Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami's Samadhi Mandira at Radha-kunda

De Glind, Holland: June 11, 2003

We should know about Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami. He is in the line of Rupanuga Vaisnavas, and he is very near and dear to Srila Rupa Gosvami and all other Vaisnavas.

Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami took birth in a very aristocratic and wealthy family, and he was the only son of his father and uncle. In boyhood he was very fortunate to be initiated by Srila Yadunandana Acarya in the line of Sri Advaita Acarya. Also, Krsna arranged to send Srila Haridasa Thakura to his home, and they were together often. From babyhood he had great taste in chanting the holy name, and at the age of five he received initiation and gradually developed in his bhakti.

Only because of Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami did Srila Haridasa Thakura come to the house of a visayi (sense enjoyer). Dasa Gosvami's father was a Vaisnava, but there are two kinds of Vaisnavas: vaisnava-praya and visayi-praya. Visayi-praya is good and vaisnava-praya is not good. If one is Vaisnava- praya it means he seems to be a Vaisnava but he is not. A visayi-praya may seem to others to be a sense enjoyer, but he is not. It seems that Sri Pundarika Vidyanidhi, Sri Raya Ramananda, Srivasa Pandita and others like them were visayis, but they were actually pure Vaisnavas – uttama bhagavatas.

Srila Raghunsatha dasa Gosvami's father used to serve all the Vaisnavas and many Vaisnavas visited him, but he was engaged in sense gratification and so he was a Vaisnava-praya, not a Vaisnava. If we consider the symptoms of Vaisnava-praya and visayi-praya, we will see that we are also Vaisnava-praya, not suddha-vaisnava. If you are householders, try to be like Pundarika Vidyanidhi, Raya Ramananda, Srivasa Pandita, the five Pandavas, Draupadi and so on. And, if you are renounced from household life, then try to be like Sri Narada, Sri Sukadeva Gosvami, Srila Rupa Gosvami, Srila Sanatana Gosvami and others like them.

So almost from the beginning of his life, Raghunatha dasa Gosvami was associating with Srila Haridasa Thakura. From the beginning he had great affection for Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, by hearing from Yadunandana Acarya, Srila Haridasa Thakura especially, and from the other Vaisnavas who visited his home. Raghunatha dasa Gosvami is an eternal associate of Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Sri Sri Radha-Krsna, but he is showing us by the example of his own life’s activities that if one has performed spiritual pious activities (sukrti) in past lives, one will easily get the association of Vaisnavas in ones next life. He was playing a role in order to show us how we should behave.

After some time he developed great love and affection for Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and when he became about twelve years old or a little older he was continually weeping, "When can I meet Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu?"

He was fortunate, because when Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu took sannyasa and wanted to go to Vrndavana, the "tricky" Nityananda Prabhu took Him to Santipura. When Raghunatha dasa heard this he exclaimed, "Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has come very near to my village!" and he went to take His darsana. While there, he was always with Mahaprabhu and he liked to take His remnants (prasadam). Someone had told Mahaprabhu that Raghunatha dasa was the son of Govardhana Majumadara, a disciple of Yadunandana Acarya and an associate of Haridasa Thakura, so Mahaprabhu showed him great affection.

Raghunatha dasa told Mahaprabhu, "I want to be with You wherever You go." Though only a boy, he had became mad after Him – not like the devotees nowadays. Nowadays devotees go to their Gurudeva and say, "O Gurudeva, I want to take poison (sense gratification with the opposite sex). Please order me to take this poison." Gurudeva replies, "How can I order you to take poison?" The disciple says, "I may commit suicide if you don't! Gurudeva says, "Oh, don't commit suicide. If you do so, you will have to suffer more than you are suffering now. I cannot give this order. If you do not want to obey, you can take the poison on your own, but I will not give you an order to do so." The disciple is then very happy, clapping and telling others, "My Gurudeva has given me the order: 'You can take that poison.'" This is bad.

