Srila Jagannatha Dasa Babaji's Disappearance - 24th Feb'2001

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Srila-Jagannatha-Pranati

 

gauravirbhava-bhumes tvam nirdesta saj-jana-priyah

vaisnava-sarvabhaumah sri-jagannathaya te namah

 

gaura-of Lord Caitanya; avirbhava-of the appearance; bhumeh-of the place;

tvam-you; nirdesta-the indicator; sat-jana-to all saintly persons; priyah-dear;

vaisnava-of the Vaisnavas; sarvabhaumah-chief; sri-jagannathaya-unto Jagannatha

dasa Babaji; te-unto you; namah-obeisances.

 

I offer my respectful obeisances to Srila Jagannatha dasa Babaji, who is

respected by the entire Vaisnava community and who confirmed the discovery of

the place where Lord Caitanya appeared.

 

THE MAIN TEACHING OF JAGANNATHA DASA BABAJI

 

If you want to achieve perfection in Krsna consciousness, you must take a vow

to chant a minimum of two lakhs or otherwise one lakh of names every day, and

you must execute that without fail. Before you retire at night you must finish

this specific number of rounds, then you can achieve perfection in Krsna

consciousness, is what Jagannatha Das Babaji used to teach.

 

PASTIMES

 

Bhaktivinoda Thakura once sent a letter from Bengal to Vrndavan, where

Jagannath Das Babaji was staying. In that letter he humbly asked, "When the

Kazi had the mrdanga broken during the lila of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, all the

parts of that mrdanga fell onto the ground. Now they must be deep within the

ground, so could you please come and identify the place where those pieces

are." At this time Jagannatha Das was very old, but he was being served by one

Bihari Das Brijabasi, who at that time was young and very strong. He would

carry him from place to place in a basket which he carried on his head.

 

On receiving this request from Bhaktivinoda Thakura, they set out for Bengal,

with Bihari Das carrying Jagannatha Das in the usual manner, on his head. When

they reached Bengal they proceeded directly to Mayapur. Even though, from the

external point of view, Jagannatha Das was almost completely blind, he directed

Bihari Das to a particular spot, and then said, "Put me down here and go call

Bhaktivinoda Thakura and tell him to bring men with spades for digging. This is

the place where the mrdanga was broken." Labourers were soon on the scene and

deep within the earth pieces of that original drum were discovered, just where

Jagannatha Das had said. Thus the site was discovered. The name of that site is

Khol-bhajan-sthal.

 

Once, Bihari Das Babaji was carrying Jagannatha Das Babaji on a forest path in

Vrndavan, when suddenly he came to a sudden halt. Jagannatha Das inquired; "Why

have you suddenly stopped? What is the cause?" Fearfully, Bihari replied, "Just

out of the forest has come one big big tiger, and I think he's going to eat

both of us!" Jagannatha Das then reassured him saying, "Don't worry. He just

came to take darshan of you because you are a Vaisnava. Just continue on."

Bihari did as he was told and that tiger vanished into the forest from where it

came.

 

Even in old age, Jagannatha Das observed Damodara vrata with strict vows.

During the month of Damodara (Karttika) he would simply chant japa day and

night, eating only once a day, in the evening, after sun-down. This meal would

consist of only one banana and a quarter kilo of raw milk.

 

>From Bhakti Vikasa Swami's notes on SBSST

________________________

 

According to his disciple Biharidasa, Jagannatha dasa was the bheka-chela of

Siddha Madhusudana dasa baba, a resident of Suryakunda.

 

Jagannatha dasa was very austere; he never hesitated to fast without taking

any water for three days at a stretch. He used sit up the entire night

chanting the holy name and at early dawn finish his ablutions. In the morning

he took prasada of curd and flat rice. His disciple, Biharidasa Vrajavasi, use

to carry Jagannatha dasa in a basket to wherever he desired to go. Once, while

traveling in his basket, a devotee offered a rupee to Jagannatha dasa and

Biharidasa picked it up as directed. After traveling another two or three miles

Jagannatha dasa wanted to return to the site which they had passed earlier.

Upon returning Jagannatha dasa called the disciple who had given the money and

said, "My child! please take back your money. I hear that you have plenty of

money; I couldn't bear with the bite of one rupee, I wonder how you manage to

swallow the bite of so much money?" Saying this Jagannatha dasa returned the

rupee.

 

The following is a list of disciples of Siddha Jagannatha dasa babaji:

 

1. Biharidasa babaji

2. Bhagavata dasa babaji

3. Gaurahari dasa babaji

4. Ramahari dasa babaji

5. Ramadasa babaji

6. Nityananda dasa babaji, a resident of Varsana

7. Harekrsna dasa babaji, a resident of Kadamakhandi.

 

He was the instructing spiritual master of the great Thakura Bhaktivinoda who

is the pioneer of the Krsna consciousness movement.

 

At the initiative of Biharidasa, the residents of Suryakunda jointly

constructed a concrete room and a temple for the accommodation of babaji.

