

G. 50. GAURAKISORA SIROMANI (Katoa, Vrndavana):

        He was born between 1813-1818 AD. in Gudapada village (also known as Citahati) under the Kutugram Police Station of Katoa.  Gaurasiromani hailed from an orthodox clan of brahmanas, and was the grandson of Guruprasad Mukhopadhyaya Vidyanidhi.
 Guruprasad had three sons; Ramakrsna (alias Tapasvi Thakura), Dhanakrsna, and Pranakrsna.  Of them, Dhanakrsna had six sons; Gauracandra (Siromani), Isvara, Navadvipa, Hariscandra (Cudamani), Girisa, Umesa, and one daughter named Parijata devi.

        Until the age of twenty, Gaurakisora did not receive any formal education; he spend his time happily listening to simple rural folk-entertainment.  However, one day the villagers admonished Gaurakisora for his lack of effort to continue the s
cholarly tradition of his reputed family-line. This brought about a sudden change in Gaurakisora; he immediately gave up his wayward habits and paid full attention to his education.  First he studied under a pandita at Taipura, then later enrolled in
 the Sanskrit school of Pancanana Tarkaratna, a resident of Eyopura in Katoa. Afterwards, Gaurakisora studied Bhakti sastra under Sakhicarana dasa Pandita Babaji of Gaurangapada in Katoa.

        Gaurakisora married Ramadasi, who was from an orthodox brahmana family residing at Oragrama, near the Guskara railway station in the district of Burdwan.  When Ramadasi was  a child of one and a half years, she lost her father.  Her mother co
urageously underwent "Sati"; giving up her life on the funeral pyre of her deceased husband.  The site where they were cremated is still known today as "Satidanga".  Shortly before stepping into the flames of the pyre, Ramadasi's mother expressed her
 last wish that Ramadasi, when she come of age, should be given in marriage to Gauracandra, the son of Dhanakrsna Mukhopadhyaya, a resident of Citahati.  Thus Gauracandra was, in due course, married to Ramadasi.  Ramadasi was an extremely chaste and
virtuous woman and assisted her husband in his spiritual practices.  Among their sons, two namely, Rasavallabha Bhaktibhusana and Vaisnavacarana Bhagavbhatabhusana were well-known

        Though born in a family upholding the Sakta tradition, Gaurakisora understood the value and superexcellence of Krsnamantra and obtained Krsna-diksa from Vinodilala Thakura, a resident of Faridpur village in the district of Nadia.  From that t
ime Vaisnava-seva became the tradition in his house, and he was keen to partake of the remnants of food left by his Vaisnava guests.  The brahmana community threatened him saying that this eating of left-over food touched by non-brahmanas was against
 the prevalent social custom.  Gaurakisora, however, was totally indifferent to their opinions and openly partook of Vaisnava-ucchista.  He also did not mind to drink water which was already touched by another Vaisnava.  In fact, he would collect suc
h water in his house and take a bit of it daily before his meal.  He also followed this same practice of Vaisnava-seva during his stay in Vrndavana.

        Gaurakisora's wife was also a elevated devotee and had an equally sincere longing for Vaisnava-seva, and partaking of the remnants touched by devotees.  Gaurakisora was strictly against accepting the service of jewelers, hence his wife wore n
o jewelry except a pair of shell bangles.  Ramadasi always washed the feet of any Vaisnava guest who turned up at her house.  Sometimes, young Vaisnava's would confuse her to be the domestic helper, while senior Vaisnavas often ignored her completely
.  It was only when the meal was served that the young Vaisnavas understood who she was.

        Once it so happened that Gaurakisora, accompanied by a large number of his students, came for a dip in the Ganges at Katoa and later took shelter in the natyamandir (compound) of Lord Gauranga.  There in the afternoon hours, Gopivallabha Thak
ura, after finishing his daily rituals and bhajan, began singing a nama-kirtana.  Gaurakisora was puzzled to find that Gopivallabha had finished his daily rituals so late.  He also noticed that Gopivallabha, at the end of kirtana recital, made eight
dandavats, Tulasi parikrama, mandira-parikrama, etc. and after finishing everything turned to offer his humble obeisances to Siromani.  Gopivallabha took his prasada daily in the afternoon hours.  Later Venimadhava Thakura, Sundarananda Thakura and o
thers arrived at the temple compound chanting japa on their beads.  That night Gaurakisora became deeply fascinated to see the sessions of Istaghosthi and namakirtana being held.  Previously he had held certain concepts relating to the definition of
bhakti, but now he underwent a transformation overnight, simply through the association of these revered Vaisnavas.

