The special intimate relationship that Svarūpa Dāmodara had with the Lord meant that he had deep knowledge of the confidential reason of the Lord’s advent and His mystic ecstasies. Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī writes that Svarūpa Dāmodara is the source of the most confidential knowledge of Lord Caitanya’s avatāra:

I have already indicated that preaching the saṅkīrtana movement was the external cause for the Lord’s descent. There is another—the primary purpose of the Lord’s avatāra. This is the personal work of Kṛṣṇa, the foremost enjoyer of loving exchanges. This very confidential cause is three-fold, as has been revealed by Svarūpa Dāmodara. Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara was extremely close to the Lord and thus was able to know all these matters. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 1.4.102-5)

Swarupa Dāmodara was thus the authority through whom the most confidential pastimes of Mahāprabhu came into devotee society.

Murāri Gupta explained all of the Lord’s early pastimes in the form of an outline. Svarūpa Dāmodara did the same for the Lord’s later pastimes. The devotees describe the Lord’s activities by following the order given in these two outlines. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 1.13.15-17)

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has commented on verse 17 as follows: “Murāri Gupta’s outline of the Lord’s early pastimes are still extant, so devotees were able to expand on the Lord’s pastimes after looking at his written text and by listening Svarūpa Dāmodara’s kaḍacā through Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī.”

Caitanya-līlā is like the finest of jewels. Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara guarded it in his treasure chest and afterwards placed it around Raghunātha Dāsa’s neck. I have written down here what I heard from Raghunātha Dāsa to the extent that I have been able, and now make a gift of it to the devotees. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 2.2.84)

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says the following of this verse: “Svarūpa Dāmodara noted the Lord’s latter pastimes in his kaḍacā (notebook). He made Raghunātha Dāsa memorize these verses, and later Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī spread these accounts of the Lord’s activities throughout the world. Thus, though Svarūpa Dāmodara’s kaḍacā was never published in book form, the Caitanya Caritāmṛta itself is its essence.” (Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya)

Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara used to make Mahāprabhu very happy by singing the songs of Vidyapati, Caṇḍī Dāsa and Gīta-govinda. He was as expert a musician as the Gandharvas, and in the knowledge of scripture, he was just like Bṛhaspati. No personality was his equal. Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara was also very dear to Advaita Ācārya and Nityānanda Prabhu, and he was the life and soul of Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura and other devotees. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 2.10.115-7)

Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī has described the extent to which Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī and Rāmānanda Rāya were dear to Mahāprabhu in the 15th chapter of the Caitanya Caritāmṛta’s Antya-līlā:

After saying these things, the Lord took Svarūpa Dāmodara and Rāmānanda Rāya by the shoulders and said, “Listen, Svarūpa and Rama Rāya! Tell me what I should do, where should I go in order to find Kṛṣṇa? You can tell me the best thing to do.” In this way, Gaurāṅga would tell His tale of woe to Svarūpa and Rāmānanda and they would console Him in His grief. Svarūpa would sing and Rāmānanda would recite Sanskrit verses from Karṇāmṛta, Vidyāpati and Gīta-govinda, giving joy to the Lord. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 3.15.24-7)

A similar passage is found in the 20th chapter of the Caitanya Caritāmṛta’s Antya-līlā:

This was Mahāprabhu’s life in Nīlācala. He went through the days and nights absorbed in the anxiety of separation from Kṛṣṇa. Svarūpa and Rāmānanda were always with Him, bringing Him ecstasy with their recitation of songs and verses appropriate to His mood. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 3.20.3-4)

Vṛndāvana Dāsa Ṭhākura has also named Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī as one of Mahāprabhu’s principal associates in his Caitanya Bhāgavata. He describes there how the Lord would lose external consciousness hearing Svarūpa Dāmodara’s kīrtana. When Śrīla Gadādhara Paṇḍita Gosvāmī was living at the Ṭoṭa Gopīnātha Temple, he would recite Bhāgavata while in an ecstatic trance, while Mahāprabhu, Nityānanda Prabhu, Advaita Ācārya Prabhu, Svarūpa Dāmodara, Vakreśvara Paṇḍita, Murāri Gupta, Gadādhara Dāsa would listen. (Bhakti-ratnākara 8.278-80)

Mahāprabhu heard Gadādhara Paṇḍita Gosvāmī speak on the sections dealing with the lives of Prahlāda and Dhruva from Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. Mahāprabhu would be overcome by the eight ecstatic symptoms on hearing Svarūpa Dāmodara’s kīrtana, just as He would at Gadādhara Paṇḍita’s Bhāgavatam readings.

