YESTERDAY WAS THE DISAPPEARANCE DAYOF SRILA KASISVARA GOSVAMI
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| SRILA KASISVARA GOSVAMI |
Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura writes in his Anubhāṣya, "Kāśīśvara Gosāñi was one of the contemporaries of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu who was with the Lord in Jagannātha Purī.
Also known as Kāśīśvara Paṇḍita, he was a disciple of Īśvara Purī and son of Vāsudeva Bhaṭṭācārya, who belonged to the dynasty of Kāñjilāla Kānu...
It is said in the Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā (137) that the servant of Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana named Bhṛńgāra descended as Kāśīśvara Gosāñi during the pastimes of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
Kasisvara Gosvami, in pursuance of the order of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, established the Deity of Sri Gaura Govinda within the temple of Sri Sri Radha Govinda in Vrindavan.
When Srila Rupa Gosvami discovered the Deity of Sri Govinda within the hill at Gomatila he immediately sent word to Mahaprabhu, Who was in Puri at the time. Mahaprabhu then requested Kasisvara to go to Vrindavan to assist in the worship of Sri Govinda.
Kasisvara replied, “Prabhu, to give up Your association will cause my heart to split in two. Therefore please consider how I can honour Your request without giving up my life at the same time.”
Sri Gaurahari could understand the heart of Kasisvara. He solved the problem by giving a Deity of Himself to Kasisvara. Then He sat down with that Deity to take His meal. Kasisvara was in complete ecstasy to see this. Prabhu told him that the name of this Deity is Sri Gaura Govinda. [Bhakti Ratna, 2nd Taranga]
Sri Kavikarnapura Goswami writes: “Kasisvara Pandita and Sri Govinda were formerly those servants of Krsna in Vraja named Bhrngara and Bhangura who used to bear water from the Yamuna for Krsna.” Kasisvara Pandita spent much time in Puri-dhama in the service of Sri Caitanya. He used to serve prasada to the devotees after the kirtanas.
Caitanya-Caritamrta records: “Brahmacari Kasisvara Das and Sri Govinda were dear disciples of Sri Isvara Puri. When Isvara Puri passed into the eternal lila of the Lord and thus attained perfection, the two of them went to Jagannatha Puri to serve Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu on his order. Since both Kasisvara and Govinda were his godbrothers, the Lord honored them as his peers. Only after considering the orders of Isvara Puri did he accept them as his personal servants, having been instructed to do so by his guru. Sri Govinda attended Mahaprabhu personally as his servant, whereas Kasisvara was engaged as a bodyguard to protect the Lord from the crowds when he visited the temple of Jagannatha. Thus he would walk in front of the Lord. When Caitanya Mahaprabhu went to the temple of Jagannatha, Kasisvara, being very strong, cleared the crowds aside with his hands so that Caitanya Mahaprabhu could pass untouched.”
Srila Prabhupada writes: "In our householder life we also sometimes visited this temple of Vallabhapura and took prasādam there at noon. The Deities of this temple, Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Govinda and the Gaurāńga vigraha, are extremely beautiful. Near Vallabhapura is a beautiful temple of Jagannātha. We sometimes used to take prasādam in this Jagannātha temple also. These two temples are situated within a one mile-radius of the Śrīrāmapura railway station, near Calcutta."
