{"id":187,"date":"2020-10-20T11:12:10","date_gmt":"2020-10-20T11:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nityananda-family.com\/?page_id=187"},"modified":"2020-11-01T17:12:21","modified_gmt":"2020-11-01T17:12:21","slug":"biographies","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.nityananda-family.com\/index.php\/biographies\/","title":{"rendered":"Biographies"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Below are the biographies of some of the more prominent figures in our Nityananda Line (Nityananda Vam\u015ba)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Prabhupad Srila Premgopal Goswami<\/li>
  2. Sri Prankrishna das Babaji Maharaj<\/li>
  3. Prabhupad Sri Prangopal Goswami<\/li>
  4. Srimati Jahnava Thakurani<\/li>
  5. Sri Biracandra Prabhu<\/li>
  6. Srimati Gangamata Goswamini <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    1. <\/a>Prabhup\u0101d \u015ar\u012bla Premgop\u0101l Gosw\u0101m\u012b<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    (A Biographical Sketch)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Prabhup\u0101d \u015ar\u012bla Premgop\u0101l Gosw\u0101m\u012b appeared in Nabadwip, West Bengal, on the 4th<\/sup> of September 1972. Along with his older brother Nity\u0101gopal Gosw\u0101m\u012b, he is the 14th<\/sup> descendent of \u015ar\u012b Nity\u0101nanda Prabhu family line. His wife is \u015ar\u012bmat\u012b Up\u0101s\u0101na dev\u012b and they have one daughter Alankrita dev\u012b. His d\u012bk\u1e63\u0101-guru<\/em> is his grandmother G\u012bta M\u0101t\u0101 Gosv\u0101m\u012bn\u012b, his siddha pranali<\/em> guru is his father Madangopal Gosw\u0101m\u012b and his \u015bik\u1e63\u0101-guru<\/em> is Ni\u015bita Kum\u0101ra Gosw\u0101m\u012b. Most of the gurus in his disciplic line (parampar<\/em>\u0101<\/em>) are women and in this line it is customary for the Guru to be married (just as \u015ar\u012b Nity\u0101nanda Prabhu was married on the order of Mah\u0101prabhu in order to propagate His teachings among ordinary householders).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Prabhup\u0101d (an honorary title traditionally reserved for those born in the Nity\u0101nanda blood line) is a very dear servant of \u015ar\u012b Nity\u0101nanda Prabhu, \u015ar\u012b Gaur\u0101\u1e45ga Mah\u0101prabhu <\/strong>and \u015ar\u012bmat\u012b R\u0101dhik\u0101. His followers consider him a non-different manifestation Lord Nity\u0101nanda but he would never claim to be so. Descending into the family of Nit\u0101i, along with his brother Nity\u0101gopal Gosw\u0101m\u012b, he is carrying the message of pure bhakti and the transcendental mood of \u015ar\u012b Gauranga far and wide into all corners of the earth. By spreading the moon rays of his deep knowledge and loving mood upon the conditioned souls of this material world he benefits everyone who meets him with the chance to enter the path of pure bhakti. He has the unprecedented potency to open the door to \u015ar\u012b Vrind\u0101van Dh\u0101m and introduce us to the matchless gift of Mah\u0101prabhu, \u015ar\u012b R\u0101dh\u0101 d<\/em>\u0101syam<\/em>, confidential service to \u015ar\u012bmat\u012b R\u0101dhik\u0101 and Her beloved K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a in the mood of R\u0101dh\u0101\u2019s female confidants, the ma\u00f1jar<\/em>\u012bs<\/em>. His joyous and auspicious personality is infusing the transcendental bliss of the divine realm into the hearts of all who meet him. His consistent ever-readiness to share his knowledge, time and loving concern with everyone and to accept them into his elevated association is one of his virtues that spread the moon rays of Nit\u0101ichand\u2019s mercy around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Always calm and equipoised, alert yet peaceful, and never angry, he inspires us by his saintly qualities. Firmly established in the spiritual principles of Gaudiya Vai\u1e63\u1e47avism, consistently and genuinely loving and compassionate, he blesses all those who get his dar<\/em>\u015ban<\/em>. He uses every moment of his time to bestow the mercy of Nit\u0101i-Gaura upon all. He is an inspiring example of teaching others by his conduct, his dedication and his daily spiritual practice. Thus he shows us the perfect example of a saintly householder and lends faith to the possibility of attaining spiritual perfection from any position in life. Just as \u015ar\u012b Nity\u0101nanda Prabhu bestowed K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a prema<\/em> \u2013 pure transcendental love \u2013 without considering one\u2019s qualifications and completely overlooking differences of gender, age, race, social position, nationality or religious affiliation \u2013 Premgop\u0101l Gosw\u0101m\u012b  similarly bestows the rays of sacred love for \u015ar\u012b R\u0101dh\u0101-K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a and the sweetness one can experience by the faithful practice of r\u0101<\/em>g\u0101<\/em>nuga<\/em> bhakti.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Looking like an avadhut <\/em>(a transcendental \u2018hippy\u2019), walking like a golden swan, singing like an angel, speaking like an ancient sage yet being very modern and accessible, our \u2018Baba\u2019 (as we affectionately address him) is truly a deep well of inspiration for all of us aspiring devotees on the path of r\u0101g\u0101nuga-bhakti<\/em>, as well as for everyone who is fortunate to have met him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2. Sri Prankrishna das Babaji <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Prankrishna Baba Autobiography<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Sri Gurudev (Prankrishna Baba) Describes Parts of His Life <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Devotee: Where were you born, Gurudev? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Gurudev: In Srihatta (Sylhet) District, Gugurkul village. My mother said that a siddha<\/em> purusa<\/em> (a realized soul), took me on his lap when I was very small. He said to my mother that I\u2019ll be a devotee, and Vaisnava. The name of that siddha baba was Kajalnath. He said that when he will die and be buried, from his navel a tree will come out over his grave. I saw that tree. Now many people come and sing kirtan there. I also used to do kirtan there. It is in Dharmanagar District.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Devotee: How did you come here (Vrindavan and Radha Kund)? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Gurudev: How did I come? (smiling\u2026).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Devotee: What was the cause?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Gurudev: When I was a little boy, I was studying in school. Many people of the village used to go to Vrindavan and other places for pilgrimage. They used to say, \u201cOh\u2026 Vrindavan is made of gold.\u201d I used to think that I must go to Vrindavan. I studied in a school of Gopalganj. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Devotee: The name of that school\u2026?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Gurudev: I forgot\u2026 (Smiling\u2026). I was studying and doing sadhu-sanga (association with spiritual people). I said to them, \u201cI shall go to Vrindavan.\u201d Someone said that at Kashi (Benares) there are free schools. I could study there, as there was no need for payments. At that time I was studying in class 9 (one year before the secondary examination). I came to Kashi, and I started my study. At the daytime I used to study, and in the evening I used to go to visit the places where spiritual studies were going on.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    One day someone came from Dharmanagar by train and said to me that my mother was very sick. He said, \u201cYou have to go to see your mother as soon as possible.\u201d  I came back immediately, and I found that my mother was ok and she was not sick at all.  After a period I decided to leave again, and I came to Vrindavana that time. I was staying with a householder Vaisnava, at Radha kund. I used to go Vrindavan to do madhukari<\/em> (to beg alms), and I used to eat on a boat over Yamuna River. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Devotee: How old were you then?