        After returning home he deputed his students to collect various Gaudiya Vaisnava treatises' and began to thoroughly study these works.  He was completely carried away by the spirit, language, rhetoric, and charming prosodical usage of these w
orks and went back to Katoa, along with his students and the collection of books, to seek the holy association of the foremost Vaisnavas there.  The ecstacy he experienced in the midst of the ocean of bhakti at Katoa, encouraged him to up studying an
d teaching all other sastras and devote himself to the exclusive study of Srimad Bhagavatam and related books.

        During his stay at Katoa his daily routine was as follows: To be present during mangala arati early in the morning, followed by smarana-kirtana and a dip in the Ganges, chanting of japa, recital of mantra, contemplation on divine-lila etc. un
til 2 pm.  Afterwards he would clean the toilets used by Vaisnavas and sweep the road leading to the Ganges. Then he would again have a dip in the Ganges, visit the temple of Lord Gauranga and do parikrama, offer his humble obeisances to the Vaisnava
s and Gosvamis present and pick up a grain from the slot containing left over food eaten by Vaisnavas.  His lunch would consist of a few handfuls of cooked rice and one or two boiled vegetables with a pinch of salt.  This was first offered to the dei
ty Giridhari and then he accepted prasada. When questioned about his selection of food, Gaurakisora would simply answer that his stomach would not tolerate anything else.  Whenever he was invited by sevaits or Gosvamis for food, Gaurakisora would nev
er forget to collect some grains of left over food touched by Vaisnavas from the fixed slot.

        Gaurakisora was very fond of one Khepa Thakura who was senior to him by age and was barely educated.  This Khepa was a simple-hearted, humorous person who worked as a messenger of Gaurakisora, and at times would even behave like a guardian of
 Gaurakisora, announcing himself to be the teacher of Siromani. As long as Khepa Thakura was at Gaurakisora's place, the latter would teach his students in a light-hearted atmosphere filled with laughter.  Gaurakisora had the knowledge of "Astadasasa
hasri" as well as its tika; he never needed to check a text while instructing his students.  His daily routine consisted of studying a particular item then concluded invariably with a discussion about Lord Gauranga.

        One day a large number of Vrajavasi Vaisnavas arrived in the residential abode of Lord Gauranga.  That day it was Venimadhava Thakura's turn to offer worship to the deity.  It so happened that Venimadhava had run out of his stock of provision
s for serving the Vaisnavas.  Seeing the large gathering of devotees there, Venimadhava instructed his wife to prepare an adequate quantity of delicious bhoga.  When his wife informed him that not a grain was readily available for offering, Venimadha
va pulled off the wooden window and door frames of the house and carried them on his head to sell in the market.  Seeing Venimadhava's detachment and intense desire to serve the Vaisnavas, Siromani fell unconscious on the ground.  After regaining con
sciousness, Gaurakisora quietly took a vow that he would henceforth consider Vaisnava-seva as his primary duty.

        Siromani had a well-known inner circle (gosthi) of Vaisnavas at Katoa.  Vrndavanacandra Gosvami, a descendant of Advaita's family and a resident of Uthali in Dhaka (Bangladesh), renounced home, embracing the vow of a udasina Vaisnava, and cam
e to Katoa.  His brother, Jagadbandhu Prabhu, following the footsteps of Vrndavanacandra, renounced his family and also came to Katoa.  When the two brothers met in Katoa they both took Vesasraya from Kisora dasa Babaji and stayed in Katoa performing
 there bhajan.

        Venimadhava Thakura was a Vaisnava saint who enjoyed perfect bliss through Istagosthi.  At his request, Gaurakisora Siromani once gave a daily three-hour recital of the sloka "Janmadyasya" for thirty-five days.  Hearing his recitation, Venima
dhava commented that Gaurakisora was certainly been blessed by the grace of the six Gosvamis.

        Once Gaurakisora and his troupe paid a visit to the residence of the Banerjee family of Badograma, near Burdwan, to recite from the Srimad Bhagavatam.  When they arrived in the village at around 2 pm. they found out that the village had neith
er a Visnu temple nor did anyone there follow the tradition of offering worship to Salagrama.  Immediately Gaurakisora went to the brahmana Zamindar of the village and expressed his reluctance to even take a drink of water from a village where Visnu
was not worshiped.  Many came forward to try to change the mind of Siromani, fearing that the departure of the whole group of starving Vaisnavas would be inauspicious for their village.  In utter helplessness, a messenger was sent on horseback to a v
illage ten miles away with a note requesting the Zamindar's cousin to bring a Salagrama to the village.  When the Salagrama was brought and food offered to it, Gaurakisora partook of Visnu prasada.

