Srila Sanatana Gosvami
A Comprehensive Guide to Śrī Vṛndāvana Dhāma
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Overview
Sri Sanatana Gosvami used to worship Krsna living in a cottage near the birth place of Sri Krsna in Mahavana. One day Sanatana was begging alms near the bank of the Yamuna, where Madana Gopala deva and the other gopa boys used to play. When Madana Gopala saw Sri Sanatana, He ran to Sanatana and grabbing his hand said, "Oh father, I shall go with you." Sanatana said, "My dear son, why will you come with me?" Gopala insisted, "I want to stay with you. Sanatana replied, "But what am I going to feed you?" Gopala asked, "What do you eat?" Sanatana said, "I eat only dry bread and gram." Gopala replied, "I shall also eat that then." Sanatana protested, "You will not be able to eat that. You please stay with your parents." But Gopala insisted that He wanted to go with Sanatana. Eventually Sanatana pacified the boy and sent him to his parents. Sanatana then continued begging alms.
That night, the same boy appeared in Sanatana's dream and smilingly said, "Oh father, I am Madana Gopala. Tomorrow I shall come with you." He then disappeared. Sri Sanatana woke up and was mad with joy thinking, "What have I seen? I never saw such a beautiful child." Chanting the holy name, he opened the door and saw a beautiful Deity of Gopala waiting on the doorstep. The entire area was glowing due to the presence of the Deity. Sanatana stood spell-bound, tears of love poured from his eyes, wetting the feet of Gopala.
He then performed the abhiseka ceremony and worshiped the Deity with the utmost devotion. When Sri Rupa Gosvami saw the Deity of Gopala, he was also overwhelmed with ecstasy. Sri Rupa immediately sent a messenger to tell Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in Puri about the appearance of the Lord. Thus Sri Sanatana Gosvami continued worshiping Madana Gopala in his cottage.
Cooking for Gopala
Sri Sanatana Gosvami used to beg wheat and make bread from it, then he would offer the bread to Gopala. Sometimes he prepared vegetable curry for Gopala, while other times, being without oil or salt, he was unable to do so. Often times he offered only dry bread to Gopala. This disturbed Sanatana, but what could he do, he had been ordered by the Lord to write books. Being busy with this work, how could he find time to beg paise for buying oil and salt? Nevertheless, it saddened Sanatana to offer only dry bread to his Lord. The omniscient Lord, understanding the mind of his devotee said, "Sanatana feels hurt to offer me dry bread. He would like to offer Me opulent foodstuff........
Once a rich ksatriya of Multan named Sri Krsna Dasa Kapur, came to Mathura for some trading business. Along the way his boat became stuck on a sand bank in the Yamuna and he was unable to travel any further down the river. When Krsnadasa Kapur heard that there was a great saint named Sanatana Gosvami living nearby he eagerly sought him out and found Sanatana immersed in writing. He wore only a kaupina and his body was emaciated. Krsnadasa immediately fell prostrate at the feet of Sanatana. Sanatana offered him a seat, but Krsnadasa did not accept it, rather he sat on the ground. "Baba," Krsnadasa said, "Please be kind to me, my boat is stuck in the Yamuna and I am unable to set it free."
Sri Sanatana replied, "I know nothing, you tell your problem to Madana-gopala." Krsnadasa offered his obeisances to Madana-gopala and begged that His boat be freed, promising that he would then dedicate all of his profits for the service of Madana-gopala. That same afternoon there was a heavy storm which made it possible for Kapur to set his boat free. Seeing this as the mercy of the Lord, Krsnadasa donated all of his profits for the service of Madana-Gopala, namely to build Him a temple, prepare bhoga and arrange royal service for Him daily. Thus Sanatana's desire to serve the Lord opulently was fulfilled and he was overcome with joy. Krsnadasa Kapur accepted initiation from Sri Sanatana Gosvami.
Visiting Rupa and Raghunatha Gosvamis
One day, desiring to see Sri Rupa and Sri Raghunatha, Sri Sanatana came to Radha kunda. Rupa and Raghunatha eagerly got up from their seats, offered their obeisances and a seat to Sanatana. They sat together happily discussing topics of Krsna. Sri Rupa had written a book named Chatu Puspanjali in which he quoted Sri Radha stava. Sri Sanatana read that stava in which he came across the word "vyalanganaphanam" (i.e. the plait of Sri Radharani looks just like the hood of a female snake). Sri Sanatana began to wonder whether it was correct to compare the plait of Sri Radharani to the hood of a venomous female snake.