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Gurudev: 25 years to 30 years maybe. Then I heard that my mother died. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Devotee: \u2026 and your father? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Gurudev: My father died before\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Devotee: Did you continue your study at Kashi?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Gurudev: No, I couldn\u2019t. When I was young and still in high school, my elder cousin-brother (who studied in the same school), advised me not to associate with bad company of any male or female students. He cautioned me to be very careful. His words of caution struck me very deeply and I totally avoided such company, and decided to always associate with sadhus<\/em>. In those days satsang<\/em> of sadhus<\/em> was available everywhere. They used to come and perform kirtan<\/em> and katha<\/em> in my native place, Tripura, and later I went to Dharma Nagar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    At first I belonged to a different sampradaya<\/em>, a sahajiya<\/em> sampradaya<\/em>. Then one day, by the grace of one of my Gurudev\u2019s very senior disciples, Atul Krishna Goswami told me, \u201cYou don\u2019t belong to a proper sampradaya<\/em>. Come with me to Navadwip and take darshan<\/em> of my Gurudev. He belongs to Nityananda Vam\u015ba. You should take diksha<\/em> from him.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I refused at first, but he said, \u201cOk, if you don\u2019t want to take diksha<\/em> at least come and take darshan<\/em> of him.\u201d So, I followed him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When I got to Navadwip, Prabhu Sri Yadugopal Goswami was giving Bhagavatam discourse, and there were thousands of people seated in every nook and corner. The place was filled with people. In the midst of those thousands of people, my Prabhu was outstanding. He was very radiant and very tall! When he sat down to do ahnik, he had to wrap himself with 12 yards of cloth, as he was that tall! The usual 10 yards was not sufficient.  Seeing his radiant personality, I immediately developed faith in him and decided that I must take diksha<\/em> from him–and I did. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Everyone was telling me that I need siddha pranali<\/em>. So I asked how to get siddha pranali<\/em>, and they told me to ask Gurudev. I went to Gurudev and asked if I could get siddha pranali<\/em>. His reply was \u201cWhat time do you get up from bed in the morning?\u201d I said, about 4:00 am to 5:00 am. Gurudev said, \u201cThat is not good enough for bhajan. You have to wake up at 2:00 am. Then you are eligible for siddha pranali<\/em>.\u201d When my Gurudev opens his door in the morning, he has already completed one lakh<\/em> n\u0101m<\/em>. He said, \u201cYou have to wake up at 2:00 am, take bath at brahma<\/em>–muhurta<\/em> time and perform Thakurji puja<\/em>, vandana<\/em>, kirtan<\/em>–everything during this hour. After that, you will perform your family and worldly duties.\u201d So, my Gurudev did not give me pranali<\/em>. It was only later that his son, Prabhu Madan Gopal Goswami gave me pranali<\/em>. That is why Madan Gopal Goswami Prabhu\u2019s name is in our siddha pranali<\/em> line.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It is by the blessings of the Sadhus and Vaishnavas that I associated with when I was young, that I came to Vrindavan. I came to Vrindavan for the sole reason of performing bhajan. I had good sanga, residence in the Holy Dham, good opportunity for performing bhajan, but my previous life\u2019s bad samskaras<\/em> came to disturb me.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Although being in the satsang<\/em> of Sadhu and Vaishnavas, I could not completely give up my past attachments. Just like when the crow who was disguised as a peacock heard the sound of \u201cKa! Ka! Ka!\u201d – his natural tendency was awakened. In the same way previous attachments and certain mundane tendencies were still predominant in me. Then the sadhus, the babajis, they understood that this boy still has not given up his mundane desires, but they were so merciful and not judgemental. They showered their love and affection and kept me under their compassionate guardianship. The Vai\u1e63nava\u2019s quality is of \u201cadosh<\/em> darash<\/em>,\u201d they do not see faults in others.  I had so many faults, but without taking notice of those faults, they gave me shelter at their lotus feet. They transformed me slowly, keeping me in their association with love and affection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    See how strict was my Gurudev?! If you cannot wake up at 2:00 am–that means no siddha pranali. So, he made me understand that if you want to perform proper bhajan, you have to wake up at 2:00 am in the morning.  Since I woke up this morning, and from the time I did parikrama, I have already completed 8 granthis<\/em> of mala<\/em> (32 rounds). The morning time of sadhana<\/em> is very auspicious and special. I am not actually using the counting beads although I have them, but just naturally the number of rounds is recorded in my mind. In the morning time, the mind is very fresh and can be more fixed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    From 2:30 am in the morning, after taking bath, I am chanting japa and already I have completed half a lakh<\/em> of harin\u0101m<\/em>. It is not possible to complete so many rounds in any other time of the day.  This hour is very auspicious for bhajan, any kind of bhajan performed during this most auspicious time of the day reaps very good result, and one will feel very blissful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Devotee: They are trying to compile all your lectures into a book form, please give your blessings for this seva. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Gurudev: Oh, my kathas<\/em> (spiritual discourses) are very simple, nothing great, ha ha! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Devotee: Baba, we beg to differ, as every word that emanates from you is of evidential truth, which will be very beneficial for sadhakas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Gurudev: Okay, do as you like\u2026  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (Excerpts of this katha<\/em> are from a forthcoming book of Baba\u2019s talks) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    3. Prabhupad Sri Prangopal Goswami<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Prabhupada Srila Prangopal Goswami is the 11th<\/sup> descendant of Nityananda Prabhu. His life is full of miracles and supernatural events. He was an influential \u0100c\u0101rya and a prominent guardian of devotion at the turn of the last century. He is famous for his special style of harikatha (patha<\/em>–kirtan<\/em>), his settling the dispute over whether Harinam should be chanted silently or loudly, his reviving lila<\/em>–kirtan<\/em>, his organising the first cleaning of Radha Kund in modern times, his being an exemplary householder as well as a scholar and a charismatic preacher and, not least, for his books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     He is the great grandfather of Premgopal Goswami and his parame\u1e63thi<\/em> guru. He appeared in 1876 in Bituni village in the district of Dh\u0101ka, East Bengal (now Bangladesh). He concluded his manifest pastimes in 1941. He was merely four years old when his father Sri Alakmohan Goswami died. His mother and d\u012bk\u1e63\u0101 guru is \u015arimati \u015aarada Sundari Goswamini (also referred to as \u2018Kartamata\u2019, great grandmother). After Alakmohan passed away she had to struggle hard with poverty. A family friend and disciple of his father, Harendra Kumar Roy, gave them shelter in his village of Pacuriya in the Faridpur district and admitted Prangopal to the local school (tola<\/em>). At sixteen they moved to Kholabani where he studied the Vyakarana from Rajanibhanta Bhattacarya for two years. Then he went to Kolkata with his mother\u2019s permission and continued studying under Gokulcand Goswami and Atula Krishna Goswami. He studied the Goswamis books as well classic poetry and dance. At that time he was so poor that he couldn\u2019t even afford a candle lamp for his studies and therefore he used to sit and read under a gaslight in the street. Gokulcand Goswami was so pleased with his dedication, humility and his brilliant mind that he used to say, \u201cThis boy will preserve my name!