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Title: Shrila Ramachandra Kaviraja
Disappearance
User: Swami Gaurangapada Date: 2006-06-09 20:24:12
Shrila Ramachandra
Kaviraja Holy Disappearance Day
Shrila Narottama dasa
Thakura Mahasaya has sung: "O Acarya Prabhu (Shrinivasa), please bestow
your mercy upon me. I pray that I might also have the association of
Ramacandra."
Shri Ramacandra Kaviraja
was the disciple of Shrinivasa Acarya Prabhu and the very intimate friend of
Narottama dasa Thakura. His father was Ciranjiva Sena and mother Shri Sunanda.
Ciranjiva was originally an inhabitant of Kumaranagar but after marrying the
daughter of Shri Damodara Kavi he moved to Shri Khanda.
"Ciranjiva Sena was
a pure devotee very much loved by Narahari Sarkar and the other residents of
Shri Khanda. He was extremely learned in all matters and his wife was very
chaste and gentle. Her activities were completely transcendental."
Shri Mukunda, Narahari,
Raghunandana and Ciranjiva, who were all residents of Shri Khanda, were of one
mind and one purpose. Every year they would come to Nilacala to have darshan of
Mahaprabhu and to chant and dance in front of Lord Jagannatha during Ratha
Yatra. Ciranjiva was from a family of physicians. His two jewel like sons were
Ramacandra and Govinda. Later they both became disciples of Acarya Prabhu and
came to reside at Teliya Bhudari gram in Murshidabad.
Ramacandra was very
handsome, intelligent and perseverent. His maternal grandfather, Shri Damodara
Kaviraja, was a well-known poet who was a worshiper of Krishna's energy
(shakti) and was initiated in this cult. After their father passed away, the
two brothers Ramacandra and Govinda came to live with their grandfather, who
practiced the Shakta religion. Being influenced by him, both became inclined to
worship the various personified forms of maya, Krishna's external deluding
potency.
At this time Ramacandra
practiced medicine and was also quite well known as an accomplished poet.
After his marriage,
Ramcandra was carried in a palanquin with his new bride to his home at
Kumaranagara. As the procession passed Shrinivasa Acarya Prabhu's house at
Jajigram, he saw the Acarya seated on the verandah of his house, discussing
Krishna-katha with some of his disciples. Simply upon seeing the Acarya he felt
a strange new emotion dawn in his heart. It was as though he was seeing a very
dear friend after long time of separation. Similarly, Acarya Prabhu, upon
seeing Ramacandra seated in the palanquin, immediately inquired from those who
were present with him, "Who is that? What is his name? Which varna (caste)
he belong to? And where does he reside?"
His associates replied, "He is great scholar of the name
Ramacandra. He is very excellent poet as well as a physician and resides at
Kumaranagara." Hearing this, Acarya Prabhu simply smiled.
Ramacandra Sena, still
seated within the palanquin, after seeing Shrinivasa Acarya and hearing his
sweet voice, became extremely anxious to meet him. After a short time the
procession reached the house where much pomp and celebration took place.
Everyone was overjoyed to see the new bride, Ratna Mala, and a great din and
bustle ensued in welcoming her and her bridegroom into their new home.
Ramacandra's mind however was still back at Jagigram where he had seen that
divine personage. With great difficulty he somehow or other passed the day
there, but with the fall of night he returned to Gajigram, where he passed the
night in the house of one brahman.
With the approach of
morning he came to Shrinivasa Acarya's house and fell down at the Acarya's and
fell down at he Acarya's feet to offer his prostrated obeisances. Shrinivasa
Acarya Prabhu had similarly been continuously thinking of Ramacandra ever since
he'd seen him the day before. Upon seeing Ramacandra again, prostrated before
him, he picked him up and embraced him in deep ecstasy. Then he told him,
"Birth after birth, you are my most dear friend. In the same way that the
Lord caused my meeting with Shri Narottama dasa Thakura at Vrindavana, He has
also re-united me with another dear friend."
Ramacandra stayed with
Acarya Prabhu and studied the literatures of the six Gosvamis under his
tutorship. Acarya Prabhu was extremely pleased to see his gentle and polite
behavior and his deeply spiritual nature. On the next auspicious day he initiated
Ramacandra with Radha-Krishna mantra.
After some time,
Ramacandra returned to his house. When the Shaktas saw he had been initiated
into Vaishnava religion they became very upset. Ramacandra, however, was
undaunted. With tilaka on his body in twelve places and a japa mala in his
hand, he sat down in front of them and began to chant the holy names. One day,
as Ramacandra was proceeding to his house after having taken his bath, his
Shakta neighbours called him.
"Kaviraja, without
worshipping Lord Shiva, how is it that you are going home? Your grandfather was
a great devotee of Lord Shiva. Have you given up Lord Shiva's worship?"
Ramacandra replied,
"Lord Shiva and Brahma are incarnations of two of the material modes
created by Shri Krishna. Shri Krishna Himself is the source of all
incarnations. Therefore, by worshipping Lord Krishna everyone's worship is
performed, just as by watering the roots of a tree all the leaves and branches
become nourished. Prahlad, Dhruva, Vibhisana and others were dear devotees of
Shri Krishna. Therefore Lord Shiva and Brahma were naturally favorably disposed
to them, whereas Ravana, Kumbakarna, Banasura and other demons were only
devotees of Lord Shiva and not devotees of Lord Krishna. Thus their ultimate
end was to simply be destroyed.
