(2/7) Sri Rupa Goswami's Coming to Mahaprabhu

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Disappearance of Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu
Nabadwip, 27 August 2015, part 2

...Returning to Gauda-desh, Sri Gaurasundar arrived gloriously at the house of Vidya Vachaspati (Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya's brother) in Vidyanagar. At that time, the devotees as if got back the precious wealth of their hearts that they had been robbed of – their joy knew no bounds.

Mahaprabhu spent a few days in Vidyanagar and after that arrived gloriously in Kulia.

কুলিয়া-গ্রামেতে প্রভুর শুনিয়া আগমন ।
কোটি কোটি লোক আসি' কৈল দরশন ॥
কুলিয়া গ্রামে কৈল দেবানন্দেরে প্রসাদ ।
গোপাল বিপ্রেরে ক্ষমাইকা শ্রীবাসাপরাধ ॥
পাষণ্ডী নিন্দুক আসি' পড়িলা চরণে ।
অপরাধ ক্ষমি' তারে দিল কৃষ্ণ প্রেমে ॥

kuliya-gramete prabhura suniya agamana
koti koti loka asi' kaila darasana
kuliya grame kaila devanandere prasada
gopala viprere ksamaila srivas-aparadha
pasandi ninduka asi' padila charane
aparadha ksami' tare dila krsna preme

'Hearing the news that the Lord had arrived in Kulia, many thousands of people came to see Him. It was in Kulia that the Lord bestowed His mercy on Devananda Pandit and forgave Chapal Gopal's offence to Srivas Pandit. All heretics and offenders came and fell at His feet – the Lord forgave their offences and granted them divine love for Lord Krishna.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.1.152–154)

During the few days that Mahaprabhu spent in Kulia, He rescued many sinful and suffering souls and granted them transcendental love of God. From there, He started His way towards Vrindavan. Thousands of people started walking along with Him. Then, the bhakta-vatsala Lord suddenly became perturbed and turned to the capital of Gauda, Ramkeli.

ঐছে চলি' আইলা প্রভু 'রামকেলি' গ্রাম ।
গৌড়ের নিকট গ্রাম অতি অনুপাম ॥
তাঁহা নৃত্য করে প্রভু প্রেমে অচেতন ।
কোটি কোটি লোক আইসে দেখিতে চরণ ॥

aichhe chali' aila prabhu 'ramakeli' grama
gaudera nikata grama ati anupama
tanha nrtya kare prabhu preme achetana
koti koti loka aise dekhite charana

'Thus, the Lord has arrived in Ramkeli, an unsurpassed village near Gauda. There, swooning with divine love, the Lord began to dance; thousands of people came there to see it.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.1.166–167)

Hearing about the miraculous effect Mahaprabhu had on everybody, the governor of Gauda, Badshah, was astonished and started telling his people, 'It does not even cost Him anything! Just like that, so many people are walking behind Him. I understand that He must be the Lord Himself. Therefore, if anybody behaves in an envious or any other untoward way with Him, they must be punished. Let this great soul go freely wherever He wants.'

Badshah called Sri Rupa 'Dabir Khas'. Eventually, when Badshah asked Dabir Khas about Mahaprabhu one day, he replied:

যে তোমার রাজ্য দিলা, যে তোমার গোসাঞা ।
তোমার দেশে তোমার ভাগ্যে জন্মিলা আসিঞা ॥
তোমার মঙ্গল বাঞ্ছে, বাক্য সিদ্ধি হয় ।
ইহার অশীর্ব্বাদে তোমার সর্ব্বত্রই জয় ॥

ye tomara rajya dila, ye tomara gosana
tomara dese tomara bhagye janmila asina
tomara mangala vanchhe, vakya siddhi haya
ihara asirvade tomara sarvatrai jaya

'You are very fortunate because He who gave you this kingdom, who is your Lord, has come to your area. He wishes you well, so with His blessing you can truly become forever victorious.'

(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.1.176–177)

'O King! Ask your heart. You are only part of Lord Vishnu, who is the master and ruler of all people. The idea you have in your heart about Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the proof of that.' Badshah replied, 'I think that Sri Chaitanya is God Himself, there is no doubt about it.' Saying this, Badshah left the court and entered the inner chamber of his palace. Sri Rupa (Dabir Khas) went home, too. Sri Rupa and Sanatan saw that Providence had as if suddenly taken pity on them – impossible as it was, they were finally allowed to meet the transcendental jewel, Sri Gaura!

Mahaprabhu stayed beneath a banyan tree on the bank of the Ganges. The loud sounds of maha-sankirtan could be heard in all directions; only when the evening came, the sankirtan was paused and all the devotees sat down surrounding Mahaprabhu. At this time, hankering to see the fearless holy lotus feet of Sri Gaurasundar, the Lord of their hearts, Sri Rupa and Sanatan appeared in disguise, dressed in some plain clothes. Taking bunches of grass between their teeth and overcome with divine feelings, they felt goosebumps and tears of divine love streamed down their faces in remembrance of the Lord – in this state, they fell in prostrate obeisances at the holy feet of Sri Nityananda.

[Nityananda Prabhu came together with Mahaprabhu to Ramkeli, a town near Malda, and as Sri Rupa and Sanatan were thinking about Mahaprabhu, they suddenly saw that He had come to their town! Mahaprabhu was sitting on the bank of the Ganges, chanting the Holy Name of the Lord. Then, taking grass between their teeth to show very humbly that they were lower than cows, the two brothers fell at Mahaprabhu's holy feet.]

