Glories of Sri Jayadev Goswami

Harikatha, Sreela Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj

In the initial part of harikatha, Srila Gurudev emphasises on the importance of surrendering and praying for the grace of bonafide preceptorial channel. He then sings the glories of Jayadev Goswami narrating different incidences from his life. He instructs us that even if we get a slightest of Jayadev Goswami's grace then we will get the highest Divine love.

  • Jayadev Goswami was a devotee of the Lord who used to worship Him in vipralambha-rasa (love in separation). The Supreme Lord Jagannath Deva used to relish the writing of Jayadev Goswami, namely Gita-Govinda. Once the Lord had come out from the temple and had gone to a garden to listen to Gita-Govinda. He would have listened to Gita-Govinda being in the temple only, why did he go out? He performed this pastime to spread the glories of Jayadeva Goswami and to show that how dear is his writing to Him. The Supreme Lord always want to spread the glories of His devotees.

    There was a Brahmin who hailed from a place called ‘Pratishthanpur’. He used to worship Lord Narayan. Being the Super-soul who is situated in the heart of everybody, the Supreme Lord Narayan knew how the Brahmin was worshiping Him by residing in a remote village located at the corner of this world. In a worldly sense though he was poverty-stricken, in actuality he was very rich. If we analyze we can understand that only that person who worships the Supreme Lord who is eternal and filled with opulence is rich indeed. The person who does not worship the Lord cannot be rich. It is written in Chaitanya Charitamrita,

    prema-dhana vinā vyartha daridra jīvana
    ‘dāsa’ kari’ vetana more deha prema-dhana
    (Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita Antya 20.37)

    “Without the wealth of Divine love my life is futile and poverty-stricken. Make me your servant and pay me the wage of the wealth of Divine love for Krishna.”

    That kingdom of love for God is completely different from this material world. A material person like me cannot describe about that transcendental realm. Our Gurudeva has come in the preceptorial channel which has started from the Lord Himself. Mahaprabhu has expanded Himself as His personal associates who are our Guruvarga. Srila Prabhupada is one among them. Srila Prabhupada is Sri Nayanmani Manjari in the spiritual world. Therefore, our Gurudeva named the deities as ‘Nayananath’, ‘Nayanamani’, ‘Nayanmohan’ and ‘Nayananand’ for the remembrance of his Gurudeva.

    We should surrender to the preceptorial channel if we want to get devotion. Our Param Gurudeva, Srila Prabhupada, used to write in his letters-

    ami guru-parampara te pranati gyapon korchi

    “I pay my obeisance to the preceptorial channel.”

    He is seeking the mercy of his Gurudeva and the preceptorial channel. Unless and until one does not take complete submission to the preceptorial channel, his realization of divinity cannot be successful. The self-effulgent Lord descends to the surrendered soul through a bona fide preceptorial channel. Pujyapad Srila Swami Maharaj used to say often, “When one is enlightened with the knowledge by which ignorance is destroyed then his knowledge reveals everything as sun lights up everything at day time.”

    We should contemplate on this above sentence spoken by Swami Maharaj very deeply. Knowledge of the Lord is self-effulgent knowledge. One cannot have any conception of the Lord by means of his material intellect or wisdom. In order to explain this, an example can be cited as follows. When it is night, despite our trying to see the sun by collecting all the lights of this world we cannot see it. When the sun rises, by means of the rays of the sun, we cannot only see the sun itself but also all the objects of this world. Similarly when the Lord will manifest in our heart through a bona fide preceptorial channel, we can see our real self and the real-selves of everybody. The pure devotee of the Lord can see his worshipable Lord in everything whether humans, birds, beasts or hills, mountains, trees etc. The Lord will manifest Himself; there is no other way to know Him. The Supreme Lord Sri Krishna who is the Avatari (source of all Avatara) cannot be known by finite persons like me.

    Once I submitted the following to Srila Puri Goswami Maharaj, “I have come to the Math and have taken shelter of our Gurudeva. But still the dirt of my mind is not yet removed. When shall it be removed?”

    Puri Goswami Maharaj asked me to remember the Vaishnava and sing their glories, vaishnavera guna gaan karaye jivera tran —the living entities can be rescued by singing the transcendental qualities of Vaishnava. Then he ordered me to write down the biographies of the Vaishnava. I expressed my incompetence to do so and asked for his mercy. He encouraged me to do so and also showered his mercy on me. After that I wrote as per his desire. I referred to many books before writing. We should remember the Vaishnava both on their appearance and on their disappearance days.

