Srila Gadadhara dasa

[Guest guest]

Hare Krishna,

 

 

 

PAMHO, AGTSP

 

 

 

Kindly glorify the pastimes of Srila Gadadhara dasa, Dhananjaya Pandita &

Srinivasa Acarya on their disappearance day on 9th Nov. In view of the fact

that I don't have the qualification to glorify the pastimes; all I have done

is copied the pastimes from Caitanya Critamrta.

 

 

 

Your servant in mission of Srila Prabhupada

 

Nanda Gopal Dasa

 

 

 

 

CC: Adi 10.53

 

TEXT 53

 

TEXT

 

sri-gadadhara dasa sakha sarvopari

 

kaji-ganera mukhe yenha bolaila hari

 

SYNONYMS

 

sri-gadadhara dasa-Sri Gadadhara dasa; sakha-another branch;

sarva-upari-above all; kaji-ganera-of the Kazis (Muslim magistrates);

mukhe-in the mouth; yenha-one who; bolaila-caused to speak; hari-the holy

name of Hari.

 

TRANSLATION

 

Sri Gadadhara dasa, the twenty-third branch, was understood to be the

topmost, for he induced all the Muslim Kazis to chant the holy name of Lord

Hari.

 

PURPORT

 

About eight or ten miles from Calcutta, on the banks of the Ganges, is a

village known as Endiyadaha-grama. Srila Gadadhara dasa was known as an

inhabitant of this village (endiyadaha-vasi gadadhara dasa). The

Bhakti-ratnakara (Seventh Wave), informs us that after the disappearance of

Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Gadadhara dasa went from Navadvipa to Katwa.

Thereafter he came to Endiyadaha and resided there. He is stated to be the

luster of the body of Srimati Radharani, just as Srila Gadadhara Pandita

Gosvami is an incarnation of Srimati Radharani Herself. Caitanya Mahaprabhu

is sometimes explained to be radha-bhava-dyuti-suvalita, or characterized by

the emotions and bodily luster of Srimati Radharani. Gadadhara dasa is this

dyuti, or luster. In the Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika (154) he is described to be

an expansion of the potency of Srimati Radharani. He counts among the

associates of both Srila Gaurahari and Nityananda Prabhu; as a devotee of

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu he was one of the associates of Lord Krsna in

conjugal love, and as a devotee of Lord Nityananda he is considered to have

been one of the friends of Krsna in pure devotional service. Even though he

was an associate of Lord Nityananda Prabhu, he was not among the cowherd

boys but was situated in the transcendental mellow of conjugal love. He

established a temple of Sri Gaurasundara in Katwa.

 

In 1434 Sakabda (A.D. 1512), when Lord Nityananda Prabhu was empowered by

Lord Caitanya to preach the sankirtana movement in Bengal, Sri Gadadhara

dasa was one of Lord Nityananda's chief assistants. He preached the

sankirtana movement by requesting everyone to chant the Hare Krsna

maha-mantra. This simple preaching method of Srila Gadadhara dasa can be

followed by anyone and everyone in any position of society. One must simply

be a sincere and serious servant of Nityananda Prabhu and preach this cult

door to door.

 

When Srila Gadadhara dasa Prabhu was preaching the cult of hari-kirtana,

there was a magistrate who was very much against his sankirtana movement.

Following in the footsteps of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Srila Gadadhara dasa

one night went to the house of the Kazi and requested him to chant the Hare

Krsna maha-mantra. The Kazi replied, "All right, I shall chant Hare Krsna

tomorrow." On hearing this, Srila Gadadhara dasa Prabhu began to dance, and

he said, "Why tomorrow? You have already chanted the Hare Krsna mantra, so

simply continue."

 

In the Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika (verses 154-55) it is said:

 

radha-vibhuti-rupa ya candrakantih pura vraje

 

sa sri-gauranga-nikate dasa-vamsyo gadadharah

 

purnananda vraje yasid baladeva-priyagrani

 

sapi karya-vasad eva pravisat tam gadadharam

 

Srila Gadadhara dasa is considered to be a united form of Candrakanti, who

is the effulgence of Srimati Radharani, and Purnananda, who is the foremost

of Lord Balarama's very dear girlfriends. Thus Srila Gadadhara dasa Prabhu

was one of the associates of both Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu.

 

Once while Srila Gadadhara dasa Prabhu was returning to Bengal from

Jagannatha Puri with Nityananda Prabhu, he forgot himself and began talking

very loudly as if he were a girl of Vrajabhumi selling yogurt, and Srila

Nityananda Prabhu noted this. Another time, while absorbed in the ecstasy of

the gopis, he carried a jug filled with Ganges water on his head as if he

were selling milk. When Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared in the house of

Raghava Pandita while going to Vrndavana, Gadadhara dasa went to see Him,

and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was so glad that He put His foot on his head.

