Appearance of Srila Gopala Bhatta Goswami

Appearance of Srila Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, 

Monday, January 16, 2017 in California

Shri Gopala Bhatta Goswami (the son of a Vyenkata Bhatta, a Shri Vaishnava brahmana) appeared in Shri Rangam, South India. Lord Chaitanya once stayed four months in his home, and converted the family to Gaudiya Vaishnavism. A mere boy at this time, Gopala personally served the Lord. Shri Chaitanya treated him affectionately giving His remnants and blessings to become an acharya.

During His four month stay, Lord Chaitanya developed a close friendship with Vyenkata Bhatta, which Krishna Dasa Kaviraja describes as "sakhya rasa." Freely conversing with each other, they would often laugh and joke together. One day in a humorous mood Lord Chaitanya asked Vyenkata:

"Why does your worshipable goddess of fortune, Shri Lakshmidevi, abandon the happiness of Vaikuntha and her service to Her Lord Narayana? Why does she go to Vrindavana and perform severe austerities to attain the association of My Lord Gopala, the cowherd boy of Vraja?"

"I can't understand these mysteries," said Vyenkata, "but You, being the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, can surely enlighten me."


"Lord Krishna has one' unique quality," said Lord Gauranga, "He attracts the hearts of everyone with His personal conjugal love (madhurya). Lord Narayana only has sixty transcendental qualities but Shri Krishna has sixty-four. And all of them are saturated with His unique quality of madhurya (honey sweetness). The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Shri Krishna, attracts the mind of Lakshmi devi. But Lord Narayana can never attract the minds of the Vraja gopis.

"In Vraja lila, Krishna, disguised as Lord Narayana, once appeared before the gopis who were searching for Krishna. Seeing Lord Narayana the gopis said, '0h Lord Narayana, pranams. Where did Krishna go, did You see?' By following the gopis, who spontaneously love Krishna without awareness of His Godhood, one can attain Krishna. The Srutis worshiped Krishna in the ecstasy of the gopis. Following in their footsteps, they received gopi's bodies to join Krishna in the rasa dance. Lakshmi, however, wanted to enjoy Krishna but retain Her spiritual form as Lakshmidevi. Without following the gopis's footsteps no one can attain Krishna." 

Gopala Bhatta Goswami

On pilgrimage he obtained twelve Shalagrama shilas. Later the Damodara shila manifested Himself as the beautiful Radha Ramana Deity. Since 1542, Radha Ramanaji has been worshiped with pure devotion following precise sastric rituals. (In the image: Shri Radha Raman, Shri Vrindavan, Dham).

After receiving initiation from Shri Prabodhananda Saraswati, Gopala Bhatta came to Vrindavana and became a dear friend of Shri Rupa and Sanatana Goswamis. He did bhajana in Vrindavana for forty-five years, mostly at Radha-Kunda.    

On pilgrimage he obtained twelve Shalagrama shilas. Later the Damodara shila manifested Himself as the beautiful Radha Ramana Deity. Since 1542, Radha Ramanaji has been worshiped with pure devotion following precise sastric rituals. (In the image: Shri Radha Raman, Shri Vrindavan, Dham).

Lord Chaitanya ordered Gopala Bhatta to write a book to check the spread of pseudo-loving rasas and negligence to vaidhi bhakti. In corroboration with Shri Sanatana Goswami he compiled the Hari-bhakti-vilasa, the authorized book explaining the ritual and devotional practices of the Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya. He also wrote Sat-kriya-dipika and the outline for Shri Jiva Goswami's Sat Sandarbhas.

He eternally serves Shrimati Radharani as one of Her asta manjaris, Guna-manjari. His samadhi is within Radha Ramanaji's Temple compound behind the appearance place of the Deity. Shri Gopala Bhatta Goswami initiated Gopinatha (Pujari Goswami), a lifelong brahmachari who served Radha Ramanaji for his whole life. Gopala Bhatta Goswami initiated Shrinivasa Acharya and many other stalwart Vaishnavas. 

===============================

Monday, January 16, California time.

