SRI GANGAMATA GOSWAMINI

Sriyuta Naresh Narayana was the king of Puntiya, which was located in the
district of Rajshahi, part of the present country of Bangladesh. His only
daughter was named Saci, and she was very devoted to God from her very
childhood. In a very short time she became quite proficient in her studies,
especially in grammar and poetry. As she grew up everyone became stunned by her
blossoming youthful beauty. However, Saci was not attracted by any earthly
good-looking, well-to-do young men. She was only interested in Sri Madana
Gopala.

The king, Naresh Narayan began to think about his daughter's marriage. When she
came to know of this she told her father that she wouldn't marry anyone who was
subject to death. The king and queen put their hands to their heads and sat
down - their only daughter refused to marry! Thus they passed on from this
world, having no further work to do here.

The responsibility for governing the people now fell on Saci. For some days she
attended to her duties and then, after appointing her representatives she set
out to visit the holy places of pilgrimage. But she didn't feel satisfied
within herself anywhere. Thus she began to search out a guru. She eventually
came to Jagannath Puri, and after having darsana of Lord Jagannatha there for a
few days, she set out for Sri Vraja Dham.

It was here that the benediction moon of her good fortune rose. Seeing the
spiritual prowess and renunciation of Sri Haridasa Pandita Gosvami, who was a
staunch follower of Sri Sri Nitai-Gaura, she became very happy within herself
and thought, "After so many days I have finally found shelter." After falling
at his lotus feet and offering her obeisances, with folded hands she prayed for
his mercy.

"Ananta Acarya was the disciple of Sri Gadadhar Pandit Gosvami. He was
extremely munificent in distributing love of Krsna. Who can describe his
glories? His very dear disciple was Pandit Haridasa." [C.C. Adi]
(SP translation?)

Sri Haridasa Pandita Gosvami, in order to test Saci, told her that it wouldn't
be possible for the daughter of a king to practice the renunciation that she
required in order to serve the Lord in Vraja. Saci, however, could understand
that this was simply a pretense. Thus she began her service in total
indifference to the material world. Gradually she completely gave up wearing
any ornaments or fine cloth.

One day Sri Haridasa told her, "If you can give up shyness, pride and fear and
beg from door to door then you'll be qualified to receive my mercy. Hearing
this Saci became very happy and covering her body with one soiled cloth she
went from door to door of the residents of Braja, to beg something to eat. Her
body became very thin and pale. But the Vrajabasis could understand that she
was not an ordinary woman because of her bodily effulgence.

The Vaisnavas were astonished by her great austerities. Though she became quite
thin, she took no notice of that and continued to regularly bath in the Yamuna,
clean the temple of the Lord, go on parikrama, attend the arati ceremonies and
hear discussions about Krsna.

Seeing her intense renunciation, Haridasa became eager to reward her. He called
her and told her, "Though you are the daughter of a king, the exertion with
which you have worshiped Sri Krsna and the degree of renunciation you have
shown have pleased me very much. Now be pleased to accept the divine mantra."

Thereafter on the thirteenth day of the bright fortnight of the month of
Caitra, Sri Saci was initiated in Radha-Krsna mantra by Sri Haridasa Pandita
Gosvami. Having received the eighteen syllable mantra, Saci became completely
imbued with love of Krsna. Though she was very destitute, she began to serve
Sri Guru and Govinda with intense devotion. Every day she would listen to her
guru explain the sastras. Within a short time she became quite conversant in
the literatures of the Gosvamis, and this was very pleasing to everyone.

Around this time, one other lady disciple of Haridasa named Laksmipriya, who
had a very pleasant demeanor, came to Vrindavana. Laksmipriya used to chant
three lakhas of Holy Names every day. Haridasa instructed her to take Saci with
her to Radha Kunda and worship the Lord there. Thus the two of them came there
and began to circumambulate Govardhana hill every day. All at once Sri Haridasa
Pandita called Saci back and instructed her to go to Puri to preach the message
of Lod Gaurasundara to the pious people there.

At this time almost all of the associates of Mahaprabhu had given up their
earthly pastimes in Puri. In accordance with the order of her guru, Saci came
there and took up residence in the house of Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya. As no one
had lived there for so many days, the place was very run down. Only the
Damodara-sila that Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya used to worship was remaining there.
Saci resumed the regular worship of the Lord and recite the Srimad-Bhagavatam
daily. Many people were very impressed to hear her conclusive explanations of
the sastras and thus they used to congregate there.

