Braj Vaibhav Ki Apoorv Shri Bhaktimati Usha Bahenji (pujya Bobo's Birth Anniversary:30th July,2026)

Usha Bahenji



Vijay ji pays Shraddhanjali to Bhaktimati Usha Bahenji

The metaphorical search of the impassioned soul for union with Lord Krishna is centered within earthly Vrindavana or perhaps that region in the heart wherein god is ultimately found. The truth revealed in ancient scriptures by Valmiki and Vyasadeva to help the seeker's quest for Krishna is not easily accepted by us in the new millennium.

Ardent devotees have been born from time to time in the history of Krishna worship. The lives of bhaktas, their perspectives, thoughts, voice as expressed in the thousands of padas in common daily and festive use, stutis, stotras and sermons, throw light on the prestigious Vaishnava world and simultaneously inflame the desire of the individuated soul for union with god.

Dark-hued Krishna, the Cowherd

The energy, joyous abandon and love of rasikas is known to passionately draw Krishna, the beautiful dark-skinned cowherd, to Vrindavana, hungry for the fulflilment of His love. The very foundation of a religion of union is that the individual, partial and manifest self must ultimately be joined with the universal, whole and un-manifest Self.

Devotion to Lord Krishna is the pride of Vraja. For us in the Indian tradition shringara rasa is considered the peak of human emotions, taking us to the very heart of the love of Radha and Krishna. Clearly bhakti shringara or a certain spirituality that can arise only by indulging in love sees the prema of Shyama-Shyam and the gopis (considered kaya vyuhas or replications of Shri Radha) as transcendental love of the highest order. Attaining the constant, clearly evident kripa or grace of Radha-Krishna there is no need for any other medium to become one with the divine. 

The Pivotal Concept of Madhurya, Defines the Love of Krishna

'In Braj Vaibhav Ki Apoorv Shri Bhaktimati Usha Bahenji' the pivotal concept of madhurya which defines the love of Krishna and is an important Vaishnava concept of shringara bhakti evolves. He richly shares madhurya with Ushaji His hungering devotee and it unfolds in idyllic Vrindavana Krishna is the repository of madhurya and Bobo is seen to be equally tender in expressing and experiencing her love for Krishna. Whether it is in the pleasure of belonging or the pathos of longing, participating in the innocent lilas of Krishna or being charmed by His flute, she in equal measure reflects the madhurya of Krishna.

She becomes a paradigm of the perennial quest of mankind for a divine and transcendental love. This intense attraction to Vrindavana is apparent in Bobo as she was fondly called. Bhaktimati Shri Usha Bahenji lived in Vrindavana for over half a century, inspiring educated youth to live lives of celibacy and tapa. Shunning self-publicity, she led a life of stern simplicity and attained great heights of spiritual realization. The readers will gain in-depth spiritual faith by simply reading this book.

Sanatan Dharma Mandir, Ambala Cantt

Ushaji was born in the city of Ambala on 30th of July, 1925. Her parents Shri Manamohan and Syama brought her up with loving care. Educated in a reputed school, she went on to take up the job of teaching and subsequently became principal of Sanatan Dharma School in the city. But these felicities did not bind her down to Ambala. Right from the start she intensely felt as if she belonged to Vrindavana and she was born elsewhere as a matter of chance.

In the course of passionately being drawn to Vrindavan an interesting incident took place on 30th July 1954, on her thirtieth birthday. While she was pondering over the meaning of nila parivestita, a saintly figure dropped in all of a sudden, uttering jaya jaya radhika madhava, creating a peculiar vibration in the room. On being asked the siddha mystically replied that he was Charan Sakha (friend of the feet) and that he lived at Kusuma Sarovara in Vraja where Uddhava also lived. It was by the bidding of Lord Krishna that he had come to Ambala.

Shri Vrindavan

He narrated various lilas or divine plays of Lord Krishna and kept them spell-bound. He visited Ushaji's house for years and his mystic revelations had a tremendous impact on her. Deciding to leave for her chosen destination Vrindavan permanently on 17th November,1959, Ushaji left behind her parents, friends, students institution and job. She soon became a paradigm of the seeker for ultimate reality.

We will be coming out with the English version of 'Braj Vaibhab Ki Apoorv Shri Bhaktimati Usha Bahenji (Poojya Bobo)' on this site. Her seva to Thakurji or the Lord's svarupa makes her assume a particular relationship with the Lord. She attends selflessly without expectation of rewards to the needs of Thakurji, the living presence of Lord Krishna, and develops an all-consuming intimacy with Him soon enough.

Shri Bobo ji's Yugal Sarkar

 Her devotional practices require the devotee to savour the shringara rasa of Radha by smarana, a concentrated internal practice of imaginative recollection, by living through the countless legends of the playful dalliance of Radha and Krishna. For both the bhakta and the rasika, madhurya is the key to understanding and celebrating the love of Radha and Krishna and in so doing get a glimpse of one's transcendent self. As madhurya translates into ananda comes the realization that everyone is ultimately a nayika searching for Krishna and worshippers come to find the god within themselves.

Chapter 1: Where Bhakti Dances Joyfully (Shri Balkrishna Das ji Maharaj ji's Punya Tithi:24th May,2026)

Shri Balkrishna Das ji Maharaj 

Karnataka
 

'utpanna dravide saham vridhi karnatake gata  |'

'Born in the Dravidian region, bhakti (religious devotion) evolved particularly in Karnataka. 'This is precisely what Bhakti Devi [1]confirms in her above-mentioned statement.