When Gadadhara dasa Prabhu was present in Endiyadaha, he established a Bala

Gopala murti for worship there. Sri Madhava Ghosa performed a drama known as

Dana-khanda with the help of Sri Nityananda Prabhu and Sri Gadadhara dasa.

This is explained in the Caitanya-bhagavata (Antya 5.318-94).

 

The tomb of Gadadhara dasa Prabhu, which is in the village of Endiyadaha,

was under the control of the Samyogi Vaisnavas and later under the direction

of Siddha Bhagavan dasa Babaji of Kalna. By his order, Sri Madhusudana

Mullik, one of the members of the aristocratic Mullik family of the

Narikeladanga in Calcutta, established a patavati (monastery) there in the

Bengali year 1256 (A.D. 1849). He also arranged for the worship of a Deity

named Sri Radhakanta. His son Balaicanda Mullik established Gaura-Nitai

Deities there in the Bengali year 1312 (A.D. 1905). Thus on the throne of

the temple are both Gaura-Nityananda Deities and Radha-Krsna Deities. Below

the throne is a tablet with an inscription written in Sanskrit. In that

temple there is also a small Deity of Lord Siva as Gopesvara. This is all

described on a stone by the side of the entrance door.

 

Adi 11.13

 

TEXT

 

sri-ramadasa ara, gadadhara dasa

 

caitanya-gosanira bhakta rahe tanra pasa

 

TRANSLATION

 

Two devotees of Lord Caitanya named Sri Ramadasa and Gadadhara dasa always

lived with Sri Virabhadra Gosani.

 

PURPORT

 

Sri Ramadasa, later known as Abhirama Thakura, was one of the twelve

gopalas, or cowherd boyfriends, of Sri Nityananda Prabhu. The

Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika (126) states that Sri Ramadasa was formerly Sridama.

In the Bhakti-ratnakara (Fourth Wave), there is a description of Srila

Abhirama Thakura. By the order of Sri Nityananda Prabhu, Abhirama Thakura

became a great acarya and preacher of the Caitanya cult of devotional

service. He was a very influential personality, and nondevotees were very

much afraid of him. Empowered by Sri Nityananda Prabhu, he was always in

ecstasy and was extremely kind to all fallen souls. It is said that if he

offered obeisances to any stone other than a salagrama-sila, it would

immediately fracture.

 

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura writes in his Anubhasya, "Ten miles

southwest of the Canpadanga railway station on the narrow-gauge railway line

from Howrah, in Calcutta, to Amta, a village in the Hugli district, is a

small town named Khanakula-krsnanagara, where the temple in which Abhirama

Thakura worshiped is situated. During the rainy season, when this area is

inundated with water, people must go there by another line, which is now

called the southeastern railway. On this line there is a station named

Kolaghata, from which one has to go by steamer to Ranicaka. Seven and a half

miles north of Ranicaka is Khanakula. The temple where Abhirama Thakura

worshiped is situated in Krsnanagara, which is near the kula (bank) of the

Khana (Dvarakesvara River); therefore this place is celebrated as

Khanakula-krsnanagara. Outside of the temple is a bakula tree. This place is

known as Siddha-bakula-kunja. It is said that when Abhirama Thakura came

there, he sat down under this tree. In Khanakula-krsnanagara there is a big

fair held every year in the month of Caitra [March-April] on the

Krsna-saptami, the seventh day of the dark moon. Many hundreds and thousands

of people gather for this festival. The temple where Abhirama Thakura

worshiped has a very old history. The Deity in the temple is known as

Gopinatha. There are many sevaita families living near the temple. It is

said that Abhirama Thakura had a whip and that whoever he touched with it

would immediately become an elevated devotee of Krsna. Among his many

disciples, Sriman Srinivasa Acarya was the most famous and the most dear,

but it is doubtful that he was his initiated disciple."

 

CC: Adi 11.14-15

 

nityanande ajna dila yabe gaude yaite

 

mahaprabhu ei dui dila tanra sathe

 

ataeva dui-gane dunhara ganana

 

madhava-vasudeva ghoserao ei vivarana

 

TRANSLATION

 

When Nityananda Prabhu was ordered to go to Bengal to preach, these two

devotees [sri Ramadasa and Gadadhara dasa] were ordered to go with Him. Thus

they are sometimes counted among the devotees of Lord Caitanya and sometimes

among the devotees of Lord Nityananda. Similarly, Madhava Ghosa and Vasudeva

Ghosa belonged to both groups of devotees simultaneously.

