Jul 06 2005, WednesdayDisappearance Sri Gadadhara Pandita&Srila

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Jul 06 2005, Wednesday

Disappearance Sri Gadadhara Pandita

Disappearance

(Fasting till noon)

 

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Biography of Sri Gadadhara Pandita Goswami

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SRI GADADHARA PANDITA GOSWAMI

 

Sri Gadadhar was the consant companion of Mahaprabhu

from the time of

their

childhood. His father's name was Sri Madhva

Misra and his

mother's

name Sri Ratnavati-devi. They lived very near the

house of Sri

Jagannatha

Misra in Mayapura. Ratnavati-devi thought of

Saci-devi as her own

sister,

and always used to visit her.

 

During their childhood, Sri Gaura Hari and

Gadadhara would play

together, sometimes at Mahaprabhu's house and

sometimes at Gadadhara's

house. They both studied together at the same school.

Gadadhara was a

few

years younger then Nimai. Nimai couldn't remain

without Gadadhara even

for

a moment and Gadadhara likewise couldn't stand

to be separated

from

Nimai. In the Gaur-ganoddesa-dipika, it is described

that that person

who

in Vraja was the daughter of Sri Vrsabhanu Raja,

namely Srimati

Radharani,

is now celebrated as Sri Gadadhara Pandita.

Svarupa Damodara has

written in his diary: avani sura bavah Sri Panditakhyo

jatindrah / sa

khalo

bhavati Radha Srila Gauravataro. (Translation?)

Sri Vasudeva Ghosa Thakura has written:

Agam agocar gora

akhil brahma-par, veda upar, najane pasandi mati bhora

Nitya-nityananda Caitanya Govinda Pandit Gadadhar

Radhe

Caitanya yugala-rupa kebol raser kup avatar sadsiva

sadhe

Antare nave-ghana bahire gaura tanu yugalrupa parkase

Kahe Vasudeva Ghose yugal bhajan base janame janame

rahu asa

 

"Lord Gaurasundara, who is beyond the perview of

the scriptures,

beyond the entire Brahman, and above even the

Vedas, can never be

known

by the atheists whose intelligence is dull. Lord

Nityananda is His

eternal

self. Lord Caitanya is Lord Govinda Himself and

Pandita Gadadhara is

none other than Sri Radha. The divine couple, who

are present in Sri

Caitanya, are a well of rasa. Advaita Acarya

(Sadasiva) has prayed for

His

descent. Within He is blackish but of a golden hue

without, the

manifestation of the divine couple. Thus Vasudeva

Ghosa sings of the

beauty

of this divine couple - Sri Gaura-Gadadhara - in

whose worship he has

been

completely subjugated. He prays that he will desire to

serve them birth

after birth."

 

In Sri Caitanya-caritamrta we likewise find:

Panditer bhav mudre kahan na jay

gadadhar pran nath nam hoila jay

panditer krpa prasad lehan na jay

gadai gauranga kari sarvaloke gay

 

"The emotions and expressions of Pandita Gadadhara are

not possible to

describe. Another name of Lord Gauranga is the `Lord

of the life of

Gadadhara.' Who can understand what mercy has been

bestowed upon him?

Their glories are sung by everyone as Gadai-Gauranga."

 

During the time when Sri Isvara Puri was present for

a few months in

Navadwipa at the house of Sri Gopinath Acarya, he

taught Gadadhara

from

the book he had composed, Sri Krsna Lilamrta.

 

Gadadhar panditere apnar krt / punthi parayan nam

krsna lilamrta

[C.B.Adi

11.100]

 

Gadadhara was from his very childhood very

serene, patient, calm,

quiet, fond of solitude and very renounced. Nimai

Pandit during the

time

of His precocious youth would ask his fellow students

meaningless,

fallacious questions in logic. Gadadhara however, was

not especially

fond

of this pastime, and therefore he sometimes used

to remain at some

distance from Nimai. But Nimai wouldn't allow him to

get away. He would

tell

him - "Gadadhar! In a very short time I'll become

such a Vaisnava

that

Lord Brahma and Lord Siva themselves will come to

My door."

