Ramdas Kathiababa

Ramdas Kathiababa
Born	early 19th century Lonachamari, Punjab India
Died	1909 CE Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh India
Titles/honours	Vaishnav Chatuh Sampradaya Sri Mahanta
Guru	Devdas Kathiababa
Philosophy	Dvaitadvaita Nimbarka Sampradaya

Vaishnav Chatuh Sampradaya Sri Mahanta Sri Sri Swami 108 Ramdas Kathia Baba(early 19th century - 1909) was a revered saint of the Hindu Dwaitadwaitavaadi Nimbarka Sampradaya[1] and one of the principal spiritual figureheads associated with the propagation of Nimbarka Vaishnavism in Bengal. He was one of the main preachers involved in the mass propagation of Nimbarka Vaishnavism in Bengal in the late 19th century. He belonged to the sect of Nimbarka ascetics descending from the spiritual lineage of Sri Nagaji Maharaj who initiated the practice of circumambulation of Vraj(also called Vraj parikrama). The term "Kathiababa" has arisen from the usage of wooden(Kath means wood in Hindi and Bengali) chastity belts by the saints of this sect which are donned with the aim of subduing the lustful tendencies of the human body.

Life

Shri Ramdas Kathiababa was born in early 19th century[2], the month of July is usually considered to be his month of birth. He was born in the village of Lona Chamari which is situated about 20 miles from the city of Amritsar in Punjab to a prosperous Punjabi Brahmin family; his father, a pious Brahmin priest, was an expert at the performance of religious rites and rituals.

From a very early age the young Ramdas possessed a devout disposition, a renunciate who lived in the vicinity of his village caught his attention when he used take his buffaloes to nearby fields for grazing. The noble-hearted young lad once approached the renunciate who was a reverential figure in that locality and put questions to him about the path to attainment of greatness, the renunciate replied that chanting the name of Lord Ram with fervent devotion has earned him respect in the eyes of the people and that he(Ramdas) shall also attain the same if he does so[3]. The youth was deeply moved by the renunciate's devotion and he started chanting the name of Lord Ram ceaselessy from that day.

Gradually his whole mind became gripped by the realization that his purpose in life was to attain nirvana by becoming a Yogi. His Guru had gifted him a copy of the Bhagavad Gita which he read and deeply pondered over. One of the verses(verse 6.41) in Srimad Bhagavat Gita says : "The unsuccessful yogi, after many, many years of enjoyment on the planets of the pious living entities, is born into a family of righteous Brahmins", this caught his attention especially and he decided to make further advancements in his spiritual accomplishments, after thwarting an attempt by his parents to get him married off he set out for a nearby place where he sat under a banyan tree at a desolate spot and started chanting the Gayatri Mantra with the intention of repeating the Mantra a hundred thousand times[4](one hundred and twenty five thousand according to some sources[5]). But before reaching his goal of a hundred thousand repetitions of the Mantra a divine voice spoke out to him and commanded him to complete the rest of his chanting at Jwalamukhi.

After hearing the divine command Ramdas decided to renounce the life of a householder and take sannyas(renunciation), accordingly he left his house and left for Jwalamukhi, which was situated at a distance of 45 miles from his native place. The hardships endured during this journey further strengthened his resolve to attain the glimpse of God.

First encounter with his Guru

On his way to Jwalamukhi he came across a wooded area, as he walked through it he caught sight of a sage with matted locks meditating in a yogic posture with a fire burning before him in a fire urn. The young Ramdas noticed the sage's divine demeanour and was transfixed then and there, he silently waited for the yogi to open his eyes. After a while the yogi parted his eyelids and cast the first glance at Ramdas who was eagerly waiting for this moment, his divine smile filled Ramdas with ecstatic joy and he fell at the yogi's feet seeking his blessings and intitiation(diksha). The sage, who was known as Sri 108 Swami Devdasji Maharaj[6], granted Ramdas his wish. Devdasji Maharaj was a highly revered saint of the Nimbarka Sampradaya and was famous for his spartan lifestyle, asceticism and rigorous discipline.

Discipleship and Spiritual Journey

Under Devdasji's strict mentorship and austere regimen Swami Ramdasji started learning the intricacies of religious philosophy and the scriptures. Devdasji rigidly followed the tenets of Vaidhi Bahkti which enumerates a path of devotion coupled with reverence to God and the Hindu scriptures. The purpose of Vaidhi Bhakti is to lead a spiritual seeker onto the path of become capable of reaching pure affectionate or amorous devotion(Raganuga Bhakti). During this period Ramdasji received a first-hand knowledge of the importanace of having faith in the Guru and following his instruction in order to reach the state of Ishwarpranidhan i.e. : God realization by freeing oneself from the diversions created by ordinary human perception and the mind's inability to control them. He realized the importance of the beeja-mantra imparted by his Guru and it's usefulness in cleansing the devotee's mind from the innumerable aberrations that arise from the mind and it's delusional perceptions. In fact, the gross body can truly serve God only if it becomes capable of doing so by submission to a preceptor possessing a perfected soul and in the case of Swami Ramdasji and his Guru Devdasji Maharaj this perfect unison had occurred by grace of the Almightly Lord Vasudev Sri Krishna. At times Devdasji used to severely thrash or berate his disciples with harsh words in order to test their patience and the status of their egocentric conceit, only pure devotees like Ramdasji could succeed in patiently passing through such difficult tests. Devdasji's rigorous asceticism and spiritual practices like staying awake with his disciples all night during the harsh winters of north India and making them perform yogic practices under the shelter of nothing but the sky led to the manifestation of the perfection already present in exalted souls like Swami Ramdasji. On one occasion Devdasji asked Ramdasji to keep sitting at a particular spot without budging an inch until he returned, Devdasji was absent for eight days and yet upon returning he saw his disciple at the very same spot which he had instructed Ramdasji to occupy without even a thought of abandoning it. He was pleased with his disciple's steadfastness and enquired as to whether he ever felt the urge to move from there during his absence even for extreme bodily urgencies, Ramdasji happily answered in the negative and said that during that he didn't face any contingencies even for a moment. In course of time, the infinite mercy of Devdasji brought out the perfection in his disciple and Ramdasji acquired thorough expertise in Ashtanga Yoga and Hatha Yoga.

Devdasji Maharaj was extremely happy & satisfied with his disciple's perseverance and devotion, he expressed his contentment with Ramdasji's ardour and lack of egocentric tendencies and blessed him along with the prophecy that he shall go on to become an enlightened being(Brahmagyani).

Eventually, Devdasji asked Ramdasji to set out on a pligrimage to the various shrines located all over India, after his return he went to the Himalayas to devote himself to ceaseless meditation. Thereafter, Ramdasji went to visit Dwarka at his Guru's bidding.

Devdasji's demise and his brush with God

After his completing his pilgrimage to Dwarka Ramdasji returned to his Guru who had installed his seat installed near a prosperous town. Upon his return Ramdasji was shocked and grief-stricken to learn from his co-devotees that his Guru Devdasji was no more. He was so deeply anguished by this bereavement that he grovelled on the ground in dolour and remained starved for days. Finally his Guru appeared before him in a vision, he said that there was nothing to be grieved over & that he was staying on the banks of the Narmada and shall appear before him from time to time. Ramdasji had toured extensively all over India and visited all pilgrimages revered in his sect. Due to lack of railways at that time the only means was to traverse the distance on foot. Once while passing through a jungle which was infamous for it’s ferocious predator dwellers the leading hermit lost his stability and declared himself unfit for leading them due to fright caused by the frequent growls of savage beasts. Ramdasji volunteered to take his place and soon the frightened hermit exchanged positions with Ramdasji thinking that he would remain safe at Ramdasji’s position at the rear end of the column. Very soon a tiger sprang out from the bushes, attacked the hermit at the rear end and carried him away while Ramdasji and the rest of the party continued their journey.

In one of the events narrated to his main disciple Santadasji he(Ramdasji) had described his direct encounter with God who played a prank on him. Once an ascetic resided with Ramdasji for a month without consuming any food or drink. One day he asked Ramdasji to accompany him on a stroll, as they came over a bridge across a fast flowing river the ascetic pointed to the sky and asked him what saw in that direction to which Ramdasji answered that he saw the luminous sky, thereafter the ascetic pointed to the river flowing beneath them and asked him the same question and Ramdasji replied that he saw water. The ascetic now asked him to glance at the sky once again and Ramdasji saw that within a jiffy the clear sky had become overcast with dark clouds. He was mildly provoked by this and belittling this incident said to the ascetic that this was mere hocus pocus. The ascetic signalled Ramdasji to follow him and crossed the river from a spot where it was known to be deep enough to drown even the largest of beasts and yet they waded through the water with ease as it hardly rose above the ankles. The ascetic led him through a forested track on both sides of which funeral pyres burned and the landscape was dotted with rotting carcasses and severed heads of humans. As this gory and macabre sight appalled him he suddenly noticed that the ascetic had disappeared. He understood that God himself had come in the garb of that ascetic and played a joke on him.

Ramdasji’s miraculous feats

Several miracles have been attributed to Swami Ramdasji among which the incident of his miraculous escape from a burning pyre built around him when he was in a meditative trance is particularly significant, once he was being accompanied by a younger ascetic who actually was a criminal minded lowlife and was jealous of Ramdasji’s prowess, in order to get rid of him forever he hatched a clever plan, when Ramdasji was in a deep meditative trance this guy piled up a huge quantity of firewood which he had obtained through coercive tactics from the nearby village. He set fire to this huge pyre and fled from the spot thinking that Ramdasji would be turned to ashes within no time. But Ramdasji’s yogic powers didn’t allow even the slightest harm to his body. In fact, after he had arisen he saw that he was sitting in the midst of a pile of ash and some villagers were running towards him, they too had thought that Ramdasji would surely die within no time and had rushed to save him as soon as they got to know of it but were astounded to see the miraculous yogic powers of the great saint. Later on he narrated this incident to one of his disciples and said that that was a proof of his successful yogic practice because one who hasn’t accomplished the capability to withstand the effect of fire without suffering even the slightetst harm has not attained success in yoga completely.