 Vrindavan Dham

'vrindavanam  punah   prapya   naveenev   surupinee  |

jataham yuvatee samyak presthroopa tu sampratam  | '

'Only on coming to the sacred dham of Vrindavan, bhakti evolved to perfection. Here alone it performed its ecstatic and blissful dance of yore and became resplendent in the form of a beautiful beloved, blossoming in the prime of her youth.'

 'dhanyam vrindavanam tain bhaktirnrityati yatra ch  | '

'Blessed is the land of Vrindavan where bhakti is in full bloom.

The life story of our protagonist Shri Balkrishna Dasji Maharaj seems to be a shading of this history of religious devotion. He was born in Karnataka but his bhakti sadhana reached its acme in the holy dham of Vrindavan. It is here alone that he saw the full manifestation of his beloved Lord Krishna and intoxicated by love, his heart constantly danced in ecstasy.

'shuchinam shrimatam gehe ' 

'In the home of illustrious, pious personages' (Bhagavad Gita, chapter 6, shloka 41) the story of piety-centric life is spun out further.'

 

 Kulasekhara Alwar

Sampat Kumar (Shri Balkrishna Das ji Maharaj) was born as a descendant of the well-known saintly ruler [2]Kulasekhara Alwar of the Kerala region. Kulasekhara is considered to be an incarnation of Kaustabh Mani, the Lord's breast gem. He was so deeply engrossed in religious devotion that he was unable to perform his princely duties. Hence Kulasekhara relinquished his kingdom and spent his entire life in devotional practices. Living in Shrirangam he composed the 'Mukunda Mala Stotra' which is the garland of Vaishnavas, even today. 

 His entreaty was:

Mukunda Mala Stotra

'mukunda murdhna pranipatya yache

bhavantame kantmiyantamartham  |

avismritistvccharanarvinde

bhave bhave maestu bhavatprasadat  || 3||'

' O Lord Mukunda! I bow down my head to Your Lordship and respectfully ask You to fulfill this one desire of mine that in each of my future births I will, by Your Lordship's mercy, always remember and never forget Your lotus feet. '

Shri Ramanujacharya

Sampat Kumar's family settled down in Srirangam itself. When Shri Ramanujacharya re-established the 'Pancharatra Sampradaya' and Vishishtadvaita philosophy in the latter half of the eleventh century and first half of the twelfth this family was also initiated by him. However, pained over the persecution of Vaishnavas by Kulothunga, the then Chola Emperor, Shri Ramanujacharya left Shrirangam and took abode at a site near Mysore in Karnataka. 

 

Melkote-Thiru Narayanpuram

There, he built the grand temple of Shrirangam which later on became famous as Melkote and he named the site 'Thiru Narayanpuram.' The Kulashekhara family also left Shrirangam along with Shri Ramanujacharya and accompanied him to ThiruNarayanpuram-Melkote. Shri Maharajji was born in this very ThiruNarayanpuram-Melkote. His family was related to Vyanktadri Amanaya initiated by Shri Ramanujacharya, and Tirupati Balaji was their isht dev or family deity.

Shriman Mahaprabhu Chaitanya Dev

Sampat Kumar's maternal ancestry was adorned by Shri Gopal Bhatt Rangacharya, a famed Acharya in the Gaudiya Sampradya. He was a contemporary of Shriman Mahaprabhu Chitanaya Dev. In his sojourn of the south, Mahaprabhu had spent the catur-masya at his father Shri Venkat Bhatt's[3] house. An account of this episode is given in 'Shri Chaitanya Charitamrita.'

Shri Gopal Bhatt

During this period Shri Venkat Bhatt surrendered his son Shri Gopal Bhatt, at the

feet of Shri Mahaprabhu:

aaj  diwas  kee  bhiksha  main  yeh  sadar arpit  ||

Shriman Mahaprabhu showered incomparable grace on that eight-year old child and initiated him as his disciple.

The Gopal Mantra 

By giving him the Gopal Mantra, Mahaprabhu bestowed great blessings on him:

yeh vidhan mahan kare jag ka kalyan  ||13||

and

tumse honge prakat sarva vaishnav sidhhant  |

na ras nirupann pratipadan mein hongein bhraant  ||23||

Thakur Radha Raman ji

Ultimately Shri Gopal Bhatt came to Shridham Vrindavan where the idol of Lord Krishna emerged from the Shaligram shila he worshipped. Ever since it is being adoringly propitiated in the well-known Shri Radha Raman Mandir. Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu sent the gifts of his asana and the cord of his kopeen for Shri Gopal Bhatt.

Gopis in Seva Kunj

Shri Jatavallabh Aprameya Annacharya who had sakshat darshan and actually beheld the gopikas in Seva Kunj of Vrindavan was born into this very family. Thus the sacred river of religious devotion gushed forth joyously in both Maharajji's paternal and maternal ancestries.

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[1]    Bhakti Devi: goddess of religious devotion

[2]    Kulusekhara Alwar: Kulasekhara is one of the twelve Tamil azhwar saints of South India, who are known for their affiliation to the Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism.

[3]    Shri Venkat Bhatt: A very pure hearted Brahman named Venkata Bhatt humbly begged Mahaprabhu to come to his home. Lord Chaitanya accepted his invitation. When he came to Venkata Bhatt’s house, Venkata Bhatt washed his lotus feet and then he drank the caranamrita and distributed it to all of his family members. With sincere love he invited Lord Chaitanya to remain in his house for the four months of catur-masya.