    Most people say that Sri Jayadev Goswami was born in the village called Kendubilva, presently situated in the district of Birbhum. This particular village is located 20 miles to the west of Siuri. Ekachakra Dham, the place of appearance of Lord Nityananda is also located in Birbhum district. Nityananda Prabhu appeared in a Brahmin family accepting Hadai Pandit and Padmavati Devi as His parents. In Siuri, one Godbrother of our Gurudeva named Bhakti Saurabh Bhaktisar Maharaj established a Math with a name ‘Nityananda Gaudiya Math’. I went there two times. Presently the Math is no more there. Later he moved to Mayapur and established a Math there with a name ‘Gauranga Math’. Later some problems occurred in the Math and he moved back to Siuri.

    Kendubilva village is situated twenty miles west of Siuri on the banks of the Ajay River. Jayadev Goswami appeared in that village. It is also stated that he used worship Lord Shiva at a temple of Lord Kusesvara which is also on the banks of the Ajay River. His father was Bhojadeva and mother, Vama Devi. A Maghi Shankranti mela (small festival) is held at that place. So, this is the place where Jayadev Goswami appeared though some say that he appeared in Utkal and some say he appeared in South India. He appeared either in eleventh Shakabda or twelveth Shakabda and Mahaprabhu appeared in fifteenth Shakabda. So Jayadev lived either two hundred or three hundred years before Mahaprabhu. Though materially they did not meet each other, they were connected on spiritual platform (tatvik sense).

    We visit a place called Champaka-hatta during Navadwip Dham parikrama which is named after the yellow flowers called Champa that are found there. Lord Gauranga was also yellow complexioned. Champa flowers were found and sold at that village and so it was named as Champaka-hatta. There was a Brahmin who lived in that village. He used to worship RadhaKrishna. Satisfied by his worship, one day, RadhaKrishna gave him darshan in the form of Lord Gauranga. The Lord manifested in the form of a deity named Gadai-Gauranga (Lord Gauranga and Gadadhar Pandit Goswami). The combined form of RadhaKrishna namely Lord Gauranga is full of nectar. Nothing is comparable to such nectar. When the Brahmin was feeling separation after seeing this form of Lord Gauranga, the Lord told him, “Do not grieve. When I shall appear in Kaliyuga you will also come as My personal associate.”

    In his past life Dvija Vaninath, an associate of Mahaprabhu, was that Brahmin in Satya Yuga and he was in constant remembrance of RadhaKrishna. When Jayadev Goswami was playing his earthly pastimes, Lakshman Sen was the king of Bengal (entire Mayapur and Navadwip was under his domain). He requested Jayadeva Goswami to stay back in Navadwip Dham and offered him this place so that he can stay there without any disturbance. Jayadev Goswami stayed at Champaka-hatta, the place where Mahaprabhu had given darsan to that Brahmin. He performed worship there with tremendous renunciation. We go to that place while performing Navadwip Dham Parikrama. During Navadwip Dham circumambulation we come to that place and offer our obeisances there and pray for the grace of Jayadev Goswami and Gaur-Gadadhar. According to Ashutosh Deb’s Bengali dictionary, Jayadeva Goswami was Lakshman Sen’s court poet.

    Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur has written in his book called Navadwip Dham Mahatmya that the king of Bengal Lakshan Sen heard the Dasavatar-stotra composed by Jayadev Goswami from the lips of the king’s chief scholar Govardhan Acharya. The king was mesmerized on hearing the beautiful composition and wondered who could have written this beautiful work. Govardhan told him Jayadev’s name and that he was a saintly man. Lakshman Sen took audience of Jayadev and was immediately attracted upon seeing him.

    chalayachsi vikramaṇe balim adbhuta-vāmana
    pada-nakha-nīra-janita-jana-pāvana
    keśava dhṛta-vāmana-rūpa jaya jagadīśa hare

    “0 Kesava! O Lord of the universe! O Lord Hari, who have assumed the form of a dwarf-brahmana! All glories to You! O wonderful dwarf, by Your massive steps You deceive King Bali, and by the Ganges water that has emanated from the nails of Your lotus feet, You deliver all living beings within this world.”