Gadādhara Paṇḍita was the main expert in the Bhāgavata and Svarūpa Dāmodara in kīrtana. Svarūpa Dāmodara would sing solo and Mahāprabhu would lose Himself in dance. Mahāprabhu would reveal all the symptoms of ecstatic love such as tears, trembling, laughing, fainting, horripilation and roaring, all of which manifested on His transcendental body as He danced with the devotees. Whenever the Lord heard Svarūpa Dāmodara singing the kīrtana aloud, He would lose external consciousness and fall down on the spot. There was no equal to Dāmodara Svarūpa amongst all of the Lord’s sannyāsī associates. Dāmodara Svarūpa was as dear to Him as Paramānanda Purī. Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī was the incarnation of the delight of the transcendental song that would make Mahāprabhu dance. (Caitanya Bhāgavata 3.10.36-43)

We have the following information about Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī in terms of his bodily identity. Before taking sannyāsa, he was known as Puruṣottama Ācārya or Puruṣottama Bhaṭṭācārya. Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Abhidhāna gives the following account of his antecedents: His father’s name was Padmagarbhācārya. His mother’s name is not known, but she was the daughter of Jayarāma Cakravartī. Jayarāma’s original residence was in the village of Bhitadiya on the banks of the Brahmaputra River in Bangladesh, but he and his family moved to Navadvīpa. After arranging for his daughter to be married to Padmagarbhācārya, he made his son-in-law also come to Navadvīpa. After Puruṣottama Ācārya was born, Padmagarbha left his wife and child at his father-in-law’s house and left for Mithila and Kāśī in order to study. Puruṣottama Ācārya was thus raised in his maternal grandparents’ home in Navadvīpa.

Later, when Mahāprabhu took sannyāsa, Puruṣottama was unable to remain in Navadvīpa due to the feelings of separation from the Lord and he departed for Benares where he also took the renounced order of life. This is described as follows in Prema-vilāsa:

Puruṣottama became a resident of Navadvīpa, staying with his mother’s parents. Filled with all virtues, he became Mahāprabhu’s dear devotee. When the Lord took sannyāsa, he went mad with separation and left for Benares where he also took sannyāsa. Svarūpa Dāmodara is the name he received. He was an intimate devotee of the Lord, an ocean of rasa.

Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī gives a brief account of Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī’s early life and sannyāsa in the Caitanya Caritāmṛta (2.10.102-114) when telling of his arrival in Jagannātha Purī:

Svarūpa Dāmodara was a most intimate friend of the Lord and an ocean of transcendental mellows. Before taking sannyāsa, he had resided at Navadvīpa in Mahāprabhu’s association and was known as Puruṣottama Ācārya. When he saw Mahāprabhu accept the renounced order, he became like a madman and immediately went to Benares to take sannyāsa. His sannyāsa guru, Caitanyānanda Bhāratī, ordered him to study the Vedānta and to teach it to others. Svarūpa Dāmodara was a great renunciate as well as a learned scholar. He took shelter of Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes with heart and soul.

In his eagerness to worship Śrī Kṛṣṇa without any disturbance, he accepted the sannyāsa order in a state of devotional madness. When taking sannyāsa, Puruṣottama Ācārya followed the regulative principles by giving up his tuft of hair and sacred thread, but he did not take the saffron-colored dress. Nor did he take a sannyāsī title but rather kept the brahmacārī name Svarūpa.

Svarūpa Dāmodara then took permission from his sannyāsa guru and went to Nīlācala where day and night he enjoyed the ecstasies of love for Kṛṣṇa. Though he had attained the peak of learning, he spoke to no one but remained in seclusion and incognito.

Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura has made the following comments on this section of the Caitanya Caritāmṛta: “In the Daśanāmī sect founded by Śaṅkarācārya, the lineages that take the sannyāsa names of Tīrtha and Āśrama follow the custom of giving postulants to the renounced order the title brahmacārī. Such a postulant is then required to vow to remain celibate for the rest of his life. In Puruṣottama Ācārya’s case, the brahmacārī title was Svarūpa Dāmodara. Brahmacārīs called ‘Svarūpa’ normally receive the sannyāsa title ‘Tīrtha’, upon taking the saffron cloth or yoga-paṭṭa.” (Anubhāṣya to Caitanya Caritāmṛta’s 2.10.102)

“In the Daśanāmī sect, certain regulative principles must be followed before taking sannyāsa: one must perform eight kinds of offering oblations to one’s forefathers, Virajā sacrifice, cutting off the tuft of hair called a śikhā and giving up the sacred thread. Svarūpa Dāmodara accepted these preliminary processes to the acceptance of sannyāsa, but not the gurvāhvāna, or ‘call of the guru’, the saffron cloth, a sannyāsa title or a daṇḍa, and for this reason, he retained his brahmacārī name.” (Anubhāṣya to Caitanya Caritāmṛta’s 2.10.108)

It may be pointed out here that for those who follow the formalities of tridaṇḍa sannyāsa, the keeping of the śikhā, the sacred thread and saffron cloth are approved by the Skanda Purāṇa, which states:

śikhī yajñopavītī syāt tridaṇḍī sa-kamaṇḍaluḥ
sa pavitraś ca kāṣāyī gāyatrīṁ ca japet sadā

Wearing the śikhā, sacred thread and saffron cloth and carrying the kamaṇḍalu (water pot), a tridaṇḍī sannyasi should remain pure in his habits and constantly chant the gāyatrī mantra.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has also commented on the same text in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya: “Puruṣottama Ācārya followed Mahāprabhu’s example and took sannyāsa simply by renouncing his śikhā and sūtra. His sannyāsa name was Svarūpa Dāmodara. He did not accept the formality of the yoga-paṭṭa because he wished to avoid any danger of becoming falsely proud of his status that would come with taking sannyāsa. He only wished to worship Kṛṣṇa without any worries.”

