Jaya Radhe!

[Guest guest]

Namastubhyam. Jaya Prabhupada!

 

About 150 years ago two celebrated poets lived in Vrndavana.

Kundanlal & Phundanlal Shah seem to have been exceptionally qualified

devotees in several ways. It is said that that both had such staunch faith

in mahAprasAda that after having honored every last bit of prasAdam upon

their (leaf) plates, they would then take out toothpicks they carried

(which were meant for this purpose) and would painstakingly clean out

each and every nook and crevice of their leaf plates where there might

possibly be some tiny particle of prasAdam remaining hidden. Then they

would eat that, too. This was their regular practice.

 

LalitaKishori & Lalitamadhuri are their initiated names, and of

course, each used such as his (her?) nom-de-plume. The former built the

Shahji mandir in Vrindaban in 1868. Though the pre-Bhaktivinoda period is

sometimes considered a rather low point in GauDIya vaiSNavism (perhaps

moreso in Bengal), that was nonetheless a very active period in Vrindaban,

in terms of temple construction, etc.

 

Srinivasacarya's line is basically the family succession from

the disciples Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, who have also traditionally been major

contributors to GauDIya-vaiSNava poetry in Braja-bhASA. The Radharaman

Gosvamis have always been very involved in affairs of the Shahji Mandir

(in fact, the temple was originally intended for Shri RAdhA-ramaNajI

Himself, but evidently the Lord decided to remain in His existing and

present temple, which was built by the Phundan/Kundan's grandfather, Shah

Biharilal Seth). You've probably seen Shahji mandira if you've ever

been to VRndAvana. It's right next to Nidhuban, and just down the street

Radharamana's temple. It was constructed to look like an opulent

mansion, with it's own gardens, etc. If you're interested in this sort of

historical detail, one of the best (academic) sources in English is the

late Alan Entwistle's _Braj: Centre of Krishna Pilgrimage_ (Groningen:

Egbert Forsten, 1987). _GauDIya-vaiSNava-jIvanI_ is a traditional source,

but it's much harder to find.

It is said that LalitakizorI was so devoted to the sacred

dust of VRndAvana that he used to have pots made from the clay of some

other place brought in to him in VRndAvana; to avoid any offence to the

Vraja-dhuli, he would always use only these pots for answering the regular

call of nature. He would then have them carried off and dumped somewhere

outside of the Vraja region. He made a firm vow to never leave VRndAvana

(both brothers retired there when they were in their early twenties), and

maintained it to the very end. In fact, he wouldn't even let his picture

be taken out of VRndAvana. As the poem below suggests, he was a dedicated

bhakta of ZrImatI RAdhArANI.

 

Here's a poem from Lalitakishori:

 

nainana rAdhe bainana rAdhe sainana rAdhe kRtanita rAdhe /

kAnana rAdhe tAnana rAdhe bhAnana rAdhe hitavita rAdhe //

duHkha men rAdhe sukha meN rAdhe mukha meN rAdhe ura-cita rAdhe /

lalitakisorI ita-uta rAdhe jita dekhauN maiN tita-tita rAdhe //

 

"Before my eyes, RAdhe, in my words, RAdhe, in my gestures, RAdhe, in

my daily duties and social standing, RAdhe, in manual activities, RAdhe,

in outward appearances, VRSabhAnu-sute RAdhe, in whatever welfare I offer

others, RAdhe, in my distress, RAdhe, in my happiness, RAdhe, upon my

tongue, RAdhe, and within my heart of hearts, RAdhe--anywhere and

everywhere I look, O LalitakizorI, RAdhe, you are there!"

 

MDd