Baba Balak Nath is famous Yogi who is believed to have had direct darshan of Lord Shiva. It is widely believed that listening to the songs or bhajan of Baba Balak Nath ji and worshipping god Shiva will help in desire fulfillments. He is believed to have lived in the present day Himachal Pradesh in India. The followers of Baba Balak Nath narrate the following story about Him.
Story of Baba Balak Nath
Inspired by Dattatreya, Baba Balak Nathji set out on a pilgrimage of Chardham – the four holy places – and other tirthas.
He reached Shah Talai in Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh. By his divine vision, he realized that Mata Dharmo, who had helped him have vision of Lord Shiva in his previous birth, had taken rebirth as Mai Ratno at Shah Talai.
He wished to serve Mai Ratno so that he could clear the great debt of previous birth.
Mai Ratno, who was a childless widow, adopted Baba Balak Nath as her son.
He was given the job of grazing the cows.
Twelve years passed and one day the cows entered the fields of farmer and destroyed the crops.
Babaji was in deep meditation when this happened.
Babaji was in deep meditation when this happened.
The farmer complained to Mai Ratno and she in anger scolded Babaji by saying that he was not worthy of the food he took at her home for twelve years.
Baba Balak Nathji asked Mai Ratno to show the field and to her wonder she saw the field was undamaged and had more yield than before.
Mai Ratno repented and He forgave her. He told her that she no longer need to serve him food but he would continue to look after her cows.
Short History of Baba Balak Nath
Baba Balak Nath was born as Balaka Deva in Junagarh in Gujarat. He took Sannyasa Diksha from Dattatreya at Vrindavan.
It is believed that he did not eat any food and survived just on milk. Due to this he came to be known as Dudhadhari.
Gorakhnath wanted to make Babaji his disciple but he decline saying that he was disciple of Dattatreya.
He is believed to have meditated at Dholgiri in Deyot Sidh in Hamirpur and here he taught an Aghori the true meaning of Dharma.