In another incident at the banks of the Yamuna river in Agra some British soldiers targeted Ramdasji from their ship moored in the river and started shooting at him with their muskets. The first shot hissed by his cheek, but Ramdasji remained nonchalant. When the same was repeated again Ramdasji decided to put an end to it by teaching them a lesson, by his yogic powers the musket was pulled out of its place and it landed straight into the river. The British soldiers were awed and nonplussed at this unexplainable incident. They came to him to apologize and respectfully sought his pardon. Since then those soldiers made it a point to carefully refrain from meddling with saints.

Propagation of Nimbarka Vaishnavism in Bengal

Nimbarka Vaishnavism has been present in Bengal right since the 17th century. Ramdas Kathiababa popularized it among the masses and initiated several renowned personalities in Bengal in his order which was founded by Nagaji Maharaj. His single most important disciple among his Bengali devotees was the famous lawyer Advocate Tarakishore Choudhury who later on came to be known as Santdas Kathiababa. In the year 1893 Tarakishore went to Kumbh Mela with his friend Harinarayan Roy whose elder brother Abhoynarayan had received initiation from Ramdasji. Ramdasji was camping there with his attendant, a heifer named Ganga and a Sri Vaishnava ascetic named Kalyandas. After sometime Tarakishore visited Ramdasji’s Ashram in Vrindavan and received initiation from him after a miraculous event flushed out all doubts about Ramdasji’s greatness from his mind. Several peoplehad encountered miraculous incidents in which Ramdasji had bestowed his infinite mercy on hapless souls who were yearning for God . A Bengali gentleman named Mr Biharilal Chattopadhyay had the good fortune of receiving the opportunity to bask in Ramdasji’s divine compassion at a village in Santhal Parganas although Ramdasji was residing in his ashram at Vrindavan at that time. Ramdasji seldom left his ashram at Vrindavan except for his annual Vraj Parikrama and during the Kumbh Mela. However, his disciples in Calcutta had been fortunate enough to be in his divine propinquity when he visited Santdasji’s house twice, staying there for a few days each time. A significant number of people from the rural areas had sought and gained his discipleship and in spite of the fact that they were piscivorous Ramdasji never hesitated in bestowing his divine mercy on any worthy spiritual aspirant. Gradually, the Guru-parampara of Kathiababa took deep roots in Bengal especially through Santdasji and Dhananjoydasji. Now it has become the most popular Guru-parampara among the Nimbarka Vaishnavas of Bengal.

Teachings

Ramdasji had given innumerable instructions to countless people at different points of time, his devotees had never been bereft of his sage counsel whenever he felt the necessity of it, among them some of the most important advice for sincere and focussed spiritual seekers were : 1) Avoid sleep during the last quarter of the night 2) Act by your conscience, do not let ego or temptations overwhelm you. 3) Live immaculately, always abjure sin and hypocrisy.

Final Nirvana

Ramdas Kathiababa finally reached the completion of his earthly mission and discarded his mortal body on 8th Magh of the Bengali year 1306(1909AD according to the Gregorian calendar). In the midnight Ramdasji woke up and sat in an erect yogic position and left his body, his mundane body was consigned to the flames on the following day on 9th Magh at the banks of the holy Yamuna river by the devout residents of Holy Vraj. Santdasji arrived there on 11th Magh and collected the residual bones from the cremation spot and installed them in a new ashram.

Legacy

Ramdas Kathiababa left a legacy of steadfast devotion to God and had firmly established the Nimbarka Vaishnav philosophy of Dvaitadvaita Vedanta in all corners of India and especially in Bengal. The exemplary austerities of the Kathiababa sect has served as a glorious reminder to the truly noble disciplic spiritual lineage of the Kathiababa order of Nimbarka Vaishnavism.

References

[1] Prof. Roma Bose, Vedanta Parijata Saurabha of Nimbarka and Vedanta Kaustubha of Srinivasa (Commentaries on the Brahma-Sutras) - Doctrines of Nimbarka and his followers

[2] Siddhayogi Ramdas Kathiababa Kon Kon Aloukik Shaktir Adhikari Chhilen, Saptahik Bartaman Patrika(Bengali) 23 July 2011.

[3] Ibid

[4] Ibid

[5] A Short Biography of His Holiness Shree 108 Swamy Ramdas Kathia Baba

[6] Siddhayogi Ramdas Kathiababa Kon Kon Aloukik Shaktir Adhikari Chhilen, Saptahik Bartaman Patrika(Bengali) 23 July 2011.

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