"O my very goal of life, Sri Rupa Goswami! He is extremely merciful, an ocean
of great qualities. Whoever gets his mercy, gets the feet of Chaitanya and
attains Radha and Krishna in Vraja Dham (Vrindavan).
parama vairagya yanra,
charitrera nahi para,
asima aisvarya parihari'
chaitanyera agamana,
suni harasita mana,
prayage chalila tvara kari' [2]
"There is no one who could compare with his extreme renunciation for he gave up unlimited opulence. As soon as he heard about the arrival of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Prayag, he became excited and hurried there.
anuja vallabha-sane,
sighra gela sei sthane,
mahaprabhu yathaya vasiya
chaitanyera sri-charana,
darsane ananda mana,
bhume donhe pade lotaiya [3]
"Taking his younger brother Vallabha with him, he quickly went to the place where Mahaprabhu was. At the sight of the feet of Chaitanya, they both became overwhelmed with joy and began to roll on the ground.
punah punah dui-jane,
nirakhiya prabhu-pane,
prema-jale bharila nayana
dante trna guchchha dhare,
vidhi-mate stava kare,
sunile vyakula haya mana [4]
"Again and again casting their glance in the direction of the Lord, their eyes brimmed with tears of divine love. Taking bunches of straw into their mouths, they began to glorify the Lord in the line of proper etiquette, rules and regulations. Whoever heard it became perturbed.
sri-rupere nirakhiye
prabhu preme matta ha'ye,
priya-vakya aneka kahila
aja, bhava, deva-gana,
aradhaye ye charana,
se charana mastake dharila [5]
"When the Lord saw Sri Rupa, He became intoxicated with divine love and said many affectionate words to him. Sri Rupa then kept the feet that are worshipped by Brahma, Siva and so many demigods, on his head.
preme vasa gaura-raya,
utha utha bali' taya,
maha-sukhe kaila alingana
sri-rupa judiye kara,
stuti kare bahutara,
taha kichhu na haya varnana [6]
"Conquered by their love, Gaura Ray said to them, 'Get up, get up!' and embraced them with great joy. Sri Rupa then recited numerous verses in glorification, it is not possible to describe them.
tabe prabhu rupe laiye,
nikatete vasaiye,
sanatanera puchhe samachara
sri-rupa kahila saba,
suniya chaitanya-deva
kahe kichhu chinta nahi ara [7]
"Having finally got Rupa, the Lord seated him beside Himself and Sri Rupa told Him everything about Sanatan Goswami who stayed behind. Sri Chaitanyadev listened to it and said, 'Do not worry about anything.'
sri-rupe prasanna haiya,
kichhu-dina kachhe thuya,
radha-krsna tattva janaila
parama ananda mana,
rupe kari' alingana,
vrndavana yaite ajna dila [8]
"Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was very affectionate to Sri Rupa, He kept Him by His side for some days and taught him the conception of Radha-Krishna. After that, the Lord embraced Rupa with great joy and ordered him to go to Vrindavan.
katare sri-rupa kaya,
sange thaki ajna haya,
suni prabhu maha-harsa-chitte
kahena madhura vani
sada sange achha tumi,
punascha asibe vraja haite [9]
"Sri Rupa began to cry and said, 'Please order me to stay with You.' Hearing this, the Lord felt immense joy in His heart. He said, 'Always speak about these nectarean instructions, you are always with Me. Later you will come from Vraja Dham [to see Me] again.'
ei mata kahe yata,
tabe prabhu sachi-suta,
kasi chale naukaya chadiya
prabhura sri-chandra-mukha,
nayane heriye rupa,
bhume pade murchhita haiya [10]
"Saying this, the Lord, the son of Sachi Devi, got into a boat and left for Kasi. When Rupa lost the sight of the moon-like face of the Lord, he fell on the ground, senseless.
