Srila Sanatan Goswami
Related references from books by
His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj
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Srila Sanatan Goswami's Samadhi
From Sermons of the Guardian of Devotion Vol.I, Chapter Six, section: Dare not criticise those under charge of Krishna.
Srila Sanatan Goswami contracted sores all over his body due to the contact of bad water in the jungle when he was returning from Vrindavan to Puri. Mahaprabhu used to welcome him by embracing him, but Sanatan would try to withdraw. He objected, "Don't touch me! This is the body of a sinful man." The sores were oozing and emitting a bad odour, but Mahaprabhu embraced him forcibly. Sanatan had decided, "I shall either leave this place or I shall invite death by falling under the wheel of the cart of Lord Jagannath." But as the Lord in the heart of all, Mahaprabhu knew Sanatan's mind. He chastised him, and embraced him, forcibly. All the sores disappeared, and Sanatan's body immediately became like gold.
Mahaprabhu said, "Sanatan, you are a Vaisnav. Your body is not defective. Aprakrta-deha tomara 'prakrta' kabhu naya. Krishna is testing Me. I am a sannyasi, and He is examining whether there is any partiality in My dealings with a Vaisnav simply because of his externally having so many sores. He is examining whether I will shrink from the association of such a Vaisnav and cast him aside. But your body is already pure, and only for the purpose of testing the public, Krishna has created this; and if I cannot see this, I will have failed His test and will have been deceived by Krishna. It is a mere show, it is nothing; your body is pure because you are a Vaisnav, a devotee of Krishna. This impurity is only an appearance in order to serve Krishna's divine purpose. Wherever there is Vaisnavata, true saintly devotedness, there can never be any contamination. Only to test my devotion has Krishna sent you to Me in this condition." So Mahaprabhu embraced him and demonstrated that he was absolutely pure.
Whether externally pure or impure, the whole principle is that our exclusive devotion for Krishna is the only necessity. In the ordinary sense, the gopis are also sinners. They crossed the laws of society and the sastras, so they are 'sinners'. But they hold the highest position of purity by their exclusive devotedness to Krishna and no other. They cannot help but to serve Krishna cent-per-cent, even at the risk of crossing the entire code of morality. They are considered to be the highest devotional ideal.
But that sort of devotion is not so cheap that everyone will go on with their activities in this world, taking advantage of such ideals. That won't do. The real measure of devotion must be there, not that anyone may do anything passing in the name of pure devotion, like the prakrta-sahajiyas. That can't be allowed.
From Sermons of the Guardian of Devotion Vol.II, Chapter Seven, section: The Appearance of Sri Raghunath Das Goswami.
Sanatan Goswami, the caretaker
gramya-katha na sunibe, gramya-varta na kahibe
bhala na khaibe ara bhala na paribe
amani manada hanya krsna-nama sada la'be
vraje radha-krsna seva manase karibe
"Don't indulge in worldly talk, don't hear worldly talk. Try your best to avoid mundane matters. Don't eat delicious dishes, but take whatever ordinary food may come of its own accord; and don't dress luxuriously. Always try to take the Name of Krishna with the attitude of giving respect to others, without expecting respect from anyone. Be humble, but never aspire after respectful dealings from others. In this way, try to take the Name of Krishna constantly. And within, try to serve Sri Sri Radha-Krishna in Vrindavan. Mentally, be in Vrindavan rendering Service to Sri Sri Radha-Krishna-lila.''
Mahaprabhu told Raghunath that this was the essence of His advice to him. Then, He again took Raghunath's hand and offered it to the hand of Svarup Damodar. He said, "I am giving you to the charge of Svarup Damodar. He is the best Spiritual Teacher. He will take care of you."
After Raghunath's arrival in Puri, Mahaprabhu stayed there continuously for sixteen years. After that, Mahaprabhu departed from the world. Raghunath left Puri and went to Vrindavan, thinking, "I have what is to be had; now I only want to see Vrindavan Dham once, and then I shall leave this body by jumping from the highest peak of Govardhan." With this idea he went to Vrindavan, but there he came into contact with Sanatan Goswami and Rupa Goswami - he found the beginning of a new life. He thought, "What is this? Mahaprabhu has not departed - He is living in them."
Mahaprabhu delegated Rupa and Sanatan with the power to preserve the devotional current they had received from Him, and to present it in a new light. They were asked to prove by drawing upon different scriptures that Mahaprabhu's teachings are the very gist and purpose of all the scriptures. As in Bhagavad-gita, vedais cha sarvair aham eva vedyah: "The attempt of every revealed scripture is to show Me as the highest centre - I am the Absolute." So Mahaprabhu said, "Krishna is the Absolute. With the help of the different scriptures and historical reference - by all means possible - try to prove that Krishna is Svayam Bhagavan, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and that Vraja-lila, Vrindavan-lila, is the highest achievement."
The two brothers had already begun that work when Raghunath came into their association, and he found, "Oh! Mahaprabhu is here." He abandoned the idea of leaving this world, and joined Rupa and Sanatan as their disciple. Mahaprabhu had already ordered Sanatan Goswami, "My followers are very poor and helpless. You'll have to look after them whenever they come to Vrindavan. You'll have to be the caretaker of all my disciples that come to Vrindavan." So Raghunath came to Sanatan Goswami, and Sanatan took care of him.
Sri
Chaitanya Saraswat Math, Nabadwip