Disappearance Day of Srila Sanatana Goswami.

Hare Krishna. Today is the Disappearance Day of Srila Sanatana Goswami. 

Srila Sanatana Goswami is a near and dear associate of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the Divine Couple. He is an associate of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu as Sanatana Goswami, and an associate of the Divine Couple as Sri Lavanga Manjari

In the beginning, Sriman Mahaprabhu sent His cousins, Bhugarbha Goswami and Lokanath Goswami, to Braj. After some time, Sriman Mahaprabhu appointed Sanatana Goswami and Rupa Goswami as Commander Generals and sent them to Vraj. Mahaprabhu gave them four duties. First, *lupta-tirthera-uddhara*, which meant rediscovering the lost pilgrimage places. All the pilgrimage places of Vraja-mandal were completely covered by trees. Nobody knew where the twelve forests of Vrndavana were—Madhuvana, Talavana, Kumudavana, Vrndavana, Kamyavana, etc. Secondly, there were no deities at all, unlike what we see nowadays. Thirdly, Mahaprabhu ordered them to arrange devotional scriptures. The fourth duty was to establish Vaishnava etiquette.

 

So, the four duties were:

 

1. *lupta-tirthera-uddhara* (rediscovering lost pilgrimage places)

2. *sri-vigraha-prakasa* (revealing deities)

3. *bhakti-grantha-pranayan* (composing devotional scriptures)

4. *vaishnava-sadachara* (establishing Vaishnava etiquette)

 

Srila Sanatana Goswami and Srila Rupa Goswami, by the causeless mercy of Sriman Mahaprabhu, tried their level best to fulfill all these duties. Both of them worked very hard, day and night. They discovered all the twelve principal forests, twelve branch forests, and thirty-two *upvanas* (groves). The prominent forests are Madhuvana, Talavana, Kumudavana, Bahulavana, Kamyavana, Khadiravana, and Vrndavana—these are in the eastern direction of the Yamuna. In the western direction are Bhadravana, Bhandiravana, Baelvana, Mahavana, and Lohavana. However, the current of the Yamuna has changed here and there, so they are not in this sequence anymore.

 

The first Goswami *grantha* (treatise) is *Brhad-bhagavatamrta*, which was written by Srila Sanatana Goswami. Many people thought this was a novel, but no, it is not. Srila Sanatana wrote what he had seen in his *samadhi*. In this *grantha*, on one hand, the supremacy of Bhagavan with His associates has been shown. On the other hand, it also describes how, if devotees are higher, then Bhagavan’s *rupa* (form), *gunan* (qualities), and *lila* (pastimes) also become higher and higher. Both sides have been described there.

 

The first *vigraha* (deity) is Madan Mohan, which was discovered by Sanatana Goswami. Sanatana Goswami is the *acharya* of *sambandha-jnana-tattva pradartta* (the one who reveals the knowledge of our relationship with God). And Madan Mohan is the deity of *sambandha-jnana*. After that, Rupa Goswami discovered Govinda Dev. The process of how to achieve our goal is written in his books.

 

Sanatana Goswami, despite doing all this, was not happy. So how did he discover the deities? Sanatana Goswami’s daily routine was to go from Vrndavan to Mathura, then to Govardhan for *parikrama*, and then return to Mathura and Vrndavan. No one was living in Vrndavan; there were only forests. To do *madhukari*, to maintain their lives by obtaining food, they needed to go to Mathura. In Mathura, Sanatana Goswami had seen Madan Mohan disguised as a boy, playing with a widowed Mataji’s son. Then he understood.

 

Madan Mohan told him, “Baba, I want to go with you.”

 

Baba, meaning Srila Sanatana Goswami, replied, “No, I cannot take You. You are the son of Maharaj Nanda. You have so many cows; can they not fulfill Your stomach that You are stealing here and there? Today You ask for this thing, tomorrow You ask for that thing.”

 

Madan Mohan said, “No Baba, I will not ask for anything. What you provide, I will eat.”

 

Then Sanatana Goswami said, “Look! I will arrange for some chapati flour, then make a dough and make small balls, like *rasagulla*, and dry roast them on the fire, and then I will eat.”

 

After a few days, Madan Mohan told him, “Sanatana, can you please provide some salt at least? Then with the salt, I can chew, and saliva will come out from my mouth, then I can swallow; if not, I cannot swallow it.”

 

Sanatana said, “Today you ask for salt, tomorrow you may ask for sugar, then *rasagulla*, *rabri*, *malai*, this and that. I cannot provide.”

 

Madan Mohan said, “Shall I arrange it myself?”

 

Srila Sanatana Goswami said, “Yes.”

 

So one day, a very big businessman came for some business purpose, but his boat got stuck halfway on the Yamuna. This was the desire of Madan Mohan. The businessman asked some people to give it a little push. One boy was playing there and asked, “What do you want?”

 

When the businessman told him about the condition of the boat, the boy said, “Look, close by there is one Baba called Sanatana. If he says yes, then your boat will be free immediately. He knows so many things.”

 

Then the businessman came to Sanatana Goswami and said, “Baba, are you Sanatana Goswami?”

 

Sanatana Goswami said, “Yes.”

 

He asked, “Please give your blessings that my boat will be free.”

 

Sanatana Goswami asked, “How did you know of me?”

 

The businessman said, “One boy was playing, and he said that whatever you say, it will happen.”

 

Then Sanatana Goswami understood that this was arranged by Madan Mohan.

 

Sanatana Goswami said, “Yes, your boat will be free.”

 

Then the businessman went and made so much profit that he built a temple for Madan Mohan.

 

If Sanatana Goswami had not come, then we would not know about Vrndavan Dham, about Bhakti books, or about Vaishnava etiquette. Regarding Vaishnava etiquette, he arranged for *Sri Hari-bhakti-vilasa*. He sent Srila Gopala Bhatta Goswami to collect evidence from South India because in South India, they are very mature and strict about rules and regulations. Gopal Bhatta Goswami collected the evidence, and Sanatana Goswami took all the evidence, compiled a book, and wrote all the commentaries by his own hands. And he told that this was written by Gopal Bhatta Goswami—this was how magnanimous and merciful he is. Sanatana Goswami did everything, but he said that this was done by Srila Gopala Bhatta Goswami.

 

When Sanatana Goswami disappeared from this world, that day was called Mudiya Purnima, the coming full moon. He used to go from Vrndavan to Govardhan for *parikrama*. All the Vrajvasis shaved their heads and took his transcendental body and did *parikrama* of Govardhan with him. Taking his transcendental body, they came back to Vrndavan and performed his *samadhi*.

 

All these happened for Sanatana Goswami. If you want to know more details, some time in the future I can speak more. Hare Krishna! Haribol!