Transcendental Institute of Radhakrishna’s Teaching for Holy Awakening

Srila Sanatan Goswami Back

Ya Rupa-Manjari-Prestha Purasiad Rati-Manjari|| Socyate Nama-Bhedena Lavanga-Manjari Budhaih | Sadya Gaurabhinna-Tanuh Sarvaradhyah Sanatanah|| Tam Eva Pravisat Karyan Muni-Ratnah Sanatanah Rati Manjari ||

Who was previously very dear to Rupa Manjari and was also known by some wise persons as Lavanga Manjari, has become the worshipable Sanatan, who is non-different from Gaura Himself. The jewel amongst sages, Sanatan Kumar, has also entered into him to fulfill a certain mission.

 SANATAN’S LIFE BEFORE MEETING MAHAPRABHU

According to the Gaudiya Vaisnava Abhidhana, Sanatan was born in around 1410 of the Saka era (1488 AD). Narahari Chakravarti Thakur has described his ancestors in Bhakti-ratnakara and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur has given a summary of this information in his Anubhasya to Chaitanya Charitamrita, which we have quoted in this book on page 153 in our discussion of the life of Rupa Goswami. Other than this, no reliable information about their descedents has been found. Perhaps researchers in Indian history will be able to shed more light on this. According to the Gaudiya Vaisnava Abhidhana, the following brief account is given of how Sanatan’s grandfather came to be engaged in the Muslim Shah’s service: “During the reign of Barbak Shah (1460-1470 AD), Sanatan’s grandfather Mukunda entered the court at the capital city of Gauda. Barbak Shah engaged many Abyssinian slaves and eunuchs in both his court and harem; they were known as habsi (which is now the common Bengali word for any black African). After the death of Barbak Shah, his son Yusuf became king, and he was followed by his son Fateh Shah. During the reign of Fateh Shah, the Abyssinians led a coup in which Fateh Shah himself was assassinated. They ruled for five or six years. Hussain Shah was the vizir or prime minister of the last of the Abyssinian rulers and he later became himself ruler of Bengal. Mukunda left this world during the rule of Fateh Shah and Sanatan was engaged in his place. Sanatan managed to survive the Abyssinian period and during Hussain Shah’s reign managed to take a higher position on the strength of his personal talents, eventually becoming prime minister. Rupa Goswami held another ministerial post, possibly as finance minister.” Sanatan’s title was Sakar Mallik and Rupa’s was Dabir Khas. While Sri Sanatan Goswami was still young, he studied under the country’s leading scholar named Vidya Vachaspati, learning many scriptures from him. He was especially attached to the study of the Srimad Bhagavatam. Although he had taken birth in a high-class Brahmin family, because he had worked for the Muslim government, he considered himself to be fallen and always behaved in a most humble manner, as is appropriate for a Vaishnava. Sanatan’s teacher, Vidya Vachaspati, would come to stay in Ramakeli from time to time. Sanatan studied all the scriptures from him. No one can achieve the depth of devotion that he had for his guru. Sanatan’s father would perform atonement rituals even after seeing a Muslim, yet Sanatan himself would associate constantly with Muslims. Being dependent on them for his livelihood, he would even go into their homes. For this reason, he considered himself to be on the same level as the Muslims and behaved very humbly. Sometimes, when he had fallen into the ocean of humility, he would think of himself as even lower than a Mleccha. Because he had associated with Muslims and behaved in a lowly manner like them, he would speak of himself in that way. Though born in the highest class family of Brahmins, he never thought of himself as a Brahmin.

Through Ramananda [the Lord] destroyed Cupid’s pride, through Svarupa Damodar He demonstrated detachment. Through Hari Das Thakur, he demonstrated forbearance and through Rupa and Sanatan Goswami, He taught humility. All the participants in Krishna’s lila also made their appearance in Gaura’s incarnation in order to enrich his pastimes. Through them, the Lord gives various teachings to the people of this world. Through Hari Das, Mahaprabhu revealed the glories of the Holy Name; through Sanatan, the current of devotional conclusions. Through Rupa He taught Radha and Krishna’s pastimes of love. Who can understand the mysterious workings of the Lord?  Through Sanatan’s mercy, I learned the foundation of devotional doctrine, while through Rupa’s mercy, I learned about the divine devotional sentiments. Thus Sanatan has been called the bhakti-siddhantacarya, or the teacher of devotional doctrine, by which is meant the teacher of sambandha-jnana, or of the basic relations between God, man and the world. The founder of the Chaitanya Math, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur, whose various branches have spread throughout the world, mercifully gave his disciples a poem entitled “Who is a Vaishnava?” The nectarean instructions found in this poem mention the teachings of Mahaprabhu to Sanatan Goswami from the Chaitanya Charitamrita.

Tai Dusta Mana Nirjana Bhajana

   Pracaricha Chale Kuyogi-Vaibhava

Prabhu Sanatane Parama Yatane

   Siksa Dila Yaha, Cinta Sei Saba

“So, wicked mind, you have deceptively been preaching nirjana-bhajana, or solitary practice life, which is nothing more than a display like that of a misleading yoga practitioner interested in the mystic powers. Study the teachings of the Lord to Sanatan very carefully and meditate upon them”. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur thus instructs us all to give great attention to the Lord’s teachings to Sanatan, or those teachings He gave to the world through Sanatan Goswami.

FIRST MEETING IN RAMAKELI

After He took sannyas, Mahaprabhu first went to Shantipur, then to Puri, and then on pilgrimage to South India. After completing His pilgrimage and returning to Puri, Mahaprabhu decided to go to Vrindavan via the route which follows the Ganges through Bengal. Great crowds of people accompanied Him and He eventually decided to turn back from Kanair Natshala. He met Rupa and Sanatan for the first time while passing through the village of Ramakeli on this journey. Ramakeli is in the district of Maldah in West Bengal, located about eight miles south of English Bazaar, and about five or six miles from the Maldah train station. Ramakeli was made district headquarters during British rule and is also known as Gupta (“hidden”) Vrindavan. There are a number of sites which are worth visiting as reminders of Rupa and Sanatan:

(1) The tamal and a kadamba tree under which Mahaprabhu is said to have been sitting when he met Rupa and Sanatan; a shrine containing the footprints of the Lord has been constructed there as a memorial of that meeting. In this location, the Lord distributed love of Krishna to all the devotees.

