mÄdhavÄ«-devÄ« — Å›ikhi-mÄhitira bhaginÄ«
Å›rÄ«-rÄdhÄra dÄsÄ«-madhye yÄá¹…ra nÄma gaṇi
mÄdhavÄ«-devÄ« - MÄdhavÄ«devÄ«; Å›ikhi-mÄhitira - of Åšikhi MÄhiti; bhaginÄ« - sister; Å›rÄ«-rÄdhÄra - of ÅšrÄ«matÄ« RÄdhÄrÄṇī; dÄsÄ«-madhye - amongst the maidservants; yÄá¹…ra - whose; nÄma - name; gaṇi - count.
MÄdhavÄ«devÄ«, the seventeenth of the prominent devotees, was the younger sister of Åšikhi MÄhiti. She is considered to have formerly been a maidservant of ÅšrÄ«matÄ« RÄdhÄrÄṇī.
In the Antya-lÄ«lÄ of Caitanya-caritÄmá¹›ta, chapter two, verses 104-106, there is a description of MÄdhavÄ«devÄ«. ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu considered her one of the maidservants of ÅšrÄ«matÄ« RÄdhÄrÄṇī. Within this world, Caitanya MahÄprabhu had three and a half very confidential devotees. The three were SvarÅ«pa GosÄñi, ÅšrÄ« RÄmÄnanda RÄya and Åšikhi MÄhiti, and Åšikhi MÄhiti’s sister, MÄdhavÄ«devÄ«, being a woman, was considered the half. Thus it is known that ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu had three and a half confidential devotees.