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    He was born with very strong bhakti samskars<\/em> (deep impressions from past lives). When he was eleven years old, his school friends induced him to go and see a famous dancer\/singer. When he heard her singing a bhajan of Srimati Radharani in purva raga describing the beauty of Krishna, he had a vision of Krishna playing His flute and he fell unconscious to the ground. From that event onward he became detached from material aspirations and his attachment to bhakti has become prominent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Later on, after becoming proficient in Sanskrit and Vedic scriptures he began to deliver harikatha discourses on \u015ar\u012bmad Bhagavatam. He was ideally equipped for this because of his pure bhakti and his vast learning. At the end of his katha he would dance and sing lila kirtan. He is famous for reviving the tradition of Krishna lila kirtan and for introducing Gaura lila kirtan. His katha was so powerful that he very quickly became famous and attracted many people. Once he was giving Bhagavata katha in the village of Abadpur in Maimansimha district. Anandaki\u015bor Goswami of that village was so impressed by his katha that he offered him his daughter, Sarojini, in marriage. The Goswami\u2019s family opposed this because Prangopal was poor, but Anandaki\u015bor prevailed and Prangopal and Sarojini were duly married.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    There was some dispute among the relatives of Prangopal Goswami and as a result he left Kolkata and moved to Navadvip with his wife. He began to give Bhagavata patha<\/em> (katha<\/em>) and attracted many people as well as much opposition from the local smarta<\/em> brahmanas who were envious of his success. They threatened him and even made attempts on his life but he was undeterred, having full confidence that Nitai would always protect him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    One old devotee, Govinda das Babaji of Vai\u1e63navapa\u1e0da was much impressed by his katha<\/em> and they became close friends. One day, when Prangopal was on his way to the Ganga, the Babaji invited him into his kutir<\/em>. When Prangopal saw the Babaji\u2019s deities of Radha- Madanmohan he was struck with wonder. These were the same deities who revealed Themselves to him earlier on in life. That night both Prangopal and the Babaji had the same dream whereby Madanmohan revealed his desire to be worshipped by Prangopal. Thereafter Govinda das Babaji handed over his kutir<\/em> and Radha- Madanmohan deities to Prangopal and left for Vrindavan to do bhajan. In the course of time, the present temple of Radha-Madanmohan was constructed and later on Prangopal also raised the money to build the neighbouring Radha-Govinda temple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Every year, at the time of Niyam-seva (Kartik), Prangopal went to Dhaka for the whole month to give Bhagavat katha. People came from far and wide to listen to his katha and became ecstatic to see him dancing and performing kirtan after the katha. Once he was giving katha at the house of a rich landlord, Kala Saheb in Cumilla. Prangopal was speaking with deep bhava and the listeners were shedding tears but then a puffed up, highly placed official started interrupting the katha with inappropriate, challenging questions, much to the annoyance of everyone. Finally Prangopal reproached  that man sharply,  \u201cYou should keep silent for now.\u201d Instantly that man lost his voice and despite all his efforts couldn\u2019t utter a single word. At the end of the katha<\/em> Prangopal touched that man\u2019s forehead with his bead bag and restored his power of speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Once Prangopal went to Falehabad for giving harikatha. In the nearby village of Mekala lived a rich man called Govinda Saha. On his property was a dilapidated temple built by his ancestors. The temple was haunted by a ghost. One day Govinda Saha picked up courage and asked the ghost, \u201cWho are you? Why are you haunting us here?\u201d The ghost replied, \u201cI am one of your ancestors and I have been cursed to become a ghost. But I have good news for you. Sripad Prangopal Goswami is giving katha in Falehabad. You should go and take shelter of him by accepting dik\u1e63a. Then you should bring his adar\u0101mrita<\/em> (his prasadam remnants) and offer it to me. By this I will be released from this curse.\u201d Govinda Saha followed these instructions and the ancestor ghost was duly delivered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Once, while delivering Bhagavat katha<\/em> at the palace of Raj Nandi Maha\u015baya of Kasimbazar, Srila Narottam das Thakur appeared to him in a dream and instructed him to go and give katha<\/em> in Kheturi gram, the site of the famous kirtan festival initiated by Jahnava Ma. Thereafter the Pandits of Bengal assembly, being highly impressed by his katha<\/em> and learning, awarded him the title Siddhanta Ratna (The crown jewel of those who know and propound the essence Vai\u1e63nava philosophy).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     In 1911 Prangopal went on pilgrimage to Vrindavan. The local devotees much appreciated the opportunity to hear his patha<\/em>–kirtan<\/em>. They took him from the station to his own Lak\u1e63mi Kantakunj temple in Gopinath bazaar in a kirtan procession with fourteen mridangas. The patha<\/em> (katha<\/em>) started the next day at the Govindaji temple. All the siddha<\/em> mahatmas<\/em> of the time attended including Pandit Ramakrishna das Babaji, Jagadish das babaji, Gauranga das Babaji and Rajar\u1e63i Banamali Roy. When he described Vraja-lila, it was as if the lila had manifested. Devotees in the audience were stormed with bhava and manifested the symptoms of tears, horripilation and shaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Prangopal had great capacity for controlling his bhava, but sometimes even he couldn\u2019t control it. Occasionally, he had to stop the patha<\/em> half way through and go to his private room to let his mind swim freely in the ocean of bhava of Vraja-lila. Once he became so deeply absorbed in bhava that the whole night, while sleeping, he continued reciting \u015blokas from Gopi-gita. The next morning, when his son, Yadugopal Goswami asked him about it, he looked at him perplexed and said, \u201cWhat are you saying? I can\u2019t remember anything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    From Vrindavan, Prangopal went to Radha kund. He used to circumambulate Radha kund a few times during mangal<\/em> arati<\/em> time (a tradition followed nowadays by Prankrishna Baba). One early morning Prangopal went out of site of his companions. Suddenly they heard him shouting, \u201cOh, come and see!\u201d They ran up to him and found him lying senseless on the bank of the kund. The place was radiant with a supernatural blue light and pervaded by supernatural fragrance. They took him in unconscious state to the Rajbari residence of Rajar\u1e63i Banamali where he was staying (it is situated on the left of Radha Kund parikrama marg<\/em>, half way between Jaganath Mandir and Lalita kund, but is very run down nowadays). Prangopal came back to half-external consciousness only after his companions sang Harinam to him for a long time. He looked at them with tearful eyes and said, \u201cOh my friends tell me where He has gone leaving me alone in the darkness of separation.