Pranam Mantra of Srila Raghunatha Dasa Goswami :
Vipralambha rasasvadi gauranga priya murtaye
Namah Shri Raghunathaya Radhakunda nivasine
Identity:
Raghunatha Dasa Goswami is the epitome of renunciation among the associates of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. In every stage of his divine life, he displayed a wonderful example of moderation, tolerance, and humility. He is one of the eight most intimate maidservants of Srimati Radharani: “Rasamanjari” or “Ratimanjari”. Some people consider her as “Bhanumati”. She participated in Gauralila as Raghunatha Dasa Goswami.
Appearance:
Srila Raghunatha Dasa Goswami appeared in the 1428 Shaka era. In 56 years of his life span, he spent 49 years in Vrindavana,19 years at home and 8 years in Nilachala. Sri Raghunatha Dasa Goswami appeared in the house of Govardhana Majumdar who was the landlord of Saptagram. He was immensely rich. He lived in the village of Saptagrama, Srikrishnapura, Hooghly, on the east bank of the ancient Saraswati river. Although Raghunatha Dasa Goswami was the sole heir of his ancestral wealth, he was apathetic to it from his childhood.
Receiving the mercy of Srila Haridasa Thakura:
Srila Raghunatha Dasa Goswami’s Mantra guru was Yadunandana Acharya who was an intimate disciple of Advaita Acharya Prabhu and received the mercy of Vasudeva Datta Thakura. Namacharya Srila Haridasa Thakura lived at Balarama Acharya’s place. Formerly Haridasa Thakura lived in Benapole where he delivered a prostitute sent by Ramachandra Khan. Raghunatha Dasa got an opportunity to meet Haridasa Thakura, while he was living at Balarama Acharya’s home in Chandpur. By that time Raghunatha was a little child. The mercy of an exalted devotee like Haridasa Thakura was the primary reason for Raghunatha Dasa Goswami to attain the proximity of Mahaprabhu.
Raghunath’s first meeting with Mahaprabhu and receiving His remnants:
When Sriman Mahaprabhu came to Shantipur after accepting the renounced order of life, Raghunatha met Him for the first time. He fell at the lotus feet of Mahaprabhu and became overwhelmed in ecstasy. His father Sri Govardhana Majumdar was a patron of Sri Advaita Acharya and constantly served Advaita Acharya with great devotion. Advaita Acharya had a special affection for Raghunatha Dasa Goswami due to his father. As long as Raghunatha was in Shantipur, Advaita Acharya used to give him leftovers of Mahaprabhu.
Second meeting with Sri Mahaprabhu:
On His way to Vrindavan, Mahaprabhu visited Kanai Natshala. From there He returned back and visited Shantipur again. Raghunatha Dasa Goswami got the news. He approached his father asking permission to meet Mahaprabhu. His father became worried. But seeing Raghunatha’s eagerness, finally, his father let him go with many people and gifts. But he ordered Raghunatha to come back as soon as possible. Raghunatha saw Mahaprabhu at Shantipur as if he had regained his life. He expressed his sorrow to Mahaprabhu and prayed for how to be freed from the bondage of the material world. The omniscient Mahaprabhu understood his heart. He assured him and said, “Be patient and go back home. Don’t be crazy. Gradually you will be able to cross the ocean. You should not make yourself a show bottle devotee and become a false renunciant. For the time being, enjoy the material world in a befitting way and do not become attached to it. Within your heart you should keep yourself very faithful, but externally you may behave like an ordinary man. Thus Kṛṣṇa will soon be very pleased and deliver you from the clutches of māyā. You may see Me at Nīlācala, Jagannātha Purī when I return after visiting Vṛndāvana. By that time you can think of some trick to escape. What kind of means you will have to use at that time will be revealed by Kṛṣṇa. If one has Kṛṣṇa’s mercy, no one can check him.
Attaining the blessings of Nityananda Prabhu:
Shri Raghunath Dasa began to think about the means of his liberation from material bondage. Meanwhile, Nityananda Prabhu arrived at Panihati. Raghunatha Dasa got the news. Raghunatha thought that by the grace of Niityananda Prabhu, the deliverer of fallen souls, one can be liberated from the material world. He went to Panihati and reached the bank of Ganges where Nityananda Prabhu was sitting under a banyan tree. He offered his obeisances to Nityananda Prabhu. Lord Nityananda became very pleased with him and showered his mercy in the name of punishment and blessed him for the attainment of the lotus feet of Mahaprabhu very soon.
Journey to Nilachala:
By receiving the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu, Raghunatha became satisfied. He returned home and did not enter the house. He slept outside in the Durga Mandapa (the pavilion where the yearly Durga Puja is arranged). The guards were always awoken to prevent Raghunatha from escaping. Meanwhile, the Bengali devotees were going to Nilachala to meet Mahaprabhu. Raghunatha could not join them. Finally, the moment came. It was almost the end of the night when Raghunatha Dasa managed to escape from the guards and left his home. He fixed his mind on Lord Nityananda and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and set off for Nilachala. The journey was long and difficult and on some days he could find some food to eat and on other days not. After a hectic long difficult journey, Raghunatha reached Nilachala and attained the lotus feet of Mahaprabhu. He ate only for three days during this journey. Mahaprabhu was sitting with Svarupa Damodara. At that time Raghunatha came and bowed to Him from a distance. Sri Mukunda Dutta told Mahaprabhu about Raghunatha. Mahaprabhu asked Raghunatha to come near. Raghunatha fell at Mahaprabhu’s feet. Mahaprabhu graciously addressed him and said,
“prabhu kahe, — “kṛṣṇa-kṛpā baliṣṭha sabā haite
tomāre kāḍila viṣaya-viṣṭhā-garta haite””
Translation: Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “The mercy of Lord Kṛṣṇa is stronger than anything else. Therefore the Lord has delivered you from the ditch of materialistic life, which is like a hole into which people pass stool.”
