Glimpses from the life of Srinivasa Acarya


Gosvami granthas

Just as the wind carries the clouds, Srinivasa swept away the cloud 
like books from the hills of Vraja to the land of Gauda. There the 
cloud like books showered the ground of Gauda with divine love. Thus 
suffering mankind, which were like grains suffering from the bright 
rays of the sun (Kali-yuga), were relieved by the rain of nectar. Thus 
all the devotees happily danced like peacocks.

Japa

As per the order of Prabhu, all his disciples in Kanchanagadia decided 
to chant one lakh of holy names daily. They used to perform this task 
not during the day, but at night. Their practice was to tie their hair 
with a string to the roof of the cottage to check themselves from 
falling asleep. Srinivasa had such great love for them, and they also 
for him, that they never wanted to leave the vicinity. 

Siddha-deha lila and Radha's prasada

Everyone happily received them including the wives of Srinivasa, who 
rushed forward to greet him. Upon meeting Jahnava Isvari, Ramacandra 
fell at her feet. Seeing her face dark with grief, he inquired as to 
the cause of her distress. Isvari explained that Srinivasa had been 
lost in deep meditation for three long days which caused her great 
anxiety, but now, upon seeing Ramacandra, her anxieties had 
disappeared. Speaking to him like a son, Isvari explained about 
Srinivasa. Hearing this Ramacandra fell at Isvari's feet and then 
stood before her humbly with folded hands. He then went to see 
Srinivasa, who lay in a state of deep meditation. His body was stiff 
and no sign of breathing could be detected. Ramacandra tried to feel 
his breath by placing his hand under Srinivasa's nostril, but he felt 
nothing. Turning to Isvari, he explained that Srinivasa was immersed 
in a deep state of meditation, similar to the ecstatic absorption Sri 
Caitanya Mahaprabhu formerly manifested. Calling the name of Sri Radha 
and beseeching Her blessings, Ramacandra covered the body of Srinivasa 
with a cloth and slid under the cover along with Prabhu. By exercising 
the powers given to him by the grace of Srinivasa, Ramacandra also 
entered into a deep trance and in his perfected spiritual body he came 
to understand everything about Srinivasa's trance. Ramacandra then 
assured Thakurani that if after two hours Srinivasa did not regained 
consciousness, she should chant the holy name loudly in his ear.

Thereafter, Ramacandra, in his original spiritual body, went to the 
bank of the Yamuna where Sri Mani Manjari was searching for the 
nose-stud of Radha which was dropped on the footprints of Radha Krsna 
under the water and was covered by the leaf of a lotus. Mani Manjari 
happily greeted her confidante and together they continued the search 
for the nose-stud. They both entered the water and eventually picked 
up the lotus leaf which had been concealing the nose-stud. Mani 
Manjari praised him profusely for helping her to find the nose-stud. 
They then rushed to the spot were Radha and Krsna were taking rest.

All of the confidantes of Radha were anxiously waiting for Mani 
Manjari to return with the nose-stud. When they caught sight of Mani 
Manjari and Ramacandra, they happily received them, relieved to hear 
that the lost ornament had been recovered. Sri Rupa Manjari took the 
nose-stud and skillfully placed it through the hole on Radha's nose. 
Back in its rightful position, the nose-stud throbbed slowly along 
with the breathing of Sri Radha.

Sri Rupa Manjari gently grasped one of Radha's legs and began to 
massage it. After some time, Sri Guna Manjari requested Mani Manjari 
to massage the other leg of Sri Radha. With great ecstasy, Mani 
Manjari accepted this service. Later Sri Guna Manjari told her that 
she had kept for her the remnants of Sri Radha's chewed betel leaf. 
Mani Manjari happily accepted it and was most pleased to see that she 
had also kept a portion of it for her confidante (Ramacandra). 

Srimati approached Srinivasa and very humbly submitted that being 
ignorant and unqualified she was completely dependent on the mercy of 
her husband to understand what was right and what was wrong. 
Dedicating herself fully to Sri Acarya, she begged that her husband 
take her into his confidence as he had done with Ramacandra. 

Pleased by her submissive spirit, Srinivasa took her and Ramacandra to 
a secluded place and told them that he had kept tied up in the edge of 
his cloth a piece of betel leaf which had been chewed by Sri Radha. He 
took out the betel leaf and gave it first to Ramacandra and them to 
his wives. The taste and sweet smell of it swept them away into a 
state of divine ecstasy. They were unable to control their emotions 
and tears of joy flowed profusely from their eyes. Srinivasa reminded 
his wives how extraordinarily fortunate they were to have obtained the 
chewed betel leaf, a boon which even Lord Brahma is desirous of 
achieving. He further explained that they were now elevated to the 
platform of devotion equal to that of Ramacandra. Sri Acarya stated 
that Ramacandra was his life, as was Narottama. These two disciples he 
could not be separated.

