Rajasthan News Desk!!! Friends, welcome to this new video of Rajasthan, today we will talk about Rajasthan’s folk deity and social reformer Baba Ramdev, he is also considered an incarnation of Lord Krishna. On one hand, while the Hindu society worships him by the name of Baba Ramdev, on the other hand, in the Muslim society, he is worshiped by the name of Ram Sa Pir.
He is worshiped in every house of Rajasthan and his praises are sung in every village. This is the same Ramdev Baba who had given his niece in dowry. This is the same Ramdev Baba who freed Pokaran from a dangerous demon. Every year a fair is organized in his name which is known as Kumbh of Marwar and pedestrians from every part of Rajasthan come to participate in this fair, so let us know the amazing story of Ramdevji Maharaj becoming Baba Ramdev.
Baba Ramdev Pir was born in Vikram Sawant 1409 on the day of Bhado Shukla Paksha Dooj in a place called Runicha near the famous village named Pokaran in western Rajasthan. His father was Ajmal ji Tanwar, a Rajput of Tanwar dynasty and ruler of Runicha and his mother’s name was Mainade. There is a popular story about the birth of Baba Ramdev that Pokhran and its surrounding areas were ruled by his father Ajmal Ji Maharaj. Maharaj Ajmal ji was a child at that time due to which he was very sad. Apart from this, the terror of a demon named Bhairav was spread in Pokhran area. Maharaj Ajmal ji was failing to protect his people from the demon Bhairav.
King Ajmal ji used to do charity for the sake of having a son, feed food to saints, perform yagya and worship Dwarkanath daily. In this way, King Ajmal ji reached Dwarka thinking of a way to kill the demon Bhairav. Where Ajmal ji saw God in person, seeing tears in the eyes of the king, God wiped the tears from his grandfather and said, O devotee king, don’t cry, I know all your sorrow. I am very happy to see your devotion, ask what you want, I will fulfill your every wish. Pleased with the infinite grace of God, Maharaj said, O Lord, if you are pleased with my devotion, then I want a son like you, that is, you will have to come to my house as a son and re-establish the religion by killing the demon Bhairav.
Then Lord Dwarkanath said, O devotee! Go, I give you a boon that the name of your first son will be Viramdev. Then Ajmal ji said, O God, what is small and what is big in a son, then God said that I myself will come to your house as the second son. Ajmal ji said, O Lord, if you come to my house, how will we know that God has come to my house, then Dwarkanath said that on the night I come to my house, bells will automatically start ringing in all the temples of your kingdom, in the palace. Whatever water there is will turn into milk and Kumkum’s feet will be visible from the main gate to the place of birth and my Akashvani will also be heard and I will get fame in the name of Avatar.
The worldly and supernatural miracles and powers of Ramdev ji’s birth are widely mentioned in his hymns, folk songs and folktales. If later, Baba Ramdev ji’s miracles would come to be known by his devotees in the name of pamphlets. In Ramdev ji’s folk songs and stories, mentions of killing of demon Bhairav, horse riding, Lakkhi Banjare’s parcha, Panchon Peer’s parcha, removing Netalde’s disability, etc. are clearly mentioned. Ramdevji made efforts to remove untouchability, caste discrimination prevalent in the then society and for the upliftment of women and Dalits. By accepting Netalde, the crippled daughter of Raja Dalpat Sodha of Amar Kot, as his wife, she presented an ideal to the society. He inspired the Dalits to become self-reliant and live with dignity, and Baba Ramdev also opposed hypocrisy and ostentation. He gave easy and simple explanations of subjects like Sagun-Nirgun, Advaita, Vedanta, Bhakti, Gyan Yoga, Karma Yoga, even today Baba’s words are sung as “Harjas”.
According to popular folk tales, Baba Ramdev, in his childhood days, while drinking milk in his mother’s lap, kept down a pot of boiling milk from the stove, made a cloth horse fly into the sky, and brought a selfish tailor back to life after he died of snakebite. etc. have performed many miracles. As Baba Ramdevji was entering adolescence, discussions about his being a divine man were spreading far and wide. According to the popular story, Krishnavatar Baba Ramdev ji had incarnated on earth only to eradicate the terror of demon Bhairav.
One day Baba Ramdev ji was playing with the ball with his friends, while playing, he threw the ball so far that all the friends expressed their inability to bring the ball and said that you will have to bring the ball, then Baba Ramdev ji will throw the ball. On the pretext of bringing him, he came to Sathalmer situated on the valley of present-day Pokaran, but his main objective was to free the people from the atrocities of the demon Bhairav. Seeing the child form of Baba Ramdev ji alone on a deserted hill, Balinath ji, sitting there smoking, said, “Child, where have you come from, go back from where you came, here at night the demon Bhairav will come and eat you.” . Then when Baba Ramdev ji requested to stay there at night, Balinath ji covered him with an old rag in his hut and asked the child Ramdev to sleep quietly.
At midnight the demon Bhairav came there and said to Balinath ji that there is a human being near you, I can smell a human being, then Balinath ji said to Bhairav that you have not left even a single bird within twelve miles of here. Where did man come from? Due to Guru Balinath’s order to sleep quietly, Baba Ramdev said nothing, but shook the Guddi with his foot, then Bhairav’s eyes fell on the Guddi and he started pulling the Guddi. But due to Baba’s miracle, Guddi started growing like Draupadi’s rag, then Balinath ji Maharaj thought that this is not an ordinary child, definitely a divine child, while pulling Guddi, the demon Bhairav started panting and running away, then Baba Ramdev ji got up and told Balinathji. Taking orders from the Maharaja, he killed the demon Bairava and freed the people from his terror.
After killing the demon Bhairav, Baba Ramdevji dug a well towards the north from the cave of the demon Bhairav and settled Runicha village. The news of Baba Ramdevji’s miracles started spreading far and wide like sunlight. At that time, fanaticism was also at its peak due to the control of the Mughal Empire over India. According to legend, five Pirs from Mecca came to test Ramdev’s powers. Ramdevji welcomed him and requested him to have food. The Pirs refused and said that they eat food only in their personal utensils, which are currently in Mecca. Ramdev smiled at this and told them to see their utensils coming and when the Peers saw, their utensils were coming flying from Mecca. Satisfied with the abilities and powers of Ramdevji, the Peers saluted him and named him Ram Sa Peer. Impressed by the powers of Ramdev, the five Peers decided to stay with him. Even today the tombs of the five Pirs are situated near the Samadhi of Ramdev. Baba Ramdevji is also worshiped by Muslims and Muslims respect him by the name of Ramsa Pir or Ramshah Pir.
Baba Ramdev ji was married to Naitalde, daughter of Thakur Dal ji Sodh of Amar Kot in Samvat 1426. Ramdevji had two sons, whose names were Sadhoji and Devoji. Runicha well and a small Ramdev temple built 2 kilometers east of Ramdevra temple are also worth seeing. It is said that when Queen Netalde felt thirsty, Ramdev ji broke the underworld at this place with the tip of a spear and took out water and since then this place came to be known as “Ranisa’s well”. Which with time got corrupted and got transformed into “Runicha Kuan”.
Ramdev believed in equality of all human beings, whether high or low, rich or poor. He helped the Dalits by giving them fruits as per their wishes. He is often depicted riding a horse. His followers are spread from Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Mumbai to Sindh. His temples are located in India’s Bhilwara, Masuria Hills, Jodhpur, Biratiya, Beawar, Surtakheda, Chittorgarh and Chhota Ramdevra in Gujarat. Baba Ramdev celebrated Bhadrapada Shukla Ekadashi Vis. In 1442, Jiva Samadhi was taken in its place.