(2) The temple of Madana Mohan. This Madana Mohan deity was personally worshiped by Sanatan Goswami. There are also deities of Nitai-Gauranga and Advaita Prabhus.

(3) There are several ponds which are named Radha Kund, Shyama Kund, Surabhi Kund, Lalita Kund and Vishakha Kund.

(4) A large man-made lake named Rupa Sagara, which is said to have been excavated by Rupa Goswami himself, and

(5) another named Sanatan Sagara. Rupa and Sanatan built large mansions both in Ramakeli and Fateyabad. At first, the Muslim king became concerned When he heard that such great crowds of Hindus had assembled in the nearby village. One of the Hindu members of the Shah’s court was Keshava Kshatriya, who explained to him that there was no reason to fear Mahaprabhu. Rupa Goswami (Dabir Khas) also glorified Mahaprabhu to the king, telling him of his fortune in having the Lord bless the country by his presence. Keshava Kshatriya, meanwhile, sent a secret message to the Lord telling Him to go elsewhere because the King could not be trusted. The King said, “Listen, I am also beginning to think that this person must be God Himself. There is no doubt about it.

”After having this conversation, the king entered his private quarters and Dabir Khas also returned to his residence. After returning there, however, he and his brother decided after much consideration to go incognito to see the Lord. Thus, in the dead of night the two brothers, Dabir Khas and Sakar Mallik, went to see Mahaprabhu. First they met Nityananda Prabhu and Hari Das Thakur. Nityananda Prabhu and Hari Das then went and told the Lord that Dabir Khas and Sakar Mallik had come to see him. When Rupa and Sanatan met the Lord, they spoke to Him with extreme humility: “We two are millions of times more degraded, fallen and sinful than Jagai and Madhai. We are of wicked birth because we are the servants of Muslims and our activities are exactly like those of the Muslims. We constantly associate with people who are inimical toward the cows and Brahmins. Due to our abominable activities we are now bound by the neck and hands and have been thrown into the ditch filled with the excrement of evil sense enjoyment. It is very distressful to us that we are so unworthy, yet when we see your merciful qualities, we become desirous of attaining your blessings. This powerful desire rises up in us as that of a dwarf who wants to touch the moon. When the Lord heard the extreme humility of the two brothers, He became compassionate and said to them, “You are My eternal servants. From now on you shall be known as Rupa and Sanatan. I came to Bengal just so that I could meet you here in Ramakeli village. Krishna will deliver you from your entanglements very shortly. ”Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur has written the following comment in his Anubhasya: “Mahaprabhu showed his mercy to Dabir Khas and Sakar Mallik by giving them the spiritual names of Rupa and Sanatan, respectively. Nama-karana is a type of samskara on the lowest level of qualification. However, those who ignore the mercy that is manifest in the spiritual name have no chance of attaining devotion to Krishna, but remain intoxicated with material prestige. Prakrita Sahajiyas pay no heed to the injunctions of the scripture that state that the minimum characteristics of a Vaishnava are that he wears the symbols of the discus and conchshell and urdhva-pundra (tilak) and takes one of the names of Krishna. As such, they cannot be qualified as

Gaudiya Vaishnavas. Non-Vaishnavas have not been given a name by the Vaishnava guru and so they continue in the bodily conception of life without any awareness of their relationship with the Lord. They continue to identify themselves with their previous caste according to the name which ties them to their body. Amongst the Lord’s companions present on this occasion were Nityananda Prabhu, Hari Das Thakur, Srivasa Pandit, Srila Gadadhar Pandit Goswami, Mukunda Datta, Jagadananda Pandit, Murari Gupta, Vakresvara Pandit and many others. The Lord had them all give their blessings to Rupa and Sanatan. As the Lord was departing, the worldlywise Sanatan said to Him: “You should leave this place, Lord. You have no business here. Even though the Shah has faith in you, he is a Muslim and cannot be trusted. To go on pilgrimage with such a large company of devotees is not recommended. You are going to Vrindavan with an entourage of hundreds and thousands of people, and this is not a fitting way to go on a pilgrimage.”Mahaprabhu continued on as far as Kanair Natshala, but as He considered the wisdom of Sanatan’s advice, He decided to turn back, first going to Shantipur and then to Puri. After He and His entourage had given their mercy to Rupa and Sanatan, they left Ramakeli village.

SANATAN ESCAPES FROM PRISON

Rupa and Sanatan are the eternal associates of Krishna in Vrindavan. They appeared in this world in order to enrich Lord Gauranga’s lila by playing the role of aspirants for spiritual perfection (sadhakas). After meeting Mahaprabhu, they began to feel very impatient to change their lifestyle. They became very renounced and austere. In order to quickly be united with Mahaprabhu, they engaged two Brahmins in the performance of a purascarana. Srila Rupa Goswami finally resigned from his government service and he deposited 10,000 coins on behalf of his older brother with a grocer in the capital Gauda. Then he took the rest of their accumulated wealth with him to Bakla Chandradwip where he divided it up amongst the Vaishnavas, Brahmins and his family. He also kept a quarter of it with a trustworthy Brahmin against future necessity. He then sent two people to Puri to find out when Mahaprabhu intended to travel to Vrindavan. Husain Shah used to treat Sanatan Goswami as his younger brother and had great affection for him. Sanatan thought that the affection of the king, or indeed of any materialistic person, was a source of material bondage. If the king became angry with him, it would make it easier for him to break away from his entanglements. For this reason, he stopped performing his duties in the Shah’s court, pretending to be ill. Though he claimed to be seriously ill, he was in fact engaged in an intense study of the Bhagavatam with a group of Sanskrit scholars.

