The glorious service of Sri Raghunath Pandit in Varaha Nagar.
The following is an excerpt from an article about Sri Bhagavat Acharya by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur published in 1898 in Volume 9, Issue 12, of Sri Sajjana-tosani.
When the associates of Krsna and Gaura are examined, it is understood that Sri Radhika’s sakhi Syama Manjari appeared in the Pastimes of Sri Gaura as Sri Bhagavat Acharya. In the Pastimes of Sri Krsna, Sri Syama Manjari sings songs about Krsna (songs about the Pastimes of Syam) for Sri Radha and Krsna. As Sri Bhagavat Acharya in the Pastimes of Sri Gaura, he performed his service by reciting Srimad Bhagavatam for Sri Gauranga; Sri Radha gave him this service in Sri Krsna‘s Pastimes. In the Pastimes of Sri Gaura, Sri Gadadhar Pandit Goswami took him into his line [accepted him as a disciple] and gave him suitable service to Sri Gauranga. The special characteristic of Sri Bhagavat Acharya’s service is that when Sri Gauranga came with His associates to his kunja in Varaha Nagar, he began to perform his eternal service of reciting Srimad Bhagavatam instead of washing the Lord’s feet, offering the Lord water to drink, and performing the other customary services of a host. The sakhis’ only duty is the service given by Sri Radha; this principle is shown by this Pastime.
Reference
The Pastime of Sriman Mahaprabhu visiting Sri Varaha Nagar is described in Sri Chaitanya-bhagavat (Antya-khanda, 5.110–124):
tabe prabhu ailena varaha-nagare
mahabhagyavanta eka brahmanera ghare
The Lord then came to the home of an extremely fortune brahman in Varaha Nagar.
sei vipra bada susiksita bhagavate
prabhu dekhi’ bhagavata lagila padite
The brahman was highly learned in Srimad Bhagavatam, and upon seeing the Lord, he began to recite the text.
suniya tahana bhakti-yogera pathana
avista haila gaurachandra narayana
Hearing his devout recitation, Lord Gaurachandra became ecstatic.
‘bala bala’ bale prabhu sri-gauranga-raya
hunkara garjana prabhu karaye sadaya
The Lord loudly and repeatedly roared, “Read on! Read on!”
sei vipra pade paranande magna haiya
prabhu o karena nrtya bahya pasariya
As the brahman read, immersed in divine ecstasy, the Lord danced and lost external awareness.
bhaktira mahima-sloka sunite sunite
punah punah achhada padena prthivite
As the Lord heard verses glorifying devotion, He tumbled to the earth again and again.
hena se karena prabhu premera prakasa
achada dekhite sarva-loke paya trasa
The Lord manifest such divine love. The sight of His tumbling frightened everyone.
ei mata ratri tina-prahara-avadhi
bhagavata suniya nachila guna-nidhi
The Lord, the ocean of virtue, listened to the Bhagavatam and danced in this way for nine hours of the night.
bahya pai’ vasilena sri-sachi-nandana
santose dvijere karilena alingana
Eventually, He regained external awareness and embraced the brahman with satisfaction.
prabhu bale, “bhagavata e-mata padite
kabhu nahi suni ara kaharo mukhete
The Lord said, “I have never heard such recitation of the Bhagavat from anyone!
eteke tomara nama ‘bhagavatacharya’
iha vina ara kona na kariha karya”
“Your name is therefore Bhagavat Acharya. Do not perform any duty other than this.”
vipra-prati prabhura padavi yogya suni’
sabe karilena maha-hari-hari-dhvani
Hearing the Lord’s befitting title for the brahman, everyone cheered, “Hari! Hari!”
ei mata prati-grame grame ganga-tire
rahiya rahiya prabhu bhaktera mandire
The Lord visited the houses of devotees in all the villages along the bank of the Ganges in this way.
sabara kariya manoratha pürna kama
punah ailena prabhu nilachala-dhama
The Lord fulfilled all the devotees’ desires and then returned to Nilachal.
gauda-dese punar-bara prabhura vihara
iha ye sunaye tara duhkha nahe ara
Anyone who hears about the Lord’s Pastimes during His return to Bengal will never suffer again.
In his commentary on Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta (Adi-lila, 10.113), Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur cites from the above verses and adds:
nirmita pustika yena krsna-prema-tarangini
srimad bhagavatacharyo gaurangatyanta vallabha
(Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika: 203)
“‘Bhagavat Acharya wrote a book entitled Krishna-prema-tarangini and was extremely dear to Sri Gauranga.’
Bhagavat Acharya’s name was Sri Raghunath Pandit. His ashram was in the Mali neighbourhood of Varaha Nagar about three miles north of Kolkata on the bank of Ganges.”
Krishna-prema-tarangini was the first full translation of Srimad Bhagavatam into Bengali verse. Sri Raghunath Bhagavat Acharya composed this after receiving the blessings of Sriman Mahaprabhu during His visit to Varaha Nagar. Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur desired to publish this text but was unable to find a legible authentic copy of it after publicly requesting one in Sri Sajjana-tosani. It has since been published in numerous editions by the followers of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur.