Jagannatha das babaji then asked Bihari dasa to locate a Deity to install

there. Biharidasa personally approached a weaver-caste Zemindar to help him in

this regard. The Zemindar thus arranged to bring Deities of Gaura-Nitai from

Dainhata and gave them to Biharidasa. Carrying the Deities by boat Biharidasa

went to Calcutta where he gathered bhiksa from the following sources: Srinatha

Raya of Hatkhola gave Rs. 500, the members of the Laha family gave Rs. 1,500,

Haridasa baba of Kumartuli gave Rs. 2,000, and collecting another Rs. 1,000

from other sources Biharidasa finally reached Suryakunda with the

Deities. Nitai-Gaura looked so beautiful when They were installed that it

appeared as if They were made of gold. On the occasion of the installation

ceremony a sum of Rs. 3,000 was spent to feed the Vaisnavas of Suryakunda and

Radhakunda.

 

One day a band of dacoits approached Babaji with the motive of stealing the

Deities which they thought were made of gold. Babaji told them that he

possessed nothing and they might look into the temple for booty. The dacoits

broke open the temple door and quickly gathered up everything they could find,

including the Deities. However, in rushing to make their escape they stumbled

on the door step and dropped the Deities. Seeing that the sun had risen

outside the dacoits left the Deities and rushed off with the rest of the booty.

After this incident babaji asked Biharidasa to arrange for the Deities to be

cared for by someone else. Biharidasa carried the Deities to Vrndavana where he

handed Them over, along with Rs. 2,000, to Mother-Gosvamini, a resident of

Gayespur in the district of Maldaha. At present these Deities are residing at

Dhopapada in Gopalbag and are known as "Sonara Gaura".

 

Sometime later babaji again asked Biharidasa to locate another Deity for him.

Biharidasa found a Deity of the six-armed Lord Caitanya which had been kept

hidden in a bag of cattle-feed. This Deity belonged to Dinu Bahaji, a Manipuri

Vaisnava residing in Mathura near Radhakunda. Biharidasa brought the Deity to

Vrndavana where he cleansed and decorated Him, then carried the Deity, along

with all items for worship, to Suryakunda. For ten years thereafter Siddha

baba worshiped this Deity until one day he said, "Bihari, please put this Deity

in the care of someone else in Vrndavana. I would like to go to Navadvipa.

Let my body be offered at the lotus feet of Lord Gauranga."

 

Biharidasa brought the Deity to Vrndavana and after receiving a donation of Rs.

25 from Mother-Gosvamini of Gayespur handed over the Deity as well as the money

to Narottama dasaji, the head of the Gopalaguru matha. At present this Deity

is being served at the lane of Nidhuvana.

 

Carrying Jagannatha das babaji on his shoulders from Suryakunda, Biharidasa

reached the Mathura railway junction and from there left for Navadvipa without

buying tickets. On the way no one questioned them. When they got down at the

Memari railway station near Burdwan, a European gentleman escorted them safely

through the check post. From there Siddha baba went to the akhda of Nepal

Babu. After taking some rest they continued there journey until reaching the

residence of Siddha Bhagavan dasa babaji at Amvika kalna. Upon meeting

Jagannatha dasa, Siddha Bhagavan dasa said, "Oh! my dear friend has come,

Visnudasa please arrange for their seva." The two friends hugged each other

rolling on the floor. They remained in embrace from 10 A.M. to 11 P.M.

 

Visnudasa and Biharidasa stood by helplessly, not knowing what to do.

Biharidasa explained to Visnudasa that they had not eaten eat for the last

three days. Biharidasa then threw his arms around Jagannatha dasa and began

massaging his chest. Shortly afterwards Jagannatha dasa inquired if Bihari dasa

whether he had eaten or not. Bihari explained that although it was about 11

P.M. he could not eat as the other two had not taken prasada yet. Jagannatha

replied, "My foolish child, it's merely evening now". He then got up, partook

of prasada and went to take rest.

 

Jagannatha dasa stayed there for about eleven days then left for Navadvipa.

Along the way Bihari dasa asked Jagannatha dasa whether they were going to stay

at Bada Akhda in Navadvipa. Jagannatha, however, refused to stay at any akhda.

He preferred to settle beneath a tree where now the bhajan kutir of Bihari

dasa stands. Later Bihari dasa bought ten cottahs of land from Madhava Datta

for Rs. 40. That plot had a huge ditch in it which Bihari filled up by

carrying earth from the Ganges at night after Jagannatha dasa went to bed.

 

Sometime later Kedaranatha Datta Bhaktivinoda arrived there and both he and

Bihari dasa sought bhiksa from Nafar Pal Chowdhury of Mahesaganj and raised two

shades. Awhile later, with the approval of Jagannatha dasa, Rajarshi Banamali

Raya Bahadur built three small rooms and fenced them in with a surrounding

wall. The aged Manamohini dasi, a resident of Kaigrama, arranged to dig a

well. Jagannatha dasa lived here for 32 years until his disappearance at the

age of 147 years.

 

[...] Mayapur, was formerly known as Miyapura. Mostly it is inhabited by the

Muhammadans. Some way or other it converted into the name of Miyapura instead

of Mayapur. Still, people are very much doubtful where is the birth site of Sri

Caitanya Mahaprabhu. And Bhaktivinoda Thakura was researching to find out the

actual place. So under the direction of Jagannatha dasa Babaji Maharaja, this

present Yogapitha was ascertained to be the birth site of Sri Caitanya

Mahaprabhu. Jagannatha dasa babaji was around 140 years of age at that time but

when Biharidasa reached that spot, he jumped out of the basket and leaped in

the air, loudly chanting, "Jaya Sacinandana, Jaya Sacinandana" with his lotus

feet almost at the height of everyone's heads.

 

All Glories to Srila Jagannatha Dasa Babaji!