In the Anubhāṣya commentary to Ādi-līlā (4.105) of Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura writes, “Puruṣottama Bhaṭṭācārya was a resident of Navadvīpa. Even prior to Mahāprabhu’s taking sannyāsa, he desired to renounce the world. He left home and went to Benares, where he took up brahmacarya in a group of Daśanāmī sannyāsīs. He was given the name Śrī Dāmodara Svarūpa. He did not bother completing the sannyāsa rituals and came to Nīlācala, where he spent the rest of his life at the Lord’s lotus feet. He became Mahāprabhu’s constant companion, enhancing the Lord’s pleasure by singing the songs requested by the Lord. Svarūpa Dāmodara could understand the deep feelings of Mahāprabhu’s heart and it was by his grace alone that all the Lord’s devotees could know this.”

Mahāprabhu took sannyāsa on the full moon day in the month of Māgha and left for Nīlācala in the following month of Phālguna. After delivering Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, He left for His pilgrimage to South India in the month of Vaiśākha. Nityānanda Prabhu gave Him a brāhmaṇa named Kālā Kṛṣṇadāsa to be His servant and companion on this trip. When Mahāprabhu returned from this journey, after having brought good fortune to the inhabitants of the South through the gift of kṛṣṇa-prema, Nityānanda Prabhu sent Kṛṣṇadāsa back to Navadvīpa to inform the devotees that the Lord had arrived in Purī. The news brought great joy to Śacī Mātā, Advaita Ācārya, Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita and the other devotees. They immediately started making preparations to visit the Lord in Purī.

Paramānanda Purī, who had been staying in Navadvīpa at that time, heard this news from Śacī Mātā and left with a brāhmaṇa named Kamalā-kānta. They were thus the first from Bengal to arrive in Purī to meet the Lord. Not long afterwards, Puruṣottama Ācārya, who had taken sannyāsa from Caitanyananda Bhāratī in Benares and received the name Svarūpa Dāmodara, arrived and joyously entered the Lord’s entourage. When he first saw the Lord, Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī recited the following prayer:

heloddhulita-khedayā viśadayā pronmīlad-āmodayā
śāmyac-chāstra-vivādayā rasa-dayā cittārpitonmādayā
śaśvad-bhakti-vinodayā sa-madayā mādhurya-maryādayā
śrī-caitanya dayā-nidhe tava dayā bhūyād amandodayā

O ocean of mercy, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu! May Your unrestrained and auspicious mercy arise on us driving away all kinds of material lamentation easily, making everything pure and awakening transcendental bliss encasing all material pleasures, ending all quarrels and disagreements among different scriptures, pouring transcendental mellows and maddening the minds, stimulating the joy of devotional service constantly, and revealing the extent of the conjugal mood’s sweetness. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 2.10.119, Caitanya-candrodaya-naṭaka 10.8)

Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī first received the mercy of the Lord in the form of a heartfelt embrace. Then he paid his obeisances to Nityānanda Prabhu and Paramananda Purī and was introduced to Jagadānanda Paṇḍita and the other devotees. He first met Rāya Rāmānanda when the latter came to Purī with King Pratāparudra. At that time Rāya Rāmānanda paid his obeisances to Paramānanda Purī, Brahmānanda Bhāratī, Svarūpa Dāmodara and Śrīmān Nityānanda Prabhu.

In Purī, Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī participated in the water sports in Narendra Sarovara at the time of the Candana-yātrā and in the Indradyumna Sarovara after the cleaning of the Guṇḍicā temple. He and Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi enjoyed splashing each other.

The two friends, Vidyānidhi and Svarūpa Dāmodara, joyously splashed each other and laughed. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 3.8.124)

Lord Jagannātha has an annual festival in Purī named Oḍana Ṣaṣṭhī. On this occasion, Lord Jagannātha’s pūjārīs dress the deity in cloth that still has the tapioca-based starch (māra) in it. Śrī Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi disliked and condemned the pūjārīs for this, as he considered such cloth unclean. He went to Svarūpa Dāmodara and asked him for his opinion on the matter. Svarūpa Dāmodara said to him, “The Lord is completely independent. He is not dependent on the rules regulating deity worship found in the smṛtis.”

Vidyānidhi immediately answered him, “I accept that Jagannātha is completely independent. That does not mean that the pūjārīs are completely independent of the rules and regulations of scripture. They are not Brahman that they dress the Lord in unwashed cloth. Didn’t they know that if they even touch cloth that has māra in it, they are supposed to wash their hands?”

