Gaurkishore Das Babaji – Renunciation to increase absorption in devotion

Hare Krishna on the sacred occasion associated with Gowakrishna Das Babaji let us contemplate on his unique role in demonstrating the diversity and the glory of Gowriya Vaishnavism as it is manifested in our times we see in our tradition both the predecessor and the successor of Gowriya Vaishnavism were extremely educated learned and scholarly individuals his predecessor is Bhaktivinoda Thakur who wrote over a hundred books and his successor is Bhaktisadhan Swami Thakur who also wrote many many extraordinary scholarly books and yet Gowakrishna Das Babaji was illiterate so through his example it is demonstrated how bhakti does not depend on any material qualification education or lack of education and the exalted states of bhakti can be attained by anyone and everyone Gowakrishna Das Babaji although he was illiterate in the sense that he could not write he had such philosophically penetrating understanding of the essential principles of Gowriya Vaishnavism that he could see things that even well educated people could not see what could he see? he could see not only just beyond the illusions of material life to spiritual life he was a business person, he would sell clothes but eventually when his wife died he renounced the world and devoted himself completely to the lord and his transition in devotion was so great that he became completely so exalted that he was celebrated as a Babaji and people around him recognised that he was a Mahabhag with a Paramahamsa such an exalted pure devotee that even Bimala Prasad who later became Bhaktisadhan Swami Thakur who was born in a Vaishnav family but who was at the same time quite cynical about the kind of Vaishnavas that were present around him most of the Vaishnavas were either the Kast Goswamis who were more hungry for power than eager to serve the lord or there were Babajis who in the name of renunciation were engaging in Sahajiya practices that were morally perverse but even amidst such situation where he was Bimala Prasad was ready to confront even the powerful and popular people who were considered Gaudiya authorities and he came across this illiterate Vaishnava and he was so inspired by his purity, his simplicity his devotion and his capacity for devotional discrimination that he offered his heart and life to Gaurakrishna Babaji Gaurakrishna Babaji was so philosophically astute in terms of understanding what is genuine devotion and what is show bottle devotion that when people would come to him not for the sake of genuinely learning about Bhakti but just wanting to get the pride of proximity to a great soul that Gaurakrishna Babaji would reject such people he would stay in places like the outhouses, the places where people would prapas, answer nature's call why? because he did not want to be troubled by the associationalistic people and there in such places he would chant the holy names glorify the lord and delight in that association he would chant on the banks of the Ganga river and sometimes when he would feel hungry he would just take some of the mud from the banks of the Ganga river and eat that, satisfied just with that to drive away muttalose people from coming close to him he would sometimes beg in a skull as his bhiksha patra people who did not have deeper philosophical understanding or a devotional faith would be appalled by him but those who could attend understand the essence, they knew his heart in his heart he wanted to always remember Krishna and associate only with those who were either remembering Krishna or were aspiring to pure links and say they remember Krishna so Gaurakrishna Babaji was what is called a bhajananandi, goshtanandi are the devotees who preach Krishna vigarati bhajananandi are those who delight in their own bhajan so Gaurakrishna Babaji by the arrangement of the supreme lord who is present in his heart was inspired to serve the lord as a bhajananandi but it was his bhajanananda the pure and the intense joy that he was deriving in his bhajan that attracted Bhaktsanshu Thakur and through the attraction of Bhaktsanshu Thakur to Gaurakrishna Das Babaji what resulted was Bhaktsanshu Thakur's vigorous outreach so a bhajananandi may not preach oneself but through the example a bhajananandi preaches and gives out the mercy to many many people so in this world when we share Krishna consciousness we may want to do it for fame and prestige and admiration from others so the bhajananandi devotees exemplify to us how one should serve the lord simply for the lord's sake and what to speak of gaining fame one can even run away from fame just so that one can focus undisturbed in the glorification of the lord so we may not be able to and we cannot especially in Prabhupada's mood imitate Gaurakrishna Babaji but we can learn from him and pray for his mercy so that when we are sharing Krishna consciousness with others and we are practicing Krishna consciousness ourselves in the material world we don't get influenced by the materialistic association but instead we stay absorbed in Krishna and by our absorption in Krishna we inspire others also to become similarly absorbed in Krishna.