De sex Gosvamierna

Efter att Herren Caitanya Mahaprabhu lämnade denna värld år 1534, kom det att bli de sex Gosvamierna i Vrindavana som förvaltade och förde vidare Hans andliga arv.

De sex Gosvamierna är:

Sanatana Gosvami (1488-1558)

Rupa Gosvami (1489-1564)

Raghunatha dasa Gosvami (1495-1571)

Gopala Bhatta Gosvami (1503-1578)

Ragunatha Bhatta Gosvami (1505-1579)

Jiva Gosvami (1513-1598)

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Siksastaka-bönernas åtta strofer är den enda text författad av Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu Själv som finns bevarad. (Se vidare: http://mafuka-summumbonum.blogspot.com/2008/01/siksastakabnerna.html)

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De skrevs ner av Sri Caitanyas sekreterare, Sri Svarupa Damodara, efter Herrens diktamen. Det är tack vare att Sri Krishnadasa Kaviraja och Srila Rupa Gosvami i sin tur återgav dessa strofer i sina verk Caitanya-caritamrita respektive Padyavali, som de finns bevarade idag.

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Det var Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhus önskan att Hans lärjungar genom sina författarskap skulle formulera och vidare utveckla Hans lära, och Han undervisade i synnerhet Srila Sanatana Gosvami och Srila Rupa Gosvami i detta syfte. De sex Gosvamierna kom att bli mycket produktiva författare, men de var inte de enda författarna i Herren Caitanyas rörelse, det fanns många framstående hängivna som skrev om Krishnamedvetande. De sex Gosvamierna kom ändå att betraktas som de mest framstående, eftersom de personligen hade instruerats av Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

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Det var Sri Krishnadasa Kaviraja som först kom att formulera begreppet "de sex Gosvamierna" i sin biografi över Herren Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Caitanya-caritamrita, i början av 1600-talet. Tidigare biografer, såsom Murari Gupta, Vrindavana dasa Thakura och Kavi Karnapura, nämner endast några av de sex Gosvamierna.

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Steven Rosen hävdar i sin bok The Six Gosvamis of Vrindavan att ett av de sex Gosvamiernas främsta bidrag till vaisnava-litteraturen bestod i att de formulerade varför sjungandet av Herrens heliga namn leder till befrielse och andlig lycksalighet. Herren Caitanya Mahaprabhu visade genom Sitt personliga exempel vad andlig extas innebar, men det var alltså de sex Gosvamierna som genom filosofiska argument förklarade hur denna andliga extas möjliggjordes: nämligen att Herren och Hans namn är ett. Reciteras Hans namn med ren hängivenhet, så når den som reciterar kontakt med Herren Själv. De sex Gosvamierna erfor detta själva, och formulerade dessa personliga erfarenheter i sina verk.

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Norvin J Hein (Professor emeritus i religion vid Yale University) uttrycker det så här: "they (The Six Gosvamis) dared to say, not merely that the power of God is present in such recitation, but then, when the name is uttered in faith, God Himself is present.

.....Jiva Gosvami states the main point bluntly: bhagavat-svarupam eva nam, "The name of the Supreme Lord is His very essence"

Ur Norvin Hein: Caitanyas Ecstasies And The Theology of the Name (1976)

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De sex Gosvamierna gjorde en oerhört viktig insats för Herren Caitanyas rörelse både genom sin djupa förståelse för Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhus mystik och sin förmåga att uttrycka denna förståelse i skrift, på sanskrit, de indiska lärdes och vediska skrifternas klassiska språk.

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"The Six Goswamins among them produced over 219 different works in Sanskrit - it is most significant that they wrote in Sanskrit - tying every teaching of the Bengal school into the orthodox traditions of Indian religion."

Ur Edward C Dimock Jr: The Place of the Hidden Moon (1966)

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Sri Sri Sad Goswami Astaka

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Eight Prayers to the Six Goswamis by Srinivas Acharya

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I offer my respectful obeisances unto the six Gosvamis, namely Sri Rupa Gosvami, Sri Sanatana Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, Sri Jiva Gosvami, and Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, who are always engaged in chanting the holy name of Krisna and dancing. They are just like the ocean of love of God, and they are popular both with the gentle and with the ruffians, because they are not envious of anyone. Whatever they do, they are all-pleasing to everyone, and they are fully blessed by Lord Caitanya. Thus they are engaged in missionary activities meant to deliver all the conditioned souls in the material universe.

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I offer my respectful obeisances unto the six Gosvamis, namely Sri Rupa Gosvami, Sri Sanatana Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, Sri Jiva Gosvami, and Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, who are very expert in scrutinizingly studying all the revealed scriptures with the aim of establishing eternal religious principles for the benefit of all human beings. Thus they are honored all over the three worlds and they are worth taking shelter of because they are absorbed in the mood of the gopis and are engaged in the transcendental loving service of Radha and Krisna.

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I offer my respectful obeisances unto the six Gosvamis, namely Sri Rupa Gosvami, Sri Sanatana Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, Sri Jiva Gosvami, and Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, who are very much enriched in understanding of Lord Caitanya and who are thus expert in narrating His transcendental qualities. They can purify all conditioned souls from the reactions of their sinful activities by pouring upon them transcendental song about Govinda. As such, they are very expert in increasing the limits of the ocean of transcendental bliss, and they are the saviors of the living entities from the devouring mouth of liberation.

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I offer my respectful obeisances unto the six Gosvamis, namely Sri Rupa Gosvami, Sri Sanatana Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, Sri Jiva Gosvami, and Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, who kicked off all association of aristocracy as insignificant. In order to deliver the poor conditioned souls, they accepted loincloths, treating themselves as mendicants, but they are always merged in the ecstatic ocean of the gopis' love for Krisna and bathe always and repeatedly in the waves of that ocean.

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I offer my respectful obeisances unto the six Gosvamis, namely Sri Rupa Gosvami, Sri Sanatana Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, Sri Jiva Gosvami, and Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, who were always engaged in worshiping Radha-Krisna in the transcendental land of Vrindavana where there are beautiful trees full of fruits and flowers which have under their roots all valuable jewels. The Gosvamis are perfectly competent to bestow upon the living entities the greatest boon of the goal of life.

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I offer my respectful obeisances unto the six Gosvamis, namely Sri Rupa Gosvami, Sri Sanatana Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, Sri Jiva Gosvami, and Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, who were engaged in chanting the holy names of the Lord and bowing down in a scheduled measurement. In this way they utilized their valuable lives and in executing these devotional activities they conquered over eating and sleeping and were always meek and humble enchanted by remembering the transcendental qualities of the Lord.

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I offer my respectful obeisances unto the six Gosvamis, namely Sri Rupa Gosvami, Sri Sanatana Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, Sri Jiva Gosvami, and Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, who were sometimes on the bank of the Radha-kunda lake or the shores of the Yamuna and sometimes at Vamsivata. There they appeared just like madmen in the full ecstasy of love for Krisna, exhibiting different transcendental symptoms in their bodies, and they were merged in the ecstasy of Krisna consciousness.

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I offer my respectful obeisances unto the six Gosvamis, namely Sri Rupa Gosvami, Sri Sanatana Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, Sri Jiva Gosvami, and Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, who were chanting very loudly everywhere in Vrindavana, shouting, "Queen of Vrindavana, Radharani! O Lalita! O son of Nanda Maharaja! Where are you all now? Are you just on the hill of Govardhana, or are you under the trees on the bank of the Yamuna? Where are you?" These were their moods in executing.