Swami Gopal Das
Encyclopedia
Swami Gopal Das (1822–1936) was a social worker, educationist, environmentalist
and freedom fighter from Churu
in Rajasthan
state in India
.
town in Rajasthan
in the family of Chaudhari
Binja Ram Kaswan
and Smt Nauji Devi. He lost his father in childhood. There was no source of livelihood for her so his mother Nauja Devi came to Churu with Gopal and started his care by doing some labour work.
s of Churu
and developed these as pasturelands for the grazing of cows and did extensive plantation
s. These pasturelands and plantations not only saved the cows but also stopped the expansion of desert. The nearby villagers also got motivated from these works and developed pasturelands in their villages.
Love for tree plantation was there in Swamis from childhood. This becomes clear from his letter written from Sardarshahar
to Shri Gigdas to take care of Pipal tree planted by him. It was his efforts that covered the deserted sand dunes with trees. The big trees on both sides of the road from railway station to present Ram temple in Churu town are the result of his hard work and irrigation provided to these trees carrying water over his head.
of plague and malaria. People died in large number. Rest of the people started running out leaving the weak and ill people behind. The town was deserted. The left out people started dying due to no care. There were no people left to even lift the dead persons. At this juncture Swami Gopal Das came to help the left out people by providing food, water and medicines and arranged to lift dead persons for cremation. It became difficult to move around on foot to look after the people so he took a horse and started taking round of the town. The famous poet from Churu
Pandit Amolak Chand has written following poetry on the services rendered by Swami Gopal Das during this epdemic in Rajasthani language
as under:
The epidemic was so severe that Post and Telegraph services collapsed. Swami Gopal Das arranged the delivery of letters and telegrams to the concerned people. His knowledge of Ayurveda
proved a boon at this crisis. With his initiatives and efforts the Ayurveda Vidyapith centers started functioning in Churu.
but also by local Jagirdars. To talk about independence or read a new paper in those days was considered a disloyalty to the crown. Under such circumstances Swami Gopal Das started 'sarvahitkarini sabha' in 1907. The objectives of the sabha were: satya, ahinsa, asteya and brahmcharya. For the first three years he was chairman of the sabha and thereafter minister. The Jagirdars were not happy with the foundation of 'sarvahitkarini sabha' as a result he faced lot of opposition. There was no building of 'sarvahitkarini sabha'. So he vowed that he would not take food till the sabha has its own building. He collected money from various sources for the building of the sabha and survived on fruits only till multi-storied building was ready for the sabha.
He took number of steps to improve the conditions of downtrodden people. To remove untouchability from society, he started 'Kabir
pathshala with his disciple shri Dhanpat Ray Kalla in the KALERA BASS'.
These initiatives taken by Swami Gopal Das in Rajasthan at a time when even Mahatma Gandhi
was not on seen are considered revolutionary. 'Putri pathshala' and 'Kabir pathshala' were considered antireligious activities at that time. On the establishment of putri pathshala, the backward and conservative public had done stone throwing on Swami Gopal Das, but he moved with firmness and was successful in his mission.
Swami Gopal Das raised a voice for compulsory education in Bikaner princely state. The 'sarvahitakarini sabha' in his guidance run a number of libraries, 'putripathshala', 'Kabir pathshala', 'uddyog vardhini sabha', aturalaya and mahilashrama. In addition there were number of constructive activities like shilpshala, sevasadan, anathalaya, goshala etc.
To eradicate social evils sarvahitakarini sabha also took steps like ban on child marriages and old age marriages, ban on use of toxic materials, spread of Hindi and Sanskrit languages etc.
Swami Gopal Das through, sarvahitakarini sabha, also took steps to construct wells, kundas, johars, ponds and renovate old wells and ponds. The works done by sarvahitakarini sabha during famines and epidemics are a landmark in the history of Churu.
The rich Seths of area were very influenced by the honesty and sincerity of Swami Gopal Das. They were ready to provide finances through him. The public park 'Indramani Park' in Churu was established through his efforts. Industrialist J.K.Birla on the initiatives of Swami Gopal Das established the 'Dharmastupa' in Churu. The statues of Krishna
, Mahavira
and Buddha
on this stupa indicate the faith in all religions. Sarvahitakarini sabha did not differentiate between Hindu
, Muslim
, Sikh
, Buddhist and Jain.
Born in a poor family he had become so revered that the millionaires touched his feet. He was busy throughout his life in the service of the public with no self interest. He died in the month of magha on the banks of river Ganga in 1936.
