SRI RAGHUNATHA DASA GOSWAMI

mahaprabhura priya bhryta-raghunatha-dasa
sarva tyaji' kaila prabhura pada-tale vasa

"Sri Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, the forty-sixth of the tree, was one of the most
dear servants of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He left all his material
possessions to surrender completely unto the Lord and live at His lotus feet."
[C.c. Adi 10.91]

The forefathers of Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami were all Vaisnavas and were
very rich men. His spiritual master at home was Yadunandana Acarya. Although
Raghunatha dasa was a family man, he had no attachment for his estate and
wife. Seeing his tendency to leave home, his father and uncle engaged special
bodyguards to watch over him, but nevertheless he managed to escape their
vigilance and went away to Jagannatha Puri to meet Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
This incident took place in the year 1439 Sakabda.

sodasa vatsara kaila antaranga-sevana
svarupera antardhane aila vrndavana

"He rendered confidential service to the Lord for sixteen years at Jagannatha
Puri, and after the disappearance of both the Lord and Svarupa Damodara, he
left Jagannatha Puri and went to Vrndavana." [C.c. Adi 10.93]

Raghunatha dasa Gosvami used to reside on the bank of Sri Radhakunda. At the
time Radha-kunda was just a small pond of water, and therefore sometimes
Raghunatha would meditate on enlarging the kund. Then he would chastise
himself for desiring something which would require a large amount of money.

Around this time one very wealthy Seth underwent great austerity by walking to
Badarikasrama in the Himalayas. Arriving there he very reverently worshiped
Sri Badrinarayana and offered much wealth at His lotus feet. That night as he
slept there, he had a dream in which Sri Badrinarayana instructed him to
proceed to Vraja, where he should present all his wealth to Sri Raghunatha
Dasa Gosvami, who was residing at Aritgram. "If he declines to accept it, then
you can mention My name and remind him about renovating Radha-kunda and
Syama-kunda."

That Seth was very happy to have seen such a wonderful dream and after
returning to his home he very joyfully set out for Vraja. There he met
Raghunatha dasa Gosvami and related all of these events to him. Dasa Gosvami
was somewhat taken aback to hear this news, but then immediately gave his
consent. Thus Sethji began to work of re-digging the two kunds.

On the banks of Radha-kunda, the five Pandavas were residing in the form of
trees. As the work was proceeding it was decided that on the following day
these trees would have to be cut down, but that night the five Pandavas
appeared in a dream of Raghunatha dasa and forbade the cutting of those trees.
Today they are still residing there. When the work of beautifying the kundas
was complete, the devotees bliss knew no bounds. Nearby the kundas, the kunjas
of the eight gopies were also constructed. Seeing all this, Raghunatha dasa
forgot himself in ecstasy.

Raghunatha dasa Gosvami lived on the banks of Radha-kunda without any fixed
residence, staying under a different tree every night. Sometimes he would stay
on the banks of the Manasa Ganga. At that time these areas were jungles filled
with ferocious animals. One day Sanatana Gosvami came to the banks of Manasa
Ganga to meet Gopala Bhatta Gosvami. Before accepting his noon meal at Gopal
Bhatta's bhajan kutir, he went to take bath at the Pavan ghat of Manasa Ganga.
From there he saw two tigers come to the kund and after drinking some water
saunter off. Just near that spot Raghunatha das Gosvami was sitting under a
tree absorbed in his bhajana. Sanatana Gosvami was startled to see this but
even more so when he saw Sri Krsna standing at some distance observing
everything. He then requested Raghunatha to do his bhajana within a hut.

On another occasion, Raghunatha dasa, who still hadn't bothered to have a
kutir constructed, was sitting in the noon day sun absorbed in his bhajana.
Srimati Radharani happened to pass that way at this time and, seeing that the
sun was beating down on Raghunatha's head, she stood behind him and held the
end of her sari to shield him from the suns rays. Then one of the Gosvamis
came along and saw this heart-rending scene, while profuse perspiration
continued to flow from Srimati Radharani's transcendental body. This time when
he was again requested to do his bhajan in a kutir, he immediately agreed to
comply.

