purā madhumatī prāṇa-sakhī vṛndāvane sthitā
adhunā narahary-ākhyaḥ sarakāraḥ prabhoḥ priyaḥ

Narahari Sarakāra, the Lord’s dear associate, was previously Rādhā’s intimate girlfriend named Madhumatī. (Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā 117)

Śrīla Narahari Sarakāra Ṭhākura is counted as one of Caitanya’s branches on the desire tree of pure devotional service. By Mahāprabhu’s desire, he took birth in a physician (vaidya) family, blessing his family when he did so. He was foremost among the Lord’s associates of the village of Srikhanda. Narahari’s home is about one mile from the Srikhanda railway station near Katwa in the Burdwan district. Some of the other prominent residents of Srikhanda who were devotees of Lord Caitanya were: Śrī Mukunda, Śrī Raghunandana, Śrī Cirañjīva, Śrī Sulocana, Śrī Dāmodara Kavirāja, Śrī Rāmacandra Kavirāja, Śrī Govinda Kavirāja, Śrī Balarāma Dāsa, Śrī Ratikānta, Śrī Rāmagopāla Dāsa, Śrī Pītāmbara Dāsa, Śrī Śacīnandana and Śrī Jagadānanda. Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī mentions many of these names as Caitanya’s branches that generously distributed the fruits of love of God. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 1.10.78-9)

The scholar Bharat Mallik has written the following Sanskrit verses about Narahari’s appearance in a vaidya family in his book Candra-prabhā:

śrīkhaṇḍa-nāma-nagarī rāḍhe baṅgeṣu viśrutā
sarveṣām eva vaidyānām āśrayo yatra vidyate
yatra goṣṭhī-bhūtā vaidyā yaḥ khaṇḍo’bhūd bhiṣak-priyaḥ
viśeṣataḥ kulīnānāṁ sarveṣām eva vāsa-bhūḥ

In Bengal, in the area known as Rāḍha (Burdwan, Birbhum), there is a famous town known as Srikhanda that gave shelter to all the physician clans. Since vaidyas gathered there, it became a favoured residence for them, especially those who were of the noblest birth.

In the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Abhidhāna, it is stated that Narahari Sarakāra Ṭhākura appeared in either the Śākā year 1401 or 1402 (1480-81 AD). His father’s name was Śrī Nārāyaṇa Dāsa, his mother Śrī Goyī. Goyī was the daughter of Murāri Sena. Nārāyaṇa Dāsa had three sons, Mukunda, Mādhava and Narahari. Raghunandan Ṭhākura, whose darśana would drive away all the material afflictions, was Mukunda’s son. (Bhakti-ratnākara 11.730-1)

The author of Caitanya Maṅgala, Locana Dāsa, who came from a remote village near Jhamaṭpur, was Narahari’s disciple. For this reason, Locana Dāsa writes that Śrī Gadādhara Dāsa and Narahari Sarakāra Ṭhākura were Mahāprabhu’s dearest associates. On the other hand, in Caitanya Bhāgavata, Vṛndāvana Dāsa Ṭhākura has not spoken at any length about the devotees of Srikhanda.

Śrīla Locana Dāsa Ṭhākura has written the following about his guru in Caitanya-maṅgala:

“Narahari Dāsa Ṭhākura is my worshipable master. He descended from an esteemed line of physicians; his body was permeated by love for Kṛṣṇa, and he taught his disciples nothing other than kṛṣṇa-prema. He was previously known as Madhumatī, one of Rādhā’s dearest sakhīs in Vṛndāvana, a storehouse of sweetness. Now in the age of Kali, along with Gaurāṅga, he has become the keeper of the storehouse of love for Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.”

After the death of his father Nārāyaṇa Dāsa, Narahari’s older brother Mukunda arranged for him to study in Navadvīpa. It is said that, in fact, Mukunda also worked as a physician to the Muslim King in order to meet his family expenses. Narahari quickly became very learned as well as a connoisseur of the flavours of devotional sentiments. Even before coming in Mahāprabhu’s association, he composed songs glorifying Rādhā and Govinda’s pastimes. When Śrī Gadādhara Paṇḍita Gosvāmī was constantly by the Lord’s side, engaged in His service, Narahari had the good fortune to enter into his association. Narahari Sarakāra Ṭhākura’s personal service was to fan the Lord with the yak-tail whisk. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, Mahāprabhu’s personal representative, confirmed this in his Gaura-ārati:

narahari ādi kari cāmara ḍhulāy
sañjaya, mukunda, vāsu ghoṣa ādi gāy

Narahari and the other residents of Srikhanda fanned with the cāmara, while Sañjaya, Mukunda and Vāsu Ghosh sang.

Narahari wrote several books, including Bhakti-candrikā-paṭala, Śrī-Kṛṣṇa-bhajanāmṛta, Śrī-Caitanya-sahasranāma, Śrī-Śacīnandanāṣṭaka, and Śrī-Rādhāṣṭaka. All of these are well known and thought of highly by the devotees.

The following story is told about Narahari: Once when Mahāprabhu and Nityānanda Prabhu came to his house in Srikhanda, they suddenly expressed a desire for honey. Narahari demonstrated his miraculous powers by transforming the water in a pond near his house into honey. Ever since he quenched the Lord’s desire for honey with water from this pond, it has been known as Madhu-puṣkariṇī. The Lord gave Narahari the order in a dream to install three deities of Himself, which are currently worshipped in Srikhanda, Katwa and Ganganagar.

Narahari Sarakāra Ṭhākura also participated in the Lord’s activities in Purī. He and the other residents of Srikhanda were amongst those who went every year with Śivānanda Sena (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 2.1.132). When Mahāprabhu returned to Purī after His pilgrimage to South India, where He had saved so many people by giving them love for Kṛṣṇa, Nityānanda Prabhu sent Kālā Kṛṣṇadāsa back to Bengal to tell everyone that Mahāprabhu was back. The Bengali devotees immediately made arrangements to go to Jagannātha Purī to see the Lord. The residents of Srikhanda were counted amongst them.

Mukunda, Narahari and Raghunandan from Srikhanda arrived at Advaita Ācārya’s house to go to Nīlācala. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 2.10.90)

After the Snāna-yātrā, Lord Jagannātha would not be available for darśana. Out of the separation from the Lord, Mahāprabhu would go to Ālālanātha and returned to Purī when He heard that the devotees from Bengal were arriving there. When Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya asked Gopīnātha Ācārya to identify the Lord’s devotees, he mentioned the names of Narahari, Mukunda Dāsa, Raghunandana, Cirañjīva, Sulocana and other Khaṇḍa-vāsīs as the dearmost of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 2.11.92-3)

During the Ratha-yātrā festival, the Lord formed seven kīrtana groups with the devotees from Bengal. One of these was composed uniquely of the devotees from Srikhanda. Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī writes that Narahari Sarakāra Ṭhākura and Raghunandana were the dancers for this group. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 2.13.46)

When the Lord gave Mukunda, Raghunandana and Narahari directions for service, He told Narahari to remain in the association of devotees. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 2.15.132)

Many people confuse Narahari Sarkar Ṭhākura with the author of Bhakti-ratnākara, Narahari Cakravartī. The latter, who is also known as Ghanasyāma Dāsa, was born in the district of Murshidabad. His father, Jagannātha Cakravartī, was a disciple of Viśvanātha Cakravartī. On Govindajī’s order, he was engaged as the cook for the Govinda temple and was known as the “cooking pūjārī” in Vraja.