        Once, in order to test the Vaisnava merit of Gaurakisora, some tantric brahmanas of Kagrama in the district of Mursidavad invited him to give a recital from the Srimad Bhagavatam in their village.  After the recital had gone on for several da
ys, the evil-minded brahmanas arranged to have animals slaughtered on the occasion of Kalipuja on the very same site as the Srimad Bhagavatam was recited.  On receiving this news late in the evening, Siromani was greatly distressed and prayed despera
tely to Gaura Govinda.  Thus when the slaughters attempted to sacrifice an animal with one strike, they were unsuccessful; they needed two strikes for all of the animals.  The frightened slaughterers tried to invoke the grace of the goddess. Later th
e goddess chastised the priest in a dream saying: "All of you have humiliated a devotee of Visnu, hence you will be severely punished."  Hearing this the mischievous persons rushed to the feet of Gaurakisora Siromani.  Gaurakisora asked them first to
 take a dip in the Ganges and later converted them into Vaisnavas.

        Meanwhile the long standing debate regarding the respective status' of the Gosvamis and the Vaisnavas continued to ensue.  Eventually they decided that if Siromani would intervene and mediate between them, his verdict would be accepted by bot
h sides.  After Siromani listened to both sides of the argument he replied: "Please take me as your son; when a son becomes an adult then he is not expected to be present where his parents are quarreling.  It should also be noted that marital love at
tains a new depth when the couple differs from each other."  These words softened the hearts of both the disputant sides; they forgot their differences and chanted the holy name together.

        The following is an excerpt about Siromani extracted from Sadgurusanga vol. 2 written by Kuladananda brahmacari: "Siromani was the senior-most pandita of the country; he had a sound command over the six systems of Indian philosophy, Smrti, an
d Purana.  Once, in his native village, he attended a Srimad Bhagavatam recital held in the house of a brahmana villager.  A large number of reputed brahmana panditas were also present for the session.  The devotee brahmana who recited from the Srima
d Bhagavatam first invoked the vandana of Lord Gauranga before beginning his recitation.  This had been the prevalent custom everywhere, however, Siromani flew into a rage upon hearing  Gauravandana.  He called the brahmana reader to him and said, "W
hat's the matter sir?  Is this what is called Bhagavata-recital?  You are ready to give a recital from Srimad Bhagavatam which lies open in front of you, directing your attention to the book, how come you go on chanting the glories of Lord Gauranga?
 Being in the presence of a gathering of brahmana panditas and keeping the Salagrama in front of you, you pledge to recite from Srimad Bhagavatam then you speak on an entirely different topic.  Can you justify your action?"

        The devotee humbly replied with folded hands, "Revered Sir, please believe me, I am truthfully reciting from Srimad Bhagavatam.  Whatever I have chanted so far can be found in Srimad Bhagavatam.  I have not told a single lie."

        Siromani sprang from his seat and rushing towards the reciter demanded, "Look here, please show me where the verse "Anarpitacarim" is found in Bhagavatam?"  The brahmana pointed his finger, indicating the blank space between every couple of l
ines.  Siromani retorted, "What do you mean?  You are pointing to blank white spaces."

        The brahmana then spoke, "You don't have the right vision, how do you expect to see what I am showing you? Better cleanse your eyes first and then have a look."

        Siromani was enraged, "How dare you insist on telling a lie in an unruffled manner in front of a Salagrama, and while touching the Srimad Bhagavatam, and in the presence of brahmanas?"

        The brahmana at last firmly replied, "Please hold your tongue.  In this gathering of brahmanas, while touching Srimad Bhagavatam, I swear that whatever I have said is truth.  I can see Gauravandana written in the intervening space of every tw
o lines of Srimad Bhagavatam.  I advise you to first take diksa from a competent venerable Vaisnava saint, then practice for a week exactly as I direct you and then come here on the eight day.  If you then fail to see the writing of Gauracandrika in
the intervening spaces of the Srimad Bhagavatam, then I promise in front of everyone present here that I shall chop off the tip of my tongue."

