Deliverance of Rupa Sanatana - 6

Kalpatararu Co-operative Housing Society

Community Hall

CBD Belapur Navi Mumbai

Sector 8-B

July 24, 2010

There is a description about an incident in Rupa Goswami’s life. Rupa Goswami

once had a deep desire to serve his brother Sanatana Goswami some sweet rice.
However he did not have the facility for getting the rice preparation underway. Just
as Rupa Goswami was wondering what to do , there arrived a young girl who had
not yet reached her adolescence. She was carrying with her , Milk, Rice, Sugar,
Stove etc. As she approached Rupa Goswami she handed over the ingredients to
him saying that this should sort out things and that he should start making the
sweet rice.When Sanatana Goswami tasted the sweet rice, he immediately
entered into divine ecstasy that was indescribable. Sanatana Goswami enquired
from Rupa Goswami as to who had made provisions for the raw material. Rupa
Goswami told Sanatana Goswami that a young girl had come to him and handed
over the ingredients to him. Santana Goswami immediately jumped in excitement
and exclaimed that the very same Srimati Radharani who was the object of the
brothers’ devotion in the guise of a small village girl had approached Rupa
Goswami and it was unfortunate that instead of serving Her, they had taken
service from Her. This was the standard of Bhakti which the two brothers
displayed and such a was their level of devotional service ,exceptional and very
rare to find.

There is an incident in the life of one of the other four Goswamis, Srila
Raghunatha Das Goswami. He would chant 190 rounds of Mahamantra daily. He
would be often lost in trance as he chanted the holy names of the Lord. After his
rounds he would partake just two drops of buttermilk. Once when Raghunath Das
Goswami was in deep trance as he chanted his beads, there was a lion that was
preparing to attack him. Raghunath Das Goswami was quite obviously oblivious of
this fact and continued his chanting. As the lion prepared for its kill , there
appeared on the scene , a blue body colored youth, wearing silky yellow garments
and holding a stick in his hands. He stood beside the meditating Goswami and

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stared at the Lion. He signaled the lion to retract its intentions and strangely the
lion was immediately subdued. The animal backed out and disappeared from the
place. It is said that in Vrindavana nobody bears enmity with anyone. All this was
being observed by Sanatana Goswami. Sanatana Goswami immediately
summoned Raghunatha Das Goswami and told him that although Raghunatha
Das Goswami’s devotion to the Lord was laudable, he had to understand that to
keep his devotional service going, the Supreme Lord also had to Himself
contribute towards that end. So saying Sanatana Goswami narrated all that
happened to Raghunatha Das Goswami. Sanatana Goswami told Raghunatha
Das Goswami that Bhajana means to offer services to the Lord and not take His
services, which was evident in the above incident. Hence Santana Goswami
requested Raghunatha Das Goswami to construct a Bhajana Kuti which would
offer safety as he performed his devotional practice. This would ensure that beasts
will be kept away from the vicinity since they do not enter huts or Kuti. This was
the concept of a Bhajana Kuti and the very first Bhajana Kuti was constructed for
Raghunatha Das Goswami at the behest of Sanatana Goswami.

There was another incident in the life of Sanatana Goswami which is worth
mentioning. Once a man approached Sanatana Goswami and told him that he had
come to know that Sanatana Goswami had a touchstone or Chintamani with him
which could convert any base metal to gold. Sanatana Goswami told this person
that it was true indeed, however he had thrown it into the nearby garbage bin. If
the person was so interested, he should go and pick it up from there. The guest
now started wondering if Sanatana Goswami had thrown something like the
Chintamani into the garbage bin, he would be definitely in possession of
something more superior than the touchstone. When the man enquired about this
to Sanatana Goswami, Sanatana Goswami said that he possessed the “Harinaam
Chintamani” with him which was superior to any material possession. Thus based
on this incident there is also a literary work by Srila Bhakti Vinode Thakur which is
known as Harinaam Chintamani.

Once Rupa Goswami wrote a poem in which he had described the flowing hair of
Srimati Radharani to be like black snakes. Sanatana Goswami felt that it was
inappropriate to compare Srimati Radharani’s hair to black snakes and wanted to
change the lines written by Rupa Goswami. The next day as Sanatana Goswami
came to Radha Kunda for his daily ablutions, he observed that there were some
young girls having bath in the Kunda. There was a certain girl who was taking bath
and she had a black snake twirled on her head. Seeing this Sanatana Goswami
went aghast. He immediately cried for help and went running towards the young
girl. To his amazement the young girl disappeared. Thus it struck Sanatana
Goswami that it was Radharani Herself who had come in person to sanction the
description of her hair by Rupa Goswami. Sanatana Goswami thus realized that

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there was no need to change the lines that described Srimati Radharani’s hair to
be like black snakes. This indicated that the exalted position of both Rupa and
Sanatana Goswami where the Lord and His consort intervened from time to time
and gave them assurance.

There is another instance in the life of Sanatana Goswami. Sanatana Goswami

used to do his prayers in the Chakaleshwar Mandir in Vrindavana.However he
was constantly troubled by mosquitoes in that area. Sanatana Goswami made up
his mind to vacate the place and look for a new place where he could carry out his
devotional service unabated. Sri Chakaleshwar who was none other than Lord
Siva appeared in the form of a Brahmana and assured Sanatana Goswami that
the mosquito problem would be solved immediately. Lord Siva summoned the
presiding deity of the mosquito and instructed him to keep away from the temple
premises. It is a well know fact that even today at the Chakaleshwar Mandir in
Vrindavana there is no sign of mosquitoes within the premises , however as we
step out of the temple , the place is infested by mosquitoes.

Sanatana Goswami had a very strict routine every day. He used to do a 25 km

Govardhan parikrama every day. After this he would do his 190 mala rounds.
Then he would do his namaskars which would be about 1000 on special days.
After this if he got time he would consume some food. Sanatana Goswami was
revered by the whole of Braja Desh and he was often welcomed by tears of love
by the innocent village folk. He would enquire about the peoples’ welfare and he
would often spend some good time with them. He would be honored amply by the
village folks. Sanatana Goswami thus indulged in this strange routine of crying
and making others cry out of love.Sanatana Goswami had a very strict routine
every day. He used to do a 25 km Govardhan parikrama every day. After this he
would do his 190 mala rounds. Then he would do his namaskars which would be
about 1000 on special days. After this if he did get time he would consume some
morsels. Sanatana Goswami was revered by the whole of Braja Desh and he was
often welcomed by tears of love by the innocent village folk. He would enquire
about the peoples’ welfare and he would often spend some good time with them.
He would be honored amply by the village folks. Sanatana Goswami thus indulged
in this strange routine of crying and making others cry out of love. There was a
certain village in Braja which Sanatana Goswami used to frequent and the
innocent villagers used to compel him to stay back all the time by saying
“sit..sit..sit..do not leave…” In Hindi it translated to “Baithan Baithan…” and this
particular village was thus named Baithan. Srila Sanatana Goswami used to do
his pooja to Sri Sri Madana Mohana which was in one corner of Vrindavana and
then travel on foot to Govardhana which in modern days takes 1 hour to travel by
bus from Vrindavana. Srila Sanatana Goswami never used to compromise in his
austerities and followed his strict routine throughout life.