Gadadhara

Gadadhar Pandita () (Bengali: গদাধর পণ্ডিত; Sanskrit: गदाधर पंडित), also known as Pandita Goswami, was an incarnation of Srimati Radharani and close childhood friend of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the founder of the Hindu tradition of Gaudiya Vaishnavism.

Birth

Gadadhara Pandit was born in the village of Beleti Gram in the Chittagong district of modern Bangladesh in a family of Varendra Brahmins in 1408 of the Shaka era (i.e., 1486 AD) on the dark moon day of the month of Vaishakh. His father was Madhava Mishra and his mother Ratnavati Devi. He also had a younger brother named Baninath. He belongs to the Kashyapa gotra. He lived in the village of Beleti until he was twelve and then moved with his family to Nabadwip.

Biography

When Nimai left for Puri after taking sannyas, Gadadhar put forward many arguments against his leaving home. Gadadhar told Nimai that one can do any kind of spiritual sadhana even sitting at home.Nimai told him that what he (the Lord) had come to say would be well received by the public if he became a monk instead of a householder. Gadadhar finally gave.Gadadhar then tried to persuade Mahaprabhu to take him to Puri as well. But Nimai did not agree despite all his cries and pleadings. Gadadhar was burnt to ashes in the fire of separation. He wondered how he would survive without seeing the beloved face of his beloved Gauranga.After some time, Gadadhar came to Puri with some devotees from Nabadwip to visit Mahaprabhu. He stayed in Puri, never returned to Navadwip. Gadadhar started living in the tota (garden) of Jameshwar. Every day Gadadhara recited Srimad Bhagavatam aloud for the pleasure of Mahaprabhu.Once while sitting on the beach discussing some matters over Krishna, Nimai decided to bestow his special favor on Gadadhara. He asked Gadadhar to dig at a certain spot.After some digging, Gadadhara found the beautiful deity of Sri Gopinath. The deity was established in a temple in Bagan and came to be known as Tota Gopinath.

Mahaprabhu Sri Gadadhara: requested the Pandit to perform three actions on his behalf:-

1.Give diksha (formal initiation) on behalf of Mahaprabhu to the true seekers on the path of pure Vraja-bhakti;

2.Be the authoritative teacher of Srimad-Bhagavatam;

3. Worship the Deity of Sri Gopinath along with His eternal consort, Sri Radha;

Soon after, Gadadhara took the vow of "Kshetra Sannyas" (confining oneself only to a particular place) for uninterrupted service to Lord Sri Gopinatha.

When Mahaprabhu started on his pilgrimage to Sri Vrindavan, Gadadhara said he would accompany him. Mahaprabhu reminded him about his vow. Gadadhara replied that Mahaprabhu was his "Sri Kshetra" and his Gopinath as well. Mahaprabhu was not happy. "This is not proper" he said.

Gadadhar almost fainted from the grief of separation. Mahaprabhu told Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya to take him back to Srikshetra. He wouldn't let her break her promise.On that particular occasion, Mahaprabhu's Vrindavan trip was cancelled. Mahaprabhu told everyone that he felt his Vrindavan visit was cancelled because he had made Gadadhara unhappy.

Once Gadadhara asked Mahaprabhu for a mantra. He wanted to re-initiate. He said that he revealed his spell to someone and it seems to have lost its effectiveness.Mahaprabhu told him to ask Pundarik Vidhyanithi for a mantra once again. He also said that Pundarik would be arriving in Nilachal very soon. Sure enough, Pundarik came and Gadadhara was re-initiated.

Life

Gadadhara is described as a handsome young boy, student of Nyaya (Indian logic) and ranked highest among the inner circle of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's followers.

In the later part of his life, Gadadhara lived in the Tota Gopinatha Temple. As per the local temple legend (which is disputed), the central temple deity of Krishna sat down to accommodate Gadadhara's worship as he was old and feeble. Chaitanya lived a mile away during that time, at the Gambhira. He used to come to hear Gadadhara speak on Krishna while Gadadhara's eyes would rain tears. The first Radha deity installed in Vrindavan was sent by Gadadhara. The ''parakiya'' worship of Radha started from that time.

Some say that Chaitanya and Gadadhara disappeared on the same day inside the Gundicha Temple of Puri.

Devotees of Gadadhara would assemble at Govinda temple in Vrindavan. The Govinda deity was installed by Rupa Goswami, sometimes described as a disciple of Gadadhara. The temple head priest was Radha Krishna Goswami in the lineage of Gadadhara who wrote in the ''Sadhana Dipika'' that Gadadhara was Radha.

''Gadadhara Parivara''

The ''Gadadhara Parivara'' (''Parivara'' means 'family') is one of the traditional Chaitanya lineages that have continued till modern times; the Advaita Parivāra is another example.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu personally gave Gadadhara a deity to worship, and the responsibility to teach the ''Bhagavata Purana''. Gadadhara's guru was Pundarika Vidyanidhi. Gadadhara initiated Bhugarbha Goswami, and Bhugarbha Goswami gave rise to one line of the ''Gadadhara parivara''.

Because Gadadhara is considered to be an incarnate of the goddess Lakshmi or Radha, his followers of come directly under her. The custom of the ''Gadadhara parivara'' is to worship the deities of Chaitanya and Gadadhara.

Followers of the ''Gadadhara parivara'' opine that Rupa and Sanatana Goswami, Narottama Dasa and his guru Lokanath Goswami were disciples of Gadadhara. Others hold that Sanatana Goswami was the disciple of Chaitanya or Madhusudana Vidyavacaspati, the brother of the logician Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, and Rupa Goswami was the disciple of Sanatana Goswami.

See also

* Haridas Shastri
* Satyanarayana Dasa
* Hare Krishna

References

16th-century Hindu religious leaders
Spiritual teachers
Year of birth missing
Year of death missing
Gaudiya religious leaders
Bengali Hindus
Scholars from West Bengal
Vaishnava saints
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

{{Hindu-bio-stub