        Siromani was a deeply spiritual person and thus immediately approached Siddha Caitanya dasa Babaji for diksa. Then he contacted the brahmana reciter and received instructions, which he practiced diligently for seven days. One the eighth day h
e came before the brahmana reciter demanding that he be shown the script of Gauravandana in Bhagavatam.  The reciter promptly opened the Srimad Bhagavatam and called Siromani to have a look.  As soon as Siromani looked at the book he saw Gaura-vandan
a written in bright golden letters on the blank spaces preceding every couple of lines.  With tears flowing incessantly from his eyes, Siromani rolled on the ground in repentance.  Immediately he renounced everything and left for Vrndavana on foot.
Since then he has been staying here.  He can really be called a genuine Vaisnava."

        During his stay at Katoa Siromani would give oral recitation from the holy texts, but he stopped doing this in Vrndavana.  Only in the afternoon hours would he give lessons on Srimad Bhagavatam to Vrajavasi Vaisnavas.  One day Siromani was gi
ving a class on the fourth canto; the episode of Daksayajna, when a question came up from the students as follows: "How could Mahadeva possibly have danced, carrying the corpse of Sati which is stated to have been reduced to ashes by the sacrificial
flames?"

        Siromani waited awhile, wondering how to present a proper reply.  Meanwhile, one Vaisnava listener, seated by the side of Siromani, who was regularly present at this class, looked up at the inquiring students and said, "Would you like a demon
stration of the situation or would you be satisfied with an explanation?"

        The students chorused, "Who cares to listen, when a demonstration is available?"

        "Then come here and look", the Vaisnava said. He sat facing north in a yoga posture and passed into a state of meditation chanting "Jaya Gauranga".  Shortly afterwards a speck of fire rose from the big toe of his right foot and soon his entir
e body was covered with raging flames.  Siromani screamed, lamenting what had happened.  The students tried to put out the fire by pouring water from the Jamuna but it was over by then.  From that day Siromani gave up teaching Srimad Bhagavatam and r
esorted to more austere bhajan.

        A number of well-known Vaisnava saints lived in Vrndavana during the time when Siromani was there; Srila Brahmananda Gosvami of Srngarvata, Srila Nrisimhananda Prabhu, Srila Nilamani Gosvami-descendant of Advaita Prabhu, Srila Haracandra Gosv
ami, Haradhan Maitra, the Zamindar of Talanda in Rajasahi (Bangladesh)-Gangaprasada Ray, the Zamindar of Tadas in Pabna (Bangladesh) with his family, Hajra Mahasaya-the reputed kirtana singer who was also the caretaker of Sri Madanamohana Temple, Vai
snavacarana dasa-the well-known kirtana singer, Sri Krsnadasa, Sri Gauradasa, Pranavandhu Nandi etc.  All of the above mentioned persons showed great respect for Siromani.

        Once Srila Brahmananda Prabhu invited Siromani to partake of prasada in his house at Govindaghat. Brahmananda offered prasada such as rice and various other dishes served in silver plates and vessels in front of a special seat for Siromani to
 sit on.  Siromani felt extremely embarrassed and refused to sit at the arranged place and asked that prasada be served to him on a leaf plate and leaf bowl. He urged Brahmananda to take prasada on the special seat instead of himself. Brahmananda was
 aware of Siromani's noble lineage and referring to that repeatedly requested Siromani to accept the food and the special seat.  Siromani replied as follow: "Prabhupada (Brahmananda), if you think you have invited me here because of my social backgro
und, in that case I shall surely lose my caste-status if I partake of prasada with you here.  But you are my "prabhu" and I am your "dasa"-this relationship of our is highly adorable."  Saying this Siromani made Brahmananda sit on the special seat an
d himself took prasada on a leaf plate.  This incident occurred prior to Siromani's embracing bheka.
        After a brief stay in Vrndavana, Siromani fell critically ill.  Realizing his days were numbered, he embraced vesasraya from Siddha Nityananda dasa Babaji of Sri Madanamohana Thakura.  Siromani was house-bound due to physical weakness and as
soon as he recovered through medical treatment he left for Jhadumandala to meet Siddha Balarama dasa Babaji.  Even when he was staying within the house Siromani would wear the kanta round his neck as the bhakasrita Vaisnavas would do. Dressed in this
 way, Siromani went to offer his humble obeisances to Siddha Baba, the latter rebuked him sharply saying, "Is that Siromani there?  Why are you wearing a kanta around your neck?  You still cannot do without cooked rice in your meal.  How dare you con
sider yourself entitled to wear the kanta of Sanatana Gosvami?"

