By Giriraj Swami
On Srila Jiva Gosvami’s disappearance day recently, I thought of Mother Arca-vigraha’s special service to him, as recounted by Kuntidevi dasi in my book Many Moons: Reflections on Departed Vaishnavas:
“Over time, Arca-vigraha was able to use her artistic talent in the service of some very special projects. Once, a Gaudiya Vaishnava at Radha-kunda wanted to renovate Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami’s bhajana-kutira and was looking for an artist to paint a new portrait. It would be served and worshiped like a deity, nondifferent from the transcendental personality it represented, and since Radha-kunda was one of the most important holy sites, visited by millions of pilgrims every year, the painting had to look exactly like the one it was replacing, and the artist had to be carefully chosen. So, this young Vaishnava, who was friendly with Bhurijana Prabhu and his wife, Mother Jagattarini, asked them to help him find the right person—’but not a foreigner and not a woman.’ So Bhurijana and Jagattarini asked Arca-vigraha to do the service secretly—she couldn’t even sign the painting or reveal herself as the artist.
“On the day of the bhajana-kutira’s reopening, the painting was unveiled for all to see, and everyone thought it was wonderful. Then someone pointed to Arca-vigraha, who was sitting at the back of the assembly, and exclaimed, ‘And here is the artist!’ We froze on the spot. But the local babajis were so enchanted with the painting that they no longer cared who had painted it. In fact, they requested Arca to also paint Jiva Gosvami, and Ananta dasa Babaji, Radha-kunda’s chief mahanta, requested a meeting with Arca to thank her personally. Both paintings are still there at Radha-kunda, installed and worshiped.”
Hare Krishna.
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Hare Krishna....