He belonged to the descending line from Lord Caitanya.
He was the youngest brother of Rupa and Sanatana Gosvami.
Kumardeva was the name of their father.
Jiva Gosvami of Vrndavana was the son of Anupama.
Anupama was the Chief of the Mint, under the rule of Hussain Shah, the King of Gauda (Bhaktiratnakara 1.665 669 and CC 3.4.43)
He was a worshipper of Rama, this may be why his name has not been mentioned separately in Gauraganoddesadipika and Vaisnava Vandana.
Anupama 2
anupama-vallabha, sri-rupa, sanatana
ei tina sakha vrksera pascime sarvottama
“On the western side were the forty-third, forty-fourth and forty-fifth
branches – Sri Sanatana, Sri Rupa and Sri Anupama. They were the best of all.”
[Cc. Adi 10.84]
Sri Anupama was the father of Srila Jiva Gosvami and youngest brother of Sri
Sanatana and Sri Rupa Gosvami. His former name was Vallabha, but after Lord
Caitanya met him He gave him the name Anupama. Because of working in the
Mohammedan government, these three brothers were given the title Mullik. Mullik
means “lord.”
The genealogical table of Vallabha Gosvami can be traced back to the Twelfth
Century sakabda, when a gentleman of the name Sarvajna appeared in a very rich
and opulent brahmana family in the province of Karnata. He had two sons named
Aniruddhera Rupesvara and Harihara, who were both bereft of their kingdom and
were thus obliged to reside in the highlands.
The son of Rupesvara, who was named Padmanabha, moved to a place in Bengal
known as Naihati on the bank of the Ganges. There he had five sons, of whom the
youngest, Mukunda, had a well behaved son named Kumaradeva, who was the father
of Rupa, Sanatana and Vallabha.
Kumaradeva lived in Baklacandradvipa, which is in the district of Yasohara and
is now known as Phateyabad. Of his many sons, three took to the path of
Vaisnavism. Later Sri Vallabha and his elder brothers Sri Rupa and Sanatana
came from Candradvipa to the village in the Maldah district of Bengal known as
Ramakeli. It is in this village that Srila Jiva Gosvami took birth, accepting
Vallabha as his father.
When Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu visited the village of Ramakeli, He met Vallabha
there. Later, Sri Rupa Gosvami, after meeting Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, resigned
from government service, and went to Vrndavana to meet Lord Caitanya, Vallabha
accompanied him. The meeting of Rupa Gosvami and Vallabha with Caitanya
Mahaprabhu at Allahabad is described in the Madhya-lila, Chapter Nineteen.
Actually, it is to be understood from the statement of Sanatana Gosvami that
Sri Rupa Gosvami and Vallabha went to Vrndavana under the instruction of Sri
Caitanya Mahaprabhu. First they went to Mathura, where they met a gentleman
named Subuddhi Raya who maintained himself by selling dry fuel wood. He was
very pleased to meet Sri Rupa Gosvami and Anupama, and he showed them the
twelve forests of Vrndavana. Thus they lived in Vrndavana for one month and
then again went to search for Sanatana Gosvami.
Following the course of the Ganges, they reached Allahabad, or Prayaga-tirtha,
but because Sanatana Gosvami had come there by a different road, they did not
meet him there, and when Sanatana Gosvami came to Mathura he was informed of
the visit of Rupa Gosvami and Anupama by Subuddhi Raya. When Rupa Gosvami and
Anupama met Caitanya Mahaprabhu at Benares, they heard about Sanatana Gosvami’s
travels from Him, and thus they returned to Bengal, adjusted their affairs with
the state and, on the order of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, went to see the Lord at
Jagannatha Puri.
In the year 1436 Sakabda, the youngest brother, Anupama, died and went back
home, back to Godhead. He went to the abode in the spiritual sky where Sri
Ramacandra is situated. At Jagannatha Puri, Sri Rupa Gosvami informed Sri
Caitanya Mahaprabhu of this incident. Vallabha was a great devotee of Lord
Ramacandra; therefore he could not seriously consider the worship of
Radha-Govinda according to the instructions of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Yet he
directly accepted Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu as an incarnation of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead Ramacandra.
In the Bhakti-ratnakara there is the following statement: “Vallabha was given
the name Anupama by Sri Gaurasundara, but he was always absorbed in the
devotional service of Lord Ramacandra. He did not know anyone but Sri
Ramacandra, but he knew that Caitanya Gosai was the same Lord Ramacandra.”
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