Shri Roopa Goswami Ji
SAMĀDHI OF SHRI ROOP GOSWAMI JI
śrī-rūpa-mañjarī khyātā yāsīd vṛndāvane purā
sādya rūpākhya-gosvāmī bhūtvā prakaṭatām iyāt
She who was known in Vrindavan as Rupa Manjari has now appeared as Rupa Gosvāmī.
(Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā 180)
Lalita is chief amongst the sakhis who make up Radharani’s entourage, and Rupa Manjari is the foremost amongst those sakhis who follow Lalita. It is for this reason that Rupa Gosvāmī is the chief amongst the six Goswamis in Gaura lila. The seed to the devotional creeper comes through the mercy of the Lord and His devotee. The creeper of spontaneous ecstatic devotion does not get shelter anywhere within this world or Viraja, not even in Vaikuntha in the spiritual world, but only in Vṛndāvan at Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet. More Rupa Gosvāmī and Sanatan Gosvāmī were eternal participants in Kṛṣṇa-lila. When the time for them to make their contribution to Gaura-lila, Mahāprabhu and His associates arrived in their home village. While performing their earthly pastimes, the Lord and His devotees make an eff ort to keep their transcendental natures concealed to facilitate spreading of their teachings to the people in this world; however, when they come close to one another their actual identity cannot remain concealed. From the meeting at Ramakeli, it is evident that Mahāprabhu intended to teach the people of this world through Rupa Gosvāmī and Sanatan Gosvāmī. Not long afterward, an intense spirit of renunciation awakened in the two brothers and they started looking for a way to extricate themselves from their entanglement in the service of the King. Th e Lord said to Vallabha Bhaṭṭa, “You are an older, aristocratic Brahmin, while these two belong to a low caste. You should certainly not touch them.” Vallabha Bhaṭṭa was able to divine that there was some hidden meaning to the Lord’s utterance and he asked how they could be considered of a low caste when they chanted the name of Kṛṣṇaconstantly. When Rupa Gosvāmī arrived in Prayag, he learnt that Mahāprabhu was there at the house of a South Indian Brahmin. When Rupa Gosvāmī found Him there, he was overwhelmed with feelings of love for the Lord. More While in Vrindavan, Rupa Gosvāmī had commenced writing a play on Kṛṣṇa-lila, and had composed several verses of the introductory portion, known as the nāndī. Th e nāndī verses include the obeisance, the blessing and the indication of the play’s subject matter. Mahaprabhu Instructs Rupa Gosvāmī
The Lord explained the rasa-śāstra to Rupa Gosvāmī, in a way He did no other person, for Rupa Gosvāmī was the dear friend of Svarupa Damodar, his true identity was that of the Lord’s beloved, his nature was that of divine love it self, and he was also possessed of natural physical beauty. Mahāprabhu arrived unexpectedly and was impressed by his beautiful handwriting, comparing it to a string of pearls. He read the verse that Rupa Gosvāmī had composed in the glorifi cation of the Holy Name and was overcome with devotional ecstacy Rupa Gosvāmī in Vrindavan From Puri, Rupa Gosvāmī returned to Gauḍadesh to arrange for the equitable distribution of his accumulated wealth amongst his family, Brahmins and temples, and stayed there for nearly a year before going to Vrindavan for good.
More According to the Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā (195), Śrīla Jiva Gosvāmī was previously Vilāsa Manjari in Vraja. In verse203 of the same book, it is stated that he was the son of Vallabha and a scholar of exemplary character (suśīlaḥpaṇḍitaḥ śrīmān jīvaḥ śrī-vallabhātmajaḥ).
Shri Jiva Goswami Ji
According to the Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā (195), Śrīla Jiva Gosvāmī was previously Vilāsa Manjari in Vraja. In verse203 of the same book, it is stated that he was the son of Vallabha and a scholar of exemplary character (suśīlaḥpaṇḍitaḥ śrīmān jīvaḥ śrī-vallabhātmajaḥ). According to the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Abhidhāna, Jiva was present in thisworld from 1511 to 1596 (1433 to 1518 Śaka), but some other sources propose that Jiva lived from 1533 to 1618.
When Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī was a little boy, he refused to play any game that had no relation to Kṛṣṇa, with other boys.He made images of Kṛṣṇa and Balarām and would worship Th em with fl owers and sandalwood paste and dress anddecorate them. He would gaze upon them with unblinking eyes, sitting motionless on the fl oor like a golden doll.When he paid obeisance to the deities, his eyes fi lled with tears. He would off er their Lordships sweets and then takethe prasad and distribute it to his friends. By Nityananda Prabhu’s grace, Jiva Gosvāmī was able to visit all the sacred sites in Nabadvīpa Dham. Aft ercompleting his tour of the dham, he travelled to Benares where he studied all the scriptures with MadhusudanVachaspati. Th en he went on to Vrindavan where he remained under the tutelage of Rupa and Sanatan Gosvāmīs Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura Prabhupad has given the following warning in his Anubhāṣya tothose inexperienced persons who might be deprived of Kṛṣṇa-prema through the infl uence of ignorant and off ensiveSahajiya teachings. In the Bhakti-ratnākara, a list of twenty-fi ve works ascribed to Jiva Gosvāmī. Rupa Gosvāmī instructed Jiva Gosvāmī, punished him and then blessed him, in a story told in the fi ft h wave of Bhakti-ratnākara.
1. Harināmāmṛta-vyākaraṇa
2. Sūtra-mālikā
3. Dhātu-saṅgraha
4. Kṛṣṇārcana-dīpikā
5. Gopāla-virudāvalī
6. Rasāmṛta-śeṣa
7. Mādhava-mahotsava
8. Saṅkalpa-kalpa-vṛkṣa
9. Bhāvārtha-sūcaka-campū
10. A commentary on Gopala-tāpanī Upanisadṭīkā
11. A commentary on Brahma-saṁhitā
12. A commentary on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu
13. A commentary on Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi
14. A commentary on Yogasāra-stavaka
15. Gāyatrī-bhāṣya of Agnipurāṇa
16. Kṛṣṇa-pada-cihna of Padma-purāṇa
17. Śrī Rādhikā-kara-pada-sthita-cihna
18. Gopāla-campū, Pūrva and Uttara divisions
19. Krama-sandarbha
20. Tattva-sandarbha
21. Bhagavat-sandarbha
22. Paramātma-sandarbha
23. Kṛṣṇa-sandarbha
24. Bhakti-sandarbha
25. Prīti-sandarbha
Shri Bhugarbh Goswami Ji
I offer my reverence to the illustrious Bhugarbha Prabhu who was said to be born from the womb of the earth. He bestows love of Krishna; he takes pleasure in the service of Govinda Deva, is compassionate, simple and always joyful. In Kavi Karnapura’s Gaura-ganodesa-dipika he is identified in Krsna-lila as Prema-manjari.
Bhugarbha Gosvāmī’s initiating guru was Gadadhar Pandit Gosvāmī. He is therefore considered to be Gadadhar’s branch of the Chaitanya tree. Śrī Bhagavata Das, a fellow disciple of Śrīla Gadadhar Pandit Gosvāmī, was his close friend. Bhugarbha Gosvāmī passed away on the 14th day of the bright fortnight in the month of Karttika.