\u201d He continued to cry and rave in transcendental madness for a long time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    There are many more pastimes but I will only mention one more, the cleaning of Radha Kund. At that time it hasn\u2019t been cleaned for hundreds of years and its condition was deplorable. Its water had become so muddy that it wasn\u2019t even possible to take acaman<\/em>, a few drops of caranamrita<\/em> of the sacred liquid form of Srimati Radharani. Prangopal was upset to see the kund in this condition and it brought tears to his eyes. Therefore he became determined to have it cleaned and renovated. This was a momentous task and involved a huge expenditure. But he was undeterred by the difficulties and started begging donations from door to door. He was helped by Ramdas Babaji Maharaja and when some funds were raised the work started. At that point one local king claimed that Radha kund and the adjoining lands belonged to him. The case was brought to the High Court and Prangopal\u2019s disciple, the famous barrister PR Das, fought the case on behalf of the Gaudiya Vai\u1e63navas and won it. The work was suspended for seven months and the money was spent. Prangopal asked his wealthy disciple Priyanath Paul to undertake the financial responsibility for completing the work. Priyanath refused but that night Radharani appeared to him in his dream and reprimanded him for disobeying his Guru. The next day he apologised to his Guru and the work resumed. Radharani could not remain indifferent to the work undertaken by Her dear devotee, Her intimate maidservant, for Her own service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Prangopal also set the example of an ideal householder. He took great care of his family and once even agreed to Sanidev\u2019s request to do puja for him in order to save the life of his seriously ill daughter. He considered Madanmohan the head of the household and whenever he got money he was anxious to spend it on devotional projects like building a temple or printing books. He never kept money for himself or for his family\u2019s future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    His contribution to the kirtan tradition is outstanding. Not only had he revived the lila<\/em>–kirtan<\/em> tradition, but he also introduced Gaura-lila kirtan. He trained all the prominent kirtaniyas of his time. He heard their kirtan and corrected it where it run counter to rasa<\/em>–siddhanta<\/em>. He changed the language where necessary and taught them the appropriate melody and dance by singing and dancing himself. He himself composed songs, both lyrics and melody, a tradition followed by Madangopal Goswami and now by Premgopal Goswami.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Prangopal is a siddha<\/em> mahatma<\/em>, a fully realised, perfected soul. His ultimate glory is that he is an intimate manjari maidservant of Srimati Radhika. In our present state of consciousness we cannot realise this but there is circumstantial evidence. The following excerpt is from the biography of Kamini Kumar Ghosh: \u201c\u015ar\u012bpad Prangopal had deep respect and friendship with Kamini Bapu. Both addressed each other as \u2018Dada\u2019 (Elder brother). Though they lived far from each other, they often found themselves together in lila<\/em>–smaran<\/em>. Sometimes both envisioned the same lila<\/em> and saw each other in their manjari<\/em> svarupa<\/em>. This is confirmed by the letters they wrote to each other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Even while sleeping at night Prangopal was often heard saying something which indicated he was having lila<\/em>–darshan<\/em>. Once he was heard saying, \u201cOh sakhi<\/em>, give me the camara<\/em> (Yaktail fan). Don\u2019t you see that both of Them are sweating?\u201d This is not surprising because according to the siddha<\/em>–pranali<\/em> Prangopal in his eternal manjari<\/em> svarupa<\/em> has the service of fanning the Divine Couple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Prangopal\u2019s most prominent contribution is to the Gaudiya Vai\u1e63nava literature. He translated Jiva Goswami\u2019s Sandarbhas into simple Bengali. He wrote a commentary on Caitanya-caritamrita (the Adi lila part has recently been reprinted and we hope to translate it into English). His favourite \u0101c\u0101rya was Vi\u1e63vanath Cakravartipad and he translated many of his books into Bengali: Bhaktirasamrita-sindhu bindu, Ujjvala-nilamani kiran, Bhagavatamrita-kana, Raga-vartma-candrika and others. (These were translated into Hindi by Narayan Maharaja and into English by his disciples and are available in Rasbihari Lal or for free download from purebhakti.com). It is surprising that in spite of his many duties and preoccupation with preaching he found the time to translate and publish so many books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Prangopal Goswami and Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati were contemporaries but as far as we know they have never met. However, they had mutual friends like Pandit Ramkrishna das Babaji, so they must have known about each other. I mention this point because there is a sad history of a hundred years of the Gaudiya Math criticizing the Traditional Parivars and propagating false propaganda, claiming that the Traditional Gaudiya Vai\u1e63nava lines were stagnant at that time and that even now they are all \u201csahajiya Babajis.\u201d Prangopal Goswami\u2019s life and teaching, and the life and preaching of his illustrious descendants, provide conclusive evidence that the opposite is true. It is therefore important to become familiar with Prangopal\u2019s Biography and to share this with others. The full Biography titled \u201cSri Sri Prangopal Charitamrita Kana\u201d (written in Bengali by Madangopal Goswami) is available in English and in Spanish in both paperback and PDF forms. Jay Nitai!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    4. \u015ar\u012bmat\u012b Jahnava Thakurani\u2019s <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u015ar\u012b Surya das Sarakhela was a resident of \u015aaligram. He had five brothers, Damodar, Jagannath, Gauri das, Krishna das and N\u1e5bsimha Caitanya. His father’s name was \u015ar\u012b Kamsari Mi\u015bra and his mother’s name, \u015ar\u012b Kamala Devi. He received the title “Sarakhela” (accountant) as he used to be the treasurer of the king of Gau\u1e0dade\u015b. Hois wife\u2019s name was Vadravati. They were the parents of \u015ar\u012b Vasudha and \u015ar\u012b Jahnava. Jahnava was the youngest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In Gaura-ganode\u015ba-dipika it is stated that these two daughters are the expansions of Balaram\u2019s consorts Varuni and Revati in Vrindavan, and Surya das Sarakhela, whose body effulgence is like the sun, is an expansion of Kakudmi, the king of Raivat. The two Lords Gauranga and Nityananda were very affectionate to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Seeing that his two daughters had reached the full bloom of their youth, he began to contemplate their marriage. While thinking in this way, he fell asleep. In his dream he saw that in a very happy mood he was presenting his two daughters to Nityananda Prabhu. Having seen such a wonderful dream, he began to float in an ocean of bliss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In the morning when he awoke, he told his dream to one brahmana<\/em> friend of his, “I saw in my dream that Nityananda Prabhu is none other than Baladev. His bodily effulgence was shining in all directions and his body was decorated with various shining ornaments. On his either side were my two daughters appearing as Varuni and Revati. Now if I cannot give my daughters in marriage to Nityananda Prabhu then there will be no peace for me.