Srila Prabhupad wrote about his Gurudev Srila Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj, “He showed no enmity for those who opposed him or disagreed with him; similarly, he made no particular external show of affection for those who were objects of his compassion.” He used to say, “I neither love nor hate anyone in this world; everyone is the object of my respect.”

Namo gaura-kiśorāya
sākṣād vairāgya-mūrtaye
vipralambha-rasāmbhodhe
pādāmbujāya te namaḥ

I bow to your lotus feet, Śrīla Gaura Kishor Das Babaji, the embodiment of renunciation and the ocean of sacred rapture in separation.

Paramahaṁsa Śrīla Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Mahārāja was born into a Vaishya family on the banks of the Padma River in Bagayan village in Faridpur district in what is now Bangladesh. The names of his parents are unknown. His given name was Vamsi Das. He was born sometime in the middle of the nineteenth century. He is important to us because he was the diksha guru of Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Prabhupada, founder of the Chaitanya Math and the world-wide Gaudiya Maths.

Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura recounted some events from Gaura Kishor Das Babaji’s life which are full of import for the practitioner of devotional life.

1 On one occasion, a certain Babaji came to visit Śrīla Gaura Kishor Das Babaji with some of his followers in tow. These acolytes began glorifying their guru to Babaji Mahārāja, “Our Prabhu is so merciful. He takes so much trouble to travel from place to place to deliver the poor, fallen souls. If he did not travel, what would be the destiny of these forsaken places?” Babaji Mahārāja immediately became cross and answered, “If someone makes a pretense of delivering the world when in fact he is only interested in making money and garnering prestige, he not only does no one any good, but falls down for having cheated others.”

2 One day, a few devotees were describing the expertise of a particular lecturer on the Bhagavata. Babaji Mahashaya knew that this individual received money for his services. He said, “This fellow does not explain the Bhagavata or the scriptures of the Goswamis. He is simply speaking on the sense-gratificatory scriptures. He isn’t chanting ‘Gaura, Gaura!’ or ‘Krishna, Krishna!’, but ‘Money! Money!’ It has nothing to do with bhajan. The end result is that the true Vaiṣṇava religion is obscured. Nothing good can come from it; indeed, the world will be harmed by such preaching.”

3 One day Babaji Mahashaya was chanting japa late at night when he suddenly jumped up and exclaimed, “Did you see that? Did you see? A professional speaker on the Bhagavata has gone to Pabna district and has just made a chaste widow break her vows! What a shame! These rascals are giving Mahāprabhu’s religion a bad name.” He spoke as if he were personally witnessing the event.

4 The owner of the Nabadvīpa Dharma Shala was a certain Giriśa Bābu. One day, his wife offered to build a cottage for Babaji Mahārāja. He answered, “I have no problem sleeping under the straw shelter on a boat. The only problem I have is that so many rascals are constantly coming to me asking me to bless them. They disturb my chanting. They don’t really want my blessings because they don’t really want what is best for them, but still they come to disrupt my chanting the Holy Name. If you give me your brick outhouse, I will be able to chant in peace. No one will come to bother me there.” When he realized that Babaji Mahashaya was serious, Giriśa Babu immediately had the outhouse purified with cowdung and brought in a mason to completely redo the building.

5 One day during the cold season, a devotee made a gift of a quilt to Babaji Mahashaya, but rather than wrapping himself in it, he simply draped it over the tiny bamboo shelter under which he slept. When asked why he did that, he answered that the cold would go away simply upon seeing the quilt.

6 One day the Raja of Kossim Bazar, Sir Manīndra Candra Nandi Bahadur, invited Babaji Mahārāja to his palatial residence for a Vaiṣṇava assembly. Babaji Mahashaya answered, “If you want my association, leave all your riches and come and live under a bamboo shelter like mine. You won’t have to worry about food. I will beg enough to feed both of us. If I go to stay in your palace, it won’t be long before I start desiring to enjoy sense gratification. I will start thinking about how I can accumulate a property for myself. Then before you know it, I will become your enemy. If you want to preserve our friendship and if you wish to be kind to me as your Vaiṣṇava friend, then you will come to the Dham and join me in worshiping the Lord and eating madhukarī.”

Śrīla Prabhupada wrote the following words about his guru, with exemplary humility, in order to show the world definitively the path of auspiciousness: “In order to complete the gaping needs that I felt, I was busily trying to get my hands on everything under the sun. I thought that possessions would fulfill my needs. Over time, I had indeed accumulated a great number of rare possessions, but I was not able to rid myself of the sense of being unfufilled. I had encountered many personalities who were reputed to be great saints, but saw various deficiencies in every one of them and so was unable to give them my full respect. Fortunately, the supremely merciful Śrī Gauranga Mahāprabhu allowed two of his dearest companions to show their kindness to me. I was egotistically so self-absorbed that I had completely lost any sense of where my well-being could be found. Even so, due to past pious activities, I was able to get the association of Śrīla Bhaktivinode Ṭhākura who was my ever well-wisher. My Prabhu often came to visit him and sometimes stayed overnight at his house. Out of mercy to me, Śrīla Bhaktivinode Ṭhākura introduced me to him. From the time that I first met my Prabhu, my stubborn egoism started to diminish. Previously, I used to think that everyone who took birth in a human body was filled with the same faults that I had, but upon seeing my Prabhu’s divine character I realized that there truly were flawless Vaiṣṇavas in this world who matched the ideal.”

Śrīla Prabhupada further wrote, “Many people who saw Gaura Kishor Das Babaji, whether innocent or experienced, young or old, learned or ignorant, or proud of their being advanced devotees, were not able to truly see him. This is the divine power of Krishna’s devotees. Hundreds of people came to him seeking help in fulfilling their material desires and he would give them advice, but this was a kind of deception. There are countless persons who take on the dress of a saintly person and make a show of acting like a saintly person, but on closer analysis are far from the standard. My Prabhu was not a cheater like them. It is clear from his spiritual activities that he identified complete honesty with the truth. His sincere affection was incomparable; it proved that the attainment of spiritual powers is a deception. He showed no enmity for those who opposed him or disagreed with him; similarly, he made no particular external show of affection for those who were objects of his compassion. He used to say, ‘I neither love nor hate anyone in this world; everyone is the object of my respect.’

“Amazingly, Prabhu would be surrounded by people with no understanding– fakers and materialists inimical to the path of pure devotion who thought themselves to be recipients of such a saintly person’s mercy, but continued to engage in sensual activities. Prabhu never openly rejected any of these people, but he never openly accepted any of them, either.”

On the 30th of Karttik in 1322 (Bengali—1915AD), Paramahaṁsa Śrīla Gaura Kishor Das Babaji entered the eternal pastimes of the Lord.

Excerpt from “Sri Chaitanya: His Life and Associates” by Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj