miércoles, 16 de junio de 2010

Ärî Gadâdhara dâsa Ùhâkura

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Ärî Gadâdhara dâsa Ùhâkura

Ärî Gadâdhara dâsa Ùhâkura previously lived at Navadwip. When the Lord went to live at Nilacala Ärî dâsa Gadâdhara also went there to be with Him. Later on Mahâprabhu sent him back with Nityananda Prabhu to preach in Bengal. He first stayed at Eriyadahagram, which is situated on the banks of the Ganges. Then he spent some time in Navadwipa, taking care of Saci Mata and Viëòupriya, but after their disappearance he came to live at Katwa, where Mahâprabhu had accepted sannyasa from Kesava Bharati.

He was a very confidential associate of Ärî Ärî Gaura-Nityananda. In Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika it is stated that he is an incarnation of the effulgence of Ärîmati Radharani's body, as well as an expansion of Purnananda gopi. Though he was one of the associates of Nityananda Prabhu, the majority of whom were cowherd boys and thus situated in the mellow of friendship, he was always absorbed in the mood of a gopi.

Once, as he was carrying a pot of Ganges water on his head, he called loudly, "Who wants to buy some milk?" Sometimes he would say, "Here is some first class yogurt. Whoever wants to buy some, come here." Calling out like this, he would then laugh very loudly.

When Mahâprabhu instructed Nityananda Prabhu to preach in Bengal, He sent Ärî Rama dâsa and Ärî Gadâdhara dâsa along with Him. (C.C. Adi 11.13,14)

One day Nityananda Prabhu came to dâsa Gadadhar's temple at Eriyadahagram. In the temple was a very beautiful Deity of Ärî Bala Gopala, which Nityananda Prabhu carefulle picked up from the altar. While holding Him against His chest, He began to dance in ecstasy. When all of the devotees saw that Gopala had taken shelter of the heart of Ärî Anantadeva, they made the heavens resound with the vibrations of "Hari! Hari!" Nityananda Prabhu, who was very robust and heroic, then began to roar very loudly while engaging in His ecstatic dance with Gopalaji.

Then Madhavananda Ghosa began to sing some songs describing Kèëòa's dana-lila (from Dana-keli-kaumudi). Hearing his sweet voice and the poetic descriptions of Kèëòa's dana-lila, Nityananda exhibited all of the ecstatic symptoms within His body simultanously as He danced like one intoxicated. The gestures He exhibited while dancing were like slashes of lightning; His limbs moved with unparalleled grace. His expressive eye movements, His sweet smiling and eruptive laughter, and the shivering and quaking of His head, provided a feast for the devotees' eyes and ears. Bringing His two beautiful lotus feet together, He would then jump in such a way as to completely captivate ones mind. Whomever He would look at would find themselves floating in an ocean of the mellows of love of Kèëòa, and by His merciful glance they forgot about the existence of their physical body. The level of devotion that is sought by great yogis and munis was attained that day by the ordinary men and women of that place, as they relished the remnants of Lord Nityananda's love for Kèëòa.

Someone as fat as an elephant becomes so thin and weak if he fasts for three days that he can barely walk. However, by the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu, one small child of that village didn't eat anything for one month, yet his movements and behavior were like those of a lion. Such was the mysterious influence of Nityananda Prabhu, though no one could understand His activities due to the Lord's yogamaya potency. Nityananda Prabhu thus enjoyed various pastimes at the temple of Gadadhar dâsa Ùhâkura.

In Ärî Caitanya-bhagavata, Ärî Vrindavana dâsa Ùhâkura has described the glories of dâsa Gadâdhara in this way: "Nityananda Prabhu was personally present within the body of Ärî Gadâdhara das; such are his glories."