We have been engaging in sense gratification since the origin of this creation. We have been humans before. We have been kings and animals like hogs and dogs, we have had thousands of wives, and we have also been demigods – but still we are not satisfied. I know that after some time such "disciples" will again not be satisfied, and they will again become hogs and dogs. How can Gurudeva order his disciple to engage in sense gratification? He will never do so.

Contrary to this type of disciple, Raghunatha dasa asked, "O Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu! O Master! I want to come with You!"

Mahaprabhu replied, "Don't be mad; don't be mad."

sthira hana ghare yao, na hao vatula
krame krame paya loka bhava-sindhu-kula

["Be patient and return home. Don't be a crazy fellow. By and by you will be able to cross the ocean of material existence.”
(Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya-lila 16.237)]

antare nistha kara, bahye loka-vyavahara
acirat krsna tomaya karibe uddhara

["Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu continued, "Within your heart you should keep yourself very faithful, but externally you may behave like an ordinary man. Thus Krsna will soon be very pleased and deliver you from the clutches of maya."
(CC Madhya 16.239)]

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu told him, "Antare kara nistha." Nistha means steadiness of mind and heart. "You should return to your home, obey your father and mother externally, and mingle with them outwardly until your bhakti matures. If you leave before your bhakti has somewhat come to nistha, you may again return. Especially if ruci, taste in bhajana, manifests, you will not fall down.” "Loka-vyavahara" means "Offer pranama to your father, mother and others, mix with them, and you can have a job.” "Antare" means to internally have strong faith in the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu. "Gradually you will develop, and then there will be no one to stop you. If you leave home without being in that position, you will return."

After Raghunatha dasa Gosvami went back home, he was helping his father with landlord and property related duties, at the same time he was chanting and remembering and his steadiness of mind and strong faith was increasing; and he developed his bhakti. One day, hearing that Nityananda Prabhu had come to Panihati, very near to his home in Saptagrama, he at once told his father, "Father, I am going to meet Sri Nityananda Prabhu." In this way, when Nityananda Prabhu came to Panihati with all his associates, Raghunatha Dasa went there with the permission of his father. Lord Krsna makes arrangements such as these; you cannot do so. If you are sincere, then step by step Krsna arranges everything.

Raghunatha dasa's father gave him some money and said, "You should feed the sadhus. Hold a mahotsava (festival), serve prasadam to the sadhus, and then very soon return home." Raghunatha replied, "O father, I will return."

When he arrived, he saw that thousands of Vaisnavas were sitting with Nityananda prabhu on the bank of the Ganges under the shade of a banyan tree. Nityananda Prabhu was sitting like the sun, and all the Vaisnavas sat around him.

Someone told Nityananda Prabhu, "Raghunatha has come. Nityananda replied, "Bring him!" and then he said to Raghunatha dasa, "O Chora." Chora means thief. "O, come, come, come!" Raghunatha dasa Gosvami was shy, but the devotee somehow brought him closer and Nityananda prabhu told him, "I will punish you!"^{*[See endnote 1]} Saying this, Nityananda Prabhu put his lotus feet on Raghunatha dasa Gosvami's head.

Lord Brahma and Lord Sankara are never able to get this mercy. Nityananda Prabhu is Sri Baladeva Himself, the first expansion of Lord Krsna. Brahma and Siva (Sankara) cannot even have this mercy in trance, but Raghunatha dasa Gosvami was such an elevated devotee that Nityananda Prabhu personally placed his lotus feet on his head.

Nityananda prabhu then said, "You should hold a cida-mahotsava – chipped rice festival. Bring several mounds of yoghurt, milk, sandesh, bananas, sugar and many other eatables." Some servants from his father’s house were with him; and they went village to village and collected great quantities of these items, because there were thousands of devotees.

