Srila Rupa Gosvamis Disappearance
Day
by Tridandisvami
Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja
Rupa-Sanatana
Gaudiya Matha
Vrndavana , India August 8, 2003
Circumambulating
Srila Rupa Gosvami's Bhajana-kutira and Samadhi at Sri
Radha-Damodara Temple
During his manifest presence, My Guru Maharaja, Srila
Bhaktiprajnana Kesava Gosvami Maharaja, had a desire to have a Matha (temple)
in Vrndavana. He had a temple in
Tomorrow is the disappearance day of Srila Rupa Gosvami. Even though there are
so many great acaryas, Srila Rupa Gosvami has been attributed with the honor of
being that person who has established the mano-bhistam, the innermost hearts
desire, of Sri Krsna in the form of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. When Sriman Mahaprabhu
came to the
After a short time they left their homes, and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu came from
Vrndavana and met with Srila Rupa Gosvami at Prayag, the confluence of the
rivers Yamuna and
parapara-sunya gabhira bhakti-rasa-sindhu
tomaya cakhaite
["The ocean of the transcendental mellows of devotional service is so
large that no one can estimate its length and breadth. However, just to help
you taste it, I am describing one drop. (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya-lila
19.137)]
Lord Caitanya gave one drop of the ocean of rasa to Srila Rupa Gosvami, and
that one drop was sufficient to inundate millions upon millions of universes.
Later, He met with Srila Sanatana Gosvami in
After some time Srila Rupa Gosvami and Srila Sanatana Gosvami came here to
Vrndavana and began to perform their bhajana, their hearing, chanting, and
remembering Krsna. Rupa Gosvami thought, "In order to fulfill the
innermost hearts desire of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu I will write a drama. In
this drama I will explain the beauty of the meeting pastimes of Srimati Radhika
and Sri Krsna in Vrndavana, and also the separation pastimes, when Lord Krsna
leaves Vrndavana and goes to
He intended to write about this, but while he was traveling towards Jagannatha
Puri he came to the
Then, when Srila Rupa Gosvami finally arrived at Jagannatha Puri and met with
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Lord confirmed what he had heard from Srimati
Satyabhama in his dream. Sriman Mahaprabhu told him, Dont take Lord Krsna out
of Vrndavana.
krsno 'nyo yadu-sambhuto yah purnah so 'sty atah parah
vrndavanam parityajya sa kvacin naiva gacchati
["The Krsna known as Yadu-kumara is Vasudeva Krsna. He is different from
the Krsna who is the son of Nanda Maharaja. Yadu-kumara Krsna manifests His
pastimes in the cities of
Krsna never leaves Vrndavana. He never even sets one foot outside of
Vrndavana. Srila Rupa Gosvami then divided his drama into two parts. The first
part is called Vidagdha-madhava, Sri Krsnas pastimes in Vrndavana; and in the
second part, called Lalita-madhava, He goes to Dvaraka and all the gopis of
Vrndavna were reunited with Him in the form of the queens of Dvaraka.
Why did Srila Rupa Gosvami do this? The reason is a very deep siddhanta
(conclusive philosophical truth). Srila Kavi Karnapura is a very great devotee
and he composed Sri Ananda Vrndavana Campu. In this book he has described the
pastimes of Lord Krsna from His birth up to rasa-lila and the Divine Couples
swing pastimes, and he stopped there. He didn't go any further than this. He didn't
describe about Krsna going to
Srila Rupa Gosvami, however, has written about the moods of both meeting and
separation because this separation mood is a very deep transcendental
ecstatic feeling. At the time of meeting, though Radharani and Krsna are
together, something may be forgotten or lost in the heart. On the other hand,
at the time of separation, there is complete meeting in new and fresh ways in
the heart; and not only inside, but sometimes externally there are sphurtis,
temporary visions in which the loved one is actually present.
Knowing all these very deep transcendental established truths, and wanting to
establish the desire of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu within the world, Srila Rupa
Gosvami also glorified the mood of separation. Although this mood is very high
and has many transcendental features that will not come at the time of meeting,
still, it is not our goal of life.
No Gaudiya Vaisnavas want Sri Sri Radha and Krsna to be eternally separated.
What kind of person would want this? No Vrajavasi would want it. Rather, there
is a place for this separation mood, and Srila Rupa Gosvami has explained this
in his book, Ujjvala Nilamani: "Na vina vipralambha sambhoga pusti
masnute. Without the mood of separation, the mood of meeting will not be
nourished and come to increasingly higher stages. The pastimes of separation
are very important because they play the role of nourishing the sweetness of
meeting."
