Remembering the Holy Life of Shri Shri 108 Shrimad Shri Vishnudas Baba Ji Maharaj on His Disappearance Anniversary
2023.03.30 (Vrindavan Today News): As we commemorate the Disappearance Day anniversary of the great saint Shri Shri 108 Shrimad Shri Vishnudas Baba Ji Maharaj, let us take a look back at some of the significant events of his holy life.
Shri Vishnu Das Baba Ji was born to Shri Nandlal and Giri Bala in a Vaishnava family of West Bengal. He was born in the year 1916 AD in the village of “Sal Chuda” in Bankura district. His parents named him “Badal,” and he was brought up well in a cultured family. Babaji heard about the glorification of Braj Dham. He became attracted to the beauty and spirituality of Braj that he ran away from home twice. He was caught by his brothers both the times and brought back home.
Undeterred, Baba Ji made his third attempt to leave home on the footsteps of Shrila Raghunath Das Goswami, and this time he succeeded. He was only 15 when he left his home. He had only ten rupees in his pocket. He reached Kashi where a kindhearted ticket collector helped him board the train to Mathura. Unfortunately, a swindler took ten rupees from Baba Ji and gave him a fake ticket. Despite this setback, Baba Ji reached Hathras Junction and eventually made his way to Vrindavan.
Upon reaching Keshighat in Vrindavan, Baba Ji jumped into the Yamuna River, believing that Radha-Krishna resided in its waters. Thankfully, he did not drown and was saved by the boatmen and priests at the ghat.
As the saying goes, “bhole bhaav mile Raghurai“, that is, Ram can be attained through pure heart and intentions, but those with deceptive motives cannot attain Him. When one’s heart is pure and sincere, the path to God unfolds by itself. This was the case with Babaji, as he always believed that he would get to have darshan of Divine Couple of Radha Shyam Sundar in Vrindavan.
When Babaji reached Vrindavan he couldn’t find any food for few days. He resorted to drinking more and more water in an attempt to satisfy his hunger. Despite this, his desperation to attain the love of Radha Krishna kept him going.
It was during this trying time that ‘thakur ji’ inspired Babaji to follow a beggar who seemed to be in a hurry. Intrigued, Babaji followed the beggar to the Rangji temple where, after three days, he finally got his hands on some Makhan Mishri-prasad. This small offering provided some much-needed relief to Babaji. From the temple, Babaji saw the imposing Shri “Govind Dev” temple in the distance and was stunned. He knew that he had to go there, and so he made his way towards the temple.
As he sat on a platform outside the temple, waiting for darshan of Shri Govind Dev, he had an encounter that changed his life forever. Baba Shri “Yadunandan Das Ji” a great saint from Suryakund came to visit Govind Dev and upon seeing this helpless Bengali child, he asked for his address and whereabouts. Baba Shri “Yadunandan Das Ji” took him to Suryakunda and initiated him the Mantra and changed his name from “Badal” to “Vishnu Das”.
Some notable incidents from Babaji’s life
After completing his Chaturmas fast, Baba fell ill with pneumonia due to the cold and came to Vrindavan at Dauji garden near the well. Pandit Shri Ram Krishna Das Baba noticed a child shivering near the well and ordered Kripa Sindhu Baba to put him to sleep inside. A Nimbarki sadhu, known as Shyam Das, served him day and night. After he recovered, he started living in the Dauji garden (the present day Vrindavan Research Institute) itself.
Such great grace was bestowed that when Pandit Baba used to go for Madhukuri (begging alms), he used to place his hands on the shoulders of both ‘Kripa Sindhu Baba’ and ‘Shri Vishnudas Baba Ji Maharaj. Pandit Baba would address Shri Kripa Sindhu Das Babaji as “Bacchi” and Shri Vishnudas Baba Ji Maharaj as “Lallu”. As a matter of fact, Kripa Sindhu Das Babaji built the Bhagwat Ashram depending great deal on Shri Vishnudas Baba Ji Maharaj. The greenery there is a witness to how he planted trees and brightened the ashram with vines.
Every day, after having darshan of Shri Govinda Dev ji, Vishnudas Baba would give an hour class on Govinda Lilamrita. Many saints such as Kripa Nidhi Das, Sant Das and Sanatan Das and others learned Govinda Lilamrita from him. Despite being uneducated, Babaji had memorized the entire ‘Govind Leelamrita’ as a result of the grace of Thakur ji. He kept on teaching Yogpeeth and other texts to many others based on that.
Babaji used to make ‘Girindra Bihari ji’ wear the flower garland that he weaved with his own hands. He also used to serve the samadhi of both Chote and Bare Baba. He plucked the flowers, made garland from them and did gardening with his own hands, among other things. He served his Gurudev for 25 years at Bhagwat Niwas. He continued to do his Manasi Seva while serving his guru dev.
After finding ‘Nidhi Baba’ a worthy disciple, Babaji kept him in his service and at the service of Shri Girindra Bihari’.
The day when Babaji decided to attain the holy dust of Vrindavan, he asked his disciple Dr. Amar Sen (Amaranand Baba) to put him down in the Braj Raj. He asked everyone to chant the holy names and while listening to Harinam, he said, “Now I am going to Baba”. He then closed his eyes and entered the eternal pastimes of the Divine Couple in his perfected form of Shri Vinod Manjari. It was the day of Chaitra Shukla Navami in 1997 Baba attained the Holy Dust of Vrindavan at the age of 81.