"The shastras say
that Lord Brahma was able to create this world due to having successfully
worshipped Shri Vishnu. Similarly, Lord Shiva has become qualified to invoke
auspiciousness in this world due to having received the foot wash water of Lord
Vishnu (Ganges) on his head." Having heard these various statements from
the shastras, those scholars remained speechless.
Ramacandra became very
anxious to have darsana of Shri Vrindavana and the Gosvamis there. He
petitioned Shri Raghunandana and various other Vaishnavas for their permission
which they readily gave. Thus on the next day he set out for Shri Vrindavana
Dhama. After passing through Gaya, Kasi and Prayaga, he finally arrived at
Mathura. There he took bath and some rest at Visramaghat. After taking darsana
of the Adi Kesava Temple, he started for Vrindavana.
At this time his guru,
Shrinivasa Acarya, was present at Vrindavana. Ramacandra offered his prostrated
obeisances at the lotus feet of his guru and Shri Jiva Gosvami and conveyed the
good news of the devotees from Gaudadesa.
As ordered by Shri Jiva
Gosvami, Ramacandra took darshana of Shri Govinda, Shri Gopinatha, Shri
Madanamohana and Shri Sanatana Gosvami's samadhi. Then he offered his respects
to Shri Gopala Bhatta, Shri Lokanatha and Shri Bhugarbha Gosvami, who were very
pleased with him and who offered him their benediction. Hearing some samples of
his great poetic ability, everyone decided to present him with the title
'Kaviraja.'
After remaining in the
Gosvami's association for some days, they finally instructed him to return to
Gaudadesa. And so he returned, visiting Shri Khanda, Jajigram, Khandaha and
Kalna on the way. Finally he came to Shri Mayapura, where he received the
blessings of Shri Isana Thakur.
One time, some smarta
brahmanas made a conspiracy to defame the name of Shrila Narottama dasa Thakura
Mahasaya. They were very upset that though he was only a kayastha by caste, he
accepted those born in brahmana families as his disciples. They enlisted Raja
Narasimha and the conquering pandita Shri Rupanarayana in a crusade to somehow
expose Narottama dasa as a fraud. In a large party they made their way to
Kheturi, where Shrila Narottama had his headquarters.
Coming to know of this
conspiracy, Shri Ramacandra and Shri Ganga Narayana Cakravarti came forward to
meet their challenge. They journeyed to Kumarapura where they each set up two
small shops in the market; one a pan and betel nut shop and the other a store
selling clay pots.
When the party of smarta
brahmanas arrived at Kumarapura and sent their disciples out to purchase wares
for cooking their meals, the students came to those shops. The 'shopkeepers'
(actually Ramacandra and Ganga Narayana in disguise) spoke to them in Sanskrit
and began to raise a philosophical dispute with them. Seeing the profound
learning of those two shopkeepers, the students were dumbfounded, but
nevertheless took up the challenge. After a short time, however, it became
obvious that they were no match for these shopkeepers.' They called for their
gurus, who arrived on the scene with Raja Narasimha and Rupanarayana.
Rupanarayana himself was drawn into the debate and was defeated by the
Bhagavata-based arguments of Ramacandra and Ganga Narayana.
When the king requested
their introduction, those two shop keepers informed him that they were two
extremely insignificant disciples of Shrila Narottama dasa Thakura Mahasaya.
Having met defeat in this village marketplace, Rupanarayana and the smarta
brahmanas were no longer interested in proceeding onward to Kheturi. Their
crusade evaporated as they all decided to return immediately to their
respective homes.
That night, after Raja
Narasimha had returned to his house, he had a dream in which Durgadevi told
him, "Narasimha! You have committed a great offense at the feet of
Narottama dasa Thakura. As a result of this Vaishnav aparadha, I will have to
cut you all to pieces with this chopper. If you want to save yourself, then you
had better immediately go and take shelter at Narottama dasa Thakura's lotus
feet."
hen his sleep broke the
king quickly took his bath and set out for Kheturi. Rupanarayana had a similar
dream and was also proceeding towards Kheturi at the same time. They met upon
their arrival there and approached the temple of Shri Gauranga in order to meet Narottama Thakura.
Thakur Mahasaya was absorbed in his bhajana, but when a disciple informed him
of the arrival of the two guests, he came out to meet them. Simply by seeing
his transcendental form, imbued with Krishna-prema, the two offenders became
purified and fell down to offer their obeisances at Thakura Mahasaya's
feet. Thakura Mahasaya very humbly presented
himself as being a fallen soul. Finally he initiated them with Radha-Krishna
mantra.
Many sinful atheists were
delivered by Shri Ramacandra Kaviraja. He was present at the Kheturi festival.
He came to Vrindavana a second time on the order of Shrinivasa and Narottama,
but this time he couldn't have darsana of the Gosvamis as they had all departed
this world for Goloka Vrindavana. Feeling separation from them, he was very
distressed at heart. Unable to tolerate that pain, he joined them in their eternal
pastimes there in Vrindavana. In Vraja-lila his name is Karuna-manjari. His
disappearance is on the third day of the dark fortnight in the month of Pausa.
His principal disciple was Harirama Acarya.
The Deities worshipped by
Ramcandra and Govinda Kaviraja have been brought from Jeliya-Bhudargram to
Bhagavan Gola where they are at present being worshipped by the followers of
Rama dasa Babaji. There is a station at Bhagavan Gola on the Sealdah-Lal Gola
rail line.