 

Sri Gadadhara Pandita was very affectionate towards

Mukunda datta.

Whenever any Vaisnava came to Navadwipa, Mukunda

would inform

Gadadhara and they would both go to have darsana. One

time Pundarika

Vidyanidhi came from Cattagram to Navadwipa and

Mukunda invited

Gadadhara to come along and meet him. Gadadhara was

very excited to

meet

such a Vaisnava and thus the two of them

happily set out

together to

take advantage of sadhu-sanga with the famous

Pundarika Vidyanidhi.

 

However, when Gadadhara saw that Pundarika

Vidyanidhi dressed and

acted

like a wealthy materialist, he lost whatever

reverence he had

previously

felt even before speaking with him. Gadahara

thought to himself,

"How

can a Vaisnava look and act as if he was so addicted

to sense

enjoyment?"

However, Mukunda knew the real character of Pundarika

Vidyanidhi, and

he

could also sense the doubts in the mind of Gadadhara

Pandita. Thus he

recited some slokas from the Srimad Bhaga vatam in

a very sweet

voice.

When Pundarika Vidyanidhi heard his beautiful

recitation of these

slokas, in a fit of ecstasy he began to cry while

calling,

"Krsna,

Krsna", and finally fainted dead away on the floor.

[C.B. Mad

7.78-79].

 

Gadadhara now felt very remorseful in his mind. He

thought to himself,

"Because I have ignorantly considered this highly

advanced soul to be

an

ordinary materialist, what an offense I have

committed! In order

that I

might be saved from the reaction of this offense, I

think the only

solution is to accept initiation from him."

 

Gadadhara Pandita submitted his proposal to Mukunda,

who presented it

to

Pundarika Vidyanidhi with a full account of the

pandita's high

qualifications. "Hearing this proposal, Pundarik

became very happy.

`Providence has bestowed upon me a great jewel;

certainly I will

accept him. You shouldn't have any doubt about that.

It is the result

of

many lifetimes of good fortune that one gets a

disciple like this.'"

[C.B.

Madhya 7.117-118]. On an auspicious day, Sri

Gadadhara Pandita

received

the divine mantra from Pundarika Vidyanidhi.

 

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, upon going to Gaya

Dham, first began to

manifest Krsna-prema. There he enacted the pastime

of accepting the

shelter of Sri Isvara Puri. After returning to His

house He began to

exhibit a new life.

 

Day and night He floated in the ocean of love of

Krsna. Gadadhara,

upon

seeing the Lord showering of tears in love for Krsna,

also began to

cry in

ecstatic love. From this time, Gadadhara Pandita was

always at

Mahaprabhu's

side.

 

One day Sri Gadadhara brought some pan to Sri

Gauranga, Who, in an

exuberance of emotion asked him, "Gadadhara! Where is

that beautiful

blackish boy Who is dressed in yellow garments?" After

asking this, He

began

to shed tears.

 

Gadadhara couldn't immediately think of what to

say. He finally

respectfully suggested, "He is in your heart."

Hearing this,

Mahaprabhu began to tear at his chest with his

nails, but Gadadhara

puickly grabbed his hands. Prabhu said to him,

"Gadadhara! Let go of

My

hands. I cannot remain a moment more not seeing

Krsna."

 

Gadadhara replied, "Just try to be a little patient

and calm Yourself.

Krsna will come any minute now." Hearing this,

Mahaprabhu became

somewhat composed.

 

Sacimata heard all this from a distance and then came

running there.

Being very pleased with Gadadhara, she declared,

"Though He is just a

boy,

He is very intelligent. I am frightened to go before

my son when He is

in

these moods. But Gadadhara has very cleverly pacified

him."

mui bhoye nahi painu sammukhe noite sisu hoi kemon

prabodhila bhalo

mate.

[C.B. Mad 2/210]

 

"Sacimata told Gadadhar, `Gadadhara! You must please

remain with Nimai

always. If you stay with Him then I won't have to

worry."

 

One day, Sri Gadadhara, having heard that Mahaprabhu

will speak

Krsna-katha

at Suklambara Brahmacari's house, went there and sat

down inside.

