gaurÄ«dÄsa paṇá¸ita yÄá¹…ra premoddaṇá¸a-bhakti
kṛṣṇa-premÄ dite, nite, dhare mahÄÅ›akti
gaurÄ«dÄsa paṇá¸ita - GaurÄ«dÄsa Paṇá¸ita; yÄá¹…ra - whose; prema-uddaṇá¸a-bhakti - the most elevated in love of Godhead and devotional service; kṛṣṇa-premÄ - love of Kṛṣṇa; dite - to deliver; nite - and to receive; dhare - empowered; mahÄÅ›akti - great potency.
ÅšrÄ«la BhaktisiddhÄnta SarasvatÄ« ṬhÄkura writes in his AnubhÄá¹£ya, “It is said that GaurÄ«dÄsa Paṇá¸ita was always patronized by King KṛṣṇadÄsa, the son of Harihoá¸a. GaurÄ«dÄsa Paṇá¸ita lived in the village of ÅšÄligrÄma, which is situated a few miles from the railway station Muá¸ÄgÄchÄ, and later he came to reside in AmbikÄ-kÄlanÄ. It is stated in the Gaura-gaṇoddeÅ›a-dÄ«pikÄ (128) that formerly he was Subala, one of the cowherd boyfriends of Kṛṣṇa and BalarÄma in Vá¹›ndÄvana. GaurÄ«dÄsa Paṇá¸ita was the younger brother of SÅ«ryadÄsa Sarakhela, and with the permission of his elder brother he shifted his residence to the bank of the Ganges, living there in the town known as AmbikÄ-kÄlanÄ. Some of the names of the descendants of GaurÄ«dÄsa Paṇá¸ita are as follows: (1) ÅšrÄ« Ná¹›siá¹ha-caitanya, (2) KṛṣṇadÄsa, (3) ViṣṇudÄsa, (4) Baá¸a BalarÄma dÄsa, (5) Govinda, (6) RaghunÄtha, (7) Baá¸u Gaá¹…gÄdÄsa, (8) Ä€uliyÄ Gaá¹…gÄrÄma, (9) YÄdavÄcÄrya, (10) Há¹›daya-caitanya, (11) CÄnda HÄladÄra, (12) MaheÅ›a Paṇá¸ita, (13) Mukuá¹a RÄya, (14) BhÄtuyÄ Gaá¹…gÄrÄma, (15) Ä€uliyÄ Caitanya, (16) KÄliyÄ KṛṣṇadÄsa, (17) PÄtuyÄ GopÄla, (18) Baá¸a JagannÄtha, (19) NityÄnanda, (20) BhÄvi, (21) Jagadīśa, (22) RÄiyÄ KṛṣṇadÄsa and (22 ) AnnapÅ«rṇÄ. The eldest son of GaurÄ«dÄsa Paṇá¸ita was known as big BalarÄma, and the youngest was known as RaghunÄtha. The sons of RaghunÄtha were MaheÅ›a Paṇá¸ita and Govinda. GaurÄ«dÄsa Paṇá¸ita’s daughter was known as AnnapÅ«rṇÄ.
“The village AmbikÄ-kÄlanÄ, which is situated just across the river Ganges from ÅšÄntipura, is two miles east of the KÄlanÄ-korá¹a railway station, on the Eastern Railway. In AmbikÄ-kÄlanÄ there is a temple constructed by the zamindar of Burdwan. In front of the temple there is a big tamarind tree, and it is said that GaurÄ«dÄsa Paṇá¸ita and Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu met underneath this tree. The place where the temple is situated is known as AmbikÄ, and because it is in the area of KÄlanÄ, the village is known as AmbikÄ-kÄlanÄ. It is said that a copy of the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ written by ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu still exists in this temple.â€