Sant Ganga Dass Ji Maharaj (1823-1913) was a great scholar and famous saint of his time. The number of his disciples was also considerable. After traveling to all the religious places of India, he finally started living in Garhmukteshwar, District-Ghaziabad. He also got a lot of fame as a great philosopher, passionate devotee, sadness Mahatma and an epic poet. Many of his disciples like Chetram, Baluram, Dayaram, Motiram, Mohanlal etc used to recite his verses to the people.
Early Life –
Saint ji was born in 1880 Vikram Samvat, accordingly on 14 February 1823 in Jat family of Munder gotra on Basant Panchami in Rasulpur Bahalolpur village near Babugarh Cantonment situated on Delhi Moradabad road. This place is located two km south west of the station named ‘Kuchesar Road’ of Delhi Moradabad railway line. Even today this village is called Mahatma’s village. The family of Sant Ganga Das is currently settled here. The forefathers of Sant ji had long ago migrated from Mandla Namak place of Amritsar district of Punjab and started living in Meerut Mandal. 15 generations of his family have passed after coming to Meerut Mandal.
The name of the brother-in-law of Saint Ganga Das was Gangabakhsh, who became Ganga Das after taking retirement. His family status was very elite. At that time this family had 600 acres of land. In his childhood, the boy Ganga Das used to be very neat and clean and started crying when he touched a little bit of soil. Because of this habit, people used to call him Bhagatji sarcastically. Who knew that this child would one day become a great Mahatma.
The parents of child Ganga Das passed away in his childhood. At the age of 12, he went out in search of a good teacher. Saint Baba Vishnudas Udasin of Kuti of Sedepur district Bulandshahr made him his disciple after seeing his disinterested attitude.
A Wonder Personality –
Sant Ganga Das ji stayed for a few days in Seth Harlal’s haveli in village Lalane. In those days, the notorious bandit Jhanda Gujar had robbed Seth’s house. On the intervention of Sant Ganga Das, Jhanda Gujar returned Lalaji’s ornaments and apologized by touching the feet of Sant ji. Seth Kashi Ram did not have any child, the talk of getting a child from the service of Saint Ganga Das is also very popular.
Saint Ganga Das ji stayed in Kashi for 20 years and studied Vedanta, Vyakaran, Gita, Mahabharata, Ramayana, Ramcharit Manas, Advaita Kaustum and Muktavali etc. philosophical texts. Saint ji had also toured in Moradabad district, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, and Rajasthan. He lived in Fatapur village near Buxar for 19 years and taught Hindi and Sanskrit grammar to Chaudhary Rakam Singh and Pandit Chiranjeev Lal respectively. Many of his disciples used to live here, in which a disciple named Jiakaur was also initiated here. In the evening, the saint used to sit on the well in the garden outside the village and play the flute. It is said that these flutes used to play so sweetly that huge crowds and hundreds of peacocks used to gather there.
After returning from Kashi, he stayed in his village for a long time. Here these sages used to live in separate huts in disguise. In the year 1917, he used to meet the nearby saints on his horse. When the saint reached Delhi on his horse to see the Delhi court, the managers, impressed by this grand speech, started making him sit on the front chairs considering him as the king of a princely state. But Mahatma ji informed that he is a saint. He lived in Garhmukteshwar for the last 25-26 years of his life. He used to set up a tomb. Once he got his disciple Dayaram to lock the Kotri and came out after a month. His fame spread a lot due to this incident. His height was tall and vigorous. His face used to burn with redness. Bhakt ji remained celibate for life.
1857 Revolution –
Saint Ganga Das was active when the revolution of 1857 was going on in the country. Ganga Das’s poetry was not discovered before, so it is not clear what was his role in the first freedom movement, but it is clear from his poetry that there is no match for his contribution in public awareness. Jats have contributed the most in the first freedom struggle. The bugle of the revolution of 1857 rang from Meerut region itself which is the work place of Sant Ganga Das and also Jat dominated.
In the context of Ganga das, Bhale Ram Beniwal has described an incident. There was a time when Rani Jhansi was injured in the war. Most of his army was killed. The group of girls that was there to protect the queen had 90 percent Jat girls. When the queen realized that the end time had come and she would not live long, she had taken a promise from all the heroines and some of her remaining soldiers that the dirty hands of white British should not touch my dead body. By that time the rainy season had started. Dry woods were not available in the forests. The heroines were carrying the dead body of the queen. At the same time, he found Saint Ganga Das ji in the forest, who was doing penance in his hut. The heroines told the problem that the British are following us and we are not getting dry wood for the cremation of Rani Jhansi. Saint Gangadas ji told Tapak that this is not a difficult task. You bring the queen’s dead body here, my hut’s wood and grass are dry. The queen’s funeral pyre was made from the same hut and the saint performed the last rites of the queen with Vedic mantras. By the time the British soldiers reached there, the dead body of the queen had been burnt to ashes.