In Vraja, Krsna is served by Radharani and Candravali, who each have unlimited
maid servants. According to the mellows of paramour love, Sri Raghunatha dasa
Gosvami counted himself as a maidservant of the friends of Srimati Radharani.
As Candravali is the chief competitor of Radharani, Sri dasa Gosvami would
never go to her kunja or talk with any of the sakhis. Thus he served the
servants of Radharani within his mind in this way.

One Brajabasi known as Sri dasa Brijabasi used to bring Sri das Gosvami a
leafcup of buttermilk every day. Drinking this much only Raghunath dasa would
engage in bhajana throughout the day. One day Sri Das Brijabasi went to
Candravali's kunda, known as Sakhi-sthali, to herd his cows. There he saw a
palash tree with very large leaves, so he collected some leaves to make
leafcups. The next day, in one of the new leafcups he brought some buttermilk
to das Gosvami. Raghunatha dasa accepted the leafcup of buttermilk and
inquired, "Sri dasji, where did you get these nice palash leaves?" Sri dasji
replied, "While I was pasturing the cows I came to Sakhi-sthali and found them
there."

Simply hearing the word 'Sakhi-sthali' Raghunatha dasa flew into a rage and
threw the leafcup of buttermilk away saying, "The followers of Srimati
Radharani never accept anything from that place." Seeing the loyal devotion of
Raghunatha dasa for Srimati Radharani Sridasji was amazed.

Raghunatha dasa Gosvami used to always serve Sri Sri Radha-Govinda in his
mind. One day in his meditation he cooked sweet rice and offered it to Sri Sri
Radha and Krsna. In great pleasure they accepted the offering and the other
sakhis also relished this prasadam. Then Raghunatha himself honored the
remnants of their prasadam and in great ecstasy, due to the pleasure of having
been able to satisfy Sri Sri Radha-Govinda and Their loving attendants, he ate
a little more than was his custom.

In the afternoon Raghunatha dasa used to speak about Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
However, this day when the devotees came in the afternoon to hear him speak,
they found that the door to his kutir was closed. They waited for some time
but when it appeared that there was no movement inside they became a little
anxious and called out, "Gosvamiji, are you all right?" Sri dasa Gosvami
answered, "My body is not well."

The devotees became concerned and immediately sent word to Sanatana Gosvami in
Mathura. At that time Sri Sanatana Gosvami was staying with Sri
Vallabhacarya's son Sri Vithalnathji, who immediately sent two physicians to
Radha-kunda to examine Sri dasa Gosvami. After checking his pulse, the doctors
concluded that, "due to eating a combination of rice and milk his body is
feeling very heavy."

Hearing this diagnosis everyone was struck with wonder. That Raghunatha dasa
Gosvami, who subsisted on only a little buttermilk each day, should fall ill
from eating too much sweet rice was astonsihing, especially because it was
eaten only in meditation.

Raghunatha dasa lived for a long duration of life. For most of his life he
resided at Radhakunda. The place where Raghunatha dasa Gosvami performed his
devotional service still exists by Radhakunda. He almost completely gave up
eating, and therefore he was very skinny and of weak health. His only concern
was to chant the holy name of the Lord. He gradually reduced his sleeping
until he was almost not sleeping at all. It is said that his eyes were always
full of tears. When Srinivasa Acarya went to see Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, the
Gosvami blessed him by embracing him. Srinivasa Acarya requested his blessings
for preaching in Bengal, and Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami granted them.

In the Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika (186) it is stated that Srila Raghunatha dasa
Gosvami was formerly the gopi named Rasa-manjari. Sometimes it is said that he
was Rati-manjari, while other opinions say that he was Bhanumati.

The Govardhana-sila given by Sriman Mahaprabhu to Raghunatha dasa to worship
is still worshiped at Sri Gokulananda Mandira, in Vrindavana.

He compiled following books: Stavavali, Dana-carita, and Mukta-carita, among
others.

Birth: 1428 (Sakabda) (Cc. Adi 10.91 purport says probably 1416)

Disappearance: 1504 on the 12th day of the bright fortnight of the month of
Asvin.
