Gauri dasa Pandita

Gauri dasa Pandita

ISKCON Desire Tree

In Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Krishna dasa Kaviraja Goswami has written:

tasya śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-sat-premāmara-śākhinaḥ
ūrdhva-skandhāvadhūtendroḥ śākhārūpān gaṇān numaḥ

“Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu is the topmost branch of the indestructible tree of eternal love of Godhead, Śrī Krishna Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. I offer my respectful obeisances to all the sub-branches of that topmost branch.” Gauridasa Pandit is one of the most important sub-branches of the Nityānanda branch of the Chaitanya tree of bhakti.

Of this particular sub-branch of Nityānanda, Sri Krishna Dasa Kaviraja Goswami has written: gauridāsa paṇḍita yāra premoddaṇḍa-bhakti, kṛṣṇa-prema dite, nite, dhare mahāśakti. nityānānde samarpilā jāti kula-pāṅti, śrī-caitanya-nityānanda kari prāṇapati.

“Gauridasa Pandit, the emblem of the most elevated devotional service in love of Godhead, had the greatest potency to receive and deliver such love. Making Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityānanda the Lords of his life, Gauridas Pandit sacrificed everything for the service of Lord Nityānanda, even the fellowship of his family.”

Sri Gauridasa Pandit’s father’s name was Sri Kamsari Mishra. His mother’s name was Sri Kamala Devi. He had five brothers: Damodara, Jagannatha, Suryadasa, Krishnadasa, and Nrishinga-Chaitanya. Previously, in Vṛndāvana, Gauridasa Pandit was Subala Śākhā, one of the twelve most important cowherd-boy friends of Krishna who were known as the dvādaśa-gopālas.

In the Bardhaman district lies the town of Ambika-kalna, not far from the city of Śāntipura. In Ambika-kalna lived Gauridasa Pandit. At present, in the house of Sri Gauridasa Pandit there is a temple where the deities of Gaura-Nityānanda are installed. In that temple there is an ancient manuscript, which is said to be a copy of the Bhagavad-gītā written in Sri Chaitanya Mahāprabhu’s own hand, although this is not accepted by some authorities.

Hearsay has it that Śrīman Mahāprabhu crossed the Ganges in a boat with an oar. Giving the oar to Gauridasa Pandit, Mahāprabhu is supposed to have said, “With this oar, you may help the fallen souls cross over the ocean of material existence.” That oar is still found at the temple of Gauridasa Pandit.

Gauridasa Pandit had an elder brother named Suryadas Sarakhela. Suryadasa Sarakhela lived a few miles from Navadvīpa in a place called Shaligram. At that time he accepted employment as a secretary in the Mohammedan government. He had two daughters: Sri Vasudha and Jahnava Devi. These two daughters later married Sri Nityānanda Prabhu.

Of Gauridasa Pandit’s brothers, Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami has written: “Suryadasa Sarakhela and his younger brother Krishnadasa Sarakhela both possessed firm faith in Nityānanda Prabhu. They were a reservoir of love of Godhead.”

Regarding Gauridasa Pandit, Bhaktivedanta Swami translates the comments of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura as follows: “It is said that Gauridasa Pandit was always patronized by King Krishnadasa, the son of Harihoda. Gauridasa Pandit lived in the village of Shaligrama, which is situated a few miles from the railway station Muragaccha, and later he came to reside in Ambika-kalana. It is stated in Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā, verse 128, that formerly he was Subala, one of the cowherd boy friends of Krishna and Balarāma in Vṛndāvana.

Gauridasa Pandit was the younger brother of Suryadasa Sarakhela, and with the permission of his elder brother he shifted his residence to the bank of the Ganges, living there in the town known as Ambika-Kalna….The eldest son of Gauridasa Pandit was known as big Balarāma, and the youngest was known as Raghunātha. The sons of Raghunātha were Mahesha Pandit and Govinda. Gauridasa Pandit’s daughter was known as Annapurna.”

According to Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, some of the descendants of Gauri Dasa Pandit are living today in the village of Shaligram. Bhaktivedanta Swami gives the location of Ambika-kalna as follows: “The village Ambika-kalna, which is situated just across the River Ganges from Śāntipura, is two miles east of the Kalakanorta railway station on the Eastern Railway.” It may be noted that Ambika-Kalna may be visited by catching the train to Navadvīpa-dhāma at Howrah station in Calcutta and getting off at Ambika-Kalna.

