Srila Jagannatha dasa Babaji Maharaja was respected by all the Vaisnava community and was thus known as Vaisnava Sarvabhauma, or chief amongst the Vaisnavas. There are some nice stories connecting him with the finding of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's birthplace recorded in Sri Navadwipa Dhama Mahatmya.
Srila Jagannatha dasa Babaji Maharaja was born around the year 1750 AD. He was born in a wealthy family.
Later in his life he was initiated by Jagadananda Goswami. His guru was in the line of Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana. One of our very great Acharya’s.
Srila Jagannath Das Babaji was a perfect devotee. In the holy place, Vrindavan, he had a little hut, a bhajan kutir. He would sometimes chant there for three days and nights, without stopping. He wouldn’t even eat or sleep either.
He was very famous, everyone knew what a perfect devotee he was.
In 1880, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur came to Vrindavan and met him for the first time. Srila Jagannath Das Babaji taught Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur many things. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur arranged to work close by where Srila Jagannath Das Babaji lived, so he could visit him often. Srila Jagannath Das Babaji was very pleased to see Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur’s enthusiasm for preaching the Holy Name of Krishna.
Later, Srila Jagannath Das Babaji went to Koladwip. This is a part of Nabadwip where our beloved Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math is.
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur had been looking for the exact birthplace of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu for quite some time. He was chanting one day on the roof when he all of a sudden saw an unusual light across the River Ganges. It was so bright, he couldn’t ignore it. This was the sign he had been waiting for, for so long. After a long investigation he found the spot. Only Tulasi plants would grow there and the Muslim people who lived there were scared because they saw light and heard sounds coming from that spot. They decided to stay away from that place.
Then Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur asked his spiritual master, Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj to come to that spot.
He was already very old at that time and his personal servant, Bihari Das, would carry him in a basket on his back, because he couldn’t walk anymore. But when he arrived at the spot, Srila Jagannath Das Babaji jumped up in the air and began to dance ecstatically while calling the Names of the Lord loudly.
The holy birthplace, the Yogapitha, of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was finally found!
The Yogapitha, the holy place, where Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared. Deities of Sri Jagannath Misra, Sachi Mata and baby Nimai at the Yogapitha
On the banks of the holy River Ganges, Srila Jagannath Das Babaji used to do bhajan (singing and chanting the Holy Name of the Lord). You can still find his bhajan-kutir (little hut/house) there and his Samadhi, his tomb.
The body of the Acharyas is not cremated (burned) like the body of other Vaisnavas. Their bodies are considered to be spiritual and by building a Samadhi, we can still continue to remember and serve them every day.
Srila Jagannath Das Babaji also ordered Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur to build a hut close to his bhajan-kutir, so the devotees could stay close by.
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur was Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur’s son and when he was just twelve years old he was already an expert in jyoti-shastras and vedic astrology (calculating the position of the stars and planets).
When Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj heard about this he asked him to make a proper Vaisnava calendar. On this calendar you find all the important days of the year, including the appearance and disappearance days of great Vaisnavas, Ekadasi days (days where we fast from grains and beans) and other festive days.
Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj was very happy with the end result.
When Srila Jagannath Das Babaji was very old, and nearly blind, many people came to visit this great devotee and they would give some donation, some money, to him. His servant kept it carefully in a bag. One day he asked his servant: "Bihari, how many rupees have I got?"
Bihari gave some rupees to Srila Jagannath Das Babaji, but he kept twelve rupees aside. He wanted to use the money to do something for his master. But Jagannath Das Babaji, even though he was nearly blind, knew twelve rupees were missing and said: "Bihari!, why did you keep twelve rupees aside? Give me all the rupees!" Bihari smiled and gave his master all the rupees. It was about two hundred rupees. He then told Bihari to go to the sweet-shop and buy rasagullas, and to give them to the cows in Nabadwip Dham.
Around that time many people would go around and read the holy Scriptures like the Srimad-Bhagavatam and ask for money in return. Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj was very much against that.
He said no one should listen to people who ask money to read the holy Scriptures or to sing the Holy Name of the Lord. To ask money for that, he said, is a big offence to the Holy Name of Krishna.
He spent many years in Vrndavana where he became famous as a perfect devotee, though more than this is not known of his early years and pastimes. What we do know, however, is that he was particularly enthusiastic in serving the Lord's devotees and performing 'kirtan'. In later life his servant, Bihari Lal, used to carry him on his shoulders in a basket, though when he would hear a 'kirtan' or himself be engaged in 'kirtan', his body would extend itself out of the basket like a beautiful banyan tree and he would loudly shout, "Nitai ki nam eneche re! Nitai, ki nam diteche re!" "O Lord Nityananda, what a wonderful name you have brought! O Nitai, what a wonderful name you have given!"
