ŚRĪ KAVI KARṆAPŪRA’S DISSATISFACTION
What can we say to glorify Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī? Even Kavi Karṇapūra, an accomplished poet, despite having generously glorified Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī using various adjectives, proclaimed that his words could not do justice.
priya-svarūpe dayita-svarūpe
prema-svarūpe sahajābhirūpe
nijanurūpe prabhur eka-rūpe
tatāna rūpe svavilāsa rūpe
Śrī Caitanya-candrodaya-nāṭaka (9.143)
[Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī is very dear to and adored by Śrīman Mahāprabhu. He is the embodiment of His love, and he very naturally knows His heart. His form resembles that of Śrīman Mahāprabhu; indeed, it is as if their forms are one. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī is the very embodiment of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s pastimes, because it was through him that the Lord performed many works.]
Dissatisfied, even after such a composition, he eventually gave up, saying, “I cannot reach the end of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s glories!”
WORSHIPABLE PRAYER BY ŚRĪLA RŪPA GOSVĀMĪ
Whenever anyone would pay obeisances to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu addressing Him as ‘oṁnamo nārāyaṇa’, Mahāprabhu would close His ears in dismay, asserting that an ordinary person should never be addressed as ‘Nārāyaṇa’.
Srila Rupa Gosvami’s first prayer to Mahaprabhu
When Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī first met and offered praṇāms to Mahāprabhu, he recited the following prayer –
namo mahā-vadānyāya
kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te
kṛṣṇāya kṛṣṇa-caitanya-
nāmne gaura-tviṣe namaḥ
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā,19.53)
[I offer praṇāma unto Śrī Kṛṣṇa-Caitanya, who is Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself. Having assumed the golden hue of Śrīmatī Rādhikā, He is munificently bestowing kṛṣṇa-prema, the rarest of all gifts.]
Mahaprabhu accepted his prayers
At that time, Mahāprabhu neither closed His ears nor admonished Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī. Why? Because Rūpa Gosvāmī was tattva-vetta, well-versed in spiritual truths. He addressed Mahāprabhu in full knowledge of His identity, while others, who called Him “Nārāyaṇa”, did so out of habit or popular custom. So Mahāprabhu accepted Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s prayer.
I pay obeisances to this prayer, not only because it was composed by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī but also because it was accepted by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
ŚRĪLA RŪPA GOSVĀMĪ’S HUMILITY
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said one requires four qualifications to chant harināma kīrtana. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and the other gosvāmīs were firmly established in this doctrine.
tṛṇād api sunīcena
taror api sahiṣṇunā
amāninā mānadena
kīrtanīyaḥsadā hariḥ
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Ādi-līlā, 17.31)
[Thinking oneself to be even lower and more worthless than the insignificant grass which is trampled beneath the feet of all, being more tolerant than a tree, accepting no honor, but offering respect to all others according to their respective positions, one should continuously chant the holy name of Śrī Hari]
Example of Srila Rupa Gosvami
A Vaiṣṇava once asked me, “How is it possible that a Vaiṣṇava becomes more humble as he advances?” I replied, “So many stalwart Vaiṣṇavas exemplify this principle. Who should I cite as an example? Take Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī for instance.”
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī said –
adharo ‘py aparadhanaṁ
aviveka-hato ‘py aham
tvat-karuṇya-pratikṣo ‘smi
prasīda mayi madhava
Stava-mālā (Volume 1, Praṇāma-praṇaya-stava 14)
[Although I am a mine of offenses, and although I cannot tell right from wrong, I still hope for Your mercy. O Mādhava, please be merciful to me.]
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, the authority in the realm of bhakti, is addressing himself as a dustbin or repository of offenses!
In Stava-mālā, he prays,
bhaktir udañcati yadyapi mādhava! na tvayi mama tila-mātrī
parameśvaratā tad api tavādhika-durghaṭa-ghaṭana-vidhātrī
Stava-mālā (Volume 6, Gītāvali 24, Deva BhavantaṁVande, Verse 3)
[O Mādhava, although I don’t possess even a sesame seed of bhakti for You, still, since You are the Supreme Controller, You can make the impossible possible.]
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī prays, “I don’t even have a sesame seed worth of bhakti.” Why then does he ask for kṛpā, mercy, even though he knows that he has no eligibility to ask for that mercy (by which one gets bhakti)? He says, “Because You are glorious, I am begging for Your mercy. Even though I have no qualifications or eligibility to request for mercy, You can still award it to me because Your aghaṭa-ghaṭana-patīyasī śakti can make what is impossible, possible.”
Example of Śrīla Kavirāja Gosvāmī
In this matter Śrīla Kavirāja Gosvāmī said-
āpane ayogya dekhi’ mane pāṅkṣobha
tathāpi tomāra guṇe upajaya lobha
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 1.204)
[We are very depressed at being unfit candidates for Your mercy. Yet since we have heard of Your transcendental qualities, we are very much attracted to You.]
He said, “Lobha or attraction for You comes about only because of Your glories although we are not qualified to even approach You.”
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and our ācāryas naturally displayed this mood of humility, without any pretense.
KNOWING MAHĀPRABHU’S HEART
If Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī had not revealed so many mysteries about the Absolute Truth, how could we ever comprehend these subject matters? Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī unravelled Mahāprabhu’s deep moods and made them available to everyone. That is why Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has done more for us than the other associates of Mahāprabhu.
During Ratha-yātrā, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu would sing one śloka from Kāvya-prakāśa about the relationship between a hero and heroine [Endnote 1]. Not understanding His mood, the bewildered people thought – ‘Why is a sannyāsī singing from a mundane poem about an ordinary boy and girl?’ No one knew with what consideration or mood Mahāprabhu was taking darśana of the ratha. Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī was the only one who understood Mahāprabhu’s moods and would accordingly sing kīrtanas to nourish them.
But when Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī came, he composed another śloka, similar to the one Mahāprabhu would recite [Endnote 2], thus revealing Mahāprabhu’s inner mood. Writing the verse on a palm leaf, Śrī Rūpa kept it to dry on the roof of his cottage at (present day) Siddha-Bakula and went to take bath in the ocean. As per His custom, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu would daily, after taking His bath in the ocean, visit the devotees at Siddha-Bakula. That day, when Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu came there, He saw the palm leaf on the thatched roof. He took it and, reading the composition by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, praised it very much.
When Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī arrived, Mahāprabhu lovingly slapped him on his back. He asked Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, “How did Rūpa know My heart?” Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī said, “It is not possible for anyone to know Your heart unless You have bestowed mercy upon that person.”
Then Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu confirmed, “When I met Rūpa in Prayāga, knowing him to be qualified, I bestowed mercy upon him.” From this, it is evident that whatever Rūpa Gosvāmī wrote, came directly from Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s heart. That is why Rūpa Gosvāmī’s writings are so crucial and indispensible for followers of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
