Early life
Babajee was born as Lakshminath Jha[2] in the nearby Parsarma village in 1787. His father's name was Shri Bachha Jha. He was born into a Maithil Brahmin family in a Kujilwar digaun mool and his gotra was Katyayan. Mool and Gotra are used to identify the roots of a family.
Babajee was born as Lakshminath Jha[2] in the nearby Parsarma village in 1787. His father's name was Shri Bachha Jha. He was born into a Maithil Brahmin family in a Kujilwar digaun mool and his gotra was Katyayan. Mool and Gotra are used to identify the roots of a family. He learnt yoga and the Vedanta philosophy as a child. After early education in astrology under the tutelage of Shri Ratte Jha, Babajee returned to his native village where his family disapproved of his observed "aloofness" and pushed him to get married; he obeyed in order to do his dharma.Training
After his marriage, he left for the forest to seek a guru. He travelled to a number of religious shrines in India and Nepal, eventually becoming a disciple of Guru Lambanathaswami of the Terai region, who was the disciple of Guru Gorakhnath. Under Guru Lambnath's tutelage, Babajee had the opportunity to meet Gorakhnath, who had become very old by that time.Entry into Bangaon
After all the training of yoga and tantra, Babajee returned initially to Darbhanga. During one of his trips, nine years after he began his training, he happened to come to Bangaon where he was warmly welcomed by the villagers both for being a yogi and his reputation as an able wrestler. In those days, wrestling used to be a sport of immense interest to the villagers. Given to the warm hospitality and goodness of the people, Babajee decided to stay in the village. Villagers made a kutiya (grass hut) for him. A villager named Kari Jha donated him a cow.[3] He is said to have done many acts of goodwill to the people of the village.
Christian John
A British man named Christian John ("John Sahib"), who had been living in a nearby village called Bariyahi, which was controlled by the East India Company, came in contact with Babajee. Both of them shared common interest in religion. Christian John was influenced by Babajee's thinking and would come to emulate his writing style.[4] John would later publish