        Siromani, who was the embodiment of humility, broke into tears, seeking the mercy of Babaji Mahasaya.  Shortly afterwards, he began practicing bhajan separately under his Gurudeva at Madanamohana Thaura.  He, however, continued to accept the
prasada of Sri Giriraja from the house of the same devotee where he had promised to stay earlier.  This prasada consisted of brown grains of pulses sieved from the quantity which was offered to the deity.   These broken grains where boiled and then o
ffered as bhoga with a pinch of salt and black pepper.  Siromani would partake of these watery pulses and a bit of rice and nothing more.

        Siromani knew perfectly well how to uphold the dignity of bhakti.  He showed respect to infants in the same manner as he would to the descendants of acaryas and those senior to him. During his stay at Thaura, he arranged for a chosen reciter
to give daily classes on sastra.  One day in the midst of such a session, Siromani suddenly stood up; giving everyone the impression that some distinguished acarya descendent had appeared there.  What had actually happened, however, was that a certai
n disciple of Siromani was standing in the corner carrying the infant daughter of Radhikanath Gosvami, the descendant of Advaita Prabhu.  When that disciple with the child was asked to sit down, Siromani also sat down.

        The following is an extract from Sadgurusanga:  "One day Sridhara, a disciple of Vijayakrsna Gosvami, went to Siromani's kutir to have darsana.  Upon arriving he found Siromani asleep, thus he offered his obeisances keeping some distance from
 the feet of Siromani.  To his surprise, the devotee noticed that Siromani's feet turned to another direction. Every time Sridhara tried to offer his obeisances the same thing happened. Sridhara finally left the place in bewilderment.  No one could e
ver touch the feet of Siromani or offer their humble obeisances.  Even when Siromani was at a distance no one could offer his pranamas before Siromani had offered them first.  He would offer dandavats lying prostrate to one and all.  In fact it was a
 problem to walk on the road with Siromani, because along the way he repeatedly offered dandavat pranamas to cats, monkeys, cows, women, men and deities on both sides of the road.  All the men and women of Vrndavana revered Siromani as a venerable sa
int. Thakura (Vijayakrsna Gosvami) said that one should meet Siromani in order to realize the true meaning of the verse "trinadapi".

        Upon rising from bed, early in the morning, Siromani would first address the female-sweeper as "Ma" (mother).  When his disciples questioned him about this, Siromani replied, "She is none but my own mother.  I am indebted to her from my child
hood.  Since my birth she had been cleansing me of the filth of urine and stool and she continues to do so even today.  My heart warms up with joy when I think of how kind she has been to me in her motherly way.  Hence I bow down to her."

        The following is an extract from statements made by Siromani himself:(?)  "Around 1861 or 1862 AD. Harimohana Gosvami, the eighth descendant of Thakura Jagannatha Vaisnava Acarya Gosvami, visited Vrndavana and approached the well-known Sakhal
ala Gopilala Prabhupada, the sevait of Sri Sri Radharamana in Vrndavana, for information regarding Gauratattva.  As directed by Sakhalala, Harimohana contacted Siromani Mahasaya for the said information.  However, for fifteen day Siromani simply offe
red his repeated obeisances to Harimohana, the son of an acarya.  Thus Harimohana's desire to hear about Gauratattva remained unfulfilled.  Finally, Harimohana said, "I have come here daily to have lessons from you on Gauratattva, but you keep offeri
ng your dandavats to me, taking me as a descendant of the Acarya-line.  Come, do as many dandavats at my feet as you want, maybe I am destined to go to hell, but at any cost please be kind enough to enlighten me with Gauratattva."  Hearing such a mat
ure statement from a fifteen-year old boy, Siromani Mahasaya experienced a strange prema-vikara and embraced Harimohana, anointing the boys head with tears.  From that time Prabhupada was fortunate enough to fully realize Gauratattva.

        Generally Advaita dasa (alias Annada Prasad Raya) and others would accompany Siromani Mahasaya whenever they attended discourses.  Siromani followed the rule that once out on the road he would offer pancanga pranama at every temple he happene
d to pass on either side of the road.  That would take considerable time, thus invariably Siromani would arrive late for the discourses.  Instructing the Vaisnavas accompanying him, Siromani said, "Who knows, if we reach their early and sit right in
front, our feet may touch the body of someone, thus causing aparadha.  I therefore deem it safer to sit at the back of everyone and listen to whatever is audible."

