- Brahma Chaitanya
= श्री ब्रम्हचैतन्य गोंदवलेकर महाराज ಶ್ರೀ ಬ್ರಮ್ಹಚೈತನ್ಯ ಗೋಂದವಲೇಕರ ಮಹಾರಾಜ =
Shri Brahma Chaitanya (Gondavalekar Maharaj) was a
Hindu saint who resided in the taluka of Maan at Gondavale Budruk inSatara District ofMaharashtra . His pre-sainthood name was Ganapati. Brahma Chaitanya was a devotee of the Hindu godRama and signed his name as Brahma Chaitanya Ramdasi.He was born on
Maagha Shuddha Dwadashi (Refer toHindu Calendar for details of Shuddha and Dwadashi) of shake 1766 (Refer toShalivahana calendar for details of shake) (Year 1845 A.D.) in Gondavale (also spelled as Gondawale) Budruk,Taluka Maan, DistrictSatara . Its distance is approximately 40 miles (or 64 kilometers) fromSatara on theSatara -Pandharpur Road. His father was aKulkarni by profession.He left his home in search of a spiritual
guru when he was just 9 years old. After knowing his whereabouts, his father brought him back fromKolhapur . He got married when he was 11 years old, and again left home in search of aguru . He went to Yehalegaon inNanded district and became desciple of Shri Tukamai. Shri Tukamai gave him the nickname of Brahmachaitanya.After the death of his first wife, he married a girl who was blind since birth. He helped the poor, those suffering from
drought . He taught gorakshan, annadan, nama japa,bhajan , teerthayatra s.He showed path of devotion of Lord
Rama to thousands of divotees inMaharashtra ,Karnataka and parts of NorthIndia . Most of the divotees were from the middle class income group. He discouraged people from bad habbits, bad behaviour, etc. He made extensive use ofPravachan s,Bhajan s, Vaidik Anushthans etc. for encouraging people to follow the path of devotion. He taught people to achieve perfect balance between prapancha andparamartha by doing extensive nama japa.He passed away on
Margashirsh Vadya Dashmi of shake 1835 (22 December 1913) in Gondavale.The life of Brahma Chaitanya is described in detail in the book "The Saint of Gondawale" by KV Belsare.
References
The saint of Gondawale, book by KV Belsare
mr icon http://shribrahmachaitanya.googlepages.com/home
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