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By Ramai Swami

Sri Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami was born in a Nadiya family of physicians at the village of Jhamatpur, within the district of Barddhaman, near Naihati. His father was Sri Bhagiratha, and his mother was Sri Sunanda. He had a younger brother named Syama das.

The deity of Gaura-Nityananda installed by Sri Kaviraja Gosvamis is still being worshiped there. It appears that his family line is no more. More information about the early life of Sri Kaviraja is available in a book called Anan

Today is the auspicious disappearance day of three great acharyas in the Gaudiya-Vaishnava sampradaya: Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, Srila Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami, and Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami. We shall read about Srila Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami from Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja’s Sri Caitanya-caritamrta.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila, Chapter Thirteen: “Pastimes with Jagadananda Pandita and Raghunatha Bhatta.”

TEXT 89

etha tapana-misra-putra raghunatha-bhattacarya
prabhure de

In around 1503 AD, Raghunath Bhattacharya appeared as the son of Tapana Mishra, a dear devotee of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who hailed from the village of Ramapura on the banks of the Padma River in East Bengal.

Mahaprabhu first met Tapana Mishra when he went to East Bengal during his career as a teacher of Sanskrit. Tapana Mishra had studied many scriptures but was still bewildered about the purpose of life and what to do to attain it. He had a dream in which he was instructed by a Brahmin to go

Today is the divine disappearance day of Namacharya Haridasa Thakura. So we shall read from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila, Chapter Eleven: “The Passing of Haridasa Thakura.”

INTRODUCTION

The summary of this chapter is given by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura in his Amrta-pravaha-bhasya as follows. In this chapter it is described how Brahma Haridasa Thakura gave up his body with the consent of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and how the Lord Himself personally performed the funeral ceremony and carried

Sri Haridas Thakur is an eternally liberated associate of the Lord. The associates of the Lord are worship-able wherever they make their appearance.

Just as Garuda appeared as a bird, and Hanuman as a monkey, Haridas Thakur appeared in a family of Yavanas. From his very birth he was very deeply devoted to the Holy Names of Sri Krsna and later became known as “Nama Acarya.”

When Lord Caitanya went to Jagannatha Puri, Haridas also went and took up residence there. Everyday, after attending Lord

By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

One day Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu met Haridasa Thakura as usual, and in the course of discussion He inquired as follows.’My dear Thakura Haridasa, in this age of Kali most people are bereft of Vedic culture, and therefore they are called yavanas. They are concerned only with killing cows and brahminical culture. In this way they all engage in sinful acts. How will these yavanas be delivered? To My great unhappiness, I do not see any way. His

Srila Sanatana Gosvami, one of the intimate associates of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, is a well-known personality in Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Mahaprabhu taught the sequence of advancement in devotional service through Sanatana Goswami.

Sanatana Goswami was the oldest and most venerable among the six Goswamis. He propagated the mission of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Srila Sanatana Goswami appeared in 1488 AD and lived for 70 years. He spent 27 years in household life and 43 years in Vrindavan as a renunci

By Payonidhi Das

Prema vilasa about the disappearance of Srila Sanatana Goswami and how Srila Rupa Goswami was very much affected by his divine disappearance.

Srila Narrotama das Thakura has sung:

kaha mora svarupa-rupa, kaha sanatana
kaha dasa raghunatha patita-pavana (2)

2) Where are my Svarupa Damodara and Rupa Gosvami? Where is Sanatana? Where is Raghunatha Dasa, the savior of the fallen?

vairagya-yug-bhakti-rasam prayatnair
apayayan mam anabhipsum andham
kapambudhir yah para-duhkha-duhkhi

Sri Sanatana Gosvami appeared in 1488, five years before Sri Rupa Gosvami, in a Sarasvata brahmana family in Bengal. Sanatana and his two brothers, Rupa and Anupama, were always absorbed in bhava bhakti from early childhood. Remembering Vrndavana, they named the forests in which they played after Vraja’s twelve forests (Talavana, Madhuvana, Kamyavana, Mahavana). They called their favorite bathing ponds Radha-kunda and Syama-kunda.

In his youth, Sri Sanatana dreamt that a beautiful brahmana boy

Today is an eventful day. Ganga Dusshera or Ganga puja, celebrates the descent of mother Ganga on this earth. Devotees take holy dip in Ganges, offer worship, remember and glorify mother Ganga on this day. It is also the appearance day of Srimati Ganga mata Goswamini.

“Anyone who bathes in Ganga, touches the Ganga, drinks Ganga, sees Ganga or anyone who is touched by a breeze that has come from the Ganga will get Krsna Prema – love for Krsna”.

