Vamsidasa Babaji

Compiled by Nayana-ranjana Dasa
from the book "Vamsidasa Babaji" by Bhakti Vikasa Swami

Position of Vamsidasa

There are two type of exalted devotees of Krsna. The bhajananandi is 
completely immersed in intense meditation of the Lord, principally by 
chanting and remembering the glories and pastimes. The gosthyanandi is 
primarily involved in spreading the name of the Lord by extensive 
preaching. Of course the boundaries are not rigid, for the 
Bhajananandi may also sometimes preach and the gosthyanandi also 
relish bhajans and kirtans. But depending on the moods they generally 
make one or the other as their primary service.

Vamsidasa Babaji was a bhajananandi. He was completely aloof from the 
material world, and was totally preoccupied with worshiping his 
Deities, performing his bhajans and visiting holy places. He had 
reached the highest levels of spontaneous devotion and seldom bothered 
with the rules and regulations of vaidhi-sadhana bhakti. For instance 
he did not chant on beads, did not follow any fixed schedule of 
worship and did not chant any mantras or prayers for worshiping. His 
brief interactions with the outside world often left people confused 
and bewildered.

The true position of Vamsidasa Babaji was revealed by Bhaktisiddhanta 
Sarasvati Thakura, the founder of the Gaudiya Matha and the initiating 
spiritual master of Srila Prabhupada. Even though Bhaktisiddhanta 
Sarasvati, in the mood of a gosthyanandi had made preaching his 
primary service, as an exalted devotee he could perceive the greatness 
of Vamsidasa. This mutual affection and respect between the two 
paramahansas formed the basis of a very sweet and loving relationship. 
Bhaktisiddhanta would often send his disciples to try and serve 
Vamsidasa. His disciples would render all kinds of service to 
Vamsidasa and carefully preserve his remnants which were sent back to 
be honored by members of the Gaudiya Matha. Vamsidasa had great 
respect and affection for Bhaktisiddhanta. Once Vamsidasa saw 
Bhaktisiddhanta coming and smilingly remarked, "Oh, a manjari has 
come, so won't Radha come also? She will come! She will come!"

Birth and youth

Vamsidasa was born as Bhairab Chandra in the year 1859 in the village 
of Majitpur in current Bangladesh. He was the oldest of the seven 
children of Sanatana Mallabrahma and Srimati Sarvasundari. As the son 
of a poor fisherman, he lived a hard and austere life, mostly occupied 
with his family business of catching and selling fish. However on the 
way back he would stop at a Gaura-Nitai temple and relish the 
association of Narottama Dasa Babaji, a devotee who stayed at the 
temple. From him Vamsidasa learned many bhajans of Narottama Dasa 
Thakura and developed a great attraction for Caitanaya Mahaprabhu and 
Nityananda Prabhu. His parents, worried by his growing attraction to 
spirituality married him. However soon after this Vamsidasa left his 
wife and his six months old son and became a renunciant. He took 
initiation from Narottama Dasa Babaji, who gave him the name 
Vamsidasa.

Austerities

Even though Vamsidasa had lived a hard life as a youth, as a babaji he 
became extremely austere. He was always dressed in one simple 
loincloth and nothing more. He rarely attempted to procure any food 
and would often go without eating, sometimes for several days. It was 
common for him to abstain from both food and water for a day or two. 
He took very little care of his health, and would bathe in freezing 
water even when he was sick. Despite all this Vamsidasa looked vibrant 
and healthy. He was over six feet tall and was constantly traveling. 
Even at the age of eighty he walked so fast that many of his younger 
associates could not keep up with him. Much like the Gosvamis of 
Vrindavana he survived solely on spiritual energy.

The character of Vamsidasa

Even amongst the babajis, Vamsidasa is unique. He was on the avadhuta 
platform, that is he was completely beyond any rules and regulations. 
His hair and beard were uncut and matted. He rarely took a bath and he 
wore nothing more than a loin cloth. His eyes looked wild and his 
behavior intimidating.