That night Lord Jagannātha and Lord Balarāma appeared to Śrī Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi in a dream and slapped him on his cheeks for having criticized Their servants. By so doing, Lord Jagannātha showed that one is not to criticize His servants for apparent lapses in their behaviour. The materialistic smārtas fall into trouble for criticizing the behaviour of pure devotees. Śrī Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi, though his cheeks were swollen from the slaps, was overjoyed to have been touched by Their Lordships. Svarūpa Dāmodara also congratulated Vidyānidhi for his good fortune:

As he looked Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi over, Svarūpa Dāmodara felt an affection arise for his friend. Indeed, he started to float in an ocean of ecstasy. A friend always feels joy at the good fortune of a friend. The two of them began to laugh spiritedly and Svarūpa Dāmodara said, “Listen, brother. I have never seen or heard of a punishment like this one. The Lord came personally to chastise you in a dream. I never heard of such a thing, but now I see that it has happened to you!” The two friends floated in a feeling of satisfaction. They spent day and night talking about nothing but Kṛṣṇa conscious topics. (Caitanya Bhāgavata 3.10.173-177)

Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī was one of the chief participants in the cleaning of the Guṇḍicā temple on the eve of the Ratha-yātrā. “Other than Nityānanda Prabhu, Advaita, Svarūpa, Brahmānanda Bhāratī and Paramānanda Purī, everyone carried buckets of water.” (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 2.12.109)

During the washing of the Guṇḍicā temple, a simple but intelligent brāhmaṇa who was not aware of the nature of the Vaiṣṇavas’ devotional etiquette, took some water, suddenly poured it over the Lord’s feet and drank it inside the temple. In view of Mahāprabhu’s identity as Supreme Lord Himself, it was certainly no offense to drink the water that had washed His feet even though it was done inside the temple, but here Mahāprabhu acted as an exemplar for the world and showed dissatisfaction at the brāhmaṇa’s behavior so that no one one else might imitate him and become an offender at the Deity’s feet. He let His anger be known to Svarūpa Dāmodara, who chastised the Bengali devotee and pushed him out of the temple. The next instant, however, Svarūpa Dāmodara returned to the Lord’s side and asked Him to forgive the devotee. Though a Vaiṣṇava may externally appear to be hard-hearted, internally he or she is always filled with compassion and thinks of the welfare of every living being.

Every year during Balarāma, Subhadrā and Jagannātha’s Ratha-yātrā festival, the Lord would offer garlands and sandalwood paste to all the devotees with His own hands. He would then organise four kīrtana groups with His devotees. Svarūpa Dāmodara would sing in the first of these, with Advaita participating as the principal dancer. With the addition of other kīrtana groups from Śāntipura, Srikhanda and Kulin, there were seven sampradāyas altogether. In each group, there were two drummers, meaning that there were fourteen altogether. When the kīrtana started in each of the seven groups, Mahāprabhu demonstrated His divine powers by appearing simultaneously in the midst of each one of them. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura writes, “Just as the Lord expands into numerous forms during the rāsa dance and to marry the queens in Dvaraka, Lord Caitanya expanded in order to be present in the midst of each sampradāyas’ kīrtana. The members of each group were convinced that the Lord was in their group alone and in none of the others.”

When Mahāprabhu wished to dance madly, He would have the seven groups come together and would dance in their midst, appointing nine singers and making Svarūpa Dāmodara the principal singer. As the devotees became progressively intoxicated by the kīrtana, Mahāprabhu danced frenziedly for a long time. After this, Mahāprabhu’s mood changed. Svarūpa Dāmodara was able to understand the Lord’s intention and began to sing,

“I have finally found my life’s lord, for whom I had so long burned in the flames of desire.” (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 2.1.55)

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura writes, “As the Lord’s frenzied dancing came to an end, He became absorbed in the mood of Rādhārāṇī at Kurukshetra. This song about meeting the beloved after a long separation manifested naturally.” As He felt the mood of union strengthening, the Lord began to loudly recite the following verse:

yaḥ kaumāraharaḥ sa eva hi varas tā eva caitra-kṣapās
te conmīlita-mālatī-surabhayaḥ prauḍhāḥ kadambānilāḥ
sā caivāsmi tathāpi tatra surata-vyāpāra-līlā-vidhau
revā-rodhasi vetasī-taru-tale cetaḥ samutkaṇṭhate

That very person who had stolen my heart on the banks of River Reva during my youth is now my master. The moonlit nights scented with newly blossomed mālatī flowers are also present. The sweet breeze from the kadamba tree is also flowing. In our intimate relationship, I am also the same lover, yet still, my mind is not happy here. It is very eager to go back to that place on the bank of the Revā under the vetasī tree. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 2.1.58)

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura writes, “This verse was written about a mundane lover and his mistress, but Mahāprabhu recited it with great respectful feeling. No one could understand His hidden intention other than Svarūpa Dāmodara.”

When Rūpa Gosvāmī heard the Lord recite this verse, he himself composed a verse that revealed the deeper meaning that the Lord had envisioned. He wrote it down on a palm leaf and hid it in the roof of his cottage. When Mahāprabhu went to the residence of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, He accidentally saw the palm leaf that was tucked in the roof, and thus He read his verse. After reading it, He went into an ecstatic mood and while He was in that state, Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī came and immediately fell down at His feet like a stick.

