Today is a super excellent auspicious day, as it is the appearance day of Sri Gadadhara Pandita who is the direct expansion of Srimati Radhika. For this reason I have to speak something about Gadadhara Pandita and his life history and contributions.
In Chaitanya-charitamrita, Sri Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami very nicely glorified Gadadhara Pandita. Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami mentions that there are two Gadadharas, one is Gadadhara Pandita and the other is Gadadhara dasa. Sri Gadadhara Pandita was born in Navadvipa-dhama and is known as the direct expansion of Srimati Radhika and one of Her expansions is Gadadhara dasa. But most only know of Gadadhara Pandita. Gaura-ganoddesha-dipika also mentions that in krishna-lila, Gadadhara Pandita is there as Srimati Radhika.
Rasika-shekhara Krishna Cannot Solve the Mystery of Srimati Radhika’s Love
Krishna is known as rasika-shekhara— He is relishing all the mellows from the hearts of Vrajavasis, and He is very merciful and compassionate to all the living entities. For this reason, Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami explained:
prema-rasa-niryāsa karite āsvādana rāga-mārga bhakti loke karite pracāraṇa rasika-śekhara kṛṣṇa parama-karuṇa ei dui hetu haite icchāra udgama
Chaitanya-charitamrita (Adi-lila 4.15-16)
[The Lord’s desire to appear was born from two reasons: the Lord wanted to taste the sweet essence of the mellows of love of God, and He wanted to propagate devotional service in the world on the platform of spontaneous attraction. Thus He is known as supremely jubilant and as the most merciful of all.]
‘Icchāra udgama’ (the Lord’s desire to appear) and in His krishna-lila, He relishes all kinds of prema from the Vrajavasis. Especially dasya, sakhya, vatsalya, madhurya-prema and especially gopi’s prema. He also relishes the prema of Srimati Radhika, but not completely. So, when Krishna’s lilas were finished, Krishna returned back to aprakata Goloka Vrindavana.
Then, Krishna was thinking, “I relished all kinds of prema from the hearts of the Vrajavasis, but when I tried to remember Srimati Radhika's prema, I became surprised how She felt about Me. I am Bhagavan. Everyone is attracted to My four extraordinary qualifications: prema-madhurya, rupa-madhurya, lila-madhurya and venu-madhurya. This is true. Even Srimati Radhika was intoxicated by My beauty, by the sweet fragrance of My body, by My sweet lilas and by the sound of My flute, venu-dhvani.”
In Srimad-Bhagavatam, Srila Shukadeva Gosvamipada also very nicely and elaborately explained these things: How Krishna intoxicates the hearts of all living entities, especially how the hearts of the gopis are completely intoxicated by Krishna’s venu-madhurya, the sweetness of the sound of His flute, the sweetness of His beauty, rupa-madhurya, the sweetness of His divine pastimes, lila-madhurya, and the sweetness of His divine love, prema-madhurya.
Krishna was now thinking, “I am Bhagavan, this is true. Yet, when I think about Srimati Radhika, I wonder why She is so intoxicated with My beauty and different activities? I cannot become completely bewildered like Srimati Radhika.” ‘Mora bhrame tamālere kare āliṅgana’- At the time when Srimati Radhika comes in the highest stage of prema and transcendental madness, divya-unmada-dasha, Krishna is thinking, “It is as if I am in front of Her, but actually, I am not in front of Her. If She looks at any blackish thing, She begins thinking I am there. If She looks at the black tamala trees, then She embraces them as if they were Me.
‘Mora bhrame tamālere kare āliṅgana’- “She is completely bewildered when She looks at a blackish rain cloud. She begins to run, but I am not actually there. What kind of prema is in the heart of Srimati Radhika? How does She become completely bewildered by this type of prema? If She just hears the sound of two branches rubbing, She begins to think, ‘O, this is the sound of Krishna’s flute.’ But I am not doing these things.”
