Lives of the Vaishnava Saints

REFLECTIONS ON VṚNDĀVANA DĀSA ṬHAKURA


From Kṛṣṇa Dāsa Kavirāja Goswāmī:

সর্ৱ-ৱৈষ্ণৱের পাযে মোর নমস্কার

ইথে অপরাধ কিছ্হু না লবে আমার
sarva-vaiṣṇavera pāye mora namaskāra
ithe aparādha kichhu nā labe āmāra

I offer my obeisance at the feet of all Vaishnavs. Should I make any offence in doing so, I pray they will forgive me.

আমার প্রভুর প্রভু শ্রী-গৌরসুন্দর

এ বড ভরসা ছিত্তে ধরি নিরন্তর

āmāra prabhura prabhu śrī-gaurasundara
e baḍa bharasā chitte dhari nirantara

My master’s master is Sri Gaurasundar. I hold this great hope in my heart forever.

মুখেহ যে জন বলে ‘নিত্যানন্দ-দাস’

সে অৱশ্য দেখিবেক ছৈতন্য-প্রকাশ

mukheha ye jana bale ‘nityānanda-dāsa’
se avaśya dekhibeka chaitanya-prakāśa

Anyone who says, “I am Nityananda’s servant,” will certainly behold Sri Chaitanya.

চৈতন্যের প্রিযতম নিত্যানন্দ-রায

প্রভু-ভৃত্য-সঙ্গ যেন না ছ্হাডে আমায

caitanyera priyatama nityānanda-rāya
prabhu-bhṛtya-saṅga yena nā chhāḍe āmāya

Nityananda Ray is most dear to Sri Chaitanya. I associate with Nityananda so that Sri Chaitanya does not reject me.

জগতের প্রেম-দাতা হেন নিত্যানন্দ

তান হঞা যেন ভজো̐ প্রভু-গৌরচন্দ্র

jagatera prema-dātā hena nityānanda
tāna hañā yena bhajo̐ prabhu-gaurachandra

Nityananda is the giver of prem to this world, thus through Him I serve Sri Gaurachandra.

সংসারের পার হৈ’ ভক্তির সাগরে

যে ডুবিবে সে ভজুক নিতাই-ছান্দেরে
saṁsārera pāra hai’ bhaktira sāgare

ye ḍubibe se bhajuka nitāi-chāndere

May those who desire to cross over samsara and dive in the ocean of devotion serve Sri Nitaichand.

কাষ্ঠের পুতলী যেন কুহকে নাছায

এই-মত গৌরছন্দ্র মোরে যে বোলায

kāṣṭhera putalī yena kuhake nāchāya
ei-mata gaurachandra more ye bolāya

As a puppet master causes a puppet to dance, so Gaurachandra causes me to speak.

পক্ষী যেন আকাশের অন্ত নাহি পায
যত শক্তি থাকে, তত দূর উডি’ যায
এই-মত ছৈতন্য-কথার অন্ত নাই

যার যত-দূর শক্তি সবে তত গাই

pakṣī yena ākāśera anta nāhi pāya
yata śakti thāke, tata dūra uḍi’ yāya
ei-mata chaitanya-kathāra anta nāi
yāra yata-dūra śakti sabe tata gāi

As birds cannot reach the limit of the sky but fly into it as far as they are able, so discussion of Sri Chaitanya has no end and I chant His glories as far as I am able.

শ্রী-কৃষ্ণ-ছৈতন্য-নিত্যানন্দ-ছান্দ জান

ৱৃন্দাৱন-দাস তছ্হু পদ-যুগে গান

śrī-kṛṣṇa-chaitanya-nityānanda-chānda jāna
vṛndāvana-dāsa tachhu pada-yuge gāna

Embracing Sri Krishna Chaitanya and Nityanandachand as his life and soul, Vrindavan Das sings the glories of Their feet.

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Source: Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata: Madhya-khaṇḍa, 28.185, 191–199.

From Gaura Parṣada Caritavālī, translated by Bhakti Vidhan Mahāyogi in Lives of the Saints, (1987)

Srimad Vrndāvana dasa Ṭhakura's mother's name was Sri Narayani Devi. Narayani Devi was the daughter of Srivāsa Thakura's brother. After the disappeareance of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Srivāsa Ṭhakura went to live in Kumar Hatta. 

Srivāsa Ṭhakura had three brothers: Śrīpati, Śrīrama and Śrīnidhi. He also had one son, but at a young age, his son passed away, returning to the Lord's supreme abode.

Srivāsa Ṭhakur had previously lived in Sri Hatta, but because he wanted the association of devotees he went to live on the banks of the Ganges in Nabadwip. 

When Mahaprabhu revealed his divinity in the house of Srivāsa Ṭhakur, showing his true self to the assembled devotees there, Narayani devi, Srivāsa Ṭhakura's niece,  was only a four year old girl. 

In the Chaitanya Bhagavata it is written:

"The golden moon, Sri Gauranga, revealed himself as the soul of all souls.
At that time he ordered Narayani to chant the name of Krishna.
Although she was only four years old she became mad with love of God.
And crying, "O Krishna!" she swooned in ecstasy.
As she laid on the ground in a trance of bliss, her eyes filled with tears,
overwhelmed with divine love."

Narayani Devi's son was Vṛndāvana Dāsa Ṭhakura. In the Chaitanya Bhagavata he has written of how his mother Narayani was the object of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's affection:

"As a result of her great piety, Narayani would get whatever remnants the Lord might leave after eating. Although she was only an unschooled little girl, the Lord would favor Srivas Thakur's niece by giving her the leftovers of food touched by His holy lips."

Indeed it was by the mercy of the Lord's prasāda that Vṛndāvana Dāsa Ṭhakura took birth in the womb of Narayani as the incarnation of Vyāsa. 

Śrī Gauranga  and Śrī  Nityānanda were the very life and soul of Vṛndāvana Dāsa Ṭhakura. 

About the father of Vrindavana dasa Thakrua little is mentioned anywhere. Apart from his relationship with Narayani, not much is known of Vṛndāvana Dāsa Ṭhakura's ancestry.

In his commentary on the Chaitanya Bhagavata, Prabhupāda Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura says: 

"At the ancestral home of Malini-devi [the wife of Srivasa Thakura] Vrindavana dasa played as a small boy growing up. There he was nourished and cared after just like a valuable gem."

One may find many facts regarding the life of Vrindavana Dasa by going to Mamagachi, the village where Sri Narayani's wedding took place. 

Soon the wedding, in Magagachi, while Vṛndāvana Dāsa Ṭhakura  was still within the womb, Narayani lost her husband and became a widow. 

In the small room of a poor brahmana, she lived in great poverty and hardship as a maidservant in the house of Vāsudeva Dutt. 

Not long after this, Vrindavana Dasa Thakura was born, and soon began his studies in Sanskrit. Vrindavana Dasa Thakura took birth four years after Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu accepted sannyāsa. 

When Mahaprabhu had disappeared from this world and entered into his aprakrita-lila, Vrindavana Das was barely twenty years old.

Eventually, Vrindavan Das Thakura accepted dikṣa initiation from Śri Nityānanda Prabhu. He is Nityananda's eternal servant. Sri Vrindavana Dasa Thakura went with Sri Jahnava-devi to the great festival in Kheturi gram. The poet Sri Krishna das Kaviraja Goswami writes of the endless glories of Vrindavan das Thakura:

"Krishna's life was written in the Bhagavata of Vyasa.
The Vedavyasa for Sri Chaitanya was Vrindavana Dasa.

Vrindavan das has called his book the "Chaitanya Mangala"
Whoever hears his book-- no grave misfortunes shall befall.

Who reads it knows the glories of Chaitanya and Nitai
And knows what Krishna-bhakti is, and how it is, and why.

His book contains the essence of the holy Bhagavat
And shows what Krishna-Bhakti is and what Bhakti is not.

An atheist who hears the Thakura's words will soon relent
And join the ranks of saintly men whose souls are heaven-sent.

No ordinary man can sing of God as he has sung:
The Lord Himself has spoken through the Thakur's holy tongue.

I bow a million times before the holy lotus feet
Of Sri Vrindavan das, whose verses are so sweet...

That one who reads them shall be freed from this dark, mortal earth;
I bow a million times before the place where he took birth."

(Caitanya-Caritamrita)

For more, here's an excerpt from "Sri Chaitanya: His Life & Associates" by Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj.

Vrindavan Das chronicled primarily Mahaprabhu’s early activities such as his pastimes as a student, his childhood, his chastisement of the Qazi, his departure from Nabadwip, as well as some aspects of his life in Puri. Vrindavan Das Thakur demonstrated infinite mercy on the fallen souls by warning them:

এত পরিহরে-ও জে পপি নিন্দ করে

তবে লথি মরোন্ তর্ শিরের উপরে

eta parihare-o je papi ninda kare

tabe lathi maron tar shirera upare

"Even after being told how objectionable it is, if someone still blasphemes the Vaishnavas, then I will kick him in the head." Vṛndāvana Dāsa Ṭhakura.

"These same words are repeated in the Adi, Madhya and Antya-khandas of the Chaitanya Bhagavat. Some foolish and arrogant persons misunderstand such statements and criticize Vrindavan Das for having made them. Such criticism leads them into the mud of offensiveness. In this connection, the remarks of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur, the founder of the Sri Chaitanya Math and all the Gaudiya Maths, are well worth studying: “‘I am ready to kick the heads of those envious and hellish persons who blaspheme Nityananda Prabhu, if by so doing I will be able to forever prevent them from repeating their attempts to show disrespect for the Supreme Lord. Not only that, but if by so doing I can bring about a slear conception of the truth, I will be performing them the greatest service.’"

“So says Vrindavan Das, the incarnation of Vyasa and acharya of the Vaishnava faith. If even a single fleck of dust should fall from his foot on the head of a sinful blasphemer, then that person will be blessed and all his sinful conditioning will inevitably be eradicated. 

In words which embody the Goddess of Learning and a flood of pure devotion, the Thakur reveals compassion for even the most atheistic blasphemer with the unswerving faith appropriate to a servant of Nityananda Prabhu, the supreme guru. 

He tells them that though they should be the object of indifference due to their foolishness, nevertheless, because of their ignorance of the truth of Nityananda, their insistence on rushing headlong on the path to hell, and their reluctance to act in their own real self-interest, he and other compassionate Vaishnavas like him who practice and preach the Lord’s doctrines unselfishly and disinterestedly act for their welfare. 

The compassion which is manifested in Vrindavan Das’s statement is beyond the comprehension of those who have no understanding of what is truly in their own self interest. Anyone who follows in the footsteps of Vrindavan Das, the incarnation of Vyasa, and both practices and preaches the Vaishnava religion is always engaged in an effort to bring about the ultimate well-being of everyone. Though he may make a superficial show of wishing to punish the enemies of the Lord, in fact he harbors a compassion toward them which knows no limit.”

Vrindavan Das Thakur’s disappearance day is the Krishna Dashami of Vaishakh. There is some dispute the exact year of his disappearance which was likely 1511 Shaka (1589 AD).

[Excerpted from "Sri Chaitanya: His Life & Associates" by Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj]