Srila Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami, a great devotee of Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu, was born in A.D. 1505. He was the son of Sri Tapana Misra, with
whom Lord Caitanya stayed during a visit to Benares. Raghunatha Bhatta, then a
child, served Lord Caitanya and became extremely attached to Him. When the Lord
was about to leave for Jagannatha Puri, Raghunatha cried in ecstasy. To console
Raghunatha, Lord Caitanya told him, "You must serve your father and mother
for now. Later you can come to see Me in Puri."
Raghunatha became expert in Sanskrit grammar, rhetoric, and poetry and
highly learned in the Vedic scriptures. When his parents became elderly, they
sent him to Puri to see Lord Caitanya. Raghunatha spent eight months serving
the Lord at Puri. Before Raghunatha left, the Lord Caitanya told Raghunatha to
never marry and to carefully study the revealed scriptures. “Study Srimad
Bhagavatam and chant the names of Krishna continuously. The Supreme Lord
Krishna will very soon bestow his mercy upon you.” After saying this, the Lord
embraced Raghunath who was enlivened with ecstatic love for Krishna by his
mercy. At a feast, the Lord had been given some unspiced betel and a ten-foot
garland of tulasi leaves long which had been worn by Lord Jagannath. He gave
the garland and betel to Raghunath Bhatta, who accepted them as his worshipable
deity, taking care to preserve them. Then Raghunath took the Lord’s permission
and departed for Vrindavan.
In Vrndavana, Raghunatha took shelter of Srila Rupa Gosvami and Srila Sanatana
Gosvami. He was always absorbed in the ecstasy of love for Radha-Krsna, and was
famous for his beautiful recitation of the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Raghunath had a
beautiful singing voice. Whenever he recited the Bhagavat before Rupa and
Sanatan, Raghunath Bhatta would be overwhelmed with ecstatic love for Krishna.
By Mahaprabhu’s mercy, he experienced the symptoms of ecstatic love--tears,
trembling, and faltering of the voice. His eyes filled with tears, his throat
became choked, and thus he would have to stop his recital. His voice was as
sweet as a cuckoo's, and he would recite each verse of the Bhagavat in three or
four tunes. Whenever he recited or heard about Krishna’s beauty and sweetness,
he would be overwhelmed with ecstatic love and become oblivious to the world
around him.
Raghunath Bhatta surrendered himself to Govinda’s lotus feet and those
lotus feet were the only thing which gave his life meaning. In time, Raghunath
Bhatta ordered his disciples to construct a temple for Govinda. He himself made
various ornaments for the deity, including a flute and dolphin-shaped earrings.
Raghunath Bhatta would never speak or listen to gossip. He would simply
discuss Krishna and worship the Lord day and night. He would not listen to
criticism of a Vaishnava’s misbehavior. He knew only that everyone was engaged
in Krishna's service. When Raghunath Bhatta Goswami was absorbed in remembrance
of Lord Krishna, he would take the prasadi tulasi garland and the neckbeads
given to him by the Lord, wearing them aroudn his neck.
