Radha-raman: The Heartbeat of Vrindavan

Sri Sri Radharamandev's Apperance Day 2025

On May 12th 2025 we celebrated the Appearance Day of Sri Sri Radha Raman, the life and soul of Srila Gopala Bhatta Goswami who was among the six goswamis of Vrindavan who were the first generation and direct disciples of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Sri Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in the age of Kali to bestow upon the conditioned souls which was never bestowed since time immemorial, the love of Godhead. What Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared to give to the fallen souls of this world is nicely explained by Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraj Goswami, the author of Sri Caitanya Caritamrita.

anarpita-carīm cirāt karuṇayāvatīrṇaḥ kalau
samarpayitum unnatojjvala-rasām sva-bhakti-śriyam
hariḥ puraṭa-sundara-dyuti-kadamba-sandīpitaḥ
sadā hṛdaya-kandare sphuratu vaḥ śacī-nandanaḥ

May the Supreme Lord who is known as the son of Śrīmatī Śacī-devī be transcendentally situated in the innermost chambers of your heart. Resplendent with the radiance of molten gold, He has appeared in the Age of Kali by His causeless mercy to bestow what no incarnation has ever offered before: the most sublime and radiant mellow of devotional service, the mellow of conjugal love.

If you have some important mission then you personally handpick some competent men to execute it. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mission was very great and He wanted to spread the Holy name of the Lord in every town and village of the entire world. So, He chose the six goswamis of Vrindavan who were very cultured, well-groomed, intelligent and coming from the respectable parantage. Just like in the recent History, Srila Bhakti Siddhant Saraswati Thakura chose our beloved Srila Prabhupada to take this mission all over the world. When Srila Prabhupad, for the first time met Srila Bhakti Siddhant Saraswati Thakura, offered his obesaince to Him and as Srila Prabhupada was getting up , Srila Bhakti Siddhant Saraswati asked him, “ You are nice young man, why don’t you preach the message of Lord Caitanya in the western world? and later when Srila Prabhupad met Sri Bhakti Siddhant at Radhakunda, He said, “ Whenever you get money, print books .” Srila Prabhupada took these two instructions as His life and soul and rest is the History. So, similarly five hundred years ago, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave four principle instructions to the goswamis for spreading the mission world wide and these intructions are as follows:

1. To establish temples and deity worship.
2. To write books on the Science of Devotional service.
3. To excavate the lost pastime places of Radha and Krsna.
4. To teach the world how to render pure devotional by their own examples.

In the year 1511, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu visited Sri Rangam, the place of Lord Sri Ranganath and stayed there for four months of Caturmasya. One day He went to the temple of Lord Sri Ranganath and did ecstatic kirtan and the main priest, Sri Vyankat Bhatta witnessed it. Later that day, Vyankat Bhatta invited Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to his home and washed His lotus feet. Sri Vyankat Bhatta had one son named Gopal and he got chance to personally serve Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Pleased by service of Gopal, Mahaprabhu blessed him and revealed him the deeper mellows of Pure devotional service. One day , Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave darshan to Gopal in a threefold bending form of a cowherd boy. The description of the form which Gopal saw is as follows:

The Lord’s eyebrows was curved like a bow, His soothing glance was more than adequate to steal the heart of women, His face outshown in Autumn moon and soft smile emanates rays and sweetness. He wore a beautifu dhoti, expertly wrapped in three foldings around His body. A Malati garland, hung from His neck which moves with certain grace and all decorated with jewels and ornaments.

After associating with Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Gopal deveoped great attachment to Him and one day asked Him whether he can come to Vrindavan along with Him. Sri Caittanya Mahaprabhu denied his proposal and asked him to stay in Sri Rangam only and serve his parents who were the pure devotees of Lord Sri Hari and after their departure, go to Vrindavan and meet there Sri Rupa and Sanatan and they will reveal you about Radha and Krsna. Soon after the departure of his parents, Gopal went to Vrindavan. At this time Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was residing in Sri Jagannath Puri and performing His wonderful pastimes with His intimate associates like Sri Swarupa Damodar Goswami and Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya.Due to his great attachment to Mahaprabhu, Gopal would have gone to Puri but He dutifully went to Sri Vrindavan as it was the instruction of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. This is the great lesson for all of us. Instead of choosing the Vapu seva , Gopal chose Vani seva. Srila Prabhupada said the Vani is more important than the Vapu. The Vapu is sometimes there or not there but the vani of the Spiritual master will remain forever. One time HH Indradyumna Swami Maharaj wrote a letter to Srila Prabhupada after His departure from the temple where he was serving to the other, expressing his feelings of separation from Him and Srila Prabhupada replied him saying, “As far as separation is concerned , I am also feeling separation from my spiritual master but I always feel that He’s watching over and protecting me.”

