RASIKANANDA PRABHU’S VISIT TO GOVARDHAN
Sri Gopijanavallabha Das
Rasikananda Prabhu appeared in this world in Utkala (Orissa) in the year 1590 as the son of Sri Acyuta and his wife Bhavani. The devo-tees in the line of Shyamananda Prabhu con-sider Rasikananda to be an incarnation of Aniruddha, the expansion of Lord Vishnu. The following story adapted from the Bengali book Rasika-magala by Sri Gopijanavallabha Das, a prominent disciple of Srila Rasikananda Prabhu, describe the events that led up to Rasikananda’s leaving Vraja to go to Orissa.
Rasika started for Ayodhya via the forest route. From there he went to Vraja, first vis-iting Mathura and seeing the birthplace of Lord Krishna. From Mathura, he went to Vrindavan to see the deities of Madan Gopal and Govinda as well as the other temples and groves there. Seeing the banks of the Yamuna, he felt transcendental bliss, and stayed there a few days before touring the twelve forests where the Lord had performed his different pastimes. He visited all the for-ests, Bhadravan, Lohavan, Srivan, Bhandiravan, Mahavan, Talavan, Khadiravan, Bahulavan, Kumudavan, Kamyavan and Madhuvan. Seeing these places and remembering the pastimes of the Lord, he shed tears and forgot himself. On seeing Govardhan Hill, he fell unconscious. When he recovered, he went to see the deity of Gopal Ray installed there. He decided to spend the night at Govardhan. During his sleep, Krishna in the form of a cowherd boy appeared before Rasika, and told him:
śunaha rasika tumi āmāra vacana śīghra kari yāo tumi utkala bhuvana
sarvajīve deha mora bhakti ānandite mora vraja-vāsī yena seve śuddha cite
tomāra apekā kari mora śyāmānanda mathurāya dekha giyā tāra pada-dvandva
“Listen to me, Rasika. You must quickly go to Utkala, Orissa. Distribute the ecstasy of devo-tion to me to all living entities, and see that the people of Utkala serve my favorite Vraja people. My Syamananda is waiting for you in Mathura. Go there and serve his feet.” (2.2.30-32)
Hearing these words Rasika opened his eyes and saw that Krishna, dressed as a cowherd boy, was standing before him. Seeing his beauty, Rasika fainted, and when he regained consciousness, the Lord had gone. After this, he quickly visited all the places of Krishna’s pastimes. Since his darśana of the Lord at Govardhan, Rasika constantly shed tears in love of Krishna, and emotion ruled over his body. He cried, “Oh, Lord of my life, where have you gone? How can I live without the son of Nanda Maharaja?” In this mood, all eight kinds of bhāva appeared in him. He for-got hunger and thirst, and remained absorbed in meditation on Krishna. After he took darśana of the Keshava deity at Mathura, he met with Syamananda. Rasika fell at the feet
of Syamananda, who took him in his arms and told him, “I have been waiting for you. It is good that you have visited Vridavan be-fore coming here, but now you should return to your home.”
Rasika replied, “Oh my lord, I want to stay in Vrindavan for a few more days so that I can see everything. Having reached Vrindavan, how can I leave here so quickly?”
Syamananda sweetly told him, “Your rela-tives are miserable without you there, and they will blame me. Please go, my dear, and don’t create any trouble. We have both been ordered to go to Orissa to distribute love and devotion to all. You must sincerely render ser-vice to the devotees there. You have already seen Krishna at Govardhan, and at that time he ordered you to do so. How can you dis-obey his order?” Hearing this, Rasika was astonished, and thought to himself, “Syamananda must be an intimate devotee of Lord Krishna, otherwise how could he know everything that had happened? I have not told anyone of my seeing Krishna.”
Rasika then told Syamananda, “I must obey your order.”
Syamananda was very happy to hear this, and they started for Utkala together, going by the forest route to Nagpur and then to Segala. There they rested in the home of a fortunate person named Vishnu Das. He and his family took initiation from Syamananda, and he was renamed Rasamaya Das. From there they reached the home of Rasika, and all the inhabitants were happy to see them again. Syamananda had come with the son of Acyuta in order to remove the darkness of ignorance in Orissa.
Bibliography
— Gopijanavallabha Das. Rasika-magala. Published by Vaishnava Research Institute. Halisahar, Bengal. 1992
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