        Once the Queen of Hetampur visited Vrndavana.  She was delighted to hear the Srimad Bhagavatam recital given by Siromani, thus she sent him a gift of new clothes, coconuts, fruits, and some cash.  Because Siromani accepted this gift he was ex
communicated from the Vaisnavas of Vrndavana.  Siromani was deeply grieved and admitting his mistake, prayed to be punished.  The Vaisnavas thus ordered him to give recitals from Srimad Bhagavatam in every temple of Vrndavana for one year.  At that t
ime there were more than three thousand temples in Vrndavana, thus, in order to carry out the order, he had to give recitals in a number of temples each day. Siromani, the scion of Vaisnavas, carried out this very difficult order.

        Soon after, Siromani took bheka.  People in general had great faith and adoration for Siromani as well as for his guru, Siddha Nityananda Baba.  Numerous devotees approached Siromani for lessons on how to practice bhajan. This, however, cause
d interruptions to the bhajan of Siddha Baba.  Thus, Siromani shifted to a kutir nearby, where he continued to beautifully clarify the queries raised by visiting Vaisnavas. Yet, if a visitor desired to meet Siddha Baba, Siromani would inform him that
 Siddha Baba would come out in the open when recital began at 4:30 pm; this was the time which he met people.  Any attempt to meet him before that time would seriously interrupt his bhajan.  Thus Siromani never complained of the trouble he had to fac
e in order to serve his guru.  Siromani instructed his intimate devotees as follows, "We should practice bhajan like the doves residing in our nahabatkhana (a front projection from a building used for entertainment on special occasions).  What I mean
 is that these doves never fly away despite the constant noise of music flowing from the nahabatkhana; similarly, we too should practice bhajan with the faith that all devotees and Vaisnavas have been sent by Lord Gauranga."

        When Vijayakrsna Gosvami, the descendant of Advaita's family, visited Vrndavana, he took great pleasure in the company of Siromani.  Siromani's wife daily attended patha at Madanamohana Thaura.  His sons also, when in Vrndavana, never failed
to attend the sessions of patha and if they had any questions Siromani would answer them without any complaint. The Vaisnavas of Madanamohana Thaura did not approve of the presence of Siromani's wife and sons during patha and they passed occasional c
omments expressing their disapproval, but Siromani never bothered to reply.  Once, in the presence of Vijayakrsna, a discussion arose at the Thaura criticizing Siromani.  Vijayakrsna was upset to hear the criticism but found it hard to understand why
 Siromani allowed his wife and children to listen to patha at Thaura.  Vijayakrsna vowed to maintain a fast until he was enlightened as to the reason for Siromani's actions.

        He skipped meals for that night and the next morning, and did not go for darsana of Siromani as he did on other days. Toward evening time Vijayakrsna suddenly had a revelation; "Siromani has behaved rightly.  Had he bothered to consider that
this is my wife, those are my sons and they shouldn't come over here, then this would have stressed his worldly relationships instead of loosening them.  Siromani never behaved in any special manner with members of his family and treated all in the s
ame manner, hence, this is to be considered a merit and not a lapse."

        This thought made Vijayakrsna ecstatic and he rushed for darsana of Siromani.  When Siromani asked way Vijayakrsna had not come for darsana, the latter explained everything. Siromani then said, "My wife is my God-sister (both Siromani and his
 wife took spiritual initiation from the same guru). She derives immense pleasure from listening to Bhagavat-katha, so who am I to prevent her from attending sessions of patha?"

        Annada Prasad Raya, the second son of the late Gaurangaprasad Raya-a devout Vaisnava, lost his faith in the existing Vaisnava acaryas and decided to convert to Christianity.  When he told this to his mother, she took him to Siromani.  Annada
was fascinated by Siromani's charming manner and eventually had a change of heart and took initiation from Siromani, receiving the name Sri Advaita dasa. From that time Annada began to spend the major part of his time in the company of Siromani.  Soo
n after the birth of his daughter, Annada's wife died (Annada was about 35 years old), leaving him to take care of his mother as we as the responsibility for the seva of his family deity Sri Radhamadanagopala.  From that time he began to spend his ni
ghts at Thaura in the company of Siromani, then return home around 8 or 9 in the morning.

        Around this time one youth named Mahendranath Bhattacarya arrived from Jamalpur at Monghyr and took refuge at the feet of Siromani.  Siromani named this youth Sri Haricarana dasa. Since Siromani had taken bheka and because this youth was a br
ahmana, Siromani directed his eldest son, Rasavallabha Bhaktibhusana, to give diksa to this youth, Haricarana. Haricarana expressed his eagerness to take bheka, but because he was young, handsome, and a brahmana by caste, no one agreed to initiate hi
m into bheka.  One day Haricarana, on his own, took a dip in the Ganges and changed his clothes.  Everyone in the Thaura asked him who had given him bheka.  Haricarana replied that since no one had responded to his pleading, he had done it on his own
.

