Shri Shyamananda Prabhu (Disappearance)

Srila Shyamananda Prabhu was a great devotee of Lord Chaitanya. He was a contemporary of the great Acharyas Srinivasa Acharya and Narottama Dasa Thakura. The three were eternal associates of Lord Chaitanya incarnated to spread His teachings after the Lord’s disappearance. They studied under Srila Jiva Goswami in Vrindavan. They created a resurgence of Lord Chaitanya’s Bhakti movement in Bengal and Orissa, where it was flagging in the period after the Lord had left the planet.

Sri Shyamananda was born on the Purnima (full moon day) of the month of Chaitra in a place called Dharenda Bhadura Puram, Utkala (Orissa). Noticing the auspicious moment of his birth it was predicted that he would be a great personality. His parents Sri Krishna Mandala and Srimati Sri Durika had lost many sons and daughters before his birth, so they named him Dukhi considering such a name would prevent any impending danger.

He was a brilliant child and quickly became proficient in the Vedic scriptures. After he heard the pastimes of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai, he decided to dedicate his life to Their service. With the permission of his parents, He went to a great devotee of Lord Chaitanya called Srila Hridya Chaitanya in the place called Ambika Kalna in Bengal to get initiated as a disciple and study the teachings of Lord Chaitanya.

Srila Hridaya Chaitanya accepted him as his disciple and named him Dukhi Krishna Dasa. Seeing his keen intelligence and service attitude, Srila Hridaya Chaitanya thought it best for him to study the scriptures under Srila Jiva Goswami in Vrindavan.

Srila Jiva Goswami was happy to accept the disciple of Srila Hridya Chaitanya under his tutelage. Sri Dukhi Krishna dasa carefully served Jiva Goswami and studied the scriptures of the Goswamis very seriously. Two other personalities who would go on to be great Gaudiya Vaishnava Acharyas, Sri Srinivas Acharya and Sri Narottama dasa Thakura also came to study the scriptures of the Goswamis under the guidance of Srila Jiva Goswami. The three exalted students would together study the literature of the Goswamis.

Soon, Srila Jiva Goswami sent Sri Shyamananda, Sri Srinivas Acharya, and Sri Narottama Dasa to preach in Bengal. Sri Shyamananda returned to Ambika Kalna to his guru Srila Hridaya Chaitanya. After some time Srila Hridya Chaitanya observing that Lord Chaitanya’s movement had all but vanished in Orissa, asked Sri Shyamananda to go and preach there.

Sri Shyamananda travelled to many important towns in Utkala desha and attracted thousands of devotees to the Sankirtana movement of Lord Chaitanya. His preaching won so many hearts that he created a resurgence of the Lord’s movement in that place where no devotees existed two generations after the Lord had disappeared. Srila Shyamananda initiated many disciples into Gaudiya Vaishnavism among whom Srila Rasikananda, the effulgent preacher, was especially prominent.

After spreading Gaudiya Vaishnavism with great success, he disappeared from worldly vision and entered into the eternal pastimes of Lord Chaitanya in the place called Gopala Vallabha Pura on the Krishna paksha pratipad tithi of the month of Ashada.