Śrī Gadādhara Paṇḍita disappearance day

Identity in the spiritual world

śrī-rādhā prema-rūpā yā purā vṛndāvaneśvarī

sā śrī-gadādharo gaura-vallabhaḥ paṇḍitākhyakaḥ

nirṇītaḥ śrī-svarūpair yo vraja-lakṣmītayā yathā

purā vṛndāvane lakṣmīḥ śyāmasundara-vallabhā

sādya gaura-prema-lakṣmīḥ śrī-gadādhara-paṇḍitaḥ

rādhām anugatā yat tal lalitāpy anurādhikā

ataḥ prāviśad eṣā taṁ gaura-candrodaye yathā

The incarnation of love who was previously the queen of Vṛndāvana, Rādhā, is now the beloved of Gaura named Śrila Gadādhara Paṇḍita. Svarūpa Dāmodara himself indicated that Gadādhara was Vraja’s goddess of fortune, the Lakṣmī who was previously the beloved of Śyāmasundara in Vṛndāvana. She has today become the goddess of fortune and love for Gaura and is known as Śrila Gadādhara Paṇḍita. Lalita, who is also known as Anurādhā, is Rādhā’s closest friend and confidante. She has also entered into Gadādhara, as was shown in the play Caitanya-candrodaya. [Śrī Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā 147-150]

Gadādhara Paṇḍita – one of the manifestations in the Pañca-tattva

gadādhara-paṇḍitādi — prabhura nija-śakti

tāṅ’-sabāra caraṇe mora sahasra praṇati

I offer my respectful obeisances unto the internal potencies of the Lord, of whom Śrī Gadādhara Prabhu is the foremost. [Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 1.41]

pañca-tattvātmakaṁ kṛṣṇaṁ

bhakta-rūpa-svarūpakam

bhaktāvatāraṁ bhaktākhyaṁ

namāmi bhakta-śaktikam

I offer my obeisances unto the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, who is nondifferent from His features as a devotee, devotional incarnation, devotional manifestation, pure devotee and devotional energy. [Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 1.14]

Pastimes in Gaura-līlā

Pastimes with Nimāi Paṇḍita

Among the best of teachers, learned scholars, and Bhaṭṭācāryas of Navadvīpa, none could stand before or defeat Nimāi in debate. In the company of His disciples, Nimāi wandered the streets of Navadvīpa like an independent Lord. One day, when Nimāi met Gadādhara Paṇḍita, He asked him the symptoms of liberation. When Gadādhara told the Lord the symptoms of liberation according to the conclusions of the nyāya-śāstras, the Lord pointed out various faults. When Gadādhara Paṇḍita said, “Mitigation of excessive misery is the symptom of liberation,” Mahāprabhu, the master of Sarasvatī, refuted it. [Caitanya-bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa, chapter 12]

After returning from Gayā-dhāma, Mahāprabhu began to manifest ecstatic symptoms resulting from feelings of separation from Kṛṣṇa while describing the glories of Gayā. The Lord described topics regarding the holy place to the devotees. When Mahāprabhu decided to reveal His true identity to the devotees, He met with devotees headed by Śrīvāsa, Gadādhara, and Sadāśiva at the house of Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī. Though Gadādhara, was also present, he didn’t reveal his presence. These devotees were astonished on seeing the Lord’s ecstasy in separation from Kṛṣṇa. The Lord then inquired, “Who is inside the room?” Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī replied, “Your Gadādhara is inside.” Gadādhara bent his head down and cried. Seeing this, Lord became greatly satisfied, and said “O Gadādhara, you are indeed most fortunate. From your childhood you have firmly fixed your mind on Kṛṣṇa. I have passed My time in useless endeavors. Although I obtained that priceless treasure, by the arrangement of providence I have lost it.”

On a subsequent day, on hearing from Gadādhara that Kṛṣṇa dwelt in His heart, the Lord attempted to tear open His heart with His fingernails and could be induced to be patient only by Gadādhara’s persuasions, for which Śacīdevī, who was most devotedly attached to her son, warmly praised Gadādhara’s tact. [Caitanya-bhāgavata, Madhya-khaṇḍa, chapter 1 and 2]

Meeting his Guru Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi

One day, promising to show him a wonderful Vaiṣṇava, Mukunda took Gadādhara to Vidyānidhi, who inquired from Mukunda about the identity of Gadādhara. When Mukunda informed Vidyānidhi about the identity of Gadādhara, Vidyānidhi was very pleased and began to converse with him. On seeing Vidyānidhi’s activities such as chewing betel nuts like a materialist while sitting on an opulent throne, Gadādhara, who was renounced since his birth, became somewhat doubtful. At that time Mukunda, who knew very well the heart of Gadādhara, recited a verse from Śrīmad Bhāgavatam [SB 3.2.23] indicating the glories of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. As soon as Puṇḍarīka heard this verse, he could not control himself. He fell unconscious to the ground due to love of God, and various transformations of ecstatic love manifested in his body. By his kicking, all the surrounding items were scattered here and there. On realizing Vidyānidhi’s exalted position, Gadādhara began to repent on account of being disrespectful to him and proposed to Mukunda that he would counteract his offense by taking initiation from Vidyānidhi.

