Subuddi Rāya was born in a brāhmaṇa family and was well known for his scholarship. His place of birth and parentage are not known. His life is memorable because he received Mahāprabhu’s association and special blessings. In the first part of his life, he briefly took the position as the king of Gauḍa-deśa¹.

Formerly when Subuddhi Rāya was a big landowner of Gauḍa, Hussain Khān Sayyid worked for him. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta)

Subuddhi Rāya put Hussain Khān in charge of digging a big pond, but when Hussain made some mistakes, he had him whipped as a punishment. By the twists and turns of fate, Hussain Khān (Hussain Shah) himself became king of Gauḍa. Nevertheless, even after becoming king, he continued to treat Subuddhi Rāya with a great deal of respect because of the help he had received from him in the past. The Shah never resented the flogging he had received from Subuddhi Rāya, but even so, the scars remained on his body.

One day Hussain Shah’s queen saw them and asked where they had come from. When the king told his wife the story, she became angry and urged her husband to punish Subuddhi Rāya by putting him to death. Hussain Shah refused to go to such extremes, and so his wife suggested that he punish him by bringing about his caste destitution. The king refused to do this because he knew that doing so would be tantamount to killing him. His wife insisted, however, even threatening to kill herself if he did not do something. Finally, the Shah was obliged and he gave Subuddhi Rāya water to drink, which according to the Hindu rules of the time meant that he lost his caste status.

Even prior to these events Subuddhi Rāya had become completely detached from material life. He took this opportunity to leave his home and family and to live in Benares. There he inquired from the smārta brāhmaṇas how to go about atoning for the loss of caste status. They told him that he should commit suicide by drinking boiling ghee. In the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Abhidhāna, it is said that it was common to be told to atone by jumping into a fire of chaff, a fire that is not easily extinguished. Others, however, objected saying that such a heavy punishment did not fit the minor nature of the offence. This difference of opinion amongst the brāhmaṇas made Subuddhi Rāya sceptical.

Sometime later, when Mahāprabhu came to Benares, Subuddhi Rāya came to see Him and recounted the whole story from beginning to end. The Lord recommended that he go to Vṛndāvana and chant the Names of Kṛṣṇa. The Lord said, “Leave this place and go to Vṛndāvana. Chant the Holy Names of Kṛṣṇa constantly. The mere glow of the Holy Name will destroy all sins you may have committed. And if you go on chanting, you will attain Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet. Chanting of the Holy Name is the highest atonement. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 2.25.191-3)

On the Lord’s order, Subuddhi Rāya set off for Vṛndāvana, stopping in Prayāga, Ayodhya and Naimisharanya, where he stayed for some time. When he finally arrived in Mathura, he learned that the Lord had already left for Prayāga and that he had missed Him. In distress and separation, Subuddhi Rāya took up a life of intense renunciation. He made his living by gathering dry wood from the jungle and selling it in Mathura. He subsisted on the little money that he made from this work, eating only dried chick-peas to maintain his body. Even so, he was able to put some money aside, which he used for serving the Bengali Vaiṣṇavas, feeding them rice and yoghurt.

Subuddhi Rāya gathered dry wood and sold it in Mathura, receiving five or six paisa (one rupee = 100 paisa) for each load. By eating dried chickpeas, he spent only one paisa for food. The rest of the money was kept with a businessman. Whenever he saw Vaiṣṇavas in distress, he would feed them and when Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas arrived in town, he would provide them with rice, yoghurt and massage oil. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 2.25.197-9)

Rūpa Gosvāmī was extremely happy when he saw Subuddhi Rāya’s renunciation and service to the Vaiṣṇavas. Rūpa Gosvāmī took Subuddhi Rāya with him to visit all the holy sites in Vraja-maṇḍala (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 2.25.200). It is clear from this that service to the Vaiṣṇavas is not restricted to the very rich. Even a poor person will find the means to serve Viṣṇu and the Vaiṣṇavas if he has a sincere desire to do so. By the will of the Lord, he will never have any shortage of means to do so. This is the example set by Subuddhi Rāya’s holy life.

When Sanātana Gosvāmī walked from Benares to Mathura, he took the main road from Prayāga. The Lord took the road by the banks of the Ganges when He left Vṛndāvana. In the meantime, Rūpa Gosvāmī and Anupama had taken the same road as the Lord from Prayāga. When Sanātana Gosvāmī arrived in Mathura, he learned from Subuddhi Rāya that he had missed all the three–Mahāprabhu, Rūpa Gosvāmī and Anupama, which distressed him. Subuddhi Rāya showed a great deal of affection for Sanātana Gosvāmī, as he had known him in his previous life as a government minister. Subuddhi Rāya wanted to serve him, but Sanātana Gosvāmī was too humble to accept his service.

Subuddhi Rāya spent the rest of his life in Vṛndāvana in the company of the Gosvāmīs following the order of the Lord by chanting the Holy Names with great faith and living a life of great renunciation. The date of his disappearance is unknown.

---

¹ - According to Āśutoṣa Deva’s Bengali dictionary, Gauḍa was the name of the ancient capital of Bengal in Malda district, from which the entire Bengali kingdom took its name. On the other hand, in Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Abhidhāna it is written that, according to the Skanda-purāṇa, there were five Gauḍas, by which were meant the kingdoms of Sarasvata, Kanyakubja (Kanauj), Utkala (Odisha), Maithila and Bengal, but that the name was primarily used for the region lying between East Bengal (Baṅga) and Mithila. Vijaya Sena of Karnataka became the king of Gauḍa and his descendants were known as gauḍeśvara. Vijaya Sena’s son Ballala Sena established the city of Gauḍa on the banks of the Ganges. The course of the Ganges has since moved. At one time, all Western Bengalis were known as Gauḍīyas, but the name has become synonymous with Vaiṣṇavas who follow Caitanya Mahāprabhu.