The Shah was disquieted by Sanatan’s illness and he sent a doctor to examine him. The doctor came back and reported to the king that Sanatan was in good health and that he was studying the Bhagavata with a group of pandits. When he heard this, the Shah went to Sanatan himself and spoke to him very affectionately, trying to convince him to come back to work. Sanatan refused, however, to return to his ministerial duties and furthermore refused to accompany the Shah in the war he was preparing with Orissa. The Shah became suspicious of Sanatan and had him imprisoned. In the meantime, Rupa had received the news that Mahaprabhu had taken the jungle route through Jharikhanda for Vrindavan. He immediately departed for Vraja with his younger brother Anupam Mallik. He sent Sanatan a letter letting him know of his intentions, telling him to take any necessary action to free himself and then to come and join them. According to Bhaktivinode Thakur, the letter consisted of the following Sanskrit verse:

Yadu-Pateh Kva Gata Mathura Puri

       Raghu-Pateh Kva Gatottara-Kosala |

Iti Vicintya Kurusva Manah Sthiram

        Na Sad Idam Jagad Ity Avadharaya ||

Where has the Mathura of the Lord of the Yadus gone? And where is the kingdom of Kosala of the Lord of the Raghus? Contemplate this and make your mind steady: Beware, this world will not last forever. Sanatan was able to understand the secret meaning of the verse, which indicated that the Lord had gone to Mathura, and was overjoyed. He began to consider how he could escape from prison. Sanatan knew the Muslim jailkeeper for he was the one who had hired him. He began trying to persuade him to let him go saying that the Almighty would surely bless and give him salvation for setting free someone who had been unjustly imprisoned. The jailor remained unconvinced, so Sanatan tried to win him over by reminding him that he owed him a favor for having given him the job. When the jail keeper still refused to let him go, Sanatan offered him a bribe of 5,000 rupees. At this, the jailkeeper’s resolve began to waver but he was still afraid of being caught by the Badshah. Sanatan told him, “The Shah has gone to war. When he comes back, just tell him that I went to the toilet. Then when I went to the Ganges to wash myself, I jumped into the water and disappeared. Say that you looked everywhere but couldn’t find me.” Sanatan further assured him that he would not remain in the area, as it was his intention to become a Sufi and go on the Haj to Mecca. Therefore, he need not worry on that account. The jailor remained reticent, however, and finally Sanatan had the grocer bring 7,000 rupees of the money which Rupa had left in his safekeeping and placed it directly in front of him. When he saw the money before him, the jailor became greedy and surrendered to his proposal. He cut Sanatan’s chains and helped him to cross the Ganges. In general, we consider flattery, asking return for a favor, putting temptation before someone, telling someone to lie, and bribery all to be unethical acts. Sanatan, however, used all the means at his disposal to escape bondage so that he could join the Lord and engage in His service. To achieve an auspicious end, any means may be permissible. The purity or impurity of a particular means depends on the purity or impurity of the objectives to be achieved. In order to serve his master Rama, the Supreme Brahman, Hanuman burned down Lanka, killing many living beings, but because he was acting for the pleasure of the all-auspicious Supreme Lord, however, everyone was ultimately benefited by his action, and Hanuman is still considered worshipable to this very day. On the other hand, one can bathe in a holy river three times a day and worship the deity of the Lord and be completely in the mode of ignorance if his objective is to do harm to other beings. Even from the worldly point of view we see that one who commits murder is considered a criminal and is punished by the death penalty; but if one fights on the battlefield to save the nation and kills many members of a rival army, he is not punished but rather decorated with medals. This is because he is not acting for personal ends, but for those of the collectivity. This is easy to understand; yet when one acts not for the limited purposes of serving the country or even the entire world, but for the supremely auspicious owner of unlimited millions of universes, then that is the most justifiable of purposes and the highest benefits are attained by everyone through such actions. In the Padma-purana, it is written:

Man-Nimittam Krtam Papam

     Api Dharmaya Kalpate |

Mam Anadrtya Dharmo ‘Pi

    Papam Syan Mat-Prabhavatah ||

“Even sinful activities done for My sake are to be considered religious acts. On the other hand, pious activities done while disdaining Me are considered to be sin. Such is the extent of my power. ”Those who chant the Holy Names or make a show of devotion, but in fact are seeking to achieve mundane, egoistic goals, are factually engaged in sin and are destined for a hellish fate. Krishna also states in the Bhagavad Gita:

Yasya Nahankrto Bhavo

    Buddhir Yasya Na Lipyate |

Hatvapi Sa Imal Lokan

     Na Hanti Na Nibadhyate ||

He who is free from egotism (arising from aversion to the Absolute), and whose intelligence is not implicated in worldly activities does not kill at all–even if he kills every living being in the whole world– nor does he suffer the consequences of murder. When causeless devotion is manifest in the soul and one’s heart has an honest eagerness to find service to the Lord, then one gives up all consideration for happiness in this world, for renunciation is a side effect of unmotivated devotion.

ISHAN NEARLY GETS SANATAN KILLED

Sanatan had been prime minister, yet he escaped from jail with practically not a penny to his name. He did not take the main highway but travelled as quickly as he could through fields and villages until he reached Patra Mountain, which is part of the Raj Mahal Hills in the Chota Nagpur area of the modern state of Bihar. He did not know how to get across this mountain and so requested the aid of a landowner who was also a robber chieftain. Accompanying Sanatan was a longtime personal servant named Ishan. Through the help of a palmist, the landowner was able to know that Ishan had eight gold coins in his possession, so he welcomed Sanatan into his home and treated him with great hospitality. Sanatan was sufficiently experienced from his years in politics to become suspicious of the warm treatment he was receiving from his host and so he asked Ishan whether he was carrying anything of value. Ishan answered that he had seven gold coins, keeping his other coin a secret from him. Sanatan gently rebuked Ishan, “Why have you brought this ruination upon us?” He then took the coins from him and gave them to his host, asking him to help him get across the mountain. The landowner then revealed to Sanatan that he had known all along about the eight gold coins and that it had been his intention to murder them both that night somewhere on the mountain in order to take the money. He was very pleased that Sanatan had given him the gold and was even ready to return it to him, but Sanatan refused. He was intelligent enough to understand the adage: avyvasthitacittasya prasado’pi bhayankarah, “Even the kindness of an undependable person is dangerous.”