    Though the Supreme Lord appeared in the form of a dwarf (Vaman) but still He looked very sweet and beautiful in that form. He was walking by holding a big umbrella in His hand which seemed to be bigger than His size. The daughter of Bali Maharaj called Ratnavali developed Vatsalya Rasa (love for the Lord in the mood of parental affection) by seeing the form of Lord Vamandeva. But later when Lord Vamana took His huge Trivikram Form and took the ownership of the three planetary systems from the father of Ratnavali namely Bali Maharaj, she became angry and wanted to kill Him by feeding Him poison. The Lord fulfilled both her wishes. She became the demoness called Putana who came to kill the Lord in His form as Gopal. She smeared her breasts with deadly poison and came in disguise to breast-feed Gopal. Though the Lord in the form of a baby killed her, still He awarded her the position of a nurse in the spiritual kingdom to fulfill her desire for Vatsalya Rasa with Him.

    So, the Lord is appearing in so many forms to us to bestow upon us His loving service. If we are able to catch any one of these forms, we will be able to reach Him.

    Greatly impressed and attracted by Jayadeva Goswami, the king invited him to come and live in the royal palace. Jayadeva Goswami was leading a much renounced life and was therefore unwilling to live in the opulent environment of the palace. He told the king that he preferred to live in Jagannath Puri.

    Those who have got real taste of contact with the Lord, the opulences of this world seem like garbage to them. Lakshman Sen was disappointed by Jayadeva Goswami’s intentions. He quickly suggested that he take up residence in the village of Champa Hati, saying that it is a place suitable for a person who wished to lead a meditative life. The king also promised Jayadev Goswami that he would only visit him if he desires. When Jayadeva Goswami agreed, Lakshman Sen had a cottage built for him in the village which was formerly known as Champaka-hatta, named after the beautiful garden of Champa trees and the village market where its flowers were sold. It was in this village that Mahaprabhu’s associate Dvija Vaninath received a vision of Him in the Satya Yuga, seeing Him in the form of a Brahmin whose skin was the colour of a Champa flower.

    As Dvija Vaninath was constantly seeing the form of Lord Gauranga, likewise Jayadeva Goswami had a vision here, first of RadhaMadhava, then of Their combined Form as the golden Champa-coloured Gauranga Mahaprabhu.

    When Gauranga Mahaprabhu appeared to Jayadev He told him, “I will appear later on this planet. You go to Jagannath Puri Dham and compose ‘Gita-Govinda’. When I will go to Puri Dham, I will read and relish your Gita-Govinda Myself. When Mahaprabhu was completely immersed in the feelings of separation from Sri Krishna, Swarup Damodar Prabhu used to read verses from Gita-Govinda composed by Jayadev Goswami and songs composed by Chandi Das and Vidyapati to Mahaprabhu which were relished by Him. Although Jayadev Goswami was sad to leave the future abode of his Lord (Champaka-hatta which comes in Nabadvip), he obeyed the Lord’s command and made his way to Puri where it is said that he was engaged as the king of Orissa’s court poet. There is a legend told in Jagannath Puri that there was a flower gardener’s daughter who had learned Gita-Govinda and would sing it with great emotion. Lord Jagannath was attracted by her singing and would go to listen to her, only returning to the temple after she had finished singing.

    There once was a Brahmin who was without offspring despite having worshiped Lord Jagannath for many years in the hope of having a son. Finally, he and his wife had a daughter and they named her Padmavati. When she came of marriageable age, the Brahmin brought her to Lord Jagannath to offer her to His lotus feet. When He saw them, Lord Jagannath Himself said to the Brahmin, "I have a servant whose name is Jayadeva. He has given up family life and has dedicated himself to chanting My names. Give your daughter to him in marriage."

    The Brahmin took his daughter to Jayadeva Goswami and asked him to marry his daughter. However, since Jayadeva Goswami had no desire to get married, he refused to agree to any arrangement. Then the Brahmin told him that it was Lord Jagannath Himself who had arranged this marriage and without another word, he left, leaving his daughter behind. Jayadeva Goswami found himself totally unprepared for this situation and told the girl, "Tell me where you want to go and I will take you and leave you there. You cannot stay here."

    Padmavati started to cry and said, "My father brought me here to marry you on Jagannath Deva’s order. You are my husband, my all in all. If you do not accept me, then I will fall down at your feet and die right here. You are my only hope, my Lord."

