Biography of Shri Govindsharan Devacharya

Shri Govindsharan Devacharya Ji Maharaj was a well-respected Acharya of Jagadguru Shri Nimbarkacharya Peeth (Salemabad, Kishangarh). His erudition and devotional practices are evident from his compositions.

It is difficult to find the life history, birthplace, parents, etc. of his childhood. In fact, whether Acharya or Mahant or the renounced saints, the initial life history of all the saints often remains unknown. Because they themselves do not introduce themselves. There is also such a law for them:

For this reason, the early life of Shri Govindsharan Devacharya is not known. Yes! It is so sure that his spiritual master's master Shri Vrindavandevacharya Ji and his disciple Shri Sarveshwar Sharandevacharya Ji and his disciple Shri Brajrajsharandevacharya Ji had appeared in the family of Gaud Brahmana in the clan of Shri Bhavani Ramji, a resident of a village named Sarai Shurpura under Jaipur division. The birthplace of Shri Goposhvarsharandevacharyaji and Shrighanshyamsharandevacharyaji is Hasteda village. There are also two temples of the sect, which are considered to be well-known. Among them, the big temple is under Shri Mahant Ji of Kishangarh Rainwale, and the smaller temple is under Mahant Shri Badridas Ji of Hasteda.

Shri Govind Devacharya Ji and Shri Govindsharandevacharya Ji also appeared in the Gaud Brahmana clan.

Shri Govindsharandevacharya had received mantra initiation from Shri Govind Devacharya Ji. In 1757, at the beginning of a dark fortnight in the month of Kartik (Oct-Nov), Acharya Shri Govinddevacharya left his body and entered the divine realm. Then Shri Govindsharandevacharya Ji sat on the throne. He was a very talented, sage, and learned poet. The spectators were mesmerized just by the darshan of him. Kings, Maharajas, and queens used to have a longing for his darshan. This is evident from the letters sent by him.

In the month of Ashadh (June-July) in 1758, Jodhpur King Maharaja Singhji's queen Kachhbaiji reached Acharyapeeth (Salemabad) on the occasion of Rath Yatra festival to visit Shri Govindsharandevacharya Ji via Rupnagar. She was very pleased to see him. Similarly, other kings had great faith in him. This is the reason that during his period, Acharya Peeth progressed very much. It is known from the letters that in the presence of his spiritual master, he had taken all the management and responsibilities on his shoulders, so the king and the people all started addressing him 'Shriji' Maharaj.

In 1766, a particularly remarkable incident related to Shri Govindsharandevacharya had happened. Shri Jayadev, the poet's worshipful deity, Shrimadhav Ji used to reside at  Radha Kund. Although that place (Bhajan place of ShriNivasacharya Ji) belonged to Acharya Peeth, yet it was natural for the priests of Radhakund to have a special affection for Shrimadhav because if the pilgrims reached there for darshan, the priests would get special benefits. But Shrimadhavji's Leela (pastime) could not be understood, he ordered Shri Govindsharandevacharya Ji in a dream, "Now you take me to Acharya Peeth Salemabad." Shri Govindsharandevacharya Ji prayed "Lord! It is a desert, there are thorny trees, you will only get grams, barley, and millet to eat." Lord said, "I will accept that." Acharya Shri again asked  "How will you come" then Shrimadhavji said, "take me on your chariot."

Thus, after receiving the permission of the Lord, when Shrimadhav Ji was seated in his chariot and departed, the residents of Radhakund agitated, tried to stop him and chased, but the chariot of Lord Shrimadhav reached Bharatpur. The King of Bharatpur welcomed Lord Shri Madhav Ji and served him. After knowing the whole situation, the King declared that "Shrimadhavji had come to Braj on His own wish, He fulfilled the wishes of the devotees by residing on Shri Radhakund according to His wish, now He wants to shower his grace on the devotees of Rajasthan, if you people do not believe, then all the agitators should pull the chariot and take him back to Radha Kund."

On hearing this decision, all the people of Braj became happy and started pulling the chariot, everyone applied as much strength as they could, but the chariot did not move even an inch from its place, then Shri Govindsharan Devacharya Ji prayed to the Lord and pulled the chariot and the chariot moved. The spectators were surprised, hailed the glories of the Lord, and offered flowers. That chariot, ceremonially reached Acharya Peeth, Salemabad and on the 10th day in the month of Jyeshtha (May-June), Shrimadhavji was honored and installed in Salemabad with great enthusiasm. On the second day, Maharaja Sardar Singhji reached Rupnagar for darshan. He was very pleased to see Shrimadhavji's beautiful form and donated 224 bighas of land for the service of the Lord. He offered gold coins, Shawl and money, etc. to Shri Govindsharan Devacharya Ji. Acharya Shri gave Prasad, scarf, and brocade of the Lord, etc. to him.

