Pujya Lalabapa was born in the year 1880 (Vikram Samvant 1936) in a small village called Reeb in the province of Gondal, Saurashtra, India. He was born in the Chava family of the Jansari caste. At a very young age he was blessed by a noble guru, Yogiraj Maharaj when he visited Lala’s village. The guru observed Lala’s devotion and dedication towards chanting bhajans and participating in satsangs to the extent that his spiritual vision merged to that of the Almighty who inspired him to deliver ‘bhakti’ to his community.
For a brief period Pujya Lalabapa married to Ladubai as per his father’s request but she soon found out that he was totally dedicated to bhakti and to god – so much so that to lead a normal life proved impossible to her. She had no alternative but to leave him with reluctance. For bhakta Shree Lalabapa this was a turning point to become totally dedicated to bhakti after meeting another guru Sant Shree Vaaldasbapu who gave him the ‘kuntee’ (a long necklace of beads). He wore this for the rest of his life.
Hundreds of people from all walks of life and from different communities came to see Shree Lalabapa perform his bhakti and chant bhajans. His saintly wisdom spread to many nearby villages and towns many of whom visited him to seek his guidance and advice which proved fruitful in numerous cases. His only advice to all villagers was to involve in true spiritual bhakti to god and have faith in oneself to solve worldly problems. He passed away on 18th April 1941 at the age of 61. At present, there stands a humble mandir in Gondal where hundreds of his devotees still come to pay tribute to him and seek his spiritual guidance. Lalabapa often said,
“Life is very precious, don’t waste it. Serve your people to the best of your ability and achieve salvation.”
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