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the poet-composer of Jagamohan Ramayana was a contemporary of Gajapati Prataparudradeva and also of Chaitanya. The poet himself has given a few details about his life. From his Jagamohan Ramayana and Srimadbhagavad Gita it is known that his father was Mahamantri Somanatha Mahapatra. In Jagamohan Ramayana, there is a reference to his mother, Manamayi and his family. He neither mentions Gajapati Prataparudra nor Chaitanya in these works. In yet another work Uddhaba Gita, Balarama Das gives some more details about his life. According to it he used to please Lord Jagannatha with his songs during the period of the Lord’s stay at Gundicha Mandir during Rathajatra festival. In his other books such as Gitavakasa, Brahma Gita, Bhava Samudra, Bata Abakasa and Panasa Chori, an exaggerated account of the poet’s devotion to Jagannatha can be seen along with references to
Prataparudradeva, who on many occasions tried to test Balarama’s knowledge of scriptures like Gita, Vedanta, Brahma Vidya as well as his devotion to Lord Jagannatha, Vedantasara Guptagita is his only work in which both Prataparudra and Chaitanya have been mentioned. According to this work, the King Prataparudra accepted Chaitanya as his Guru and Balarama Das as his Parama Guru. But as the work is supposed to have been written in 1510, which coincides with the year of Chaitanya’s arrival at Puri the fact mentioned is very doubtful.

Madhaba Pattanaik, most likely a younger contemporary of Balarama, in his Vaishnava Lilamrita mentions that Balarama together with his four friends, accompanied Chaitanya in his tour throughout Odisha. And when Balarama died, the whole of Odisha, especially Puri, was shocked and people felt shaken as though a mighty banyan tree had fallen.

Devakinandan, a 16th century Vaishnava of Bengal, in his Vaishnava Bandana, gives high tribute to Balarama for his supernatural powers.

Divakara Das, the 17th century writer, who authored Jagannatha Charitamrita (the biography of Jagannatha Das) makes a casual reference to Balarama. According to him Balarama was a disciple of Hridaya Narayana in the line of Gauri Das Pandita and was a devotee of high order. Further, Balarama Das was always absorbed in reciting the Lord’s name and so was known as ‘matta Balarama’ (mad Balaram). He
was one of the close associates of Chaitanya, who directed him to accept Jagannatha Das as his disciple. He then went on a pilgrimage to Dwaraka.

According to another 17th century work, the Chaitanya Bhagavata (a biography of Chaitanya) of Ishwar Das, Balarama was the son of Somanatha, an officer of the king, and came from Chandanpur, a village near Jajapur. When Chaitanya was passing through this village, Balarama met him and joined his party. Chaitanya initiated him in the ‘Ramataraka Paramabrahma’. Elsewhere he says that once Balarama was invited to grace one grand festival (mahotsava) at Cutfack, arranged by Prata-parudradeva, where he was honoured as the writer of the Ramayana and Srimad Bhagavat Gita. Chaitanya made him the supervisor of the Nanda Matha. According to Ishwar Das, Balarama having subdued a mad elephant once was called ‘matta Balarama’ by the people for his dare-devil act.

According to a local tradition reported by Jagabandhu Singh in his Prachina Utkal, in the early part of the present century, Balarama died at a ripe old age, on his way to Puri, at Begunia, near Konarka, on the Akshaya Tritiya day (early April). There is a samadhi of Balarama in this village and every year a festival (mela) takes place on the Akashaya Tritia Day honouring Balarama. In the nearby village, Erabanga, there is
a Jagannatha temple, which it is believed was built by Balarama, who used to offer his daily prayers to Lord Jagannatha in this temple, as it was impossible for him to go to Puri due to his debilitating old age. The people, in grateful remembrance of the builder, call this Jagannatha temple the Balarama temple.

Balarama Das is famous as the poet of Jagamohan Ramayana also known as Dandi Ramayana, the first and greatest complete Ramayana in Odia literature. This Ramayana, because of its immense popularity in Odisha, had influenced almost all the later poets of Rama-kavyas. He is credited with the writing of the following: Kanta Koili, Baramasi Koili, Hanumana Chautisa, Kamalalochana Chautisa, Srimad Bhagavat
Gita, Gupta Gita, Vedantasara Gupta Gita,. Uddhaba Gita, Brahma Gita (Prose), Pralambasara Gita (Prose), Amarakosha Gita, Brahmanda Bhugola, Bata Abakasha, Bedha· Parikrama, Bhabasamudra and Kama Dana.

All these works are well known and popular in Odisha, because of their philosophical discussions on the subjects like kaya yoga, Jnana-bhakti marga, and prema-bhakti marga. The poet’s devotion to Lord Jagannatha is also to be seen in most of these works, specially in Bhaba-samudra and Bata-Abakasa. A child in Odisha starts his education from a book of Balarama like Kamalaloehana Chautisa, makes his life
meaningful when he grows up by reading the works like Jagamohan Ramayana, Uddhaba Gita, etc. and meets his death in the old age after listening to Srimad Bhagavat Gita of Balarama.

• Jagamohan Ramayan
• Laxmi Purana