According to my FFLV calendar, today is the disappearance day (tirobhava tithi) of Sri Ramachandra Kaviraja. Today I went to Dhira Sameera, to the beautiful kunja of Srinivasacharya Prabhu, to pay my respects at Ramachandra Kaviraja’s samadhi. Nothing was going on at the mandir, and I inquired from the caretaker whether or not the tirobhava was today. She replied that she was not sure, that the gosvami families of this kunja now live and work in Delhi. She asked me to please return for Srinivasacharya’s disappearance day in Kartik, when there would be a big festival celebrating both Srinivasacharya and Ramachandra Kaviraja.
Since (by the reckoning of my calendar!) Ramachandra Kaviraja’s day is today, I want to tell a story about him. Not a detailed report, because I have lost many of the books I once had, but a single story which I tell from memory. I hope you will kindly oblige me.
Ramachandra Kaviraja was the son of Srikhanda-vasi Chiranjeev Sen, and the brother of the great poet Govinda Kaviraj. His Gurudev was none other than Sri Srinivas Acharya Thakur, who in turn was the disciple of Sri Gopal Bhatta Gosvami. (According to Prema Vilasa, Ramachandra Kaviraja’s wife, Ratnamala Devi, was also a disciple of Srinivas Acharya). Govinda Kaviraj calls RamachandraKaviraj, Narottam Das Thakur’s abhinna kalevara or identical second body. As Srinivasacharya was an appearance of SrimanMahaprabhu, and Narottama of Nityananda Prabhu, so Ramachandra Kaviraja is considered an appearance of Gadadhara Pandit.
Like his beloved friend Narottam Thakur, Ramachandra Kaviraj was the image of Guru Nistha, or firm dedication to the guru. The following story illustrates the depths of hs supernatural connection with his Gurudev, Sri Srinivas Acharya.
Srinivas Acharya Thakur lived in Sripat Jajigram in West Bengal with his two wives, Isvari and Srimati. One day while Srinivas was sitting for japa and meditation on Vraja lila, he entered into deep samadhi. It was not unusual for him to remain so absorbed for hours, but this time night came and went and still his samadhi did not break.
Dawn flowed into midday, midday into dusk, but still Srinivas remained sitting on his asana, his mind turned inwards, unaware of the outside world. Srimati and Isvari were distressed to see their husband in this state. When another night came and he still showed no sign of consciousness, Srimati and Isvari called for Srinivasa’s dearest disciple, Ramachandra Kaviraj. Ramachandra came and they told him,
“Ram! Your Gurudev has been sitting in meditation for two days. He has not eaten anything, and his breathing is very slow. We are afraid he might die!”
Ramachandra said, “O my dear mothers! I will find out what’s the matter. Don’t worry, everything will be alright.” Ramachandra sat near his Gurudeva and began to meditate. Soon he became completely immersed in Vraja Lila, and saw himself in his svarupa as “Karuna-manjari.” …”Karuna manjari” found herself in the midst of a grove of trees and flowering vines, and heard the sounds of Radharani’s sakhis laughing with Krishna. Following the sounds of their laughter, she made her way to the bank of Sri Radhakunda.
There she saw two or three manjaris standing far away from Radha and Krishna and the sakhis, looking with distress towards the water of the kunda. One of them explained, “Radharani has lost her favorite nose ring during jala-keli! We must get it back. See, your sakhi is searching for it now.” Karuna-manjari saw her guru-rupa-sakhi, Mani Manjari (Srinivas Acharya Thakur) diving again and again into the waters of Radhakunda in search of the missing nose ring. Karuna-manjari dove into the water and joined in the search. Within half an hour, she found Radharani’s nose ring and gave it to Mani Manjari. Mani Manjari was overjoyed to find the nosering at last. She gave the nosering to Rupa Manjari, who placed it in the nose of Radharani.
Rupa Manjari said to Mani-manjari, “Radharani is so pleased with your seva, she secretly gave me her chewed tambul for you. Take it.” Mani-manjari took a little of Radharani’s prasadi tambul and gave the rest to Karuna-manjari. Now that the nose ring was found, both Srinivasacharya and Ramachandra Kaviraj returned to external consciousness.
Meanwhile, a third day had come and gone. Srimati and Isvari were weeping bitterly, when Srinivas and Ramachandra finally came to thier own. Srimati and Isvari immediately made arrangements for their prasada, as Srinivas had not eaten for three days, and bade him take rest.
The next morning Srimati and Isvari inquired of Ramachandra Kaviraj, “What happened? How our husband ended up in such a condition? Please tell us everything!” Ramachandra told Srinivasa’s wives the story of Radharani’s lost nose ring, and they listened with rapt attention. “So you see, o mothers, that is why Gurudeva remained in meditation for three days — he had to complete his seva for Radharani.”
The story brought forth a great surge of bhakti in the hearts of Srimati and Isvari. With tears pouring from their eyes, they said toRamachandra, “Ram! We also want to worship Sri Radharani in this way, along with you and your Gurudeva. Is it possible? How can we do this?”