He often spoke in an un-intelligible manner. Even though he knew the 
local Bengali dialect, he sometimes spoke in his native Mymensingh 
dialect which very few people could understand. His sentences would 
run together and he would randomly jump from one topic to another 
without any seeming connection. Sometimes he spoke about the pastimes 
of Krsna in Braja and sometimes about the pastimes of Caitanya 
Mahaprabhu. Some times he would animatedly talk and at other times he 
would remain silent, not even bothering to acknowledge the comments of 
his close associates. One of his favorite phrases was 'Bhakta-vatsala 
Hari! Prana-vallabha Hari!' and he would shout this continuously, 
drawing out the Hari into a long plaintive cry.

Despite his seemingly dis-organized life, Vamsidasa had a keen sense 
of discrimination when it came to people. He not only shunned the 
company of non-devotees he also avoided the pseudo-Vaishnavas who 
would often flock by his side to bask in his glory. He rigidly abided 
by the principle of adopting that which is favorable to Krsna and 
rejecting every thing else. With a keen intuition he was able to 
discern the hidden motives of people coming to him for guidance or 
blessings and would appropriately respond to them.

Even though Vamsidasa would appear to talk like a madman, he never 
said anything inconsistent with the conclusions of the scriptures. 
Though he often spoke enigmatically he was always in agreement with 
the Gaudiya Vaishnava siddhanta

Deities

Vamsidasa had three sets of Deities that he carried along with him. He 
had a small Bala-Gopala (Krsna in the form of a child) that he was 
extremely attached to. He also had six inches metal Deities of 
Radha-Govinda and larger three feet wooden Deities of Gaura-Nitai. He 
always carried his Deities with him and would continuously talk to 
Them. His mood of worship was that of an affectionate parent. He would 
talk to Gopala lovingly, sometimes angrily and sometimes pleadingly. 
He rarely spoke to any one but his Deities. In his unending 
conversation with the Deities he would often stop as if to listen and 
then continue talking. Even if people would come to ask him questions, 
he would reply to the Deities, referring to himself in the third 
person (as Vamsidasa).

Pastimes of Vamsidasa

When Vamsidasa was visiting Puri during Ratha Yatra, the cart stopped 
closed to where he was standing. Despite the efforts of everyone 
assembled the cart would not move. Then Vamsidasa came and after some 
intimate conversation with the Lord, the cart moved on with ease.

Once Vamsidasa went to the sea in Puri, to give Bala-Gopala a bath. 
Arriving on the shore be beckoned the sea 'Come here, come here!' Huge 
waves crossed over the beach and Vamsidasa was able to bathe his 
Deities.

While crossing the river Mahanandi, Vamsidasa instructed the boatmen 
to drop him near a point where he claimed was a snake. When the 
boatman dropped Vamsidasa and his associates at the point, a yellow 
snake appeared. Holding his Bala-Gopala Deity Vamsidasa exclaimed, 
'See Anantadeva has come!' After some time the snake went away.

Once on a full moon night of Ashvini, Vamsidasa instructed his 
associates not to set up any tent but camped out in the open. At this 
time fifty attractive women, dressed in white, came and offered 
obeisances to Vamsidasa and left without saying. Despite the late 
hour, they were unescorted, something that never happens in rural 
India, and none of the locals had any knowledge of them. The devotees 
concluded that they were demigoddess who had come to get the blessings 
of Vamsidasa on this auspicious day.

One day Vamsidasa cooked sweet rice for Bala-Gopala, but before 
offering it he angrily threw it away, accusing Gopala of having 
already eaten rice-gur (sweet rice with semi-processed sugar extract 
from palm trees) in the Radha-Govinda temple in Vrindavana. One of the 
persons who happened to hear this sent a letter to the temple priest 
inquiring about the offering to Radha-Govinda on that particular 
date-time. A reply soon came indicating that the offering on the day 
was sweet rice cooked with palm-tree gur.

Once a man suffering from cholera (considered fatal in those days) lay 
outside the hut of Vamsidasa, expecting him to cure him. For three 
days he lay there moaning with intense pain, without eating and 
drinking anything. Finally Vamsidasa came outside and place a Tulasi 
leaf on his tongue. The man was instantly cured and he got up and went 
home.

