Pandit Sri Ananta Das Babaji Maharaja was born in the district of Jharikhanda in 1921. During the earlier years of his life he held the occupation of a teacher, living with his wife and children. Having heard of the fame of Sri Kunja Bihari Das Babaji Maharaja, a renowned bhajananandi saint at Radha Kunda who was influential in the area of Jharikhanda during his householder life, in 1950 Sri Ananta Dasji decided to leave for a pilgrimage to meet the saint.

Having arrived at Radha Kunda, he met with the mahatma and received initiation into a disciplic succession descending from Sri Nityananda Prabhu and Srimati Jahnava Mata. During the following two months, Sri Kunja Bihari Das Babaji taught him the mysteries of the philosophy, worship and meditation practiced in the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition.

At the end of this visit, despite his desire to stay at Radha Kunda, Sri Kunja Bihari Das Babaji ordered him to return to his village to preach the message of Sri Caitanyadeva, initiating people into the practice of spiritual life.

Eventually he decided to renounce the world, departing for a journey to Radha Kunda, this time to stay for good. Having arrived at this holiest of all the holy places, he received the cloth of an ascetic from Sri Kunja Bihari Das Babaji. Over the decades to come, he engaged himself in a deep study of the Gaudiya canon of sacred texts, at the same time becoming more and more deeply absorbed in bhajana, both in the external and the esoteric internal methods of worship.

In accordance with the request of his guru, Sri Ananta Das Babaji began to write extensive commentaries elucidating the concepts presented in the foundational writings of the Six Gosvamis of Vrindavan and in the writings of the later great teachers following in their footsteps. In his old age, he has retired to Radha Kunda, focusing on his inner worship and on his writing work. This literary inspiration has produced over 50 individual titles over the past three decades.

Up to this day, Gaudiya Vaishnavas from all around the world and from all parivars read and study his commentaries which are full of his realizations stemming from a life of dedicated bhajan. Without his books, raganuga-bhakti and the sadhana in manjari bhava would not have been as popular as today.

Babaji focused solely on the mood of being a dear maidservant of Radhika (manjari) and his books are drenched with this wonderful bhava.

The glorious thing about the writings of Babaji was that he could elaborate on both, RASA and SIDDHANTA.

“The temple of RASA is built on the foundation of TATTVA”.

Oftentimes he advised us not to jump ahead into the highest rasika literature but to start at the beginning, to start with tattva-siddhanta, highly recommending the masterpiece of Srila Rupa Goswamipad, Sri Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu and the Sandarbhas.

He wrote:

“The very nature (dharma) of the mind is rāga (attachment, passion), and hence mental worship is the root cause of rāgānugā bhajana. Still the external practice of hearing and chanting must not be neglected or given up— this is to be noted specifically. The perfection of allegiance to the Vraja-people cannot be achieved by giving up external practices like hearing and chanting. As much as the external practices like hearing and chanting nourish the internal practice of smaraṇa, that much the internal practice also awakens taste for external practices. Since they nourish each other equally, efforts to fix one’s mind on līlā smaraṇa without taking shelter of external practices will not become fruitful. And again, efforts to perform only external practices without practicing līlā smaraṇa cannot be called rāgānugā mārga’s bhajana. Hence both are required.“
(tika to Raga Vartma Chandrika)

He always lovingly guided his many disciples and always emphasized the proper way of doing raganuga-bhajan.

“When the greed of a rāgānugā aspirant leads him down the road of rāga, keeping his beloved object in the centre, then it awakens a special taste for the forms and pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and His associates. At first the greed of an aspirant will be scattered over many different subject matters and cannot focus on the actual beloved object, but when sādhana bhajana ripens this greed will give up all other subject matters and will focus on the beloved. In this paragraph the blessed author shows how this sacred greed gradually develops. After the rāgānugīya practitioner has taken shelter of the lotus feet of Śrī Guru the stream of his bhajana starts flowing as he engages in hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord in the company of the devotees. Thus, his heart is gradually cleansed from vices like lust and becomes completely immaculate. The purer his heart gets through this cleansing-process, the stronger the sacred greed will get in his heart.”
(commentary to a verse in Raga Vartma Chandika).

