Appearance Day of Śri Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī

Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila 10.105 (1973 Edition). All Synonyms, Translation and Purport by his Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada:

শ্রীগোপাল ভট্ট এক শাখা সর্বোত্তম ।

রূপ–সনাতন–সঙ্গে যাঁর প্রেম–আলাপন ॥ ১০৫ ॥

śrī-gopāla bhaṭṭa eka śākhā sarvottama

rūpa-sanātana-saṅge yāṅra prema-ālāpana

SYNONYMS

śrī-gopāla bhaṭṭa- of the name Śri Gopāla Bhaṭṭa; eka-one; śākhā-branch; sarvottama-very exalted; rūpa-of the name Rūpa; sanātana-of the name Sanātana; sange-company; yāǹra-whose; prema-love of Godhead; ālāpana-discussion.

TRANSLATION

Śrī Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī, the forty-seventh branch, was one of the great and exalted branches of the tree. He always engaged in discourses about love of God-head in the company of Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī.

PURPORT

Śri Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī was the son of Veṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa, a resident of Śrīraṅgam. Gopāla Bhaṭṭa formerly belonged to the disciplic succession of the Rāmānuja-sampradāya but later became part of the Gauḍīya-sampradaya. In the year 1433 sakābda, when Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu was touring South India, He stayed for four months during the period of Cāturmāsya at the house of Veṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa, who then got the opportunity to serve the Lord to his heart’s content. Gopāla Bhaṭṭa also got the opportunity to serve the Lord at this time. Śrī Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī was later initiated by his uncle, the great sannyāsī Prabodhānanda Sarasvati. Both the father and mother of Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī were extremely fortunate, for they dedicated their entire lives to the service of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. They allowed Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmi to go to Vṛndāvana, and they gave up their lives thinking of Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

When Lord Caitanya was later informed that Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmi had gone to Vṛndāvana and met Śrī Rūpa and Sanātana Gosvāmī, He was very pleased, and He advised Śri Rūpa and Sanātana to accept Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī as their younger brother and take care of him. Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī, out of his great affection for Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī, compiled the Vaiṣṇava smṛti named Hari-bhakti-vilāsa and published it under his name. Under the instruction of Śrīla Rūpa and Sanātana, Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī installed one of the seven principal Deities of Vṛndāvana, the Rādhāramaṇa Deity. The sevāits (priests) of the Rādhāramaņa temple belong to the Gaudiya-sampradaya. When Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī took permission from all the Vaisnavas before writing Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī also gave him his blessings, but he requested him not to mention his name in the book. Therefore Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī has mentioned Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmi only very cautiously in one or two passages of Caitanya-caritāmṛta.

Śrila Jīva Gosvāmī has written in the beginning of his Tattva-sandarbha, “A devotee from southern India who was born of a brāhmaṇa family and was a very intimate friend of Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī has written a book that he has not compiled chronologically. Therefore I, a tiny living entity known as jīva, am trying to assort the events of the book chronologically, consulting the direction of great personalities like Madhvācārya, Śrīdhara Svāmī, Rāmānujācārya and other senior Vaiṣṇavas in the disciplic succes-sion.” In the beginning of the Bhagavat-sandarbha there are similar statements by Śrila Jīva Gosvāmī. Śrīla Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī compiled a book called Sat-kriyāsāra-dīpikā, edited the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa, wrote a foreword to the Ṣaṭ-sandarbha and a commentary on the Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta, and installed the Rādhāramaṇa Deity in Vṛndāvana.

In the Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā, verse 184, it is mentioned that his previous name in the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa was Anaṅga-mañjarī. Sometimes he is also said to have been an incarnation of Guna-mañjarī. Śrīnivāsa Ācārya and Gopīnātha Pūjārī were two of his disciples.