Amongst Caitanya Mahâprabhu's associates, no one wanted to go near the Mohammedan Kazi for fear that he might lose his caste. Simply by looking at the face of a Mohammedan, a Hindu would lose his name in society. It was dâsa Gadâdhara who had the power to influence the notorious Kazi, and so he bestowed his merciful glance upon him. Even at their first meeting, he was able to lift that Kazi beyond the limits of his caste and creed, and thus those limitations completely fell away.

One day Ärî Gadâdhara dâsa Ùhâkura, intoxicated in ecstatic love while chanting the Holy Names of Hari, came to the house of the Kazi at Eriyadahagram and began to call him. The Kazi, in a fit of anger, came storming out of his internal apartment, but upon seeing the transcendentally serene appearance and mood of Dâsa Gadâdhara Prabhu, he became stunned. His anger softened and his expression became friendly. The Kazi inquired, "Thakur, why have you come just now?"

Dasa Gadâdhara Ùhâkura answered, "I should like to have a few words with you."

"Yes, whatever you have to say, just speak up."

"Ärî Ärî Gaura-Nityananda have appeared on this earth to distribute the nectar of the Holy Names to all classes of men, from the highest to the lowest, even to the most sinful, despicable persons. Why haven't you accepted this sweet treat? Why haven't you taken up the chanting of these nectarean Holy Names?"

"We'll accept it tomorrow."

"Why tomorrow?! Today you should accept. I have come here today to deliver you from the depths of ignorance and sin by the power of these Holy Names. So you please take this supremely auspicious Harinama. I will deliver you from all your sinful activities this very day."

Having listened to Gadahara dâsa Ùhâkura's sweet speech, the Kazi became a little bewildered. He began to laugh and said, "Tomorrow I'll say Hari."

When he heard the two syllables 'ha' and 'ri' emanate from the Kazi's mouth, Dâsa Gadâdhara Ùhâkura became overwhelmed in the happiness of ecstatic love and exclaimed, "Tomorrow?! Sir, you said Hari just now! All of your sins have fled far away. You have become supremely pure." Saying this he began to dance in ecstasy.

The Kazi, having been purified by the transcendental vibration of Hari, took shelter at das Gadâdhara Ùhâkura's lotus feet. In this way, das Gadâdhara Ùhâkura delivered many sinful, wicked yavanas and other such people.

He disappeared on the eighth day of the bright fortnight in the month of Kartik.

Eriyadahagram is reached from Calcutta by bus from Esplanade. Gadâdhara dâsa Ùhâkura's samadhi-mandir and the samadhi of the hair of Lord Caitanya shaved off by the barber Madhi Sil when He accepted sannyasa are united within the same tomb at Kesava Bharati's asrama at Katwa.

Ärî Dâsa Gadâdhara Ùhâkura established a temple at the place where Mahâprabhu accepted sannyasa, and the Deity of Lord Gauranga was personally installed by him. This deity is one of three Deities which were carved from one Nimba tree as per the order of Ärîman Mahâprabhu, which he communicated to Narahari Sarkar Ùhâkura and the bhakar (deity-maker) on the same night through the medium of their dreams. The next day, when the two met and learned that they had both the same dream, they could understand that they should carry out the Lord's instruction immediately. The other two Deities are at Ärî Khanda. There is also a Deity of Balarama (Nityananda) who is about half the size of Mahâprabhu and who came later on. Thus the Deities here are known as Ärî Ärî Nitai-Gauranga.

There is a local anecdote concerning this Deity of Balarama. He is said to have once been worshiped by Mineketana Rama dasa, who used to carry this Deity of Balarama with him wherever he went. Mineketana Rama's body was very strongly built, so he would carry Balarama upon a simhasana mounted on his back. The simhasana itself weighed perhaps twenty kilos. When he became somewhat advanced in years and it was difficult to carry the simhasana, he entrusted the worship of his Balarama to the pujari of Lord Gauranga here.

There is another story that claims that as Mineketana was a non-Bengali, his native tongue was a non-Bengali dialect. In his language, the word for hair was awa. Thus the name of the place where Mahâprabhu accepted sannyasa becam Katwa, literally meaning 'cutting hair' or 'the place where Prabhu's head was shorn of its beautiful locks.' The previous name of this place was Kantak Nagar, supposedly given by Saci Mata. Kantak means thorn. The disciple of Dâsa Gadâdhara was Yadunandana Cakravarti. The present sevakas of this temple are his descendants. This is a very nice temple where many of the local people attend the arati ceremonies and classes on the devotional scriptures. There is a railway station at Katwa. From there one should go by rickshaw to Gauranga Bari.

A close associate of Nityananda Prabhu. His Ärîpata stands at the village Ariadaha on the bank of the river Ganges about eight miles north of Calcutta.

Gadâdhara lived at Puri with Lord Caitanya, but later, on the instruction of the Lord, left for Gauda along with Nityananda Prabhu, Ramadasa, and some other devotees to preach the message of love of God.

Lord Nityananda Prabhu organized the event of "Danalila" in the house of Gadâdhara. The temple founded by Gadâdhara, the site of the "Danalila", Gadâdhara angana, and the memorial samadhi are still in existence at Ariadaha. Gadâdhara was a remarkably enthusiastic disciple. One day he approached the local Kazi and commanded him to chant Harinama. Strangely enough, the Kazi willingly accepted the instruction and became a devotee of Hari.

According to Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika 154-155, Gadâdhara was, in his past incarnations, Ärî Radha-vibhuti Candrakanti and Purnananda Gopi. The Kalna edition of Cc. refers to Dâsa Gadâdhara as a Kayastha by caste, whereas his descendants at Ariadaha declare themselves to be brahmanas (Also see Cc. 1.10 and 1.11). In AtulKèëòa Gosvâmî's edition of CBh. it is recorded that the Deity of Balagopala was worshipped by Gadâdhara dasa. BBM notes in CCU that during his visit to Ariadaha he found the Deity lying in a state of utter neglect and was no longer being worshipped.

One Balaicand Mallik of Calcutta is the present owner of the Gadâdhara temple property. He spent a considerable amount to renovate the entire area, including all the holy sites. The disappearance day of Gadâdhara is celebrated on the eight day of the dark fortnight in Kartika (late October).

Gadâdhara, who was senior to Ärînivâsa Âcârya by age, attended the Danda-mahotsava celebration at Panihati. He lived for sometime at Ärîpata Katoa. When he first stayed at Navadvipa Gadâdhara took care of Mother Saci and Viëòupriya-devi. After they both passed away, Gadâdhara went to Katoa where he installed the image of Lord Gauranga. At present the temple of Gadâdhara is situated at the residential abode of Lord Gauranga at Katoa. Gadâdhara had a brahmana disciple named Yadunandana Cakravarti. (Bhaktiratnakara 9.352, 9.362)

Ärînivâsa Âcârya presided over the festival held at the death of Dâsa Gadâdhara, which was attended also by Mahantas from several other places. The Vaisnavas regard this festival as a memorable event, similar to the one held at Kheturi.

Gadâdhara's samadhi lies near the samadhi of Kesava Bharati at the abode of Lord Caitanya at Katoa.

PERSONAJES VAISHNAVAS

Ärî Abhirama Gopala Ùhâkura - jun 15
Ärî Acyutananda - jun 15
Sri Advaita Acarya - jun 15
Ananta Âcârya - jun 15
Ärî Anupama - jun 15
Ärîla Baladeva Vidyâbhûëana - jun 15
Ärî Bhâgavata Âcârya - jun 15
Ärî Bhûgarbha Gosvâmî - jun 15
Candraäekara Âcâryaratna - jun 15
Ärî Devânanda Paòàita - jun 15
Ärî Dhanañjaya Paòàita - jun 15
Ärî Gadâdhara dâsa Ùhâkura - jun 15