By the time Shrinivasa, Narottama, and Shyamananda had finished their training, Vaishnavism had spread widely across Bengal in name and in feeling, but the actual books explaining its philosophy barely existed there. Almost everything Rupa, Sanatana, Gopala Bhatta, Raghunatha Dasa, and Jiva Goswami had written still sat in Vrindavana, mostly in single manuscript copies. Nityananda Prabhu's wife, Jahnava Devi, who had visited Vrindavana herself and seen how much had been produced there, is credited with first suggesting to Jiva Goswami that the books be sent east. Jiva agreed, and gave the job to his three best students.
| Detail | Description |
|---|---|
| Ordered by | Jiva Goswami, at Jahnava Devi's urging |
| Sent | Shrinivasa Acharya, Narottama Dasa Thakura, and Shyamananda Pandit |
| Manuscripts carried | Works of Rupa, Sanatana, Gopala Bhatta, Raghunatha Dasa, and Jiva Goswami |
| Transport | Ox-cart, with armed guards and a royal passport arranged by Jiva Goswami |
| Route | Vrindavana, through Agra, toward Bengal via the Malla kingdom of Vishnupura |
Loading a Cart With the Tradition's Whole Library #
According to the accounts collected on this page, a wealthy merchant disciple of Jiva Goswami from Mathura supplied a large cart, several bullocks, and a body of armed guards for the journey. The precious manuscripts — the originals, in most cases, since printing did not yet exist and no other copies had been made — were packed into a wooden chest, bolted shut, and wrapped in waxed cloth against the weather. Jiva Goswami is even said to have secured a passport from the ruler of Jaipur, since the party would be crossing several different kingdoms on the long road east. Jiva and a number of other Vrindavana devotees walked with the three preachers as far as Agra before turning back, unable to bear a longer separation. From there, Shrinivasa, Narottama, and Shyamananda continued alone.
A Long Road Through Hostile Country #
The journey covered hundreds of miles largely on foot and by cart, through territory that was not always safe for travelers carrying anything of apparent value. Accounts differ on the exact circumstances of what happened next — one version has the party robbed while still short of Bengal, near a village called Gopalapura, before they had even reached the Malla kingdom of Vishnupura; another has them already well inside Vishnupura's borders, believing the dangerous part of the trip behind them, when the theft occurred. What both versions agree on is the essential shape of events: the cart and its priceless cargo were stolen in the night by dacoits working for the local ruler, Vira Hambira, whose kingdom controlled the region now known as Bishnupur in Bankura district, West Bengal.
The Books Are Taken #
Both traditional accounts describe Vira Hambira's men as having been tipped off by court astrologers that an unusually valuable cargo was passing through the kingdom — the astrologers apparently expected gold or jewels rather than palm-leaf manuscripts. However the theft actually happened, the outcome for the three preachers was the same: they woke to find the chest of books gone, and by their own account fell into such despair that they briefly considered taking their own lives rather than return to Vrindavana having lost everything they had been sent to deliver. Shrinivasa made the decision that shaped everything that followed: rather than all three continuing on together, he sent Narottama and Shyamananda ahead to begin their preaching mission in Bengal and Odisha as planned, while he himself stayed behind in Vira Hambira's territory to try to recover the manuscripts.
What Happened Next #
That decision led directly into one of the most celebrated episodes in later Gaudiya Vaishnava history — Shrinivasa's meeting with Vira Hambira himself, and the king's eventual conversion to Vaishnavism. Because that story deserves to be told with its own detail and its own care about which sources say what, it is told in full on this site's dedicated page, The Encounter With Vira Hambira.