All glories to çr^ Guru and çr^ Gauråíga

Excerpt about çr^ Gadådhar Paòàit

(also available as a pdf file)

from the book "Heart and Halo"

By His Divine Grace çr^la Bhakti Rak£ak çr^dhar Dev-Goswåm^ Mahåhåj

In Gaura-l^lå Gadådhar Paòàit is holding the helm, everything belongs to him; still he has to admit he’s dispossessed, that Gauråíga has taken everything! He is exhaustively dedicated to Gauråíga. So çr^la Kaviråja Goswåm^ says: tiha lak£m^ r¨pa, tåra såma keho nai, that he represents the main potency of Gauråíga, and no one is to be compared with him. This is the conclusion of çr^la Kaviråja Goswåm^ about çr^ Gadådhar. He is gaura-prema-maya, the embodiment of çr^ Gaura’s love.

Gadådhar Dås represents the halo of Rådhåråò^, but Gadådhar Paòàit represents Her mood, Her nature–Her heart.* It is as if Mahåprabhu has taken away Gadådhar Paòàit’s soul, and the body is still standing! That is the position of Gadådhar Paòàit; he is quite empty, and following Mahåprabhu. He is not full in himself. Something, the most important thing, his heart, has been taken by Mahåprabhu, so he has no other alternative but to follow Him. He is wholly given to Mahåprabhu. Gadådhar Paòàit’s position, the part he played, was something like that of Rådhåråò^, Her heart stolen by Krishna, the empty body still standing. Rådhå-bhåva suvalitam naumi kù£òa-svar¨pam: He was fully engrossed in the conception of çr^ Gauråíga. Gauråíga had taken everything from him, so he had no other alternative; he was fully engrossed, captured completely by Him.

We find his activity throughout his whole life was like this. Of the other devotees, some were ordered to go to Vùndåvan, and some were allowed to go there, but though Gadådhar Paòàit wanted to visit Vùndåvan with Mahåprabhu Himself, he was denied: "No, you won’t go." When Jagadånanda Paòàit asked to go there, Mahåprabhu, with hesitation, granted him permission, "Yes, go there, but move always under the guidance of R¨pa and Sanåtana." He also gave him some special instructions: "Do this, and this, and don’t do that." But Gadådhar Paòàit was not allowed to go there.

He was the representation of çr^mat^ Rådhåråò^ Herself, yet his peculiar position was such: the Queen of Vùndåvan, but now transferred to Nabadw^p. His position had become just the opposite; he could not enter Vùndåvan! He prayed for permission, but Mahåprabhu did not give it. He said, "No, stay and live here." And he had to do so. çr^ Gadådhar Paòàit represents the predominated moeity of the Whole. The Whole consists of predominating and predominated moeities, and he represents the predominated half. He is one half of the Absolute Truth.

In the teachings of çr^la Bhaktivinoda ëhåkura, whose preaching was inspired by çr^ Gadådhar Paòàit and çr^man Mahåprabhu, we also find all the materials that are present in that plane of vibration. These two personalities, çr^ Gadådhar Paòàit and çr^la Bhaktivinoda ëhåkur, are our great gurus, our guides, and by offering our worship to them we can sow the seed of our highest benefit. By the grace of that great Guru-Mahåråj Bhaktisiddhånta Saraswat^ Goswåm^ Prabhupåda, we have been able to understand this.

And Bhaktivinoda ëhåkura, though generally he has his own position, as understood from the consideration of the disciple, Prabhupåda Bhaktisiddhånta Saraswat^ ëhåkura has seen çr^mat^ Rådhåråò^ in him: a ‘relative’ vision. He once said that Rådhåråò^ represents the full play of a£éa-nayika, the eight characteristics of the heroine; we see that they are all perfectly represented in Her. In other places we may find partial representations of them, but we find them fully manifest only in Her.

He said, "I see my gurudeva as Guòa-mañjar^, and in that mañjar^ form he has some partial representation of Rådhåråò^. But if I attempt to look more deeply, I find him identified fully with Her; the eight kinds of qualities displayed in the service of Krishna (a£éa-nåyika) are to be found there. If I look at him with my head a little more erect, I can see that he is one with Rådhåråò^. Äcårya måì vijåniyat: know the Äcårya as Myself. If I give more attention to this ßåstric rule and try to search out the meaning, I find that Rådhåråò^ comes to take Her place there, in the position of my gurudeva." In this way he has seen in Bhaktivinoda ëhåkura the fullest representation of the cult of çr^ Gauråíga.

This realization is expressed in his poem where he says that he saw Svar¨pa Dåmodara Goswåm^ in Gaura-kißor Dåsa Båbåj^, and çr^ Gadådhar Paòàita in çr^la Bhaktivinoda ëhåkura. In one place he has written: gadådhara din dhori påya acha gaura-hari, that he has accepted the day of the disappearance of çr^la Bhaktivinoda ëhåkura to be identified with that of çr^ Gadådhar Paòàit. In another place, in his poem at the conclusion of his çr^ Chaitanya-charitåmùta commentary, he has written: "Here, in Nabadw^p dhama, the eternal pastimes are going on continuously; only those who have got that deep vision, they can perceive it.

gadådhara mitra-vara, ßr^ svar¨pa damodara,
sadå kåla gaura-kù£òa yaje
jagatera dekhi’ kleßa, dhariyå bhik£uka-veßa,
aharahaè kù£òa-nåma bhaje
ßr^ gaura icchåya dui, mahimå ki kava mui,
apråkùta påri£ada-kathå
prakaéa haiyå seve, kù£òa-gauråbhinna-deve,
aprakåßya kathå yathå tathå

He says, "It is very difficult to perceive the sweet will of çr^ Gauråíga, but if we can bring ourselves to that level, we see that Svar¨pa Damodar Goswåm^ and çr^ Gadådhar Paòàit are always engaged in their service here in Nabadw^p. Sometimes it is suppressed and sometimes it is appearing on the surface. In that plane all is going on by the sweet will of çr^ Gauråíga, without any restriction. But now I find that those two have appeared on the surface as çr^la Gaura-kißora Dåsa Båbåj^ and çr^la Bhaktivinoda ëhåkura. I have seen it with my own eye of divine service but this is not to be advertised, not to be given publicity anywhere and everywhere; people will laugh at it. But this is my heartfelt conclusion." He has written this in his poem concluding çr^ Chaitanya-charitåmùta.

So Gadådhar Paòàit was identified with çr^la Bhaktivinoda ëhåkura. That was the vision of our Gurudeva, çr^la Bhaktisiddhånta Saraswat^ ëhåkura. He could see in them the same identity. He considered ßik£a-guru paramparå to be the most substantial thing: "Eliminating the sahajiyå-våda which gives much importance to the outer cover, try to look within, and see things more deeply. Try to understand the deeper vibrations of the outside environment, and see within yourself also. Dive deep, and you will find the plane of the finest vibration which will carry that news to you, and you will see that truth."

In Adi l^lå 10.53, it is explained that çr^la Gadådhar Dås, the twenty-third branch of the Chaitanya tree, is considered to be a united form of Candrakånti, who is the effulgence of çr^mat^ Rådhårån^, and P¨ròånandå, who is the foremost of Lord Balaråma’s very dear girlfriends. Thus çr^la Gadådhar Dås was one of the associates of both Chaitanya Mahåprabhu and Nityånanda Prabhu.

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