se samaye bhela yaha,
kahite na pari taha,
kata-ksane kichhu sambarila
mahaprabhu sri-charana,
tahe samarpiya mana,
vrndavana gamana karila [11]
"Nobody knows how much time had passed before it stopped (and he came back to his senses). Fixing his mind at the holy feet of Mahaprabhu, he left for Vrindavan.
atyanta ananda chite,
sighra aila mathurate,
subuddhi-rayera dekha paila
raya anandita haiya,
dui-jane sange laiya
dvadasa kanana dekhaila [12]
"Feeling intense joy, he very soon came to Mathura and met there with Subuddhi Ray. Subuddhi Ray was very happy to see him. They both stayed together for some time, and Subuddhi Ray showed Sri Rupa the twelve forests of Vrindavan.
vistarite nari ara,
gamanagamana tanra,
kata-dina pare vrndavane
sri-rupa sri-sanatana,
haila donhe sumilana,
donhe preme apta nahi jane [13]
"I am not able to describe their walks in more detail; after a while Sri Rupa finally came to Vrindavan. There, Sri Rupa and Sri Sanatan met each other and both became lost in divine love.
alingana kari donhe,
chaitanyera guna kahe,
yaha suni' pasana milaya
ananda haila chitte,
nahi pare sasvarite,
kandi donhe dharani lotaya [14]
"The two brothers embraced each other and spoke about the qualities of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu—even stones felt attracted hearing their discussions. They were so overwhelmed with joy that they could not check themselves—both cried and rolled on the ground.
ati anuraga mane,
sri-rupa sri-vrndavane,
rahe sada premera ullase
phala-mula madhukari,
vipra-grhe bhiksa kari,
bhunje kabhu thake upavase [15]
"With much attachment Sri Rupa stayed in Sri Vrindavan, and divine love kept overwhelming him. Sometimes he would collect some fruit or roots as madhukari, sometimes he come to some brahmans' houses to beg—if he got something he would take it, otherwise he fasted.
chhinda kantha vahirvasa,
ei-matra bahe pasa,
tarutale karena sayana
divanisi avisrama,
japaye madhura nama,
bhava-bhare karaye nartana [16]
"He wore only a torn quilt and slept under a tree. Day and night, without any rest, he chanted the Holy Name of the Lord on beads and sometimes, when he was overwhelmed with divine love, he would dance.
ksane kare sankirtana,
antarmana anuksana,
ki kaba bhajana-riti tanra
prabhura ajnaya kata,
varnila amrta-grantha,
prema-sama aksara yanhara [17]
"He always engaged in sankirtan and incessantly served within his mind. Who can describe the way he practised? Following the order of the Lord, he wrote many nectarean books whose every word is filled with divine love.
maha-dhira atyudara,
ke bujhe hrdaya tanra,
kabhu yamunara tate yana
'ha sachi-nandana' bali'
kandaye du-hate tuli,
dake radha-krsna-nama lana [18]
"He was extremely calm and highly qualified. Indeed, who can understand his heart? Sometimes he would go to the bank of the Yamuna, he cried, 'O Sachi Nandan!' Throwing his arms up he cried and called out to Radha-Krishna's Name.
ati su-kamala deha,
sada preme nache seha,
ara ki balila eka mukhe
adhama pamara-gana,
patita duhkhita jana,
nija-gune krpa karena take [19]
"His body was extremely soft and gentle, he always danced feeling intense love for the Lord. How much more can one mouth possibly say? His nature was such that he would give mercy to the worst, most sinful, fallen and miserable souls.
narahari durachara,
kara more angikara,
tapete haila sada bhora
tuya pada-padma mana,
rahe yena sarva-ksana,
ei nivedana suna mora [20]
"Narahari is a wicked person, always full of agony. Please accept me! May I always, at every moment, remember your lotus feet—please hear this prayer of mine!
'Maya will always try to take you away from the service, but you must
forcefully keep yourself within service—that will be good for your
spiritual life.'