The Lord got up and gave him a slap. Then, He embraced him and began to speak as follows: “No one knows the purport of My verse. How could you understand My intention?”

Saying this, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu bestowed various blessings upon Rūpa Gosvāmī, and taking the verse with Him, showed it to Svarūpa Gosvāmī. With great wonder, the Lord asked him how Rūpa Gosvāmī could have understood His mind. Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī replied, “If Rūpa Gosvāmī can understand Your mind, I believe it must be the result of Your special benediction.” (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 2.1.66-72)

This was Rūpa Gosvāmī’s verse:

priyaḥ so ‘yaṁ kṛṣṇaḥ sahacari kurukṣetra-militas
tathāhaṁ sā rādhā tad idam ubhayoḥ saṅgama-sukham
tathāpy antaḥ-khelan-madhura-muralī-pañcama-juṣe
mano me kālindī-pulina-vipināya spṛhayati

O companion! This is My beloved Kṛṣṇa meeting Me here in Kurukshetra; and I am the same Rādhā, and both of Us are feeling the joy of union. Even so, My mind yearns to be in the forest by the banks of the Yamunā where the fifth note of His flute reverberates sweetly within My heart. (Padyāvalī, 383)

Mahāprabhu’s vision was that the Jagannātha Temple was Kurukshetra and the Guṇḍicā Temple Vṛndāvana. He pulled Jagannātha’s chariot in the mood of a gopī, attracting Him back to Vṛndāvana. Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī was able to understand everything that Mahāprabhu experienced during this time.

The Lord had relished these topics in His room with Svarūpa Dāmodara for days and nights. When He was overcome with that mood while dancing before the Lord’s chariot, He would repeat this verse while gazing upon Lord Jagannātha’s face. No one can describe Svarūpa Dāmodara’s good fortune, for he was completely absorbed, body, mind and soul, in the Lord. The Lord’s senses would become identical with his senses and thus He would deeply relish his singing. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 2.13.161-4)

Jagannātha Deva lives in Dvaraka, but once every year He desires to go to Vṛndāvana. The Ratha-yātrā festival, when He travels from the Jagannātha Temple (Dvaraka) to Guṇḍicā (Vṛndāvana), symbolizes this desire. Lord Jagannātha does not take Lakṣmī Devī with Him to Vṛndāvana because Lakṣmī Devī is not qualified to participate in the Vṛndāvana-līlā. Only the gopīs have such qualification, and Rādhā is the best of the gopīs. Svarūpa Dāmodara explained these things:

“Lakṣmī does not have the right to participate in the pastimes of Vṛndāvana. Kṛṣṇa’s companions in the Vṛndāvana-līlā are the gopīs, and there are none but they who can enchant His mind.” (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 2.14.122-3)

Rādhā is the best among the gopīs. She is a treasure chest of jewels of love in the bright and spotless sentiment of conjugal love. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 2.14.160)

Lord Jagannātha mounted His chariot after telling Lakṣmī Devī that He would be back the very next day. When Lakṣmī Devī saw that the Lord was late in returning, she became angry, and gathering up her forces, sallied forth to attack her beloved. Her servants captured the servants of Lord Jagannātha and brought them to her. Such lovers’ quarrels are not heard of anywhere in the world. Nevertheless, the māna (loving jealousy) of the gopīs is superior to that of Lakṣmī Devī, and of all the gopīs, that of Rādhā is the purest. When Mahāprabhu wished to hear about the gopīs’ māna from Svarūpa Dāmodara, he gave Him great satisfaction by answering in great detail. He was always able to please the Lord in every aspect because he knew His wishes so intimately.

Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī had a close friendship with the lame Bhagavān Ācārya of Halisahar.

Bhagavān Ācārya was a great devotee and a scholar—a man of refined habits. He came to Puruṣottama to be with the Lord. He was an incarnation of a cowherd who served Kṛṣṇa in the mood of friendship. His dealings with Svarūpa Dāmodara were also those of a close friend. He was completely surrendered to the Lord’s lotus feet, and he occasionally invited Him to eat at his residence. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 3.2.84-6)

Bhagavān Ācārya was a generous and unpretentious Vaiṣṇava. Even so, his father Śatānanda Khān was a very materialistic person and his younger brother Gopāla Bhaṭṭācārya a māyāvādī. When Gopāla Bhaṭṭācārya came to Purī, the simple, straightforward Bhagavān Ācārya asked Svarūpa Dāmodara to listen to his brother speak on Vedānta-bhāṣya: “Gopāla has come here after finishing his study of Vedānta philosophy. Come, everyone, and hear him speak on the Vedānta.”

Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, however, somewhat angry, answered as follows: “You have lost your intelligence in the association of Gopāla, and now you are eager to hear the māyāvāda philosophy. When a Vaiṣṇava listens to the Śārīraka-bhāṣya (the māyāvāda commentary upon Vedānta-sūtra), he gives up the conviction that the Lord is the master and the living entity His servant. Instead, he considers himself to be the Supreme Lord. The māyāvāda philosophy is so dangerous that even a highly elevated devotee who has accepted Kṛṣṇa as his life and soul changes his attitude when he reads or hears it.”

