaji’s instructions that he accepted Babaji as his Siksha Guru. Babaji moved to Amalajodha near Mayapur in the year 1887 He was often visited by Bhaktivinoda Thakur there They often discussed Krishna Katha together

Importance of Nawadhwipvasis Then Babaji moved to Mayapur, and there he lived in a hut near Surabhi Kunja His faithful shishya was Bihari Das One day a dog came by Babaji’s hut..... Babaji told Bihari that the dogs were not ordinary but were very special devotees since they lived in Nawadhwip Dham, which is Holy

The Money Pot Lots of people visited Babaji and they gave donations Jagannath Das Babaji did not collect any money for him but he always kept it in a clay pot One day Bihari took some money to use for Babaji’s personal needs. Babaji couldn’t see well but found out about this. He asked why he was taking money and told Bihari that he had taken 12 rupees. Then Bihari knew that his guru has some special plans of using the money Babaji spent 200 rupees to buy rasagullas and then fed all the cows of Nawadhwip.

Old Age Even though Babaji was very old, he had a great spirit Bihari used to carry Babaji in a basket on his shoulders In front of deities, Bihari would carefully open Babaji’s eyes so he could see them Babaji was continuously chanting the Holy names of the Lord, and sometimes he forgot to eat and drink for 3 days. Whenever he heard kirtan, he would jump out of the basket and dance. Because Babaji used to be in ecstasy when he danced, his limbs would grow longer. Some people said he looked like Caitanya Mahaprabhu while dancing

Many people wanted to take initiation Babaji used to test them by asking them to do service (most of them ran away) Only genuine people would get intiation Bhaktivinoda Thakur asked Babaji to confirm Lord Caitanya’s birthplace Babaji jumped out of the basket and danced By seeing Babaji in ecstacy, Bhaktivinoda Thakur confirmed the birthplace which is now known as Mayapur.

Jagannath Das Babaji is recognised as Vaishnava Sarvabhauma because he gave us the Holy Dham Mayapur Gaura Avirbhava Bhumestvam Nirdesta Sajjana Priyah Vaishnava Sarvabhauma Shri Jagannathaya Namo Namah He is Rasika Manjari in Krishna Lila

ohe! vaiṣṇaba ṭhākura, doyāra sāgara, e dāse koruṇā kori’ diyā pada-chāyā, śodho he āmāya, tomāra caraṇa dhori chaya bega domi’, chaya doṣa śodhi’, chaya guṇa deho’ dāse chaya sat-saṅga, deho’ he āmāre, boshechi saṅgera āśe ekākī āmāra, nāhi pāya bala, hari-nāma-saṅkīrtane tumi kṛpā kori’, śraddhā-bindu diyā, deho’ kṛṣṇa-nāma-dhane kṛṣṇa se tomāra, kṛṣṇa dite pāro, tomāra śakati ache āmi to’ kāṅgala, ‘kṛṣṇa’ ‘kṛṣṇa’ boli’, dhāi tava pāche pāche

References Krishna.com Gokulbhajan.com Purebhakti.com Vaishnava Song Book Thank You! Hare Krishna!!