When Vamsidasa became too old and infirm, he would have trouble going 
out to do madhukari (begging food from devotees). Once in such a 
situation he exclaimed to his servant, "Did you hear what Gauranga was 
saying? He has told Vamsidasa, 'you do not go begging for three days. 
Now you are too old, so I will feed you.' This Gauranga wants to feed 
me!" Saying this Vamsidasa fetched a stick and waved it threateningly 
at his Gaura Deity. "You do not have to go outside for serving me. If 
You go outside, I will break Your legs!!"

From HH Bhakti Vikasa Swami's book on SBSST:

Vamsidasa Babaji was a Gaudiya sadhu who lived at Swarup Ganj during 
the time of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati's mission. He was 
respected by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta and he used to see to it that 
Vamsivadasa Babaji was provided with grains and so on by Gaudiya Matha 
brahmacaris, whom he'd send to Swarup Ganj from the Yoga Pitha Mandir.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura also received the blessings of 
Srila Vamsidasa Babaji Maharaja in Navadwip. Seeing Srila Sarasvati 
Thakura, Srila Varmsidasa Babaji Mahasaya would say, "Someone very 
close to my Gaura has come to me."

On Janmastami he was in Baleshvar, a town in North Orissa. At midnight 
he said to Gopal, "Last year I gave You some palmfruit. This year I 
shall give You some mango. Gopal, don't be impatient, mango is coming 
to You." Within ten minutes a brahmana teacher called Jogendra 
Mukherjee arrived, explaining how he had just dreamt that a sadhu 
wanted a mango, so he went to the market and bought one. That brahmana 
was then told, "Yes, yes, you come. He said he wanted a mango."

One day, a lady selling fish approached him, offering him some choice 
type of catch. Somehow or other, the Babaji's mind became attracted to 
tasting the fish. But he immediately checked himself and became very 
angry. He first of all shouted at the woman to get away. Then he was 
shouting, "How could this happen? How could this happen? I've 
surrendered my life to Radha Krishna, I'm under Their protection and 
still this happens! Why You are not protecting me?"

He went storming into his bhajan kutir. People gathered while he 
fussed and fumed at his Deities inside. Then he came out, bringing the 
Deities tied by rope and threw Them into the Ganga. He kept the end of 
the rope under his foot. When one man inquired why he was doing this, 
the baba threw a rock at him.

When this news reached the Gaudiya Matha Mandir, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta 
called his brahmacaris together and forbade them from visiting this 
baba again, save for one who would just deliver supplies. After a few 
days, he again called them together and said, "Some of you think I've 
stopped you from visiting Babaji Maharaja because he is in maya. That 
is not so. But you are not able to understand this bhava. So stay 
away."

Later, when that one brahmacari visited, Vamsidas Babaji Maharaja 
threw a stone at him and told, "If you want to please me, then never 
return here again!"

Previously his reception had always been unpredictable. Sometimes the 
Baba would welcome him. Sometimes he would accept the gifts without 
saying a word. Sometimes he would just sit and stare. Sometimes he 
would take the gifts and angrily throw them in the river.

Instructions by Vamsidasa

Though many people, attracted by the fame and austerity of Vamsidasa 
would come to him for benedictions, Vamsidasa would generally ignore 
them. Once in a while he would get angry at people asking for material 
benefits and strongly chastise them. However sometimes when he was 
approached by a sincere seeker then Vamsidasa would instruct him in 
his typical fashion by conversing with the Deities. Some of his 
instructions are:

"Whoever offends a Vaishnava cannot be saved."

jive-daya name-ruci vaisnava-sevana
iha chara dharma nahi suna sanatana

"Kindness to all living beings, taste for the holy name and service to 
the Vaishnavas - apart from this there is no other religion."

Once a man asked Vamsidasa how to attain God. Vamsidasa replied:

"The personality of Kali is extremely powerful. When Kali came, Krsna 
told Narada, 'Now it is time for Me to go.' Sri Narada asked, 'What 
will be the future of the creatures in this world?' Krsna replied, 
'Those who worship the brahmanas and feed them will attain Me.' Narada 
asked, 'What of those who are too poor to serve the brahmanas?' Krsna 
replied, 'Those who worship Me with flowers and Tulasi will attain 
Me.' Narada then asked, 'What of those who are lame from birth?' Krsna 
replied, 'If some one only once at the end of the day calls My name 
with undivided devotion, he will attain Me!'"