Bhagavān Ācārya continued, “We are all fixed at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa with our hearts and souls. So the Śārīraka-bhāṣya cannot change our minds.”

Svarūpa Dāmodara replied, “Maybe so, but when we hear the māyāvāda philosophy, we hear that Brahman is the only spiritual reality and that the universe of māyā is false; from this we gain no real spiritual understanding. When a devotee hears the māyāvādī say that the living entity is only imaginary and that the Supreme Lord is a manifestation of ignorance, it breaks his heart.” (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 3.2.92-99)

Śvarūpa Dāmodara was the personification of ecstatic love, fully cognizant of the transcendental mellows in relationship with Kṛṣṇa. He was like a second manifestation of Mahāprabhu. If someone wrote a book or composed verses and songs and wanted to recite them before Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Svarūpa Dāmodara would have to first examine them before the Lord listened. Mahāprabhu was never pleased to hear books or verses opposed to siddhānta, nor did he like hearing rasābhāsa, an improper mixture of devotional sentiments. It was the practice of Svarūpa Dāmodara to examine all writings to find out whether their conclusions were correct. Only then would he allow the Lord to hear them. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 2.10.110-114)

One day a brāhmaṇa, a “so-called poet”, came from Bengal. He had written a play and had read it to Bhagavāna Ācārya, who then asked Svarūpa Dāmodara to give his opinion on it. If Svarūpa Dāmodara approved, then it could be presented to Mahāprabhu. Many of the other Vaiṣṇavas had praised the play’s literary qualities and so after repeated requests from his friend, Svarūpa Dāmodara finally agreed to hear it. But Svarūpa Dāmodara only had to hear the invocation verse to point out numerous faults in it, demonstrating how it contradicted Vaiṣṇava conclusions. All the Vaiṣṇavas were struck with wonder. When he saw the poet’s distress at being criticized, however, Svarūpa Dāmodara became compassionate and said:

Go and study the Bhāgavata from a Vaiṣṇava. Take exclusive shelter of Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s lotus feet. Always associate with Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s devotees. If you do all this, you will be able to plunge into the ocean of His divine teachings. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 3.5.131-2)

It was in Bhagavān Ācārya’s house that Choṭa Haridāsa came to beg for fine rice from Mādhavī Devī and engaged in conversation with her. As a result of his conversing with a woman, Mahāprabhu ostracized Choṭa Haridāsa, which lead him to undertake a fast. The Lord was as hard as a thunderbolt towards Haridāsa, and Svarūpa Dāmodara attempted to intercede, persuading Haridāsa to eat. However, Mahāprabhu remained untouched by Svarūpa Dāmodara’s efforts and a year later, Haridāsa went to Prayāga and gave up his life.

When Sanātana Gosvāmī came alone to Purī from Mathura, he caught scabies in the Jharikhand jungle. In Purī, he stayed in Haridāsa Ṭhākura’s cottage where Mahāprabhu came to seem him daily, embracing him despite the pus-filled sores that covered his body. Ashamed of his condition, Sanātana Gosvāmī decided to commit suicide but was prevented from doing so by the all-knowing Lord. During his stay in Purī, Sanātana Gosvāmī was introduced to all the devotees of the Lord including Svarūpa Dāmodara.

Govardhana Majumadāra’s son, Raghunātha Dāsa, left his home and tricked his guru and family priest Yadunandana Ācārya. He walked to Purī in only twelve days where he met Mahāprabhu. Mahāprabhu was extremely merciful to Raghunātha Dāsa and turned him over to Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī for tutelage. From that day on he was known as Svarūpa’s Raghu.

When he saw Raghunātha’s thin and dirty body, the Lord felt sympathy for him. He turned to Svarūpa Dāmodara and said, “I am turning this Raghunātha over to you. I want you to take care of him as though he were your own son and personal servant. I now have three Raghunāthas in my entourage, so henceforth we will call this one Svarūpa’s Raghu.” After He had said these words, the Lord took Raghunātha’s hand and placed it in that of Svarūpa Dāmodara.” (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 3.7.201-4)

Raghunātha Dāsa never spoke directly to Mahāprabhu. If he wished to make a submission to the Lord, he made it through either Svarūpa Dāmodara or Govinda. He told Svarūpa Dāmodara repeatedly that he wished to hear some instructions directly from Mahāprabhu. After Svarūpa passed this request on to the Lord, Mahāprabhu smiled and told Raghunātha Dāsa, “I have appointed Svarūpa Dāmodara to be your instructor. You may learn from him about the spiritual practices and their goal. I Myself do not know as much as he. Nevertheless, if you have faith in My orders, you may fix your direction from the following words: Do not listen to gossip nor engage in gossip yourself. You should not eat very palatable food, nor should you dress very nicely. Always chant the Holy Name of Lord Kṛṣṇa without any expectation of honour and offering all respect to others. Mentally render service to Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana. I have briefly given you My instructions, you will learn about them in detail from Svarūpa Dāmodara.” (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 3.6.233-8)

On the day of Haridāsa Ṭhākura’s disappearance, the Lord initiated saṅkīrtana. The devotees surrounded Haridāsa Ṭhākura’s body and Svarūpa Dāmodara sang the Holy Names with the devotees while Vakreśvara Paṇḍita danced. Svarūpa Dāmodara then went to the Jagannātha Temple to seek prasāda for the feast that followed the samādhi and he joined Jagadānanda Paṇḍita and others to serve the devotees.

Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī, the son of Tapana Miśra, left his home in Benares to come to Purī via Bengal. When he met Mahāprabhu, the Lord embraced him and introduced him to Svarūpa Dāmodara and the other devotees.

At one time, Mahāprabhu went through a period of intense austerity. Constantly crying the Names of Kṛṣṇa, due to His feelings of separation, He became leaner day after day. He began sleeping on a bed of plantain bark, taking no notice of the pain that resulted when His bones rubbed against the bark. The devotees, however, were greatly distressed to see His state. Jagadānanda Paṇḍita, in particular, was affected. He obtained some fine cloth and dyed it saffron, and then filled it with cotton from the silk cotton tree. In this way he made both a mattress and a pillow for the Lord’s comfort. Jagadānanda Paṇḍita then asked Govinda Dāsa to give the mattress and pillow to the Lord and Svarūpa Dāmodara to convince Him to use them. The Lord saw the nice bed and asked Govinda Dāsa angrily, “Who has made this bed?” When He heard from Govinda that Jagadānanda Paṇḍita had given it, He hesitated because Jagadānanda Paṇḍita was an incarnation of Satyabhāmā, who had quarrelsome nature. Even so, He had Govinda remove the bedding and went to sleep on the plantain bark bed. When Svarūpa Dāmodara reminded the Lord that Jagadānanda Paṇḍita would be distressed if He did not use his bedding, He answered, “A mattress and pillow? Why don’t you just go and get Me a bed? A sannyāsī is supposed to sleep on the ground. Jagadānanda wants Me to become a sense enjoyer. This is shameful.”

Jagadānanda Paṇḍita was indeed upset when he heard from Svarūpa Dāmodara that Mahāprabhu had refused the bedding. Svarūpa Dāmodara cleverly made a mattress and pillow out of dried banana leaves torn into small pieces and stuffed into pieces of the Lord’s used clothes. Despite His reluctance, the Lord accepted this new bedding. This satisfied all the devotees with the exception of Jagadānanda Paṇḍita, who asked the Lord permission to leave for Vṛndāvana. Mahāprabhu said, “Jagadānanda is angry with Me, that is why he wants to go to Vṛndāvana.” This story gives a brilliant example of Svarūpa Dāmodara’s expertise in serving the Lord.

As Mahāprabhu’s feelings of separation intensified to the point of seeming insanity, He was kept at night in the Gambhīrā, behind three locked doors. One day, Svarūpa Dāmodara and Govinda noticed that even though the doors were still bolted, Mahāprabhu was missing. In great anxiety, the two of them started to look for the Lord everywhere. Finally, they found Him near the Lion’s Gate of the Jagannātha temple, lying unconscious on the ground with all His joints loosened, His entire form lengthened. Svarūpa Dāmodara along with the other devotees started to sing the Names of Kṛṣṇa into the Lord’s ear loudly until suddenly He jumped up, His transcendental body returning to its normal condition, and shouted, “Haribol!” When the Lord resumed normal consciousness, Svarūpa Dāmodara led Him back to the Gambhīrā.

One day, the Lord saw the sand dunes and took them to be Govardhana. He ran towards them, while Svarūpa Dāmodara and Jagadānanda Paṇḍita ran behind Him. His body was overwhelmed by ecstatic transformations and He fell to the ground in a faint. When the devotees saw the Lord in this state, they began to cry. He partially regained consciousness when the devotees started to chant the Holy Name aloud. In this state, the Lord explained, “I was at Govardhana. I saw Kṛṣṇa herding the cows and playing the flute. When they heard the flute, the gopīs came running toward Him. Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī was there and Kṛṣṇa took Her into a grotto. Then suddenly you all started to call Me back here. Why did you do that? Just to bring Me pain?” The Lord began to cry and the devotees, affected by His great distress at losing His vision, joined Him in shedding tears.

A few days later, when Mahāprabhu was in the Gambhīrā in a state of divyonmāda, the divine madness of separation, Svarūpa Dāmodara and Rāmānanda Rāya stayed up until the middle of the night with the Lord relishing discussions of Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes. Finally, after a great deal of effort, they managed to persuade the Lord to lie down and take some rest, after which they all returned to their own quarters. Govinda also slept in the Gambhīrā. As He chanted the Names of Kṛṣṇa, Mahāprabhu suddenly heard the sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute and in the ecstasy that overcame Him, He ran out of the Gambhīrā, even though there were three doors bolted from the outside. This time He fell down amongst a herd of Tailangī cows to the south of the Lion Gate. When Govinda heard no answer from the Lord, despite calling for Him, he informed Svarūpa Dāmodara of the situation.

