radha-vibhuti-rupa ya chandrakantih pura sthita
sadya gauranga-nikate dasa-vamshyo gadadharah
purnananda vraje yasid baladeva-priyagranih
sapi karya-vash ad eva pravishat tam gadadharam
She who during Krishna’s incarnation was Candrakanti, the manifestation of Radharani’s opulence, has become Gadadhara Das by Gauranga’s side. Balaram’s beloved Purnananda has also entered into him for some special purpose.
(Gaura-ganoddesha-dipika 154-155)
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur has made the following comments on Gadadhara Das’s identity in Krishna lila: “He is Srimati Radharani’s effulgence. Just as Srila Gadadhara Pandit Goswami is Srimati Radharani herself, so Gadadhara Das is an incarnation of her bodily luster. In the Lord’s incarnation as Krishna with the emotions and bodily luster of Srimati Radharani, he is that bodily luster. In the Gaura-ganoddesha-dipika, he is said to be the manifestation of Radha’s opulence. He is counted amongst the followers of both Gaura and Nityananda. As a follower of Gaura, he relished the mood of conjugal love, while as a follower of Nityananda, he is in the mood of pure devotional service in friendship, etc. Although Gadadhara Das was an associate of Nityananda, his mood of friendship is not that of a cowherd boy, but is in the conjugal mood. He established the temple of Gauranga in Katwa.”
(Anubhashya to Chaitanya Charitamrita 1.10.53)
Gadadhara Das’s home was in Eriyadaha, a village situated 8 miles north of Calcutta on the banks of the Bhagirathi River. He moved to Katwa from Nabadwip after Mahaprabhu’s disappearance, and then later to Eriyadaha. In the Gaudiya Vaishnava Abhidhana, it is said that Gadadhara Das supervised Sachi Mata and Vishnupriya Devi’s affairs. When they disappeared, he moved to Katwa where he established the worship of the Gauranga deity. The temple is currently known in Katwa as Mahaprabhura Bari.
Gadadhara Das first met with Mahaprabhu when the Lord was making his first attempt to travel to Vrindavan by taking the route through Bengal, first stopping in Shantipur, then Kumarahatta and then Raghava Pandit’s house in Panihati. Mahaprabhu affectionately placed his lotus feet on Gadadhara’s head:
When he heard that Mahaprabhu had arrived at Raghava Pandit’s house, Gadadhara ran to see him. Gadadhara is extremely dear to Mahaprabhu, his body is charged with the joy of devotion. When the Lord saw the pious Gadadhara, he lifted his feet and placed them on his head.
(Chaitanya Bhagavat 3.5.92-4)
When Mahaprabhu sent Nityananda from Puri to Gaudadesha to preach the religion of love, Gadadhara Das, Rama Das, Krishna Das Pandit, Paremeshvari Das, Purandara Pandit, Raghunatha Vaidya, etc., accompanied him.On the road from Nilachala, Nityananda and his associates displayed various extraordinary moods of divine love. Gadadhara Das, the eternal resident of Vraja took on the transcendental mood of Srimati Radharani, and in this ecstasy of a cowherd girl began to laugh and shout, “Yogurt for sale! Yogurt for sale! Does anyone want to buy some yogurt?” In the mood of a cowherd boy, Abhirama Das Thakur stood for nine hours in the three-fold bending form. Krishna Das and Paramesvari Das were also in the mood of cowherd boys, shouting “Hoi! hoi!” as though they were herding the cattle. Purandara Pandit climbed up a tree and shouted, “I am Angada!” and then jumped down to the ground.
The mood of Radhika descended on Gadadhara Das. He began to call, “Who will buy yogurt?” and burst out laughing…. Krishna Das and Paramesvari both shouted “Hoi! hoi!” in the spirit of the cowherd boys.
(Chaitanya Bhagavat 3.5.238, 240)
When Nityananda Prabhu arrived in Bengal, he visited villages on both banks of the Ganges. Gadadhara Das was still experiencing gopi-bhava and took a jug full of Ganges water and called out to everyone, “Milk! Who wants to buy milk?” When Nityananda saw Gadadhara Das’s bhava, he took the Gopal deity from his house and danced, holding it to his chest.