Shri Sanatan Goswami Ji
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ya rupa-manjari-preshtha purasiad rati-manjari
socyate nama-bhedena lavanga-manjari budhaih
sadya gaurabhinna-tanuh sarvaradhyah sanatanah
tam eva pravishat karyan muni-ratnah sanatanah
Rati Manjari, who was previously very dear to Rupa Manjari and was also known by some wise persons as Lavanga Manjari, has become the worshipable Sanātana, who is non-diff erent from Gaura himself. Th e jewel amongst sages,Sanātana Kumara, has also entered into him to fulfi ll a certain mission. Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī studied under the country’s leading scholar named Vidyāvācaspati, learning many scriptures from him. Sanātana himself would associate constantly with Muslims. Being dependent on them for his livelihood,he would even go into their homes. For this reason, he considered himself to be on the same level as the Muslims and behaved very humbly. In the dead of night the two brothers, Dabir Khas and Sākara Mallik, went to see Mahāprabhu. Mahāprabhuimpressed by their extreme humility blessed the two brothers and said to them, “You are my eternal servants. Fromnow on you shall be known as Rūpa and Sanātana. I came to Bengal just so that I could meet you here in Rāmakelivillage. Krishna will deliver you from your entanglements very shortly.” Hussein Shah used to treat Sanātana Gosvāmī as his younger brother and had great aff ection for him. To break awayfrom his entanglements, he stopped performing his duties in the Shah’s court, pretending to be ill. When Sanātanarefused to return to his ministerial duties, Shah became suspicious of Sanātana and had him put in prison. Sanātana become suspicious of the warm treatment he was getting from his host. He took the gold coins from Ishanaand gave them to his host, asking him to help him get across the mountain. Sanātana aft er taking his bath in the Ganges, came back to Chandrasekhara's house. He wanted to give him a newcloth, but Sanātana refused it, taking back his old one. Mahāprabhu was extremely pleased to see this renunciation. Sanātana took the main highway to Vrindavan where he met Subuddhi Rāya who was following Mahāprabhu’sinstructions to atone for his past sins by chanting Hare Krishna. On arrival to Purī, Sanātana Gosvāmī began staying with Hari Das Th akur. When Mahāprabhu visited Siddha Bakula, he took Sanātana in his arms by force, holding him tightly enough that the fl uid oozing from Sanātana’ssores was smeared on his body, the sight of which broke Sanātana’s heart. Sanātana wrote four books, all of which are considered to be jewels by the devotees. Mahāprabhu himself gave directions to Sanātana about the contents of the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa, which is the smriti scripture, or rule book for the external practices to be followed by the devotees.
While staying at Cakratīrtha near Govardhana, Sanātana would regularly circumambulate the mountain. ŚrīGopīnāth himself came as a cowherd boy and gave Govardhan Shila saying "I am giving you this stone from Govardhana. If you circumambulate this stone, you can consider yourself to have circumambulated Govardhanaitself."
SAMĀDHI OF ŚRĪ KRSNADAS KAVIRĀJ GOSVĀMĪ
Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja was born in about 1520 in the town of Jhametpur in the district of Burdwan in Bengal. It issaid that he took initiation from Srila Raghunatha Dasa Gosvāmī. In his later years, due to the great faith he showedin Nityananda Prabhu, he was blessed by Him in a dream and instructed to travel to Vrndavana. When he arrivedthere, the devotees requested him to write about the pastimes of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Seeking the blessings of Sri Madana-mohan, he asked the Deity to give permission to begin his task. At that moment, the garland from around the Deities neck fell and the devotees took this as a sign of approval from the Lord. The result of the Lord’s benediction was the Sri Caitanya-caritamrta. He also wrote the Govinda-lilamrta for which he was honored by the Vaisnava community with the title ‘kaviraja’(king of poets). His spiritual identity is Kasturi-manjari in Krsna’s eternal pastimes. Śrīla Prabhupada, Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura concludes that Kaviraj Gosvāmī probably disappeared in 1616 or 1617.
Shri Jaydev Goswami Ji
Thakur Shri Radha Madhav Ji in Radha Damodar Temple belongs to Shri Jaidev Goswami Ji. Śrīla Jayadeva Gosvāmī appeared in either the eleventh or twelfth century of the Śaka era. There is a difference of
opinions about the place of his birth. The majority opinion holds that he hailed from the village of Kendubilva,
presently in the district of Birbhum. Others hold that he was born in Orissa or in south India.