Tuesday, January 17, 2917 [Mayapura, West Bengal, India time] 

Sri Gopala Bhatta Goswami avirbhava tithi [appearance day of Sri Gopala Bhatta Goswami]

Sri Ramacandra Kaviraja tirobhava tithi [disappearance day of Sri Ramacandra Kaviraja]

Srila Prabhupada describes the glories of Sri Gopala Bhatta Goswami and Sri Ramacandra Kaviraja

Compiled by Damaghosa dasa and Yasoda nandan dasa

sri-gopala bhatta eka sakha sarvottama
rupa-sanatana-sange yanra prema-alapana

Books : Srimad-Bhagavatam : Canto 1:"Creation" : SB Introduction : SB Introduction :

Thus, at the end of His twenty-fourth year the Lord accepted the sannyasa order of life in the month of Magha. After accepting this order He became a full-fledged preacher of the Bhagavata-dharma. Although He was doing the same preaching work in His householder life, when He experienced some obstacles to His preaching He sacrificed even the comfort of His home life for the sake of the fallen souls. In His householder life His chief assistants were Srila Advaita Prabhu and Srila Srivasa Ṭhakura, but after He accepted the sannyasa order His chief assistants became Srila Nityananda Prabhu, who was deputed to preach specifically in Bengal, and the six Gosvamis (Rupa Gosvami, Sanatana Gosvami, Jiva Gosvamī, Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, Raghunatha dasa Gosvami and Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami), headed by Srila Rupa and Sanatana, who were deputed to go to Vrndavana to excavate the present places of pilgrimage. The present city of Vrndavana and the importance of Vrajabhumi were thus disclosed by the will of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Books : Srimad-Bhagavatam : Canto 4: "The Creation of the Fourth Order" : SB 4.27: Attack by Candavega on the City of King Puranjana: the Character of Kalakanya : SB 4.27.24 : PURPORT 

“I offer my respectful obeisances unto the six Gosvamis, namely Sri Sanatana Gosvami, Sri Rupa Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, Sri Jiva Gosvami and Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, who are very expert in scrutinizingly studying all the revealed scriptures with the aim of establishing eternal religious principles for the benefit of all human beings. Thus, they are honored all over the three worlds, and they are worth taking shelter of because they are absorbed in the mood of the gopis and are engaged in the transcendental loving service of Radha and Krsna.

Books : Sri Caitanya-caritamrta - 1975 Edition : Cc. Adi-lila : Adi 1: The Spiritual Masters : Adi 1.19 : PURPORT :

Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu explained this mode of devotional service in three stages, and therefore these worshipable Deities were installed in Vrndavana by different Gosvamis. They are very dear to the Gaudiya Vaisnavas there, who visit the temples at least once a day. Besides the temples of these three Deities, many other temples have been established in Vrndavana, such as the temple of Radha-Damodara of Jiva Gosvami, the temple of Śyamasundara of Syamananda Gosvami, the temple of Gokulananda of Lokanatha Gosvami, and the temple of Radha-ramaṇa of Gopala Bhatta Gosvami. There are seven principal temples over four hundred years old that are the most important of the five thousand temples now existing in Vrndavana.

Books : Sri Caitanya-caritamrta - 1975 Edition : Cc. Adi-lila : Adi 10: The Trunk, Branches and Subbranches of the Caitanya Tree : Adi 10.105

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

Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, the forty-seventh branch, was one of the great and exalted branches of the tree. He always engaged in discourses about love of Godhead in the company of Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami.
Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami was the son of Venkata Bhatta, a resident of Srirangam. Gopala Bhatta formerly belonged to the disciplic succession of the Ramanuja-sampradaya but later became part of the Gaudiya-sampradaya. 

In the year 1433 śakābda (A.D. 1512), when Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu was touring South India, He stayed for four months during the period of Cāturmāsya at the house of Veṅkata Bhaṭṭa, who then got the opportunity to serve the Lord to his heart's content. Gopāla Bhaṭṭa also got the opportunity to serve the Lord at this time. Śrī Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī was later initiated by his uncle, the great sannyāsī Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī. Both the father and mother of Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī were extremely fortunate, for they dedicated their entire lives to the service of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. 

