Dhananjaya Pandita

[Paramananda das]

Caitanya-Bhagavata says that Dhananjaya  Pandita had all the symptoms of a great personality.  At every moment he was dear to Nityananda Prabhu's heart.  In this way, Vrndavana dasa Thakura describes the glories of Dhananjaya Pandita. Dhananjaya Pa.dita's birthplace was in Sitalagrama. This village is in the Bardhaman district in Katwa and is situated near the Mangalakota police station and the po...st office of Kaicara. Sri Bhaktivedanta Swami remarks, "On the narrow railway from Burdwan to Katwa is a railway station about nine miles from Katwa known as Kaicara. One has to go about a mile northeast of this station to reach Sitala. The temple was a thatched house with walls made of mud. Some time ago, the Zamindars of Bajaravana Kabasi, the Mulliks, constructed a big house for the purpose of a temple, but for the last sixty-five years, the temple has been broken down and abandoned. The foundation of the old temple is still visible. There is a tulasi pillar near the temple, and every year during the month of January the disappearance day of Dhananjaya Pandita is observed. It is said that for some time Pandita Dhananjaya was in a sankirtana party under the direction of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and then he went to Vrndavana. Before going to Vrndavana, he lived for some time in a village named Sancadapancada, which is six miles south of the Memari railway station. Somteimes this village is also known as the "place of Dhananjaya" (Dhananjayera Pata). After some time, he left the responsibility for worship with a disciple and went back to Vrndavana. After returning from Vrndavana to Sitala-grama, he established a Deity of Gaurasundraa in the temple. The descendants of Pandita Dhananjaya still look after the temple worship."
      Some people differ with the orthodox opinion of Dhananjaya Pandita's birthplace. According to their view, he took birth within the Cattagrama district in the area known as Jadagrama.  There, in a place which is also called Sitalagrama and is known as Sancada Pancada Grama is a deity whose service was established by him.
      Dhananjaya Pandita was in Nabadwipa when Caitanya Mahaprabhu performed his kirtana pastimes there. After he returned to Bengal from Vrndavana he established a deity in a village called Jalandi Grama. The deities of that temple are Sri Sri Gopinatha, Sri Sri Nitai-Gaura, and a salagrama-sila, Sri Sri Damodara.  Dhananjaya Pandita left no direct descendants. He had a brother named Sri Sanjaya. His son's name was Sri Rama Kanai Thakura. His birthplace is presently known as Muluka-grama and is near present-day Bolapura. Some people say that Sanjaya Pandita was the disciple of Dhananjaya Pandita. At present the service of the deities established in Sitalagrama by Dhananjaya Pandita are worshiped by the descendants of Sri Dhananjaya Pandita's disciples. Sri Dhananjaya Pandita had a disciple named Sri Jiva Krsna who established a deity of Sri Syamasundara which is presently maintained there in the house of a devotee named Sri Gopala Caudhari.   Sri Dhananjaya Pandita's samadhi-mandira or memorial resting place may be found in Sitala-grama. Dhananjaya Pandita passed away and entered into the eternal pastimes of the Lord on the eighth day of the full moon in the month of Karttika.See More

[Paramananda das]

krishnavatara-kale yah, striyo ye purushah priyah;
kalau te ’vatarishyanti, shridama-subaladayah.

     Krishnavatara-kale - at the time of Lord Krishna's incarnation; yah - who; striyah - women; ye - who; pururah - men; priyah - dear; kalau - in Kali-yuga; te - they; avatariryanti - will descend; shridama-subaladayah - headed by Shridama and Subala.

“My dear male and female associates, headed by Shridama and Subala, who came to this world at the time of My advent as Lord Krishna, will come again during the Kali-yuga.

Š

Text 56

catuh-shashti-mahantas te, gopa dvadasa balakah;

dharma-samsthapanarthaya, viharishyami tair aham.

     catuh-rarti-mahantah - 64 mahantas; te - they; gopa - gopas; dvadasa - 12; balakah - boys; dharma-samsthapanarthaya - to establish the4 truth of religion; vihariryami - I will enjoy pastimes; taih - with them; aham - I.

“The gopas will become the sixty-four mahantas and the twelve gopalas. To establish the truth of religion, I will enjoy many pastimes with them.

[Paramananda das]

Nectar of Devotion
The more confidential friends are called priya-sakhās and are almost Kṛṣṇa's age. Because of their very confidential friendship, their behavior is only on the basis of pure friendship. The behavior of other friends is on the ground of paternal love or servitude, but the basic principle of the confidential friends is simply friendship on an equal level. Some confidential friends are as follows: Śrīdāmā, Sudāmā, Dāmā, Vasudāmā, Kiṅkiṇi, Stoka-kṛṣṇa, Aṁśu, Bhadrasena, Vilāsī, Puṇḍarīka, Viṭaṅka and Kalaviṅka.
Nectar of Devotion 41:

Friends who are younger than Kṛṣṇa, who are always attached to Him and who give Him all kinds of service are called ordinary friends, or, simply, friends. Such ordinary friends are called sakhās, and the names of some sakhās are Viśāla, Vṛṣabha, Ojasvī, Devaprastha, Varūthapa, Maranda, Kusumāpīḍa, Maṇibandha and Karandhama. All of these sakhā friends of Kṛṣṇa seek only to serve Him. Sometimes some of them would rise early in the morning and immediately go to Kṛṣṇa's place and wait at the door to see Kṛṣṇa and to accompany Him to the pasturing grounds. In the meantime, Kṛṣṇa would be dressed by Mother Yaśodā, and when she would see a boy standing at the door, she would call him, "Well, Viśāla, why are you standing there? Come here!" So with the permission of Mother Yaśodā, he would immediately enter the house. And while Mother Yaśodā was dressing Kṛṣṇa, he would try to help put on Kṛṣṇa's ankle bells, and Kṛṣṇa would jokingly strike him with His flute. Then Mother Yaśodā would call, "Kṛṣṇa, what is this? Why are You teasing Your friend?" And Kṛṣṇa would laugh, and the friend would also laugh. These are some of the activities of Kṛṣṇa's sakhās. Sometimes the sakhās would take care of the cows who were going hither and thither. They would tell Kṛṣṇa, "Your cows were going off here and there," and Kṛṣṇa would thank them.

Sometimes when Kṛṣṇa and His sakhās went to the pasturing ground, Kaṁsa would send a demon to kill Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, almost every day there was a fight with some different kind of demon. After fighting with a demon, Kṛṣṇa would feel fatigued, the hairs on His head would be scattered, and the sakhās would immediately come and try to relieve Him in different ways. Some friends would say, "My dear Viśāla, please take this fan of lotus leaves and fan Kṛṣṇa so that He may feel some comfort. Varūthapa, you just brush the scattered hairs on Kṛṣṇa's head which have fallen upon His face. Vṛṣabha, don't talk unnecessarily! Immediately massage Kṛṣṇa's body. His arms have become tired from fighting and wrestling with that demon. Oh, just see how our friend Kṛṣṇa has become tired!" These are some examples of the treatment given to Kṛṣṇa by the sakhās.

One of the sakhās, known as Devaprastha, is described as follows. He is very strong, a ready scholar, and is very expert in playing ball. He wears a white dress, and he ties his hair into a bunch with a rope. Whenever there is a fight between Kṛṣṇa and the demons, Devaprastha is the first to help, and he fights just like an elephant.

One of the gopīs once said to her friend, "My dear beautiful friend, when Kṛṣṇa, the son of Mahārāja Nanda, was taking rest within the cave of a hill, He was keeping His head on the arms of Śrīdāmā, and He was putting His left hand on Dāmā's chest. Taking this opportunity, Devaprastha, out of his strong affection for Kṛṣṇa, immediately began to massage His legs." Such are the activities of Kṛṣṇa's friends out on the pasturing grounds.

The more confidential friends are called priya-sakhās and are almost Kṛṣṇa's age. Because of their very confidential friendship, their behavior is only on the basis of pure friendship. The behavior of other friends is on the ground of paternal love or servitude, but the basic principle of the confidential friends is simply friendship on an equal level. Some confidential friends are as follows: Śrīdāmā, Sudāmā, Dāmā, Vasudāmā, Kiṅkiṇi, Stoka-kṛṣṇa, Aṁśu, Bhadrasena, Vilāsī, Puṇḍarīka, Viṭaṅka and Kalaviṅka. By their various activities in different pastimes, all of these friends used to give transcendental pleasure to Kṛṣṇa.

The behavior of these confidential friends is described by a friend of Rādhārāṇī who told Rādhārāṇī, "My dear graceful Rādhārāṇī, Your intimate friend Kṛṣṇa is also served by His intimate boyfriends. Some of them cut jokes with Him in mild voices and please Him very much by this." For example, Kṛṣṇa had one brāhmaṇa friend whose name was Madhumaṅgala. This boy would joke by playing the part of a greedy brāhmaṇa. Whenever the friends ate, he would eat more than all others, especially laḍḍus, of which he was very fond. Then after eating more laḍḍus than anyone else, Madhumaṅgala would still not be satisfied, and he would say to Kṛṣṇa, "If You give me one more laḍḍu, then I shall be pleased to give You my blessings so that Your friend Rādhārāṇī will be very much pleased with You." The brāhmaṇas are supposed to give blessings to the vaiśyas (farming and merchant caste), and Kṛṣṇa presented Himself as the son of Mahārāja Nanda, a vaiśya; so the brāhmaṇa boy was right in giving blessings to Kṛṣṇa. Thus Kṛṣṇa was very pleased by His friend's blessings, and He would supply him with more and more laḍḍus.

Sometimes a confidential friend would come before Kṛṣṇa and embrace Him with great affection and love. Another friend would then come up from the rear and cover Kṛṣṇa's eyes with his hands. Kṛṣṇa would always feel very happy by such dealings with His confidential friends.

Out of all these confidential friends, Śrīdāmā is considered to be the chief. Śrīdāmā used to put on a yellow-colored dress. He would carry a buffalo horn, and his turban was of reddish, copper color. His bodily complexion was blackish, and around his neck there was a nice garland. He would always challenge Kṛṣṇa in joking friendship. Let us pray to Śrīdāmā to bestow his mercy upon us!