Final pastimes of Vamsidasa

On March 17th 1944 Vamsidasa returned to his home town of Majitpur. He 
did not actually enter the town as it is traditional for renunciants 
not to return to their former family. He lived there for some time and 
finally on Caturthi, July 23, 1944, Srila Vamsidasa Babaji Maharaja 
concluded his earthly pastimes and resumed his service to Lord Krsna 
in Goloka.


VAMSIDASA BABAJI 

Vamsidasa Babaji was a siddha-mahatma in the disciplic succession of 
Sri Narottama Thakura. The name of his diksa-guru was Harilal 
Vrajavasi and the name of his vesa-guru was Ramananda Vrajavasi. But 
it was difficult to know that he was siddha, because he lived far away 
from the world in a solitary place on the bank of Ganga near Baral 
Ghata in Navadvipa, as if he was renounced by the world, as an idiotic 
and worthless destitute. But the fact is that it is not the world that 
had renounced him, but he, who had renounced the world as worthless. 
He hardly had any worldly possessions. His only possessions were an 
old kaupina, karanga and kantha. Once Sripada Haridasa Gosvami asked 
him why he did not wear bahirvasa. He replied, "I live only with ka, 
which means kaupina, karanga and kantha. I have nothing to do with 
ba", which means bahirvasa or outer garment. "Bahirvasa brings 
relationship with the outer world and the people, who are bahiranga, 
that is those, who are attached to the outer world. My Gaura has asked 
me not to wear bahirvasa and mix with people who are bahiranga."

Vamsidasa Babaji lived in a world of his own. His world centered round 
his Deities Gaura-Gadadhara, Nitai, Radha-Krishna and Gopala. For the 
service of these Deities he had two brass pots, some earthen pots, one 
plate, one glass, some small cups, panca patra, bell and conch-shell 
and nothing else. Baba passed day and night in the service of the 
Deities and in sweet talks with Them. Early in the morning he went out 
from his kutir to collect flowers. Then he went for bhiksa. He 
returned to the kutir about noon and made garlands from the flowers 
for each of the six Deities. After that he started cutting vegetables. 
He washed each vegetable a number of times. Then he cleaned rice. He 
examined each grain of rice. If he found any grain from which the husk 
was not removed, he removed it with his own hand. He did everything 
slowly, contemplating all the time the lila of Radha-Krishna or 
Gaura-Nitai, and singing or talking to Them. It was only late in the 
evening that he could cook and offer bhoga to the Deities. He had no 
consciousness of time. Morning and evening, day and night had no 
meaning for him. Almost the whole night he kept awake, talking and 
singing.

Once Sripada Haridasa Gosvami was surprised to see him cooking for the 
Deities at about 9 a.m. He said to him, "Baba! It would be fine, if 
you prepare bhoga for the Deities like this in the morning everyday." 
He replied, "I do not know morning or evening. Am I their father's 
servant so to feed them at appointed hours? If They want to eat like 
that, let Them make Their own arrangements for cooking. Let Gadadhara 
cook for Gaura. Nitai is avadhuta. He has no caste. He can go and eat 
anywhere. I do not worry about my Gopala. A milch-cow comes here 
everyday and gives Him milk. He can live on that. I have to worry 
about Radha-Krishna. For Them I will have to cook a little rice and 
vegetables. If I don't, They will go to Vrndavana and do madhukari."

