Srila Gaura Kishora Babaji Maharaja

Srila Gaura-kisora Dasa Babaji Maharaja (1838-1915) was the spiritual master of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura.

Not much is known of Gaura-kisora except that he was born on November 17th, 1838 in a well-to-do mercantile family in the village of Vagyana, near to 'Tepakhola' in the district of Faridpur, part of modern day Bangladesh. After his wife died when he was thirty years old, he accepted Babaji-vesa from Bhagavata Dasa Babaji, a disciple of Srila Jagannatha Dasa Babaji Maharaja. Gaura-kisora Dasa Babaji spent most of his time in Vrndavana and Navadvipa, deeply absorbed in bhajana.

Gaura-kisora considered Bhaktivinoda Thakura as his siksa-guru and it was Bhaktivinoda who instructed his son, Vimala Prasada (later to become Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura) to take initiation from Gaura-kisora. In the year 1900 Gaurakisora Dasa Babaji gave initiation to Vimala Prasada who was given the name Sri Varsabhanavi-devi-dayita Dasa'.

In 1908 Gaura Kisora dasa Babaji Maharaja lost his external sight and stopped travelling and just sat in on place chanting the Holy Names. Being an avadhuta (a paramahamsa aloof from external consciousness) sometimes he would forget to dress and would follow ekadasi vrata for many days, forgetting the time as he was deeply absorbed in chanting the Names of Radha-Krsna.

On November 17th, 1915 Srila Gaura Kisora dasa Babaji Maharaja, on the auspicious day of Utthana Ekadasi left this world to enter the pastimes of Radha-Govinda. His body was placed into samadhi, but sixteen years later, due to the flooding of the Ganga, his samadhi had to be moved. Although there was a clamor amongst local babajis as to who would move the body to a different location, it was his only disciple, Sarasvati Thakura who understood the ill-motives of the so-called renunciates and claimed the body of his spiritual master and rebuilt his samadhi in the precincts of Sri Caitanya Matha in Mayapura.

Gaurakisora Dasa Babaji Maharaja Biography 

The Western world is indeed very fortunate to receive information for the first time regarding the wonderful biography of Srila Gaurakisora dasa babaji. This compilation originally appeared in 1919 in a monthly periodical, Sajjanatosani, published in the Bengali language. A series of articles under the heading Amara prabhura katha were written and published under the guidance of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, the sole disciple of Srila Gaurakisora dasa babaji. In 1934 the disciples of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura composed the serial articles and other narrations they directly heard from Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati in biography form entitled Paramaguru Sri Gaurakisora. The present attempt in the English language is a direct rendering of that biography with the hope that the thirst of the sincere seekers of India's spiritual wealth will be partially quenched. Srila Gaurakisora dasa babaji's personal life draws a permanent line which separates those divinely inspired from the impostors in his own school of thought, and provides a crystal clear conception of how this uttama-adhikari, or most advanced soul, perceived reality.

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