In this way, Krishna deeply contemplated what kinds of prema are found in the heart of Srimati Radhika and how She can become completely bewildered when Her divya-unmada-dasha appears. This is why Krishna decided, “I have to taste these highest types of prema. However, without Srimati Radhika's complexion and mood, I cannot relish these topmost moods.”
For this reason, Svarupa Damodara composed this verse explaining why Krishna comes in this Kali-yuga in the form of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu:
śrī-rādhāyāḥ praṇaya-mahimā kīdṛśo vā anayaivā- svādyo yenādbhuta-madhurimā kīdṛśo vā madīyaḥ saukhyaṁ cāsyā mad-anubhavataḥ kīdṛśaṁ veti lobhāt tad-bhāvāḍhyaḥ samajani śacī-garbha-sindhau harīnduḥ
Chaitanya-charitamrita (Adi-lila 1.6)
[Desiring to understand the glory of Radharani’s love, the wonderful qualities in Him that She alone relishes through Her love, and the happiness She feels when She realises the sweetness of His love, the Supreme Lord Hari, richly endowed with Her emotions, appeared from the womb of Srimati Shachi-devi, as the moon appeared from the ocean.]
These are the three main reasons why Krishna appears in this Kali-yuga in the form of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
First, ‘śrī-rādhāyāḥ praṇaya-mahimā’, Krishna is thinking, “What are the glories of the divine love Srimati Radhika has towards Me?” Second, “What is it about My beauty that She is always relishing which drives Her heart completely mad?” And third, “When She relishes these beauties and other activities, what kinds of feelings arise in Her heart?”
For these three reasons, Krishna appeared in this Kali-yuga in the form of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. ‘Rādhā-bhāva-kānti dui aṅgīkāra kari’. In Chaitanya-charitamrita, Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami explained that Krishna stole Srimati Radhika's complexion, and then manifested as Shachinandana Gaurahari. Without Srimati Radhika, Krishna cannot do anything. Our scriptures explain that wherever Radha is, there is Krishna and where Krishna is, there is Radha - ‘Yatraiva krishna tatraiva radha’.
rādhā-kṛṣṇa aiche sadā eka-i svarūpa līlā-rasa āsvādite dhare dui-rūpa
Chaitanya-charitamrita (Adi-lila 4.98)
[Thus Radha and Lord Krishna are one, yet They have taken two forms to enjoy the mellows of pastimes.]
Radha and Krishna Are One
Radha and Krishna are one, but in order to enact Their lilas, They manifested Their two forms as Radha and Krishna – ‘yatraiva krishna tatraiva radha’. Our shastras similarly explain that wherever Radha is, there is Krishna, and wherever Krishna is, there is Radha. Because, ‘sakti-śakti mato abheda’, there is no difference between shakti and shaktiman. Krishna is shaktiman and Srimati Radhika is shakti.
Shakti and shaktiman cannot be separated from each other. Wherever shaktiman is, there is shakti. As like the fire, wherever fire is, the heat of the fire will also be. You cannot separate the heat of the fire from the fire. In the same way, wherever Radha is, Krishna is there, and wherever Krishna is, Radha is also there. In this way, both stay together, full time, ananta kala.
So Krishna was thinking, “How will I realise these things?” When Krishna was coming from Goloka Vrindavana to perform His lilas in Navadvipa-dhama, Srimati Radhika was thinking, “My prana-vallabha Govinda is going to taste all of My highest moods, mahabhavas. Especially rudha, adhirudha, divya-unmada-dasha, chitra-jalpa and even the highest stages of mahabhava, mohana and madanakhya-mahabhava. Only I can tolerate these types of mahabhavas in this body.” Because when these types of mahabhavas manifest in the heart of Srimati Radhika, only She can tolerate them. So, Srimati Radhika was thinking, “How can My beloved Govinda possibly tolerate these types of mahabhavas and different activities in His body?”