The chipped rice was then cooked in pure hot milk, and very delicious sweet yogurt was also given.^{*[See endnote 2]} In India, sandesh is one of the most delicious sweets, so mounds of sandesh were also distributed. When the residents of the villages in which the ingredients were collected heard that there would be a festival and many people would be attending, they also came. Soon there was no place for everyone to sit, so some stood up in the Ganges water, and some here and there.^{*[See endnote 3]}

A plate was then given to Nityananda Prabhu, and he told the server to bring one more plate. Then a second plate was brought, containing the same preparations. He then meditated and prayed, and then he sang this kirtana along with his followers:

[At this time all the assembled devotees in Srila Narayana Maharaja's class joined in as he loudly chanted the following three kirtanas:]

maha-prasade govinde
nama-bramani vaisnave
svalpa-punyavatam rajan
visvaso naiva jayate

["Those who have very few pious activities to their credit can never develop faith in mahaprasadam, in Sri Govinda, in the holy name of the Lord, nor in the Vaisnavas, which are all on the same platform."
(Prasada-sevaya)]

sarira avidya-jal jodendriya tahe kal
jive phele visaya-sagore
ta'ra madhye jihwa ati, lobhamoya sudurmati
ta'ke jeta kathina samsare

["This material body is a lump of ignorance and the senses are a network of paths leading to death. We have fallen into this ocean of material sense enjoyment. Of all the senses the tongue is the most difficult to control and is always very greedy to taste things.
(Sarira Avidya-Jal, verse 1)]

krsna boro doyamoya, koribare jihwa jaya
swa-prasad-anna dilo bhai
sei annamrta pao, radha-krsna-guna gao
preme dako caitanya-nitai

["But Krsna is so merciful that he gives us His prasada, the remnants from His own mouth, to help us conquer the tongue. This prasada is full of nectar. Take this prasada and glorify Radha and Krsna. With love call for the help of Caitanya-Nitai."
(Sarira Avidya-Jal, verse 2)]

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

This was the mercy of both Nityananda Prabhu and Caitanya Mahaprabhu upon Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, and after this event the obstacles which had been in his way disappeared. This was because Nityananda Prabhu had told him, "Now you have satisfied me, so now all problems and obstacles will go away and very soon your desire to meet Caitanya Mahaprabhu will be fulfilled."

After some days Raghunatha dasa Gosvami’s parents saw and realized, "Oh, this boy is mad after Mahaprabhu!" They married him, therefore, to a very beautiful girl who could have won the Miss Universe contest – but he had no attraction for her at all and he wanted to leave very soon.

One day at about four in the morning, it so happened that Srila Yadunandana Acarya came to his home and told him, "My priest, the worshiper of my Deities, has not come. Come with me to bring him." Raghunatha dasa Gosvami replied, “I will bring him myself; you may go home."

Raghunatha dasa’s father, mother and everyone else were thinking, "He is with Yadunandana Acarya, so he will not leave." And because of this understanding no police or guards were there then. Raghunatha dasa went to the home of that priest and sent him to Srila Yadunandana Acarya, and then he at once left for Puri. It was a one month journey through the forest by foot, but he did it in only twelve days. He hardly ate anything – only some muri and milk – in these twelve days. He thus became lean and thin during those days, and blackish because he never bathed. He was in the forest day and night. He did not walk on any path, for if he did his father would have caught him. And thus he arrived in Puri.

There is an important instruction here. We want to blow out our cheeks and laugh loudly at the same time, but this is not possible. Two swords cannot fit in one case. In other words we cannot have sense gratification and bhakti at the same time. If you want real devotion, try to follow Srila Raghunath dasa Gosvami in a real sense. Otherwise you cannot have it.

