A royal treatment was accorded to Balaram Das, and upon his arrival at the Bada-danda, the chariots started moving. He did just that, begging his forgiveness, he requested Balaram Das to accompany him. He believed that if he could convince Balaram Das to come to the Bada-danda, the Lord would follow him and the chariots would move. A large crowd gathered.įailing to move the chariots, the King finally arrived to see the miracle himself. There, they found Balaram Das glowing in a cosmic consciousness and singing praises of the Lord. News started drifting in that the sand chariots that Balaram Das built are where the Lord now is, people rushed towards the seaside.
The King even employed elephants, but they didn’t move an inch. Suddenly, the chariots which were rolling on the Grand Trunk Road stopped. What else would the Lord have done? Seeing a devotee in distress and in the wrong, he climbed down his Nandighosha and settled in Balaram Das’s sand chariot. Expressing his deep anguish, he complained to the Lord, asking him if all the devotion that he had for him till that day was well rewarded with the humiliation he faced? If there was an iota of truth in his devotion towards him then it’s his sand chariots where he belonged. This alerted the priests and they suddenly pushed him off the chariot holding him by his neck, everyone there berated him for his irresponsible and reckless behavior and then proceeded to purify the chariot.Ī hurt man, salvaging his pride, Balaram Das proceeded to the seashore and built three chariots out of the sand. Being absorbed in the Lord’s devotion, he climbed up the stairs of the chariot. He ran towards the chariots shouting “Jai Jagannath” in the same dress, with disheveled hair, the mark of saffron, women’s dye, and others which could tell that he had not bathed and had come running from a prostitute’s bed. The raucous sound of hundred devotees, gongs being beaten, ululations could reach Balaram Das for a long time, however suddenly when the chariots were starting to be pulled, he realized what it all was. Once during the annual Rath Yatra, having forgotten everything about the time and date, Balaram Das was in the company of a beautiful harlot which was a two-storeyed building just near the Sri Mandir. His whole life was devoted to the Lord, his heart was filled with love for him but he had one flaw, an illicit attachment with prostitutes.
Apart from other works his most famous also includes the “Lakshmi Purana” which is read in every Odia household as a part of “Mana-basa Gurubar”. His foremost contribution to the bhakti age was the translation of Ramayana into Odia - called the “Jagamohan Ramayan” or “Dandi Ramayan”. Later in his life, he became a disciple of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and was the eldest among his “ Pancha-Sakha”. Statue of Bhakta Kabi Balaram Das at his village - Erabangaīalaram Das was born in 1472 A.D., and his father was a courtier in the court of King Prataparudra Deva, not a lot is known about his early personal life, but he was educated and well versed in Sanskrit.