Back in Varanasi, Raghunatha did exactly as he had been told. He served his aging father and mother for the rest of their lives (by one account, roughly four more years). In that time he also carried out the Lord's other instruction. He studied Srimad-Bhagavatam under a genuine Vaishnava, not a professional reciter. Only after both his parents had passed away did he return to Jagannatha Puri to be with Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu once more.
| Detail | Description |
|---|---|
| Between the two Puri visits | Served his aged, devotee parents at Varanasi until their passing |
| Length of second stay at Puri | Eight months |
| Gifts from Mahaprabhu | A tulasi garland worn by Lord Jagannatha (traditionally described as fourteen cubits long) and unspiced betel nut (pan) offered to Jagannatha |
| Final instruction | Go to Vrindavana; live under the care of Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami |
| How Raghunatha treated the gifts | Preserved them as worshipable, bound together and worn close to his heart |
A Second Eight Months #
As before, Raghunatha remained continuously at Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's side for eight months, and as before the Lord eventually gave him an order that would move him again. This time there was no talk of going home. "My dear Raghunatha," Mahaprabhu said, "on My order go to Vrindavana and live there under the care of Rupa and Sanatana Gosvamis." It was, in effect, a graduation: Raghunatha had proven himself through two long stays at Puri, through years of quiet service to his parents, and through serious study of the Bhagavatam. Now he was being sent to the source.
A Garland Fourteen Cubits Long #
Before Raghunatha departed, Mahaprabhu gave him two treasures He had personally kept. One was unspiced betel that had been offered to the Jagannatha Deity. The other was a tulasi garland that Lord Jagannatha Himself had worn, by tradition some fourteen cubits in length. Chaitanya-charitamrita says Raghunatha accepted these as his own worshipable object and took the greatest care to preserve them. He bound the garland and the prasadam together and wore them close to his body whenever he was absorbed in remembering Krishna. Embracing him one last time, Mahaprabhu enlivened him with ecstatic love before letting him go.
This gift was not a small thing. Every other instruction Mahaprabhu had given Raghunatha up to this point was about discipline: celibacy, service to his parents, and careful study under a genuine Vaishnava. This final gift was different. It was a physical object, touched by Krishna's own Deity form. Mahaprabhu handed it over at the exact moment when Raghunatha was being sent away from the Lord's personal company for good. It gave him something to carry into a life that would otherwise be mostly separation. Chaitanya-charitamrita says that he treated it as his worshipable Deity. This language suggests that Raghunatha understood the gift in just this way.
Arriving Where the Goswamis Had Already Begun #
Taking leave of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the devotees gathered around Svarupa Damodara Gosvami, Raghunatha Bhatta set out for Vrindavana. On arriving, he placed himself under the direct care of Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami. By the time he reached them, the two brothers had already spent years there doing the work Mahaprabhu had given them. They were recovering Krishna's lost pastime-places and giving Gaudiya theology its first orderly foundation in scripture. Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita also names two more Goswamis in the Vrindavana circle that Raghunatha now joined: Gopala Bhatta Gosvami and Lokanatha dasa Gosvami. It also names a fellow disciple, Raghunatha Dasa Goswami, who would one day become his close companion. The two are often named together as the two Raghunathas, but they were not related, either by family or as guru and disciple. Raghunatha Dasa Goswami arrived at Vrindavana separately and, like Raghunatha Bhatta, settled beside Radha-kunda.
At Vrindavana, Raghunatha was given a service that was simple to describe. Every day he recited Srimad-Bhagavatam for Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami to hear. This service could not be separated from who he was. What that recitation actually sounded like, and why it became the single thing Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami is remembered for above everything else, is told in The Voice That Recited Srimad-Bhagavatam.