Kendubilva is situated about twenty miles south of Siuri on the banks of the Ajay River. In the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava
Abhidhāna it is stated that Jayadeva Goswami found his Radha Madhava deities in this river’s waters. It is also stated
there that he used to rest and worship at the temple of Shiva known as Lord Kuśeśvara, which is also on the banks of
the Ajay River. His father was Bhojadeva and mother, Vama Devi. Though King Lakshman Sen invited him to come and live in the royal palace, Jayadeva Gosvāmī was unwilling to live in the opulent environment of the palace. He told the king that he preferred to live in Jagannath Puri. King quickly suggested that he take up residence in the village of Champa Hati, saying that it is a place suitable for a person who Cwished to lead a meditative life. Lord Jagannath Himself ordered Jayadeva Goswami to marry his wife, Padmavati. Jayadeva Gosvāmī is responsible for all the moods and sentiments that appear in the Gīta-Govinda, he had some reticence about writing that Krishna fell down at Radharani’s feet to beg Her forgiveness when She was angry with Him for having deceived Her. Lord Jagannath was attracted by fl ower gardener’s daughter singing and would go to listen to her, only returning to the temple aft er she had fi nished singing. Mahaprabhu Appreciates Gīta-Govinda Mahāprabhu would savor the songs of the Gīta-Govinda. Śrī Svarupa Damodar used to make Mahāprabhu very happy by singing the songs of Vidyāpati, Chandi Das and Gīta Govinda. Jayadeva Gosvāmī wished to put on a festival for his deities Radha-Madhava, but he was short of money. He decided to travel in order to collect some funds. On his return journey, he was stopped by a band of thugs who not only stole his money but cutoff his hands and feet and threw him down a well to die. Despite the pain, Jayadeva Gosvāmīshouted out the names of the Lord loudly.
Srila Prabhupada Śrīla Bhakti Vedānta Swāmī Mahārāja
His Divine Grace Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the foremost preacher of Krsna Consciousness in the
world, first came to live in Radha Damodar Temple in 1959 after accepting the sannyasa order of life. The sevaite of
the temple, Sri Gaurachanda Gosvāmī, approached Srila Prabhupada and invited him to come and live there since it
was the eternal home of Srila Rupa Gosvāmī and Srila Jiva Gosvāmī.Srila Prabhupada took two rooms, one that acted as a kitchen, the other as a study where he would write.In the early morning at Radha Damodar Temple, Srila Prabhupada would write and chant japa. He would then circumambulate the samadhis of Jiva Gosvāmī and Rupa Gosvāmī. At 10:00 he would go and take darsana of the other temples of Vrndavana, purchase vegetables and return by 11:00 to cook. Using a kerosene burner and a three tiered cooker, he would prepare rice, dahl, potatoes, chapattis and subji. He would eat once a day and take some hot milk at night. In the afternoon he would rest for 15 minutes and resume his writing after honoring Radha Damodar Raj bhoga prasadam. From his kitchen he would gaze out of the small window into the courtyard where Rupa Gosvāmī's samadhi mandir is situated. He later said that he received great inspiration from Rupa Gosvāmī and that his plans for spreading Krsna Consciousness were formulated during his years at the Radha Damodar Temple. In the six years that Prabhupad stayed at the Radha Damodar Temple he wrote his first two books Easy Journey to Other Planets, In search of the Ultimate Goal of Life, the first two volumes of Srimad Bhagavatam, wrote various articles for Back to Godhead and Bhagavat-darsan and organized a successful Janmastami mahotsava at Radha Related Damodar Temple which was attended by the U.P. Governor Biswanath Das.
Aft er returning to Vrndavana with his fi rst foreign disciples in 1967, he again took up residence in his old rooms atthe Radha Damodar Temple and from that time on, his disciples maintained his rooms there.
In 1972 during the holy month of Karttika, he delivered a series of lectures on Rupa Gosvāmī's Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu at the Radha-Damodar Temple. He spoke in the courtyard near to Rupa Gosvāmī's samadhi and bhajan-kutir.
Sripada B.G. Narasingha Maharaja: I remember Prabhupad called a meeting in 1977 with a few of his sannyasis. Th enhe told us, ‘Generally the worship in the spiritual master's bhajan-kutir doesn't start until aft er his departure. But Iwant to initiate the system of worship now, so I know that it is going on.' So aft er that meeting from that time on,these rooms at Radha Damodar became known as ‘Prabhupadas' bhajan-kutir'.
He instructed his disciples that they should keep a photograph of him in his room and off er it the prasadam of Sri Sri Radha Damodar. Th e sannyasis would stay in the rooms for one to three months and then rotate. Just like duringhis presence — he was always calling his top preachers to come and serve him and them sending them out. But it never happened. The sannyasis were supposed to go shopping, buy everything, cook the off ering for him, and basically live there justlike he did, the position is more than just being a caretaker, but that person is like his personal cook.“
He would oft en have long philosophical discussion with Sri Gauracand Gosvāmī on the writings of Sri Rupa and SriJiva Gosvāmīs. He stressed the importance of his rooms at Radha Damodar temple, not simply because they were hisrooms. In one letter he wrote: ”Th is corner at the Radha Damodar temple is just like the hub of the wheel of the spiritual world — it is the center.“ Sripada B.G. Narasingha Maharaja explains this statement: ”He said that the Radha Damodar temple is in the center of the spiritual world because of the activities that went ont here among the followers of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and because of the intimacy of the association and what was revealed there to the devotees and what they experienced there. Th e intensity of the divine rapture would make it the center no matter where it was. But it also happened to be Vrndavana.“Thus, he referred to his rooms at Radha Damodar Temple as his ‘eternal residence,' the place where he began his plans to spread the Krsna Consciousness movement.