Then Ramachandra untied the end of his shawl. He took out something that was tied in it and said…
“This is the prasadi tambul of Radharani which I received today in the Lila. Take it. By Radharani’s mercy your desires will be fulfilled.” He divided the tambul in to two pieces, which Srimati and Isvari ate. From that day on Srimati and Isvari attained bhakti equal to that of Ramachandra Kaviraj.
Gurudev has written in one of his books:
“Narottam Thakur Mahasay wrote,
‘rAmacandra kavirAj sei sange mor kAj
tA~r saGga vinA sab zUnya
yadi janma hoy punaH tA~r saGga hoY yeno
tabe narottama hoy dhanya ‘
“Why did Srila Narottam Thakur pray for Ramchandra Kaviraja’s association? Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to pray for the “object of attainment” (sAdhya vastu), ie. Sri Guru-Gaura-Govinda? But here Narottam Thakur Mahasay doesn’t express desire for Guru, Gaura or Govinda, but rather thirsts after the association of Ramchandra Kaviraj. Why is that? What’s the meaning behind it? The reason is, Ramchandra Kaviraj is exclusively devoted and fully sold out to Sri Gurudev. It may be that Narottam Thakur Mahasay wishes to teach through this prayer, that if we obtain the company of one who is firmly fixed in devotion to Sri Guru, then we will attain Sri Guru-Gaura-Govinda very easily.” Elsewhere Gurudeva adds, “If we hold the guru-nistha-bhakta (devotee who is firmly dedicated to the lotus feet of Sri Guru) in our heart, then Gurudeva is drawn to us like a mother cow to her newborn calf.”
Let us all hold him in our heart today — the very form of Guru-nistha-bhakti, Sri Ramachandra Kaviraj!
When reading this chapter 14 of Prema Vilasa I became curious to know where Sri Khanda is;
http://www.maplandia.com/india/west-bengal/barddhaman/srikhanda/
I found Sri Khanda on Twitter also and facebook:
http://twitter.com/#!/srikhanda:
In the Bhakti Ratnakara chapter 9 ,Ramachandra Kaviraja is described in the following way:
The Vrndavana tour of Shri Ramacandra Kaviraja
Shrinivasa Acarya had decided to stay in Vrndavana but his disciples in Gauda were feeling very lonely without him. One day in Shri Khanda Shri Raghunandana told Ramacandra Kaviraja gently that since this place had become vacant he should at once go to Vrndavana. He gave Ramacandra good directions and Ramacandra went first to Jajigram. The followers of Shrinivasa told Ramacandra that it had become impossible for them to live without their Acarya. They requested him to go quickly to Vrndavana and bring Shrinivasa back to them. After taking permission from the disciples of Shrinivasa, Ramacandra returned home.
Thereafter Ramacandra began to think about Shri Narottama. He believed that his miseries would vanish if he could only live with Narottama.
Ramacandra's brother, Shri Govinda, was a man of extraordinary knowledge, competence and enthusiam for his work. As they sat together in a quiet place Ramacandra told him that the next morning he would go to Shri Vrndavana. He advised ShriGovinda to move to a village named Telia Budhari, a holy place which was situated between the Ganga and Padmavati rivers. It was a large and well populated village inhabitated by good natured people. Ramacandra suggested that Shri Govinda live there, for even his maternal grandfather, a very famous man, had often visited that holy place. He told Shri Govinda that his presence in that place would bring pleasure to many of the people and Shri Govinda at once agreed to follow the suggestion. Thereafter Ramacandra imparted various spiritual truths to Shri Govinda and the following morning left his brother and started for Vrndavana. Shrinivasa had gone to Vrndavana about the end of Vaisakha and Ramacandra went there about the end of Pausa.
The life story of Govidna the brother of Ramacandra
After two to four days Shri Govinda left Kumar Nagara and went to Telia, where the villagers received him happily. The gentlemen of the village came forward to meet him and selected a beautiful place for him to live. They were impressed by ShriGovinda's good qualities and he was very happy to have their kind and affectionate association. Although Govinda was satisfied there he never forgot the mercy of Shrinivasa Acarya. He wondered when the day would come that he would be a servant at the feet of Shri Acarya, when the Acarya would grant him diksa mantra and when he would be admitted into the companions of Shri Acarya.
As a devotee of Goddess Bhagavati, Govinda lived in Kumar Nagara, worshipping the Goddess with songs and poetry which were the delight of his many companions who were also worshippers of Shakti. The poet explained the reason for his attachment to Goddess Bhagavati. His maternal grandfather was a shakta who kept Bhagavati always by his side. His grandfather's name was Damodara Kavirja and Damadora's daughter was Sunanda. Govinda was Sunanda's son. Govindaremained in his mother's womb too long and Sunanda was in great distress at the time of delivery. Her maidservant hastily informed Kaviraja of the problem while he was engaged in worshipping Bhagavati. He did not speak to the maidservant but by certain movements of his hands and eyes he indicated that she should take the weapon of Shri Durga and show it toSunanda. That would assist her in a painless delivery of her child. The maidservant could not understand Kaviraja's indications very well. She washed the weapon in water and gave the water to Sunanda to drink. Thereafter Sunanda quickly and painlessly gave birth to a beautiful son.