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Having confided in his friend in this way, he sent him to the house of \u015ar\u012bvas Pandit in Nabadwip. That brahmana<\/em> came to Nabadwip very quickly and found that Nityananda Prabhu was living at \u015ar\u012bvas Pandit’s house. The brahmana explained everything in detail to \u015ar\u012bvas Pandit who later, at the proper time, divulged this news to Nityananda Prabhu. Lord Nityananda, having assured the brahmana<\/em> that he would fulfil the desire of Surya das, sent him back to \u015aaligram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Advaita Acarya, as well as \u015ar\u012bvas Pandit, was very happy to have heard this news and urged that the marriage take place as soon as possible. Meanwhile the brahmana<\/em> returned to \u015aaligram, delivered this auspicious news to Surya das who was overjoyed that his dream would now come true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In the village of Borgachi lived the son of Raja Hari Hora, \u015ar\u012b Krishna das, who was a very dear devotee of Nityananda Prabhu. He offered to bear all of the expenses for the wedding and to have it conducted at his house. With this in mind he requested Nityananda Prabhu to kindly come to his house, and after bringing him there he began to make the necessary arrangements for the wedding. \u015ar\u012bvas Pandit, \u015ar\u012b Advaita Acarya, \u015ar\u012b Candra\u015bekhar, \u015ar\u012b Murari Gupta and many other devotees all arrived and began Harinam Sankirtan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Surya das Pandit’s brother, \u015ar\u012b Krishna das soon arrived at Borgachi to escort Nityananda Prabhu and the other devotees with Him to \u015aaligrama. When Surya das saw that the devotees along with Nityananda Prabhu had arrived, he came out to greet them in great happiness and then ushered them into his house where he offered his dandavats to Lord Nityananda. Surya das fell down at the lotus feet of Lord Nityananda, his eyes brimming with tears of ecstatic love. He caught hold of His two lotus feet and wanted to offer some prayers but he could not express anything due to being overcome by ecstatic emotions. Lord Nityananda smiled sweetly and embraced him in great love. Surya das was always absorbed in intense happiness. Who can understand his inner self? Seeing these loving pastimes of his brother, Gauri das felt great bliss within himself. Then, after worshipping the two lotus feet of Lord Nityananda, Surya das offered his two daughters in marriage to Him. Thus the marriage ceremony was very auspiciously performed and Nityananda Prabhu remained at \u015aaligram with his two newly wedded wives for a few days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Thereafter Nityananda Prabhu came to \u015ar\u012b Krishna dasa’s house at Borgachi, where he remained for a couple of days. Next He came to Nabadwip. Along with his two wives He offered His obeisances at the feet of Sacimata. Saci Ma was extremely pleased to see them and she showed a great deal of affection to the new brides. The other Vai\u1e63navas also began to show them great affection. Then, taking leave of Sacimata, Nityananda came to Advaita Acarya’s house in \u015aantipur. \u015ar\u012b Sita Thakurani began to float in an ocean of bliss upon seeing Vasudha and Jahnava Devi. She lovingly embraced them, showing her great affection to the new brides. After remaining there for a few days Nityananda Prabhu proceeded to Uddharan Datta Thakur’s house at Saptagram upon his insistent invitation. There they all engaged in a festival of Sankirtan for a few days after which Nityananda Prabhu came to Khardaha. (Bhakti Ratnakar, 12th<\/sup> wave) After the disappearance of \u015ar\u012b Advaita Acarya, \u015ar\u012b Nityananda Prabhu, \u015ar\u012bvas Pandit and various other associates of \u015ar\u012b Gaurasundar, three special personalities appeared to continue the mission of Mahaprabhu and flood the land with Harinam Sankirtan. They were especially empowered manifestations of the compassion of Mahaprabhu, namely \u015ar\u012bnivas Acarya, Narottam das Thakur Maha\u015bay and \u015ayamananda Prabhu.  \u015ar\u012b Nityananda Prabhu’s \u015bakti<\/em> \u015ar\u012b Jahnava Mata, was requested by these three Acaryas to be present at the celebrated festival conducted by them at Kheturi gram, under the patronage of Narottam das Thakur Maha\u015bay’s cousin, Raja Santosh Datta. Present with her were \u015ar\u012b Krishna das Mi\u015bra (her uncle), Mineketan Ramdas, Murari Caitanya, Gyan das, \u015ar\u012b Parame\u015bvari das, Balarama das, \u015ar\u012b Vrindavan das Thakur, and other dear devotees of Lord Nityananda Prabhu. First she came to her uncle Gauri das Pandit’s temple at Ambika Kalna where she was nicely received by H\u1e5bdoy Caitanya Prabhu. Here she cooked for the two Lords, Nitai-Gauranga, and in the evening they had a festival of Sankirtan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When she came to Navadvip and realized that she wouldn’t be able to see \u015ar\u012b Sacimata any more, she became very sad and cried. Then \u015ar\u012bpati and \u015ar\u012bnidhi came and took her to their house. But again she was plunged into grief due to the pangs of separation at not being able to see \u015ar\u012bvas Pandit and Malini Devi. At \u015aantipur, \u015ar\u012b Acyutananda and Gopal tried to console her in the absence of Advaita Acarya and Sita Thakurani. Then she came by way of Kantak Nagar to Teliya Bhudari gram where \u015ar\u012b Govinda Kaviraj received her with all respect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The next day the party set out for Kheturi. When they reached the banks of the Padma River they found that Raja Santosh Datta had already made arrangements for crossing the river. From the opposite bank palanquins were waiting to take them to Kheturi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    After presiding over the Keturi festival, Ma Jahnava decided to go to Vrindavan. One day when she was bathing in the Yamuna, a small black hand grabbed the end of her cloth as she was getting out of the water. When she turned to look, however, there was no one there. Then Gopinath spoke to her, “I want to come and stay with you. When you take bath in the Ganga one day I’ll come and join you.”  After passing some days in great happiness in \u015ar\u012b Vrindavan Dham, \u015ar\u012b Jahnava Mata set out on the path back to Gau\u1e0dadesh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    First she came to Kheturi, and then to Bhudari gram where she arranged the marriage of Bor Ganga das with \u015ar\u012b Hemalata, the daughter of \u015ar\u012b \u015ayamdas Cakravarti (brother of Vamsi das). After the marriage, \u015ar\u012b \u012a\u015bvari (Ma Jahnava), entrusted the worship of \u015ayamsundarji to Boro Ganga das. Then she proceeded to Ekacakra, the birthplace of her worshipable Lord Nityananda. From there she passed through Kantak Nagar (Katwa), Jajigram, Navadwip, Ambika Kalna and Saptagram, before finally arriving back at Khardaha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    As she was bathing in the Ganges one day, something touched her body in the water. She lifted that object out of the water and beheld the enchanting form of \u015ar\u012b Gopinathji. Seeing her eternal beloved, tears of love poured down from her eyes. This Deity is at present being worshipped by the descendants of Ganga Devi, the daughter of Nityananda Prabhu, at Jirat, Hugli.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Jahnava Ma disappeared from this world by merging into the deity of \u015ar\u012b Gopinath in Vrindavan.  (This account is adapted from \u2018Lord Caitanya\u2019s Eternal Associates\u2019). There is much more that can be said about Jahnava Ma.  Her life and teachings deserve a separate book. We hope to translate and publish \u2018Jahnava Ma \u2013 Nityananda \u015aakti\u2019 in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A Prayer to \u015ar\u012b Jahnava Thakurani<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (\u015ar\u012bla Bhaktivinoda \u1e6ch\u0101kura – Kalyana Kalpataru)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    bhav\u0101r\u1e47ave pa\u2019\u1e13e mora \u0101kula par\u0101\u1e47a<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    kise k\u016bla p\u0101\u2019b\u00f4, t\u0101\u2019ra n\u0101 p\u0101i sandh\u0101na (1)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Having fallen into this vast ocean of material existence, how will my bewildered soul find the shore? I have no clue how to reach it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    n\u0101 \u0101che karama-bala, n\u0101hi j\u00f1\u0101na-bala<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u0135\u0101ga-\u0135oga-tapo-dharma\u2014n\u0101 \u0101che sambala (2)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I have no strength of accumulated pious activities, knowledge, sacrifices, yogic practice, austerities, or religiosity. Indeed, I have no resources at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    nit\u0101nta durbala \u0101mi, n\u0101 j\u0101ni s\u0101\u0303t\u0101ra<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    e vipade ke \u0101m\u0101re k\u00f4ribe uddh\u0101ra? (3)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I am extremely weak and don\u2019t know how to swim. Who will rescue me from this calamity?