When Ragunatha dasa Gosvami reached Puri, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu put him in the hands of Sri Svarupa Damodara Gosvami. This is an important thing to understand. Lord Krsna cannot help you; only His associates can help you. Krsna does not fully know what bhakti is; that is, He does not know how to serve Himself. He is the recipient of the service, the object of the service. He is not the performer or the container of the service. Do you understand? He does not know this. Those who are worshipping and serving Lord Krsna or Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu can teach. So don't go directly to Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Sriman Mahaprabhu told Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, "Svarupa Damodara knows more than I." And this was true. Mahaprabhu can only serve as Radhika serves, whereas devotees can serve Mahaprabhu and Radha-Krsna. Raghunatha dasa Gosvami knew some of the moods of Svarupa Damodara, but we cannot. We will have to go a maha-bhagavata, a realized soul in this world who is playing the role of a madhyama-adhikari, a sincere Vaisnava who knows sastra. He will teach you. Srila Rupa Gosvami and Sri Svarupa Damodara cannot teach you, because they will not reveal themselves to us in their forms as Rupa Gosvami and Svarupa Damodara. They will not help us directly because we are not qualified to see or hear them directly.

Sri Raya Ramananda cannot do anything to help you directly. He could not even help Pradyumna Misra at first. Pradyumna Misra had been ordered by Mahaprabhu to hear hari-katha from Raya Ramananda. He went to Raya Ramananda’s home and heard from his servant that he was in the midst of training beautiful young lady servants of Lord Jagannatha to dance, and was also bathing and dressing them. He then felt some disdain and returned to Mahaprabhu without hearing anything.^{*[See endnote 6]} So don't go to Mahaprabhu or Nityananda prabhu directly. Go to a pure devotee, but to one who is playing the role of a madhyama-adhikari and who is more near to you. He can teach you everything.

This was the instruction of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to Raghunatha dasa Gosvami:

tathapi amara ajnaya sraddha yadi haya
amara ei vakye tabe kariha niscaya

["Nevertheless, if you want to take instructions from Me with faith and love, you may ascertain your duties from the following words."
(CC Antya 6.235)]

gramya-katha na sunibe, gramya-varta na kahibe
bhala na khaibe ara bhala na paribe

["Do not talk like people in general or hear what they say. You should not eat very palatable food, nor should you dress very nicely."
(CC Antya 6.236)]

amani manada hana krsna-nama sada la'be
vraje radha-krsna-seva manase karibe

["Do not expect honor, but offer all respect to others. Always chant the holy name of Lord Krsna, and within your mind render service to Radha and Krsna in Vrndavana."
(CC Antya 6.237)]

“Bhala na khaibe ara bhala na paribe." Don't wear beautiful and fashionable garments. Also, don't criticize anyone, especially Vaisnavas. Give proper respect to others, but don't hanker for respect for yourself. Internally always serve Krsna in the process adopted by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Rupa Gosvami and all his followers. Raghunatha dasa followed that process totally.

After some days Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu disappeared from this world, and soon after that Sri Gadadhara Pandita, Sri Svarupa Damodara and Sri Raya Ramananda disappeared. Raghunatha dasa then began to weep and due to feelings of separation he wanted to give up his life, but he wanted to do so in Vrndavana. Gradually, all the Vaisnavas who were in Puri left after Caitanya Mahaprabhu disappeared. Some returned to Mayapura Navadvipa, some to Vrndavana, some went here and there, and Puri became like a ghost town. So he wanted to die. He was thinking, "I will die in Vrndavana by jumping in the Yamuna or jumping from Govardhana", but he decided to first meet with Srila Rupa Gosvami and Srila Sanatana Gosvami, who were like his elder brothers or fathers. He knew how Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was giving honor to Srila Sanatana Gosvami, and he knew how he had showered love and affection upon Srila Rupa Gosvami.

Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami found out he was not taking any prasada and that he was about to quit his body, and so they pacified him. "One cannot attain Krsna by dying", Sanatana Gosvami told him. "I was going to commit suicide, but Mahaprabhu Himself stopped me. Don't do it. Be situated at Radha-kunda. We will make a hut for you there and from time to time we will come to see you. Be there as you were in Puri – in a fixed place – and do your sadhana-bhajana there. They made a place for him there, and there He was engaged in bhajana twenty-four hours a day. In the morning, weeping and falling on the ground, he used to offer more than one thousand pranamas to all the Vaisnavas and all the sacred places of Vrndavana, to Mother Yasoda and Nanda Baba, and to all associates of Radhika, like Lalita, Visakha, Citra, Campakalata and so on.

