Srimati Jahnava Devi's Appearance Day, May 10

[Guest guest]

Dear Prabhus,

Here are a few more drops of nectar on this auspicious month.

 

3.43 "When Nitai returned to Bengal at Mahaprabhu's request, He decided to

abandon His avadhuta status and take to the grhastha asrama. A statesman

named Suryadasa Sarakhel, the brother of gopala Gauridasa Pandita, had two

daughters who were great devotees; their names were Jahnava and Vasudha.

As qualified girls who felt great affection for Nityananda Prabhu, they were

chosen to marry Him, and He, in turn, loved them dearly. Of course, they

were not ordinary devotees. According to Kavi Karnapura, the two girls were

incarnations of Revati Devi and Varuni Devi respectively, who were the wives

of Lord Balarama (although they are considered incarnations of Ananga

Manjari as well)...

 

3.46 As the years went by, Jahnava Ma developed a reputation as a

superlative Vaisnavi, embodying the ideals of devotion in the Gaudiya

sampradaya. She initiated her son Virabhadra as well as many other male and

female members of the Vaisnava community. Major figures in Mahaprabhu's

lineage took shelter at her lotus feet, and personalities like Narottama

Dasa Thakura, Srinivas Acarya, and Syamananda Prabhu accepted her as the

most prominent Vaisnava in Bengal. In fact, she attended their festival in

Kheturi and was given a place of honor as the most advanced personality

there.

 

3.47 On the first day of the Kheturi festival, the devotees requested

Jahnava Ma to take charge of all festivities. This she did, making sure that

kirtana was going on with full enthusiasm, that the deities were being

worshiped with elaborate splendor, and that devotional games commemorating

Krsna's pastimes were being enjoyed by the mass of participants - and there

were thousands. On the second day, with the help of the Vaisnavas, she

personally cooked for the thousands of devotees in attendance, trying to

serve as many as she could with her own two hands. In this way, she endeared

herself to the Vaisnavas, who were sad to see her leave the festival for her

pilgrimage to Vrndavana.

 

3.48 Although Jahnava Ma journeyed to Vraja after the Kheturi festival, and

this is doubtless the most famous of her extended trips, she did go to Vraja

one or two times before. Her first trip was ostensibly as a student, and she

spent many hours hearing the newly written works of the Goswamis. It's said

that Rupa Goswami himself explained the literature to her at this time.

Gradually, she developed a methodical plan to create solidarity between the

Vaisnavas of Bengal and those of Vraja, and she accomplished this quite

effectively during her few visits to the land of Krsna's pastimes. When she

went there just prior to the Kheturi festival she conferred with Jiva

Goswami, and their combined plan manifested as the sankirtana party that

brought Narottama, Srinivas, and Syamananda to Bengal with the books of the

Vrndavana Goswamis.

 

3.49 Jahnava Ma converted Muslims to Mahaprabhu's Vaisnavism and endeared

herself to the Gaudiya devotees throughout India. The Six Goswamis treated

her with the utmost respect, and Dasa Goswami, in particular, was grateful

for her association. He spent a good deal of time showing her the area of

Radha-kunda, and the two of them took every opportunity to dance in ecstasy.

 

3.50 When Jahnava Thakurani saw Rama Ghat, the area along the banks of the

Yamuna where Balarama enjoyed a rasa dance of His own, her spiritual rapture

knew no bounds.

 

3.51 She had mystic visions throughout her life and received divine

dictation from Nityananda Prabhu long after He left this world. Once, in a

vision, she saw the Gopinatha Deity and His little Radha companion, who told

her to replace the Radha Deity with one that was larger. This mission she

took back with her to Bengal and finally sent the larger Deity by boat to

the enthusiastic devotees waiting in Vraja. Her relationship with Gopinath,

a Deity established by her disciple, Madhu Pandita, embodies the essence of

Vaisnava esoterica and cannot be described here.

 

3.52 At the time of Jahnava's departure from the mortal world, her beautiful

manifestation as Ananga Manjari, standing in a dancing pose at Krsna's right

side, was emphasized by Nityananda Prabhu's most intimate followers. This

"Ananga-kanai-Rai," the worshipable devotion of Radha's younger sister along

with Radha and Krsna together, remains the focus of devotees coming in the

line of Jahnava Devi.

 

3.53 The Vamsisiksa says that Jahnava Ma left this world by merging into the

form of Gopinatha in Vrndavana ... The example of her life supersedes that

of her death, for in living she opened Vaisnavism up to women in a way that

broke all boundaries, allowing them equal footing with men in terms of

service, devotion, accomplishment and the ability to rise to the highest

level of perfection...

 

(extracted from "Sri Panca Tattva" by Steven J. Rosen)