Acharya Peeth Salemabad had a special contribution in solving and pacifying whenever a complex problem had come up in the Royal family of Kishangarh. In 1774, the younger brother of Maharaja Bahadur Singhji, Shri Veer Singh Ji (born from Vrajkumariji), had two sons named Amar Singhji and Suratsinhji. He gave Karkedi to the elder son and Ralavta to his younger son as kingdoms. Due to some reason they had some rift with Maharaj Kumar Virad Singhji. On the full moon day of Vaishakh (April-May) of 1774, all these reached Acharya Peeth Salemabad, (it is considered a special pilgrimage near Kishangarh), bathed in Shri Sarveshwar Kund, had darshan of Shri Radha Madhavji and Acharya Shri Govindsharan Devacharya Ji. Everyone sat on the ground and took the prasad of Lord Shri Sarveshwar. Thereafter a meeting was held in front of Acharya Shri. Shri Govindsharandevacharya Ji understood the problem and got them resolved and made them love each other.

On the 10th day of the bright fortnight in the month of Jyeshtha (May-June) in 1771, Maharaja Kumar Virad Singhji's daughter princess Akhaikumari got married to Jaipur King Prithvi Singhji. When Prithvi Singhji died in 1778, then Akhaikumari was pregnant for 6-7 months. Therefore, younger brother Pratap Singhji was placed on the throne of Jaipur state. After 3-4 months, Akhaikumari delivered a son, he was named Mansingh. When he was two and a half years old, the prince was staying in Kishangarh. On the 4th day of the bright fortnight in the month of Ashwin (Sept-Oct) in 1781, Acharya Shri Govindsharan Devacharyaji Maharaj was staying in Kishangarh itself. The Royal Family with the prince came to the Lotus Feet of Shri Govindsharan Devacharya Ji and Acharya initiated Man Singhji in the Nimbark sect. In the same year Shri Govindsharan Devacharya Ji Maharaj came to Vrindavan. Maharaj Kumar Virad Singhji of Kishangarh was with him. Ganga and Kamodarai got a hallway constructed at Viharghat and presented it to Acharya Shri on the same occasion.

On the death of King Bahadur Singhji of Kishangarh on the 3rd day of the bright fortnight in the month of Phalgun (Feb-March) in 1780, his son Virad Singhji ascended the throne, then one hundred and seven princely states offered Shawl, turban to him, 18 religious places were also invited to bless the new King. First of all, Acharya Peeth of Salemabad came and blessed the new King by offering him Shawls, turban, etc. After that, other religious Acharyas came and blessed him. This proves that the Acharyapeeth of Salemabad has the highest respect in the state of Kishangarh. 

Queen Ratankumari Ji of Maharaja Virad Singhji was the disciple of Shri Govindsharan Devacharyaji, she often used to stay in Pushkar. On her behalf, as per the orders of Acharya Shri, Shri Parashuram dwara always used to provide food and clothes to the poor. On the 10th day of the dark fortnight in the month of Kartik (Oct-Nov) in 1782, Queen Ratankumari Ji while residing in Pushkar left her body and attained Lord's abode. When she lived in Kishangarh Fort, She used to engage in the worship of Shri Radha Mohan Ji.

Shri Govindsharandevacharya Ji was indeed a great majestic Acharya. He has done remarkable service to Sanatan Dharma. He used to travel in all the provinces of India for the purpose of preaching devotional practices to the mass. The title "Shriji" of the Acharyas of Salemabad has also started since his time. The ancient letters state that the Kings used to call "Shri Swamiji" and "Shri Mahaprabhuji" to the Acharyas before Shri Govindsharan Devacharya Ji. The reason for calling "ShriJi" to Shri Govindsharan Devacharya Ji is an incident -

