Mayapura Vrindavana Trust

This is one of the most important temples in Vrndavana. The original Deity was hand carved by Rupa Gosvami and given as a gift to his beloved disciple, Jiva Gosvami, who later built a temple here. The Deity was first worshipped in the year 1542. The land was later acquired in 1558 when the Deity was installed on the simhasana (throne). The original Deity was moved to Jaipur when Aurangzeb attacked Vrndavana in 1670. The Deity now being worshipped is the pratibhu-murti (replica) and is considered nondifferent from the original Deity.

Formerly this spot was in the middle of Seva-kunja and it was the bhajana place of Rupa Gosvami. He would daily hold discourses on the Srimad Bhagavatam and Krishna's pastimes here with the other Gosvamis and their close associates. Srila Prabhupada said that Radha-Damodara temple is in the centre of the spiritual world, because of the transcendental activities that went on here amongst the followers of Lord Chaitanya, led by Srila Rupa Gosvami.

Besides the Deities of Sri Sri Radha Damodara, also kept in this temple are the Deities originally worshipped by Krishnadasa Kaviraja (Radha Vrndavana-candra), Jayadeva Gosvami (Radha Madhava), Bhurgarbha Gosvami  (Radha Chalachikan), as well as the govardhana-sila of Srila Sanatana Gosvami which has the footprint of Lord Krishna impressed upon it.

It so happened that Sanatana Gosvami used to circumambulate Govardhana hill everyday as part of his daily vows; even in his old age. One day, Lord Krishna in the guise of a beautiful cowherd boy, suddenly appeared before Sanatana Gosvami, and requested him that now you are very old, there is no need to go round Govardhana hill everyday.

Sanatana replied that as he had taken such a vow to daily circumambulate Govardhana, he could not stop. Understanding Sanatana's determination, Krishna then stood on a big stone from the hill and started playing His flute. The flute playing of the Lord was so enchanting, that the stone started to melt and Krishna's footprint got impressed upon it and also the hoof print of a calf, along with Krishna's flute and His stick used for herding cows. Krishna then gave this stone from Govardhana hill to Sanatana and told that if he circumambulated this govardhana-sila four times, it would be equal to going round Govardhana Hill. Sanatana then accepted the sila from Krishna, and from that time on, he circumambulated this sila, instead of going all the way around Govardhana hill. One can have darsana of this sacred govardhana-sila by asking the pujari and giving a small donation.

Timings:
Summer—Mangala 4:30 am; Darsana 6:30 am-12:30 pm and 5 pm-9:30 pm
Winter—Mangala 5 am; Darsana - 7:30 am-1:00 pm and 4:15 pm-8:45 pm

Jiva Gosvami Samadhi

In the year 1598, Srila Jiva Gosvami entered samadhi and his sacred body was placed here near to his beloved Deities, Radha Damodara. The youngest of the six Gosvamis of Vrndavana, Jiva Gosvami was considered to be the greatest philosopher in Indian history. After the disappearance of Rupa and Sanatana, Jiva Gosvami became the acarya for all the Gaudiya Vaisnavas. Jiva Gosvami was also the most prolific writer amongst the six Gosvamis, and wrote over 25 books. He was so expert in Sanskrit that he is considered the foremost Sanskrit scholar that ever lived, and to this day, the Benares Hindu University honours him with and entire department dedicated to the study of his books. It is believed that Jiva Gosvami was born in the year 1513 (although some scholars claim a much later date of 1523). He was the son of Anupama, the younger brother of Rupa and Sanatana Gosvamis.

After the death of Jiva Gosvami's mother, (his father Anupama died shortly after his birth) Jiva decided to renounce the world and join his uncles, Rupa and Sanatana in Vrndavana. On his way to Vrndavana he first visited Navadvipa where he met Lord Nityananda who took him on a tour of all the holy places of Navadvipa dhama. Lord Nityananda told Jiva that on his way to Vrndavana he should stop at Benares (Kasi) and study under the great learned Pandita Madhusudana Vachaspati, who was a disciple of Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya. In a very short time Jiva became well versed in all aspects of Vedanta philosophy and his reputation grew as an eminent scholar. Jiva Gosvami then left on the last leg of his journey to Vrndavana where he was greeted on his arrival by his two uncles Rupa and Sanatana. Jiva then took shelter of Rupa Gosvami who accepted him as his disciple.

