In 1510, Mahāprabhu made His auspicious entrance to the pilgrimage city of Srirangam. He was invited by Veṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa, a Vaiṣṇava of the Sri Sampradaya, to spend the four months of the cāturmāsya in his house. Knowing him to be a strict Vaiṣṇava, Mahāprabhu accepted his invitation. In fact, the Lord’s pastime of coming to Srirangam and staying at Veṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa’s home was to give His mercy to Gopāla Bhaṭṭa and his family, for the Lord knew that Gopāla Bhaṭṭa, His eternal companion, had appeared there.

At this time, Gopāla Bhaṭṭa was still a young boy. He was fortunate enough to be able to serve the Lord by massaging His feet. Even though He was satisfied with Veṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa and his family’s service, the Lord observed that Veṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa had an element of pride in his object of worship. He believed that his worshipable deity, Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa, was the supreme worshipable object, that Nārāyaṇa was the source of all other incarnations, including Kṛṣṇa, Rāma and Nṛsiṁha. His reasoning was that Nārāyaṇa is never born, while Kṛṣṇa and Rāma take birth in the world. He thus thought, “Mahāprabhu worships Kṛṣṇa, the incarnation of Nārāyaṇa, while we worship Nārāyaṇa, the source of all incarnations.”

As Madhusūdana is the destroyer of false pride, Mahāprabhu finally decided one day that He would do so for Veṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa. He asked him in a mild-humoured, witty tone, “Veṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa, I hear that no one is equal in opulence to your Lord Nārāyaṇa; the same is true for your worshipable Goddess Lakṣmī Devī. On the other hand, the object of My worship, Kṛṣṇa, has no opulence of any kind. He wears garlands of wild forest flowers and uses peacock feathers for decoration. He is the son of the cowherd Nanda and spends His day grazing the cows with the other cowherd boys. My worshipable goddesses, the gopīs, are also nothing but poor cowherd girls. I wonder, therefore, why your worshipable Lakṣmī Devī came to Vṛndāvana to perform austerities in the hope of gaining Kṛṣṇa’s company in the rāsa dance.”

Veṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa immediately answered, “What’s wrong with that? Rādhā’s beloved Kṛṣṇa is not different from Lakṣmī Devī’s husband Nārāyaṇa.”

siddhāntatas tv abheda ‘pi śrīśa-kṛṣṇa-svarūpayoḥ
rasenotkṛṣyate kṛṣṇa-rūpam eṣā rasa-sthitiḥ

“Though according to theological doctrine, Kṛṣṇa and the husband of Lakṣmī are identical in essence, the form of Kṛṣṇa is superior when analyzed from the point of view of divine sentiment. (Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu 1.2.59)

“Since the divine sentiment in Kṛṣṇa is superior, there is no fault if Lakṣmī Devī chooses to seek His association and performs austerities to that end.”

Mahāprabhu answered, “I am not saying that there is any fault. I agree that ontologically, Kṛṣṇa and Nārāyaṇa are identical. The difference between Them is based on the variety of rasa (transcendental taste or mood). When the Lord performs pastimes of opulence, He is Nārāyaṇa. When He performs pastimes of sweetness, He is Kṛṣṇa. She who is Rādhā in Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes is Lakṣmī Devī in the pastimes of Nārāyaṇa. Thus, when Lakṣmī Devī performs austerities to have the association of Kṛṣṇa there is no question of Her breaking Her vows of fidelity to Her husband. Thus, She went to perform these austerities in Vṛndāvana. But I have another question for you: Why, even after trying so hard through such penances, etc., to enter Kṛṣṇa’s rāsa-līlā, was Lakṣmī Devī still unable to do so?”

Veṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa was terribly distressed at being unable to give the Lord an answer. Mahāprabhu observed his distress and tried to pacify him by saying, “You yourself said that Nārāyaṇa and Kṛṣṇa are identical ontologically, but that the superiority of Kṛṣṇa is due to the excellence in rasas. Nārāyaṇa is involved in two and a half of the five principle rasas, whereas in Kṛṣṇa there is a complete manifestation of all twelve rasas, the five principle and seven secondary sentiments. Since Nārāyaṇa’s pastime is primarily one of opulence and majesty, His principle devotee is Lakṣmī Devī, who also worships Him in the appropriate mood of awe and reverence. The same Lakṣmī Devī is Rādhikā in order to heighten the experience of conjugal love. Unless one follows in the footsteps of Rādha and Her expansions, the gopīs, who are the repositories of the transcendental divine love, it is impossible to relish Kṛṣṇa’s sweet qualities. Lakṣmī Devī, however, did not follow in the gopīs’ footsteps but continued to perform Her austerities in the mood of awe and reverence. As a result, She repeatedly found Herself in the company of Nārāyaṇa and never in that of Kṛṣṇa. By way of contrast, the śrutis followed the gopīs in the rāga-mārga and so were ultimately able to achieve Kṛṣṇa’s service in that mood. As long as one continues to think of Kṛṣṇa in majestic terms as lord and controller, one cannot worship Him in the spirit of rāgānuga bhakti.

Mahāprabhu said, “Kṛṣṇa has one extraordinary characteristic: by His sweetness, He attracts the minds of the entire world. By taking on the mood of the Vraja gopīs one can attain to His lotus feet. The people of Vraja have no idea that Kṛṣna is the lord and controller. Some think of Him as their son and even tie Him to a mortar, while others take Him to be their friend and climb on His shoulders. The people of Vraja only know Him as the son of Nanda, whereas in the attitude of awe and reverence, the devotee does not have a concept of such a relationship to Him. One who takes the attitude of a resident of Vraja will attain Kṛṣṇa as the son of the king of Vraja in Vṛndāvana.” (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 2.9.127-31)

“When the gopīs, the objects of My worship, were abandoned by Kṛṣṇa in the rāsa dance, they began to cry in the intensity of their distress at not seeing Him. Kṛṣṇa came to them in the form of Nārāyaṇa, but the gopīs simply paid their obeisances and moved on in search of Kṛṣṇa, showing absolutely no interest in Him as a lover. When Rādhārāṇī stood before the disguised Kṛṣṇa, however, He could not maintain the four-armed form but once again appeared in His form as the holder of the flute. Such is the power of Rādhārāṇī’s love!” (Bhakti Ratnākara 5.624-629)

Nandanandana Kṛṣṇa is the avatārī, or source of all avatāras. Nārāyaṇa, Rāma, Nṛsiṁha, etc., are all His avatāras and expansions. Kṛṣṇa is svayaṁ bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Only the Personality of Godhead, the source of all other Divinities, is eligible to be designated svayaṁ bhagavān, or the primeval Lord. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 1.2.88)

ete cāṁśakalāḥ puṁsaḥ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam
indrāri-vyākulaṁ lokaṁ mṛḍayanti yuge yuge

All of the previously mentioned forms of the Lord are either plenary expansions or partial expansions of plenary expansions, but Kṛṣṇa alone is the original personality of Godhead. All of them appear in every age to protect the saints whenever the enemies of the gods disturb them. (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.3.28)

Through the power of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s merciful association, Veṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa, his brother Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī, his son Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī, and all the other members of his family were inspired to give up the worship of Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa and became engaged in the exclusive devotional service of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. Śrīla Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī took initiation from his uncle, Tridaṇḍī Yati Śrīmat Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī. Proof of this is found in the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa:

bhakter vilāsāṁś cinute prabodhā-
nandasya śiṣyo bhagavat-priyasya
gopāla-bhaṭṭo raghunātha-dāsaṁ
santoṣayan rūpa-sanātanau ca

I, Gopāla Bhaṭṭa, the disciple of Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī who is dear to the Lord, have compiled these most essential and glorious devotional doctrines to satisfy Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī, Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī. (Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 1.2)

Gopāla Bhaṭṭa’s parents were very fortunate, for they surrendered themselves, life and soul, to the feet of Lord Caitanya. They ordered their son to go to Vṛndāvana before they left this world, absorbed in meditating on the Lord. Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī travelled directly to Vṛndāvana where he met with Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī. (Bhakti-ratnākara 1.163-5)

When Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī arrived in Vṛndāvana, Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī wrote to Mahāprabhu to inform Him. The Lord was overjoyed and immediately wrote back telling them to affectionately take care of him as though he were their own younger brother. Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī compiled the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa and published it in Śrīla Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī’s name. Rūpa Gosvāmī considered Gopāla Bhaṭṭa to be as dear to him as his own life and engaged him in the deity worship of Rādhā-Ramaṇa.