Sri Baladeva Vidyabhusana Disappearance:

Sri Balade

We shall discuss the conversation between Sri Ramananda Raya and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, ramananda-samvada, recorded in Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila, Chapter Eight: “Talks Between Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Ramananda Raya.”

TEXT 1

sancarya ramabhidha-bhakta-meghe
  sva-bhakti-siddhanta-cayamrtani
gaurabdhir etair amuna vitirnais
  taj-jnatva-ratnalayatam prayati

TRANSLATION

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is known as Gauranga, is the ocean of all conclusive knowledge in devotional servi

Five hundred years ago in the district of Puri, in the village of Bentapur adjacent to Brahmagiri Alalanatha, there lived a great devotee named Bhavananda Raya.

Bhavananda had five sons, the eldest of which was Ramananda. Descendants of this family-line are known as Choudhurya Pattanayaka. It is said that Lord Caitanya visited the birth-place of Ramananda in Alalanatha every year.

Ramananda was the Governor of East and West Godavari and a minister of King Prataparudra.
A great statesman of that

We continue our discussion of the conversation between Sri Ramananada Raya and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, ramananda-samvada, recorded in Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila, Chapter Eight: “Talks Between Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Ramananda Raya.”

TEXT 1

sancarya ramabhidha-bhakta-meghe
  sva-bhakti-siddhanta-cayamrtani
gaurabdhir etair amuna vitirnais
  taj-jnatva-ratnalayatam prayati

TRANSLATION

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is known as Gauranga, is the ocean of all conclusive knowledge in de

Today is an auspicious day in Krishna consciousness. Of course, every day is auspicious in Krishna consciousness. When we first arrived in India, in Bombay, Srila Prabhupada was invited to a program on the lawn of an aristocratic gentleman’s house. Most of us went ahead, and Srila Prabhupada followed with a few disciples. When we arrived, our hosts told us, “It is very auspicious that you have come today, because today is a holy day.” We had never heard of the holy day and were somewhat doubtfu

In honor of Jayananda Prabhu’s disappearance day on May 1, we submit the following account, derived from a letter by Kalindi Dasi to her spiritual master, Candramauli Swami.— Giriraj Swami

A Hospice Miracle—Serving Jayananda’s Mother

In mid-July I started wearing tilak to my work at the hospice. I thought that since many other spiritual practitioners were expressing their faith by wearing crosses, doves, silk threads, pentacles, and other items, I would wear mytilak, which tells the world t

On May 1, 1977, the day before the festival honoring the appearance of Lord Nrisimha, Srila Prabhupada’s dear disciple Jayananda Dasa passed from this world. 

Shortly thereafter, Srila Prabhupada wrote in a letter, “Jayananda’s death is glorious. . . . He has left his body very wonderfully, and he has been transferred to Vaikuntha. . . . Everyone should follow the example of Jayananda. I am very proud that I had such a nice disciple. If possible Jayananda’s picture should be hung in the ratha [f

From Back to Godhead

After the disappearance of Jayananda Das on May 1, 1977, His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada instructed devotees all over the world to commemorate the event every year as they would any great Vaishnava’s disappearance day.

Therefore we respectfully submit these pages to all devotees and friends of ISKCON as a means to remember and understand more about Jayananda’s devotional service. Of course, we will see how he joined ISKCON and how he left this mortal world. More importan

I first became acquainted with Jayananda in the autumn of 1976, in the old New York Temple, located on West 55th Street in Manhattan. I was delighted to be teamed up with Jayananda to preach in several universities.

From the very beginning of our association I sensed something special about Jayananda, and always felt extremely happy and contented in his company. I certainly considered him to be my spiritual superior, but never felt uncomfortable or intimidated in his presence. He was like a kin

One of the Saptadevalyas (seven ancient temples) of Vrindavan, Shri Gopinath Mandir was founded by Madhu Pandit whose glories are sung in the Bhakti Ratnakar. His Samadhi is found near the temple courtyard.

Madhu Pandit was the disciple of Shri Gadadhar Goswami who came from Nabadwip to Vrindavan in search of Krishna. Here he started living under the tutelage of Shri Paramananda Bhattacharya.

Vrajanabha, Lord Krishna’s great-grandson, installed the original Gopinatha Deity in Vrindavana over fi

There is no mention of Sri Madhu Pandit in Caitanya Caritamrta. Only it is mentioned in Bhakti Ratnakar that Sri Gopinathji manifested Himself before Him. [B. R. 2.473]

Oh Srinivas! What more can I say? The Lord reveals Himself to his pure devotee, who then preaches his glories to the world. Who can describe their incomprehensible activities by which the Lord becomes subservient to their love. Thus did Sri Brajendra Kumar reveal himself to Paramananda Bhattacarya and Sri Madhu Pandit, who is th