Saint Shri BrahmaChaitanya

Brahmachaitanya (also popularly known as Gondavalekar Maharaj) pronunciation (19 February 1845 – 22 December 1913) was an Indian Hindu saint and spiritual master. He was a devotee of the Hindu deity Rama, and signed his name as "Brahmachaitanya Ramdasi". He was a disciple of Tukamai. He advocated for japa meditation through recitation of the Trayodaśakṣarī mantra (Sanskrit: त्रयोदशाक्षरी मंत्र, lit. '13-alphabet mantra in Devanagari script'). He promulgated mantra recitation as an effective means to attain spiritual progress and moksha (spiritual liberation). He was born on 19 February 1845 as Ganpati Ghugardare. He was born into a Deshastha Brahmin family to Raoji and Gitabai Ghugardare. His place of birth was Gondavale Budruk, a small town in present-day Satara District, Maharashtra, India. His parents were devotees of Vitthala, a Hindu deity. Lingopant, his grandfather, held the title of Kulkarni or rural record-keeper of Gondavale during the Maratha regime. Kulkarni was later adopted as the family name. He memorized the Hindu philosophical scripture, Bhagavad Gita at a very early age. He is believed to have attained enlightenment at a young age. At the age of twelve, Ganpati left home in search of enlightenment. He travelled extensively, and eventually arrived at Yehalegaon, a village near present-day Nanded. There, he met Tukamai, a saint revered to be a living synthesis of the three distinct paths to self-realization: Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, and Karma Yoga. He stayed under the tutelage of Tukamai for nine months. He would obediently follow the latter's instructions during this time. On one occasion of Ram Navami, Tukamai initiated Ganpati with the mantra "Śrī Rāma Jaya Rāma Jaya Jaya Rāma (Sanskrit: श्री राम जय राम जय जय राम)", and bestowed upon the latter the title of "Brahmachaitanya." Over the next few years, Brahmachaitanya travelled across the Indian subcontinent.