Srila Gadadhara Pandita: Appearance Day
Gadadhara Pandita is among the group known as the Panca-tattva, consisting of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and four of His closest associates. Gadadhara Pandita spent most of his life in Jagannatha Puri worshiping the Tota-Gopinatha Deity.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta states that Gadadhara Pandita was an incarnation of the pleasure potency of Sri Krsna. And Sri Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika confirms that Srimati Radharani appeared in gaura-lila as Gadadhara Pandita.
Gadadhara Pandita appeared one year after Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. And in their childhoods, the two were inseparable.
Later, when Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu took sannyasa and went to reside in Jagannatha Puri, Gadadhara Pandita followed Him. Most of Mahaprabhu’s other associates in Navadvipa remained in Bengal; they came to Puri only once in a year, for the four months of the rainy season, to attend the Ratha-yatra and to see Mahaprabhu. But Gadadhara Pandita couldn’t bear to be separated from the Lord, and the Lord couldn’t bear to be separated from him. So he was permitted to stay with Mahaprabhu in Puri, and there they engaged in pastimes.
Gadadhara Pandita accepted ksetra-sannyasa, which means he took a vow never to spend a night outside the dhama, Jagannatha Puri.
Lord Caitanya is Krsna acting in the mood of Srimati Radharani, Gadadhara Pandita, although Radharani, did not act in the mood of Radharani–because there can be only one Radharani. Gadadhara Pandita understood, “This is Krsna’s time. This is Krsna’s opportunity to relish the loving ecstasy of Srimati Radharani, so I will keep my mood of Radha in the background and just support Him in His experience of radha-bhava.”
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta (Antya 167, 163-164) concludes,
panditera saujanya, brahmanyata-guna
drdha prema-mudra loke karila khyapana
“Gadadhara Pandita is celebrated all over the world for his gentle behavior, his brahminical attributes, and his steady love for Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
On this auspicious occasion we can pray to Gadadhara Pandita, a most intimate associate of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and a member of the Panca-tattva, to be merciful to us, to help us to taste and distribute the nectar of the holy name, the nectar of Krsna consciousness, as humble servants of his devoted servants.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta (Antya 167, 163-164) concludes,
panditera saujanya, brahmanyata-guna
drdha prema-mudra loke karila khyapana
“Gadadhara Pandita is celebrated all over the world for his gentle behavior, his brahminical attributes, and his steady love for Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.”
panditera bhava-mudra kahana na yaya ’gadadhara-prana-natha’ nama haila yaya
“No one can describe the characteristics and ecstatic love of Gadadhara Pandita. Therefore another name for Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Gadadhara-prananatha, ‘the life and soul of Gadadhara Pandita.’
pandite prabhura prasada kahana na yaya ’gadaira gauranga’ bali’ yanre loke gaya
“No one can say how merciful the Lord is to Gadadhara Pandita, but people know the Lord as Gadaira Gauranga, ‘the Lord Gauranga of Gadadhara Pandita.'”
On this auspicious occasion we can pray to Gadadhara Pandita, a most intimate associate of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and a member of the Panca-tattva, to be merciful to us, to help us to taste and distribute the nectar of the holy name, the nectar of Krsna consciousness, as humble servants of his devoted servants.
Srila Gadadhara Pandita: Disappearance Day
Gadadhara Pandita is among the group known as the Panca-tattva, consisting of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and four of His closest associates. Gadadhara Pandita spent most of his life in Jagannatha Puri worshiping the Tota-Gopinatha Deity.
Later, when Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu took sannyasa and went to reside in Jagannatha Puri, Gadadhara Pandita followed Him. Most of Mahaprabhu’s other associates in Navadvipa remained in Bengal; they came to Puri only once in a year, for the four months of the rainy season, to attend the Ratha-yatra and to see Mahaprabhu. But Gadadhara Pandita couldn’t bear to be separated from the Lord, and the Lord couldn’t bear to be separated from him. So he was permitted to stay with Mahaprabhu in Puri, and there they engaged in pastimes. Gadadhara Pandita accepted ksetra-sannyasa, which means he took a vow never to spend a night outside the dhama, Jagannatha Puri.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta states that Gadadhara Pandita was an incarnation of the pleasure potency of Sri Krsna. And Sri Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika confirms that Srimati Radharani appeared in gaura-lila as Gadadhara Pandita.
Lord Caitanya is Krishna acting in the mood of Srimati Radharani, Gadadhara Pandita, although Radharani, did not act in the mood of Radharani–because there can be only one Radharani. Gadadhara Pandita understood, “This is Krishna’s time. This is Krishna’s opportunity to relish the loving ecstasy of Srimati Radharani, so I will keep my mood of Radha in the background and just support Him in His experience of radha-bhava.”
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta (Antya 167, 163-164) concludes,
panditera saujanya, brahmanyata-guna
drdha prema-mudra loke karila khyapana
“Gadadhara Pandita is celebrated all over the world for his gentle behavior, his brahminical attributes, and his steady love for Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.”
panditera bhava-mudra kahana na yaya ’gadadhara-prana-natha’ nama haila yaya
“No one can describe the characteristics and ecstatic love of Gadadhara Pandita. Therefore another name for Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Gadadhara-prananatha, ‘the life and soul of Gadadhara Pandita.’
pandite prabhura prasada kahana na yaya ’gadaira gauranga’ bali’ yanre loke gaya
“No one can say how merciful the Lord is to Gadadhara Pandita, but people know the Lord as Gadaira Gauranga, ‘the Lord Gauranga of Gadadhara Pandita.’”
On this auspicious occasion we can pray to Gadadhara Pandita, to be merciful to us, to help us to taste and distribute the nectar of the holy name, the nectar of Krsna consciousness, as humble servants of his devoted servants.