Thus, when Krishna came from Goloka Vrindavana to this material world, Srimati Radhika completely covered Krishna’s body with Her complexion. Srimati Radhika's complexion and Srimati Radhika are non-different. Because in aprakrita-chit-jagat, the transcendental world, there are no differences between deha (body) and dehi (soul), deha-dehi-bheda. There are many things which are different, but in the transcendental world, there are no differences between deha and dehi. Hence, our shastras explain that Srimati Radhika completely covers Krishna’s body with Her own complexion.
‘Antaḥ kṛṣṇaṁ bahir gauraṁ’. Antar Krishna means, internally He is Krishna Himself and externally, Srimati Radhika’s complexion, which means Srimati Radhika Herself. So now Radha and Krishna combine together in the form of Shachinandana Gaurahari— gauranga-svarupa. And this Shachinandana Gaurahari, specifically His rasaraja-mahabhava-svarupa, was manifested in front of Raya Ramananda.
This katha was very nicely elaborated by Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami. He explained how Sri Radha and Sri Krishna combined into the form of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and how Their topmost form is known as rasaraja-mahabhava-svarupa. Krishna is called Rasaraja, the embodiment of all the ingredients of mellows. And Srimati Radhika is called the embodiment of mahabhava.
And now, Rasaraja and the embodiment of mahabhava have combined and manifested in the form of Shachinandana Gaurahari— and Krishna manifests His navadvipa-lilas, shvetadvipa-lilas. Srila Vishvanatha Chakravartipada very nicely and elaborately speaks on how Srimati Radhika, Krishna, all of the gopis, even the Yamuna river, Giriraja Govardhana, Radha-kunda and Shyama-kunda manifested in Navadvipa-dhama.
Navadvipa-dhama is non-different from Vrindavana-dhama. One name for Navadvipa-dhama is Gupta-Vrindavana, hidden Vrindavana. Srila Vishvanatha Chakravartipada beautifully and extensively explained these topics in his grantha, Svapna-vilasa. Srila Vishvanatha Chakravartipada wrote that only Srimati Radhika can fulfil all the desires of Krishna, and also how Krishna wants Srimati Radhika to fulfil all of His desires. Because of this, Her name is Radha.
kṛṣṇa-vāñchā-pūrti-rūpa kare ārādhane ataeva ‘rādhikā’ nāma purāṇe vākhāne
Chaitanya-charitamrita (Adi-lila 4.87)
[Her worship [aradhana] consists of fulfilling the desires of Lord Krishna. Therefore the Puranas call Her Radhika.]
In Chaitanya-charitamrita, Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvamipada explained why Srimati Radhika’s name is Radha. In Puranas and everywhere, Her name is called Radha or Radhika. Why? Because only Srimati Radhika can fulfill all the desires of Krishna. For this reason, Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami, in Chaitanya-charitamrita used these Bengali words to very clearly explain:
kṛṣṇa-vāñchā-pūrti-rūpa kare ārādhane ataeva ‘rādhikā’ nāma purāṇe vākhāne
Meaning, one who fulfills all the desires of Krishna.
And Krishna desired how to relish these three moods of Srimati Radhika:
śrī-rādhāyāḥ praṇaya-mahimā kīdṛśo vā anayaivā- svādyo yenādbhuta-madhurimā kīdṛśo vā madīyaḥ saukhyaṁ cāsyā mad-anubhavataḥ kīdṛśaṁ veti lobhāt tad-bhāvāḍhyaḥ samajani śacī-garbha-sindhau harīnduḥ
These are His three desires. So, Srimati Radhika was thinking, “My beloved Krishna wants to relish these three things.” Except, Srimati Radhika had to show Him how to fulfil these three desires. So, when Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appears in Navadvipa-dhama, Srimati Radhika simultaneously appears in the form of Gadadhara Pandita— who is an extraordinary person.
