Mahima Goswami is also known as Mahima Gosain, Mahima Swami, Jogeswara Mahaprabhu, and Mahima prabhu. There is no written biography of this saint and there are no official records of his date of birth, names of parents and place of birth. Whatever facts about him are available, they are based on legends and oral narratives. He is said to have appeared in Puri in 1826 and there he was known as “dhulia baba.” He was called dhulia baba because he was seen simmering himself in dhuli or dust. His fundamental philosophy was monotheism or ekeswaravada.
He preached ekaswaravada among people and became very popular in Puri. As Nayak mentions, his popularity was not tolerated by the brahmins of Puri. So, he was forced to leave Puri. He left Puri and came to Khandagiri, Bhubaneswar and did japa here. He lived there for four years then in 1838 left Khandagiri and went to Dhenkanal’s Kapilas hills and lived there for twelve years. Then he travelled in Rairakhol region and in other places and met people and preached his ideas. He also performed some miracles. Around this time, he rescued Bhima Bhoi from a deserted well. He established the famous Mahima gadi in Jaronda and many Mahima Tungis in different parts of Odisha to preach Mahima Dharma or the religion of the Glory of God.
The life of Bhima Bhoi
Bhima Bhoi, the follower of Mahima Swami, also had a legendary origin. Like the hagiography of any other saints, the details of his birth and parentage are not recorded. His followers do not believe that he was born from a mother’s womb. However, according to one source, Bhima Bhoi was born in 1855 in a village called Jatasingha in Sonepur district of Odisha (Mahapara). He was born in a grove on the ridge of a pond. A Kondh adivasi couple called Danara Bhoi and Maharagi Bhoi who had no children had found him in a grove and adopted him. Bhima’s adoptee father, Danara Bhoi passed away after a few days. Danara’s younger brother (Bhima’s kaka) who lived in Athamallik came and took Bhima and his mother along with him. After a few days, Bhima’s adoptee mother Maharagi also died.
His uncle married a girl from the neibouring house. Bhima was taken care of by the newly married mother for a few years. She gave birth to two children later. Then she started ill-treating Bhima. Bhima, not able to suffer the ill-treatment, left the village and started wandering and begging. He reached a village in Rairakhol area and was kept as a servant by a rich and kind-hearted farmer called Chaitanya Pradhan. He worked for Chaitanya Pradhan of Rairakhol as a help taking care of his cattle. He lived in a chawl near Pradhan’s cowshed as he was an untouchable Kondha, He used to listen to the recitation of Bhagabata and Purana from the Bhagabata Tungi that was near the chawl. Bhima Bhoi “was said to have lost his eyesight in early childhood after an attack of small-pox” (Mansingh 143). He was said to have been rescued by Mahima Goswami. When he was twelve, he left the job given to him by his master and wandered and did tapa at Kapilas where his guru Mahima Swami had meditated and preached. He recited songs and they were inscribed by four Brahmain disciples. Bhima Bhoi confesses that he had not learned any Vedas and Puranas but whatever his guru dictated, he just recited that. Bhima Bhoi worked in Jaronda region for some time. Then he left Jaronda and set up his ashram in Khaliapali near Sonepur. He had many disciples and married and set up his family after that. According to a source he passed away in Khaliapali in 1895.