(1/7) Sri Rupa Goswami's Longing Heart

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Disappearance of Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu
Nabadwip, 27 August 2015, part 1

জয় রূপ সনাতন ভট্ট রঘুনাথ ।
শ্রীজীব গোপালভট্ট দাস রঘুনাথ ॥

jaya rupa sanatana bhatta raghunatha
sri-jiva gopala-bhatta dasa raghunatha

'Glory to Rupa, Sanatan, Raghunath Bhatta, Sri Jiva, Gopal Bhatta and Raghunath Das!'

You must know the names of the six goswamis by heart. Sri Rupa, Sri Sanatan, Sri Raghunath Batta, Sri Jiva, Sri Gopal Bhatta and Sri Raghunath Das – they are the six goswamis. And who is recognised as the seventh goswami? Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur. These are small, simple questions. You must learn and know these things.

[His Divine Grace reads about Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu from a holy scripture]

It was through Sri Rupa and Sri Sanatan that Sriman Mahaprabhu preached in this world the teachings and conception which He Himself cherished.

There once was a great renowned king, Sri Sarvajna Jagad-guru, who lived in this world and ruled over Karnataka. His tongue, like a bumblebee, always danced beneath the wish-fulfilling tree of the three Vedas, collecting the nectar that emanated from his mouth in the form of words. His holy lotus feet were worshipped by all other kings, and he was the highest person in the renowned Bharadvaj lineage. He came into prominence in the eleventh century. This Sri Sarvajna had a very dear son, Sri Anirudhadev. Sri Anirudha, in turn, had two sons, Sri Rupeswar and Sri Harihar. Rupeswar became adept at scriptures, and Harihar became adept at weaponry. After the demise of their father, Rupeswar was banished from the kingdom by his younger brother, Harihar. At that time, Rupeswar took eight horses and went to Paulastya, where he formed an alliance with the king of Paulastya, Sri Sikhareswar. Then, Rupeswar got a very beautiful son; his name was Sri Padmanabhadev. Sri Padmanabha wanted to live on the bank of the Ganges, so he came to a village called Naihati (West Bengal) and started to live there happily together with his spouse. He was very attached to Lord Jagannath, so he worshipped the holy Deity of Lord Sri Sri Jagannathdev. Sri Padmanabhadev had eighteen daughters and five sons. His sons' names are Purusottam, Jagannath, Narayan, Murari and Mukunda.

Sri Mukundadev had a son, Sri Kumardev, who was a man of a very pious nature, a jewel among brahmans. He was always devoted to performing fire sacrifices and other religious practices. In the course of time, he became distressed because of his relatives and had to leave Naihati – he went to a village called Vakla-chandradwip in Bangladesh and started to live there. He was dearly loved by all pious souls in the village. Kumardev also built a house in a village called Fatiabad in Jessore. He had many children, among whom three sons became great Vaishnavs.

কুমার দেবের হৈল অনেক সন্তান ।
তার মধ্যে তিন পুত্র বৈষ্ণবের প্রাণ ॥
সনাতন, রূপ, শ্রীবল্লভ এই ত্রয় ।
সগোত্র অন্যত্র যে অর্চ্চিত অতিশয় ॥

kumara devera haila aneka santana
tara madhye tina putra vaisnavera prana
sanatana, rupa, sri-vallabha ei traya
sagotra anyatra ye archchita atisaya

'Kumardev had many children, among whom three were the heart and soul of Vaishnavs. Sanatan, Rupa and Sri Vallabha – these three sons were highly worshipped by the entire family as well as everybody else.'

(Sri Bhakti-ratnakar, 1.567-568)

Sri Sanatan Goswami was Sri Rupa Goswami's elder brother, and Sri Vallabha (Anupama) was his younger brother. Sri Jiva Goswami was Sri Anupama's son.

Srila Kavi Karnapur said in Sri Gaura-ganoddesa Dipika that Sri Rupa Goswami was Sri Rupa Manjari in Vraja-lila. Thus, she who was previously known as Sri Rupa Manjari in Vraja-lila recently appeared bearing the name Sri Rupa Goswami.

Sri Rupa and Sanatan were one. They studied and did everything together. Sri Sanatan Goswami offered his obeisances and prayers in Dasama Tippani to those who he studied Vedanta and other scriptures from, saying, 'I am offering my obeisance to all my teachers, including the great teacher Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, the ornament of Sri Gauda-desh Vidyabhusan, Vidya Vachaspati, the transcendental connoisseur Paramananda Bhattacharya and the eloquent professor Rama Bhadra.' Thus, in this verse, we can find the names of the teachers from whom Sri Rupa Goswami studied Vedanta and other scriptures. Sri Rupa and Sanatan studied, and became adept at, all Vedic scriptures at a very young age. There exists a legend about how they came into the posts of ministers in the court of Husen Shah Badshah, the then ruler of Gauda-desh:

Badshah had a Muslim guru who possessed some mystic powers and could tell the future. One time, Badshah asked him how he could rise into prominence, and his guru said, 'In this great city of yours there live two brahman boys who are very learned and endowed with all good qualities. Their names are Rupa and Sanatan. If you appoint them your ministers, you will gain a lot of opulence and increase your kingdom and wealth.' Following his guru's words, Badshah appointed Sri Rupa and Sanatan his ministers.