 

CC: Adi 11.31

 

nityananda-priyabhrtya pandita dhananjaya

 

atyanta virakta, sada krsna-premamaya

 

TRANSLATION

 

The sixteenth dear servant of Nityananda Prabhu was Dhananjaya Pandita. He

was very much renounced and always merged in love of Krsna.

 

PURPORT

 

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura writes in his Anubhasya, "Pandita

Dhananjaya was a resident of the village in Katwa named Sitala. He was one

of the twelve gopalas. His former name, according to the

Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika (127), was Vasudama. Sitala-grama is situated near

the Mangalakota police station and Kaicara post office in the district of

Burdwan. On the narrow railway from Burdwan to Katwa is a railway station

about nine miles from Katwa known as Kaicara. One has to go about a mile

northeast of this station to reach Sitala. The temple was a thatched house

with walls made of dirt. Some time ago, the zamindars of Bajaravana Kabasi,

the Mulliks, constructed a big house for the purpose of a temple, but for

the last sixty-five years the temple has been broken down and abandoned. The

foundation of the old temple is still visible. There is a tulasi pillar near

the temple, and every year during the month of Kartika (October-November)

the disappearance day of Dhananjaya is observed. It is said that for some

time Pandita Dhananjaya was in a sankirtana party under the direction of Sri

Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and then he went to Vrndavana. Before going to

Vrndavana, he lived for some time in a village named Sancadapancada, which

is six miles south of the Memari railway station. Sometimes this village is

also known as `the place of Dhananjaya' (Dhananjayera Pata). After some

time, he left the responsibility for worship with a disciple and went back

to Vrndavana. After returning from Vrndavana to Sitala-grama, he established

a Deity of Gaurasundara in the temple. The descendants of Pandita Dhananjaya

still live in Sitala-grama and look after the temple worship."

 

 

 

Srinivasa Acarya

 

 

 

After witnessing Lord Guranga's sannyasa ceremony at Katva, Caitanya Dasa

and his pregnant wife visited Lord Caitanya in Jagannatha Puri. "Soon your

wife will give birth to a son named 'Srinivasa' said Lord Caitanya, "and

through Srinisava all the bhakti sastras of Rupa and Sanatana will be

distributed."

 

When his father left this world Srinivasa visited the remaining associates

of Lord Gauranga in Katva, Navadvipa, Jagannatha Puri. They blessed

Srinivasa and gave him valuable instructions for spiritual advancement.

Seeing his absorption in Gauranga prema, they knew he was "an embodiment of

Gaura-sakti, the energy of Sri Guranga Mahaprabhu." He came to Vrdavana,

toured the twelve forests, and took diska from Gopala Bhatta Gosvami. Sri

Jiva Gosvami taught him the complete philosophy of Gaudiya Vaisnavism.

Acknowledging his vast learning, Sri Jiva gave Srinivasa the title "Acarya."

Accepting Sri Jiva's order, Srinvasa and his two friends Syamananada Prabhu

and Narottama Dasa Thakura pioneered the first transcendental book

distribution party. Vrajabasi Sankirtana Party ki jai! They took a bullock

cart of the Gosvami's devotional writings from Vrndavana and passed them out

all over Bengal and Orissa. Srinivasa Acarya initiated many disciples

(Ramacandra Kaviraja and others), wrote songs full of bhakti (Sad

Gosvami-astakam), and introduced a special kirtana style. When leading

kirtana he would sometimes lose his voice from chanting so long.

 

 

 

Besides his external practiced intensive raganuga bhajana. Raganuga bhajana

is the spontaneous internal worship of Radha and Krishna based on the mood

and sentiments of the eternal residents of Sri Vrndavana dhama, such as the

gopis. While doing manasi seva (service to Radha-Krishna within one's mind

in a mentally conceived in spiritual form) he would often bring tangible

paraphernalia from these meditations back with him upon returning to

external consciousness. Once Srinivasa sat Lord Gauranga on jeweled throne

within his mind. Then he worshiped the Lord with a golden handled camara

whisk and five flowers garland. Pleased with his service, Gaura Raya

offered the garland back to Srinivasa, who then immediately awoke and lost

the meditation. A surprised Srinisava found the sweetest flower garland he

ever smelled hanging around his neck when he returned to external

consciousness. Another time Srinivasa was in his siddha svarupa as

Mani-manjari watching Srimati Radharani, Sri Krishna, and the gopis in Holi

lila (joyfully throwing colored powders and dyes on each other). The gopis

told Mani-manjari to supply colors to Radhika and side with them in their

"war" against Syama. The earth shook from their furious battle.

Srinivasa's medication abruptly broke. His body was completely covered from

head to toe with fragrant and exotic rainbow colored powders imported from

the spiritual world. Holi lila ki jai! Srinivasa Acarya's samadhi is in the

Dhira Samira samadhis area.