Śrī Gaṅgā Mātā Gosvāmīnī appearance day

Gaṅgā-mātā: Disciple of Ananta Ācārya

Excerpt from Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 8.59, 8.60

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura writes in his Anubhāṣya, "Śrī Ananta Ācārya is one of the eternal associates of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Previously, during the advent of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Ananta Ācārya was Sudevī, one of the eight gopīs. This is stated in the Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā (165), as follows: anantācārya-gosvāmī yā su-devī purā vraje. "Ananta Ācārya Gosvāmī was formerly Sudevī-gopī in Vraja (Vṛndāvana)." In Jagannātha Purī, or Puruṣottama-kṣetra, there is a monastery known as Gaṅgā-mātā Maṭha that was established by Ananta Ācārya. In the disciplic succession of the Gaṅgā-mātā Maṭha, he is known as Vinoda-mañjarī. One of his disciples was Haridāsa Paṇḍita Gosvāmī, who is also known as Śrī Raghu Gopāla and as Śrī Rāsa-mañjarī. His disciple Lakṣmīpriyā was the maternal aunt of Gaṅgā-mātā, a princess who was the daughter of the King of Puṭiyā. Ananta Ācārya was a disciple of Gadādhara Paṇḍita. Gaṅgāmātā Gosvāmīnī was initiated by Haridāsa Paṇḍita Gosvāmī into the line of Gaurāṅga’s Śakti, Śrīla Gadādhara Paṇḍita Gosvāmī.

Śacī Devī Goes to Live in Vraja

Gaṅgā Mātā Gosvāmīṇī’s original name was Śacī Devī. She was born in Puntia, which is in the Rajashahi district of present-day Bangladesh. Her father was Rāja Nareśa Nārāyaṇa. Śacī Devī was indifferent to family life and devoted to Kṛṣṇa from her early childhood. When her parents wanted to get her married, Śacī Devī told them that she refused to accept any mortal as her husband, making them worried for her. When her mother departed from the mortal world, Śacī Devī left home and set out on a pilgrimage which led her first to Puri and then to Vrindavan. Upon her arrival in Vrindavan dhāma, she met Haridāsa Paṇḍita Gosvāmī and felt blessed. She became anxious to receive initiation from him, but he hesitated at first because of her wealthy family background. Later, however, when he saw her asceticism and her unswerving determination to engage in pure devotional activity, he gave her initiation in the eighteen-syllabled mantra. This event took place in the Govindajī temple that year on Wednesday, the Caitra śukla ekādaśī.

After having received these blessings from her guru, she began to engage in intense bhajana, subsisting through mādhukarī (by begging for morsels of food from door to door). After a year of this intense devotional activity, she was told by her spiritual master to live in Radha Kunda with her spiritually advanced and soft-hearted godsister Lakṣmī Priyā, who regularly chanted 300,000 names every day. As a part of their regular spiritual practice, the two of them daily circumambulated Govardhan together. After several years of such practice at Radha Kunda, when Śacī Devī had become very advanced in her devotional life, her guru sent her to Purusottama Kshetra to recover the home of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, which had fallen into disrepair. Taking the command of her spiritual master as her all in all, Śacī Devī came to Jagannatha Puri and took the kṣetra-sannyāsa vow. At that time, all that remained of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya’s house was a single rundown building which housed his Rādhā Dāmodara śālagrāma-śilā.

Even while she had lived at home in Puntia, Śacī Devī had studied the scriptures with rapt attention. In Vrindavan, furthermore, she had thoroughly studied the Bhāgavata Purāṇa in the company of Vaiṣṇavas. In order to salvage Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya’s residence, she set out to preach. Her transcendental qualities and discourses on the Bhāgavata made such an impression on the public that she began to attract large audiences. It did not take long before her fame had spread so widely that the King of Odisha himself, Mukunda Deva, came to listen to her speak on the Bhāgavata. He too became a devoted follower after being impressed by her devotional qualities and her learning.

Śveta Ganga

According to the Utkala-khaṇḍa, there was a King Śveta in the Tretā Yuga who was a devotee of Lord Jagannātha. He made arrangements for Lord Jagannātha’s bhoga just as Indradyumna had done. One morning he came to the temple and saw the offerings which were made by the gods – thousands and thousands of wonderful gifts which were beyond the power of any mortal to present to the Lord. King Śveta became disturbed at the insignificance of his own offerings and stood at the temple door, his head hung in shame. As he was meditating on his own insignificance, he had a vision in which he saw Lakṣmī Devī herself taking his food offerings and feeding them to the main Lord Jagannātha deities as well as to the vijaya-vigraha, who were eating them with great enthusiasm. The king immediately thought himself consummated by this vision, and he continued to serve Lord Jagannātha with unflagging enthusiasm. Lord Jagannātha eventually granted him the boon of being liberated in a spot which faces Matsya Mādhava, halfway between Akshaya Bata and the ocean, which was subsequently named Shweta Madhava in his honor. The pond excavated here was also named Shweta Ganga (the white Ganges). On the banks of this pond, deities of Śveta Mādhava, Matsya Mādhava and the nine planets are still worshipped.

