Sri Kasisvara Pandita
From Vaishnava Calendar Content
Kashishwar Pandit and The Deities Of Govindaji And Gaura Govinda
(Adapted from Śrī Bhakti-ratnākara of Srila Narahari Chakravarti Thakur. Krishna Kathamrita Bindu, Issue #165. Gopal Jiu Publications. Bhubaneswar. 2007.)
There are two famous associates of Mahaprabhu known as Kashishwar. One is Kashishwar Brahmacari, also known as Kashishwar Gosai or Goswami, a disciple of Srila Ishwar Puri (see Cc. ādi 10.138). He and his godbrother Govinda were sent by Ishwar Puri to serve Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Jagannath Puri. That Kashishwar is described by Srila Kavi Karnapur in his Śrī Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā (137 and 166) as being an incarnation of Krishna’s servant in Vraja named Bhringar, as well as an incarnation of the gopi Shashirekha Devi.
The second Kashishwar, known as Kashishwar Pandit, is described by the Gauḍīya-vaiṣṇava-abhidhān (Bengali encyclopedia of Gaudiya Vaishnavism) as being Keli Manjari in vraja-līlā. This second Kashishwar was also staying in Puri for some time. His disappearance day is on the full moon day of the bright fortnight of the month of Kartika. As the following story describes, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu later gave him a deity of Krishna named Gaura Govinda and instructed him to go to Vrindavan. The deity of Gaura Govinda is found today in Jaipur, sharing the altar with the famous deity of Govindaji.
After re-establishing the lost holy places, Srila Rupa Goswami felt anxious on only one account: according to the scriptures, Sri Govinda Vrajendra Kumar had been installed as a deity in a holy place in Vrindavan, but Sri Rupa had not found that deity. Although he had searched many places for a long time, and he even searched the houses of the people of Vraja, Sri Govindadev was nowhere to be found.
One day, as Rupa was sitting on the bank of the Yamuna, a young vrajavāsī walked by. He was beautiful, calm, and quiet in his manner, and he asked the Goswami why he looked so sad. Rupa Goswami felt greatly attracted to the boy, and told him his story. The vrajavāsī tried to alleviate his anxiety by telling him about a spiritual place named Gomatil in Vrindavan where every afternoon a certain cow had been coming by and moistening the ground with her milk. The boy told the Goswami that in this place, Sri Govindadev was hiding under the ground and getting nourishment from this cow. Then he led Sri Rupa to Gomatil.
After locating the place, the vrajavāsī suddenly disappeared, and Rupa fell on the ground unconscious. A long time later, he regained his senses, but he could not control the tears rolling down his face. Srila Rupa Goswami understood the desire of the Lord; he checked his emotions and went to tell the people of Vraja about the hidden deity of Sri Govindadev, whom they all came to help unearth. The vrajavāsīs dug very carefully until they at last uncovered the deity of Govindadev, who was as beautiful as millions of Cupids. Everyone glorified the name of Sri Govindadev, and people were coming to Gomatil, attracted by the deity. Even Lord Brahma and other demigods came in the disguise of human beings to pay their respects to Sri Govindaji. The place overflowed with hundreds and thousands of people. Rupa Goswami at once sent a letter to Mahaprabhu in Sri Kshetra, Jagannath Puri. Upon receiving the news from Vrindavan, Mahaprabhu was overwhelmed with happiness.
Sri Chaitanya then privately told Sri Kashishwar, who was staying with him in Sri Kshetra, to go to Vrindavan. Kashishwar replied:
kāśiśvara-kahe, — “prabhu tomāre chāḍite / vidare hṛdaya, ye ucita kara ithe”
My Lord, if I leave you my heart will break. Therefore, you should do whatever is proper.
kāśīśvara-antara bujhiyā gaurahari / dilena nija-svarūpa-vigraha yatna kari’
Gaurahari understood the mind of Kashishwar, and gave Kashishwar a deity of himself.
prabhu se vigraha-saha annādi bhuñjila / dekhi kāśiśvarera paramānanda haila
Then Mahaprabhu together with that deity of Krishna ate rice and other foodstuffs. Seeing this, Kashishwar Pandit felt great ecstasy. (2.439-441)
Prabhu then taught Kashishwar how to worship the deity, and sent him to Vrindavan. Upon reaching Vrindavan, Kashishwar placed the deity of Sri Gaura Govinda on the right side of the deity of Sri Govindadev, and served them both with great sincerity and devotion.
govindera līlā ati adbhuta apāra / ke bujhite pāre kṛpā na ha-ile tāṅ’ra / prakaṭāprakaṭa-līlā dui mata haya / aprakaṭe mauna-mudrārūpe vilasaya
The pastimes of Sri Govinda are astonishing and unlimited. Only by the mercy of the Lord can one understand them. The Lord has two types of pastimes — prakaṭa, manifest, and aprakaṭa, unmanifest. His aprakaṭa-līlā was manifest in his inanimate form. (2.446-447)
Srila Narahari Chakravarti continues his description of the glories of Srila Kashishwar Pandit in the sixth wave of Bhakti-ratnākara:
kāśīśvara-mahimā kahite kebā jāne / śrī gaura-govinde ye ānilā vṛndāvane
Who can describe the glories of Srila Kashishwar Goswami, who brought the deity Sri Gaura-Govinda to Vrindavan? (6.445)
govindera dakṣiṇete tāṅ’re vasāiyā / dekhi’ duṅhu-śobhā umaḍaye hiyā
He placed Lord Gaura at Lord Govinda’s right side. Gazing at the glory of these two deities, Srila Kashishwar Goswami felt his heart flooded with bliss. (6.446)
śrī caitanya śrī kāśīśvarera premavaśe / śrī vigraha-rūpe āilā paścima pradeśe
Conquered by Kashishwar Goswami’s pure love, Sri Chaitanya came in this deity form to that place in Western India. (6.447)
In Śrī Sādhana-dīpikā it is said:
śrīmat-kāśīśvaraṁ vande / yat-prīti-vaśataḥ svayam / caitanya-devaḥ kṛpayā / paścimaṁ deśam āgataḥ
I offer my respectful obeisances to Srila Kashishwar Goswami. Conquered by his pure love, Lord Chaitanyadev mercifully came to Western India. (6.448)
prabhu-priya kāśiśvara vidita bhuvane / śrī rūpa śrī sanātana magna yāṅ’ra guṇe
Sri Kashishwar Goswami was dear to Lord Chaitanya. This is known all over the world. Sri Rupa and Sri Sanatan Goswamis were absorbed in praising Sri Kashishwar’s glories. (6.449)
Bibliography
— Haridas Das. Śri Gauḍiya Vaiṣṇava-abhidhāna. Haribol Kutir. Nabadwip. 501. Gaurabda. Bengali.
— Kavi Karnapur. Śrī Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā. Sanskrit with Bengali translation by Ram Narayan Vidyaratna. Sanskrit Pustak Bhandar. Calcutta. Bengabda 1394. Bengali.
— Kavi Karnapur. Śrī Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā. Translated into English by Srimad Kusakratha Das. The Krishna Library. Culver City, CA. 1987.
— Narahari Chakravarti. Śrī Bhakti-ratnākara. Gaudiya Mission. Bagbazar, Calcutta. 1987. Bengali.
— Narahari Chakravarti. Śrī Bhakti-ratnākara. English translation by Sri Kusakratha Das. The Krishna Institute. Culver City, California.