Svarūpa Dāmodara organized a search party of devotees with torches until finally, they found the Lord lying unconscious in the midst of the cows. This time, His limbs were retracted into His body giving it the appearance of a tortoise; His mouth was covered with foam, there were eruptions on His body and His eyes were filled with tears. He looked like a pumpkin, without any limbs. Externally He appeared to be suffering as though poisoned, internally He was experiencing divine ecstasies. The cows had surrounded the Lord and were sniffing His body, and even when the devotees drove them away, they would come back, attracted by the Lord. After many attempts to arouse the Lord, when the devotees failed to bring Him back to consciousness, they picked Him up and carried Him to the Gambhīrā. There they started loudly singing the Holy Names in kīrtana. This continued for some time until finally the Lord returned to an external state of consciousness and His body also took on its normal appearance.

Remaining in a trance-like state, Mahāprabhu asked Svarūpa Dāmodara, “Where have you brought Me? I had heard the sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute and I went to Vṛndāvana. I saw Kṛṣṇa with the cattle, playing His flute. Rādhārāṇī understood His signal and came to the trysting bower. I followed them there and felt ecstasy when hearing the sound of her tinkling ornaments and also the voices, laughter and jocular words of the gopīs. You forced Me to come back here and I can no longer hear their humorous conversations, nor the sound of their ornaments and flute.”

Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī recognized the Lord’s state and sang a verse from the Bhāgavata in his sweet voice:

kā stry-aṅga te kala-padāyata-veṇu-gīta-
sammohitārya-caritān na calet trilokyām
trailokya-saubhagam idaṁ ca nirīkṣya rūpaṁ
yad go-dvija-druma-mṛgāḥ pulakāny abibhran

Dear Kṛṣṇa! What woman within these three worlds would not be captivated by the sweet rhythms of Your wonderful flute-song? What woman would not abandon her vows of chastity as a result? Upon beholding Your beauty, the most sublime in this universe, even cows, birds, trees and animals horripilate in jubilation. (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.29.40)

As soon as the Lord heard this verse, He once again merged into the mood of the gopīs and began to sing all the statements the gopīs made in separation from Kṛṣṇa, known as citra-jalpa.

Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī has described another extraordinary event of this type. Once, during a full-moon night in autumn, the Lord accompanied by His devotees, wandered through the Āi Ṭoṭā garden next to the Guṇḍicā Temple, relishing songs about the rāsa-līlā. As they approached the seashore, Mahāprabhu took the sea to be the Yamunā River and jumped in. His body floated toward Koṇārka until a fisherman caught Him in his nets, thinking Him to be a large fish. When he dragged the Lord on board, he saw that all His limbs were distended, transformed into a giant human form. Upon touching Him, the fisherman was immediately infused with prema and started crying and calling the Name of Kṛṣṇa.

Meanwhile, Svarūpa Dāmodara and the other devotees were desperately seeking the Lord. Finally, they saw the fisherman standing on the shore with the Lord on His shoulders. When Svarūpa Dāmodara saw the fisherman in a state of ecstatic transformation, he came and explained who Mahāprabhu was, but still had to slap him several times before he calmed down. Then the devotees began to sing the Holy Names aloud until the Lord jumped up with a roar. Once again, while in a state of half-absorption in trance, Mahāprabhu recounted everything that He had experienced. Mahāprabhu had been in the world of Kṛṣṇa’s rāsa-līlā and water sports. When they heard all His ecstatic utterances, the devotees trembled in awareness of the Lord’s divine loving madness. Then they led Him back to the Gambhīrā.

When Advaita Ācārya sent the riddle message back from Bengal with Jagadānanda Paṇḍita, indicating that the Lord’s pastimes would soon come to an end, Svarūpa Dāmodara became distracted, while the Lord’s divine madness became more and more intense. In His instructions to Svarūpa Dāmodara and Rāmānanda Rāya, the Lord made it very clear that harināma saṅkīrtana is the supreme method for attaining love for Kṛṣṇa.

The Lord, in a wave of jubilation, said, “Listen, Svarūpa Dāmodara and Rāmānanda Rāya! In the age of Kali, harināma saṅkīrtana is the supreme means of deliverance. In the age of Kali, one who worships Kṛṣṇa by the congregational chanting of His Holy Names is most intelligent and thus attains the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. Through the chanting of the Holy Name, all of one’s sinful reactions are extinguished and all auspiciousness arises until finally, one experiences the joys of love for Kṛṣṇa.” (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 3.20.8, 9, 11)

After saying this, the Lord recited His own eight verses known as the Śikṣāṣṭaka. As He relished them, He felt more and more humble in feelings of separation from Kṛṣṇa. Taking on the mood of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, He became totally absorbed in love for Kṛṣṇa.

Svarūpa Dāmodara and Rāmānanda Rāya remained constantly by the Lord’s side throughout His ecstasies in divyonmāda, calming Him and enriching His feelings of love. Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī left the world on the day of Lord Jagannātha’s Ratha-yātrā.