For the rest of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's manifest life at Jagannatha Puri, Ramananda Raya belonged to a very small circle. Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita gives it an exact, almost startling size. It speaks of three and a half people, in the entire world, whom Mahaprabhu accepted as truly confidential associates of Srimati Radharani Herself. The three were Svarupa Damodara Goswami, Ramananda Raya and Shikhi Mahiti. The half was Shikhi Mahiti's own sister. Everything else recorded about Ramananda Raya's Puri years should be understood with this in mind. He was not just one devoted follower among many. He was one of the small handful of people whom the tradition considers to have stood permanently at the very center of Mahaprabhu's private devotional life.
A Friend Like Subala #
Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita uses a specific comparison to describe what Ramananda Raya actually did for Mahaprabhu day to day. Subala, one of Krishna's cowherd friends in Vrindavana, once helped Krishna Himself through His own moods of separation from Radha. Ramananda Raya gave that same kind of help to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Whenever Mahaprabhu's longing for Krishna grew too intense to bear quietly, Ramananda Raya and Svarupa Damodara sang and recited to Him long into the night. They used Ramananda's own compositions, the poetry of Chandidasa and Vidyapati, verses from Bilvamangala Thakura's Krishna-karnamrita and Jayadeva Goswami's Gita Govinda, and lines from his own Jagannatha-vallabha-nataka. Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami states outright that at some of these times only Ramananda's words about Krishna and Svarupa Damodara's songs sustained the Lord.
Training the Temple Dancers #
One pastime from these years still troubles readers who come across it for the first time. Ramananda Raya personally trained young devadasis, temple dancers dedicated to Lord Jagannatha's service. He taught them the emotional and rhythmic art of acting out his own dramas, which are full of rasa. In doing so, he bathed, massaged and dressed them with his own hands, every single day. Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita does not soften this or try to explain it away. It simply states that no small-minded person could hope to understand what was in Ramananda Raya's mind while he did it. Mahaprabhu Himself is recorded as saying that even He, a sannyasi under vows, sometimes felt His own mind disturbed by the mere sight of a woman's form. But, He said, Ramananda Raya was greater than He in this respect, for Ramananda remained entirely undisturbed even while touching one directly. The tradition is equally clear about the other side of that statement. This was a special right that belonged to Ramananda Raya alone, granted for reasons particular to his own position. It is not a standard for anyone else to imitate.
Pradyumna Mishra Comes to Hear About Krishna #
Not every glimpse of Ramananda Raya's service in Puri is this dramatic. When the devotee Pradyumna Mishra came to his home hoping to hear about Krishna directly from him, Ramananda Raya's servant first had to explain that his master was busy. He was busy with exactly the kind of daily service just described. When Ramananda Raya came, he received him humbly and asked how he could serve him. But Pradyumna Mishra only said that he had come to see him, and after a while he left. Later, when Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu sent him back, Ramananda Raya was filled with joy. He said it was his great fortune that Pradyumna Mishra had come on the Lord's instruction to hear about Krishna, and he spoke about Krishna at length. Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami's own comment on the exchange is direct. He says that Ramananda Raya's talks cannot properly be described in ordinary language, because he is not an ordinary man. His very words are absorbed in devotional service. They are spoken as an instrument of the Lord's own will, not as opinions of his own.
A Mine of Devotional Mellows #
Elsewhere, Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita has Mahaprabhu describe Ramananda Raya to another visiting scholar in very clear words. Ramananda Raya, He says, is "the ultimate knower of the transcendental mellows of Krishna's devotional service," the very person who taught Mahaprabhu that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He also says that Ramananda's influence "cannot be described." It was only by Ramananda Raya's mercy, Mahaprabhu says, that He came to understand the unalloyed love of the residents of Vrindavana. Coming from Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Himself, this is about the highest statement of spiritual authority that the tradition records for anyone. Who is Ramananda Raya really, beneath the governor's robes and the years of quiet Puri service? What does the tradition believe lies behind that authority? That is the subject of His Identity in Krishna-Lila.
