SRI GADADHARA DASA THAKURA

Sri Gadadhara dasa Thakura previously lived at Navadwip. When the Lord went to
live at Nilacala Sri Dasa Gadadhara also went there to be with Him. Later on
Mahaprabhu sent him back with Nityananda Prabhu to preach in Bengal. He first
stayed at Eriyadahagram, which is situated on the banks of the Ganges. Then he
spent some time in Navadwipa, taking care of Saci Mata and Visnupriya, but
after their disappearance he came to live at Katwa, where Mahaprabhu had
accepted sannyasa from Kesava Bharati.

He was a very confidential associate of Sri Sri Gaura-Nityananda. In
Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika it is stated that he is an incarnation of the
effulgence of Srimati Radharani's body, as well as an expansion of Purnananda
gopi. Though he was one of the associates of Nityananda Prabhu, the majority
of whom were cowherd boys and thus situated in the mellow of friendship, he
was always absorbed in the mood of a gopi.

Once, as he was carrying a pot of Ganges water on his head, he called loudly,
"Who wants to buy some milk?" Sometimes he would say, "Here is some first
class yogurt. Whoever wants to buy some, come here." Calling out like this, he
would then laugh very loudly.

When Mahaprabhu instructed Nityananda Prabhu to preach in Bengal, He sent Sri
Rama dasa and Sri Gadadhara dasa along with Him. [C.C. Adi 11.13,14]

One day Nityananda Prabhu came to Dasa Gadadhar's temple at Eriyadahagram. In
the temple was a very beautiful Deity of Sri Bala Gopala, which Nityananda
Prabhu carefulle picked up from the altar. While holding Him against His
chest, He began to dance in ecstasy. When all of the devotees saw that Gopala
had taken shelter of the heart of Sri Anantadeva, they made the heavens
resound with the vibrations of "Hari! Hari!" Nityananda Prabhu, who was very
robust and heroic, then began to roar very loudly while engaging in His
ecstatic dance with Gopalaji.

Then Madhavananda Ghosa began to sing some songs describing Krsna's dana-lila
(from Dana-keli-kaumudi). Hearing his sweet voice and the poetic descriptions
of Krsna's dana-lila, Nityananda exhibited all of the ecstatic symptoms within
His body simultanously as He danced like one intoxicated. The gestures He
exhibited while dancing were like slashes of lightning; His limbs moved with
unparalleled grace. His expressive eye movements, His sweet smiling and
eruptive laughter, and the shivering and quaking of His head, provided a feast
for the devotees' eyes and ears. Bringing His two beautiful lotus feet
together, He would then jump in such a way as to completely captivate ones
mind. Whomever He would look at would find themselves floating in an ocean of
the mellows of love of Krsna, and by His merciful glance they forgot about the
existence of their physical body. The level of devotion that is sought by
great yogis and munis was attained that day by the ordinary men and women of
that place, as they relished the remnants of Lord Nityananda's love for Krsna.

Someone as fat as an elephant becomes so thin and weak if he fasts for three
days that he can barely walk. However, by the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu, one
small child of that village didn't eat anything for one month, yet his
movements and behavior were like those of a lion. Such was the mysterious
influence of Nityananda Prabhu, though no one could understand His activities
due to the Lord's yogamaya potency. Nityananda Prabhu thus enjoyed various
pastimes at the temple of Gadadhar dasa Thakura.

In Sri Caitanya-bhagavata, Sri Vrindavana dasa Thakura has described the
glories of Dasa Gadadhara in this way: "Nityananda Prabhu was personally
present within the body of Sri Gadadhara das; such are his glories."

Amongst Caitanya Mahaprabhu's associates, no one wanted to go near the
Mohammedan Kazi for fear that he might lose his caste. Simply by looking at
the face of a Mohammedan, a Hindu would lose his name in society. It was Dasa
Gadadhara who had the power to influence the notorious Kazi, and so he
bestowed his merciful glance upon him. Even at their first meeting, he was
able to lift that Kazi beyond the limits of his caste and creed, and thus
those limitations completely fell away.

One day Sri Gadadhara dasa Thakura, intoxicated in ecstatic love while
chanting the Holy Names of Hari, came to the house of the Kazi at
Eriyadahagram and began to call him. The Kazi, in a fit of anger, came
storming out of his internal apartment, but upon seeing the transcendentally
serene appearance and mood of Dasa Gadadhara Prabhu, he became stunned. His
anger softened and his expression became friendly. The Kazi inquired, "Thakur,
why have you come just now?"

Dasa Gadadhara Thakura answered, "I should like to have a few words with you."

"Yes, whatever you have to say, just speak up."

"Sri Sri Gaura-Nityananda have appeared on this earth to distribute the nectar
of the Holy Names to all classes of men, from the highest to the lowest, even
to the most sinful, despicable persons. Why haven't you accepted this sweet
treat? Why haven't you taken up the chanting of these nectarean Holy Names?"

"We'll accept it tomorrow."

"Why tomorrow?! Today you should accept. I have come here today to deliver you
from the depths of ignorance and sin by the power of these Holy Names. So you
please take this supremely auspicious Harinama. I will deliver you from all
your sinful activities this very day."

Having listened to Gadahara dasa Thakura's sweet speech, the Kazi became a
little bewildered. He began to laugh and said, "Tomorrow I'll say Hari."

