Svarupa Damodara, / Swarup Damodar also known as Purushottama Acharya was a

Gaudiya Vaishnava Gaudiya Vaishnavism (), also known as Chaitanya Vaishnavism, is a Vaishnava Hindu religious movement inspired by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1534) in India. "Gaudiya" refers to the Gaura or Gauḍa region of Bengal (present-day Malda dist ...

saint and close associate of

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (; ), born Vishvambhara Mishra () (18 February 1486 – 14 June 1534), was an Indian Hindus, Hindu saint from Bengal and the founder of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's mode of worshipping Krishna with bha ...

. He lived in Navadvipa. He always stayed with Chaitanya. Purushottama Acharya did not accept the dress of a

sannyasi ''Sannyasa'' (), sometimes spelled ''sanyasa'', is the fourth stage within the Hindu system of four life stages known as '' ashramas'', the first three being ''brahmacharya'' (celibate student), '' grihastha'' (householder) and '' vanaprastha ...

, but only gave up the shikha and sacred thread. His name became Svarupa. After this, taking up the order of his

sannyasa ''Sannyasa'' (), sometimes spelled ''sanyasa'', is the fourth stage within the Hinduism, Hindu system of four life stages known as ''ashrama (stage), ashramas'', the first three being ''brahmacharya'' (celibate student), ''Gṛhastha, grihast ...

guru Guru ( ; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''guru'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian religions, Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: tr ...

, Purushottama Acharya went to Jagannatha Puri. At that time, he again met with Chaitanya. Swarup Damodar was the avatar of Lalita Sakhi of Vraj mandal dham. In the Nawadeep lila Lalita sakhi appeared as Swarup Damodar Goswami. Svarupa Damodara always stayed near the Lord. Whatever mood the Lord was in, Svarupa Damodara would perform kirtan to augment the Lord's internal sentiments. Around the same time that Svarupa Damodara came to Puri, Shri Ramananda Raya arrived from Vidyanagara. Shri Ramananda Raya was a great poet and could explain everything in a very elegant style. Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu heard Many valuable and secrets of Bhakti tatva, Prem Tatva, Radha Krishna Tatta, Ras tatva and many other topics from Ramanand Rai, in South India near the bank of river

Godavari river The Godavari (, Help:IPA/Sanskrit, �od̪aːʋəɾiː is India's second longest river after the Ganges River, Ganga River and drains the third largest Drainage basin, basin in India, covering about 10% of India's total geographical area. It ...

References

{{Caitanya sampradaya Gaudiya religious leaders