They allowed Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī to go to Vṛndāvana, and they gave up their lives thinking of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. When Lord Caitanya was later informed that Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī had gone to Vṛndāvana and met Śrī Rūpa and Sanātana Gosvāmī, He was very pleased, and He advised Śrī Rūpa and Sanātana to accept Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī as their younger brother and take care of him. Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī, out of his great affection for Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī, compiled the Vaiṣṇava smṛti named Hari-bhakti-vilāsa and published it under his name. Under the instruction of Śrīla Rūpa and Sanātana, Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī installed one of the seven principal Deities of Vṛndāvana, the Rādhāramaṇa Deity. The sevaits (priests) of the Rādhāramaṇa temple belong to the Gauḍīya-sampradāya.

When Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī took permission from all the Vaiṣṇavas before writing Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī also gave him his blessings, but he requested him not to mention his name in the book. Therefore Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī has mentioned Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī only very cautiously in one or two passages of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has written in the beginning of his Tattva-sandarbha, "A devotee from southern India who was born of a brāhmaṇa family and was a very intimate friend of Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī has written a book that he has not compiled chronologically. 

Therefore I, a tiny living entity known as jīva, am trying to assort the events of the book chronologically, consulting the direction of great personalities like Madhvācārya, Śrīdhara Svāmī, Rāmānujācārya and other senior Vaiṣṇavas in the disciplic succession." In the beginning of the Bhagavat-sandarbha there are similar statements by Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī. Śrīla Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī compiled a book called Sat-kriyā-sāra-dīpikā, edited the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa, wrote a forword to the Ṣaṭ-sandarbha and a commentary on the Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta, and installed the Rādhāramaṇa Deity in Vṛndāvana. In the Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā, verse 184, it is mentioned that his previous name in the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa was Anaṅga-mañjarī. Sometimes he is also said to have been an incarnation of Guṇa-mañjarī. Śrīnivāsa Ācārya and Gopīnātha Pūjārī were two of his disciples

The instructing spiritual masters are Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī, Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī, Śrī Bhaṭṭa Raghunātha, Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī, Śrī Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī and Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī

Books : Sri Caitanya-caritamrta - 1975 Edition : Cc. Adi-lila : Adi 1: The Spiritual Masters : Adi 1.36 : TEXT

In this connection it may be mentioned that sometimes the sahajiyā class of devotees opine that Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī and Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī are the same man. Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī was a great Vaiṣṇava devotee of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, but Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī, the head of the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs in Benares, was a different person. Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī belonged to the Rāmānuja-sampradāya, whereas Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī belonged to the Śaṅkarācārya-sampradāya. Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī wrote a number of books, among which are the Caitanya-candrāmṛta, Rādhā-rasa-sudhā-nidhi, Saṅgīta-mādhava, Vṛndāvana-śataka and Navadvīpa-śataka. While traveling in southern India, Caitanya Mahāprabhu met Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī, who had two brothers, Veṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa and Tirumalaya Bhaṭṭa, who were Vaiṣṇavas of the Rāmānuja-sampradāya. Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī was the nephew of Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī. 

From historical records it is found that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu traveled in South India in the year 1433 śakābda (A.D. 1511) during the Cāturmāsya period, and it was at that time that He met Prabodhānanda, who belonged to the Rāmānuja-sampradāya. How then could the same person meet Him as a member of the Śaṅkara-sampradāya in 1435 śakābda, two years later? It is to be concluded that the guess of the sahijiyā-sampradāya that Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī and Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī were the same man is a mistaken idea.
Books : Sri Caitanya-caritamrta - 1975 Edition : Cc. Adi-lila : Adi 7: Lord Caitanya in Five Features : Adi 7.149

Books : Sri Caitanya-caritamrta - 1975 Edition : Cc. Adi-lila : Adi 7: Lord Caitanya in Five Features : Adi 7.164 : PURPORT :

When Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī went to Vṛndāvana, there was not a single temple, but by their preaching they were gradually able to construct various temples. Sanātana Gosvāmī constructed the Madana-mohana temple, and Rūpa Gosvāmī constructed the Govindajī temple. Similarly, their nephew Jīva Gosvāmī constructed the Rādhā-Dāmodara temple, Śrī Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī constructed the Rādhā-ramaṇa temple, Śrī Lokanātha Gosvāmī constructed the Gokulānanda temple, and Śyāmānanda Gosvāmī constructed the Śyāmasundara temple. 