Saci's fame as an accomplished lecturer on the sastras began to spread far and
wide. One day, the king Mukunda Deva came to hear her class. He was very
pleased to hear such authoritative conclusions coming from the mouth of this
saintly mataji, so in his mind he wished to present something to her. That very
night he had a dream in which Lord Jagannatha told him, "You should offer the
place known as Sveta Ganga to Saci."

Early the next morning, the king came to see her, and Saci very meekly offered
him a seated and inquired as to the purpose of the visit. The king thus related
to her the order of Lord Jagannatha and requested her to accept the piece of
land adjacent to Sveta Ganga (?). Saci, however, was not interested in
acquiring property and declined the offer. But the king insisted she accept
this royal grant of land, and finally she agreed after considering that it was
after all the order of Lord Jagannatha. Most pleased he could render her some
service, the king presented her with the deed to the parcel of land.

After the royal grant of land became known to the public, gossip that Saci was
previously the daughter of a king began to circulate around Puri. Once, shortly
before Mahavaruni (a day very auspicious for bathing in the Ganga), Saci
thought to herself how very much she would like to leave Puri and make a
pilgrimage to the Ganga for this occasion. But after considering that it was
her guru's order to remain in Sri Ksetra, she decided to abandon the idea.

But that night, Lord Jagannath spoke to her in a dream: "Saci! Don't worry. On
the day of Mahavaruni you should bathe in the Sveta Ganga. Ganga Devi herself
will personally come to join you there."

Having seen this dream, Saci was very jubilant. When the day of the Varuni bath
arrived, in the middle of the night Saci went to the Sveta Ganga alone. As she
entered into the water, a strong current suddenly gripped her and carried her
inside the Jagannatha Mandira, which was now flooded, much to her amazement, by
the sacred waters of the Ganges.

There she saw thousands and thousands of the residents of Sri Ksetra taking
their baths. A great uproar resounded in all directions from the recitation of
prayers and hymns. In the midst of these festivities, Saci very religiously
performed the Varuni bath in the water of the Ganga.

Hearing the sound of what seemed to be a large crowd of people within the
temple, the watchmen outside hurried to the temple superintendent who in turn
informed the king. The king ordered them to enter the temple to investigate. To
the astonishment of everyone, they found Sri Saci Devi, the reciter of the
Bhagavatam, standing there alone. The priests of the temple surmised that she
must have smuggled herself into the building in order to steal the ornaments of
Lord Jagannatha. But others present felt it was impossible for her to have done
this. "There must be some mystery behind it all," they said. So it was decided
to confine her for trial and judgement.

Sacidevi didn't mind and very blissfully continued to chant the Holy Name.
Meanwhile, the King had a dream in which Lord Jagannatha very angrily told him,
"You should immediately release Saci. I personally caused the Ganga to flow
from My own foot; it was this that brought her into the temple so that she
could take bath on this auspicious day. If you are concerned for the welfare of
your subjects and your own good fortune, then along with the temple priests you
had better go and beg forgiveness at her feet and request to become her
disciples."

After seeing this dream, the king awoke in very worried state. He quickly
completed his morning bath and immediately called for the priests. They went to
the place of Saci's confinement. The king opened the door and fell down at her
lotus feet to offer his obeisances. He very humbly begged her forgiveness and
submitted Lord Jagannatha's instruction that he become her disciple.

Seeing the wonderful behavior of the king, she placed her hand on his head that
he might be benedicted. On the next auspicious day she initiated the king with
Radha-Krsna mantra. Many of the priests also accepted the shelter of her lotus
feet at this time. From that day she became known as Sri Ganga Mata Gosvamini.

The king wanted to donate some land to Sri Ganga Mata as guru-daksina, but she
declined, saying that she only wanted the king should attain loving devotion to
Lord Krsna's lotus feet. "I am not qualified to accept anything more then
this," she told him. But the king repeatedly entreated her to accept something
from him as guru-daksina. Finally - for the purpose of serving the Vaisnavas -
she agreed. Thereafter, daily two pots of Mahaprasad, one pot of vegetables,
one remnant of Lord Jagannatha's cloth and one hundred sixty kauris (small
conchshells) were sent to the asrama each day. That service is still observed
to this day, the articles are offered first to her samadhi.

On one occasion a pandita of the name Mahidhara Sarma came to the banks of the
Sveta Ganga to offer oblations to his forefathers. He happened to hear of the
wonderful qualities of Sri Ganga Mata and thus was inspired to have darsana of
her lotus feet. He approached her and in turn Ganga Mata very respectfully
received him, offered him a seat and inquired as to the purpose of his visit.