In the mood of a gopi, Gadhadhara Das had no consciousness of external reality. He constantly referred to himself as a gopi.
(Chaitanya Bhagavat 3.5.381)
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur writes in his commentary to this verse that though Gadadhara considered himself to be a gopi, he did not dress like a woman. His mood was expressed internally and he had no need to make any artificial, external display.
One day, Nityananda was in the audience at a performance of Krishna’s dana-lila by Madhavananda Ghosh at the house of Gadadhara Das, and he went into a deep trance. For this reason, Gadadhara’s house is also known as the place of the dana-lila. The dana-lila is described elaborately in Rupa Goswami’s Dana-keli-kaumudi. In Gadadhara Das’s village of Eriyadaha, there were many people antagonistic to religion who hated the very sound of the congregational chanting of Krishna’s names. One of these people was a powerful Muslim administrator, or Kazi. Gadadhara was once in an ecstatic mood and walked right into the house of this Kazi, singing the holy names at the top of his voice. The Kazi was sitting there in the company of his inner circle. Gadadhara ordered the Kazi to chant the holy names. The Kazi became very angry at the affront, but when he saw that Gadadhara was in a trance-like state, he calmed down and asked him why he had come. Gadadhara Das answered, “Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu have descended to this earth to make everyone chant the Holy Names. Only you have not chanted Krishna’s names, so I have come here to make you do so. If you chant the Holy Names, all your sins will be eradicated.” Although the Kazi was by nature cruel, he laughed and said, “Alright, I will chant Krishna’s Names tomorrow. Now go home. Gadadhara Das danced jubilantly and said, “Why tomorrow? You have just spoken the name of Krishna! Now that you have taken the name of Hari, you will never again know any inauspiciousness!” (Chaitanya Bhagavat 3.5.409-10)
Gadadhara Das thus converted the irascible Kazi through his otherworldly power. This impossible task became possible because his body had become possessed by Krishna.
This is the glory of Gadadhara Das, who has been counted as one of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s intimate associates. Just seeing him in his ecstatic devotional mood erases all of one’s sinful reactions.
(Chaitanya Bhagavat 3.5.413, 727)
Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami has also written as follows about Gadadhara Das in the Chaitanya Charitamrita:
Sri Rama Das and Sri Gadadhara Das were both devotees of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and stayed by his side. When the Lord ordered Nityananda to return to Bengal, he told both of them to accompany him. Gadadhara Das was always in an ecstatic state in the devotional mood of a gopi. Nityananda put on the dana-lila performance in his house.
(Chaitanya Charitamrita 1.11.13-17)
The Lord ordered Nityananda, “Go to Gaudadesha. Spread the pure love of Krishna everywhere. I am giving you Gadadhara Das and Rama Das and some other devotees to act as your assistants. (Chaitanya Charitamrita 2.15.42-2)
When Raghunatha Das Goswami put on the Ciria-dadhi Mahotsava in Panihati on Nityananda’s order, Gadadhara was also present there. Yadunandana Das was Gadadhara Das’s disciple. This is stated in the Bhakti-ratnakara:
Yadunandana Chakravarti was a very learned scholar whose guru and worshipable lord was Gadadhara Das.
(Bhakti-ratnakara 9.352)
Gadadhara Das’s disappearance day is on the eighth day of the waning moon of the month of Karttik. Srinivas Acharya put on a huge festival on the occasion of Gadadhara Das’s disappearance day. Like the festival at Kheturi, this one was greatly renowned throughout the Vaishnava community.
What can I say about the Krishnashtami day of Karttik? My prabhu disappeared here on that day.
(Bhakti-ratnakara 9.362)
Gadadhara Das’s samadhi tomb is situated on the grounds of the Mahaprabhu Bari temple in Katwa, where Keshava Bharati gave sannyas to Mahaprabhu.
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