Dhurtasya Vacane Kvastha

     Kvacit Satyam Kvacin Mrsa |

Kvacid Raudram Kvacid Vrstih

    Sravanasya Ghano Yatha ||

“How can one have faith in the words of a rascal? Sometimes he tells the truth and sometimes falsehoods. It is just as with the clouds of Shravan–sometimes there is sunshine and sometimes rain. ”After they had crossed the mountain, Sanatan told Ishan to take the remaining gold coin and return home. Ishan had shown by his attachment to this gold coin that he was not yet ready to accept a life of renunciation and that he was too dependent on material conditions. When unqualified people take to renounced orders, then these orders themselves become contaminated. This is the lesson that Sanatan gave through his servant Ishan.

SANATAN MEETS THE LORD IN BENARES

After bidding good bye to Ishan, Sanatan continued on his way until he arrived at Hajipur on the northern bank of the Ganges near Patna. Sanatan’s brother-in-law, Srikanta, made his home there. Though Srikanta invited him to stay in his home for a few days to recuperate from the voyage, Sanatan declined his invitation because of his desire to see the Lord. Srikanta gave him a valuable blanket of Bhutanese wool. Sanatan then continued on to Benares where he was overjoyed to learn that Mahaprabhu was staying at the house of the physician, Chandrasekhara. Sanatan did not go straight into Chandrasekhara’s house but waited on his front porch. The Lord, the indweller of all souls, knew of His devotee’s arrival and sent Chandrasekhara to the door to invite him in. As soon as Sanatan entered, Mahaprabhu immediately rushed to embrace him. The meeting affected them both so intensely that they were overcome by the transformations of ecstatic love. In his affection for Sanatan, the Lord started to brush off the dust accumulated on his body from his travels, but this caused Sanatan to feel uncomfortable. He told the Lord not to touch him, but the Lord answered, “I touch you in order to purify Myself. Your devotional force is so great that you can purify the entire universe. I look at you, I touch you and I sing your glories. By so doing, all My senses attain their most perfect use. The Lord repeated again and again that he was touching Sanatan for His own purification and for the purification of the entire universe. Then He immediately added, “Listen Sanatan. Krishna is the ocean of mercy, He saves the most fallen. He has delivered you from the hell known as Raurava.” Sanatan is, of course, an eternal associate of the Lord, so there is no question of his being truly fallen, but Mahaprabhu wished to make a point for the benefit of the people of the world. He wanted to teach that worldly honor measured in terms of one’s fortune and accumulation of sense objects is in truth misfortune, since the accumulation of material possessions for the sake of gross or subtle sense gratification ultimately leads to a hellish existence. Conditioned souls who are bewildered by the illusory energy are constantly busy working hard in order to accumulate wealth, position, and influence whether by fair means or foul. Seldom does one come across an exemplary householder who knows that Krishna is the only true enjoyer and engages all his worldly possessions in the Lord’s service rather than considering them to be the objects of his own enjoyment. While Mahaprabhu was in Benares, He stayed with Chandrasekhara and took His meals at the house of Tapan Mishra. Mahaprabhu introduced Sanatan to these two devotees, and Tapan Mishra invited Sanatan to come to his house and take Mahaprabhu’s prasad remnants. After many days in prison and travelling, Sanatan’s hair and beard had grown long. The Lord told him to get shaved so that he would look “respectable”. Vaishnavas in general are clean shaven, growing neither beard nor moustache. With the exception of the Chaturmasya period when one does not shave nor cut the fingernails, this is the accepted practice for Vaishnava men. Vaishnava sannyasis, however, usually shave only once a month on the full moon day, as for them to shave daily would be considered unnecessary preoccupation with the body. After being shaved, Sanatan took his bath in the Ganges.

When he came back to the house, Chandrasekhara wanted to give him a new cloth, but Sanatan refused it, taking back his old one. Though he had been rich enough to give clothes to thousands of mendicants, on this day he was reluctant to accept a new cloth for himself. When one’s desire to worship the Lord is real, one becomes indifferent to nice clothes or good food. Accepting gifts from Vaishnavas or taking their remnants is an exception to this rule, however, as these do not have the poisonous character that other sense objects have. Every single one of Sanatan’s actions contains a lesson for the conscientious sadhaka. Mahaprabhu was extremely pleased to see Sanatan’s renunciation. Thus it is said:

Mahaprabhura Bhakta Jata Vairagya Pradhana |

 Jaha Dekhi’ Tusta Han Gaura Bhagavan ||

Renunciation is the predominating characteristic of every one of Mahaprabhu’s devotees. When Lord Gauranga sees their renunciation, He is very pleased. When one is intoxicated by material sensuality and enjoyments and engaged in competition to attain them, one is destined for a falldown from any spiritual attainment. There was in Benares a Maharashtrian Brahmin who invited Sanatan to come daily to his house to eat for as long as he stayed there. Sanatan refused, however, saying that he prefered to keep body and soul together by eating only madhukari, that is to say, by begging a handful of food from several houses each day. A pure devotee has no desire for bodily comfort. Sanatan Goswami had torn his old cloth into two to make a loincloth (bahirvasa) and a shawl (uttariya), but even so, he continued to wrap himself in the Bhutanese wool blanket. Mahaprabhu looked repeatedly at this blanket, and Sanatan realized that Mahaprabhu did not approve of it. That day, when he went to the Ganges ghat, he saw a Bengali mendicant washing a quilt in the river. He offered this mendicant his expensive blanket in exchange for the quilt. When Sanatan came back wearing the threadbare quilt, the Lord was pleased.