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    vi\u1e63aya-kumbh\u012bra t\u0101he bh\u012b\u1e63a\u1e47a-dar\u015bana<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    k\u0101mera tara\u1e45ga sad\u0101 kare uttejana (4)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The crocodile of sense enjoyment is a ferocious sight, and the waves of lust are constantly agitating me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    pr\u0101ktana v\u0101yura vega sahite n\u0101 p\u0101ri<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    k\u0101\u0303diy\u0101 asthira mana, n\u0101 dekhi k\u0101\u1e47\u1e0d\u0101r\u012b (5)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I cannot tolerate the raging winds of the consequences of my activities in prior births. I simply weep with an agitated mind, for I see no sailors [to rescue me].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    ogo \u015br\u012b j\u0101hnav\u0101 dev\u012b! e d\u0101se karu\u1e47\u0101<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    kar\u00f4 \u0101ji nija-gu\u1e47e, ghuc\u0101o \u0135antra\u1e47\u0101 (6)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    O \u015ar\u012b J\u0101hnav\u0101-dev\u012b! By virtue of your own good qualities, show compassion to this servant today and remove my afflictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    tom\u0101ra cara\u1e47a-tar\u012b k\u00f4riy\u0101 \u0101\u015braya<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    bhav\u0101r\u1e47ava p\u0101ra ha\u2019b\u00f4 k\u00f4rechi ni\u015bcaya (7)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I have determined that I will cross over this vast ocean of material existence by taking shelter of the boat of your lotus feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    tumi nity\u0101nanda-\u015bakti, k\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a-bhakti-guru<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    e d\u0101se karah\u00f4 d\u0101na pada-kalpataru (8)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You are the potency of Nity\u0101nanda Prabhu and the authority on bhakti<\/em>. Kindly bestow the desire tree of your lotus feet, upon this servant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    kat\u00f4 kat\u00f4 p\u0101marere ka\u2019rech\u00f4 uddh\u0101ra<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    tom\u0101ra cara\u1e47e \u0101ja e k\u0101\u1e45g\u0101la ch\u0101ra (9)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You have delivered many sinful persons. Today, this wretched beggar falls at your lotus feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    5. Sri Biracandra Prabhu<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The most merciful saviour of the fallen souls of the age of Kali, Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu, has appeared on the earth with all His associates to taste His own sweetness, to bestow Vraja prema and to distribute the dharma<\/em> for this age of Kali – Sri Harinam Sankirtan. Soon after concluding His manifest pastimes as Sri Gauracandra, He manifested again in the form of Prabhu Biracandra to continue His Sankirtan mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Prabhu Biracandra came to protect, preserve and continue the line of pure Vai\u1e63navism established by Sri Sri Nitai Gaur Sitanath (Nitai-Gaura and Advaita Acarya).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    On the order of Sriman Mahaprabhu, Prabhu Nityananda accepted the grihastha<\/em> ashram <\/em>(household life). He married the two daughters of an inhabitant of \u015aaligram, Sri Surya das Pandit. Thereafter, Nityananda Prabhu established His residence (\u015br\u012bp\u0101t<\/em>) in Kardaha where Prabhu Biracandra was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Ganga Mata appeared on the saptami <\/em>(7th<\/sup>) day of the lunar fortnight and Prabhu Birchandra on the ashtami<\/em> (8th<\/sup>) during Kartik.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Prabhu Biracandra’s pastimes are described in Sri Caitanya Caritamrita (Cc \u0100di-l\u012bl\u0101 11.8\u201312), Sri Gaura Ganodesh dipika, Sri Abhiram lil\u0101mrita, Sri Vamsi Siksha, Sri Murali vilas, Sri Narottam Vilas, Sri Bhakti Ratnakar and Sri Prem Vilas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Prabhu Biracandra\u2019s second wife Srimati Vi\u1e63nupriya gave birth to three sons: Sri Gopijanavallabh, Sri Ramkrishna, and Sri Ramchandra. According to Vai\u1e63nava Dig-dar\u015bini, Biracandra and Srimati also had three daughters: Naradurga, Navagauri, and Bhuvana-Mohini. The oldest son Sri Gopijanavallabh prabhu settled at Latagadi, the second son Sri Ramakrishna prabhu established his \u015br\u012bp\u0101t<\/em> at Maldaha and the third son Sri Ramacandra Prabhu remained in Kardaha. An inhabitant of Phuliya gram, Parvaticaran Mukharji, married Srimati Bhuvana Mohini, Biracandra’s daughter. Ramacandra Goswami married Govinda Priya. Their son Radha-Madhava married Kadamba-mala, the daughter of Jagadananda Pipali of Mahesh and they had four sons named Rama-deva, Krsna-deva, Visnu-deva and Radha-Raman, and a daughter Tripura Sundari.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Srila Devakinandana das describes in his Vaisnava Vandana:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cI worship the all merciful Sri Nityananda Prabhu, His dancing and singing is the source of all bliss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I worship the two goddesses Vasudha and Jahnava, Their son Birachandra is glorified all over the universe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    With great care I worship Biracandra Goswami; all the residents of the world are under his shelter. (The three persons described below are the sons of Biracandra and Srimati Vi\u1e63nupriya)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Very attentively I worship Sri Gopijana-vallabha, His wonderful characteristics are indescribable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I will respectfully worship Sri Rama-Krishna Goswami; the deliverer of the souls, who possesses many wonderful qualities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    With steady mind I worship Sri Ramacandra Goswami; his unending qualities are described all over the universe. (Premgopal Goswami line descends from this Ramacandra)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I worship the daughter of Nityananda, Ganga Thakurani; the earth is filled with the descriptions of her fame.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Prabhu Nityananda had two wives, Vasudha and Jahnava. Vasudha had one surviving son, Biracandra, and a daughter, Ganga Mata Thakurani. Prabhu Biracandra had two wives, Narayani and Srimati Vi\u1e63nupriya. He had his three sons, Gopijana-vallabha, Ramakrishna and Ramacandra, and one daughter, Bhuvana-mohini.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Gopijana-vallabha had three sons. Bhuvana-mohini married a resident of Phuliya, called Parvati-charan Mukharji. This has been described in Sri Narottam Vilas as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    “Gopijanavallabha had three sons: The oldest, Ram-narayan, was the storehouse of all good qualities. Sri Ram-lakshman was the middle son and the youngest son was the compassionate Sri Ram-Govinda”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The six sons of Prabhu Nityananda died one by one soon after birth because of the dangerous pranam<\/em> (obeisances) offered to them by Abhiram Thakur. (Abhiram Thakur\u2019s obeisances were so powerful that they would kill anyone who wasn\u2019t a pure devotee). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Before disappearing Sriman Mahaprabhu told Abhiram Thakur, \u201cAfter my disappearance I will take birth in the house of Nityananda Prabhu and through your pranam<\/em> it will be revealed which child is truly My manifestation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Abhiram Thakur is Sridham Sakha in Vraj lila<\/em>. He appeared in Bengal in his own original Vraj form and manifested his pastimes in Krishna Nagar in the district of Hugali. Abhiram Thakur had a special potency. He would bow down before the deities with such devotion that his power would cause them to shutter to pieces if they were idols and not real manifestations of the Lord. The obeisances of Abhiram destroyed many false deities in Bengal and only the deities of Sri Madan Mohan from Vishnupur and Sri Krishna Roy from Bagari withstood his obeisances. In a similar way he made the first six sons of Nityananda Prabhu die soon after birth. Only the seventh son, Prabhu Biracandra, survived Abhiram Thakur\u2019s obeisances, thus proving to be the manifestation of Gauranga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (Premgopal Goswami: \u201c When Abhiram Thakur bent down to the floor to pay his obeisances to the newly born Biracandra, baby Biracandra kicked him so hard on his head that the stout Abhiram Thakur was thrown back flat on the floor. When he got up he started dancing in ecstasy.\u201d)   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In the same way, only Ganga Mata, Raghunandan Prabhu and an inhabitant of Puri, Sri Gopal Guru Goswami, survived Abhiram\u2019s obeisances (thus proving to be eternal associates of Mahaprabhu).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Because Sriman Mahaprabhu had hinted to Prabhu Nityananda that he would take birth in His house, Abhiram came every time to offer his obeisances to each newly born son and watched them leave their bodies. In this way Nityananda and Vasudha\u2019s first six sons left this world soon after birth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When Abhiram Thakur heard of the birth of Sri Biracandra, he came immediately from Kardaha to test whether this was the incarnation of the Lord. This is described in Sri Nityananda Vamsa Vistar, Second Stava: “A shimmering light was inundating the house, by seeing this, Abhiram became very excited. He at once fell at the lotus feet of the newly born baby boy and offered his obeisances while staring at him. In this way he repeatedly fell to the floor like a stick three times. Baby Birachandra Prabhu woke up from His yoga-nidra<\/em> (mystical slumber) and smiled at Abhiram Thakur. I surrender at the lotus feet of that beloved baby boy Birachandra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In this way Sri Gauranga manifested in the form of Biracandra, the enchanter of the world. Let the fortunate ones see His dancing and singing to increase their eagerness to come to Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Hearing of the Lord, one blind man came longing to see Prabhu’s Sankirtan. Upon hearing the kirtan he became ecstatic and desired to see the sweet form of the Lord but the associates of the Lord did not allow him to enter. Being affectionate to his devotees, Biracandra Prabhu, who resides in the hearts of all living entities, understood the desire of the blind man and fulfilled it by giving him back his eyesight and allowing him to take the darshan of his sweet form dancing and singing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In this way Prabhu Biracandra preached in a very loving manner and delivered thousands of fallen souls, there was no limit to the number of spirit souls he delivered. He preached eternal dharma (Sanatan dharma) which is beyond all material desires and beyond the mode of goodness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In the course of preaching Prabhu Biracandra went to the village of Khandara where one of his disciples called Jai Gopal lived. Jai Gopal was rejected by Biracandra because he claimed he was a direct disciple of Nityananda Prabhu. This is described in a letter Prabhu Biracandra wrote to Srinivas Acarya telling him about this Jai Gopal. This letter is recorded in Bhakti Ratnakar:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cJai Gopal das, an inhabitant of Khandara gram, has a big false ego and doesn’t know guru tattva<\/em>. He has a very low nature. I have given him mercy (diksha<\/em>) and despite this he desires something else. For this reason I have rejected him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    One pastime involves the origin of the Syamasundar deity in Kardaha. The local Muslim king wanted to test Biracandra Prabhu’s power. Three times in a row he sent a tray of cooked food containing meat covered with cloth (with the intension to contaminate the devotees). However, again and again, when the cloth was removed, the contaminated food turned out to be a tray full of flowers like Malati (Jasmin) and Yuthi. Then that Muslim king fell at Biracandra’s feet and surrendered to him. He asked Biracandra to accept a gift from him as dakshin<\/em>. Biracandra Prabhu asked for the centre stone of the gate of the local Mosque. From that special stone he made three deities and installed them: Syamsundar in Kardaha, Sri Nandalal in Saibona and Sri Radha-Vallabhji in Mahesh. Prabhu Biracandra installed the Syamasundar deity in Kardaha \u015br\u012bp\u0101t<\/em> and then toured Gaudadesh (the land of Gaura) to preach the dharma of love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The following pastime is described in Sri Nityananda Vam\u015ba Vistar. It involves the twelve hundred Buddhist disciples called the Naras who came to Prabhu Birchandra’s house and asked for prasadam. They were very austere, celibate (brahmacaris<\/em>) and had mystic powers due to their intense sadhana<\/em>. Being independent, they disregarded Biracandra\u2019s request to wait for prasadam. Because the prasadam was late (being delayed because of their large number) they became angry and set the Syamsundar’s temple on fire with their yogic power. Consequently, Biracandra Prabhu used his mystic powers and manifested thirteen hundred women called ‘Naris’ to seduce the Naras and diminish their power. Those Naras that were bewildered by Biracandra\u2019s deluding potency fell into illusion, took one or two women each and became householders called ‘bhrashtacharis<\/em>‘ (defaulting on the Vai\u1e63nava sadacar<\/em> of their brahmacari<\/em> (renunciation) vows). They became known as ‘Sanyogis’ (the opposite of Sannyasis). Those that did not fall into Biracandra Prabhu’s illusion took shelter of him, became his disciples and helped his preaching efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In this way Biracandra Prabhu chastised the Naras. Some of them understood and accepted his chastisement as his mercy. Wanting to advance in spiritual life, they made an ashram in a village called Nari Kumbharini. There they worshipped Bhakti Devi and consequently attained perfection in spiritual life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Another pastime involves \u015arinivas Acarya\u2019s son. One day Prabhu Biracandra went to the house of \u015arinivas Acarya at Vi\u1e63nupur. Srinivas acharya was very happy to receive Prabhu at his house and arranged for the paraphernalia to welcome Prabhu in an appropriate way including a variety of foodstuffs for preparing prasad. Seeing this Biracandra Prabhu said, \u201cYour younger wife should cook.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Srinivas Acarya’s younger wife Padmavati Devi, cooked the prasadam. After accepting prasad, Biracandra Prabhu lied down to take rest. At that time Prabhu asked \u015arinivas, \u201cDoes your wife have children?\u201d \u015arinivas Acarya replied: \u201cYou have bestowed your mercy upon us. You gave your chewed betel nuts to my wife and soon afterwards she became pregnant and instantly gave birth to a son, Sri Gati Govinda. In this way Prabhu Biracandra caused the miraculous birth of \u015arinivas Acarya\u2019s son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Prabhu Biracandra manifested so many such miraculous pastimes. Thus he established the dharma of pure love (visudha bhakti dharma<\/em>) which is beyond the mode of goodness and culminates in the attainment of spiritual perfection in the form of Krishna prema.