        Soon after Siromani took vesa, one Pandita Ramakrsna dasa Babaji took diksa from Siddha Nityananda dasa Baba.  Siddha Baba advised Ramakrsna to respect Siromani, who was the latter's God-brother, as his guru.  Ramakrsna followed this advice a
nd as long as he could, he attended the annual festival celebrated by Siromani.  Haricarana dasa studied Bhaktisastra under Ramakrsna Pandita.

        Soon after Annada Prasad's wife's death, Siromani's youngest son also lost his wife.  Siromani advised Advaita not to remarry, while he directed his own son to marry again. Haricarana dasa had deep respect for Siromani, yet he humbly asked Si
romani why Advaita, who was a Zamindar's son with the responsibility for the service of the family deity, and who was without a son, was told not to marry; whereas Siromani's son was allowed to do so.  Siromani answered as follows: "This Advaita dasa
 has surrendered himself fully to me to attain liberation, whereas this son of mine is going to remarry even if I forbid him to do so.  The latter has come to take a mere formal approval from me, hence what does it matter to him if I ask him to do ot
herwise.?"

        For many years there was a dispute about whether mahaprasada was subject to touchability.  One group held the view that anyone could touch mahaprasada, while the other group upheld that this applied only to the mahaprasada of Jagannatha Puri.
  Siromani, however, never bothered to question touchability of prasada.  In areas such as Pabna and Maimensing, brahmanas never drank water touched by Kaivartas; whereas in Calcutta, Navadvipa, and Santipura brahmanas accepted water touched by Kaiva
rtas.  Rajanidasa, of a Kaivarta-caste from the Pabna district, became a disciple of the late Radhikanath Gosvami and settled at Vrndavana. Rajanidasa became very loyal to Siromani and whenever he was invited somewehre, Rajanidasa would carry the pra
sada for Siromani.  Since Rajanidasa was a householder and an untouchable by caste, Vaisnavas criticized Siromani for maintaining association with Rajanidasa.  Siromani, however, remained indifferent to this criticism.

        One Benimadhava Thakura, the sevait of Lord Gauranga's temple at Katoa, had been a participant in the gosthi of Siromani at Katoa.  Benimadhava's wife once expressed a desire to make a pilgrimage to Jagannatha Puri.  Benimadhava was reluctant
 to give her permission since she would have to stop her service to Lord Gauranga during her absence.  Seeing the enthusiasm of his wife, however, he finally relented and allowed her to go.  Upon her return, as per prevalent custom, she halted at a n
earby pond on the outskirts of the village and sent a message stating her arrival.

        The Kanci prasada of Lord Gauranga was then sent by Benimadhava to his wife through a low-caste messenger. Benimadhava thought that if his wife accepted the prasada, ignoring the fact that it was brought by an untouchable, then she would be e
ligible to once again attend to the service of Lord Gauranga.  If she behaved otherwise then she would never get back her right to cook prasada.  The clever wife understood the mind of her husband; she finished her bath, partook of the prasada, and w
as escorted home by the messenger.  Needless to say, Benimadhava was greatly pleased by the behavior of his wife.

        Banamali Raya, the foremost Zamindar of Tadasa (Bangladesh), was the younger brother of Annada babu (alias Advaita dasa).  The late Banwari Raya, the most worthy Zamindar of this family had adopted Banamali as his son. Around the time when An
nada received the grace of Siromani, Banamali came under the influence of the Bramhmo sect and took initiation into the faith.  Annada took care, under the guidance of Siromani, to rescue his brother and bring him back to the path of bhakti.  Banamal
i was very pleased by the sincerity of his brothers letters and finally came to Vrndavana in 1885 AD.  Banamali and his family stayed there with Annada and were blessed with the holy associaton of Siromani.

