Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu's Mercy

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Appearance of Lord Vamanadev, Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu
Kolkata-Worldwide, 30 August 2020, part 6

When Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu went to Kashi, he studied the Vedas and Vedanta under the guidance of Sri Madhusudan Vachaspati, a disciple of Srila Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya. Srila Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya taught everything that Mahaprabhu had taught him, to his disciple named Sri Vidya Vachaspati. Later, this Sri Vidya Vachaspati also taught that teaching to Srila Jiva Goswami.

When Srila Jiva Goswami came to Vrindavan, Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu kept him near him—he taught him Srimad Bhagavatam and engaged in the service of Sri Sri Radha Damodar. Very soon, Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu became a transcendental expert in the knowledge of Srimad Bhagavatam. You know how learned he was.

I have also heard from Gurudev about a pastime with Sri Vallabha Acharya (some say it was Gopal Bhatta Goswami, but actually Gurudev said it was Vallabha Acharya). Sri Vallabha Acharya always came to Sri Sri Radha Damodar temple and met with Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu. One day, Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu showed him a sloka that he had composed, and Sri Vallabha Acharya said there was some small mistake and corrected Srila Rupa Goswami. Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu heard it, and some doubt came to his mind, "What did he correct? It may not be so." He thought and thought, and finally felt sure, "Yes, what Sri Vallabha Acharya said is not correct." Later, Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu met Sri Vallabha Acharya on the bank of the Yamuna, and said to him, "Prabhu, you have corrected Srila Rupa Goswami's sloka, but it is wrong, what my Guru said is correct," and he explained why that sloka was correct and should not have been changed. The next day, Sri Vallabha Acharya came to Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu again and said, "Who is that thirteen-year-old boy I met yesterday?" Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu said, "Actually, he is my nephew, and also a disciple. He is learning Srimad Bhagavatam here, he does the puja of Radha-Damodar. What happened? Why are you asking?" Sri Vallabha Acharya explained, "Oh, I corrected that sloka of yours yesterday, but it was actually correct—you were right. That boy explained it to me." Hearing this, Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu felt a little disturbed. He called Jiva Goswami and chastised him, "This is not the mood! All right, you know that it was right, but why is it necessary to go and teach him? He is like a guru to you, and he is also like a guru to me. He is our guru-varga, but you corrected him! Even if he was wrong, why did you have to go and tell him about it? You have no quality or qualification to stay in Vrindavan. Go back to your home." Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu left and stayed on the bank of the Yamuna, fasting and writing Sri Gopal-champtu Natak. He was lying down on the ground without any food or water. A few days later, Srila Sanatan Goswami saw him and brought him back to the temple, giving him nourishment, etc.

Srila Jiva Goswami composed many books. He wrote Harinama-amrita-vyakaran, he edited Sri Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu, Sri Gopal-virudavali, Sri Madhava-mahotsav, Sri Gopal-champu. He also wrote the Sat-sandarbhas—Tattva-Sandarbha, Bhagavat-sandarbha, Paramatma-sandarbha, Krishna-sandarbha, Bhakti-sandarbha, Priti-sandarbha. He wrote Sri Gopala-tapani and so many other books...

Today, on this bhadra sukla dvadasi day, he appeared in this world. Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu's samadhi is at the Radha-Damodar temple, and when we go for Vrindavan parikrama, we always give our full obeisances to him. We are giving our full obeisance to him from here also. We pray to him, to his lotus feet, "We are fallen souls, Prabhu, we have no quality, no qualification. Wherever you are staying now, Prabhu, please make us your foot dust and keep us under your feet." This is our prayer to him.

Jay Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu ki jay!

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