Lakshmibai’s Agni Sanskar-
On May 10, 1857, the military mutiny in Meerut and on the second day, the siege of Delhi on May 11, 1857, gave rise to the sound of the conch shell of the country’s first freedom struggle, whose echo crossed the boundaries of the country’s time for the country’s independence. It echoed in every small and big movement launched. Even today its memory stirs up every Indian. Trying to achieve something on the 150th year of 1857, the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan, on 10th May 2008 at 18.57 i.e. 6.57 minutes past the Veerangana Lakshmi Bai’s Samadhi in Gwalior But in order to keep the memory of the martyrs intact, not only lit the Akhand Jyoti, but also repeated this ancient experiment of communication by giving lotus bread to regional Panch-Sarpanchs, which was the secret message of Kranti Ghosh in 1857. From the point of view of location selection, perhaps this was the most suitable place in the state which has been a witness to history. Where 376 sadhus of Gangadas Ashram had sacrificed their lives while fighting with the Firangi army to save the heroic Lakshmibai and hundreds were injured and victim of the oppression of the British army, despite this the brave sadhus did not even the body of Maharani Laxmibai in the hands of the British. Lakshmibai was allowed to come and by setting fire to the hay bales of the big school, Lakshmibai was cremated. [8] The Gwalior Fort and the hills to the south-west protect the township of Gwalior and Lashkar Nagar. In the north-east, the open direction of Murar is protected by a rivulet named Son-Rekha, which surrounds Lashkar and goes towards Murar. On the north side of the Sonrekha drain, there was a hermitage of Gangadas Ashram, a little away from the fort, towards the south end.
Last time
According to Samvat 1970, Sant Ganga Das left his body at 6 am on Bhadrapada Krishna Ashtami in 1913. Before leaving his life on the day of Janmashtami, he ordered his family members to let my dead body flow in the Ganges, do not take any of my things home from this place because it is all charity. He had given this order while lying down. Then asked everyone to go out from there. After everyone went out, he quickly got up and sat down. Planted Padmasan and became Brahmalin. Now the place where Mahatma ji’s ashram was was donated by Udasi Sadhu Buddha Singh to Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia College.
Sant Gangadas died in 1913 at the age of 90. His mausoleum is built in Chopla on the Garhmukteshwar road near Rasulpur village.
Compositions of Saint Gangadas –
There are about 50 compositions of Mahakavi Gangadas, out of which 45 have been received. Main to Main – Brief Description of Main – Handwritten Manuscript – Purna Bhakta Among them, Narsi Bhakta, Dhruv Bhakta, Nirguna Padavali, Krishna Janma, Shravan Kumar, Nala Purana, Ram Katha, Nag Leela, Sudama Charitra, Mahabharata Pada, Bali K Pad Rukmani Mangal, Prahlad Bhakta, Chandravati Nasiket, Parvati Mangal, Bhramar Geet Manjari, Girls, Pad Harishchandra, Nirgun Lavani, Twelve Points etc.
References :-
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- गंगाबख्श से बने संत-कवि गंगा दास
- भलेराम बेनीवाल:जाट योद्धाओं का इतिहास (Jāt Yodhāon kā Itihāsa) (2008), प्रकाशक – बेनीवाल पुब्लिकेशन , ग्राम – दुपेडी, फफडाना, जिला- करनाल , हरयाणा, p.656
- भलेराम बेनीवाल:जाट योद्धाओं का इतिहास (Jāt Yodhāon kā Itihāsa) (2008), प्रकाशक – बेनीवाल पुब्लिकेशन , ग्राम – दुपेडी, फफडाना, जिला- करनाल , हरयाणा, p.656
- भलेराम बेनीवाल (२००८):जाट योद्धाओं का इतिहास, बेनीवाल पब्लिकेशन, दुपेडी, करनाल, हरयाणा, पृष्ठ ६५६
- भलेराम बेनीवाल (२००८):जाट योद्धाओं का इतिहास, बेनीवाल पब्लिकेशन, दुपेडी, करनाल, हरयाणा, पृष्ठ ६५६
- भलेराम बेनीवाल (२००८):जाट योद्धाओं का इतिहास, बेनीवाल पब्लिकेशन, दुपेडी, करनाल, हरयाणा, पृष्ठ ६५७
- भलेराम बेनीवाल:जाट योद्धाओं का इतिहास (Jāt Yodhāon kā Itihāsa) (2008), प्रकाशक – बेनीवाल पुब्लिकेशन , ग्राम – दुपेडी, फफडाना, जिला- करनाल , हरयाणा, p.657-658
- GWALIOR TIMES आलेख एवं फीचर्स June 27, 2008
- रानी लक्ष्मीबाई: तुलसी साहित्य पब्लिकेशन्स, पृ. १७८