Bhaktivedanta Swami writes: “In Ambika-Kalna there is a temple constructed by the Zamindar of Burdwan. In front of the temple there is a big tamarind tree, and it is said that Gauridasa Pandit and Lord Chaitanya Mahāprabhu met under this tree. The place where the temple is situated is known as Ambika, and because it is in the area of Kalna, the village is known as Ambika-kalna. It is said that a copy of Bhagavad-gītā written by Sri Chaitanya Mahāprabhu still exists in this temple.”

When Sri Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, after performing different kinds of pastimes in Navadvīpa, wanted to take sannyāsa, at that time he went to bid goodbye to Gauridasa Pandit. At that time, Gauridasa Pandit felt great separation from Sri Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. This is described in a song by a devotee named Krishnadasa:

ṭhākura paṇḍitera bāḍi, gorā nāce phiri phiri,
nityānanda bole hari hari
kāndi gaurīdāsa bole poḍi prabhura padatole
kabhu nā chāḍibe mora bāḍi

āmāra vacana rākha ambikā nagare thāko
ei nivedana tuyā pāi
yadi chāḍi yābe tumi niścoya maribo āmi
rahibo se nirakhiyā kāi

tomāra ye duṭi bhāi, thāko mora ei ṭhāi
tabe sabāra hoy paritrāṇa
punaḥ nivedana kori nā chāḍiho gaurahari
tabe jāni patita pāvana
prabhu kahe gaurīdāsa chāḍaho emata āśā

pratimūrti sevā kari dekha
tāhāte āchaye āmi, niścaya jāniho tumi
satya mora ei vākya rākha
eta śuni gaurīdāsa chāḍi dīrgha niḥśvāsa
phukāri phukāri punaḥ kānde

punaḥ sei dui bhāi prabodha karoye tāi
tabu hiyā khira nāhi bāndhe
kahe dīna kṛṣṇadāsa, caitanya caraṇe āśā
dui bhāi rahilo tathāya

ṭhākura paṇḍitera preme, bandī hoilā dui jane
bhakata vatsala teni gāya
ākula dekhiyā tāre, kahe gaura dhīre dhīre
āmārā thākilāma tora ṭhāi

niścaya jāni-i tumi, tomāra ei ghare āmi
rahilāma ei dui bhāi
eiteka prabodha diyā dui pratimūrti laiyā
āilā paṇḍita vidyamāna

cāri janā dāṅḍāila paṇḍita vismaya bhelo
bhāve aśru bahaye nayana
puna prabhu kahe tāṅre tora icchā hoy yāre
sei dui rākha nija ghare

tomāra pratīta lāgi tora ṭhāi khābo māgi
satya satya jānaha antare
śuniyā paṇḍita rājā korilā randhana kāja
cāri jane bhojana karilā

padma mālya vastra diyā tāmbulādi samarpiyā
sarva aṅge candana lepilā
nānā mate paratīta kāryārye phirāla cita
dehare rākhilā nija ghare

paṇḍitera prema lāgi dui bhāi khāya māgi
doṅhe gelā nīlācalapuri
paṇḍita karaye sevā yakhana ye icchā yebā
seimata karaye vilāsa
heno prabhu gaurīdāsa
tāra pada kari āśā kahe dīna hīna kṛṣṇadāsa

“Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, dancing, with Nityānanda who was chanting, “Hari Hari” arrived at the house of Gauridāsa Paṇḍita to bid farewell. Weeping and weeping in separation, Gauridāsa fell at the feet of the Lord and said, ‘You must never leave my house! Please heed my words. Stay here in Ambikā Kalnā.

This is my humble submission. If you leave me, I shall surely die. You must stay here. And I will always stay here and view your divine form. You are two brothers. Stay here at my place, and everyone will be delivered just by seeing you. Again I submit—don’t leave, O Gaurahari: you are the savior of the fallen.’

“The Lord said, ‘Gauridāsa, allow me to fulfill your hope in this way: I shall give you an exact copy of Gaura and Nityānanda, a mūrti that you may worship. By seeing this mūrti you can think of us. My mūrti is as good as I am. Know it for certain that my words are true.’

“Hearing this, Gauridāsa, let out a deep breath and began sobbing and sobbing, wept and wept. Again, the two brothers tried to console him. Still, nothing they did could steady or pacify him. Thus sings the fallen Kṛṣṇadāsa who aspires for the lotus feet of Śrī Chaitanya, of how those two brothers stayed in Ambikā Kalnā.