SAMĀDHIS OF MAHĀRĀJA VĪRA HAMVIRA AND QUEEN SULAKṢAṆA
Maharaja Vira Hamvira was the King of Vanavisnupura in the district of Bankura and a disciple of Srinivasa Acarya.His wife was Sulaksana and his son was Dhira Hamvira (or Dhadi Hamvira). At fi rst, Vira Hamvira was a tyrant anda dacoit who originally stole the books of Srinivasa when he was taking them to Bengal with Narottama DasaTh akura and Syamananda Goswami. Later the king converted to Vaisnavism. According to Bhakti-ratnakara, SrilaJiva Gosvami named him Caitanya Dasa. When Maharaja Vira Hamvira installed the Deity of Lord Kalacanda, theinstallation ceremony was conducted by Srinivasa Acarya.
SAMĀDHI OF ACHARYA ŚRĪ GAURACHAND GOSVĀMĪ
Sri Gauracand Goswami was the direct descendent of Sri Krsna Dasa Goswami, the original head pujari at Sri SriRādha-Dāmodar Temple. In 1959 he personally invited Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada to take up residenceat Rādha-Dāmodar Temple.
SAMĀDHI OF ŚRĪ NIRMAL CHANDRA GOSVĀMĪ
Sri Nirmal Chandra Goswami is the descendant of Sri Gaurachand Gosvāmī. He took up the seva of RadhaDamodar at the tender age of 14. He would cook all the off erings, do the puja and aratis and perform the samadhi-seva also. For six years he associated with Srila Prabhupada at Radha Damodar Temple and took the holy associationof many great souls including Srila B.R. Sridhara Deva Goswami Maharaja in Navadvipa.
Pushpa Samadhis
SAMĀDHIS AND BHAJAN KUTIRS
Inside Śrī Rādhā Dāmodar temple the samadhis of Śrīla Jiva Gosvāmī, Śrīla Rupa Gosvāmī, Krishna Das Kaviraj Gosvāmī and Bhugarbha Gosvāmī are found. Apart from these samadhis, the bhajan kutir of Śrīla Rupa Gosvāmī isalso here. Near the Samadhi of Śrīla Rupa Gosvāmī is the place where Śrīla Jiva Gosvāmī used to wash his feet. It is awell-known fact that by having the dust of this place every day, diseases are cured and we get the mercy of ŚrīRādhā-Dāmodar ji Maharaj and the Gosvāmīs. The Bhajan Kutir of the founder acharya of ISKCON, Srila B. V.Swami Śrīla Prabhupada is also situated here. He translated Srimad Bhagvatam into English here and sang the glories of Srimad Bhagavatam with Acharya Gorachand Goswāmī.
Śrīla Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thākur Prabhupāda
May all of you work united and in harmony toward the same goal: to earn the right to serve the root āśraya-vigraha. May the current of ideas propagated by Sri RupaGosvāmī fl ow throughout the world.
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Śrīla Bhakti Pramod Puri Mahārāja
One winter as a pujari, Pramode Bhusan forgot to off er a blanket to Sri Sri RadhaMadan Mohan. Th at night he awoke with chills through his body and soon realizedthat the cause of the chills were due to his forgetfulness in the service of theirLordships Sri Sri Radha Madan Mohan.
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Śrīla Bhakti Kusum Sraman Mahārāja
From inside, antaryyami Srila Prabhupad recognized the devotee from within and informed Kunja Babu that he is accepting the 'doctor' for both the parts of initiation. In fact Srila Prabhupad gave him mantra diksa first and then Sri Harinam. The order was just reversed in his case.