Entrusting Raghunatha Dasa to Svarupa Damodar:
Mahaprabhu saw Sri Raghunath as skinny and weak. Immediately He ordered Svarupa Damodara to accept Raghunatha Dasa as his son and servant. He instructed Govinda to take care of Raghunatha. He ordered Raghunatha to take a bath in the sea and then see Lord Jagannatha and take Prasadam. Govinda gave the remnants of Mahaprabhu to Raghunatha. In this way, Raghunatha spent his days in utmost devotion under the guidance of Mahaprabhu.
Raghunath’s increasing renunciation:
Raghunatha took Mahaprabhu’s leftover Prasadam from Swarup Damodar for five days. On the sixth day, he went to the Simhadvara. After the flower worship of Lord Jagannatha, he used to stand for alms. During this time, his dispassion for worldly life became more and more intense.
Worshipping Gunjamala and Govardhana Shila:
Sri Shankarananda Saraswati of Vrindavan gave Gunjamala and Govardhana-shila to Mahaprabhu. Mahaprabhu used to consider the Gunjamala as Srimati Radharani and Govardhana -shila as Krishna Himself. He used to hold the Govaerdhana -shila in His heart, eyes, and head. He served the Shila for three years. After that, He offered those to Raghunatha Dasa. Raghunatha Dasa also considered them as Radha-Krishna and used to perform a sattvika worship every day. One day Svarupa Damodara asked Raghunatha to offer a vessel of water, eight Tulasi manjaris, and the khajas of eight kauḍis worth. He arranged this. Raghunatha followed his instructions. After the departure of Sri Raghunatha Dasa Goswami, the Sri Govardhana Shila continued to be served in the Gokulananda Temple in Sri Vrindavan still today.
Journey to Vrindavan:
In Purushottama Dhama, Sri Raghunatha Dasa Goswami closely served Mahaprabhu under the guidance of Svarupa Damodara. After sixteen years Mahaprabhu and Svarupa Damodara disappeared from the material world. At that time Raghunatha Dasa Goswami decided to end his life by jumpingfalling from Govardhana. He arrived at Vrindavana. There he met Rupa Goswami and Sanatana Goswami. They gave him consolation and discouraged him to commit suicide. They accepted him as their third brother. Rupa and Sanatana used to listen to the final pastimes of Mahaprabhu from Raghunatha Dasa Goswami. One day Raghunatha Dasa Goswami started fasting from grains out of intense separation from Mahaprabhu and Radhakrishna. He only consumed buttermilk in small quantities. Every day he performed a thousand obeisances, one lakh Harinama, constant astakaliya seva of Radha-Krishna, chanting the pastimes of Mahaprabhu, three times bath in Radhakunda. He used to spend seven and a half praharas in Bhajana. Sometimes he slept less than four dandas.
Cleaning the Radhakunda and Shyamakunda:
Raghunatha Dasa Goswami stayed at Radhakunda and performed intense Bhajana. Long before Mahaprabhu visited the village of Arita and took a bath in Radhakunda which was a paddy land then. At that time there was no wharf in Radhakunda or Shyamakunda. A plan for cleaning these two holy Kundas arose in the mind of Raghunatha Dasa Goswami. But he stopped himself from thinking about this. Meanwhile, A rich man went to Badrinarayana and offered the Lord a lot of money. Badrinarayana appeared in a dream and instructed the rich man to arrange the cleaning of Radhakunda as per the desire of Raghunatha Dasa Goswami. The rich man came to Arita village in Mathura and told everything to Raghunatha Dasa. In this way, the Radhakunda and Shyamakunda were cleaned as desired by Raghunatha Dasa Goswami.
Books written by Raghunatha Dasa Goswami:
Sri Raghunatha Das Goswami lived for a long time. When Srinivasa Acharya Prabhu was coming to Bengal with vaishnava texts from Vrindavan, he received the blessings of Raghunatha Dasa Goswami. Srinivasa Acharya was surprised to see his deep renunciation and devotion. Sri Raghunatha Dasa Goswami wrote three books – Stavavali, Dana Keli Chintamani, and Mukta Charita.
Final days at Radhakunda:
Once Sri Raghunatha Dasa Goswami read the play ‘Lalita Madhava’ by Srila Rupa Goswami. As a result, he felt intense separation. Although he constantly lived at Radhakunda, he could not bear the separation from Radhakrishna even for a single moment. Moreover, the Lalita Madhava text increased his separation. It became difficult to save his life. Then Srila Rupa Goswami sent him “Dana Keli Kaumudi”. It was a comedy and saved Raghunatha Dasa Goswami from burning separation.
Disappearance:
Srila Raghunatha Dasa Goswami disappeared in the month of Ashwina in 1504 AD on Shukla Dwadashi Tithi (twelfth day of bright fortnight). He left his body and passed away on the bank of Radhakunda. His Samadhi is still present there.