Sri Rupa Goswami was born in 1493 (1415 Saka). When he studied, he lived at the house of his maternal uncle in a small village called Sakurma, near the capital of Gauda.

The ruler of Gauda, Husen Shah forcefully brought Sri Rupa and Sanatan to his court and appointed them his ministers. Although they had no desire to do so, they reluctantly started to work for the king out of fear of the Muslim ruler. Badshah rewarded them with a lot of money and property. From that time, Sri Rupa and Sanatan settled in Ramkeli, the capital of Gauda. Many great brahmans and pandits from all over the kingdom and beyond it started coming to their house to discuss scriptures. Whenever any brahman came from Karnataka, they took care of them and made sure to arrange accommodation for them. The village on the bank of the Ganges where they built their house remains famous to this day; it is known as Bhattabati.

When Sri Rupa and Sanatan were working as Badshah's ministers in Ramkeli, Sri Gaurasundar performed, together with His devotees, His pastimes of relishing maha-sankirtan and rescuing all the sinners and suffering souls in Nabadwip. Sri Rupa and Sanatan very often heard about the graciousness and extreme magnanimity of Mahaprabhu Sri Gaurasundar, and they became very anxious in their hearts to have the darshan of this eternally worshippable Lord Sri Gaurasundar. One time, Sri Rupa Goswami prayed to Him for the darshan of His holy feet, and in reply to his prayer Mahaprabhu told him, 'When a girl is in love with another man, she externally shows much attachment to the service of her husband; just like such a girl, you should keep Lord Sri Krishna's holy feet in your hearts and externally show attachment to your duties while working for the king. Very soon Lord Sri Krishna will bestow His mercy upon you two.'

Although Sri Rupa Goswami could not go to Sri Nabadwip at that time, he treated all Nabadwip residents with very much love and affection. Sri Narahari Chakravarti Thakur describes this very beautifully in his Sri Bhakti-ratnakar (1.597):

নবদ্বীপ হৈতে আইসে বিপ্রগণ যত ।
কহিতে না পারি তা সবারে ভক্তি কত ॥

navadvipa haite aise vipra-gana yata
kahite na pari ta sabare bhakti kata

'Whenever any brahmans came from Nabadwip, they treated them with so much devotion that I cannot even describe it.'

The opulence that Sri Rupa and Sanatan possessed while living in Sri Ramkeli is also described in Sri Bhakti-ratnakar (1.585–607): 'When they lived in the village Ramkeli in Gauda, they enjoyed top luxury. The assembly of Rupa and Sanatan was like that of King Indra – many experts in scriptures came there from all over the country. They engaged everyone – singers, musicians, dancers and poets hailing from all corners of the country. They always spent much money to make sure that everybody was treated without any disrespect. They always discussed scriptures and easily refuted any misconception. In the vicinity of their house, there was one hidden place with a kadamba forest and a pond, Radha-Shyam Kunda. Coming there, the two brothers would remember the pastimes of Vrindavan and, unable to check themselves, always shed profuse tears. Deeply attached to their service to the Deity of Madan-mohan, they always spoke in a lamenting mood. How am I to describe that? As Sri Krishna Chaitanya-chandra relished His pastimes in Nadia, they always longed to see Him.'

After that, Sri Gaurasundar took sannyas and, leaving Nadia, went to Sri Purusottam Ksetra. When Sri Rupa heard about it, he was devastated. 'I will never in this life behold the reddish soles of Sri Gaurasundar's holy feet!' – this thought started to tear his heart apart, and internally, he started to confide his deep pain to the fearless holy feet of omniscient Sri Gaurahari. The Lord is always very affectionate towards His devotees (He is bhakta-vatsala), so He could not ignore His devotee's call. 'I have to show Myself to My devotee,' thinking like this, Sri Gaurasundar left Puri Dham and travelled again in the direction of Gauda. Drawn to His devotee, the Lord was getting more and more restless...

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Sri Rupa Goswami's Longing Heart
2) Sri Rupa Goswami's Coming to Mahaprabhu
3) Unfortunate Fortune
4) Srila Rupa Goswami's Deity
5) 'Who Is That Boy?'
6) Gauri Das Pandit's Attachment
7) Gauri Das Pandit's Chastisement