When Jagannath Das Babaji was living in a tent on the banks of the holy river Ganges, there was a dog living close by who had just had puppies. The dog would lick the prasadam from his plate.
When Bihari caught the dog he wanted to chase him away.
But Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj said: "Bihari, if you want to chase these dogs away, then also take my plate away, because I won’t eat anymore either."
Bihari said: "But Guru Maharaj, they are unclean, these dogs!"
Then Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj said: "No, they are not, they are inhabitants of the holy Dhama. You are not allowed to mistreat them."
The stories which I will now relate are at the time when he was more than 120 years old. Living in a tent at Sri Navadwipa with Bihari Lal, he would eat 'prasadam' from a large brass plate which someone had given as a donation. A litter of puppies which had taken birth nearby began to come and eat off Jagannatha dasa Babaji Maharaja's plate, but he did not object. After a few days however, Bihari Lal saw what was happening, and disgusted to see the dogs eat from his 'gurus' plate, he drove them away. Jagannatha dasa Babaji chastised Bihari Lal angrily saying, "If the dogs can't eat I won't eat!" His servant had to search out and bring back the puppies, and as they joined Babaji Maharaja again over his plate he exclaimed, "All glories to the 'dhama' dogs!" Thus he always displayed his great respect for all the residents of the holy 'dhamas'. On another occasion he had his servant purchase two hundred rupees worth of 'rasagulas' and instructed him, "Feed them to all the 'dhamas' cows, but don't give one to those rascal 'sahajiya babajis' (pretenders)."
Srila Jagannath dasa Babaji Maharaj was such a great devotee that the famous Bhaktivinoda Thakura (Kedarnath Datta) called him the commanding chief of the devotees. When Srila Bhaktivinoda was looking for the actual place where Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's birthplace was, he asked Jagannatha dasa Babaji Maharaja to go with him. During the many changes in the course of flow of the mighty Ganges River, some parts of the sacred 'dhama' of Navadwipa (nine islands) had changed. The Ganges had revealed old and lost places and reclaimed new ones. To his surprise Bhaktivinoda Thakura discovered that the modern day city called Navadwipa was not more than 100 years old and therefore wasn't the Navadwipa of Sri Caitanya. Some said the birth site was on a place now in the Ganges, while some said it was in the city of Navadwipa. Dissatisfied, Bhaktivinoda pushed on looking. He found some antiquarian maps and government records, and authentic books written at the time of Lord Caitanya, all of which agreed that Mayapur Navadwipa Dhama is situated on the east bank of the Ganges. To Bhaktivinoda's amazement he found several large mounds covered with sacred Tulasi plants on land owned by Mohammedans. It was shrouded with local rumours of strange lights and sounds, so the owner, believing it to be haunted, would not go there. Many old babajis of the time, however, believed this to be the actual birthplace of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Convinced it was true, Bhaktivinoda, inspired by Jagannatha dasa Babaji, went there to the spot, with Jagannatha dasa Babaji being carried in his basket.
Due to his old age, Srila Jagannatha dasa Babaji couldn't open his eyes, but had to forcibly open them with his fingers, what to speak of walk. If he went anywhere he was carried in his basket by Bihari Lal, but upon arriving at the transcendental site, he leapt out of the basket and danced in ecstasy shouting, "Haribol!" and "Gauranga!", definitely establishing it to be the very same birthplace of Lord Caitanya.
gauravirbhava bhumes twam nirdesta sajjana priyah
vaisnava sarvabhauma sri jagannathaya te namah
"I offer my respectful obeisances unto Sri Jagannatha dasa Babaji Maharaja, who is respected by the entire Vaisnava community and who discovered the place where Lord Caitanya appeared."
Srila Jagannatha dasa Babaji Maharaja had a disciple named Bhagavat dasa Babaji Maharaja, and Gaura Kisora dasa Babaji was his disciple. However at this time there was another great exponent of Vaisnava teachings that, on passing, I have already mentioned. His name is Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. And so the line again divides like this:
JAGANNATHA DASA BABAJI MAHARAJA-------> BHAGAVAT DASA BABAJI -----> GAURA KISORA DASA BABAJI
JAGANNATHA DASA BABAJI MAHARAJA--------> SRILA BHAKTIVINODA THAKURA
Srila Jagannath Das Babaji stayed in this world for about 125 years. He was always talking, singing and chanting the Holy Name and telling everyone about his Lord, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
A great devotee and spiritual master of the Gaudiya Vaishnava Religion, whose glory transcends the boundaries and limits of organizations and institutions.
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