Finally Gopal arrived in Vrindavan and met Sri Rupa and Sanatan and they wrote a letter to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu regarding Gopal’s arrival. Caitanya Mahaprabhu sent them reply to the letter with a set of kaupins, a slab where Mahaprabhu would sit and the upper cloth; the Uttari as Gift for Gopal Bhatta Goswami. It is said that A Kaupin of a self realised soul accepted as prasad diminishes the attack of Kamadeva. Later Gopal was empowered by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to accept disciples and became known as Srila Gopal Bhatta Goswami among the Vaishnava Community.

One day Gopala Bhatta Goswami had a dream in which Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu instructed him to go to Kali Gandaki river and find Sri Hari. Kali Gandaki is a river which flows in Nepal and She is the source of Saligram Silas. Following the orders of Mahaprabhu, Gopal Bhatta Goswami went to Kali Gandaki river and brought back twelve Silas and while returning passed through a village called as Devbandh and met a bramhana named Madhavaprasad Sharma.This bramhana had two sons Gopinath and Damodar and Gopal Bhatta Goswami initiated them and brought them along with him to worship these silas. At this time , all the other Goswamis had found their Istadeva, the worshipable deity. Srila Santana Goswami found out Madanmohan, Srila Rupa Goswami found out Govindadeva and Srila Rupa Goswami carved a wonderful deity of Damodar and gave Him to Jiva Goswami. “All the other Goswamis are worshiping Their deities. I also want to serve my personal deity, dress Him nicely, offer foodstuff to Him and bath Him.” Thinking in this way He was intensly praying to the Lord to manifest His ownself in a form of deity so that He can worship Him. Again, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared in his dream and said, “My dear Gopal Bhatta, I am pleased with your worship and I’m very happy that you initiated Gopinath and Damodar to assist you. I know you are very anxious to worship a deity , but I assure you, very soon Krsna will manifest from the Silas into a deity form depending upon your intensity and hankering.”

In the anticipation Gopal Bhatta Goswami would put the silas on a swing and sing bhajans and kirtan for Their pleasure and would think that, “My deity should have face like Govindadev, chest like Gopinath and the lotus feet like Madanmohan.” It was the day of Nrsimha Caturdasi and throughout the village of Vrindavan he was hearing how Lord Nrsimhadeva appeared from a pillar for His devotee Prahlad Maharaj. Thinking in this way , he was intensely praying for the mercy of the Lord and at one point of time His anticipation exploded and He said to the Saligram sila, “If you don’t manifest in a deity form then I will carry you on my shoulder and jump into Yamuna and take away my life.” After that he went to take bath in Yamuna and after returning back what He witnessed was a miracle. The principal Damodar Sila, was transformed into a wonderful deity in three fold bending form what we see in Sri Sri Radharaman mandir today. Radharaman appeared near Rasa Sthali, Seva Kunja where He gives pleasure to Srimati Radharani. Sri Radha-ramana Deva, unlike other Deities, has very intricate features, including fingernails and even teeth. On the back side of His body parts of the original Shalagram shila from which He manifested Himself can be seen.

So, this beautiful deity is the gift of Srila Gopal Bhatta Goswami. Srila Prabhupada told HG Yamuna Mataji to visit all the seven temples of Vrindavan and specifically Sri Radha-raman and study the way they worship the deity and dress Them and Srila Prabhupada said that all our ISKCON temples should have Deity Worship standards like Sri Sri Radharaman. Srila Gopal Bhatta Goswami left us with many gifts. One of the gift is Srinivas Acarya who was his direct disciple also He wrote many books like.Sat-sandarbha karika, Sri Krsna-vallabha (Krsna karnamrtatika), Sat kriya sara dipika (a brilliant work on Vaishnava samkara viddhi), and Laghu Hari-bhakti vilasa with Dig darshini tika. From this work, Sri Sanatana Gosvami compiled the Hari-bhakti-vilasa now followed by all Gaudiya Vaishnavas. It is said, “Out of affection for Srila Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, Srila Sanatana Gosvami compiled the famous Vaishnava smriti titled Hari Bhakti Vilas, and published it under Gopala Bhatta Gosvami's name.”