The child grew day by day like the moon. Everyone in the vilalge knew that he was born by the mercy of Shri Bhagavati. As a young child he lost his father and gained no worldly eduaction. His maternal grandfather cared for him throughout his childhood, moulding Govinda according to his own doctrines and rituals used in worshipping Bhagavati. Other people also advised Govindato continue the worship of Bhagavati. They insisted that no activity could be successful without the pleasure of Bhagavati.
When Ramacandra took initiation from Shri Acarya Shri Govinda assured himself that since he had been worshipping Bhagavati sincerely from his childhood, Bhagavati would certainly grant him salvation. But as he was thinking this an oracle from Bhagavti told him that if he did not worship Krishna he would not get salvation. Although he was unhappy, Shri Govinda decided to become a disciple of Shri Acarya Prabhu and worship the lotus feet of Krishna. For that purpose he went to Jajigram only to learn that Shri Acarya had gone to Vrndavana. Govinda lamented his misfortune, but he considered the kindness of the Vaishnavas who had told him about his own father, Chiranjiva Sena. Chiranjiva was a disciple of Chaitanya Candra and Govind alamented that he could not follow the path of his devoted father. He regarded himself as a worthless person in this world and lamented his misfortune.
Govinda cherished the hope of meeting Shri Acarya so that a change would occur in his wicked mind. He remembered his elder brother whose life had already been moulded by the favor of Acarya Prabhu. He lamented that even though his elder brother had gotten the favor of the Acarya he himself had not. He cried as he rebuked himself and soaked his body with tears. At that moment a oracle from the sky told him that his desires would be fuliflled within a few days. From that very day Govinda's devotion to Radha and Krishna increased steadily. Ramacandra was glad to find his brother in this transformed state of mind. When Govinda moved to Telia Budhuari villae he first lived on the Western side which was known as Shri Paschimapia and later settled in Budharia. In everh sphere of life Govinda liked to depend on his elder brother.
Shri Ramacandra Kaviraja in Vrndavana
As Ramacandra travelled hurriedly to Vrndavana people who observed him remarked that they had never seen such a person. They thought he was probably the son of a king from Gauda. Some people thought he not even a human being but rather a deity. When he arrived in Vrndavana someone informed Shri Jiva Gosvami that a beautiful person, with skin as bright as gold, had come from Gauda. They told Shri Jiva that thy were charmed by the sight of that man who was wandering aimlessly in Vrndavana, crying as he enjoyed the beauty of of the holy dhama. Shri Jiva asked Shrinivasa if he knew who the man was and Shrinivasa said that it must be Ramacandra.
Shrinivasa had preciously told Jiva Gosvami about Ramacandra, so Shri Jiva ordered his followers to bring Ramacandra to his place. When Ramacandra arrived he bowed at the feet of Shri Jiva and Shrinivasa Acarya and both of them lovingly embracedRamacandra. They asked him questions about the places which he had visited on his trip and Ramacandra first reported what Khandavasi Shri Raghunandana had told him. He also repoted what he had heard from other Vaishnavas and he told them the progress of his own study and the result of the long tour which he had completed to Gaya, Kashi, Ayodhya and Prayaga.
From this report Shri Jiva Gosvami could understand the condition of those holy places since the disappearance of Mahaprabhuand his beloved companions. Ramacandra informed them that the inhabitants of Gauda wanted Shrinivasa to return and both Shrinivasa and Shri Jiva took the request seriously. Thereafter they took Ramacandra with them to visit the temple of RadhaDamodara.
While observing the deities of Radha Damodara Ramacandra fell on the ground crying and while visiting the Samadhi of Rupa Gosvami he was moved with emotion. When he cried loudly, calling out the name of Shri Rupa, Shri Jiva took him on his lap and pacified him.
He visited the temples of Shri Govinda, Gopinatha, Madana Mohan, Radha Damodara and Shri Radha Raman and wherever he went he could barely restrain his emotions. He also visited the samadhis of Sanatana Gosvami, Kasisvara Pandita and raghunatha Bhatta although it filled him with grief. Shri Gopala Bhatta, Lokenatha, Shri Bhugarba and other Vaishnavas came to meet and bless him.
Shri Ramacandra visits Radha kunda
Thereafter Ramacandra visited Aritagrama and also visied radha and Syama kunda. After bathing in the kundas he met Raghunatha dasa Gosvmami and bowed at his feet. Raghunatha embraced him affectionately, and was later impressed byRamacandra's ability to write verses. Ramacandra also met Krishnadasa Kaviraja and other Vaishnavas of that area. He visited Giri Govardhana and roamed happily in the twelve forests. Shri Bhatta Gosvami and others in Vrndavana praised Ramacandraand because of his talent as a poet they offered the title of Kaviraja to him. Ramacandra assited his guru Shrinivasa Acarya in serving Shri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami in various ways. Shri Jiva Gosvami was happy to observe the sweet relationship between the guru and his disciple.
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