        In 1897 Banamali was drawn to the fold of bhakti by the grace of Rahikanath Gosvami and dedicated himself entirely to the service of their family deity Radhavinodji.  Seeing Banamali's strong attraction for Krsna bhajan, Siromani gave him the
 following advice:  "One cannot attain Krsnaprema without serving Vaisnavas.  Remember that Vaisnava seva does not consist of serving delicious food or giving clothes to Vaisnavas; rather it often gives rise to problems.  The cherished object of Vais
navas is Hari-katha; however the opportunity to study Srimad Bhagavatam or Gosvami books is rarely obtained, hence devotees do not always get the chance to listen to Hari-katha.  With the aim of ensuring this facility for the Vaisnavas, please arrang
e for competent reciters who can give lessons on these bhakti books.  Also you should ensure that those devotees who are aged, blind, ailing, or for any other reason are unable to go out for madhukari bhiksa may receive the help they need.  If you ca
n arrange to do this you will certainly be blessed with prema."  Banamali took this order as his supreme command and established a school for the study of the Gosvami books, as well as a dispensary for serving Vaisnavas.  Since government aid was not
 available at that time, Banamali's endeavour never met with the desired success, despite the large amounts of money he spent.  Banamali endowed estates worth thousands of rupees as Devottara property.  The establishment of the Bhakti-Vidyalaya, foun
ded recently in Vrndavana, can be considered an outcome of the command and inspiration received from Rajarsi Bahadur, Radhikanath Gosvami, and Siromani.

        Siromani was extremely soft-hearted and generous, as well as very strict about physical cleanliness.  He could not bear to see the suffering of others.  When someone's suffering was brought to his attention he would share the pain of the suff
erer just as intensely.  Those who have attained the state of Jatabhava feel aroused by every event of the material world.

        Siromani was endowed with a very pleasant and simple manner.  When he felt it necessary to criticize someone, he so in such a gentle way that no one ever felt offended.  Once it so happened that some gentlemen gathered to criticize a well-kno
wn Prabhu-descendant.  Siromani happened to pass by and overhear their conversation.  Seeing Siromani they felt embarrassed and stopped talking.  When Siromani demanded to know the name of the person being criticized, by coincidence, the person who w
as the subject of criticism appeared on the spot.  Siromani made this Prabhu-descendant sit, showing him due respect, and again asked the reason for the criticism.  At the insistence of Siromani, one of the critics spoke out, explaining that the acti
ons of a descendant of Prabhu's should be as perfect as possible for other to emulate, but the person concerned had fallen from that standard by making a number of low-caste persons his disciples.

        Siromani listened carefully then spoke what he thought best:  "Look, these persons are learned acaryas and it is their assigned duty to liberate mortal souls, thus they have to shower their mercy on one and all.  How can they discriminate bet
ween human beings?  They are supposed to be the liberators of the down-trodden.  This acarya-descendant's action could also be beneficial to him in the long run, as if he behaves in a way which beings about public criticism, the matter will circulate
 in no time and people will stay far away from him.  This could be a blessing in disguise since this will give him an opportunity to practice bhajan in solitude." On hearing Siromani's views the critics felt appeased and the criticized Prabhu also to
ok the warning to behave more cautiously in the future.

        Occasionally Siromani invited Vaisnavas to his kunja to take prasada.  On one such occasion some devotees came but refused to allow one amongst them to partake of prasada seated on the same row with the others.  This was because that particul
ar Vaisnava was responsible for a detestable action. After hearing the details, Siromani addressed the Vaisnavas as follows:  "May I point out for your consideration that here is a Vaisnava whom you are trying to discipline for his wrong actions,  ye
t here I am who have committed countless wrongs," and thus saying Siromani frankly confessed before all present whatever he thought he had done wrong throughout his life. After hearing Siromani's speech, the Vaisnavas present calmed down and finished
 prasada quietly, and the Vaisnava who had done wrong became more cautious.

        In 1890 AD. Radhikanath Gosvami left Vrajmandala to visit Gaudamandala.  Annada, Banamali and others took Siromani to the Mathura railway station to see off Radhikanath.  After Radhikanath boarded the train, Siromani wept so profusely that he
 reeled into unconsciousness.  Annada and the others took great care to nurse him back to his senses but on his return to Vrndavana Siromani fell ill with a high fever.  Four or five days later Siromani breathed his last.  Radhikanath was deeply grie
ved when he received the news at Santipura.

        The day Siddha Caitanya dasa Babaji passed away, the same night, Siromani saw Siddha Baba in a dream saying, "Siromani! Here I am!"  Later when Siromani learned that Siddha Baba had died at that same hour, he prepared an asana for Siddha Cait
anya dasa Babaji in his residence.  Shortly afterwards, the Bada Prabhu of Katoa passed away and Siromani placed his samadhi by the side of Siddha Baba's.  When Siromani died his relations placed his samadhi by the side of Bada Prabhu.  It exists the
re today and regular bhoga-seva is offered.
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