Gurudeva would explain that Krishna took Srimati Radhika’s vamya-bhava, meaning Her contradictory mood. Some say, “Gadadhara Pandita is always in a mood of submission, dakshina-bhava.” However, you cannot say this. Sometimes, Gadadhara also expressed vamya-bhava. This is because in aprakrita-chit-jagat, everything there is infinite, and infinity minus infinity, still equals infinity. Krishna as Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu took Srimati Radhika’s vamya-bhava, Her contradictory mood. Still, some of this mood remained in Gadadhara also. Despite most of the time being in a mood of submission, he did at times, express this contradictory mood or vamya-bhava.
Wherever Gadai is, there is Gauranga
While Mahaprabhu was staying in Navadvipa-dhama, He was with Gadadhara. When He was younger, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was called Nimai and was very talkative. But, Gadadhara always kept silent. Nimai would always try to speak with him, however, Gadadhara did not like to converse much. Gadadhara was also His senior and because he was His elder, he attended a higher school than Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
At the time, Nimai was only a student of Sanskrit grammar. Although Gadadhara was in a higher class, Nimai mostly discussed high topics with Gadadhara, and Gadadhara did not necessarily like this. Still, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu mostly joked and laughed with Gadadhara. Gadadhara’s mood is mostly submissive, and he always used to keep this submissive mood, dakshina-bhava. He never spoke too much and always remained calm and quiet. And Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s nature was to speak.
And Gadadhara always tried to keep some distance from Him. Yet, Gadadhara cannot survive without seeing Lord Mahaprabhu. Still, Nimai always remained very talkative, sometimes speaking high level kathas to Gadadhara, which were beyond Nimai’s schooling level.
For example, Gadadhara was one day going to school and Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu blocked his path. Nimai then asked Gadadhara about high class philosophies regarding mukti, liberation. Gadadhara attempted to run and escape from Nimai, but He would come from the other side and block the road. Then, He asked Gadadhara, “Tell Me about liberation”.
Gadadhara very simply explained, “Mukti means atyantika-duhkha-nivrittih.” Meaning, being freed from all kinds of distress is called mukti— this is the simple meaning of mukti. In this explanation, duhkha is called mukti; but there are many different explanations given on mukti in various commentaries.
Shankara philosophers define mukti as follows: there are no feelings of happiness and also no feelings of unhappiness— this is their definition of mukti. Meaning, Shankara philosophers try to just merge in to Brahma. They say, “If you become Brahma, there is no feeling of happiness or unhappiness.” Nirvisheshavadi’s definition of mukti and advaitavadi’s definition of mukti are different.
Shankara philosophers' views on mukti are different. But Nimai said, “No, I don’t want to listen to this type of mukti-katha, explain more about liberation.” So, Gadadhara explained the meaning of mukti: one who attains the lotus feet of Krishna and serves the Lord obtains mukti. Still Nimai said, “I am still not pleased with this definition.”
Gadadhara would become angry and say, “You are a small boy. How do You know about this mukti? Why do You cut my philosophy and argue with me?” Then Nimai explained the real meaning of liberation or mukti:- giving up all kinds of designation— material designations. Give up all kinds of material designations and realise your own transcendental constitutional form, siddha-deha. And with your transcendental constitutional form directly serve the Divine Couple, Sri Radha and Krishna. This is actual liberation or mukti. In this way, they would nicely glorify mukti, and sometimes lovingly quarrel with each other.
Gadadhara was always with Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, he cannot survive even one second of separation from Mahaprabhu. Wherever Gadai is, there is Nimai. For this reason, in Navadvipa-dhama, everybody called Him Gadai Gauranga. Meaning that Gauranga belongs to Gadadhara.
When Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu took sannyasa, He promised His mother Sachi-devi that He would stay in Jagannatha Puri. So, Gadadhara also came to Jagannatha Puri and took kshetra-sannyasa. Kshetra-sannyasa means one who takes a vow to reside in one pilgrimage place and never leaves that place. And Gadadhara took this kshetra-sannyasa and vowed to always stay in Jagannatha Puri.
There, Gadadhara resided in Tota Gopinatha and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu resided nearby in Gambhira with Raya Ramananda. However, Lord Chaitanya would come from Gambhira to Tota Gopinatha and listen to Srimad-Bhagavata-katha from the lotus lips of Gadadhara everyday. Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu sometimes requested Gadadhara, “Please, glorify the character of Dhruva, Prahlada and Ambarisha.” When Gadadhara spoke these kathas, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would become completely absorbed; especially when Gadadhara would speak on the Srimad-Bhagavatam’s Venu-gita, Bhramara-gita and Gopi-gita. At that time, both of them would be completely absorbed in the high class moods of the gopis.
Gadadhara Takes the Treasure of Gauranga’s Heart
Gadadhara is the direct incarnation of Srimati Radhika, and Srimati Radhika Herself glorified these types of rasa-madhurya kathas. Who can glorify these kathas better than Her? For this reason, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu used to come from Gambhira to Tota Gopinatha daily. There, Gadadhara was staying in one garden on the beach. Mahaprabhu once said to Gadadhara, “I want to give you a very valuable thing, My hridayera dhana. I will give you the treasure of My heart. Do you want to accept this?” Gadadhara very humbly replied, “Yes, I have to take it.”
So once, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Gadadhara were walking on the beach and Mahaprabhu began digging in the sand with His finger. Then, a very nice and beautiful Thakuraji was revealed, a vigraha named Gopinatha. At first, Gopinatha was in a standing position. But as Shukadeva Gosvamipada explained, later, Gopinatha assumed a sitting position. So, according to the instruction of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Gadadhara served that self-manifested vigraha, which was given to him by Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
After some time, Mahaprabhu also entered that vigraha when He disappeared from this material world. These lilas are elaborated in Chaitanya-mangala, and other granthas that explain how Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu disappeared from this material world. I cannot explain the distress felt when Lord Chaitanya Mahapabhu entered Tota Gopinatha and did not come back out. His not coming out meant that when Chaitanya Mahaprabhu entered Gopinatha, He disappeared from this material world.
As Krishna’s nature is always one of laughing and joking with the gopis, Krishna is called dhira-lalita-nayaka. Dhira-lalita-nayaka means one who is very expert in using sweet words in front of their lover. Krishna sometimes asks the gopis, “Why are you saying I am not a brahmachari? Do you know I am a brahmachari?”
The gopis would laugh and joke with Krishna by saying, “You are like a turak brahmachari, a horse brahmachari.” Turak means horse. Their usage of the words ‘horse brahmachari’ refers to how a male horse can be very calm and quiet, but only when the female horse is not present. If a female horse comes in front of him, then the mind of the male horse becomes very disturbed. In this way the gopis joked with Krishna, “Krishna, we know You are a brahmachari. But You are a turak brahmachari, like a male horse.”
In this same manner, Gadahara and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu sometimes also joked with each other when they discussed topics from Srimad-Bhagavatam, principally Gopi-gita and Bhramara-gita. During that time, they were totally absorbed in ecstatic moods; especially Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He became absorbed and thought, “I am Radha.”
Whenever Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu used to visit Tota Gopinatha and noticed a sandhill, He would think, “This is Giriraja Govardhana.” When Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu saw a banyan tree, He would think, “O, this is Vamshi-vata.” And when Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu noticed the blue ocean, He thought, “This is the Yamuna.” In this way, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was always absorbed in the highest moods of Srimati Radhika. Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami also explained how Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would become absorbed in the mood of Srimati Radhika.
