Sri Raghunath Das Goswami

Special Mercy

Feeling that Raghunath Das had fully understood His teaching and, further,
appreciating Raghunath's severe sense of renunciation, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
awarded him a small stone from the sacred Govardhan Hill and a garland of small
conchshells from Vrindavan. (The actual stone from Govardhan Hill can presently
be found in Vrindavan's Shri Shri Radha Gokulananda Temple.)

These items were incalculably precious to Shri Chaitanya—He had kept them close
to His person continuously for three years. The devotees were astonished when He
presented these items to Raghunath Das Goswami and they could thus understand
that the Goswami was no ordinary soul. In fact, Raghunath's deep level of Krishna
consciousness is revealed in the Chaitanya-charitamrita:

sade sat prahara yaya kirtan-smarane

ahar-nidra chari danda seha nahe kona dine

“Raghunath Das spent more than twenty-two hours out of every twenty-four
chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra and remembering the lotus feet of the Lord.
He ate and slept for less than an hour and a half, and, indeed, on some days even this
was compromised.”

His austerities increased with the years, and soon he gave up almost all food and
drink, living on only a few drops of buttermilk every day. Astonished that he was
able to maintain his life in this way, devotees came from miles around just to see the
great Raghunath Das.

When he saw them approaching, however, he would humbly offer his obeisances to
them. And as a result, it is said that he daily offered respects to two thousand
devotees. In addition, he daily offered one thousand obeisances to the Lord and
chanted at least one hundred thousand holy names. No one could understand the
depth or level of his Krishna consciousness.

Due to his intense austerities, he became a great mystic and was known throughout
much of India. Sages travelled great distances to get his association; scholars came
from many important centers of learning merely to inquire about scriptural
interpretation; and spiritual seekers came from far off places to study under him.