Environmentalist
An environmentalist broadly supports the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities"...
and freedom fighter from Churu
Churu
Churu is a town in the desert region of Rajasthan state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Churu District. It lies in the Thar Desert on the National Highway-65 connecting Pali to Ambala and is a junction station on the railway line to Bikaner...
in Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
state in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
Childhood
He was born in 1822 in village Bhainrusar situated at a distance of 22 km in north of ChuruChuru
Churu is a town in the desert region of Rajasthan state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Churu District. It lies in the Thar Desert on the National Highway-65 connecting Pali to Ambala and is a junction station on the railway line to Bikaner...
town in Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
in the family of Chaudhari
Chaudhari
Chaudhari may refer to:*Chowdhury, a traditional title used by the landowners in the Indian subcontinent; now predominantly used as a surname*Chaudhari, NepalChaudhari may refer to:...
Binja Ram Kaswan
Kaswan
Kaswan or Kuswan or Kasuan is a gotra of jats in Rajasthan and Haryana in India. The word Kaswan is 'XWN' of Tocharian language meaning 'King'.-Origin of Kaswan :...
and Smt Nauji Devi. He lost his father in childhood. There was no source of livelihood for her so his mother Nauja Devi came to Churu with Gopal and started his care by doing some labour work.
Came to Churu
Mahant Mukund Das of 'Chhote temple' in Churu provided some support to her mother. Nauja Devi handed over child Gopal to Mahant Mukund Das, who was impressed by the intelligence of the child and sent him to a school run by Pandit Kanhaya Lal Dhandh. Sharp and intelligent, Gopal Das learned the lesson of humanity from a guru and obtained knowledge of Ayurvedic treatment. Looking to talents of Gopal, Mahant Mukund Das declared him his disciple. After death of Mahant Mukund Das, the 19-year Gopal was made the mahanta of Nimbarka sampradaya in his place and became Swami Gopal Das. The personality of Swami Gopal Das was very impressive. He was tall, handsome with well built physique and broad headed wearing khadi dhoti-kurta and turban.Committed to the welfare of cows
He was all his life committed to the welfare of cow as he considered cow to be an essential part of Indian life and culture. Cows used to suffer greatly during the famine years when Gopal Das arranged fodder and water for cows. There was a 'pinjarapol' (goshala) in Churu, which was at the verge of closure due to insufficient funds. Gopal Das started a fair on 'gopashtami' at this 'pinjarapol' and gave new life to it. The fair is still organized every year.An environmentalist
He took large chunks of wasteland from the rich SethSeth
Seth , in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, is the third listed son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, who are the only other of their children mentioned by name...
s of Churu
Churu
Churu is a town in the desert region of Rajasthan state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Churu District. It lies in the Thar Desert on the National Highway-65 connecting Pali to Ambala and is a junction station on the railway line to Bikaner...
and developed these as pasturelands for the grazing of cows and did extensive plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
s. These pasturelands and plantations not only saved the cows but also stopped the expansion of desert. The nearby villagers also got motivated from these works and developed pasturelands in their villages.
Love for tree plantation was there in Swamis from childhood. This becomes clear from his letter written from Sardarshahar
Sardarshahar
Sardarshahar is a town in the Churu district of Rajasthan-Location:Sardarshahar is a town and also Tehsil of district Churu in Rajasthan and it is situated 250 km from Jaipur Via Sikar , Ratangarh 47 kilometers from Ratangarh...
to Shri Gigdas to take care of Pipal tree planted by him. It was his efforts that covered the deserted sand dunes with trees. The big trees on both sides of the road from railway station to present Ram temple in Churu town are the result of his hard work and irrigation provided to these trees carrying water over his head.
Social Services
Swami Gopal Das was a committed social worker. In 1917-1918 Churu was infected by epidemicEpidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
of plague and malaria. People died in large number. Rest of the people started running out leaving the weak and ill people behind. The town was deserted. The left out people started dying due to no care. There were no people left to even lift the dead persons. At this juncture Swami Gopal Das came to help the left out people by providing food, water and medicines and arranged to lift dead persons for cremation. It became difficult to move around on foot to look after the people so he took a horse and started taking round of the town. The famous poet from Churu
Churu
Churu is a town in the desert region of Rajasthan state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Churu District. It lies in the Thar Desert on the National Highway-65 connecting Pali to Ambala and is a junction station on the railway line to Bikaner...
Pandit Amolak Chand has written following poetry on the services rendered by Swami Gopal Das during this epdemic in Rajasthani language
Rajasthani language
Rajasthani Rajasthani Rajasthani (Devanagari: , Perso-Arabic: is a language of the Indo-Aryan languages family. It is spoken by 50 million people in Rajasthan and other states of India and in some areas of Pakistan. The number of speakers may be up to 80 million worldwide...
as under:
- "चूरु शहर में सोर भयो, जद जोर करयो पलेग महामारी ।
- लाश पड़ी घर के अन्दर ढक छोड़ चले बंद किवाड़ी ।।
- आवत है गोपाल अश्व चढ देखत जहाँ बीमार पड्यो है ।
- देत दवा वो दया करके नाथ, अनाथ को नाथ खड्यो है ।।"
The epidemic was so severe that Post and Telegraph services collapsed. Swami Gopal Das arranged the delivery of letters and telegrams to the concerned people. His knowledge of Ayurveda
Ayurveda
Ayurveda or ayurvedic medicine is a system of traditional medicine native to India and a form of alternative medicine. In Sanskrit, words , meaning "longevity", and , meaning "knowledge" or "science". The earliest literature on Indian medical practice appeared during the Vedic period in India,...
proved a boon at this crisis. With his initiatives and efforts the Ayurveda Vidyapith centers started functioning in Churu.