Jiva went on to become the most prolific author amongst the Gosvami's and systematically planned the propagation of the Gosvami's teachings. He sent three of his most brilliant students, Srinavasa Acarya, Narottama dasa Thakura and Syamananda Pandita by bullock cart to Bengal and Orissa to distribute the books of the Gosvamis, thereby inaugurating the first ever book distribution party in the history of the Gaudiya Vaisnava movement.

Jiva Gosvami's fame spread so far and wide that even Akbar, Mughal Emperor of India, paid a visit to Vrndavana in the year 1570, and was so impressed by Jiva Gosvami and the work of the Gosvami's, that he gave permission for a number of temples dedicated to Lord Krishna to be built. Akbar also provided funds for the preservation of all the Gosvami's manuscripts and a library was built at the Radha Damodara temple.

After the disappearance of the other Gosvamis, Jiva became the leader of all the Gaudiya Vaisnavas and by his expert helmsmanship, the Krishna consciousness's movement of Lord Chaitanya gained a solid foundation. It is believed that Jiva Gosvami disappeared in the year 1598, but according to a document kept at Radha Damodara and considered to be his last will and testament, his disappearance was in the year 1608.

Srila Jiva Gosvami was an incarnation of Vilas Manjari, one of the eight intimate maidservants of Srimati Radharani in the spiritual world.

Timings: Same as temple

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Puspa Samadhi

Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati was born at Jagganatha Puri as the son of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur in the year 1874. Srila Bhaktivinoda had prayed to Lord Krishna to send someone to help him in his mission of spreading Krishna consciousness. The Lord answered his prayer in the form of a wonderful son, who at birth had all thirty two bodily symptoms of a maha-purusa. When he was born his umbilical cord was wrapped around his body like a brahmanas sacred thread. As a youth he became a most brilliant student and could remember each and everything he ever read or heard. He became known as the walking encyclopedia and was awarded the title Siddhanta Sarasvati by his tutors. He remained a naistika-brahmacari and at the age of forty four accepted the renounced order of life sannyasa, in 1918.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami entered samadhi in 1936, his full samadhi is situated at Sridhama Mayapura, West Bengal. He was the only disciple of Gaura Kishora dasa Babaji Maharaja, and became the spiritual master of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami opened sixty four temples (Gaudiya Maths) all over India and established a number of printing presses for publishing books on Krishna consciousness. He used to call the press the “brhat-mrdanga” or the “big drum”. He would say that the chanting party could be heard for a few blocks, but the books printed at the press could be heard far and wide.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati was known as the ‘Lion guru’ because of his bold and fearless preaching. His greatest contribution to Lord Chaitanya's movement was when he firmly established the truth according to Vedic scriptures that any one, regardless of birth, can become a brahmana if he has the proper qualifications, and no one can claim to be a brahmana if he is not properly qualified, totally defeating the philosophy of the caste brahmanas. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati also defeated the various sahajiya sampradayas prevalent at that time, as well as the mayavadi impersonalists simply by his forceful and scholarly arguments. In fact he is known to have been the greatest scholar in the recent age and no could ever defeat him in argument or debate.

In 1922, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati first met his Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who at that time was a young married man and supporter of India's freedom struggle. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati asked Srila Prabhupada to preach the message of Lord Chaitanya in the western world. In 1932 Srila Prabhupada became the initiated disciple of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati. Just two weeks before his disappearance in 1936. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati wrote to Srila Prabhupada ordering him to preach the message of Lord Chaitanya to the English speaking people of the world. Accepting this order as his life and soul, Srila Prabhupada, who is recognized as the foremost disciple of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, single-handedly spread the Krishna consciousness movement to every corner of the world, thus fulfilling the dearmost desire of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami.

Rupa Gosvami Bhajana-kutira

Samadhi of Rupa Gosvami

Srila Rupa Gosvami entered samadhi in the year 1564 and his sacred body was entombed at this very site by his beloved disciple and nephew Jiva Gosvami. Rupa Gosvami first arrived in Vrndavana along with his elder brother Sanatana Gosvami in the year 1516, after receiving the direct order of Lord Chaitanya to proceed to Vrndavana and fulfill four specific tasks. Firstly, to excavate the lost holy sites of Lord Krishna's pastimes in and around Vrndavana. To construct temples dedicated to Radha and Krishna, and also establish the rules and regulations of deity worship. And lastly, to compile books on the transcendental process of Bhakti-yoga, the science of devotional service to the Lord. Through his writings Srila Rupa Gosvami chalked out the perfect spiritual path for all the followers of Lord Chaitanya down through the ages.