The University of Srimati Radhika
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would always think, “I am Radha, and now I am feeling pangs of separation from My beloved Krishna, because My beloved Krishna has left Me. He has now gone from Vrindavana to Mathura and Dvaraka.” When Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was in this separation mood, day and night, only Svarupa Damodara and Raya Ramananda could pacify Him by glorifying vrindavana-lila kathas, and in this way, they held the life air of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
As mentioned, Gadadhara always resided in Tota Gopinatha. So, a question may arise - Why was he not staying with Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Gambhira? In Navadvipa-dhama, he was always residing with Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. As I also explained, they were known as Gadai Gauranga - Where Gadai is, there is Gauranga and where Gauranga is, there is Gadai.
So when Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu arrived in Jagannatha Puri, why did Gadadhara not stay with Him in Gambhira? This is a very confidential topic and our acharyas, especially Srila Gurudeva, Srila Narayana Gosvami Maharaja, a rasika-acharya, very nicely answered this question. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, He is actually Krishna and He just took Srimati Radhika’s mood. But now, He is learning and practicing how to experience Her highest moods.
Gurudeva explained that Svarupa Damodara and Raya Ramananda are none other than Lalita and Vishakha. Lalita and Vishakha are training Krishna how to relish the highest moods of Srimati Radhika, and Gadahara is checking from afar, “Is He really ready to practice My mood or not?”
Srila Gurudeva also explained this is actually called the University of Srimati Radhika, where Srimati Radhika is the Principle and Lalita and Vishakha, as Svarupa Damodara and Raya Ramananda, are the teachers. As teachers, they are staying there to train Krishna on how to taste the highest moods, and Srimati Radhika as Gadadhara, is watching whether Krishna is properly tasting Her moods.
Srimati Radhika can never be present as Gadadhara when Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is absorbed in these deep separation moods and He is thinking, “I am Radha.” Gadadhara (Srimati Radhika) cannot survive if he were to be present when these highest moods manifested in Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Who can help Him during that time? For this reason, Gadadhara would not stay with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He would stay a little bit away from Tota Gopinatha, and from there, he would observe the activities and moods of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Gurudeva also explained Gadadhara was very surprised by the way this highest mood would manifest. Because of this also, he could not stay with Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Gambhira.
Another question may now arise - Why didn’t Rupa, Sanatana or Raghunatha dasa Gosvami stay with Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Gambhira? The answer was also explained by Gurudeva – because all kinds of Srimati Radhika’s moods are reflected in the hearts of the manjaris. So, whatever Srimati Radhika was feeling was directly reflected in the hearts of the manjaris. Due to this, manjaris cannot serve Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, so Rupa, Sanatana and Raghunatha dasa Gosvami would not stay with Him in Gambhira.
Thus, Yogamaya arranged that Rupa and Sanatana would not stay with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Gambhira. Rupa and Sanatana were mostly residing with Srila Haridasa Thakura in Siddha-bakula.
Gadadhara Becomes One Pointed with Guru
In gaura-lila, Gadadhara had received diksha from Pundarika Vidyanidhi. Once, Gadadhara told Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, “I am chanting this mantra, but the mantra has not manifested in my heart.” At that time, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu replied, “O, maybe you have spoken this mantra to someone.” Then, Gadadhara admitted, “Yes, I spoke this mantra to someone.” Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “O, if you speak this mantra to someone, then its potency disappears.”
“What do I do now?” asked Gadadhara. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu answered, “You have to receive diksha from Pundarika Vidyanidhi again.” Then, Gadadhara very humbly said, “Prabhu, you can give me diksha.” But Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “No, you cannot change your guru, you have to retake diksha, and again listen to the mantra from your guru, Pundarika Vidyanidhi.” In this way, our acharyas teach us how to be one pointed and give proper respect to our guru.
Vallabhacharya is Defeated
I will speak about another katha, when Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu met with Vallabhacharya. Vallabhacharya was very proud of his own vidya, knowledge. However, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu destroyed all of his pride. Once, Vallabhacharya told Mahaprabhu, “I gave a very nice explanation on the meanings of the different names of Krishna.” Chaitanya Mahaprabhu humbly said, “I do not know many meanings of krishna-nama, the only meaning of krishna-nama I know is Yashoda-nandana and Shyamasundara.”
