Srila Jiva Goswami Appearance

Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhu (1511-1596) was the nephew of Srila Rupa Goswami, the son of his brother Sri Vallabha (Anupama). In his infancy he had the great fortune of seeing Sri Caitanya and Mahaprabhu placed His lotus feet upon the child's head exclaiming that the boy would grow up to be a great preceptor in the Gaudiya sampradaya.

In his studies the young Jiva excelled in all subjects, especially Sanskrit grammar, poetry and rhetoric.

When he learned that his two uncles had taken to the path of renunciation and that his father had passed away, Sri Jiva journeyed to Navadvipa in order to get the mercy of Lord Nityananda. When he arrived in Navadvipa Lord Nityanananda introduced Jiva to all the associates of Mahaprabhu including Saci-devi and Srivasa Thakura and proceeded to take him on parikrama of Navadvipa-dhama. On the order of Nityananda, Sri Jiva went on to Varanasi to study Vedanta from Madhusudana Vacaspati, a disciple of Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya who had heard from his guru the divine explanations of Srimad Bhagavatam that he had received from Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Jiva mastered the same conclusions and then set out for Vrndavana to join his uncles Sri Rupa and Sri Sanatana.

Sri Jiva took diksa from Srila Rupa Goswami and remained under his shelter and guidance until Rupa Goswami entered into samadhi in 1564. Srila Jiva Goswami was proclaimed as the leader of the Gaudiya Vaisnavas. He established the 'Visva Vaisnava Rajya Sabha' and taught Sanskrit and Gaudiya Vaisnava philosophy to eminent devotees such as Srila Narottama Dasa Thakura, Srila Syamananda Pandita and Srila Srinivasa Acarya. By his vast erudition, he attracted scholars throughout India to study in Vraja. Thus, Vrndavana became the headquarters of the Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradya.

Some of the books that he has written are the Sat-sandarbhas, Harinamarta-vyakharana, Sri Madhava-mahotsava, Brahma-samhita Tika, Goplala-campu, Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu Tika, Ujjvala-nilamani Tika, Laghu-vaisnava Tosani, Srimad Bhagavata Tika, Sarva-samvadina Tika, Gopala-tapani Tika, Gayatri-vyakhya Vivrtti, Padma Puranastha-yogasara-stotra Tika, Radha-Krsna Arcana-candrika, Dhatu-samgraha, Govinda-virudhavali, Sankalpa-kalpadhruma, Bhavarthasucaka-campu and Sri Radha-Krsna karapada.

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