A direct disciple of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī was Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī. The author of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, stands as the direct disciple of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī.
(Sri Caitanya Caritamrta------1:1------summary).
Many realized souls, such as Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī and King Kulaśekhara, have recommended with great emphasis that one develop this spontaneous love of Godhead, even at the risk of transgressing all the traditional codes of morality and religiosity. Śrī Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, one of the six Gosvāmīs of Vṛndāvana, has written in his prayers called the Manaḥ-śikṣā that one should simply worship Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa with all attention.
(Sri Caitanya Caritamrta------1:4:33-------purport).
Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī has described Sanātana Gosvāmī in his prayer Vilāpa-kusumāñjali, verse six, where he has expressed his obligation to Sanātana Gosvāmī in the following words:
vairāgya-yug-bhakti-rasaṁ prayatnair
apāyayan mām anabhīpsum andhamkṛp
āmbudhir yaḥ para-duḥkha-duḥkhī
sanātanas taṁ prabhum āśrayāmi
"I was unwilling to drink the nectar of devotional service possessed of renunciation, but Sanātana Gosvāmī, out of his causeless mercy, made me drink it, even though I was otherwise unable to do so. Therefore he is an ocean of mercy. He is very compassionate to fallen souls like me, and thus it is my duty to offer my respectful obeisances unto his lotus feet."
(Sri Caitanya Caritamrta------1:5:203-------purport).
"On the railway line between Calcutta and Burdwan is a station named Triśābaghā (now known as Ādi-saptagrāma), and about one and a half miles away is the village of Śrī-kṛṣṇapura, where the parental home of Śrī Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī was situated. A temple of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Govinda is still there. In front of the temple is a large open area but no large hall for devotees to assemble. A rich Calcutta gentleman named Haricaraṇa Ghoṣa, who resided in the Simlā quarter, recently repaired the temple. The entire temple compound is surrounded by walls, and in a small room just to the side of the temple is a small platform on which Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī used to worship the Deity. By the side of the temple is the dying river Sarasvatī."
(Sri Caitanya Caritamrta------1:10:91-------purport).
In this regard, Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī writes in Vilāpa-kusumāñjali (5):
yo māṁ dustara-geha-nirjala-mahā-kūpād apāra-klamāt
sadyaḥ sāndra-dayāmbudhiḥ prakṛtitaḥ svairīkṛpā-rajjubhiḥ
uddhṛtyātma-saroja-nindi-caraṇa-prāntaṁ prapadya svayaṁ
śrī-dāmodara-sāc-cakāra tam ahaṁ caitanya-candraṁ bhaje
"Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who, by His unreserved mercy, kindly saved me from household life, which is exactly like a blind well without water, and placed me in the ocean of transcendental joy under the care of Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī."
(Sri Caitanya Caritamrta------2:1:284-------purport).
In this connection, Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī instructs in his book Manaḥ-śikṣā (2):
na dharmaṁ nādharmaṁ śruti-gaṇa-niruktaṁ kila kuru
vraje rādhā-kṛṣṇa-pracura-paricaryām iha tanu
He has thus enjoined that we should not perform religious or irreligious activities as prescribed in the Vedas. The best course is to engage always in the service of Lord Kṛṣṇa and Rādhārāṇī. That is the perfection of everything in this life.
(Sri Caitanya Caritamrta------2:8:63-------purport).
It is also stated:
kuṇḍera nikaṭa dekha niviḍa-kānana
ethāi "gopāla" chilā hañā saṅgopana
"Look at the dense forest near the kuṇḍa. It was there that Gopāla was concealed." Also, the Stavāvalī (Vraja-vilāsa-stava 75), by Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, states:
vrajendra-varyārpita-bhogam uccair
dhṛtvā bṛhat-kāyam aghārir utkaḥ
vareṇa rādhāṁ chalayan vibhuṅkte
yatrānna-kūṭaṁ tad ahaṁ prapadye
"When Nanda Mahārāja offered a large quantity of food to Govardhana Hill, Kṛṣṇa assumed a gigantic form and eagerly invited everyone to ask boons from Him. Then, deceiving even Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, He ate all the offered food. Let me take shelter of the place known as Annakūṭa, where Lord Kṛṣṇa enjoyed these pastimes."
(Sri Caitanya Caritamrta------2:18:26-------purport).
Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī had been attempting to come to the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu for a long time, and finally he left his home and met the Lord. When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu had gone to Śāntipura on His way to Vṛndāvana, Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī had offered to dedicate his life at the Lord's lotus feet. In the meantime, however, a Muslim official became envious of Hiraṇya dāsa, Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī’s uncle, and induced some big official court minister to have him arrested. Thus Hiraṇya dāsa left his home, but by the intelligence of Raghunātha dāsa the misunderstanding was mitigated.
(Sri Caitanya Caritamrta------3:6------summary).
Then Raghunātha dāsa went to Pānihāṭi, and following the order of Nityānanda Prabhu, he observed a festival (ciḍā-dadhi-mahotsava) by distributing chipped rice mixed with yogurt. The day after the festival, Nityānanda Prabhu gave Raghunātha dāsa the blessing that he would very soon attain the shelter of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. After this incident, Raghunātha dāsa, with the help of his priest, whose name was Yadunandana Ācārya, got out of his house by trickery and thus ran away. Not touching the general path,Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī secretly went to Jagannātha Purī. After twelve days, he arrived in Jagannātha Purī at the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
(Sri Caitanya Caritamrta------3:6------summary).
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu entrusted Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī to Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī. Therefore another name for Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī is Svarūpera Raghu, or the Raghunātha of Svarūpa Dāmodara. For five days Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī took prasādam at the temple, but later he would stand at the Siṁha-dvāra gate and eat only whatever he could gather by alms. Later he lived by taking alms from various chatras, or food distributing centers.
(Sri Caitanya Caritamrta------3:6------summary).
When Raghunātha's father received news of this, he sent some men and money, but Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī refused to accept the money. Understanding thatRaghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī was living by begging from the chatras, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu presented him with His own guñjā-mālā and a stone from Govardhana Hill. Thereafter,Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī used to eat rejected food that he had collected and washed. This renounced life greatly pleased both Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. One day Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu took by force some of the same food, thus blessing Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī for his renunciation.
(Sri Caitanya Caritamrta------3:6------summary).
Raghunātha dāsa belonged to a very aristocratic family of the kāyastha community. He had substantial influence with the local people, and therefore the caudhurī, or minister, was afraid to beat him. Superficially he would chastise Raghunātha dāsa with threatening vibrations, but he did not beat him.
(Sri Caitanya Caritamrta------3:6:23-------purport).
Nīlāmbara Cakravartī, the grandfather of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, was very intimately related to Raghunātha dāsa's father and uncle. Nīlāmbara Cakravartī used to call them his younger brothers because both of them were very much devoted to the brāhmaṇas and were very respectable gentlemen. Similarly, they used to call him Dādā Cakravartī, addressing him as an elder brother brāhmaṇa. Raghunātha dāsa, however, was almost the same age as Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Generally a grandchild may joke about his grandfather. Therefore Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu took advantage of the relationship between His grandfather and Raghunātha dāsa's father and uncle to speak in a joking way.
(Sri Caitanya Caritamrta------3:6:195-------purport).
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu instructed Raghunātha dāsa, "This stone is the transcendental form of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Worship the stone with great eagerness."
(Sri Caitanya Caritamrta------3:6:294------translation).
The Lord used the stone for three years, and then in the heart of Raghunātha dāsa the Lord awakened devotional service to the stone. The Lord then gave the stone to Raghunātha dāsa, accepting him as one of His most confidential servants. However, some envious people conclude that because Raghunātha dāsa had not taken birth in the family of a brāhmaṇa, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not give him the right to worship the Deity directly but instead gave him a stone from Govardhana.
(Sri Caitanya Caritamrta------3:6:294-------purport).
Unless one has come to the platform of spontaneous love of God, he must follow the regulative principles. Ṭhākura Haridāsa was the living example of how to follow the regulative principles. Similarly, Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī was also such a living example. In the Ṣaḍ-gosvāmy-aṣṭaka it is stated, saṅkhyā-pūrvaka-nāma-gāna-natibhiḥ kālāvasānī-kṛtau. The Gosvāmīs, especially Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, strictly followed all the regulative principles. The first regulative principle is that one must chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra loudly enough so that he can hear himself, and one must vow to chant a fixed number of rounds. Not only was Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī chanting a fixed number of rounds, but he had also taken a vow to bow down many times and offer obeisances to the Lord.
(Sri Caitanya Caritamrta------3:11:24-------purport).
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