Rupa Goswami (Sadhana Dipika)

[Jagat]

Radhakrishna Goswami writes the following (Sadhana-dipika, aSTama-kakSA):

 

na rAdhAM na ca kRSNaM vA na gaurAGgam ahaM bhaje |

zrImad-rUpa-padAmbhoje dhUlir bhUyAM bhave bhave ||

 

I worship neither Radha nor Krishna, nor even Gauranga. I only pray to be a particle of dust at Rupa's lotus feet, birth after birth.

 

ye kecid vRSabhAnujA-caraNayoH sevA-parAH sajjanAH

zrI-nandAtmaja-sevane’tirasikAz caitanya-pAdAzritAH |

te rUpAnugatiM sadA vidadhatas tiSThanti vRndAvane

zrI-gopAla-sanAtana-prabhRtayo hRSyanti cAsyAjJayA ||

 

Gopal, Sanatan and others who follow Vaishnava sad-achar and are dedicated to the service of Radharani's lotus feet, who are engaged in the service of the son of Nanda in the spirit of the highest mood of conjugal love, who have taken shelter of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, live in Vrindavan and always lead others to follow in the footsteps of Rupa Goswami, are thrilled by the opportunity to carry out his orders.

 

saMskAra-paJcakair yukto’nya-devAn na pUjayet |

jJAna-karmAdi-rahitaH sa hi rUpAnugaH sudhIH ||

 

The intelligent person who has accepted the five samskaras, does not worship other gods and is free from jnana and karma, is a follower of Rupa Goswami.

 

gAyatrI-mantro rAdhAyA mantraH kRSNasya tat-param |

mahAprabhor mantra-varo hari-nAma tathaiva ca |

mAnasI vara-sevA ca paJca-saMskAra-saMjJakaH ||

 

The five samskaras are the mantra and gayatri mantras of Radha, Krishna and Mahaprabhu, Harinama and one's manasi seva.

 

This last verse is a particularly interesting piece of evidence for Gaudiyas who are looking for evidence that manasi seva is one of the integral elements of being a follower of Rupa Goswami. This description of five samskaras differs from the usual Pancharatra analysis.

 

For those who do not know Radhakrishna Goswami, he was the successor to Haridas Goswami, who was in charge of the Govindaji temple in Vrindavan in the early 17th century. (Haridas Goswami is mentioned in the Chaitanya Charitamrita.) Radhakrishna Goswami wrote two books, Sadhana-dipika and a commentary on the Smarana-mangala-stotra, which he attributed to Rupa Goswami. He argues strongly in favor of the Parakiya Rasa.

 

Sadhana-dipika is a very interesting book, as it is one of the few works of that period. Its ten chapters include an elaborate description of Govindaji's worship, a chapter glorifying Gadadhar Pandit Goswami and identifying him with Radharani. The eighth chapter is about Rupa Goswami.

 

We will be making the Sanskrit (only) text available on the granthamandira shortly.