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TEXT 53
sri-gadadhara dasa sakha sarvopari
kaji-ganera mukhe yenha bolaila hari
SYNONYMS
sri-gadadhara dasa-of the name Sri Gadadhara dasa; sakha-another branch; sarva-upari-above all; kaji-ganera-of the Kazis (Muslim magistrates); mukhe-in the mouth; yenha-one who; bolaila-caused to speak; hari-the holy name of Hari.
TRANSLATION
Sri Gadadhara dasa, the twenty-third branch, was understood to be the topmost, for he induced all the Muslim Kazis to chant the holy name of Lord Hari.
PURPORT
About eight or ten miles from Calcutta on the banks of the Ganges is a village known as Endiyadaha-grama. Srila Gadadhara dasa was known as an inhabitant of this village (endiyadaha-vasi gadadhara dasa). The Bhakti-ratnakara (Seventh Wave), informs us that after the disappearance of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Gadadhara dasa came from Navadvipa to Katwa. Thereafter he came to Endiyadaha and resided there. He is stated to be the luster of the body of Srimati Radharani, just as Srila Gadadhara Pandita Gosvami is an incarnation of Srimati Radharani Herself. Caitanya Mahaprabhu is sometimes explained to be radha-bhava-dyuti-suvalita, or characterized by the emotions and bodily luster of Srimati Radharani. Gadadhara dasa is this dyuti, or luster. In the Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika he is described to be the expansion potency of Srimati Radharani. He counts among the associates of both Srila Gaurahari and Nityananda Prabhu; as a devotee of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu he was one of the associates of Lord Krsna in conjugal love, and as a devotee of Lord Nityananda he is considered to have been one of the friends of Krsna in pure devotional service. Even though he was an associate of Lord Nityananda Prabhu, he was not among the cowherd boys but was situated in the transcendental mellow of conjugal love. He established a temple of Sri Gaurasundara in Katwa.
In 1434 sakabda (A.D. 1513), when Lord Nityananda Prabhu was empowered by Lord Caitanya to preach the sankirtana movement in Bengal, Sri Gadadhara dasa was one of Lord Nityananda's chief assistants. He preached the sankirtana movement by requesting everyone to chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra. This simple preaching method of Srila Gadadhara dasa can be followed by anyone and everyone in any position of society. One must simply be a sincere and serious servant of Nityananda Prabhu and preach this cult door to door.
When Srila Gadadhara dasa Prabhu was preaching the cult of hari-kirtana, there was a magistrate who was very much against his sankirtana movement. Following in the footsteps of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Srila Gadadhara dasa one night went to the house of the Kazi and requested him to chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra. The Kazi replied, "All right, I shall chant Hare Krsna tomorrow." On hearing this, Srila Gadadhara dasa Prabhu began to dance, and he said, "Why tomorrow? You have already chanted the Hare Krsna mantra, so simply continue."
In the Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika (verses 154-55) it is said:
radha-vibhuti-rupa ya
candrakantih pura vraje sa sri-gauranga-nikate dasa-vamsyo gadadharah purnananda vraje yasid
baladeva-priyagrani sapi karya-vasad eva pravisat tam gadadharam Srila Gadadhara dasa is considered to be a united form of Candrakanti, who is the effulgence of Srimati Radharani, and Purnananda, who is the foremost of Lord Balarama's very dear girlfriends. Thus Srila Gadadhara dasa Prabhu was one of the associates of both Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu.
Once while Srila Gadadhara dasa Prabhu was returning to Bengal from Jagannatha Puri with Nityananda Prabhu, he forgot himself and began talking very loudly as if he were a girl of Vrajabhumi selling yogurt, and Srila Nityananda Prabhu noted this. Another time, while absorbed in the ecstasy of the gopis, he carried a jug filled with Ganges water on his head as if he were selling milk. When Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared in the house of Raghava Pandita while going to Vrndavana, Gadadhara dasa went to see Him, and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was so glad that He put His foot on his head. When Gadadhara dasa Prabhu was present in Endiyadaha he established a Bala Gopala murti for worship there. Sri Madhava Ghosa performed a drama known as "Dana-khanda" with the help of Sri Nityananda Prabhu and Sri Gadadhara dasa. This is explained in the Caitanya-bhagavata, Antya-lila 5.318-94.
The tomb of Gadadhara dasa Prabhu, which is in the village of Endiyadaha, was under the control of the Samyogi Vaisnavas and later under the direction of Siddha Bhagavan dasa Babaji of Kalna. By his order, Sri Madhusudana Mullik, one of the members of the aristocratic Mullik family of the Narikeladanga in Calcutta, established a patavati (monastery) there in the Bengali year 1256 (A.D. 1849). He also arranged for the worship of a Deity named Sri Radhakanta. His son Balaicanda Mullik established Gaura-Nitai Deities there in the Bengali year 1312 (A.D. 1905). Thus on the throne of the temple are both Gaura-Nityananda Deities and Radha-Krsna Deities. Below the throne is a tablet with an inscription written in Sanskrit. In that temple there is also a small Deity of Lord Siva as Gopesvara. This is all described on a stone by the side of the entrance door.
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