Chapter Summary
A summary of this chapter is given by Bhaktivinoda ṬhÄkura in his Amá¹›ta-pravÄha-bhÄá¹£ya as follows. When ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu went into transcendental fits of ecstatic love, RÄmÄnanda RÄya and SvarÅ«pa DÄmodara GosvÄmÄ« attended to Him and satisfied Him as He desired. RaghunÄtha dÄsa GosvÄmÄ« had been attempting to come to the lotus feet of ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu for a long time, and finally he left his home and met the Lord. When ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu had gone to ÅšÄntipura on His way to Vá¹›ndÄvana, RaghunÄtha dÄsa GosvÄmÄ« had offered to dedicate his life at the Lord’s lotus feet. In the meantime, however, a Muslim official became envious of Hiraṇya dÄsa, RaghunÄtha dÄsa GosvÄmī’s uncle, and induced some big official court minister to have him arrested. Thus Hiraṇya dÄsa left his home, but by the intelligence of RaghunÄtha dÄsa the misunderstanding was mitigated. Then RaghunÄtha dÄsa went to PÄnihÄá¹i, and following the order of NityÄnanda Prabhu, he observed a festival (ciá¸Ä-dadhi-mahotsava) by distributing chipped rice mixed with yogurt. The day after the festival, NityÄnanda Prabhu gave RaghunÄtha dÄsa the blessing that he would very soon attain the shelter of ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu. After this incident, RaghunÄtha dÄsa, with the help of his priest, whose name was Yadunandana Ä€cÄrya, got out of his house by trickery and thus ran away. Not touching the general path, RaghunÄtha dÄsa GosvÄmÄ« secretly went to JagannÄtha PurÄ«. After twelve days, he arrived in JagannÄtha PurÄ« at the lotus feet of ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu.ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu entrusted RaghunÄtha dÄsa GosvÄmÄ« to SvarÅ«pa DÄmodara GosvÄmÄ«. Therefore another name for RaghunÄtha dÄsa GosvÄmÄ« is SvarÅ«pera Raghu, or the RaghunÄtha of SvarÅ«pa DÄmodara. For five days RaghunÄtha dÄsa GosvÄmÄ« took prasÄdam at the temple, but later he would stand at the Siá¹ha-dvÄra gate and eat only whatever he could gather by alms. Later he lived by taking alms from various chatras, or food distributing centers. When RaghunÄtha’s father received news of this, he sent some men and money, but RaghunÄtha dÄsa GosvÄmÄ« refused to accept the money. Understanding that RaghunÄtha dÄsa GosvÄmÄ« was living by begging from the chatras, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu presented him with His own guñjÄ-mÄlÄ and a stone from Govardhana Hill. Thereafter, RaghunÄtha dÄsa GosvÄmÄ« used to eat rejected food that he had collected and washed. This renounced life greatly pleased both SvarÅ«pa DÄmodara GosvÄmÄ« and ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu. One day ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu took by force some of the same food, thus blessing RaghunÄtha dÄsa GosvÄmÄ« for his renunciation.