"When the Queens used to come to see Lord Shri Sarveshwar, then no other person stayed there except a priest. Similarly, when they come for the darshan of Acharya Shri, only Acharya Shri stays there. Whenever Acharya Shri came to the palaces of Queens, it was the same practice. The attendants used to stay outside at the gate. The queens and their female attendants used to offer prayers to Acharya Shri and Acharya Shri used to give them initiation and sermon. Once, when Shri Govindsharandevacharya Ji Maharaj was preaching to the queens by sitting in the palaces of the king of Jaipur, then some haters boiled the king of Jaipur about Acharya. To take the test, the king of Jaipur suddenly went to the inner palace of the Queen without informing anyone. He saw Acharya Shri seated on the throne. Suddenly the king felt as if Vrishabhanu Nandini Shri Radhaji was seated on the throne. The king fell at the feet of Acharya and apologized. Since then the word "Shriji'' has been widely publicized.

Although Shri Nimbarkacharya and even before him the Acharyas have been considered as the form of the Sakhi (friends) of Shri Radha, this relation is clearly mentioned in Mahavani, etc. But Shri Govind Sharandevacharya Ji proved this by showing his eternal form to the King. The word "Sharan", which is attached to the names of Acharyas, has also become popular since his time. Before Shri Govind Sharandevacharya Ji, the word "Dev" was used only.

Once a devotee made special offerings to Lord Sri Sarveshwara. After the Rajbhog aarti of the Lord, when a huge crowd of saints and devotees sat and all the devotees started taking prasad, there came a strange sound of breaking the roof of the building and everyone could see it. Seeing that many strips of the roof of the building started breaking, all the saints and devotees sitting on the ground panicked. Seeing this, Shri Govindsharan Devacharya Ji consoled and said to all that do not be afraid, nothing will happen to anyone. At the same time, remembering Lord Shri Sarveshwar, Acharya Shri touched his stick to the ceiling and said to everyone that "you people take the prasad of the Lord peacefully. The building will collapse only after you have eaten all the prasad." The same thing happened, when saints got up, Acharya Shri removed his stick and came out of there and at that very moment that huge building collapsed and was completely destroyed. Seeing the miraculous scene of Acharya Shri preventing the collapse of such a huge building, all the saints and devotees were very amazed and were astonished by his wonderful influence. The saints asked Acharya Shri to know the reason behind the sudden collapse of the building. Acharya Shri said that "Look, the food of the devotee who has offered this to the Lord today was not completely pure, that is why this sudden incident happened."

Although the disciples of Shri Govindsharan Devacharya were numerous. The chief among the renowned disciples was Shri Sarveshwarsharan Devacharya, besides him, there were many others. Among the literary poets, there was also Shri Kishoridasji. In the book of 1742, his following-verses are mentioned -

Charan Dasji was a poet and disciple of Shri Govindsharan Devacharya Ji. In the month of Magh (Jan-Feb) in 1763, he composed "Guru Paddhati". He mentioned in it the Acharya tradition till Shri Govindsharan Devacharya. It is written in the end :

The additional disciple was Sri Radhikadas Ji, who was a good writer and scholar of Sanskrit and Hindi. He had copied the original manuscripts of many Sanskrit texts like Stav-Smarani etc. in 1798. Before that, he had copied the manuscripts of Leelavinshati, etc., and many Hindi texts. The composition of Shri Govindsharan Devacharya Ji is also mentioned in it.

One of the disciples of Shri Govindsharan Devacharya was Baba Alakhram, who supported Vaishnavas in defeating the Shaivites. His Akhara (place) is still present at the Vishnu Tirth in Haridwar.

Shri Govind Sharandevacharya Ji has composed many verses, which are compiled in "Shri Govindsharan Devacharya Ji ki Vani". The captivating words of the fine verses of this book are very attractive and full of ornamentation, the depiction of the beautiful pastimes of Yugal Kishor Shri Shyamashyam is very emotional and the most beautiful, the mere observation of which makes the heart swell. His intense scholarship and accomplishments are well known.

In this way, after presiding for 27 years, in the month of Chaitra (April) in 1784, Shri Govind Sharandevacharya Ji left his body and entered the Nikunj pastimes of Shri Radha Krishn. His successor, Shri Sarveshwarsharan Devacharyaji, sat on the throne of Acharya. Shri Govind Sharandevacharya Ji's special festival was held after 8 years in the month of Jyeshtha (May-June) in 1792. On that occasion, Mahants of Galta and Balanand Ji from Jaipur and Mahant Venidas Ji of Revasa, Maharaja Pratap Singhji of Kishangarh, etc. were present.