he radhe! vraja-devike! ca lalite! he nanda-suno! kutah
sri-govardhana-kalpa-padapa-tale kalindi-vanye kutah
ghosantav iti sarvato vraja-pure khedair maha-vihvalau
vande rupa-sanatanau raghu-yugau sri-jiva-gopalakau

[“I am doing vadana to the Six Gosvamis, who were always calling out, "O Radhe! O Queen of Vrndavana! Where are you? O Lalite! O son of Nanda Maharaja! Where are You? Are You seated beneath the kalpa-vrksa trees of Sri Govardhana Hill? Or are You roaming in the forests along the soft banks of the Kalindi?" They were always lamenting overwhelmed and burning in feelings of great separation as they wandered throughout all Vraja-mandala.”
(Sri Sad-Gosvamyastakam, verse 8)]

TO BE CONTINUED

[*Endnote 1 – "Lord Nityananda was by nature very merciful and funny. Being merciful, He spoke to Raghunatha dasa as follows. 'You are just like a thief, for instead of coming near, you stay away at a distant place. Now that I have captured you, I shall punish you. Make a festival and feed all My associates yogurt and chipped rice.' Hearing this, Raghunatha dasa was greatly pleased." (Cc Antya-lila 49-51)]

[*Endnote 2 – "As soon as they heard that a festival was going to be held, all kinds of brahmanas and other gentlemen began to arrive. Thus there were innumerable people. Seeing the crowd increasing, Raghunatha dasa arranged to get more eatables from other villages. He also brought two to four hundred large, round earthen pots. He also obtained five or seven especially large earthen pots, and in these pots a brahmana began soaking chipped rice for the satisfaction of Lord Nityananda. In one place, chipped rice was soaked in hot milk in each of the large pots. Then half the rice was mixed with yogurt, sugar and bananas. The other half was mixed with condensed milk and a special type of banana known as canpa-kala. Then sugar, clarified butter and camphor were added. After Nityananda Prabhu had changed His cloth for a new one and sat on a raised platform, the brahmana brought before Him the seven huge pots. On that platform, all the most important associates of Sri Nityananda Prabhu, as well as other important men, sat down in a circle around the Lord." Cc Antya-lila 54-60)]

[*Endnote 3 – "Hearing about the festival, all kinds of learned scholars, brahmanas and priests went there. Lord Nityananda Prabhu honored them and made them sit on the raised platform with Him. Everyone was offered two earthen pots. In one was put chipped rice with condensed milk, and in the other chipped rice with yogurt. All the other people sat in groups around the platform. No one could count how many people there were. Each and every one of them was supplied two earthen pots-one of chipped rice soaked in yogurt and the other of chipped rice soaked in condensed milk. Some of the brahmanas, not having gotten a place on the platform, went to the bank of the Ganges with their two earthen pots and soaked their chipped rice there. Others, who could not get a place even on the bank of the Ganges, got down into the water and began eating their two kinds of chipped rice. Thus some sat on the platform, some at the base of the platform, and some on the bank of the Ganges, and they were all supplied two pots each by the twenty men who distributed the food." (Cc Antya-lila 6.66-71)]