In ecstasy, Gauridāsa Paṇḍita begged the two brothers to stay, and because Chaitanya and Nityānanda are bhakta-vatsala—always affectionate to his devotees—they were captured by Gauridāsa Paṇḍita. He imprisoned those two Lords in a temple of divine love from which they could not escape.

“Seeing the great anxiety of Gauridāsa Paṇḍita, Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu said, with great gravity, ‘We will stay here at your place. Know for certain that we two brothers will always stay here in your home.’ Consoling him with these words, those two brothers manifest themselves in the form of two perfect deity forms.

“The four of them stood there: Gaura-Nityānanda and the exact replicas of Gaura-Nityānanda. Gauridāsa Paṇḍita was stunned. Tears of divine love filled his eyes. Again the Lord told him, ‘Your wish is fulfilled. These two will stay here in your home forever. You will always internally realize that in this way, at your home we shall eternally stay and beg to eat the offerings you cook.’

“Hearing this, Gauridāsa the king of paṇḍitas, began to cook. When the preparations were ready, he offered everything before his four guests. After this he offered them garlands made of lotuses and fresh cloth, along with tāmbūla and other fine things. Then he decorated their limbs with sandalwood pulp.

“After all these various things were realized, it was time for the two Lords to go. The two Lords left the two Lords standing at the home of Gauridāsa Paṇḍita and left for Jagannātha Purī. To the great satisfaction of Gauridāsa Paṇḍita, Gaura and Nityānanda in their replica form stayed at his house and ate the rice he offered them.

In this way, Gauridāsa Paṇḍita rendered service to his heart’s delight and enjoyed the pastimes of Gaura and Nityānanda. My only hope is to take shelter at the lotus feet of Gauridāsa Paṇḍita. Thus says the fallen Kṛṣṇadāsa.”

One day, just to increase the divine love of Gauridasa Pandit, the murtis of Sri Gaura-Nityānanda decided to revive in Gauridasa Pandit the Vṛndāvana conception. At that time they smiled sweetly and said, “O Gauridasa! You were formerly Subala Śākhā. Don’t you remember? Together we used to have many pastimes on the banks of the Yamunā in Vṛndāvana. While acting in this way, Sri Gaura and Nityānanda caused Gauridasa to conceive of them in the forms of Krishna and Balarāma.

In this way, they appeared in the dress of cowherd boys, with a stick for driving cows in their hands. Krishna held a flute in his hands and a peacock feather in his head. Their necks were decorated with garlands of forest flowers. Their lotus feet were ornamented with anklets. In this way, they brought Gauridasa into the mood of his previous conception.

In this mood they revealed different pastimes to Gauridasa Pandit for some time. After this, it was the Lord’s wish that Gauridasa be returned to external consciousness. At that time, Krishna and Balarāma returned to the altar in their forms as Gaura and Nityānanda.

Every day, Gauridasa Pandit used to prepare various wonderful edibles for the pleasure of his deities and offer it to Gaura and Nityānanda. He was always engaged in serving them. He was so absorbed in service that he was completely unaware of the pleasures and pains of his own body. Gradually, he approached old age and became feeble and infirm.

In this way, although it was difficult for him to do, he did not cease working hard to cook for his deities. One day, seeing his hard labor at cooking, Gaura and Nityānanda externally appeared very angry, and refused to eat.

At that time, Gauridasa Pandit embraced them affectionately, saying: “If you don’t want to eat this, tell me what you would like me to cook. I’m ready to cook whatever will make you happy.” Saying this, Gauridasa Pandit fell silent. Smiling, the Lord then said in great seriousness, “There is nothing wrong with your cooking. But there is no need, at your advanced age, to cook so many preparations. We can’t tolerate seeing you go to such a great effort on our behalf. We would be happier if you would exert less effort and just do something simple.”

Gauridasa Pandit said, “Eat what I have cooked today. In the future, I won’t take such great steps. Everything will be kept simple. I will only cook a little śāka and offer it on a fresh banana leaf.” Hearing the words of the Pandit, the brothers, Gaura and Nityānanda, smiled and laughed and ate everything on their plates.

Once Gauridasa Pandit wanted to decorate Gaura and Nityānanda lavishly with beautiful ornaments. Knowing his mind, Gaura-Nityānanda decorated themselves with ornaments and then got back up on their throne on the altar. When the pandit entered the temple, he was speechless with delight. He thought, “Where did they get these ornaments?” In this way, Gaura and Nityānanda were involved in many different kinds of pastimes in the home of Gauridasa Pandit.