This brahmana, though a pandita, was a very simple and straightforward man, so
he honestly stated that he'd come to have her darsana and to receive spiritual
knowledge from her. She was very pleased with his simplicity and mercifully
began to speak the philosophy of the Srimad Bhagavatam to him. The panditji
listened very intently to her wonderful elucidation and thereafter accepted
shelter at her lotus feet. On an auspicious day she initiated him with Radha
Krsna mantra.

Mahidhara Sarma's birthplace was Dhananjaypur. On the order of Sri Ganga Mata
he preached the glories of Sri Sri Nitai-Gaura at various localities in the
district of Ganjam.

In the town of Jaipur within Rajasthan lived one devoted and religious-minded
brahmana of the name Sri Candra Sarma. In his house was a deity of Krsna called
Sri Rasika Raya. The brahmana however, was very poor and thus could not offer
foodstuffs properly to the Deity. One night Lord Jagannath appeared to the
brahmana in a dream and told him, "The service of Sri Rasika Raya, Who is
present in your house is not being conducted properly. You should straightaway
bring Him here to Sri Ksetra and deliver Him to Sri Ganga Mata, who resides on
the banks of Sveta Ganga. Otherwise some misfortune will befall you."

Having received this order from Lord Jagannatha, the brahmana didn't delay but
immediately set cut for Sri Ksetra. Arriving there, he inquired as to the
whereabouts of Sri Ganga Mata and thus presented himself before her. Seeing the
Deity of Sri Krsna, Ganga Mata became very happy. But when the brahmana
explained to her the reason why he had come she replied, "But I am simply a
beggar. I eat by begging at a few houses each day. How will I be able to serve
this Deity? You had better take your Deity with you. Please don't make me an
offender."

The brahman didn't know what to do. He thought deeply about it and finally saw
no other recourse for him than to place the Deity of Sri Rasika Raya in the
tulasi garden of Sri Ganga Mata and flee away. Sri Rasika Raya appeared that
night in a dream to Ganga Mata and informed her, "I have come here to accept
your service. That brahmana put Me in your tulasi garden and then left this
place. I haven't eaten anything for a whole day. Please feed Me."

Sri Ganga Mata was struck with wonder. "The Supreme Lord Hari Himself is asking
me to feed Him." Meditating on this, she became filled with ecstatic love. The
hairs on her body stood on end. She quickly took bath and entered into the
tulasi garden. There she saw Sri Rasika Raya, shining in His own effulgence.
With her eyes full of tears, she fell down and offered her prostrated
obeisances. "Here He is," she thought joyfully, "still hungry." She picked Him
up and carried Him into her room, feeling very doubtful as to what she should
do. Finally she bathed him and made a simple offering of foodstuffs.

Sri Rasika Raya immediately ate everything. Ganga Mata was floating in an ocean
of happiness. She spread out a new piece of cloth and laid Him down to rest. In
the morning, when the devotees came to Ganga Mata's house, they were astonished
to see Sri Rasika Raya. When they heard the details of what had happened they
all cheered and chanted "Hari! Hari!"

Every day, Sri Ganga Mata would lovingly prepare many varieties of vegetables
and cakes to offer to Sri Rasika Raya. She would spend at least twelve hours
every day serving her Deity. For some days she served Sri Rasika Raya by
begging at peoples' houses but as she got on in years this became somewhat
difficult for her. Noting this, Sri Rasika Raya by some trick or other would
collect the necessary ingredients and paraphernalia from some rich merchants.

But when Ganga Mata saw that there were many deficiencies in the worship due to
her advanced age, she went before Sri Rasika Raya to pray for His forgiveness
and to inform Him that she was unable to serve Him nicely now. For this reason
she didn't want to remain alive any longer. Sri Rasika Raya told her in a
dream: "I am very pleased with your service. You shouldn't lament. For a few
more days you should continue to serve Me." Some days passed, but again she
told Him that she didn't want to remain any longer. Her only request was that
she might leave this world while chanting His Holy Name. Sri Rasika Raya
replied: "All right, don't worry any more. After handing over My service to one
of your qualified disciples, you should come join Me in My eternal abode."

Thereafter, she entrusted the worship of Sri Rasika Raya to one very peaceful
and self-controlled disciple of hers called Vanamali Dasa. At the age of one
hundred and twenty years, in the Christian year 1721, on the eleventh day of
the bright fortnight of the month of Aswin, Sri Ganga Mata Gosvamini, while
seeing the graceful three-fold bending form of Sri Rasika Raya and meditating
upon His lotus feet, entered into His eternal pastimes.

Her appearance was in the Christian year 1601.

The Deity of Sri Rasika Raya is still present in the house of Sarvabhauma
Bhattacarya, next to the Sveta Ganga.