Meanwhile, Mahaprabhu arrived outside on the

verandah and began to

speak

about Krsna to an audience of devotees there;

Gadahara Prabhu

listened

from within the house. Soon Mahaprabhu became

totally absorbed

in

the ecstacy of Krsna-prema, which quickly spread to

the assembly of

devotees. For some time they continued to taste

the mellows of

love of

Krsna together and then becalmed themselves.

 

Gadadhara, however, couldn't restrain his ecstacy.

With his head bowed

down, he continued to cry very loudly. Hearing his

pitiful

 

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Biography of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur

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(Birth)

SBT was born on 2 Sept. 1838 on a Sunday in Biranagara

(Ulagrama) in

the

Nadia district. He was the seventh son of Raja

Krsnananda Datta, a

great

devotee of Lord Nityananda. He was also known as the

great grandson of

Madana Mohana and the third son of his Godfather

Anandacandra. He

would be

known as daitya-kulera prahlada (Prahladha in the

family of demons).

This

was because Vaisnavism was not very much respected in

his family; on

his

mother's side, there was no respect for Vaisnavism at

all. He was

named

Kedaranatha by his Godfather.

 

(Childhood)

His childhood was spent at the mansion of his maternal

grandfather

Mustauphi

Mahasaya, in Biranagara. His environment at this time

was very

opulent. He

got his elementary education at the primary school

started by his

grandmother. Later he attended an English school in

Krishnanagara,

started

by the King of Nadia; he left that school when his

older brother died

unexpectedly of cholera.

When he was 11 years old, his father passed away.

Subsequently, the

grant

of land that had been conferred upon his grandmother

changed owners; at

this

time the family fell into a condition of poverty -

their great wealth

proved

to be illusiory. Still, Kedaranatha Datta passed over

these

difficulties

with great endurance.

 

(Marriage and studies)

His mother arranged a marriage for him when he was 12

(1850) to the 5

year

old daughter of Madhusudana Mitra Mahasaya, a resident

of Rana Ghata.

Around this time Kasiprasada Ghosh Mahasaya Thakur

(KD's uncle), who

had

mastered British education, came to Ulagrama after the

death of his

maternal

grandfather. He schooled young KD at his home in

Calcutta; this was at

first resisted by KD's mother, but by the time he was

13 he was allowed

to

go.

 

The house was situated in the Heduya district of

central Calcutta.

Kasiprasada was the central figure of the literary

circle of his time,

being

the editor of the Hindu Intelligence; many writers

came to him to learn

the

art of writing in correct English. KD assisted KP by

judging

manuscripts

submitted to the newspaper. KD studied KP's books and

also frequented

the

public library. He attended Calcutta's Hindu

Charitable Institution

high

school and became an expert English reader, speaker,

and writer.

He became ill from the salty water of Calcutta. He

returned to

Ulagrama and

was treated by a Muslim soothsayer who predicted that

the village of

Biranagara would soon become pestilence-ridden and

deserted. The

Muslim

also predicted KD would become recognized as a great

devotee of Lord

Krsna.

 

(College)

At 18 (1856) KD entered college in Calcutta. He

started writing

extensively

in both English and Bengali; these essays were

published in local

journals.

He also lectured in both languages. He studied

English literature at

this

time extensively, and taught speechmaking to a person

who later became

a

well-known orator in the British Parliament. Between

the years

1857-1858 he

composed a two part English epic entitled "The

Poriade", which he

planned to

complete in 12 books. These two books described the

life of Porus, who

met

Alexander the Great.

 

Dvijendranatha Thakur, the eldest son of Maharsi

Devendranatha Thakur,

was

KD's best friend during these years. He assisted KD

in his studies of

Western religious literatures. KD used to call DT

"baro dada", or big

brother.

 

He was very taken by Christian theology, and found it

more interesting

than

Hindu monism. He would spend many hours comparing the

writings of

Channing,

Theodore Parker, Emerson and Newman. At the

British-Indian Society he

gave

a lecture on the evolution of matter through the

material mode of

goodness.

 

 

 

 

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