I recently read a book about a great saint known as Rakhadi baba. I saw his picture number of times in our temple (at safilguda) and know that he is a disciple of Sri Nityananda Bhagawan of Ganeshpuri but till recently that was the only thing I knew about him. Then my cousin gave a book about Rakhadi baba to me and the book is fascinating to say the least.
Rakhadi baba was born in a poor family and left his home in his childhood searching for a living. He worked in a hotel for some time and after the pull to search for a guru became strong he went to Sri Nityananda Bhagawan Ashram. When Nityananda asked him what he can do he says “I can fight and I can eat and I can eat to fight and I can fight to eat”. Nityananda gave him the monastic name Omkarananda but he became famous as rakhadi baba because of his habit of smearing ash from the homagundam all over his body. Ash in Hindi is rakh and he became famous as rakhadi baba.
I was fascinated by his single minded devotion to his guru and of course by his appearance. Rakhadi baba stayed till around mid 1970’s at Nimboli near Ganeshpuri and after that he left his ashram and now a days he is considered to be living in somewhere in Himalayas around Himachal Pradesh. There are some people who are blessed with his darshan. (His appearance is remarkable and when I saw the photograph on the book I was completely floored).
When I told my cousin that how great it will be to find a guru like him he said one thing. “It will be easier for You being an Indian to become President of USA than to find a guru like Rakhadi Baba”. Well hoping that I will be able to meet him one day to take his blessings.
I attached some photos of Rakhadi Baba to this blog so people can see how wonderful his appearance is.
