SRI ANUPAMA

anupama-vallabha, sri-rupa, sanatana

ei tina sakha vrksera pascime sarvottama

"On the western side were the forty-third, forty-fourth and forty-fifth branches - Sri Sanatana, Sri Rupa and Sri Anupama. They were the best of all."

[Cc. Adi 10.84]

Sri Anupama was the father of Srila Jiva Gosvami and youngest brother of Sri Sanatana and Sri Rupa Gosvami. His former name was Vallabha, but after Lord Caitanya met him He gave him the name Anupama. Because of working in the Mohammedan government, these three brothers were given the title Mullik. Mullik means "lord."

The genealogical table of Vallabha Gosvami can be traced back to the Twelfth Century sakabda, when a gentleman of the name Sarvajna appeared in a very rich and opulent brahmana family in the province of Karnata. He had two sons named Aniruddhera Rupesvara and Harihara, who were both bereft of their kingdom and were thus obliged to reside in the highlands.

The son of Rupesvara, who was named Padmanabha, moved to a place in Bengal known as Naihati on the bank of the Ganges. There he had five sons, of whom the youngest, Mukunda, had a well behaved son named Kumaradeva, who was the father of Rupa, Sanatana and Vallabha.

Kumaradeva lived in Baklacandradvipa, which is in the district of Yasohara and is now known as Phateyabad. Of his many sons, three took to the path of Vaisnavism. Later Sri Vallabha and his elder brothers Sri Rupa and Sanatana came from Candradvipa to the village in the Maldah district of Bengal known as Ramakeli. It is in this village that Srila Jiva Gosvami took birth, accepting Vallabha as his father.

When Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu visited the village of Ramakeli, He met Vallabha there. Later, Sri Rupa Gosvami, after meeting Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, resigned from government service, and went to Vrndavana to meet Lord Caitanya, Vallabha accompanied him. The meeting of Rupa Gosvami and Vallabha with Caitanya Mahaprabhu at Allahabad is described in the Madhya-lila, Chapter Nineteen.

Actually, it is to be understood from the statement of Sanatana Gosvami that Sri Rupa Gosvami and Vallabha went to Vrndavana under the instruction of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. First they went to Mathura, where they met a gentleman named Subuddhi Raya who maintained himself by selling dry fuel wood. He was very pleased to meet Sri Rupa Gosvami and Anupama, and he showed them the twelve forests of Vrndavana. Thus they lived in Vrndavana for one month and then again went to search for Sanatana Gosvami.

Following the course of the Ganges, they reached Allahabad, or Prayaga-tirtha, but because Sanatana Gosvami had come there by a different road, they did not meet him there, and when Sanatana Gosvami came to Mathura he was informed of the visit of Rupa Gosvami and Anupama by Subuddhi Raya. When Rupa Gosvami and Anupama met Caitanya Mahaprabhu at Benares, they heard about Sanatana Gosvami's travels from Him, and thus they returned to Bengal, adjusted their affairs with the state and, on the order of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, went to see the Lord at Jagannatha Puri.

In the year 1436 Sakabda, the youngest brother, Anupama, died and went back home, back to Godhead. He went to the abode in the spiritual sky where Sri Ramacandra is situated. At Jagannatha Puri, Sri Rupa Gosvami informed Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu of this incident. Vallabha was a great devotee of Lord Ramacandra; therefore he could not seriously consider the worship of Radha-Govinda according to the instructions of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Yet he directly accepted Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu as an incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Ramacandra.

In the Bhakti-ratnakara there is the following statement: "Vallabha was given the name Anupama by Sri Gaurasundara, but he was always absorbed in the devotional service of Lord Ramacandra. He did not know anyone but Sri Ramacandra, but he knew that Caitanya Gosai was the same Lord Ramacandra."