(Radha Chalachikan), as well as the govardhana-sila of Srila Sanatana Goswami which has the footprint of
Lord Krishna impressed upon it.
Click the map to enlarge
It so happened that Sanatana Goswami
used to circumambulate Govardhana hill everyday as part of his daily vows; even
in his old age. One day, Lord Krishna in the guise of a beautiful cowherd boy,
suddenly appeared before Sanatana Goswami, and requested him that now you are
very old, there is no need to go round Govardhana hill everyday.
Sanatana
replied that as he had taken such a vow to daily circumambulate Govardhana, he
could not stop. Understanding Sanatana's determination, Krishna then stood on a
big stone from the hill and started playing His flute. The flute playing of the
Lord was so enchanting, that the stone started to melt and Krishna's footprint
got impressed upon it and also the hoof print of a calf, along with Krishna's
flute and His stick used for herding cows. Krishna then gave this stone from
Govardhana hill to Sanatana and told that if he circumambulated this govardhana-sila four times, it would be equal to going round
Govardhana Hill. Sanatana then accepted the sila
from Krishna, and from that time on, he circumambulated this sila,
instead of going all the way around Govardhana hill. One can have darsana
of this sacred govardhana-sila by
asking the pujari and giving a small
donation.
Timings:
Summer—Mangala 4:30 am; Darsana 6:30 am-12:30 pm and 5 pm-9:30 pm
Winter—Mangala 5 am; Darsana - 7:30
am-1:00 pm and 4:15 pm-8:45 pm
Jiva Goswami Samadhi
In the year 1598, Srila Jiva
Goswami
entered samadhi and his sacred body
was placed here near to his beloved Deities, Radha Damodara. The youngest of the
six Goswamis of
Vrindavana, Jiva
Goswami was considered to be the greatest philosopher in Indian history. After
the disappearance of Rupa and Sanatana, Jiva Goswami became the acarya
for all the Gaudiya Vaisnavas. Jiva Goswami was also the most prolific writer amongst the six Goswamis,
and wrote over 25 books. He was so expert in Sanskrit that he is considered the
foremost Sanskrit scholar that ever lived, and to this day, the Benares Hindu
University honours him with and entire department dedicated to the study of his
books. It is believed that Jiva Goswami was born in the year 1513 (although some
scholars claim a much later date of 1523). He was the son of Anupama, the
younger brother of Rupa and Sanatana Goswamis.
After the death of Jiva
Goswamis
mother, (his father Anupama died shortly after his birth) Jiva decided to
renounce the world and join his uncles, Rupa and Sanatana in Vrindavana. On his
way to Vrindavana he first visited Navadvipa where he met Lord Nityananda who
took him on a tour of all the holy places of Navadvipa dhama.
Lord Nityananda told Jiva that on his way to Vrindavana he should stop at Benares
(Kasi) and study under the great learned Pandita
Madhusudana Vachaspati, who was a disciple of Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya. In a
very short time Jiva became well versed in all aspects of Vedanta
philosophy and his reputation grew as an eminent scholar. Jiva Goswami then
left on the last leg of his journey to Vrindavana where he was greeted on his
arrival by his two uncles Rupa and Sanatana. Jiva then took shelter of Rupa Goswami who accepted him as his disciple.
Jiva went on to become the most
prolific author amongst the Goswamis and systematically planned the propagation of the Goswamis
teachings. He sent three of his most brilliant students, Srinavasa Acarya,
Narottama dasa Thakura and Syamananda Pandita by bullock cart to Bengal and
Orissa to distribute the books of the Goswamis,
thereby inaugurating the first ever book distribution party in the history of
the Gaudiya Vaisnava movement.
Jiva
Goswamis fame spread so far and
wide that even Akbar, Mughal Emperor of India, paid a visit to Vrindavana in the
year 1570, and was so impressed by Jiva Goswami and the work of the Goswami's,
that he gave permission for a number of temples dedicated to Lord Krishna to be
built. Akbar also provided funds for the preservation of all the Goswamis
manuscripts and a library was built at the Radha Damodara temple.
After the disappearance of the other Goswamis,
Jiva became the leader of all the Gaudiya
Vaisnavas and by his expert helmsmanship, the Krishna consciousness's
movement of Lord Chaitanya gained a solid foundation. It is believed that Jiva
Goswami disappeared in the year 1598, but according to a document kept at Radha
Damodara and considered to be his last will and testament, his disappearance was
in the year 1608.
Srila Jiva
Goswami was an incarnation
of Vilas Manjari, one of the eight intimate maidservants of Srimati Radharani in
the spiritual world.
Timings: Same as temple
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta
Sarasvati Goswami Puspa Samadhi
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati was born at
Jagannatha Puri as the son of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur in the year 1874. Srila
Bhaktivinoda had prayed to Lord Krishna to send someone to help him in his
mission of spreading Krishna consciousness. The Lord answered his prayer in the
form of a wonderful son, who at birth had all thirty two bodily symptoms of a maha-purusa.
When he was born his umbilical cord was wrapped around his body like a brahmanas
sacred thread. As a youth he became a most brilliant student and could
remember each and everything he ever read or heard. He became known as the
walking encyclopedia and was awarded the title Siddhanta
Sarasvati by his tutors. He remained a naistika-brahmacari
and at the age of forty four accepted the renounced order of life sannyasa,
in 1918.
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
Goswami entered samadhi in 1936, his
full samadhi is situated at Sridhama Mayapura, West Bengal. He was the only disciple of Gaura Kishora dasa Babaji
Maharaja, and became the spiritual master of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupada.
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
Goswami opened sixty four temples (Gaudiya
Maths) all over India and established a number of printing presses for
publishing books on Krishna consciousness. He used to call the press the “brhat-mrdanga” or the “big drum”. He would say that the
chanting party could be heard for a few blocks, but the books printed at the
press could be heard far and wide.
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati was
known as the ‘Lion guru’ because of his bold and fearless preaching. His greatest
contribution to Lord Chaitanya's movement was when he firmly established the
truth according to Vedic scriptures that any one, regardless of birth, can
become a brahmana if he has the proper
qualifications, and no one can claim to be a brahmana if he is not properly qualified, totally defeating the
philosophy of the caste brahmanas.
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati also defeated the various sahajiya sampradayas prevalent at that time, as well as the mayavadi
impersonalists simply by his forceful and scholarly arguments. In fact he is
known to have been the greatest scholar in the recent age and no could ever
defeat him in argument or debate.
In 1922, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta
Sarasvati first met his Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who at
that time was a young married man and supporter of India's freedom struggle.
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati asked Srila Prabhupada to preach the message of
Lord Chaitanya in the western world. In 1932 Srila Prabhupada became the
initiated disciple of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati. Just two weeks before his
disappearance in 1936. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati wrote to Srila Prabhupada
ordering him to preach the message of Lord Chaitanya to the English speaking
people of the world. Accepting this order as his life and soul, Srila Prabhupada,
who is recognized as the foremost disciple of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati,
single-handedly spread the Krishna consciousness movement to every corner of the
world, thus fulfilling the dearmost desire of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami.
Rupa Goswami Bhajana-kutira
Here in the courtyard of the
Radha-Damodara temple, is the bhajana-kutira of Srila Rupa Goswami. This spot was formally in the
middle of Seva Kunja and it is here that Rupa Goswami made his headquarters,
wrote many of his innumerable books, as well as conducted discourses on the Bhagavatam,
amongst the other Goswamis and their
associates.
Samadhi of Rupa Goswami
Srila Rupa
Goswami entered samadhi in
the year 1564 and his sacred body was entombed at this very site by his beloved
disciple and nephew Jiva Goswami. Rupa Goswami first arrived in Vrindavana along
with his elder brother Sanatana Goswami in the year 1516, after receiving the
direct order of Lord Chaitanya to proceed to Vrindavana and fulfill four specific
tasks. Firstly, to excavate the lost holy sites of Lord Krishna's pastimes in
and around Vrindavana. To construct temples dedicated to Radha and Krishna, and
also establish the rules and regulations of deity worship. And lastly, to
compile books on the transcendental process of Bhakti-yoga, the science of
devotional service to the Lord. Through his writings Srila Rupa Goswami chalked
out the perfect spiritual path for all the followers of Lord Chaitanya down
through the ages.