Public awakening
The social services by Swami Gopal Das were multi dimensional. The Churu area prior to independence was suffering from illiteracy, poverty, famines, and lack of medical facilities. The people were exploited not only by British RajBritish Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
but also by local Jagirdars. To talk about independence or read a new paper in those days was considered a disloyalty to the crown. Under such circumstances Swami Gopal Das started 'sarvahitkarini sabha' in 1907. The objectives of the sabha were: satya, ahinsa, asteya and brahmcharya. For the first three years he was chairman of the sabha and thereafter minister. The Jagirdars were not happy with the foundation of 'sarvahitkarini sabha' as a result he faced lot of opposition. There was no building of 'sarvahitkarini sabha'. So he vowed that he would not take food till the sabha has its own building. He collected money from various sources for the building of the sabha and survived on fruits only till multi-storied building was ready for the sabha.
He took number of steps to improve the conditions of downtrodden people. To remove untouchability from society, he started 'Kabir
Kabir
Kabīr was a mystic poet and saint of India, whose writings have greatly influenced the Bhakti movement...
pathshala with his disciple shri Dhanpat Ray Kalla in the KALERA BASS'.
Woman education
Swami Gopal Das believed that woman's education was a first step in the development of society and nation. To spread woman education, first of all, he started a 'sarvahitkaruni putri pathshala'. This institute provided free textbooks to women and also trained them in sewing – weaving so that they can get earnings. This institute provided education to widows also to improve their condition. Later the branches of 'putri pathshalas' were started in neighbouring villages and towns. Taranagar putri pathshala was run by Churu sabha itself.These initiatives taken by Swami Gopal Das in Rajasthan at a time when even Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...
was not on seen are considered revolutionary. 'Putri pathshala' and 'Kabir pathshala' were considered antireligious activities at that time. On the establishment of putri pathshala, the backward and conservative public had done stone throwing on Swami Gopal Das, but he moved with firmness and was successful in his mission.
Swami Gopal Das raised a voice for compulsory education in Bikaner princely state. The 'sarvahitakarini sabha' in his guidance run a number of libraries, 'putripathshala', 'Kabir pathshala', 'uddyog vardhini sabha', aturalaya and mahilashrama. In addition there were number of constructive activities like shilpshala, sevasadan, anathalaya, goshala etc.
To eradicate social evils sarvahitakarini sabha also took steps like ban on child marriages and old age marriages, ban on use of toxic materials, spread of Hindi and Sanskrit languages etc.
Swami Gopal Das through, sarvahitakarini sabha, also took steps to construct wells, kundas, johars, ponds and renovate old wells and ponds. The works done by sarvahitakarini sabha during famines and epidemics are a landmark in the history of Churu.
The rich Seths of area were very influenced by the honesty and sincerity of Swami Gopal Das. They were ready to provide finances through him. The public park 'Indramani Park' in Churu was established through his efforts. Industrialist J.K.Birla on the initiatives of Swami Gopal Das established the 'Dharmastupa' in Churu. The statues of Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
, Mahavira
Mahavira
Mahāvīra is the name most commonly used to refer to the Indian sage Vardhamāna who established what are today considered to be the central tenets of Jainism. According to Jain tradition, he was the 24th and the last Tirthankara. In Tamil, he is referred to as Arukaṉ or Arukadevan...
and Buddha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
on this stupa indicate the faith in all religions. Sarvahitakarini sabha did not differentiate between Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
, Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
, Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
, Buddhist and Jain.
Freedom fighter
Swami Gopal Das started freedom movement in Churu. He wrote series of articles in magazines on the eradication of social evils and demand for freedom. He invited the national leaders of freedom movement and arranged their lectures in Churu. He started placing photographs of Tilak and Gandhi in public conferences and preached use of swadeshi things. The movement of Swami Gopal Das frightened the princely ruler of Bikaner, who lodged a case of rajadroha against him in 1932 and arrested. He was kept in Bikaner Central Jail for three years. Due to his active involvement in the freedom movement he was elected member of Provincial Congress Committee.Born in a poor family he had become so revered that the millionaires touched his feet. He was busy throughout his life in the service of the public with no self interest. He died in the month of magha on the banks of river Ganga in 1936.