Raghunāth Dās Goswāmī and the Mercy of Nityānanda Prabhu
Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāja, excerpted from The Nectarean Glories of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu.
Before he met Nityānanda Prabhu, Raghunāth Dās Goswāmī could not leave his saṁsāra, but by the blessing of Nityānanda Prabhu he attained Mahāprabhu’s lotus feet. And even more than that, Mahāprabhu accepted him as His exclusive servitor and gave him the position as one of the pillars of His conception. He became the Prayojan-tattva-āchārya, the exemplary distributor of the topmost perfection of Mahāprabhu’s highest service ideal. He showed the world the ultimate destination, the very summum bonum of life.
Raghunāth Dās Goswāmī expressed his feelings of divine fortune,
nāma-śreṣṭhaṁ manum api śachī-putram atra svarūpaṁ
rūpaṁ tasyāgrajam uru-purīṁ māthurīṁ goṣṭha-vāṭīm
rādha-kuṇḍaṁ giri-varam aho rādhikā-mādhavāśāṁ
prāpto yasya prathita-kṛpayā śrī-guruṁ taṁ nato ’smi1
I bow down to the lotus feet of Śrī Guru, by whose causeless mercy I have attained the highest conception of the Holy Name and the divine mantra. I have come to the service of the great saviour, Śrī Śachī Nandan, who is like a golden mountain standing to show the direction of Kṛṣṇa-līlā, and the association of His most intimate servitor Śrīla Svarūp Dāmodar. I gained the association of Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī, who was personally ordered by Mahāprabhu Himself to distribute the rasa of spontaneous devotion, and Sanātan Goswāmī, who revealed to the world perfect sambandha-jñān, proper acquaintance with the environment. I have been given the divine abode of Mathurā Vṛndāvan with Rādhā Kuṇḍa and Govardhan Hill. And finally I have been given the hope and aspiration that one day I may be welcomed into the service plane where Śrī Śrī Rādhikā-Mādhava are in Their glory, sitting and playing.
This śloka of Śrīla Raghunāth Dās Goswāmī is also the expression of Śrīla Kṛṣṇadās Kavirāj Goswāmī. He also felt, “Nityānanda Prabhu has so mercifully given me the dust of His lotus feet, and so I have become Kṛṣṇadās Kavirāj Goswāmī. I am a very fallen soul, but, by the grace of Nityānanda Prabhu, I have got everything. Now I am truly a rich man because Śrī Rūpa and Śrī Raghunāth have given me their mercy, and they have accepted me as their servitor.” In this way Kṛṣṇadās Kavirāj Goswāmī described his real wealth. Kṛṣṇadās Kavirāj Goswāmī also prayed to Nityānanda Prabhu just as Raghunāth Dās did.
- Śrī Muktā-charitam 2 [↩]
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