Gaurakisora Dasa Babaji (; 1838–1915) is a well-known acharya from the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism, and is regarded as a '' Mahatma'' or

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

by followers of his lineage. During his lifetime Gaurakisora Dasa Babaji became famous for his teachings on the process of

Bhakti Yoga Bhakti yoga ( sa, भक्ति योग), also called Bhakti marga (, literally the path of ''Bhakti''), is a spiritual path or spiritual practice within Hinduism focused on loving devotion towards any personal deity.Karen Pechelis (2014), ...

and for his unorthodox '' avadhuta'' like behaviour as a sadhu, or babaji in Vrindavan. He was born on 17 November 1838 in a simple mercantile family in the village of Vagyana, near to Tepakhola in the district of Faridpur, part of modern-day Bangladesh. After the death of his wife when he was twenty nine years old, he accepted the life of a Babaji in the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition under the tutelage of Jagannatha Dasa Babaji, after meeting the latter's disciple, Bhagavat Dasa Babaji. He became a

mendicant A mendicant (from la, mendicans, "begging") is one who practices mendicancy, relying chiefly or exclusively on alms to survive. In principle, mendicant religious orders own little property, either individually or collectively, and in many inst ...

, staying in the holy cities of Vrindavan and Navadwip, deeply absorbed in singing and chanting the sacred names of

Radha Radha ( sa, राधा, ), also called Radhika, is a Hindu goddess and the chief consort of the god Krishna. She is worshiped as the goddess of love, tenderness, compassion, and devotion. She is the avatar of goddess Lakshmi and is also de ...

and Krishna (

Bhajan Bhajan refers to any devotional song with a religious theme or spiritual ideas, specifically among Indian religions, in any language. The term bhajanam (Sanskrit: भजनम्) means ''reverence'' and originates from the root word ''bhaj'' ...

). he died on his 77th birthday in 1915 In the early 1900s,

Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati (; bn, ভক্তিসিদ্ধান্ত সরস্বতী; ; 6 February 1874 – 1 January 1937), born Bimala Prasad Datt (, ), was a Gaudīya Vaisnava Hindu guru (spiritual master), ācārya (philo ...

acknowledged that he took initiation (in a night dream) from Gaurakisora Dasa Babaji and given the name 'Varsabhanavi devi daitya dasa'. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvata would later take an unorthodox form of initiation into the sannyasa order, in which "he simply sat down before a picture of Gaura Kisora dasa Babaji and invested that order upon himself." This is considered by some a contested topic.

References

External links

Gaura Kishora das Babaji Maharaj: Biography on salagram.net

{{DEFAULTSORT:Babaji, Gaurakisora Dasa 1838 births 1915 deaths People from Faridpur District Gaudiya religious leaders Vaishnava saints Bengali Hindu saints 19th-century Bengalis People from Nadia district

See also

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Further reading

External links