Adi-lila, Chapter 10 319

TRANSLATION

Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, the forty-seventh branch, was one of the great and
exalted branches of the tree. He always engaged in discourses about love of God-
head in the company of Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami.

PURPORT

; Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami was the son of Venkata Bhatta, a resident of
Srirangam. Gopala Bhatta formerly belonged to the disciplic succession of the
Ramanuja-sampradaya but later became part of the Gaudiya-sampradaya. In the
year 1433 Saka@bda, when Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu was touring South India, He
stayed for four months during the period of Caturmasya at the house of Venkata
Bhatta, who then got the opportunity to serve the Lord to his heart’s content.
Gopala Bhatta also got the opportunity to serve the Lord at this time. Sri Gopala
Bhatta Gosvami was later initiated by his uncle, the great sannydsi Prabodhananda
Sarasvati. Both the father and mother of Gopala Bhatta GosvamT were extremely
fortunate, for they dedicated their entire lives to the service of Lord Caitanya
Mahaprabhu. They allowed Gopala Bhatta Gasvami to go to Vrndavana, and they.
gave up their lives thinking of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. When Lord Caitanya was
later informed that Gopala Bhatta Gosvami had gone to Vrndavana and met Sri
Ripa and Sanatana Gosvami, He was very pleased, and He advised Sri Ripa and
Sanatana to accept Gopala Bhatta Gosvami as their younger brother and take care
of him. Sri Sanatana Gosvami, out of his great affection for Gopala Bhatta Gosvami,
compiled the Vaisnava smrti named Hari-bhakti-viladsa and published it under his
name. Under the instruction of Srila RGpa and Sanatana, Gopala Bhatta Gosvami
installed one of the seven principal Deities of Vrndavana, the Radharamana Deity.
The sevdits (priests) of the Radharamana temple belong to the Gaudiya-sampraday a.

When Kysnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami took permission from all the Vaisnavas before
writing Caitanya-caritamrta, Gopala Bhatta Gosvami also gave him his blessings, but
he requested him not to mention his name in the book. Therefore Krsmadasa
Kaviraja Gosvami has mentioned Gopala Bhatta Gosvami only very cautiously in
one or two passages of Caitanya-caritamrta. Srila Jiva Gosvami has written in the
beginning of his Tattva-sandarbha, ‘‘A devotee from southern India who was born of
a brahmana family and was a very intimate friend of RGpa Gosvami and Sanatana
Gosvami has written a book that he has not compiled chronologically. Therefore |,
a tiny living entity known as jiva, am trying to assort the events of the book
chronologically, consulting the direction of great personalities like Madhvacarya,
Sridhara Svami, Ramanujacarya and other senior Vaisnavas in the disciplic succes-
sion.” In the beginning of the Bhagavat-sandarbha there are similar statements by
Srila Jiva Gosvami. Srila Gopala Bhatta Gosvami compiled a book called Sat-kriyd-
sara-dipikd, edited the Hari-bhakti-vildsa, wrote a forward to the Sat-sandarbha and
a commentary on the Krsna-karnamrta, and installed the Radharamana Deity in
Verndavana. In the Gaura-ganoddeSsa-dipikd, verse 184, it is mentioned that his
previous name in the pastimes of Lord Krsna was Ananga-mahijari. Sometimes he is
also said to have been an incarnation of Guna-mafijari. Srinivasa Acarya and
Gopinatha Pijari were two of his disciples.