Śrīla Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī became one of the Six Gosvāmīs, but he always kept an attitude of meekness and humility. Thus, when Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī approached him for permission to write Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta, he granted it, but under the condition that he would not write about him. Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī could not go against the order of Gopāla Bhaṭṭa and thus did nothing more than mention his name. Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī writes in the introduction to the Ṣaṭ-sandarbha that he wrote it on the basis of an earlier text by Gopāla Bhaṭṭa. Śrīla Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī also wrote a book called the Sat-kriyā-sāra-dīpikā (“Light on the essential sacraments for the Vaiṣṇavas”). Thus his contribution to Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava literature was in editing the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa, preparing the notes for Jīva Gosvāmī’s Ṣaṭ-sandarbha and in compiling the Sat-kriyā-sāra-dīpikā. He also gave great joy to the community of devotees by writing a commentary on Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura’s Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta.

Amongst his disciples were Śrīnivāsa Ācārya and Śrī Gopīnātha Pūjārī. The following story is told about Gopīnātha Pūjārī becoming Gopāla Bhaṭṭa’s disciple. One day, Gopāla Bhaṭṭa went to visit the town of Saharanpur, not far from Haridwar. On that occasion, a simple, devoted brāhmaṇa engaged in his service in a most unpretentious manner. He had no children but desired to have a son. Śrīla Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī knew the desire of the brāhmaṇa and blessed him that he would have a devotionally minded male child. The brāhmaṇa promised Gopāla Bhaṭṭa that he would give him his first son to be his servant and disciple. This son was Gopīnātha Pūjārī.

It is said that Mahāprabhu had such affection for Gopāla Bhaṭṭa that He sent him His own belt and kaupīna as well as a wooden seat that He had used. These items are still worshipped in the Rādhā-Ramaṇa temple by the current sevakas.

When Śrīla Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī was visiting the pilgrimage centres of northern India, he found a śālagrāma-śilā on the banks of the Gandaki River. He took the śālagrāma-śilā as Vrajendranandana Kṛṣṇa Himself and worshipped Him. One day he thought that if his śālagrāma-śilā were a deity he could dress and decorate the Lord beautifully. On the very next day, he found that the śālagrāma-śilā had transformed into Śrī Rādhā-Ramaṇa deity to fulfil the wish of His devotee. This deity stands alone without any form of Rādhā standing by His side. Instead, as a symbol of Rādhārāṇī, a silver crown is placed on His left side.

The story is also told in the following way. It is said that Śrīla Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī used to daily worship twelve śālagrāmas. He developed a desire to serve the Lord in His deity form, thinking that in this way he would be able to worship him in a much better way. The Lord within his heart knew his feelings and through a rich merchant sent to him many beautiful items to use in the worship of the deity, such as ornaments and clothes. Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī began to worry that all these beautiful objects could not be used properly unless the śālagrāmas take a deity form. That night, he put the śālagrāmas to rest and in the morning, he saw that one of them had transformed into Śrī Rādhā-Ramaṇa deity.

When Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī heard that Kṛṣṇa had so mercifully appeared to Gopāla Bhaṭṭa, they immediately came with the other devotees for darśana, and when they saw the deity, they were ecstatic with love. The annual festival commemorating Rādhā-Ramaṇa’s appearance, when He is bathed publicly, takes place on the full moon day of Vaiśākha. The Rādhā-Ramaṇa Temple is considered one of the most important in Vṛndāvana.

Śrīla Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī ended his earthly pastimes on the kṛṣṇā pañcamī of Āṣāḍha of 1507 of the Śaka era (1586 AD). His samādhi temple is behind the current Rādhā-Ramaṇa Temple. By reading Śrīnivāsa Ācārya’s hymn to the Six Gosvāmīs, Ṣaḍ-gosvāmi-aṣṭakam, we can understand their glories.