Bhaktaraj Pipaji was born in Vikram Samvat 1380 in Gagron, 45 miles east of Kota in Rajasthan. He was mighty king of Kshatriya (Chauhan dynasty) (Khinchi gotra). On the basis of universally accepted facts, Peepanandacharya ji was born on Chaitra Shukla Poornima, Wednesday Vikram Samvat 1380 corresponding to 31 March 1323. His childhood name was Prataprao Khinchi. Along with high royal education, he was also interested in spirituality, the influence of which is clearly visible in his literature. According to legends, he used to have direct meeting with his Kuldevi and used to talk to her.
After the death of his father, he was crowned as the king of Gagron in the year 1400. During his short reign, Pipa Rao proved his bravery by defeating warriors like Firoz Shah Tughlaq, Malik Zard Firoz and Lallan Pathan. Due to his popularity among the people and his political skills, even today he is respected as the most beloved king of Gagron and Malwa. Saint Pipa lived in Dwarka for some time.
In the service of Ramanand
By divine inspiration, Pipa Rao went to Kashi ‘s great saint Jagatguru Ramanandacharya ji in search of his Guru and agreed to jump into the well on his Guru’s order. Ramanandacharya ji was very impressed and ordered Pipa Rao to go to Gagron and do bhakti while serving the people and lead a royal saintly life. After one year, Saint Ramanandacharya ji came to Gagron with his disciples and on Pipaji’s compassionate request, he gave initiation on Ashaadh Shukla Purnima (Guru Purnima) Samvat 1414 and appointed him to propagate Vaishnav religion. Pipa Rao handed over all his kingdom to his nephew Kalyan Rao and with the permission of his Guru, set out on a Vaishnav religion propagation tour with his youngest queen Sitaji.
Miracles
The entire life of Peepanandacharya Ji is full of miracles. The miracle of having a divine vision during his reign is the most important one, after that, during his sanyaas period, staying for 7 days in the Golden Dwarika , bringing out the idols of Ranchhodrai Ji in Pipavav and running Annakshetra in this famine-stricken area, preaching non-violence to the lion, turning sticks into green bamboos, being present at five different places at the same time, giving life to a dead oilman, Sita Ji coming in the form of a lioness, etc., many such miracles are popular in folklore.