Rupa Gosvami first met Lord Chaitanya at Ramakeli in 1514, and along with his brothers Sanatana and Anupama, completely surrendered to the lotus feet of the Lord. At that time all three brothers were employed as important ministers in the Mohammedan government of Bengal under Hussain Shah. Lord Chaitanya assured them that now they had surrendered to Krishna, they would soon be delivered and would be able to join the sankirtana movement. After some months both Rupa and Anupama were freed from service, unfortunately Sanatana was not so lucky and was thrown in jail, but by the grace of Lord Krishna, he also got free from the clutches of Hussain Shah.

It was Rupa Gosvami who more than anyone else, firmly established the sankirtana movement of Lord Chaitanya. He wrote a large number of important books on the science of bhakti-yoga and after the disappearance of Lord Chaitanya in 1534, Rupa became the undisputed leader of all the Gaudiya Vaisnavas in the world. Even today all Gaudiya Vaisnavas are known as Rupanugas, or followers of Srila Rupa Gosvami most famous book is Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (The Ocean of the Nectar of Devotion) which must be read by all aspiring Vaisnvas and forms the solid foundation of the bhakti movement of Lord Chaitanya. The essence of this book was explained directly to Rupa by Lord Chaitanya during their historic meeting at Prayag (Allahabad) in 1516. After teaching Rupa all the important aspects of devotional service, the Lord sent him to Vrndavana to compile books on these very teachings.

After spending some time in Vrndavana, Rupa and Anupama left to visit Lord Chaitanya in Puri, it is believed that on this long and arduous journey Anupama left his body. On his way to Puri, Rupa Gosvami started to write a drama about Lord Krishna's pastimes in Vrndavana and Dwaraka. On arrival at a village named Satyabhamapur in Orissa, he had a dream that a beautiful woman appeared before him and asked him to write a separate drama about her. When Rupa awoke the next morning he realized that she was Lord Krishna's most possessive queen, Satyabhama, and decided to write a separate drama about Dwaraka. On Rupa's arrival at Jagganatha Puri, he met Lord Chaitanya and showed the Lord the outline of his two dramas. The Lord confirmed that writing two dramas mixing the lilas of Vrndavana and Dwaraka was not proper as their was a vast difference between them. In Vrndavana the Lord enjoys the madhurya-rasa, where as in Dwaraka He enjoys the Swakiya-rasa. Lord Chaitanya as well as Ramananda Raya were delighted to read the early drafts of these two dramas, which were eventually called Vidagdha Madhava and Lalita Madhava respectively. These two works are considered by Gaudiya Vaisnavas to be the most important dramatic literatures in the Sanskrit language. Rupa Gosvami stayed ten months in Puri and received further instructions on devotional service from Lord Chaitanya. The Lord then asked Rupa to proceed to Vrndavana and complete the task of rediscovering the lost holy places of Lord Krishna's pastimes. On returning to Vrndavana, Rupa Gosvami discovered at Brahma Kunda the Deity of Vrndadevi, from who the town of Vrndavana takes its name, this Deity was later moved to Kamyavana. Rupa Gosvami then discovered the famous Govindaji Deity and immediately established Lord Govindaji's worship on a grand scale. On hearing the good news of Rupa's progress, Lord Chaitanya sent some of his best men to assist Rupa in serving the Deity of Govindaji and establishing the Lord's mission in Vrndavana. Shortly Rupa and Sanatana Gosvamis were joined by Ragunatha dasa Gosvami, Gopal Bhatta Gosvami, Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami and Srila Jiva Gosvami. These great personalities become famous as the six Gosvamis of Vrndavana. Jiva Gosvami, who was the son of Rupa's brother Anupama, became the most important disciple of Rupa Gosvami.

Srila Rupa Gosvami was an incarnation of Rupa Manjari, the most important of the eight confidential maidservants of Srimati Radharani in the spiritual world. It is said that without taking shelter of Srila Rupa Gosvami one cannot enter into the pastimes of Lord Chaitanya, and without taking shelter of Rupa Manjari one cannot enter into the confidential loving pastimes of Sri Sri Radha and Krishna.

Timings:  Same as temple.

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