Sri Krishna Das Baba then returned to Ranvari brokenhearted. He gave up food and drink and confined himself in the small hut he was living in. The fire of repentance began burning in his heart. He couldn’t bear the separation from Radharani. Three months passed in the fire of ‘viraha’ and then the fire came out. The fire reached his throat within three days. The fourth day his entire body reduced to ashes.

Thousands of devotees thronged Ranvari village on Wednesday to attend the Disappearance day ceremony of Siddha Krishna Das Baba. The villagers organized a grand festival in memory of Siddha Baba to express their gratitude to the Divine Soul, who blessed the village to be immune from any epidemic and famine. The Brajwais firmly believe that whatever one prays for at Siddha Baba’s Samadhi, one attains.

Suchak Kirtan was sung in the morning in front of his Samadhi, followed by a Nagar Sankirtan through the streets of Ranvari village. Brajwasis, Babajis and the devotees enjoyed delicious Prasad of Malpua – sabji.

About Ranvari Siddha Baba

Born as Shri Krishna Prasad Chatterjee, Siddha Krishna Das Baba is one of the original four Siddha Babas of Braj. He was born in Mohammadpur village in the Jessore Distirct, now in Bangladesh. When his father, Shri Gokulchandra Chatterjee began negotiations regarding his marriage, he slipped away from home one night, and walking all the way on foot came to Vrindavan.

He served as a Pujari in the Madan Mohan Temple of Vrindavan for some time and then went to Ranvari village in Chhata. He built a small hut there and began to reside in it. He practiced bhajan in that small hut throughout the day. Since Ranvari was a thick forest in those days and there was hardly any settlement there, he went to the neighboring villages for Madhukuri.

The Brajwasis had great respect for him; each of them insisted him to accept madhukuri from their homes. He never refused their request and always respected their love towards him in return. He got so much of madhukuris that a he fed them to the cows on the way back to his hut, keeping only a small quantity for himself.

Siddha Baba didn’t go out of Braj or went for pilgrimage to any place after he came here at a very early age. At the age of fifty, he thought he should conduct ‘Char Dham Yatra’ by visiting four ‘Tirthas’.

Radharani appeared in his dream and instructed him not to go out of Braj.  She said, “You don’t need to go out of Braj. You will attain everything here. Since you have surrendered to me by coming here, there is no need to go for any pilgrimage outside Braj.”

He thought Radharani didn’t mean it, and what he saw in the dream was just his imagination. He went on for pilgrimage to Dwarka. There his body was stamped with ‘Tapta Mudra’, (heated stamp) in Dwarkadhish Temple.

Baba returned to Braj from Dwarka. Radharani came to his dream again and said that since he took the ‘tapta mudra’ from Dwarka, he was included in the entourage of Satyabhama.  Radharani advised him to go back to Dwarka, as he was no longer fit for Braj.

Baba got serious this time as he found that the dream was real, not imaginary as he thought in earlier occasion. Radharani’s words hit him like thunderbolt. Not knowing what to do, he went to Govardhan to seek advice from the Siddha Baba of Govardhan, whose name was also Krishna Das Baba. When he met Siddha Baba he embraced him and asked where he had been for long time.

Ranvari’s Krishna Das Baba showed him the ‘tapta mudra’ on his body and told that he went to Dwarka on pilgrimage. On hearing his reply, Siddha Baba of Govardhan took a step back. He sighed that he couldn’t even touch Ranvari’s Siddha Baba as he became so exalted being the attendent of the Queen of Dwarka. He said that he was unmatched as he was a dasi (servant) of a cowherdess of Braj. There was no comparison between the two.

Ranvari’s Siddha Krishna Das Baba went to the other contemporary saints to seek their advice. Everyone said that they had nothing to say against the Radharani’s order and advised to follow it.

Sri Krishna Das Baba then returned to Ranvari brokenhearted. He gave up food and drink and confined himself in the small hut he was living in. The fire of repentance began burning in his heart. He couldn’t bear the separation from Radharani. Three months passed in the fire of ‘viraha’ and then the fire came out. The fire reached his throat within three days. The fourth day his entire body reduced to ashes.

The night Shri Krishna Das Babaji left his body at Ranvari, Siddha Jagannath Das Babaji and his disciple Bihari were staying in another hut nearby.  It was almost in the end of the night, Siddha Shri Jagannath Das Babaji sent his disciple Bihari to see what was happening in the hut of Krishna Das Baba. When Bihari peeped through a small opening of the door he saw that Krishna Das Baba was sitting cross legged and his body was ablaze with fire. Even though Baba’s body was burning with fire, he appeared cool as nothing happened to him. He was continuously chanting Harinam.

When Jagannath Das Baba was told about it, he shouted, ‘Oh! Virahanal, Virahanal’, it was the fire of separation.

When Jagannath Das Baba saw that the fire had reached up to Shri Krishna Das Baba’s throat, he aske Bihari for a bit of cotton. Then Siddha Jagannath Das Baba made three wicks out of the cotton and placed them on Baba’s forehead. The wicks burnt and with them the whole body of Shri Krishna Das Baba was reduced to ashes.

The Brajwasis from the neighborhood came running and broke opened the door of the hut. Brajwasis kept looking at him with dismay as they saw the fire reached to the throat and the body was burning like firewood. Baba raised his two arms and blessed them that no famine, no epidemic, no calamity would ever befall on their village.

Some days after his disappearance, Baba’s god brother Shri Premdas Babaji came and laid prostrate before the ashes of Baba in obeisance.  He humbly requested Baba to accept his offering. He placed a log of wood on the pile of ashes. As soon as he placed the wood, it started burning.

It is said that even today the village remains free from the onslaught of epidemics and famine.