Learning the intention of Gadādhara, Mukunda became happy and praised him. After about six hours, Vidyānidhi regained his external consciousness. When Vidyānidhi saw that Gadādhara’s eyes were filled with tears, he embraced him affectionately, and Gadādhara stood there with great awe and reverence. Thereafter, when Mukunda informed Vidyānidhi about Gadādhara’s desire, Vidyānidhi happily praised his own good fortune for receiving such a disciple. He then fixed an auspicious day for awarding initiation to Gadādhara. [Caitanya-bhāgavata, Madhya-khaṇḍa, chapter 7]

Kṣetra sannyāsa

When one takes kṣetra-sannyāsa, he leaves his household life and goes to a place of pilgrimage devoted to Lord Viṣṇu. Such places include Puruṣottama (Jagannātha Purī), Navadvīpa-dhāma and Mathurā-dhāma. The kṣetra-sannyāsī lives in these places alone or with his family. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura considers kṣetra-sannyāsa to be the preferable vānaprastha situation in this Age of Kali. Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya lived in this way, and he has been called a kṣetra-sannyāsī—that is, a sannyāsī living in Jagannātha Purī. [Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 16.130]

Śrila Gadādhara Paṇḍita went to live in Purī as a kṣetra sannyāsi. Mahāprabhu gave him the service of the Ṭoṭā-gopīnātha deity and told him to live in Yameshwar Tota, or garden adjoining the Yameshwar Shiva temple. On one occasion, when Gadādhara heard that Nityananda had come to Puri, he invited him to come and take Ṭoṭā-gopīnātha’s prasad. Nityananda accepted his invitation and brought some fine rice from Bengal as an offering for Gopīnātha. Gadādhara cooked the rice along with leaves and vegetables from the Yameshwar garden. When he was offering the foodstuffs to the deity, Mahāprabhu also appeared there, giving him great pleasure. When Mahāprabhu was leaving for Vrindavan, Gadādhara Pandit was unable to tolerate the idea of separation from the Lord, however, and wanted to go with Him. Mahāprabhu had to remind him of his vow to remain in Jagannath Puri and forbade him to go onward to Vraja. Gadādhara retorted, “To hell with my vows to remain in Puri. As far as I am concerned, Jagannath Puri is wherever You are.” Mahāprabhu insisted and told Gadādhara not to abandon his service to Gopīnātha. Gadādhara stubbornly argued, “Just seeing your lotus feet is worth a million times more than any service to Gopīnātha.”

Mahāprabhu said, “If you abandon your duties to Gopīnātha, then it will be considered My fault.” Gadādhara said, “No, I will take all the responsibility for any offence to Gopinath. I am going alone, not with You. I am going to Bengal to see Śacīmātā, and not for Your sake.” So, Mahāprabhu continued on His way north to meet the Jharikhaṇḍa path, which He intended to take to Vṛndāvana, while Gadādhara trailed behind, walking alone.

Other than Mahāprabhu’s intimate associates, no one is able to understand the extent of Gadādhara Prabhu’s rebellious devotion to Gaurāṅga. Love on the path of spontaneous devotion is not easy to comprehend. Gadādhara was ready to abandon his vows, his service, everything for the sake of Mahāprabhu.

When Mahāprabhu's party arrived at Cuttack, a hundred kilometers north of Puri, Mahāprabhu called Gadādhara and said, “You have realized your objective to break your vows and leave your service. If you come with Me, that will make you happy. But do you want your own happiness or Mine? It will make Me unhappy if your vows to remain in Puri and to serve Gopīnātha are broken. If you want My happiness, return to Puri and take up your vows again. That is all I have to say.” When he heard Mahāprabhu’s words, Gadādhara fell to the ground and fainted. Mahāprabhu told Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya to comfort him and accompany him back to Puri. He Himself then continued to Vṛndāvana on His own.

Lessons

1. We are dāsa-dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ. The means we come to Kṛṣṇa is by following the devotees, not by following Kṛṣṇa. We are dāsa-dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ. That puts us in the fifth position. If you put yourself in millionth position, then the paradox of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavaism is that although it seems indirect, its most direct. Another hallmark of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavaism is that we emphasize that best kind of worship is Viṣṇu worship, but higher than that is worshipping those people who worship Viṣṇu.

2. We are eternal and we need love. Liberation is not enough. We have to have loving emotion towards Kṛṣṇa, and we find that in devotees that come with Kṛṣṇa to this world. That is a part of reason he comes. Our sampradāya recognizes the śaktis and various relationships that Kṛṣṇa has with his devotees. Devotees carry that kind of devotion we are looking for and they can give it to us.

3. Lord Caitanya appears in five forms and there is no difference between them. The distinctions arise due to His desire to relish different devotional flavors. This is unique to our line of teaching about our relation to God. In Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava there is a complete description of the personalities including Personality of Godhead and his relationship with his devotee and kind of relation he has with his devotees.