Sri Gadadhara Pandita Appearance Day - April 29, 2014

He made his appearance on a new moon day in the month of Vaishakha. His father's name was Sri Madhva Mishra and his mother's name Ratnavati-devi. They lived near the house of Sri Jagannatha Mishra in Mayapura. Ratnavati-devi and Jagannatha Mishra’s wife Sachidevi were good friends.

Their sons Sri Gaura Hari and Gadadhara would play together and they studied at the same school. In the Gaur-ganoddesa-dipika, it is described that Srimati Radharani, is now celebrated as Sri Gadadhara Pandita.

From his childhood Gadadhara was fond of solitude and much renounced. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, upon going to Gaya Dham, first began to manifest Krishna-prema. There he enacted the pastime of accepting the shelter of Sri Ishvara Puri. Gadadhara, upon seeing the Lord’s showering of tears in love for Krishna, also began to cry in ecstatic love.

When Mahaprabhu began His pastimes in Navadvipa, Gadadhara was his chief companion. Radha-Krishna of Vraja are now sporting on the banks of the Ganga as Gadai-Gauranga, and the cowherd boy-friends of Vraja are assisting in His pastimes of kirtana.

When Chaitanya Mahaprabhu ended His pastimes in Nadia and according to His mother's wish took up His residence at Nilachala; Gadadhara also accompanied him. He engaged himself in the service of Sri Tota Gopinatha. Mahaprabhu would very often visit Gadadhara and hold discussions on the topics of Sri Krishna.

Sri Gadadhara Pandita would regularly recite Srimad Bhagavatam. Sri Gaurasundara, along with His associates, would listen. One might ask a question, if Lord Chaitanya is Radha and Krishna combined, where is the necessity for the appearance of Gadadhara Pandit? The answer to this is that it has been explained that Mahaprabhu is Krishna in search of the loving sentiment of Radha for Krishna. Sri Gadadhara Pandita represents that bhava personified, and thus he has appeared to be at the side of Mahaprabhu to assist Him in His search.

Gadadhara Pandita appeared in a land that is desert-like, dry and vacant in contrast to the lush Ganga basin of Navadvipa. All of this indicates the condition of the heart or nature of Sri Gadadhara. It is said that what remains in him is the bhava of Rukmini, who is Radha's expansion in Dvaraka.

Just as in Vrindavana,  Srimati Radharani is the Queen and proprietor of everything, so Gadadhara is master of everything, but still here he has given everything to his master, and thus in one sense he is empty. This mood of his being empty is unique. His is the highest position of self-sacrifice.

Gadadhara Pandita had very intimate relationship with Mahaprabhu, in which the acharyas, Swarupa Damodara, Rupa, Sanatana, Kaviraja Goswami, Raghunatha Dasa, all of them, could see Radharani and Rukmini both in his personality, and according to that we can try to understand him.

Thus the lila of Mahaprabhu in Puri, which is representative of Dvaraka, is imbued with aishvarya (opulence) not found in Nadia (Bengal). Indeed this aishvarya is said to have weighed heavily on Gadadhara Pandita and influenced his loving sentiment of bhava. Srila Krishna dasa Kaviraja Goswami says of Gadadhara in Puri dhama that because he was influenced by aishvarya-jnana of Gauranga, he was, as Srila Prabhupadacomments, always submissive (dakshina-nayiki). He could not be angered by Mahaprabhu even when Mahaprabhu tried to anger him and see the mood of Radha (vama-nayiki) in him.

It is stated that no one loves Lord Gauranga more than Sri Gadadhara. Yet even though he takes much abuse and neglect from Gauranga, still he cannot leave Him. His necessity and dependency is very great.

When Vakreshvara Pandita came to live at Puri, he would accompany Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Advaita Acharya and other devotees to Tota Gopinath to hear Gadadhara Pandita give discourses on the Bhagavatam.

In the diary of one devotee from Odisha, Mahaprabhu is said to have first gone missing inside the Gundicha Mandira. Then the devotees began to search for their Lord. Finally, outside of Tota Gopinatha Mandira, at Yameswar, the outer garment of Mahaprabhu was found lying on the ground.

There's a story in connection with Sri Gadadhara Pandit that when he was very old and trying to render service to Tota-Gopinath, he couldn't any more reach to put the garland around the neck of the Deity. To reciprocate with his loving service, the Deity knelt down to accept the flower garlands of His beloved Gadadhara, who is none other than His beloved Srimati Radharani incarnate.

Sri Gadadhara Pandita left this world on a new moon day. Even to this day, the Deity of Tota-Gopinath in the temple remains in a kneeling position to accept the eternal service of His beloved Gadadhara. A slight crack which is still to be found near the right knee of Sri Gopinathji is the spot where Mahaprabhu is said to have entered the Deity.