Gopala Bhatta Gosvami resided for forty-five years in Sri Vrndavana, but out of great humility he requested Srila Krsna das Kaviraja Goswami not to mention his name in the classic work Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita that’s why we don’t find so many details about him. Gopala Bhatta Gosvami serves as Guna Manjari. In the Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika too, it is mentioned that in the eternal pastimes of Radha and Krsna, Gopala Bhatta Gosvami's name in Vraja-lila has been given as Guna manjari.

There’s one very nice pastime how Gopal Bhatta Goswami reciprocated with one of our ISKCON devotee, HG Guru Gauranga Pr, a disciple of HH Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaj. My Spiritual master, HH Indradyumna Swami Maharaj way back in 2006 would organise a festival on the island of Mauritius and Guru Gauranga Prabhu would sponsor it, so in May of 2006 , my spiritual master went to Guru Gauranga Pr’s house. As Maharaj took darshan of the deity , He was particulalry attracted by one of the Saligram Sila because He was perfectly round and delicate in His apperance and He asked Guru Gauranga Pr about the sila. Guru Gauranga Prabhu saying it’s a long story sat down with Maharaj and told how he got this sila . To make long story short: In the year 1992, Guru Gaurang Prabhu went to Bangladesh with travelling sankirtana party and happen to met a Gaudiya Vaishnava there. As he visited the old intricate temple, He was astonished after seeing the alter and specifically the Saligram Sila. He could not fathom his good fortune and in an amazement he asked the devotees if he can get that Saligram Sila for himself.All the devotees there were astonished to hear that and said We will ask our Guru. Later that day , the guru asked Guru Gauranga Pr to meet him and asked that who in the world preached the message of Lord Caitanya in western countries. I am seeing you, a white skinned Vaishnava and I am shocked, how it happened that the prediction of Mahaprabhu came to pass.

In reply, Guru Gauranga Pr proudly explained him, how our beloved Srila Prabhupada preached the message of Lord Caitanya all over the world and made tens and thousand of westerners into full-fledged Vaishnavas. Hearing Srila Prabhupada’s glories, the guru handed over the Saligram Sila to Guru Gauranga and said that these Silas are not ordinary and they are personally worshiped by Srila Gopal Bhatta Goswami and down the line They were handed over to us for worshiping and now I am handing over to you.

Coming back to Mauritius in the home of Guru Gauranga Pr, He said to Indradyumna Swami Maharaj ,”Actually I've been discussing with my wife how I've become so involved in my business nowadays that I hardly have time for puja. You know I've promised to help finance your festival program in Mauritius. On top of that, I've recently helped my own spiritual master, Bhakti Charu Maharaja, with the construction of his new temple in Ujjain. As a result, I've been working day and night.”

He paused. “So we decided to ask you if you would take the Deity and worship Him.”
Maharaj looked at the salagrama. His mind was racing. "He was offered in service by the lotus hand of one of the Six Goswamis," He thought. "What an honor it would be!" Absorbed in His thoughts, Maharaj heard Guru Gauranga say in the background. "So will you accept Him?" and Maharaj said, “Yes, of course. Thank you. What can I say? I'll worship Him with all the love and devotion I can.”

We, the members of ISKCON are very much indebted to the six Goswamis of Vrindavan. They have given us everything for attaing the love of Godhead and following in their footsteps we can achieve the greatest destination; the service to divine couple Sri Sri Radha and Krsna in the groves of Sri Vrindavan. The Only way by which we can repay their debts(actually we can’t) is by assisting Srila Prabhupada and His followers in preaching the message of Love of Godhead throught out the world and by being an insignificant but a worthy instrument in the hands of Guru and Gauranga.

krsnokirtana gana nartana parau premamrtambho nidhhi
dhiradhira jana priyau priya karau nirmatsarau pujitau
sri caitanya krpa bharau bhuvi bhuvo bharavahantarakau
vande rupa sanatanau raghu yugau sri jiva gopalakau

"I offer my respectful obeisance to the six Goswamis, namely Sri Rupa Goswami, Sri Sanatana Goswami, Sri Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami, Sri Raghunatha das Goswami, Sri Jiva Goswami, and Sri Gopala Bhatta Goswami, who are always engaged in chanting the holy names and dancing. They are just like the ocean of love of God, and they are popular both with the gentle and the ruffians, because they are never envious of anyone. Whatever they do, they are all-pleasing to everyone, and they are fully blessed by Lord Caitanya. Thus they are engaged in missionary activities meant to deliver all the conditioned souls in the material universe."

[Sri Sad Goswami-astaka, Srinivasa Acaraya, Verse 1]

In your service,
Bhakti Vilas Govinda Das