Srila Jiva Goswami
A Comprehensive Guide to Śrī Vṛndāvana Dhāma
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Overview
He was one of the Six Gosvamis of the Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradaya. Vaisnavadikadarsani provides the following information about him:
He was born in 1445 or 1435 saka (1523 or 1513 AD.), in either Abhirbhava-Sukla tritiya of Pausa (Dec-Jan) or Tirebhava-Sukla tritiya of Asvina (Sept-Oct). He was alive for eighty-five years, twenty years of which he lived at home and sixty-five years were spent in Vrndavana. Jiva's father was named Vallabha, although he was more commonly known as Anupama which was the name given to him by Lord Caitanya. Jiva lived in three places; Bakula Candradvipa, Fateyavad, and Ramakeli. He spent more time at Ramakeli with Rupa and Sanatana, the two elder brothers of his father Vallabha. Rupa and Sanatana were the ministers in the royal court of King Hussain Shah.
Visit with Lord Chaitanya in Ramakeli
When Lord Caitanya visited Ramakeli, Jiva, who was a mere boy, secretly had darsana of the Lord. That darsana had such an impact upon Jiva that he immediately gave up playing like a child and developed Caitanya-anuraga. Thereafter, Rupa, Sanatana and Vallabha went to Vrndavana. After visiting Vrndavana, Rupa and Vallabha left for Nilacala and along the way Vallabha passed away. Jiva was deeply grieved by the loss of his father and a mood of detachment from all worldly comforts arose within him. One night Lord Caitanya and Nityananda Prabhu appeared to him in a dream, which inspired him to leave Candradvipa and set out for Navadvipa, telling his family members that he was going away to study. Near Fateyavad he got rid of his escorts, keeping only one of them with him.
Reciept of Lord Nityananda's Grace
Jiva had a fair complexion and extremely handsome features. Upon arriving in Navadvipa he had the good fortune of receiving Nityananda Prabhu's grace, who touched Jiva's head with His feet. The devotees of Navadvipa, including Srinivasa, took great care of Jiva, and Jiva was extremely grateful. Nityananda Prabhu took Jiva on parikrama to all the places of Mahaprabhu's pastimes in Navadvipa. Thereafter Jiva requested Nityananda Prabhu to either permit him to go to Nilacala or else allow him to remain as Nityananda Prabhu's life long companion. However, Nityananda Prabhu denied both requests and commanded Jiva to first go to Kasi and study Vedanta, philosophy, etc. under Madhusudana Vacaspati and then go to Vrndavana. (After Vasudeva Sarvabhauma admitted defeat to Lord Caitanya, he taught his favorite disciple, Madhusudana Vacaspati the philosophy of Lord Caitanya.)
Taking leave of Nityananda Prabhu, Jiva went to the house of Tapana Misra at Kasi and completed his study of Vedanta, Nyaya, etc. under Madhusudana Vacaspati. In that sense Madhusudana was Jiva's Vaidantika guru (Bhaktiratnakara). Thereafter Jiva went to Vrndavana and Rupa and Sanatana, Jiva's uncles, happily received their nephew. Jiva then received diksa from Rupa Gosvami.
Writings of Jiva Gosvami
The following are the works of Jiva Gosvami in Sanskrit:
- Satsandarbha (on philosophy)
- Gopalacampu
- Govinda Virudavali
- Harinamamrta Vyakarana (This vyakarana has been written exclusively on the basis of the lessons imparted by Lord Caitanya after His return from Gaya. Study of this book will benefit a reader not only in vyakarana but also in Bhaktisastra.)
- Dhatusutramalika (Vyakarana)
- Madhuvamahotsava
- Samkalpa Kalpavringa
- Radhakrsnera Pada Cinha-vinirnaya Grantha
- Tika of Ujjalanilamani
- Tika of Bhatirasamrtasindhu
- Tika of Gopalatapani Upanisada
- Tika of Brahmasamhitopanisada
- Agnipuraniya Gayatribhasya
- Vaisnavatosani (Tika of Srimad Bhagavatam)
- Bhagavata Sandarbha (at the command of Rupa and Sanatana)
- Muktacaritra
- Sarasamgraha
At the end of each of his books Jiva Gosvami has mentioned the saka period in which it was completed.
In Vrndavana Jiva defeated two renowned scholars in debate. Bhaktamala mentions one of these incidents, and Premavilasa discusses his encounter with Rupanarayana.
Defeat of Prominent Scholars
Once Vallabha Bhatta, the renowned scholar and proud founder of the Vaisnava Vallabha sampradaya, had an encounter with Jiva Gosvami which is described as follows:
While Rupa Gosvami was writing the manuscript of his book Bhaktirasamrtasindhu, Vallabha Bhatta arrived there, took the papers from Rupa, glanced through them, and before leaving pointed out the mistakes in a sloka. Jiva Gosvami ould not tolerate the insult to his guru, Rupa. However, instead of taking up the issue in the presence of his guru, Jiva quietly left the place one the pretext of fetching water and accosted Vallabha on the road. A long argument ensued and ultimately Vallabha admitted defeat.
The following day, Vallabha came to Rupa's house and praised the talent of Jiva. Rupa did not appreciate his nephew's action and chastised Jiva saying that he was still unable to control his mind and as such he should leave the place and return only after he had succeeded in doing so. Following the command of his guru, Jiva went to the outskirts of Vrndavana and, with the intention of giving up his life, lay on the ground refusing to bathe or take any food. However, after Sanatana returned, he requested Rupa to pardon Jiva and thus he was brought back home.
Under similar circumstances Jiva defeated another digvijaya pandita by argument on sastra which continued for seven days.