    The poet and scholar Jayadeva Goswami could not abandon her after such a heartfelt plea. So he became a householder.

    Many other amazing and miraculous events were scattered through Jayadeva Goswami’s life. He used to serve his deities RadhaMadhava in a trance of Divine love. It is said that just as the devotee dedicates himself to the Lord, the Lord also dedicates Himself to His devotee. One day, Jayadeva Goswami was thatching his roof under the merciless midday sun. The Lord saw His devotee’s discomfort and decided to help him finish the work quickly by handing him the rope needed to bale the straw and removing the finished bundles and placing them on the roof. Jayadeva Goswami thought that Padmavati was helping him in this way. But when he came down from the roof after finishing much earlier than expected, he saw no one there. He asked his wife and she told him that she had been busy elsewhere at the time. He was curious about what had happened, but struck with wonder when he went into the deity room and saw that Madhava’s hands were black from handling the straw. He was thus able to understand that Lord Madhava Himself who had come to help him thatch the roof. He fell down before his Lord and started to cry.

    On another occasion, Jayadeva Goswami wished to put on a festival for his deities Radha-Madhava, but he was short of money. He decided to travel in order to collect some funds. On his return journey, he was stopped by a band of thugs who not only stole his money but cut off his hands and feet and threw him down a well to die. Despite the pain, Jayadeva Goswami shouted out the names of the Lord loudly.

    After Jayadeva Goswami had spent three days in this way, the king happened to pass that way on a hunting expedition and heard the sound of the Holy Names coming from the hole in the ground. The king approached the sound out of curiosity and was horrified to see Jayadeva Goswami in such a serious condition. He had him pulled out of the well and brought back to his palace where he had him treated. Under the care of the king and the queen, Jayadeva Goswami gradually returned to health .

    Both the king and queen were charmed by Jayadeva Goswami’s sweet singing of the Gita-Govinda as well as by his saintly character. They immediately sent for Padmavati and had her brought to their palace. The royal couple heard about Krishna from Jayadeva Goswami and took initiation from him and started to make their lives successful by service of the Lord and His devotees. One day, the robbers who had attacked Jayadeva Goswami came to the king’s palace as guests in the guise of devotees. Even though Jayadeva Goswami recognized who they were, he gave them the appropriate honor due to their outward appearance and arranged for the king’s hospitality to be extended to them. The robbers, however, did not understand Jayadeva Goswami’s forgiving and generous nature and, fearing capture and punishment, thought it best to leave without accepting the royal invitation. Jayadeva Goswami understood their fear and asked the king to give them a large sum of money, an escort and send them on their way.

    After they had gone a certain distance, the robbers said to the soldiers accompanying them, "You need not go any further. However, we would like to tell you a secret message to convey to the king. Prior to becoming Vaishnava we were the servants of a certain king who for very good reason ordered us to murder this priest, Jayadeva Goswami. That is why we cut off his hands and feet and left him to die. The reason this priest gave us a lot of money and asked us to leave quickly is because he was afraid that this secret would come out.”

    Unable to tolerate the telling of such a great lie, the Earth herself opened up and swallowed the entire gang of thieves. The goddess of the Earth was unable to support the weight of these sinful liars and so she swallowed them up. As they blasphemed the great devotee of the Lord, they met their doom in the bowels of the earth. When Shukracharya, the guru of the demons, told Bali Maharaja not to give the three feet of land demanded by Vamana Deva, Bali answered that he was the grandson of Prahlad Maharaja. How could he go back on his word like a miser once he had committed himself to giving in charity? He substantiated this by quoting the Earth,

    na hy asatyāt paro 'dharmati hovāca bhūr iyam
    sarvaṁ so hum alaṁ manye ṛte ’līka-paraṁ naram
    (Srimad Bhagavatam 8.20.4)

    "There is no greater irreligiousness than untruth,” says the Earth, “I can bear any burden other than that of a person who constantly lies."

    The servants of the king who had accompanied these robbers were amazed to see them punished for their offense to Jayadeva Goswami right before their very eyes. They came back to the king’s palace and told him everything they had witnessed. The king inquired from Jayadeva Goswami about the robbers and he told the entire story. He said, "O king! A saintly man does not seek revenge from those who have done evil toward him. He attempts to satisfy them by polite behavior. Even so, the Lord’s flawless dispensation will make them suffer the consequences of their own sinfulness, as He did in this case."

