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The Biography of Srila Narottama Das Thakura
Kayastha
by caste, Narottama was the son of King Krsnananda Datta. Krsnananda was the Zamindar of Gopalpur Pargana in the Rajsahi district of Bangladesh. His capital was located at Kheturi, about a mile northeast of Prematali
on the bank of the river Padma, about a distance of
twelve miles northwest of Rampur Boalia.
Narayani devi
was Narottama's mother. Narottama
was born about the middle of the fifteenth Saka
century (Bhaktiratnakara 1.466-468). From his
childhood he was extremely attracted to Lord Caitanya.
According to some, after the disappearance of his father, Narottama
entrusted his elder paternal uncle's son, Santosa Datta, with the responsibility of the royal duties and left
for Vrndavana.
Premavilasa 8 narrates as follows: One day while dancing in kirtana
at Kanair Natsala village,
Lord Caitanya suddenly began calling out the name,
"Narottama, Narottama."
Tears streamed from the Lord's eyes and He appeared to be restless. After
speaking with Nityananda Prabhu
the Lord expressed His desire to visit Gaderhat on
the bank of the Padma. Mahaprabhu
explained to Nityananda that he wanted to deposit the
treasure of love of Godhead on the bank of the Padma
for Narottama to pick up later. The river Padma then asked the Lord how she would be able to identity
Narottama, and the Lord explained that the person
whose touch would make her surge up would be none other than Narottama.
At
the age of twelve Narottama had a dream in which Nityananda Prabhu appeared to him
and commanded that he collect the prema which was
left in the custody of the river Padma. Early in the
morning Narottama went alone to the river Padma to take his bath. As soon as his feet touched her,
the river surged forth. Remembering the words of Lord Caitanya
the Padma now transferred the treasure to Narottama. Upon receiving this divine love Narottama's bodily complexion changed. His parents tried
every means by which keep him with them, but Narottama
was drunk with the nectar of Lord Caitanya and Nityananda and could not be kept in check. Leaving behind
all worldly bondage Narottama rushed for Vrndavana. Premavilasa 11
explains how Narottama was comforted by the divine
touch of Rupa and Sanatana Gosvami, and how he received the grace of his spiritual
master Lokanatha Gosvami.
After
Narottama was initiated by Lokanatha
Gosvami, he received all instructions regarding the
practice of spiritual life. Narottama was spiritually
named Campakamanjari. With the approval of the local Vaisnavas, Jiva Gosvami deputed Srinivasa, Narottama and Syamananda to carry
the Gosvamis books to the devotees in Gauda. Although they were properly escorted by protected
vehicles and guards, the books were stolen near Vanavisnupur.
Srinivasa then sent Narottama
to Kheturi and Syamananda
to Utkala.
Narottama is widely believed to be the incarnation of Nityananda
Prabhu. Narottama
established his asrama, named Bhajantuli,
about two miles away from the capital of Kheturi.
Sometime after his return from Vrndavana, Narottama installed six Deities; Lord Gauranga,
Vallabhikanta, Lord Krsna,
Lord Vrajamohan, Lord Radhamohan
and Lord Radhakanta. On the occasion of this
installation ceremony Narottama held a grand festival
at Kheturi, which is famous amongst all Vaisnavas.
Narottama was the first exponent of the Garanhati
tradition of kirtana. He arranged this musical
tradition in a way as to accommodate all parsada
(associates) of both prakata and aprakata
lila of Lord Gauranga, which gave immense pleasure to the audience. Narottama Thakura was always
engaged in the singing the glories of Sri Gaura and Nityananda. Through his preaching many fallen souls were
purified. Ramacandra Kaviraja
was a very close companion of Narottama throughout
his life (see Bhaktiratnakara and Narottamavilasa
for details on Narottama's biography). Among the
writings of Narottama, Prarthana
and Premabhakticandrika are the most well-known. The
brief write-up titled 'Hatapaltana' is also
attributed to Narottama but the contents do not seem
to be in harmony with historical events and thus some believe that it is a fake
work. From evidence in older manuscripts Haridasa dasa has concluded that the real author was one Ramesvara dasa. Some argue that Narottama wrote Siddhabhakticandrika,
Sadhyapremabhakti, Camatkara
candrika, etc., but these are not published works and
the few mss. which are available do not seem to be in Narottama's writing style. Narottama
did translate Smaranamangala into Bengali verse. In
eleven slokas this work describes the pastimes of Radha Krsna in eight parts of the
day (astakaliya).
After
taking permission from Narottama, Sri Ramacandra Kaviraja went to Sri Vrndavana, a few months thereafter he breathed his last.
When Srinivasa Acarya heard
this he could not bear the shock and after a few days he too disappeared. When
this news reached Srila Thakura,
he was overwhelmed with grief and began singing in a choked voice. He gathered
all the devotees around him in the
UPDATED: July 26, 2010