One night, the King of Odisha, Mukunda Deva, had a dream in which Jagannātha Deva appeared to him and told him to give Śacī Devī a tract of land bordering on this Shweta Ganga. The next morning, the king joyfully came to see Śacī Devī and told her about the dream. Though she had no interest in increasing her worldly possessions, Śacī Devi decided to accept the king’s gift for the sake of her guru-given mission to improve the condition of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya’s house. She performed the service of the deities at this place by begging from door to door.

How Śaci Devī came to be known as Gaṅgā mātā

On a Kṛṣṇa trayodaśī, an opportune moment came for the Maha Varuni Gaṅgā bath. Many people who seek to accumulate pious credits make the trip to the Gaṅgā for this auspicious occasion. Indeed, many people asked Śacī Devī to accompany them, but she could not abandon her kṣetra-sannyāsa vows or her service to the deities, so she was obliged to plead that it was impossible for her to go.

Even though she did not really want to go, Jagannātha Deva Himself made arrangements for her to bathe in the Gaṅgā. That night He appeared to her in a dream and told her to take bath in the Shweta Gaṅgā in the middle of the night. Śacī Devī followed His instructions, but as soon as she entered the water, Gaṅgā appeared there. She was carried away in a strong river current and she suddenly found herself inside the Jagannātha temple. She could see herself bathing in the midst of the other residents of Puri dhāma. She could hear the joyful noise of the bathing crowds.

The temple gatekeepers awakened on hearing this commotion and called the temple superintendent. They, in turn, gave a report to the king himself, who ordered them to open the temple doors. When they finally flung the doors open, they saw no one but Śacī Devī standing there alone. Lord Jagannātha’s pūjārīs were confused and at first, did not know what to do. They assumed that Śacī Devī had hidden herself in the temple with the intention of robbing the deities’ valuables and that they had caught her red-handed, but by their suspicions and accusations they committed an offense to this great devotee. As a result, they were attacked by various diseases and distresses, so much so that the service to Lord Jagannātha was affected.

Jagannātha Deva finally appeared to King Mukunda Deva again and told him what had really happened. Being influenced by Śacī Devī’s pure devotional attitude, Lord Jagannātha Himself had made the Gaṅgā flow from His feet to bathe Śacī Devī directly in those currents. The King and the other servants of the Lord could only be freed from their offenses if they apologized to Śacī Devī and took initiation from her.

King Mukunda Deva went to Śacī Devī with his entourage, the temple guards and servants. They paid her their prostrated obeisances and begged for her forgiveness. Though the King and all the pūjārīs, etc., asked her for initiation, she only gave the mantra to the King in obedience to Lord Jagannātha’s order. The King wanted to give a large amount of land as guruda-kṣiṇā, but Śacī Devī refused it. When the King continued to beg for an opportunity to render service, she finally said that every midday he could send two containers of prasāda rice and one of the vegetables, a cloth and 160 paisa for the service of the Vaiṣṇavas. From that day onward, Śacī Devī was known as Gaṅgā Mātā and Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya’s house as Gaṅgā Mātā Math, and to this day, after the midday offering at the Jagannātha temple, these same items are sent to the Gaṅgā Mātā Math.

Rasika Rāya

There was a deity of Kṛṣṇa named Rasika Rāya in the house of Candra Śarmā, a resident of Jaipur in Rajasthan. As a result of sevāparādha, offenses in the performance of service to this deity, this brāhmaṇa had no descendants to continue the family line. Jagannātha Deva appeared to him in a dream and told him to bring the deity to Puri and to give it to Gaṅgā Mātā if he wished to be rid of the effects of his offenses. The brāhmaṇa did as he was told and appeared at Gaṅgā Mātā’s door to offer her the service of Rasika Rāya and Rādhārāṇī. At first, she was not ready to accept, as it was impossible for her to give the kind of royal service which was due to such a deity. Finally, the brāhmaṇa simply hid the deity amongst the Tulasī bushes and went away. Rasika Rāya appeared to Gaṅgā Mātā in a dream and told her that He wanted her to accept and serve Him. Having been so ordered, Gaṅgā Mātā joyfully accepted the deity service and organized a festival in His honor.

Lessons from the life of Śrī Gaṅgā Mātā Gosvāmīnī

1. Wherever there is true devotion to the Lord and the service to the devotees is the real interest, the trouble which one accepts in service is not seen as trouble, but rather as a special opportunity and a source of joy.

2. Devotees of Kṛṣṇa may be born in any race, in any caste, or indeed in either sex. They are to be considered the best of all and worshipable by all. Gaṅgā Mātā Gosvāmīnī is a perfect example of that. There are many examples of women who attained the supreme achievement of pure devotional service to the Lord, such as the wives of the Vedic brāhmaṇas in Dvāparayuga who due to their pure bhakti ignored the orders of their husbands to serve Kṛṣṇa.