Everyone who met with him left with his doubts cleared and with a heart full of bhakti.

The cherished practice of manjari-bhava-sadhana was his only focus and every of his words centered around this beautiful sadhana.

“The vine of devotion, which Śrīman Mahāprabhu gave to the people of the world, yields the fruit of brilliant rasa, the amorous love of Vraja, particularly the rasa of the most confidential personal service of Śrīmatī Rādhārānī, named mañjarī-bhāva-sādhanā.

This great gift was not given before by any other descension of God; even the wise men who were experts in devotion to God did not know this secret fruit of the vine of devotion. They used to practice vaidhi-bhakti, regulated devotion to God, out of fear and respect for the Supreme Lord, and even if there were any rāga-bhaktas in the Vraja-bhāva before Mahāprabhu’s descension, they all would be serving Krishna in the mood of a servant or a friend. Nobody knew the secret of the sweet devotional love of the gopīs for Krishna, what to speak of the topmost mādana-mahā-bhāva of Śrī Rādhā, the crown jewel of all the gopīs!

In the pre-Caitanya era there was a cult of sakhī-bhāva (love for Krishna as a participating amorous consort) preached by great devotees like the poet Jayadeva, Caṇḍīdāsa, Vidyāpati, Bilvamangala and others, but the mañjarī-bhāva-sādhanā, the personal and exclusive service of Śrī Rādhā, was a new gift, introduced by Śrī Gaurasundara and the ācāryas who took shelter of His lotus feet.”
(introduction to Vilapa Kusumanjali) 

Living very close to the samadhi of Srila Raghunatha Das Goswami, Babaji made it his life´s work to comment on a lot of Das Goswami`s books.

“Wherever we look in the world of literature, we can find that such lovely poetry, so gracious, deep with feelings and decorated with sweetness, is very rare indeed. The river of Śrīpāda’s rasika poetry is agitated with ever-fresh waves of beauty and sweetness and illuminated and enlarged by the tender rays of the moon of ever-fresh feelings, so that it has become relishable for both the loving devotee and the sensitive connoisseur of poetry! But only the one-pointed rasika devotees can perceive and relish the amazing high- and ebb-tide of separation and meeting that surge in a self-incited way in his heart’s outbursts of divine passion in the Ganges-river of his poetry.”
(introduction to Vilapa Kusumanjali)

Although everyone can realize Babaji`s purity of heart and his deep immersion in manjari bhava, he remained extremely humble in his mood and character.

At the end of Sri Sri Vilapa Kusumanjali, he wrote:

“Although I am greatly unqualified I have recited and explained the hymn called ‘Vilāpa Kusumāñjali’ a number of times to the Vaiṣṇavas that reside at Śrī Rādhākuṇḍa and in Śrī Vṛndāvana, following their merciful order. Then the desire awoke within the Vaiṣṇavas’ hearts for the publication of a book with a corresponding, lengthy commentary on this hymn. Following their merciful order I commence this difficult work, like a lame man that wants to climb a mountain, and by their merciful encouragement, remembering the lotus feet of the most worshipable Śrīmat Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmīpāda I am preparing the blueprint of my translation and ‘Parimala Kaṇā’-commentary of Vilāpa Kusumāñjali on the bank of Śrī Rādhākuṇḍa, the place where he performed his bhajana and where he composed this book.

This Vilāpa Kusumāñjali is the treasure of Śrī-Śrī Dāsa Gosvāmīpāda’s worship, now appearing in the form of a book as a gift to be offered on the occasion of the celebration of the five-hundredth anniversary of the appearance of Śrī-Śrī Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu, the sanctifier of the age of Kali, who was the heart’s treasure of Śrīpāda Raghunātha, who was himself the manifestation of His compassion.

