My Experience With The 5,000 Year Old Saint, Devraha Baba

Over my seven decades, I've had the blessing of meeting some amazing and saintly personalities, the greatest of which, for me, was my own spiritual master, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the greatest exponent of Vedic knowledge ever to come to the Western world.  He is my daily guide and inspiration since the first time I saw him in my teenage years, and simply his glancing at me felt like I had had been washed from head to toe in a glorious divine light.  

However, this post is not about him, but another fascinating saint I met in 1989, only one year before he passed from this plane. And of course, I'm speaking of Devaraha Baba (photo above).  In that year, my wife Abhaya and I, along with our 4 children (aged 4 to 15 at the time), decided to visit India.  I had been twice before in 1975 and 1976, but she had never been, and we'd just received a little money from my mother's passing.  We considered doing some "smart" thing, like investing it, buying a working car, or paying off bills, but instead, we decided to do something that the children would never forget - and they haven't. 

Our original intention had been to spend 4 months in India, but after recognizing the reality of traveling with 4 children in India, within a few weeks, we had adjusted our return flights down to two months.  Our primary focus was Vrndavana, 30 km from Delhi, which is the birthplace of Lord Krsna, and where he performed his extraordinary pastimes.  We were staying at the Sri Krsna-Balaram Mandir there, where in 1975, I had received Brahminical Initiation from my spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada. A great deal had changed in those 14 years, though no where near as much as they have now, 50 years later. But there were people I knew, and met a number of new devotee friends as well.  It is also when, through the grace of our slightly strange friend, Nrsimha Prabhu, that we were introduced to our Indian family of Sri Radha-Ballabh and Saroj Sharma, and their 7 children, who re-married Abhaya and myself, on our 11th anniversary, in a traditional Vedic wedding.  Although Radha-Ballabh (Papa) passed away a few years ago, we are still in contact with our Indian brother and sisters and cousins all these years later.

I believe it was Nrsimha Prabhu who mentioned that Devraha Baba lived very near on the other side of the Yamuna river.  Devraha Baba was very well known in spiritual communities, and even I had heard about him over the years.  I was very excited at the prospect of meeting such a saint, so we hired a boat to take us across the river.  Since Nrsimha is also an American bodied devotee, and neither of us spoke Hindi, we brought a Nepalese devotee, Kaviraj Prabhu who was also visiting Vrndavana. 

After we had crossed the river, we easily found his hut, which was a wood and bamboo structure about 10 feet off the ground. But the place appeared empty. There were no devotees, disciples, or admirers around.  Nothing.  Just the hut sitting there, with a curtain over the entrance.  Suddenly, out pops Devraha Baba.  We were amazed.  Here was one of the most famous living saints and there wasn't a soul around.  Just us and him.  Sadly, both due to my not speaking Hindi and my bad memory, I don't recall much of what was said, but Kaviraj kindly introduced us to the Baba, offering our respects and asking for his blessings.  I don't remember what all he said, but at one point, I had written down Kaviraja's translation of his blessing for me, which was essentially if I continued to chant God's name, my life would be perfected.  (Or something to that effect. 😇)   And I still do, though perhaps not as 'religiously' as I once did.  

Interestingly, Babaji was said to have a similar hut at the site of the Kumbha Mela, the largest religious festival in the world, which takes place every 4 years.  It was said that he would tell his disciples in Vrndavana that he was leaving, close his curtain, and then suddenly appear in his hut at the Kumba Mela!   

Although many doubt that he was truly thousands of years old, there were many famous people, politicians and others, who remember going to see him with their grandfathers when they themselves were children, now being seniors as well.  So it could be fairly well documented that he was at least 200 to 300 years old.  Not quite 5,000, but a lot longer than I expect I'll be around. 

And surprisingly, Devraha Baba was not the only centuries old saint I saw.  I remember the first time I was in Vrndavana in 1975, there was another ancient looking saint, sitting in front of a temple on the streets of Loi Bazar in Vrndavana, and playing a vina and singing God's names.  I asked several people who he was, as he was fascinating to watch, and I was informed that he had been sitting there singing and glorifying God for some 700 years.  

So, while we here may get excited about celebrities or politicians or the newest memes on social media, it's good to remember that there is (or was) another VERY different world out there - in fact a very different plane of existence altogether.  In that space, pretty much everything in this world is unimportant, and is, in fact, Maya (illusion), and one's real purpose in life is spent in spiritual inquiry and sadhana (practice).  

May the saints of all time, like the glorious Srila Prabhupada and Devraha Baba, bless your spiritual journey.

deep love

Aja

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Linktr.ee/ajathomas

हरे कृष्ण हरे कृष्ण कृष्ण कृष्ण हरे हरे 

हरे राम हरे राम राम राम हरे हरे