The Lord said, “I had been thinking about this. It seems that since Lord Krishna is very merciful, He has cured you of your disease of attachment to sense enjoyment. Why then would He allow you to hold fast to a last bit of material attachment? After restoring someone to health, a good physician does not allow any trace of the disease to remain. It is contradictory to practice madhukari while wearing a blanket worth three gold coins. By so doing, you would have lost your spiritual strength and become a laughing stock. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. Even so, He played the role of the supreme teacher. He insisted that His personal associates maintain the standards of behavior that He set and Himself followed.

“I shall accept the role of a devotee and shall teach devotional service by practicing it Myself. It is explained in the Bhagavata and the Bhagavad Gita that if one does not oneself practice a religious principle, it cannot be taught.

Yad Yad Acarati Sresthas Tat Tad Evetaro Janah |

Sa Yat Pramanam Kurute Lokas Tad Anuvartate ||

The general masses imitate the ways of great men. They follow whatever the great personality accepts as the right conclusion.

THE LORD’S TEACHINGS TO SANATAN

Being pleased with Sanatan, Mahaprabhu infused him with spiritual power, giving him the capacity to ask appropriate questions about the practice of true spiritual life. Without the mercy of the Supreme Lord, genuine, honest questions on such matters cannot arise in someone’s mind. Most people ask questions thinking that they already know the right answer, simply as a sort of debating technique. No spiritual benefit arises from such types of questions. Honest questions meant to find out doctrinal truths leading to surrender are called pariprasna, relevant inquiry, in the Bhagavad Gita:

Tad Viddhi Pranipatena Pariprasnena Sevaya |

Upadeksyanti Te Jnanam Jnaninas Tattva-Darsinah ||

You will be able to attain all this knowledge by satisfying the enlightened spiritual master with prostrate obeisances, relevant inquiry, and sincere service. Great souls who are most expert in scriptural knowledge and endowed with direct realization of the Supreme Absolute Truth will teach you that divine knowledge. On the day a person undertakes his journey on the road to liberation, when his material entanglement is about to start the process of termination, he meets a spiritual master. Sanatan Goswami was himself an ever-liberated soul and a permanent companion of the Lord, but he showed what questions the aspiring practitioner of devotional service should ask his spiritual master on that day. He said to the Lord:

“I was born in a low family and have always associated with low-class men. I am fallen and the lowest of men. Indeed, I have fallen into the well of sinful materialism and passed my whole life there. I have no idea of what is beneficial for me and what is not. In ordinary dealings, people consider me wise, and I have also come to think of myself as such. You have mercifully delivered me from the materialistic path. Now, by the same causeless mercy, please explain to me my duty. I don’t know who I am or why the threefold miseries constantly wear me down, so how can I attain the highest good? Actually, I do not even know how to inquire about the goal of life and the process for obtaining it. Please bestow mercy on me and explain all these things.” Sanatan’s first question was ami ke? “Who am I?” This is the first question which arises in the heart of a person seeking the highest good. If one makes a mistake in assessing his true identity, then he will make errors when it comes to determining the ultimate goal of life. If one makes an error in determining the ultimate goal of life, then everything he does, every effort he makes, will be wasted. All of one’s duties, religious observations and self-interest rest upon the proper knowledge of oneself. If one takes the body to be the self, then He considers the maintenance of the body itself to be the goal of life or prayojana-tattva, and one’s self-interest will be the fulfilment of goals related to the body; duties will also be considered in terms of these ends, and morality, or the ability to discriminate between good and bad, will be determined on the basis of what is good or bad for the body. On the other hand, if someone takes the subtle body to be the self, then he will consider his personal interests in terms of its development and he will feel it his religious duty to help others develop in this way. Finally, those who consider the self to be a soul existing beyond the gross and subtle bodies will consider the soul’s development to be their true self-interest and will understand religious duty to help other people develop their spiritual conciousness. Those whose vision is clear to recognize their identity as spirit soul, but find themselves in the undesirable situation of bondage to the gross and subtle material bodies, can still make favorable use of these coverings in an understanding of their true self-interest, that of the soul. They avoid the unfavorable use of the gross and subtle bodies. In His teachings to Sanatan Goswami, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu taught that the living being’s true identity is to be Krishna’s eternal servant. The jiva is the Lord’s tatasthasakti, or marginal energy, his separated expansion, who is simultaneously one and different from Him.

The Lord taught Sanatan the sadhya and the sadhana, the goal of the seeker, and the methods by which the seeker achieves his goal. Mahaprabhu summarized the three elements of His teaching as sambandha, knowledge of one’s relationship with Krishna, abhidheya, the practice which leads to perfection or devotion to Krishna, and the prayojana, the supreme goal of spiritual life or love for Krishna, prema. The sum total of the Vedic literatures explains three things: sambandha, abhidheya and prayojana. The living entity’s eternal relationship with Krishna is called sambandha. Devotional service is the process by which one attains the supreme objective, Krishna. Devotional service, or sense activity for the satisfaction of the Lord is called abhidheya because it can develop one’s original love of Godhead– which is the goal of life– the prayojana. This goal is the living entity’s topmost interest and greatest treasure.

Krishna Das Kaviraj has explained all these matters at great length in his Chaitanya Charitamrita, from the 20th to the 23rd chapters of the Madhya-lila with copious quotations from scripture. Rather than repeat these teachings in detail here, which would lead to this account of Sanatan Goswami’s life becoming overly extensive, we will limit ourselves to a brief summary. Mahaprabhu told Sanatan that the various scriptures, in particular the Sruti, contain statements which indicate that the living being is both one with and different from the Supreme Lord. Different acharyas have put forth a variety of doctrines explaining the relation between this oneness and distinction, named advaita-vada, dvaita-vada, visistadvaita-vada, suddhadvaita-vada, dvaitadvaita-vada, etc. If one accepts the scripture, one must accept it in its entirety. This includes both types of affirmation, and involves finding a way to harmonize apparent contradictions. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s solution to the problem was to establish the doctrine named acintya-bhedabheda, “inconceivable oneness and difference”. This doctrine has been favorably accepted around the world and created a revolution in theistic thinking. Mahaprabhu concluded his teachings with a discourse on the atmarama verse:

Atmaramas Ca Munayo

    Nirgrantha Apy Urukrame |

Kurvanty Ahaitukim Bhaktim

   Ittham-Bhuta-Guna Harih ||

Self-satisfied sages who are freed from any bondage also engage in the unmotivated service of Sri Krishna, whose activities are all wonderful. Such are the transcendentally attractive features of Hari!

Mahaprabhu gave eighteen different explanations of this verse from the Srimad Bhagavatam to Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya. When Sanatan asked the Lord to allow Him to hear them, Mahaprabhu treated him to 61 different interpretations.

SANATAN GOES TO VRAJA

After this, Mahaprabhu converted Prakashananda Saraswati and the other sannyasis of Benares to Vaishnavism. When He had completed instructing Sanatan in a most thorough fashion, He sent him to Vrindavan while He Himself took the less frequented road to Puri. Sanatan took the main highway to Vrindavan where he met Subuddhi Ray who was following Mahaprabhu’s instructions to atone for his past sins by chanting Hare Krishna. Though he was barely able to make a living selling dry wood, Subuddhi would provide for the Vaishnavas who came to Vraja from Bengal. Sanatan took the pilgrimage circuit through the twelve forests of Vraja in the company of Subuddhi and the Sanoriya Brahmin. From them he learned that Rupa and Anupam had also completed the circuit not long before and had then taken the road along the banks of the Ganges to return to Bengal. When Mahaprabhu perform Vraja parikrama, He discovered Radha Kund and Shyama Kund near Arit village. He took darshan of Harideva at Govardhan, after which he desired to see Giridhari Gopal. The Gopal deity of Madhavendra Puri had his temple on top of the hill, but Mahaprabhu had vowed not to walk on Govardhan. How would he be able to fulfil His desire to take darshan of Gopal? While the Lord was wondering how to solve this problem, there was a panic in the area that the Muslims were planning to destroy images throughout Vraja. This led Gopal’s pujaris to take him out of his temple and hide him in the village of Gatholi, thus enabling Mahaprabhu To receive his darshan. From time to time, Gopal would perform this pastime of being moved to Gatholi in this way. Sanatan also had the good fortune to be able to visit Gopal while he was there.

SANATAN VISITS THE LORD IN PURI

It took Rupa Goswami longer to get to Bengal than he had expected and so he was unable to join the other devotees on their annual trip to Puri to see the Lord. As a result, he arrived some time after the main group and went to stay with Hari Das Thakur. When Mahaprabhu met Rupa, he inquired after Sanatan and heard from him that the brothers had taken different roads and thus missed each other. In the meantime, Sanatan Goswami was on his way to Puri after touring Vrindavan, taking the Jharikhanda route through the jungle. There he drank some bad water and came down with scabies. Sanatan became depressed as a result of the running sores on his body and began to plan suicide in his despondency, thinking that due to his low birth and his now disgusting physical condition he would not only be unable to go near the temple and see Jagannath, but would also be deprived of Mahaprabhu’s darshan. He would not even be able to stay close enough to the temple to see it, and if Lord Jagannath’s servants should accidentally touch him, he would commit a great offense by rendering them impure. All in all, he thought it would be better to throw himself under the wheels of Jagannath’s chariot and be crushed to death while watching Mahaprabhu dance.

When Sanatan finally arrived in Puri, he went directly to Siddha Bakul to see Hari Das Thakur and paid his respectful obeisances to him. Hari Das affectionately embraced him and invited him to stay there with him. This way, whenever Mahaprabhu came to see Hari Das, as He was accustomed to do, Sanatan would have the opportunity to see him.  The first time the Lord saw Sanatan, He was so overcome by divine love that He approached him with the intention of embracing him. Sanatan retreated, however, thinking himself too impure to be touched by the Lord. Nevertheless, Mahaprabhu would not let him escape and took him in His arms by force, holding him so tightly that the fluid oozing from Sanatan’s sores was smeared on His body, the sight of which broke Sanatan’s heart. Mahaprabhu then gave Sanatan the news of Rupa’s visit. He also spoke of Anupam’s devotion to Rama and his departure for Rama’s eternal abode. On another day, the all-knowing Mahaprabhu came to Siddha Bakula and suddenly confronted Sanatan about his intention to commit suicide during the Rathayatra festival. He said: “My dear Sanatan, if I could attain Krishna by committing suicide, then I would give up millions of bodies without a moment’s hesitation. However, I cannot attain Krishna simply by giving up the body, but only through bhajan. There is no means by which to attain Krishna other than devotional service. ”In this way, Mahaprabhu taught the world through Sanatan that suicide is an act of the mode of ignorance which cannot be used to attain Krishna. It is only through the cultivation of pure devotion in practice that one can attain the Supreme Lord. The best forms of bhajan, or worship, are known as the nine kinds of devotional service, or nava-vidha bhakti. The best of these is the congregational chanting of the Holy Names of Krishna, Harinam sankirtan.

Finally, Mahaprabhu revealed how dear Sanatan was to Him when He said: “You have already surrendered yourself to Me, so your body is now My personal property. Why do you want to destroy another’s property? Are you unable to distinguish right from wrong? Your body is an important instrument through which I shall accomplish many things.” During the Caturmasya period, many Bengali and Orissan devotees would come to Puri to be with the Lord, and that year they also met Sanatan. Sanatan was struck with wonder by the Lord’s dancing before Jagannath’s chariot. When the Bengali Vaishnavas returned to their homes after the four month period, Sanatan remained in Puri. During the hot season, in the month of Jyestha, the Lord stayed with Gadadhar Pandit at Yameshwar Tota. One day, He called Sanatan to come and see Him at noontime. Rather than taking the main road leading from the Singha Dwar to the seashore, Sanatan took another path that led across the hot sands of the beach. Though Sanatan had no consciousness of the burning heat of the sand, his feet were covered in blisters when he arrived. The Lord asked Sanatan why he had not taken the road that led from the Singha Dwar. Sanatan replied:

“I have no right to pass by the Singha Dwar, for the servants of Jagannath are always coming and going there. Since they are always using that road, I would not be able to pass without touching them. If that should happen, I would be ruined. Mahaprabhu was very pleased with Sanatan’s by his humility and respect for Lord Jagannath’s pujaris. He answered him as follows:

“My dear Sanatan, you can save the entire universe; even the demigods and great saints are purified by touching you. Nevertheless, it is in a devotee’s nature to observe Vaishnava etiquette. Maintenance of Vaishnava etiquette is the ornament of a devotee. One who transgresses the rules of behavior becomes a laughing stock and is ultimately lost, both in this world and the next. You have brought Me great satisfaction by observing this etiquette. If you did not act in this way, who else would? In his pleasure, Mahaprabhu embraced Sanatan again and again. Once again, the fluids from Sanatan’s blisters oozed all over the Lord’s body. The situation so troubled Sanatan that he went to discuss the matter with Jagadananda Pandit, asking him for advice on how to free himself from the offenses that he was unwillingly committing. Jagadananda’s suggestion was that Sanatan leave Puri and return to Vrindavan. The next time that Mahaprabhu came to Siddha Bakul and embraced him, Sanatan blurted out his distress, saying that he should never have come to Puri as his coming had only resulted in his committing countless offenses. The contaminating impurities from his scabies daily touched the Lord’s body, and this was plunging him deeper and deeper into misery. He begged Mahaprabhu for permission to leave for Vrindavan, letting him know that it was Jagadananda who had thus advised him. When Mahaprabhu heard this, He became angry and said: “Jagadananda is just a newcomer, a boy. Yet, he has become so proud that he thinks he can give even you advice. You are his guru in every respect, both in material and spiritual terms, and yet he gives you advice? Does he not know his own standing? You are My teacher; you are a great authority. And yet, Jagadananda is giving instructions to you like an impudent child, as though he were unaware of your qualifications.”When Sanatan heard Mahaprabhu criticize Jagadananda in this way, He took it as another sign of the Pandit’s great fortune on the one hand and his own misfortune on the other. “You accept Jagadananda into Your inner circle while You venerate me. It is as though you were giving him ambrosia to drink and me the bitter juice of neem and tobacco leaves. ”Even after hearing these words, Mahaprabhu continued to take Jagadananda’s actions as a sign of impudence. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur has written in this connection, “Everyone has a certain status. If someone thinks that he is more important than he really is, he transgresses the prescribed lines of etiquette that are accorded to those with spiritual seniority, etc. He then gives advice to someone to whom he should rather offer deference. Mahaprabhu did not encourage such transgressions, but rather sought to discourage younger devotee like Jagadananda from behaving in this way.”

The Lord further prohibited anyone from looking upon Sanatan’s body as material. “You take your body to be disgusting, whereas I think that your body is like nectar. Your body is transcendental, never material, but you conceive of it in material terms. ”When Hari Das Thakur objected that the Lord was exaggerating out of his own mercy, the Lord laughed and explained to him and Sanatan as follows: “My dear Hari Das and Sanatan, I think of you as My adopted children and of Myself as your maintainer. The maintainer never takes the faults of the maintained seriously. I never think of Myself as deserving of respect, but because of affection I always consider you to be like My little boys. A mother never hates her child even when it passes stool and urine on her body. On the contrary, she takes much pleasure in cleansing him and takes his filth to be like sandalwood pulp. Similarly, I felt no disgust at being touched by the fluids oozing from Sanatan’s sores.

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu went on to say: “The body of a devotee is never material. It is considered to be transcendental, full of spiritual bliss. At the time of initiation, when a devotee fully commits himself to the service of the Lord, Krishna accepts him to be as good as Himself. When the devotee’s body is thus transformed into ecstatic spiritual existence, he is able to render service to the lotus feet of the Lord… Krishna produced scabies on Sanatan’s body and sent him here to test Me. Had I refused to embrace him out of disgust, I would certainly have committed an offense to Krishna Himself. This is the body of an associate of Krishna. It has no foul odor coming from it. On the first day that I embraced him, I smelled the aroma of catuhsama (a mixture of sandalwood pulp, camphor, aguru and musk). ”This time, when the Lord embraced Sanatan, the foul itches which covered his body immediately disappeared and his skin took on an effulgent golden glow.

JAGADANANDA AND SANATAN IN VRAJA

Sanatan stayed a full year in Puri, after which Mahaprabhu told him to return to Vrindavan. He bid the Lord goodbye after the Dola Yatra and set off on the jungle path through Jharikhanda. Rupa Goswami joined Him in Vrindavan not long afterward. When Raghunath Bhatta Goswami came to Vrindavan on Mahaprabhu’s order, he stayed with Rupa and Sanatan and daily recited the Bhagavatam for them in a sweet voice. Some time later, Jagadananda Pandit took permission from Mahaprabhu to come to Vrindavan. When he came there, he met Sanatan who was overjoyed to see him. The two of them went together on a tour of the twelve forests of Vraja. Sanatan encouraged Jagadananda to stay with him in Gokula where he was settled at that time. Even though they dwelt together, they ate separately. Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur writes in his Amrta-pravaha-bhasya, “Sanatan had become habituated to the madhukari system and lived on a few pieces of bread each day. Jagadananda, however, could not live without eating rice, and so he went every day to a nearby temple to cook. In those days, rice and dahl were not regularly offered to the deities in the temples of Vraja.

One day, Jagadananda invited Sanatan to eat with him. Sanatan desired to show the world the extent of Jagadananda’s devotion to Mahaprabhu so when he came to eat Jagadananda’s offering, he wore around his head a saffron cloth that had been given to him by a certain Mukunda Saraswati. When Jagadananda learned that the cloth was not a gift from Mahaprabhu, he was so angry with Sanatan that he took the pot in which the rice had been cooking and threatened to hit him with it. He said, “You are Mahaprabhu’s most important associate. No one is dearer to Him than you. How could anyone tolerate you wearing another sannyasi’s cloth around your head? ”Sanatan answered by praising Jagadananda’s exclusive dedication to Gauranga Mahaprabhu: “Well said! It is clear, Pandit Mahashaya, that you are unequalled in your love for the Lord. Only from you could I have learned this lesson, for you alone have such solid faith in the Lord. My purpose in binding the cloth around my head has been fulfilled, for as soon as you saw it, I was able to witness the manifestations of your love for the Lord. A Vaishnava should not wear a red-colored cloth. I will give it to someone else, for I have no further need for it. ”Jagadananda stayed in Vraja for two months, after which he was no longer able to tolerate being separated from Mahaprabhu. He took leave of Sanatan and headed  off in the direction of Jagannath Puri. As they bid each other goodbye, Sanatan gave him sand from the place where Krishna held the Rasa dance, a stone from Govardhan, a garland of gunja berries and some dried ripe pilu fruits. Jagadananda gave all these gifts to Mahaprabhu upon his arrival in Puri; He and His devotees especially enjoyed the pilu fruits.

SANATAN’S SERVICE TO THE LORD

Mahaprabhu gave Sanatan four responsibilities:

(1) to preach pure devotional service by establishing the doctrines of pure devotion;

(2) to discover and make known the various places where Krishna had His pastimes;

(3) to establish the service of the deity of Krishna in Vrindavan; and

(4), to establish proper Vaishnava behavior through compiling a Vaishnava rule book or Smriti, and in this way create the foundations of a Vaishnava society.

“O Sanatan, you should broadcast the revealed scriptures on devotional service and excavate the lost places of pilgrimage in the district of Mathura. Establish the deity service of Lord Krishna in Vrindavan. You should also compile a scripture containing the rules of devotional practice and preach these practices. In following the instructions to broadcast the revealed scriptures on pure devotional service and to establish the foundations of proper Vaishnava practice and etiquette, Sanatan wrote four books, all of which are considered to be jewels by the devotees. He wrote

(1) a commentary on the Hari-bhakti-vilasa known as Dig-darsani,

(2) a commentary on the tenth canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam known as the Brhad-Vaisnava-Tosani,

(3) Lila-stava or Dasama-carita, and

(4) Brhad-Bhagavatamrta, to which he added a commentary.

Mahaprabhu Himself gave directions to Sanatan about the contents of the Hari-bhakti-vilasa, which is the Smriti scripture, or rule book for the external practices to be followed by the devotees. Sanatan spent a great deal of time searching out the various holy spots in the land of Vraja. He also established the service of the Madana Mohan deity. Srila Sanatan Goswami founded a Math in Vrindavan at the place known as Dvadasaditya Tila. He first had a temple built there for Radha Madana Mohan. It is said that a rich officer in the Sultan’s army named Krishna Das Kapur built the temple and a kitchen. He also financed an opulent standard of worship for the deity. Later he became Sanatan Goswami’s disciple.

When Sanatan Goswami was staying in Gokula Mahavana, he saw Madana Gopal playing with a group of cowherd boys at Raman Reti. Narahari Chakravarti has given a beautiful description of this vision in his Bhakti-ratnakara:

O Srinivas, just look at this place. Sanatan Goswami used to live here. All the fortunate residents of Mahavana would be revitalized by seeing him. He joyfully lived in Mahavana looking upon his Madana Gopal deity. Madana Gopal enjoyed playing on the sandy beaches which line the Yamuna, known as Raman Reti. One day he came to that divine riverbank with the children of Mahavana, himself taking the form of a cowherd boy. Sanatan watched him as he played various childhood games with the other children and thought, “This is no ordinary child.” When the children had finished playing and were leaving, Sanatan followed them. The child entered into the temple and when Sanatan followed Him inside, he saw no one but the deity of Madana Mohana. He paid his obeisances to the deity and then returned to his own dwelling without saying anything to anyone. So this is how Madana Mohan showed Himself to be under the control of Sanatan’s love. Sanatan’s wondrous character has thus filled the three worlds. (Bhakti-ratnakara 5.1777-1786)

 SANATAN’S GLORIOUS PASTIMES IN VRAJA

In his Chaitanya Charitamrita, Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami has described how Rupa and Sanatan Goswami worshiped Krishna in the land of Vraja: These brothers have no fixed residence. They spend each night beneath a different tree in the forest, one night under one tree and the next under another. Sometimes, they begged dry food from a Brahmin’s house and other times it would be cooked, such as dry bread and fried chick-peas. This is how they have given up all kinds of material enjoyments. They wrap themselves in a quilt and wear noting but a piece of torn cloth, claiming nothing but a waterpot as a possession. They engage almost twenty-four hours daily in rendering service to the Lord by chanting his holy names, discussing his pastimes, or dancing in great jubilation. They spend only an hour and a half in sleep, and some days, when overcome by the love of chanting the Lord’s holy name, they do not sleep at all. Sometimes they write transcendental works about divine aesthetics, and sometimes they listen to talks about Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu or spend their time thinking about the Lord. Sanatan Goswami had another vision of the Lord later in.