In this way, many temples were gradually constructed. For preaching, construction of temples is also necessary. The Gosvāmīs not only engaged in writing books but also constructed temples because both are needed for preaching work. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu wanted the cult of His saṅkīrtana movement to spread all over the world. Now that the International Society for Krishna Consciousness has taken up this task of preaching the cult of Lord Caitanya, its members should not only construct temples in every town and village of the globe but also distribute books that have already been written and further increase the number of books. Both distribution of books and construction of temples must continue side by side in parallel.
lines.

Books : Sri Caitanya-caritamrta - 1975 Edition : Cc. Madhya-lila : Madhya 1: The Later Pastimes of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu : Madhya 1.35 : PURPORT :

The subject matter of the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa, by Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī, was collected by Śrīla Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī and is known as a vaiṣṇava-smṛti. This vaiṣṇava-smṛti-grantha was finished in twenty chapters, known as vilāsas. In the first vilāsa there is a description of how a relationship is established between the spiritual master and the disciple, and mantras are explained. In the second vilāsa, the process of initiation is described. In the third vilāsa, the methods of Vaiṣṇava behavior are given, with emphasis on cleanliness, constant remembrance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the chanting of the mantras given by the initiating spiritual master. In the fourth vilāsa are descriptions of saṁskāra, the reformatory method; tilaka, the application of twelve tilakas on twelve places of the body; mudrā, marks on the body; mālā, chanting with beads; and guru-pūjā, worship of the spiritual master. In the fifth vilāsa, one is instructed on how to make a place to sit for meditation, and there are descriptions of breathing exercises, meditation and worship of the śālagrāma-śilā representation of Lord Viṣṇu. 

In the sixth vilāsa, the required practices for inviting the transcendental form of the Lord and bathing Him are given. In the seventh vilāsa, one is instructed on how to collect flowers used for the worship of Lord Viṣṇu. In the eighth vilāsa, there is a description of the Deity and instructions on how to set up incense, light lamps, make offerings, dance, play music, beat drums, garland the Deity, offer prayers and obeisances and counteract offenses. In the ninth vilāsa, there are descriptions about collecting tulasī leaves, offering oblations to forefathers according to Vaiṣṇava rituals, and offering food. In the tenth vilāsa there are descriptions of the devotees of the Lord (Vaiṣṇavas, or saintly persons). 

In the eleventh vilāsa, there are elaborate descriptions of Deity worship and the glories of the holy name of the Lord. One is instructed on how to chant the holy name of the Deity, and there are discussions about offenses committed while chanting the holy name, along with methods for getting relief from such offenses. There are also descriptions of the glories of devotional service and the surrendering process. 

In the twelfth vilāsa, Ekādaśī is described. In the thirteenth vilāsa, fasting is discussed, as well as observance of the Mahā-dvādaśī ceremony. 

In the fourteenth vilāsa, different duties for different months are outlined. In the fifteenth vilāsa, there are instructions on how to observe Ekādaśī fasting without even drinking water. There are also descriptions of branding the body with the symbols of Viṣṇu, discussions of Cāturmāsya observations during the rainy season, and discussions of Janmāṣṭamī, Pārśvaikādaśī, Śravaṇā-dvādaśī, Rāma-navamī and Vijayā-daśamī. 

The sixteenth vilāsa discusses duties to be observed in the month of Kārttika (October-November), or the Dāmodara month, or Ūrja, when lamps are offered in the Deity room or above the temple. There are also descriptions of the Govardhana-pūjā and Ratha-yātrā. 

The seventeenth vilāsa discusses preparations for Deity worship, mahā-mantra chanting and the process of japa. In the eighteenth vilāsa the different forms of Śrī Viṣṇu are described. The nineteenth vilāsa discusses the establishment of the Deity and the rituals observed in bathing the Deity before installation. 

The twentieth vilāsa discusses the construction of temples.