Rupa Goswami first met Lord Chaitanya
at Ramakeli in 1514, and along with his brothers Sanatana and Anupama,
completely surrendered to the lotus feet of the Lord. At that time all three
brothers were employed as important ministers in the Mohammedan government of
Bengal under Hussain Shah. Lord Chaitanya assured them that now they had
surrendered to Krishna, they would soon be delivered and would be able to join
the sankirtana movement. After some
months both Rupa and Anupama were freed from service, unfortunately Sanatana was
not so lucky and was thrown in jail, but by the grace of Lord Krishna, he also
got free from the clutches of Hussain Shah.
It was Rupa
Goswami who more than
anyone else, firmly established the sankirtana
movement of Lord Chaitanya. He wrote a large number of important books on the
science of bhakti-yoga and after the
disappearance of Lord Chaitanya in 1534, Rupa became the undisputed leader of
all the Gaudiya Vaisnavas in the
world. Even today all Gaudiya Vaisnavas
are known as Rupanugas, or followers
of Srila Rupa Goswami most famous book is Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu
(The Ocean of the Nectar of Devotion)
which must be read by all aspiring Vaisnvas
and forms the solid foundation of the bhakti
movement of Lord Chaitanya. The essence of this book was explained directly
to Rupa by Lord Chaitanya during their historic meeting at Prayag (Allahabad) in
1516. After teaching Rupa all the important aspects of devotional service, the
Lord sent him to Vrindavana to compile books on these very teachings.
After spending some time in
Vrindavana,
Rupa and Anupama left to visit Lord Chaitanya in Puri, it is believed that on
this long and arduous journey Anupama left his body. On his way to Puri, Rupa Goswami started to write a drama about Lord Krishna's pastimes in
Vrindavana and
Dwaraka. On arrival at a village named Satyabhamapur in Orissa, he had a dream
that a beautiful woman appeared before him and asked him to write a separate
drama about her. When Rupa awoke the next morning he realized that she was Lord
Krishna's most possessive queen, Satyabhama, and decided to write a separate
drama about Dwaraka. On Rupa's arrival at Jagganatha Puri, he met Lord Chaitanya
and showed the Lord the outline of his two dramas. The Lord confirmed that
writing two dramas mixing the lilas of
Vrindavana and Dwaraka was not proper as their was a vast difference between
them. In Vrindavana the Lord enjoys the madhurya-rasa,
where as in Dwaraka He enjoys the Swakiya-rasa.
Lord Chaitanya as well as Ramananda Raya were delighted to read the early drafts
of these two dramas, which were eventually called Vidagdha Madhava and Lalita
Madhava respectively. These two works are considered by Gaudiya
Vaisnavas to be the most important dramatic literatures in the Sanskrit
language. Rupa Goswami stayed ten months in Puri and received further
instructions on devotional service from Lord Chaitanya. The Lord then asked Rupa
to proceed to Vrindavana and complete the task of rediscovering the lost holy
places of Lord Krishna's pastimes. On returning to Vrindavana, Rupa Goswami
discovered at Brahma Kunda the Deity of Vrndadevi, from who the town of Vrindavana
takes its name, this Deity was later moved to Kamyavana. Rupa Goswami
then discovered the famous Govindaji Deity and immediately established Lord
Govindaji's worship on a grand scale. On hearing the good news of Rupa's
progress, Lord Chaitanya sent some of his best men to assist Rupa in serving the
Deity of Govindaji and establishing the Lord's mission in Vrindavana. Shortly
Rupa and Sanatana Goswamis were joined by Ragunatha dasa Goswami, Gopal Bhatta
Goswami, Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami and Srila Jiva Goswami. These great
personalities become famous as the six Goswamis
of Vrindavana. Jiva Goswami, who was the son of Rupa's brother Anupama,
became the most important disciple of Rupa Goswami.
Srila Rupa
Goswami was an incarnation
of Rupa Manjari, the most important of the eight confidential maidservants of
Srimati Radharani in the spiritual world. It is said that without taking shelter
of Srila Rupa Goswami one cannot enter into the pastimes of Lord Chaitanya, and
without taking shelter of Rupa Manjari one cannot enter into the confidential
loving pastimes of Sri Sri Radha and Krishna.
Timings: Same
as temple.
top
of page