    Jayadeva Goswami’s wife became a close friend to the queen. In those days, the practice of sati, where the wife would enter the funeral pyre along with her husband, was an accepted custom. After her brother’s death, the queen was mortified that her sister-in-law would have to die on the funeral pyre with him. Padmavati said to the queen, "A faithful wife’s life airs leave her body the very moment her husband dies."

    When the queen heard this, she decided to test Padmavati herself. One day she announced to Padmavati that her husband Jayadeva Goswami had suddenly died. As soon as this news entered her ears, Padmavati gave up her life. This shocked the queen and she began to cry, out of a sense of guilt for having caused it. The king went to Jayadeva Goswami and begged him to return the life to her. The great devotee Jayadeva Goswami whispered the name of Krishna into his wife’s ear and she opened her eyes as though she had just awakened. Upon seeing this manifestation of both Jayadeva Goswami and Padmavati’s glories, the king and queen as well as all their courtiers and servants paid their obeisances at their feet. So in such a way his pastimes are extraordinary.

    He along with Sri Radha-Madhav deity stayed at Vrindavan Dham near Keshighat. The temple is still there. The king of Jaipur took Radha-Madhav along with Radha-Madanmohan and Radha-Govind to Jaipur. There is a big temple there in the area call ‘ghati’ where Radha-Madhav deities are being served today.

    There is a difference of opinions about where Jayadeva Goswami performed the pastimes of entering into his eternal service in the transcendental abode. Though some say he returned to Kendubilva, the village on banks of Ajaya River where Radha-Madhav were manifested, others claim it was Puri, and still others say that he went to Vrindavan. Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Thakur has stated his opinion that Jayadeva Goswami left this world from Jagannath Puri. Though some people say that Jayadeva Goswami returned to Kendubilva to spend his last days, there is no indication anywhere that he brought his Radha-Madhava deities with him. There in Kendubilva, he used to make the long walk to the Ganges every day to take his bath. One day, because of ill health, he was unable to make it. Ganga Devi was so kind to him that she came personally to the village of Kendubilva so that he could bathe in her holy waters. It is possible. The Lord makes everything happened to fulfill the desire of His devotees. Many a times Ganga Devi comes to the Shiva Temple in Mayapur on the pretext of flood. Shivji wants Ganga Devi to take her position on his head. When Brahmaji was to put Ganga Devi on the Earth from his Kamandalu, Shivji accepted her on his head. So Shivji wants water of Ganga to be poured on him. If you do not want flood to come you, offer water of Ganga on him otherwise he will make Ganga Devi to come there! Flood situation does not happen without any reason. Everything happens by the will of the Supreme Lord. His devotee, Shivji desires to Ganga water on his head so she comes in the form of flood. We get entrance into Mayapur Dham by the mercy of Kshetrapal (the protector of Dham) Shivji.

    Jayadev Goswami had gone to Kendubilva from Vrindavan and stayed there. The people there say that he disappeared from there and every year on the first day of the month of Magh a large festival is held at Kendubilva in his memory. But Srila Prabhupad said that on Sriman Mahaprabhu’s desire, Jayadev Goswami came to Puri Dham and performed his disappearance pastime there. So he would have gone to Kendubilva from Vrindavan but later he came to Puri Dham where he performed his disappearance pastime.

    His pastimes are extraordinary. Even the slightest of his grace can award us the highest Divine love. So on today’s Tithi I pray for his grace. I have not got his darsan but have got the darsan of Srila Gurudev who has come in the same preceptorial channel. If we surrender to that preceptorial channel then we will get the grace of Jayadev Goswami. But if we do not surrender then we will not get his grace or the grace of six Goswami, Swarup Damodar Prabhu or Ray Ramanand Prabhu. Everything of us will become zero if we do not surrender and on the other hand we will get the complete grace if we surrender. Therefore surrender to them fully. So today I pray for the grace of Srila Gurudev, he is the embodiment of Supreme Lord’s mercy; Srila Prabhupad’s mercy. It is my fortune that he rescued me from my fallen state and brought me to Nabadvip Dham.

    I pay my innumerable obeisances to Srila Gurudev, Srila Jayadev Goswami, Srila Prabhupad, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur and pray for their blessings so that all my desires other than Krishna bhakti vanish and I become one pointed in devotion to Him and engage myself in His service.

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