Sri Nityananda Prabhu told Mahaprabhu about the two brothers and submitted them both at Sri Gaurasundar's holy feet. The two brothers fell at the soles of Mahaprabhu's holy lotus feet and began to weep extolling Him in a very meek and humble way. Then, Sri Gaura lifted them from the ground and said (Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, 2.1.207–215), 'Listen to Me, Dabis Khas. You, two brothers, are My old servants. From today, your names will be Rupa and Sanatan. Please leave your humility for it breaks My heart to see it. You have written your humble letters and sent them to Me many times, so I know about your nature through those letters. I know your hearts from those letters. To teach you, I have always sent you the same verse [about the behaviour of a girl in love]. Actually, I did not have any job in Gauda, but I have come here only to see you two. Nobody knows about these feelings in My heart: everybody kept asking Me why I had come to Ramkeli. I am glad that I have come because you, two brothers, have come to see Me. Now go back to your home and have no fear. You two are My servants birth after birth. Krishna will rescue you very soon.'

[The Lord says that Rupa and Sanatan will remain His servants birth after birth. At the time of Krishna-lila, the two brothers were Rupa Manjari and Lavanga Manjari. In Gaura-lila, Muslim people first named them Dabir Khas and Sakar Mallik, but Mahaprabhu changed their names to Rupa and Sanatan.]

Mahaprabhu gave Sri Rupa and Sri Sanatan much guidance and consolation, and after that He told them to go back home. Before leaving, they held Mahaprabhu's holy lotus feet on their heads and prayed ardently – taking the blessings of all the devotees of Gaura (Advaita Acharya, Sri Haridas, Sri Gadadhar, and others), they left. Everybody chanted Holy Names and said, 'You have nothing to fear for Mahaprabhu has given His blessings to you.' After that, Sri Gaurahari set off to Kanai Natashala.

Sri Rupa Goswami took a boat and went to his house in Fatiabad in Jessore with a lot of money. He distributed that money among brahmans and Vaishnavs, gave something for the maintenance of his family members, and also kept something with a few reliable brahmans in case some trouble or difficulty occurs in the future. Apart from that, he kept ten thousand gold mudras in a grocery shop to help Sanatan escape from prison in Ramkeli, Gauda.

[You have heard that when Mahaprabhu came to Kashi, Rupa Goswami came to meet Him first. Sanatan Goswami was arrested and put into jail, so Rupa Goswami kept ten thousand mudras to help him escape.]

When Mahaprabhu stayed at the house of Tapan Misra in Varanasi (Kashi), Sri Sanatan escaped from prison in Gauda and came to Mahaprabhu's holy lotus feet making a long, difficult journey to Varanasi through forest paths. Later, when Sri Rupa arrived at the bank of the Ganges in Gauda-desh together with his brother Anupam, Anupam suddenly passed away. Sri Rupa spent a few days in Gauda and then travelled to Nilachal.

When Sri Rupa Goswami was in Vrindavan, he started composing a play about the pastimes of Lord Krishna. While he was travelling, he began to write it as a chronicle. When Anupama left his body on the way, he came to Gauda and just after a few days immediately left for Nilachal. On his way, arriving in an Odian village Satyabhamapur, Sri Rupa spent there one night. There, he saw a strange dream at night: Satyabhama Devi personally came to him and said, 'Compose my play separately. By my mercy, the play will turn out very nice.' After that dream, Sri Rupa could understand that Satyabhama Devi had ordered him to compose a separate play about her.

When Sri Rupa reached Nilachal, he came to the house of Sri Haridas Thakur. When Sri Rupa paid his prostrate obeisance to Sri Haridas Thakur, Sri Haridas Thakur said, 'Mahaprabhu has told me that you would come to me.' Thus, Sri Haridas Thakur kept Sri Rupa at his house with very much affection. Mahaprabhu's daily habit was such that He would go to see the upala-bhoga ceremony of Lord Jagannath, and after that He would come to Sri Haridas Thakur's house. That day when Sri Rupa arrived, Mahaprabhu came there, too. As Sri Rupa paid his prostrate obeisance to the Lord and recited prayers, Sri Haridas Thakur said to Mahaprabhu, 'Sri Rupa is paying his obeisance to You.' Greeting Haridas Thakur, Mahaprabhu then caught Sri Rupa and embraced him. Sri Rupa reacted with extreme humility. Then, Mahaprabhu made him sit and started asking him about his well-being and other heart-to-heart matters; after that, the Lord asked if there was any news about Sri Sanatan. Sri Rupa said, 'I have not met with Sanatan yet. I came taking a road along the Ganges, and he took the highway. I heard in Prayag that he had gone to Vrindavan. After that, I went together with my younger brother, Anupam, to Gauda-desh, but as soon as we came there, Anupam suddenly left his body on the bank of the Ganges.' When Mahaprabhu heard about Anupam's demise, He said, 'Anupam's devotion to Sri Rama is incomparable!' and spoke further in his praise. In the end, Mahaprabhu ordered Sri Rupa to stay with Haridas Thakur and left for His own room in Gambhira.

Eventually, arriving in Nilachal one day, Sanatan came to Sri Haridas Thakur's house, too. Sri Haridas Thakur welcomed him with much affection and kept him at his house. Mahaprabhu met with him there.

— : • : —

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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