[*Endnote 4 – "When chipped rice had been served to everyone, Lord Nityananda Prabhu, in meditation, brought Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. When Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu arrived, Lord Nityananda Prabhu stood up. They then saw how the others were enjoying the chipped rice with yogurt and condensed milk. From each and every pot, Lord Nityananda Prabhu took one morsel of chipped rice and pushed it into the mouth of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu as a joke. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, also smiling, took a morsel of food, pushed it into the mouth of Nityananda and laughed as He made Lord Nityananda eat it. In this way Lord Nityananda was walking through all the groups of eaters, and all the Vaisnavas standing there were seeing the fun. No one could understand what Nityananda Prabhu was doing as He walked about. Some, however, who were very fortunate, could see that Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was also present. Then Nityananda Prabhu smiled and sat down. On His right side He kept four pots of chipped rice that had not been made from boiled paddy. Lord Nityananda offered Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu a place and had Him sit down. Then together the two brothers began eating chipped rice. Seeing Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu eating with Him, Lord Nityananda Prabhu became very happy and exhibited varieties of ecstatic love. Lord Nityananda Prabhu ordered, "All of you eat, chanting the holy name of Hari." Immediately the holy names "Hari, Hari" resounded, filling the entire universe. When all the Vaisnavas were chanting the holy names "Hari, Hari" and eating, they remembered how Krsna and Balarama ate with Their companions the cowherd boys on the bank of the Yamuna. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Lord Nityananda Prabhu are extremely merciful and liberal. It was Raghunatha dasa's good fortune that They accepted all these dealings. Who can understand the influence and mercy of Lord Nityananda Prabhu? He is so powerful that He induced Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to come eat chipped rice on the bank of the Ganges. All the confidential devotees who were cowherd boys, headed by Sri Ramadasa, were absorbed in ecstatic love. They thought the bank of the Ganges to be the bank of the Yamuna." (Cc Antya-lila 6.77-91)]

[*Endnote 5 – For five days Raghunatha dasa Gosvami took prasadam at the temple, but later he would stand at the Simha-dvara gate and eat only whatever he could gather by alms. Later he lived by taking alms from various chatras, or food distributing centers. When Raghunatha's father received news of this, he sent some men and money, but Raghunatha dasa Gosvami refused to accept the money. Understanding that Raghunatha dasa Gosvami was living by begging from the chatras, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu presented him with His own gunja-mala and a stone from Govardhana Hill. Thereafter, Raghunatha dasa Gosvami used to eat rejected food that he had collected and washed. This renounced life greatly pleased both Svarupa Damodara Gosvami and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. One day Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu took by force some of the same food, thus blessing Raghunatha dasa Gosvami for his renunciation.]

[*Endnote 6 – "When the servant informed Ramananda Raya of Pradyumna Misra's arrival, Ramananda Raya immediately went to the assembly room. He offered his obeisances to Pradyumna Misra with all respect and then, with great humility, spoke as follows. 'Sir, you came here long ago, but no one informed me. Therefore I have certainly become an offender at your lotus feet. My entire home has been purified by your arrival. Kindly order me. What can I do for you? I am your servant.' Pradyumna Misra replied, 'I came simply to see you. Now I have purified myself by seeing Your Honor.' Because Pradyumna Misra saw that it was late, he did not say anything else to Ramananda Raya. Instead, he took leave of him and returned to his own home. The next day, when Pradyumna Misra arrived in the presence of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Lord inquired, 'Have you heard talks about Krsna from Sri Ramananda Raya?' Pradyumna Misra thereupon described the activities of Sri Ramananda Raya. After hearing about these activities, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu began to speak. 'I am a sannyasi,' He said, 'and I certainly consider Myself renounced. But what to speak of seeing a woman, if I even hear the name of a woman, I feel changes in My mind and body. Therefore who could remain unmoved by the sight of a woman? It is very difficult. Everyone please hear these topics about Ramananda Raya, although they are so wonderful and uncommon that they should not be spoken. The two professional dancing girls are beautiful and youthful, yet Sri Ramananda Raya personally massages their entire bodies with oil. He personally bathes and dresses them and decorates them with ornaments. In this way, he naturally sees and touches the private parts of their bodies. Nevertheless, the mind of Sri Ramananda Raya never changes, although he teaches the girls how to physically express all the transformations of ecstasy. His mind is as steady as wood or stone. Indeed, it is wonderful that even when he touches such young girls, his mind never changes. The authority for such acts is the prerogative of Ramananda Raya alone, for I can understand that his body is not material but has been completely transformed into a spiritual entity. He alone, and no one else, can understand the position of his mind.'" (Cc Antya-lila 5.27-43)]

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