Six Goswamis of Vrindavan

The Six Goswamis of Vrindavan were a group of devotional teachers (gurus) from the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism who lived in India during the 15th and 16th centuries. They are closely associated with the land of Vrindavan where they spent much time in service of the Bengali saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who is considered as Krishna’s yuga-avatar by the Gaudiya Vaishnava lineage, who highly regard them for their extreme renunciation of physical comforts and pleasures in the practice of Bhakti Yoga, and for their philosophical presentations of the teachings of their guru, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Vrindavan

As well as producing a prolific amount of writings regarding Vaishnava philosophy and practices, the Six Goswamis also dedicated a significant amount of their time to uncovering many ancient and sacred areas of land in Vrindavan associated with Radha, Krishna and the Gopis. These sections of land are the sites wherein Radha and Krishna performed specific lilas) during the previous yuga in accordance to the events recorded in the Bhagavata Purana. Although having little in the way of financial possessions themselves, the Goswamis inspired the building of a number of large and ornate temples on or around these sites (dedicated to the worship of Radha and Krishna) which play a role in Vrindavan society to this day.

Members

  • The brothers Rupa Goswami and Sanatana Goswami
  • Jiva Goswami (nephew of Rupa and Sanatana).
  • Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami
  • Gopala Bhatta Goswami
  • Raghunatha dasa Goswami The six members of the group were:

See also

  • Gaudiya Mission
  • Gaudiya Math
  • Hare Krishna)
  • International Society for Krishna Consciousness
  • Krishna
  • Nityananda
  • Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

References

  • Six Goswamis of Vrindavan, by Steven Rosen, Folk Books, 1991. ISBN: 0-9619763-2-2
  • Six Goswamis of Vrindavan
  • Six Goswamis - Chronology
  • Sad-goswamy-astaka (“Eight Prayers to the Six Goswamis”) by Srinivasa Acharya - text
  • Sad-goswamy-astaka, sung by Jaya Gurudeva dasa, MP3
  • Sad-goswamy-astaka, mixed choir video clip by Syamasundara dasa