Vamsidasa Baba never locked the door of his kutir when he went out for 
bhiksa or to bathe in the Ganga. If someone asked him why he did not 
lock the kuti, he said, "If the owner of the house Himself does not 
keep a watch and has a soft corner for the thief, what is the use of 
locking the house? I do not even keep the keys of the lock with me. 
The lock has three keys. All the three are with the three boys. One is 
with Gaura, one with Nitai and one with Gadadhara." After entrusting 
the lock and the keys to the three boys, Baba used to be free from 
anxiety. If while he was out a cow entered the kutir and turned 
everything topsy turvy, he would be angry with the boys. If someone 
stole something from the kutir he would say, "Gaura has a soft corner 
for Nadiyavasis, the residents of His own dhama. Therefore He gives 
things away to them. I am after all an outsider." Once a gold 
necklace, given by someone to Gaura, was stolen, when he had gone out 
for bhiksa. On returning to the kutir he kept on scolding Gaura and 
asking Him whom He had given away the necklace, for about two hours. 
Towards the evening he got a hint. He then went to the house of the 
thief and asked him for the necklace. The thief pushed him down the 
verandah of his house. He was hurt. But he did not say anything. But 
how could Gaura tolerate this? The thief soon died as well as all the 
other members of his family.

Once Baba had to punish Gaura-Nitai for Their connivance in a theft. 
The two brass-pots, in which Baba' used to cook for Gaura-Nitai were 
stolen. How could this happen without the connivance of Gaura-Nitai? 
So They were punished. Baba scolded Them and did not give Them 
anything to eat that day. The punishment had its effect. The next day 
someone came quietly and delivered one of those pots. Baba said, "This 
small pot is Nitai's. He will be fed today. If Gaura wants to eat, He 
must also bring His pot." Baba always did what he said. He cooked and 
offered bhoga to Nitai. Gaura drew a long face as He kept looking at 
Nitai eating. In the meantime another man came and delivered the other 
pot. Baba then cooked in that pot and offered bhoga to Gaura. When 
Gaura also had eaten, he said with tears in his eyes, "Do I ever want 
to punish You? But both of You are so naughty that You must always 
tease me. You do not know that I have now become old and cannot bear 
it all. What can I do?"

It is difficult to understand what bhava Vamsidasa Baba had towards 
Gaura. It sometimes appeared to be sakhya (friendly), sometimes 
vatsalya (parental) and sometimes madhurya, like that of a 
Nadiya-nagari (lady of Nadiya) towards Gauranga as Nadiya-nagara (an 
attractive citizen of Nadiya). If it was basically madhura, it is easy 
to understand that he sometimes exhibited vatsalya-bhava towards Him 
and sometimes sakhya, because madhurya-bhava includes all other 
bhavas. According to Haridasa Gosvami his bhava was of Nadiya-nagari 
type, because he used to compose songs of this bhava and sing. He has 
quoted some of these songs. Two of them are reproduced below:

kena giya chilama ganga-tire o nagari |
nyana kataksa bane gaura kaila mana churi ||
ami ekhana ki kari o nagari ki kari ||

"O Nagari! How I repent having gone to the bank of Ganga.
Gaura cast a side long glance at me and stole my heart
What shall I do now, O Nagari! What shall I do?"

bala go nagari gaura kallena ki ||
grha gela kula gela mana kela curi |
sajani! ekhana ami ki kari ||
nayana kone, kane kane gaura kallena ki |
ami je prana mari gaura kallena ki ||

"Tell me O Nagari what Gaura has done to me,
He winked and whispered and did,
I do not know what to me.
O Sakhi! Now I know not what to do,
Life is running out of me.
O! What has Gaura done to me?"

Towards the end of his life Baba once went to his birth place Majitpur 
in district Maymansinha. He carried the Deities with him. On the way 
he neither ate, nor slept, nor passed stool or urine. On reaching 
Majitpur he stayed in a dilapidated temple. After that he went to 
Vrndavana and Puri. In Vrndavana he stayed on the bank of Yamuna, in 
Puri on the bank of Narendra Sarovara. He never went inside a temple 
for darsana. During these travels the sadhus of the Gaudiya Matha 
rendered great service to him.

Nothing is known about Baba's life as a householder, except that he 
was married at an early age and his son Haracandra was nine or ten 
years old when he renounced the world. He went to Navadvipa about the 
year 1906. The author once tried to see him in 1932, but could not, 
because the door of his kutir was closed, though he could hear him 
talking to the Deities in Maymansinha dialect. He left the world in 
1944.

(Excerpts from OBL Kapoor's "The Saints of Bengal")