Previously an unqualified fallen wretch like me has published a commentary on Śrī-Śrīla Prabodhānanda Sarasvatīpāda, named ‘Rasa-varṣiṇī’ as an offering to the lotus-feet of Śrīman Mahāprabhu during the festival to commemorate His five-hundredth birth-anniversary.

The merciful Vaiṣṇavas and intellectual devotees were in topmost ecstasy after reading this and offered their merciful blessings to this fallen wretch. Depending on their merciful blessing and on their encouragement this ‘’Parimala Kaṇā’-commentary on Vilāpa Kusumāñjali was now published.

Just as the predominance of Śrī Rādhā’s glories are emphasised in Śrī Rādhā-Rasasudhānidhi, in Śrī Vilāpa Kusumāñjali the heart’s eagerness of the loving devotee, the anxiousness of separation and the expertise in serving Śrī Rādhā is the main topic.

By relishing these two sacred works the devotional practitioner will learn many valuable facts of the worship of the Divine Pair – there is no doubt about this at all.” (introduction to Vilapa Kusumanjali)

Srila Ananta das Babaji was an advocate of unity in diversity and he never uttered a word of a sectarian character.  He wrote:

“Every individual soul is qualified to become Rādhikā’s maidservant; this is the great, rare gift of Śrīman Mahāprabhu.The mahājanas say that each and every soul is eligible for the service of Śrī Rādhā, and by the power of associating with these mahājanas pure God-consciousness spontaneously manifests itself in the pure spirit soul.

sei gopī bhāvāmṛta yāra lobha hoy (C.C.) –
[Anyone who becomes greedy for that nectarean mood of the gopīs…] 

These people are the fortunate souls who have obtained the grace of like-minded great rasika devotees. 

The fullest manifestation of devotion is gopī-bhāva, for the gopīs are exclusively dedicated to the pleasure of Śrī Krishna. This gopī-bhāva is the treasure of the practice of the pure swan-like devotees, and the culmination of this sakhī-bhāva is mañjarī-bhāva. By following in the footsteps of the eternally perfect devotees, that belong to the Lord’s internal potency, one can attain the confidential nikuñja-sevā of Śrī Rādhā and Mādhava.”
(tika Vilapa Kusumanjali)

Apart from writing extensive commentaries, he has initiated some 3.500 disciples into the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, including people from Vraja, from Bengal, and from dozens of Western countries. He has been elected as the Mahanta of Radha Kunda, thus being the 34th representive of the seat of Sri Raghunatha Das Goswami. He is widely recognized as one of the foremost teachers of the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition on account of his voluminous and comprehensive writings as well as due to his humility and purity of heart.

Everyone who has met him could witness his exemplary behavior and his kindness.
Every day he would come down from his room in his Radhakunda ashrama to perform the puja of his beloved deities, Sri Sri Radha Kalachandra, thus teaching us by his own example the glories of sadhana-bhakti.

Everyday he kindly welcomed everyone who wanted to see him and oftentimes have a discussion with him.

He was always ready to answer all question and since he understood and spoke English very well, it was wonderful for us Western devotees.

There are countless videos with questions and answers, and it was beautiful to behold how masterfully Babaji handled all questions asked.

He always based his answers on the writings of the 6 Goswamis of Vrindavana. He never once entered a discussion about controversial topics, sometimes even refusing to answer questions in this direction.

I personally had the fortune to meet with him many times and the videos captured on these occasions show how personal and loving a Gurudeva can be.

In recent years, being over 90 years old, Babaji has had two difficult knee operations and from all these treatments rose a stomach weakness which would follow him until the end.

But still he continued to live his exemplary life showing us everyday what it means to be a kinkari of Radhika. He still did his beloved Radhakunda parikrama every day, sometimes walking with the help of his sevakas. In the last days he did the parikrama mostly in a wheelchair.

On November 11^th, 2018, he left this world. The Vaishnava community of Vraja lost a great saint and scholar in Śrī Ananta Dāsa Bābā Jī Mahārāja.

He was cremated on the same day and a samadhi tomb was built next to the tomb of his beloved Gurudeva, Sri Kunja Bihari das Babaji.

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