Volume 7 - Prabhupada

CHAPTER 19Lord Sri Caitanya MahaprabhuInstructs Srila Rupa GosvamiA summary of this chapter is given by SrTia Bhaktivinoda Thakura in his Amrta-pravaha-bha?ya.Meeting SrT Caitanya Mahaprabhu in a village called Ramakeli, twobrothers, ROpa and Sanatana, began to devise means to get out of their governmentservice. Both brothers appointed some brahmal)as to perform purascaral)aceremonies and chant the holy name of Krr;a. SrTia ROpa GosvamT deposited tenthousand gold coins with a grocer, and the balance he brought in two boats to aplace called Bakla CandradvTpa. There he divided this money among thebrahmal)as, Vair;avas and his relatives, and a portion he kept for emergencymeasures and personal needs. He was informed that SrT Caitanya Mahaprabhuwas going to Vrndavana from Jagannatha PurT through the forest of Madhya Pradesh;therefore he sent two people to Jagannatha PurT to find out when the Lordwould leave for Vrndavana. In this way ROpa GosvamT retired, but SanatanaGosvamT told the Nawab that he was sick and could not attend to his work. Givingthis excuse, he sat home and studied SrTmad-Bhagavatam with learnedbrahmal)a scholars. The Nawab Hussain Shah first sent his personal physician tosee what the real facts were; then he personally came to see why Sanatana wasnot attending to official business. Knowing that he wanted to resign his post, theNawab had him arrested and imprisoned. The Nawab then went off to attackOrissa.When SrT Caitanya Mahaprabhu started for Vrndavana through the forest ofMadhya Pradesh Oharikhar;c;Ja), ROpa GosvamT left home and sent news toSanatana that he was leaving home with his younger brother (Anupama Mallika)to meet SrT Caitanya Mahaprabhu. SrTia ROpa GosvamT finally reached Prayaga andmet with SrT Caitanya Mahaprabhu for ten successive days. During this time,Vallabha Bhatta extended an invitation to the Lord with great respect. SrT CaitanyaMahaprabhu introduced SrTia ROpa GosvamT to Vallabha Bhatta. After this, abrahmal)a scholar named Raghupati Upadhyaya arrived and discussed Krr;a consciousnesswith the Lord. Kaviraja GosvamT then extensively describes the livingcondition of SrT ROpa and Sanatana at Vrndavana. During the ten days at Prayaga,SrTia ROpa GosvamT was instructed by the Lord, who gave him the basic principlesof the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu. The Lord then sent SrTia ROpa GosvamT toVrndavana. The Lord Himself returned to Varar;asT and stayed at the home ofCandrasekhara.245