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The Gaudiya Vaishnava poet and saint Srila Rupa Goswami ( 1489 - 1564 CE) is considered to be one of the principal followers of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu ( 1486 - 1533 CE). He is also one of the famous Six Goswamis Of Vrindavana . SRILA RUPA GOSWAMI'S GENEALOGY His lineage can be traced back to Karnataka, South India where his Saraswata Brahmana descendants held influential positions. Srila Rupa Gosvami's nephew, Jiva Goswami has explained in his Laghu Tosani that Rupa's descendants were of the Bharadvaja gotra and were learned in the Yajur Veda . A Brahmana called Sarvajna was seventh in the ascending geneological line of Rupa Goswami and was known by the title 'jagad-guru' (Skt. Universal teacher). He was a learned scholar and also a king. His son, Aniruddha was also an acclaimed scholar. Aniruddha had two sons, Harihara and Rupesvara. While Rupesvara was knowledgable in the Vedic literatures, his brother became expert in weaponry and politics. When their father died, the kingdom was divided between the two sons. However, Harihara took Rupesvara's land by force and forced the family to migrate to Paurastyadesa. Rupesevara's son, Padmanabha was spiritually and materially very successful. Padmanabha relocated his family to Nabahatta (Naihati) on the banks of the Ganges River . Padmanabha had eighteen daughters and five sons, the youngest son being Mukunda. RUPA GOSWAMI'S EARLY LIFE When there was religious upheaval, Mukunda's son, Kumaradeva, moved to Jessore. His sons were Santosha (Rupa), Amara ( Sanatana ) and Srivallabha (Anupama). On the demise of Kumaradeva, the three sons moved to Sakurma, near to the capital of Gaudadesa ( Bengal ) where they continued their studies. The three brothers studied the Nyaya-sastras (treatise on rhetoric) from the famous logician Vasudeva Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya and his brother Madhusudana Vidyavacaspati. They also studied Sanskrit , Arabic and Persian . Due to their noble characters and academic proficiency, Rupa and his elder brother Sanatana were later forced into government service by the sultan of Bengal, Alauddin Hussein Shah (1493-1519 CE) which led to their excommunication from Hindu society by the orthodox caste brahmanas of Gauda. Rupa became the Sultan's chief secretary (dabir khas), while Sanatana became the state revenue minister (sakara mallika). RUPA'S MEETING WITH CHAITANYA Rupa and his brothers made their residence at the state capital of Ramakeli and it was here, in 1514 CE, that they met Chaitanya Mahaprabhu for the first time. The meeting changed their lives and they decided to leave the service of the Sultan and take up a life of renunciation in the association of Chaitanya and his followers. Rupa loaded all his wealth onto two boats and left with his brother Anupama for their ancestral home at Fatiabad in Jessore, where they distributed it. They then sent two messengers to Puri in Orissa to get news of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's plans. The messengers returned with the news that Chaitanya had already left Puri for Vrindavana. Rupa and Anupama immediately decided to go and they wrote a letter to Sanatana telling him of their plans and asking him to meet them in Vrindavana. They also told him that they had left 10,000 gold coins in case he was in need of financial help. Later, when Sanatana was thrown into prison by the Sultan for disobedience, he used this money to bribe the jailer and escaped to Varanasi to meet with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. RUPA'S SECOND MEETING WITH CHAITANYA MAHAPRABHU After visiting Vrindavana , Chaitanya stopped at the holy city of Prayaga (modern day Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh ). It was here that Rupa and Anupama met him for the second time. At the Dasasvamedha Ghat (a famous bathing area on the banks of the River Ganges), Chaitanya imparted instructions to Rupa Goswami and explained all the intricacies of the doctrine of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Rupa Gosvami was specifically commanded by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to carry out two tasks: (1) to re-locate and preserve the lost holy places of Vrindavana, and (2) to write and preach Gaudiya Vaisnava theology. He then sent Rupa Goswami to Vrindavana to carry out these orders. RUPA GOSWAMI IN PURI Later, on the order of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Rupa Goswami came to Puri and resided there for ten months. During the time of the annual Ratha-yatra Festival , Rupa Goswami composed one mystical verse that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu requested him to read to his most intimate associates. Upon hearing this verse, all the assembled Vaishnavas praised Rupa Goswami for his outstanding composition that was filled with deep devotion to Krishna. Due to this, it was proclaimed that Rupa Goswami was the very embodiment of Chaitanya' Mahaprabhu's esoteric teachings of rasa (divine mellows). Because of this, Rupa Goswami is considered by Vaishnavas to be the foremost follower of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and those that strictly follow in his preceptoral line are known as Rupanugas (followers of Rupa). RUPA GOSWAMI IN VRINDAVANA Rupa and Sanatana remained in Vrindavana for the remainder of their lives. Their mood of renunciation and devotion was exemplary. Rupa uncovered various holy places associated with the pastimes of Krishna and rediscovered the famous deity of Govindadeva, which was originally installed and worshipped by Krishna's great-grandson, Maharaja Vajranabha. Rupa and Sanatana were intimately connected with other Vaishnava saints in Vrindavana such as Lokanatha Goswami, Bhugarbha Goswami, Gopala Bhatta Goswami, Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami and Raghunatha Dasa Goswami. Shortly after, they were also joined by their nephew Jiva (Jiva Goswami) who was given initiation by Rupa and personally trained by him in the philosophy of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Rupa Goswami departed from this world in 1564 CE and his samadhi (tomb) is located in the courtyard of the Radha-Damodara temple in Vrindavana. In Gaudiya Vaishnava theology, Rupa Goswami is considered to be the incarnation of Rupa Manjari, the foremost junior cowherd damsel who eternally serves Radha-Krishna under the guidance of the gopi, Lalita-devi . RUPA GOSWAMI'S LITERARY CONTRIBUTIONS Rupa Goswami wrote a number of books in Sanskrit on philosphy, poetics, drama and dramaturgy. The following is a list of some of the most well-known works of Rupa Goswami:
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