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The character and pastimes of Biracandra Prabhu are described in many old books, including Sri Prem Vilas written by Sri Nityananda das (Jahnava Ma’s disciple). He has written about Prabhu Biracandra in a very special manner. It is stated there that if one is sincerely interested in following the path of pure bhakti, one should know about Biracandra Prabhu\u2019s pastimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    6. \u015ar\u012b Ga\u1e45g\u0101 Mata\u2019s Biography [1]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Srimati Ganga Devi (Ganga Mata Thakurani or Goswamini) is the daughter of Nityananda and Vasudha Devi, and Biracandra\u2019s younger sister. Like Biracandra Prabhu, she was initiated by her spiritual mother, Jahnava Thakurani. She was married to Madhava Acarya who was king \u015aantanu previously. Madhava Acarya was in charge of managing the household affairs of Nityananda\u2019s residence in Kardaha. In Krishna lila<\/em> she has two svarupas<\/em>. Her aishvarya svarupa<\/em> is that of Ganga Devi (aka Vishnu caran vilasini<\/em>). Her madhurya svarupa<\/em> is Prema (or Premabhora) manjari<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Last year, while on a one-off special Navadvip parikrama with Premgopal Goswami, we met Devabrat Goswami, a descendent of Ganga Mata, and he took us to hitherto many unknown pastimes places, including a darshan of Ganga Mata\u2019s deities of Radha Gopinath. Here are some more details by Devabrat Goswami:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cToday is Dussehra (Da\u015bami) the auspicious appearance day of Ganga Devi in this material world. She has been worshipped as the holy mother Ganges since time immemorial. In the Mahabharata there is a story of Ganga Devi descending in human form to liberate the eight Vasus from a rishi\u2019s<\/em> curse. She married King \u015aantanu and begot these Vasus as her sons and thus they were liberated by her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It is not very well known that the same Ganga Mata descended once again as the daughter of Sriman Nityananda Prabhu. Nityananda had two children from his first wife Vasudha Devi: Ganga Mata and Biracandra Prabhu. They were stalwarts in Sriman Mahaprabhu\u2019s preaching mission under the guidance of Sri Jahnava Mata, Vasudha Mata\u2019s sister and second wife of Nityananda Prabhu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Kavi Karnapur Gosvami, the son of \u015aivananda Sen, has mentioned in Gaura Ganodesh Dipika, that the daughter of Sri Nityananda Prabhu, Gangamata Goswamini has two eternal forms. One is her ai\u015bwarya swarup<\/em> and the other is her madhurya swarup<\/em>. Her aiswarya swarup<\/em> is Bhagavati Ganga Devi, the water that flows from Lord Narayana\u2019s lotus feet. Her madhurya swarup<\/em> is Prembhora Manjari. Both these ai\u015bwarya<\/em> and madhurya<\/em> forms combined as one and appeared as Ganga Mata Goswamini.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Abhiram (Gopal) Thakur, a close associate of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu realized that she was a divine personality and saw these two forms of hers in his meditation. He saw Radha and Krishna immersed in their keli nikunja<\/em> (amorous) pastimes and while they were absorbed in vipralambha prema<\/em>, the mood of union in separation, white tears flowed from their eyes. Those white tears, the colour of mah\u0101bh\u0101va<\/em>, which flowed from Radha\u2019s and Krishna\u2019s eyes, took the form of Prembhora Manjari as one of the kinkari<\/em> gopis of Radharani. After seeing this vision Abhiram Thakur composed \u2018Sarva Aparadh Banjan Nityananda-Nandini Ganga Stotram\u2019 (see \u2018Ganga Stavanam\u2019 below), twenty \u015blokas in her glorification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When she was a newly born baby, just one day old, she refused to drink breast milk from Vasudha Mata. Everyone was in anxiety and Nityananda Prabhu told Jahnava Mata to initiate her with the diksha<\/em> mantra. After being initiated, Ganga Devi started suckling and made everyone happy. This initiation is above all rules of \u015bastra<\/em> as she is an exceptional case because of her divine position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Even while she was of a very young age, she started her preaching activities. She was later married to Madhava Acarya who was a very close intimate disciple of Advaita Prabhu. Madhava Acarya Goswami was also not an ordinary personality. He was the same \u015aantanu Maharaj in Mahabharata who was married to Ganga Devi when she descended in human form on this earth to enact a divine pastime. As her husband, Madhava Goswami played the same submissive role as \u015aantanu Maharaja, giving full support to her preaching mission in Nityananda Vam\u015ba. After his marriage to her, he took re-initiation from Jahnava Mata. This was in accordance to proper etiquette in honour of the superiority in position.  Advaita Prabhu showed this same humility when Biracandra Prabhu approached him for initiation. He refused saying that he cannot initiate someone who he considers his senior and worshipable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Even Ramai Thakur, the adopted son of Jahnava Mata, in his last verse of glorification in Ananga Manjari Samputika has followed this etiquette by glorifying evryone according to superiority of position.  He first mentioned Sri Caitanya followed by Sri Nityananda, then Ganga Mata Goswamini and Biracandra Prabhu followed by Sri Advaita Prabhu and the devotees of Gaura.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Ganga Mata Goswamini had three sons: Prabhupad Nayananda Goswami, Prabhupad Premananda Goswami and Prabhupad Gopal Vallabha Goswami.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The descendants of Ganga Mata look after the Radha Gopinatha deities installed by Ganga Mata in Jirat, the hometown of her in-laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    At present the most prominent preacher in this parampara of Ganga Mata is Prabhupad Devabrata Goswami who is the 15th descendant in the line of her youngest son, Prabhupad Gopal Vallabha Goswami. His residence is in \u015ar\u012bp\u0101t Madanapur and the family deity is Sri Sri Radha Madangopal jiu and the \u015aalagrama \u015aila \u2018Dadhi Vaman\u2019 jiu. Dadhibaman (as the Bengalis pronounce it) was given by Advaita Acharya to Ganga Mata\u2019s husband Madhava Acarya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    There is much more to say about Ganga Mata. Below is the Ganga Mata Stavanam, composed by Abhiram Thakur, transliteration and translation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n\n\n\n

    [1]<\/a> There are two personalities known as Ganga Mata Goswamini, Nityananda\u2019s daughter and Saci Ganga Mata of Puri. Both appeared on the same day, on Ganga puja. It is said that the latter Ganga Mata was a partial expansion of the original Ganga Mata.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Below are the biographies of some of the more prominent figures in our Nityananda Line (Nityananda Vam\u015ba) Prabhupad Srila Premgopal Goswami Sri Prankrishna das Babaji Maharaj Prabhupad Sri Prangopal Goswami Srimati Jahnava Thakurani Sri Biracandra Prabhu Srimati Gangamata Goswamini 1. Prabhup\u0101d \u015ar\u012bla Premgop\u0101l Gosw\u0101m\u012b (A Biographical Sketch) Prabhup\u0101d \u015ar\u012bla Premgop\u0101l Gosw\u0101m\u012b appeared in Nabadwip, West Bengal, on the 4th of September 1972. Along with his older brother Nity\u0101gopal Gosw\u0101m\u012b, he is the 14th descendent of \u015ar\u012b Nity\u0101nanda Prabhu family line. His…<\/p>\n

    Read More Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nityananda-family.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/187"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nityananda-family.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nityananda-family.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nityananda-family.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nityananda-family.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.nityananda-family.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":264,"href":"https:\/\/www.nityananda-family.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/187\/revisions\/264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nityananda-family.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}