Srila Madhavendra Puri ki jaya !!!

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SRILA MADHAVENDRA PURI

 

 

Before Lord Caitanya appeared He sent His eternal associates like Sri Advaita

Acarya, Sri Jagannatha Misra, Saci Mata, Madhavendra Puri, Isvara Puri to

earth. Sri Madhavendra Puri took initiation from Sri Laksmipati Tritha in the

Madhvacaraya sampradaya. He had many but Sri Advaita Acarya and Sri Isvara Puri

were the chief disciples. In one way or another, all the Vaisnavas in Bengal

and Ksetra mandala (Jagannatha Puri) were connected with Sri Madhavendra Puri.

After Lord Caitanya came many of his disciples joined Mahaprabhu's sankirtana

movement.

 

 

 

'Madhavendra Puri's body was completely full of divine love; so were his

followers. He displayed uncommon love of God. Seeing a dark blue rain-cloud, he

would fall down unconscious. Day and night he was intoxicated from drinking the

ambrosia of Krishna prema.' (Vrndavana Dasa Thakura)

 

 

 

After making an extensive pilgrimage of Bharata-bhumi (India) he passed his

life in Vrndavana and Orissa. He began the restoration work of Vrndavana that

Rupa and Sanatana Goswami continued later. Wandering from grove to grove,

remembering Radha-Krishna's sweet Vrndavana pastimes, Madhavendra Puri would

faint in ecstasy.

 

 

 

In a dream, Sri Gopal ordered him to uncover a buried Gopal Deity and install

Him a top of Govardhana Hill. Madhavendra Puri celebrated Gopal's installation

with an annakuta (grand festival offering a mountain of foodstuffs to Krishna).

This annakuta festival, also called Govardhana Puja, is one of the most

important Vaisnava festivals in Vrndavana, in India, and around the world. The

original Gopal Deity, known as Sri Nathji, is now worshipped in Nathadvara,

Rajasthan.

 

 

 

Madhavendra Puri introduces the conception of madhurya bhava (conjugal love) in

the Madhvacarya sampradaya. Madhavendra Puri sowed the seed of prema bhakti.

And Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu became the towering tree dropping honey sweet

fruits of prema upon everyone. He also revealed viraha bhava, the mood of love

relished in separation from God. His branch of the Madhva sect distinguished

itself by this ecstatic love of God. It is known as the Madhva-Gaudiya

sampradaya.

 

 

 

In Jagannatha Puri, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu showed an intense mood of viraha

bhava. This increased unlimitedly when the Lord heard verses from Srimad

Bhagavatam tenth canto, Krishna Karnamrta, Gita Govinda, Padyavali, and the

love poems of Candidasa and Vidyapati. Mahaprabhu's viraha begins with a single

verse spoken by Madhavendra Puri, His parama guru (grand preceptor):

 

 

 

Ayi dina dayadra natha he

Mathura natha kadavalokyase

Hrdayam tvad aloka kataram

Dayita bhramyati kim karoty aham

 

'O compassionate Lord of the poor and humble! O Lord of Mathura! When shall I

see You again! Without seeing You, my heart has become very much afflicted. Oh

My beloved I am overwhelmed. What shall I do now! (C.C. Madhya lila 4.197)

 

 

 

Sri Krishna Dasa Kaviraja says that as the diamond kaustubha jewel is the most

precious amongst all rare valuable jewels, this sloka is the rasa kavya (the

best verse in the entire treasury of rasa poetry). Actually, Srimati Radharani

Herself spoke this verse. It was Radha's pathetic cry to Syamasundara, who had

gone to Mathura leaving Her alone, desperate in Vrndavana. Radharani's mercy

brought this same verse from the mouth of Madhavendra Puri.

 

 

 

Reciting even a few words of this sloka would tear open the door of

Madhavendra's ecstatic love, making Him swoon in ecstasy falling unconscious.

Feeling intense separation from Krishna, Madhavendra Puri constantly chanted

this verse when departing this world. Krishna Dasa Kaviraja says that with this

verse Madhavendra Puri teaches devotees how to achieve Krishna Prema. Gaudiya

Vaisnavas accepted that this verse expresses the essence of the mood of

separation.

 

 

 

The Gaudiya sampradaya teaches that worship of Radha and Krishna in separation

represents the highest level of devotional service. At this stage of

realization the devotee feels completely 'vacant in the world in the absence of

Krishna.' A moment without Madhava feels like millenium. Sri Caitanya

Mahaprabhu always swam in the ocean of divyonmada mahabhava, the maddened

ecstatic emotions shown by Sri Radha in Brahmar Gita (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.47).

In this verse Madhavendra Puri discloses similar emotions. Gaudiya Vaisnava

conclude that the monsoon shower of ecstatic love exhibited by Lord Gauranga

during His manifest pastimes began with Madhavendra Puri. It then came through

Isvara Puri, who played the role of Lord Caitanya's spiritual master.

 

 

 

Madhavendra Puri's samadhi is in Remuna, Orissa near the temple of Ksira-cora

Gopinatha.

 

 

 

Srila Madhavendra Puri ki jaya !!!