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Birth of Ghanshyam Maharaj

 

Ramanand Swami is the founder of Uddhav Sampraday and is the incarnation of Uddhavji. Uddhavji is on the right of Narayan Muni in the Nar Narayan Dev murti at Cardiff temple. He was born on Shravan Vedh 8 Samvat 1795, named Ramsharma. His father's name was Ajaysharma and his mother's Sumatidevi. 

Ramsharma had left home in search of god and on his travels he met Aatmanand Swami. Ramsharma learnt divine words from Aatmanand Swami who initiated him and eventually went on to give him his name, Ramanand Swami. Ramanand Swami's main aim was to visually and mentally have darshan of Bhagwan, but Aatmanand Swami insisted that god could not be seen, in other words, that god has no shape or Nirakar. This was something that Ramanand Swami could not accept. He knew that Bhagwan had shape and so he decided to leave. Ramanand Swami moved on and started to preach, and the day eventually came when he had Darshan of Bhagwan. From there on he founded the Uddhav Sampraday that we follow today. 

After Dharmadev and Bhaktimata got married, they went to live in Chhapaiya. On Samvat 1818 their first son Rampratap, was born. In Chhapaiya they faced many difficulties so they moved to Ayodhya. Dharmadev and Bhaktimata went on a pilgrimage and at a place called Prayag Shetra, they met Ramanand Swami. Dharmadev and Bhaktimata became his disciples and received guru mantra. After the pilgrimage Dharmadev and Bhaktimata returned to Ayodhya and soon and soon went back to Chhapaiya. 

It was a dark beautiful night on Samvat 1837 Chaitra Shud Navmi. It was 10:10 P.M. and on this auspicious moment of time no other normal child was born but Lord Supreme the King of all Gods had taken birth. He was born in the house of Bhaktimata and Dharmadev in Chappaiya, a village in Northern India. 

At this moment of time, Bhaktidevi was sound asleep. She suddenly woke up and She saw a child next to her. All around the child was a bright light. Bhaktimata's eyes were dazzled. After some time, she saw the Lord in midst of the rays of light. He had worn fine golden clothes, had a silver flute in his hands, and his head was dressed with a crown of feathers from a peacock. Bhaktidevi was very surprised by having such a divine vision of the beloved God. With heartily emotions, Bhaktimata said, ""Lord Shri Krishna himself took birth as my son,"" knowing this He gave her an immeasurable pleasure. 

Hearing her praises, Ghanshyam Maharaj happily said, ""Mother, now you do not need to worry. When the Rushis and you had remembered me when the wicked people had bothered you and you had done Tup (Meditation) in Vrindavan, I had given my darshan to you and had promised you to be born as your son."" 

On seeing the bright lights, Dharmadev arrived. When he saw Lord Shri Krishna as a child in his house, he remembered the promise God had given him in Vrindavan. He thought, ""Now the end of miseries is very near and soon there will be happiness everywhere."" 

Devs and Devis including Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva came from Devlok to have darshan of Ghanshyam Maharaj. All the Devs and Devis were showering the home of Dharmadev and Bhaktimata with fresh fragrant and colourful petals. There was a sense of peace and purity in the air, broken only by the sweet singing of the birds, whilst the petals gently continued to carpet the ground. Everyone brought presents for Bhaktimata and Dharmadev. People from surrounding villages came to play dance, and they all sang joyfully: 

""Dharma ghera Anand bhayo, Jay bolo Ghanshyam ki..... Chapaiya me Lal bhayo, Jay bolo Ghanshyam ki..... Bhakta ke Bhagwan bhayo, Jay bolo Ghanshyam ki..... Hathi Ghoda Palkhi, Jay bolo Ghanshyam ki....."""