Sri Gauridas Pandit’s dearmost disciple was Sri Hridaya Chaitanya. Once around the time of the appearance day of Sri Gaurāṅga, Gauridasa went to the house of one of his disciples. At that time, he entrusted the service of Sri Gaura and Nityānanda in the care of Hridaya Chaitanya. Hridaya Chaitanya, in great ecstasy, rendered service to those deities.

The festival of Chaitanya Mahāprabhu’s appearance day drew near. When only three days remained before the big festival that was to take place, Gauridas Pandit still had not returned. Hridaya Chaitanya became very worried. Acting on his own, he arranged to send a written message to the different devotees and disciples inviting them to the festival that would soon be held.

Just at that time, Gauridasa Pandit arrived at his ashram. Hridaya Chaitanya told his guru about how he had sent out invitations of his own, worried that Gauridasa Pandit would not return in time to do so. Although Gauridasa Pandit was internally very happy, externally he showed himself to be very angry with Hridaya Chaitanya’s acting independently.

Gauridasa scolded his disciple, saying, “In my presence you are acting independently, sending invitations here and there as you please and summoning my disciples at your will. This cannot go on. You cannot stay here.” Hearing this, Hridaya Chaitanya fell at the feet of his guru and offered his pranams. He went to stay under a tree on the banks of the Ganges. A short time later a rich merchant came by on a boat and gave a large donation to Hridaya Chaitanya, saying, “Give this to your guru, Gauridas Pandit.”

After he went to Gauridasa and gave him the donation, Hridaya Chaitanya was told by his guru to hold a big festival on the banks of the Ganges. Taking the order of his guru on his head, Hridaya Chaitanya began a big festival on the banks of the Ganges. Gradually all the Vaishnavas in the surrounding areas began to assemble there.

Taking those great souls with him, Hridaya Chaitanya began a wonderful and superexcellent performance of dancing and chanting the holy name. In the midst of this kirtan Gaura and Nityānanda Themselves appeared, singing and dancing. Hridaya Chaitanya saw it with his own eyes.

In this way Gauridasa Pandit arranged for a great festival to be held. When the pujari back at the temple, Big Ganga Dasa Pandit, entered the temple he saw that Gaura and Nityānanda were not on the simhasana, the deity throne on the altar. He went immediately to Gauridas Pandit to report this incident. The pujari could understand that to increase the prema of Hridaya Chaitanya, Gaura and Nityānanda had gone off and joined the kirtan. Seeing the amazement of his pujari, Gauridasa Pandit smiled sweetly.

Then, to stop the two brothers from getting away, he took a club in his hand and went off to the banks of the Ganges to the place where Gaura and Nityānanda had joined in the great kirtan that was going on there. He soon arrived at the banks of the Ganges where the kirtan was going on. He could see the two brothers dancing in ecstasy. But when the two brothers, Gaura and Nityānanda saw the angry mood of Gauridas Pandit, they became invisible.

Sri Gauridas Pandit could see that Gaura and Nityānanda had entered into the temple of Hridaya Chaitanya’s heart. Beholding this in great wonder and ecstasy, Gauridasa Pandit could not hold himself back — he began crying tears of ecstasy. He forgot his external show of anger at the two brothers, and holding his disciple Sri Hridaya Chaitanya Prabhu in his arms, he said, “You are truly fortunate. From today on your name will be “Hridaya Chaitanya:” one who has Sri Chaitanya within his heart.

He drenched Hridaya Chaitanya Prabhu with the water of his tears. In great humility and overwhelmed with Krishna-prema, Sri Hridaya Chaitanya fell at the feet of Sri Gauridasa Pandit. After this, Gauridasa took Hridaya Chaitanya back to his house where they danced and chanted in the courtyard in the ecstasy of sankirtan.

The devotees filled the ten directions with the loud chanting of “Hari! Hari!” In this way the great festival of the appearance day of Sri Gaurāṅga came to a close. After this, Sri Gauridasa Pandit blessed Sri Hridaya Chaitanya with the adhikara or qualifications for divine seva.

On the Śuklā Ekādaśī in the month of Śrāvaṇa, Sri Gauridasa Pandit passed away from this earth and entered into the eternal unmanifest pastimes of Sri Gaurāṅga and Nityānanda. His most important disciple was Hridaya Chaitanya, whose most important disciple was Sri Śyāmānanda prabhu. Sri Narahari Chakravarti Thakura records all the history of Gauri Das Pandit’s life and extolls his glories in the seventh taranga or wave of his book, Bhakti-ratnākara.