The meaning of Yashoda-nandana is the mood of vatsalya-bhava and Shyamasundara is in the mood of parakiya, gopi-bhava. In this way, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu indirectly destroyed the pride from his heart. Another time, Vallabhacharya told Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, “I have defeated the philosophy of Sridhara Svamipada.” Lord Chaitanya subsequently laughed and joked, He then very simply replied, “One who does not accept her husband is called a prostitute.” Meaning, the philosophy of Sridhara Svamipada is completely foolish. In this manner, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would defeat Vallabhacharya.
On another occasion, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, while in the assembly house of all His devotees, began glorifying everyone except Vallabhacharya, “Look, this is Sanatana Gosvamipada. He is a very learned scholar. Who can conquer his knowledge? This is Rupa Gosvamipada, he glorified all rasa-tattva in his Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu and Ujjvala-nilamani granthas. Look, here is Advaita Acharya, he is a great devotee. This is Nityananda Prabhu and this is Gadadhara Pandita.” In this way, in front of Vallabhacharya, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu one by one glorified each devotee, and Vallabhacharya became very ashamed. Haṁsa-madhye baka yaiche. Vallabhacharya was thinking, ‘I stand like a crane in front of the swans, and I can't understand anything.’
In this manner, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu destroyed all the pride from the heart of Vallabhacharya. Vallabhacharya then realised just how foolish he was. Afterwards, he asked Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, “What do I do now?” “You have to take diksha from Gadadhara Pandita,” Mahaprabhu answered. As explained in Chaitanya-charitamrita, Vallabhacharya received diksha from Gadadhara Pandita and entered in gopi madhurya-rasa.
Only when he received diksha from Gadadhara Pandita did he enter in gopi-parakiya-bhava, madhurya-rasa. In his previous sampradaya, they did not believe these things. Anyhow, in Chaitanya-charitamrita, Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami very nicely explains these kathas, how Vallabhacharya deeply entered in gopi-bhava, parakiya mood And he also nicely glorified Krishna’s highest mood. This shloka very beautifully glorifies this topic:
śyāmasundara śikhaṇḍa-śekhara smera-hāsa muralī-manohara rādhikā-rasika māṁ kṛpā-nidhe sva-priyā-caraṇa-kiṅkarīṁ kuru
Sri Radha-prarthana (2)
[O Shyamasundara! O You whose head is adorned with peacock feathers, whose face is graced with a laughing smile, whose murali flute enchants the mind, and who are most expert in relishing rasa with Srimati Radhika. O ocean of mercy, please make me a kinkari (maidservant) at the feet of Your beloved.]
I will end briefly with the story of when Gadadhara Pandita was staying and serving Tota Gopinatha. After the departure of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Gadadhara Pandita could not tolerate the separation from Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. In a deep mood of separation from Mahaprabhu, he was no longer able to even stand up to offer a garland to Tota Gopinatha. In response, the vigraha sat down, and now Gadadhara was able to offer a garland. After a few years, Gadadhara Pandita also departed from this material world, and attained to Goloka Vrindavana in the form of Srimati Radhika.
Jaya Gadadhara Pandita ki jaya!
Bolo Sacinandana Gaurahari ki jaya!
Bolo Vrindavana Bihari Lala ki jaya!
Jaya Sri Radhe!
Gaura Premanande! Hari Hari Bol!
Date: 26 April 2017 Location: Skype
Transcriber: Shyamapriya dasi (India) Editor: Damodara dasa (UK), Sanatana dasa (USA) Proofreader: Chandrika dasi (UK) Integrity check: Divya-premamayi dasi (Slovakia) Image: Narasimhananda dasa (Russia)
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