At noon Sri Sanatana Gosvami went to take bath in the kunda. Along the way he came across some gopa girls playing under a tree near the kunda. As he looked at them it appeared to him that there were snakes swinging on their backs. He anxiously warned the girls, "Oh girls, beware of the snakes, they are climbing up in your plaits." The girls were playing happily and did not hear Sanatana, who then ran towards them to warn them. Seeing Sanatana running toward them, Sri Radha and her playmates smilingly disappeared. Sri Sanatana was shocked and perplexed, but remembering the comparison give by Sri Rupa, he clearly understood everything.
Seeing Madana Gopala
One day when Sri Sanatana Gosvami was living at Mahavana, he came across Sri Madana Gopala playing on the bank of the Yamuna. Astonished, he thought, "What am I seeing? Is that actually Madana Gopala?" He thought that perhaps it was another gopa boy. On another day he again saw the same gopa playing with the other gopas. That day Sanatana decided to wait and see where the boy went. When evening came, the gopa boys began to return to their houses after playing. Madana Gopala then entered into the temple. In this way Sanatana came to understand that Madana Gopala used to play daily on the bank of the Yamuna.
Recieving Milk from Sri Krishna
At one time Sanatana gave up taking rice or water and sat meditating in a solitary place on the bank of Pavana-Sarovara. At this time the omniscient Lord arranged to provide food for His devotee. Just before dusk, Sri Krsna, in the guise of a little boy, came before Sri Sanatana with some milk and said, "Oh father, I have brought your milk."
Sanatana--"Why have you gone through so much trouble to bring me milk?" Sri Krsna--"Because I know that you are fasting?" Sanatana-- "How did you know?" Sri Krsna--"When I came back from grazing the cattle I passed by the lake and saw you sitting here." Sanatana--Why hasn't anyone come with you?" Sri Krsna--No one else had any time as there are many household duties to be done, so I came alone." Sanatana--"Ah, you are only a child yet you have to suffer so much." Sri Krsna--"No, no my father, I am not feeling any difficulty." Sri Sanatana Gosvami quickly took the pot of milk from His hand and said, "My dear child, please be seated. I shall at once empty the pot."
Sri Krsna--"No, my father, I won't stay long. It is now almost evening, I must go to milk the cows. Tomorrow I shall come back for the pot." Saying this the boy disappeared. Staring into the emptiness, perplexed, Sri Sanatana suddenly realized that Sri Krsna Himself had delivered the milk to him. Floating in tears, Sanatana drank the milk. From that time onward he begged alms for his meal and the inhabitants of Vraja built a cottage for him to live in.
Circumabulating Govardhana Hill
Sri Sanatana Gosvami used to circumambulate Govardhana hill every day. However, as he grew older it became increasingly more difficult to cover this fourteen miles daily. Nevertheless, he did not want to stop his regulated practice. Realizing the difficulty of His devotee, Sri Krsna appeared in the guise of a gopa child and said, "Oh my father, you are aged now, it is not necessary for you to continue going around the hill of Govardhana everyday." Sri Sanatana protested, "But it is my regular worship." Sri Krsna replied, "Leave it now that you are so old." But Sanatana insisted, "Rule is rule, it is not wise to leave it."
Sri Krsna then gave him a piece of stone embossed with His own footprint and said, "Father, this is a stone from Govardhana, go around this daily and you will get the same result." Sri Krsna gave him the stone and disappeared. Sri Sanatana was astonished and realized that the King of the hill Himself had given him the stone. After that he circumambulated the stone daily.
Sanatana used to perform his bhajan in a place called Cakalesvara in Govardhana. However, there was an abundance of mosquitos there, which disturbed Sanatana. One day he decided, "I won't stay here any longer. It is not a suitable place to worship or write." Understanding the mind of Sanatana, Lord Siva appeared to him in a dream and said, "Sanatana, carry on with your service to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu because from tomorrow you will no longer be disturbed by mosquitos." From that day onward that place became free from the disturbance of mosquitos and Sri Sanatana carried on with his bhajan without hindrance.
More Prayers and Quotes: Srila Sanatana Gosvami
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