When Srila Rupa Gosvami was in Puri with Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Lord was
dancing at the Ratha-yatra festival and uttering a verse from a book of mundane
poetry called sahitya-darpana:
yah kaumara-harah sa eva hi varas ta eva caitra-ksapas
te conmilita-malati-surabhayah praudhah kadambanilah
sa caivasmi tathapi tatra surata-vyapara-lila-vidhau
reva-rodhasi vetasi-taru-tale cetah samutkanthate
["That very personality who stole away my heart during my youth is now
again my master. These are the same moonlit nights of the month of Caitra. The
same fragrance of malati flowers is there, and the same sweet breezes are
blowing from the kadamba forest. In our intimate relationship, I am also the
same lover, yet my mind is not happy here. I am eager to go back to that place
on the bank of the Reva under the Vetasi tree. That is my desire."]
No one could understand why Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was uttering this verse and
in what mood He was absorbed. There was one young boy there, however, named
Rupa, who later on became that very same Rupa Gosvami. There and then, upon
hearing this verse from Mahaprabhu, another verse appeared in his own heart, and
he wrote down that verse:
priyah so 'yam krsnah saha-cari kuru-ksetra-militas
tathaham sa radha tad idam ubhayoh sangama-sukham
tathapy antah-khelan-madhura-murali
mano me kalindi-pulina-vipinaya sprhayati
[This is a verse spoken by Srimati Radharani. "My dear friend, now I have
met My very old and dear friend Krsna on this field of Kuruksetra. I am the
same Radharani, and now We are meeting together. It is very pleasant, but still
I would like to go to the bank of the Yamuna beneath the trees of the forest
there. I wish to hear the vibration of His sweet flute playing the fifth note
within that
In this verse Srila Rupa Gosvami has clarified Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's inner
meaning and thus he revealed to the world the importance of parakiya-rasa, the
mood of paramour love between Lord Krsna and the gopis. Srila Rupa Gosvami is
that very person who established within this world the innermost hearts desire
of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
After Sriman Mahaprabhu disappeared from the vision of the world, the discussion of parakiya-rasa was not prominent. According to scripture, mundane rasa, this worlds love between those who are unmarried, is very immoral, illicit and sinful. However, in addition to manifesting the endless varieties and wonder of vipralambha and sambhoga, the meeting and separation pastimes of Radha and Krsna, Srila rupa Gosvami also established the superiority of parakiya-rasa. By using evidence from many different sastras, he proved that Lord Sri Krsna is not an ordinary nayaka (lover) and Radhika is not an ordinary nayika (beloved). In other words, when there is meeting between a mundane lover and beloved in the parakiya mood it is very sinful, but Sri Krsna is a transcendental personality, god Himself, and everything is possible for Him. Therefore, if He is the object of the parakiya-bhava, there is no fault or defect in this. Rather this is the topmost supremely pure manifestation of madhurya-prema, the romantic mood.
Srila Rupa Gosvami established the fact that Lord Krsna Himself came into this
world to taste these mellows, and, as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Krsna
Himself experienced this parakiya-bhakti-rasa which is within the heart of
Srimati Radhika:
anarpita-carim cirat karunayavatirnah kalau
samarpayitum unnatojjvala-rasam sva-bhakti-sriyam
harih purata-sundara-dyuti-kadamba
sada hrdaya-kandare sphuratu vah saci-nandanah
[May the Supreme Lord who is known as the son of Srimati Saci-devi be
transcendentally situated in the innermost chambers of your heart. Resplendent
with the radiance of molten gold, He has appeared in the Age of Kali by His
causeless mercy to bestow what no incarnation has ever offered before: the most
sublime and radiant mellow of devotional service, the mellow of conjugal
love.(Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Adi 1.4)]
sri-caitanya-mano-'bhistam
sthapitam yena bhu-tale
svayam rupah kada mahyam
dadati sva-padantikam
["I was born in the darkest ignorance, and my spiritual master opened my
eyes with the torchlight of knowledge. I offer my respectful obeisances unto
him. When will Srila Rupa Gosvami Prabhupada, who has established within this
material world the mission to fulfill the desire of Lord Caitanya, give me
shelter under his lotus feet? (prayer by Srila Narottama dasa Thakura)]
These deliberations and philosophical conclusions are extremely deep, and very
difficult to understand. It is therefore essential that one come under the
guidance of a self-realized Guru and pure devotees, and give ones full time and
energy, very hard labor, and enthusiastic work in the service of that Guru and
in chanting harinama, the holy names of Krsna, and doing bhajana. One should
also make a great effort to understand and realize the reason for which Srila
Rupa Gosvami appeared in this world and why he wrote so many books like as Sri
Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, Sri Ujjvala-nilamani, Sri Vidagdha-madhava and Sri
Lalita-madhava. Unless one comes to the lotus feet of Sri Guru and makes a very
great endeavor to understand these topics, after some time he will be taken
away by maya and engage in mundane activities. This is a very important point.
[Srila Narayana Maharaja announced at the end of class that all the devotees will
meet him at Sri Rupa Sanatana Mandira the following morning, Sri Rupa Gosvamis
disappearance day, at
Editorial Advisors:
Pujyapada Madhava Maharaja and Sripad Brajanatha dasa
Transcriber:
Vasanti dasi
Typist:
Anita dasi
Editor:
Syamarani dasi
HTML:
Bhutabhavana dasa
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