When he heard the two syllables 'ha' and 'ri' emanate from the Kazi's mouth,
Dasa Gadadhara Thakura became overwhelmed in the happiness of ecstatic love
and exclaimed, "Tomorrow?! Sir, you said Hari just now! All of your sins have
fled far away. You have become supremely pure." Saying this he began to dance
in ecstasy.

The Kazi, having been purified by the transcendental vibration of Hari, took
shelter at das Gadadhara Thakura's lotus feet. In this way, das Gadadhara
Thakura delivered many sinful, wicked yavanas and other such people.

He disappeared on the eighth day of the bright fortnight in the month of
Kartik.

Eriyadahagram is reached from Calcutta by bus from Esplanade. Gadadhara dasa
Thakura's samadhi-mandir and the samadhi of the hair of Lord Caitanya shaved
off by the barber Madhi Sil when He accepted sannyasa are united within the
same tomb at Kesava Bharati's asrama at Katwa.

Sri Dasa Gadadhara Thakura established a temple at the place where Mahaprabhu
accepted sannyasa, and the Deity of Lord Gauranga was personally installed by
him. This deity is one of three Deities which were carved from one Nimba tree
as per the order of Sriman Mahaprabhu, which he communicated to Narahari
Sarkar Thakura and the bhakar (deity-maker) on the same night through the
medium of their dreams. The next day, when the two met and learned that they
had both the same dream, they could understand that they should carry out the
Lord's instruction immediately. The other two Deities are at Sri Khanda. There
is also a Deity of Balarama (Nityananda) who is about half the size of
Mahaprabhu and who came later on. Thus the Deities here are known as Sri Sri
Nitai-Gauranga.

There is a local anecdote concerning this Deity of Balarama. He is said to
have once been worshiped by Mineketana Rama dasa, who used to carry this Deity
of Balarama with him wherever he went. Mineketana Rama's body was very
strongly built, so he would carry Balarama upon a simhasana mounted on his
back. The simhasana itself weighed perhaps twenty kilos. When he became
somewhat advanced in years and it was difficult to carry the simhasana, he
entrusted the worship of his Balarama to the pujari of Lord Gauranga here.

There is another story that claims that as Mineketana was a non-Bengali, his
native tongue was a non-Bengali dialect. In his language, the word for hair
was awa. Thus the name of the place where Mahaprabhu accepted sannyasa becam
Katwa, literally meaning 'cutting hair' or 'the place where Prabhu's head was
shorn of its beautiful locks.' The previous name of this place was Kantak
Nagar, supposedly given by Saci Mata. Kantak means thorn. The disciple of Dasa
Gadadhara was Yadunandana Cakravarti. The present sevakas of this temple are
his descendants. This is a very nice temple where many of the local people
attend the arati ceremonies and classes on the devotional scriptures. There is
a railway station at Katwa. From there one should go by rickshaw to Gauranga
Bari.

----
A close associate of Nityananda Prabhu. His Sripata stands at the village
Ariadaha on the bank of the river Ganges about eight miles north of Calcutta.
Gadadhara lived at Puri with Lord Caitanya, but later, on the instruction of
the Lord, left for Gauda along with Nityananda Prabhu, Ramadasa, and some
other devotees to preach the message of love of God.

Lord Nityananda Prabhu organized the event of "Danalila" in the house of
Gadadhara. The temple founded by Gadadhara, the site of the "Danalila",
Gadadhara angana, and the memorial samadhi are still in existence at Ariadaha.
Gadadhara was a remarkably enthusiastic disciple. One day he approached the
local Kazi and commanded him to chant Harinama. Strangely enough, the Kazi
willingly accepted the instruction and became a devotee of Hari.

According to Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika 154-155, Gadadhara was, in his past
incarnations, Sri Radha-vibhuti Candrakanti and Purnananda Gopi. The Kalna
edition of Cc. refers to Dasa Gadadhara as a Kayastha by caste, whereas his
descendants at Ariadaha declare themselves to be brahmanas (Also see Cc. 1.10
and 1.11). In Atulkrsna Gosvami's edition of CBh. it is recorded that the
Deity of Balagopala was worshipped by Gadadhara dasa. BBM notes in CCU that
during his visit to Ariadaha he found the Deity lying in a state of utter
neglect and was no longer being worshipped.

One Balaicand Mallik of Calcutta is the present owner of the Gadadhara temple
property. He spent a considerable amount to renovate the entire area,
including all the holy sites. The disappearance day of Gadadhara is celebrated
on the eight day of the dark fortnight in Kartika (late October).

Gadadhara, who was senior to Srinivasa Acarya by age, attended the
Danda-mahotsava celebration at Panihati. He lived for sometime at Sripata
Katoa. When he first stayed at Navadvipa Gadadhara took care of Mother Saci
and Visnupriya-devi. After they both passed away, Gadadhara went to Katoa
where he installed the image of Lord Gauranga. At present the temple of
Gadadhara is situated at the residential abode of Lord Gauranga at Katoa.
Gadadhara had a brahmana disciple named Yadunandana Cakravarti.
(Bhaktiratnakara 9.352, 9.362)

Srinivasa Acarya presided over the festival held at the death of Dasa
Gadadhara, which was attended also by Mahantas from several other places. The
Vaisnavas regard this festival as a memorable event, similar to the one held
at Kheturi.

Gadadhara's samadhi lies near the samadhi of Kesava Bharati at the abode of
Lord Caitanya at Katoa.

