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Excerpts from Srila Narayana Gosvami Maharaja\u2019s booklet called Siva-Tattva, wherein Lord Siva\u2019s relationship with Sri Sanatana Gosvami is beautifully described.<\/p>\nExcerpts from Srila Narayana Gosvami Maharaja\u2019s booklet called Siva-Tattva, wherein Lord Siva\u2019s relationship with Sri Sanatana Gosvami is beautifully described.<\/p>\n
A brahmana in Kasi Varanasi once prayed to Lord Siva, \u201cI want to give my daughter in marriage, but I have no money. Please give me money.\u201d\u00a0 Lord Siva told him, \u201cGo to Vrndavana and meet with Srila Sanatana Gosvami. You can ask him to give you some wealth for your daughter\u2019s marriage.\u201d<\/p>\n
The brahmana went to Vrndavana, by foot, and there he asked the villagers there for the whereabouts of a person named Sanatana Gosvami. As they all knew him, they pointed out his residence.<\/p>\n
Srila Sanatana Gosvami was practicing bhajana near the Yamuna River at Kaliya-hrada, the former abode of the very poisonous snake named Kaliya. Kaliya-hrada was close to the Yamuna, and therefore its surrounding area was full of sand. Srila Sanatana Gosvami wore only a loincloth. He used to go begging door-to-door for a small amount of prasada (Krsna\u2019s food remnants), and would take as his meal only one dry chapatti (flat bread), with no salt.<\/p>\n
The brahmana arrived at his cottage and told him, \u201cI went to Sankara Mahadeva, Lord Siva, and he told me to meet you. He said you will give me some wealth for my daughter\u2019s marriage.\u201d Sanatana Gosvami replied, \u201cI have no possessions. You can see that I have nothing but a loincloth.\u201d Then he thought, \u201cOh, Siva cannot tell a lie. He is my bosom friend.\u201d Thinking of Lord Siva and contemplating further, he remembered a touchstone he had once disgarded and then forgotten. Now he told the brahmana, \u201cGo to the Yamuna and remove some of the sand, and there you will find a touchstone. It is somewhere in the sand, though I don\u2019t remember where.\u201d<\/p>\n
The brahmana found the jewel, touched it to iron, and the iron turned into gold. He was very, very happy that Lord Siva had told him to come to Vrndavana, and thought with gratitude, \u201cMy prayer has been answered by him.\u201d On the way home, however, his greed for money increased and he began thinking, \u201cWhy did Sanatana Gosvami keep the touchstone in the sand? It had no use there. He must have still more valuable jewels.\u201d<\/p>\n
He thus returned, and Sanatana Gosvami asked him, \u201cWhy have you come back?\u201d He replied, \u201cI\u2019ve come because I know that you have more valuable jewels than this.\u201d Sanatana Gosvami then said, \u201cGo and throw the touchstone in the Yamuna. The brahmana did so with all his power, and then Sanatana Gosvami told him, \u201cCome here. Come here.\u201d\u00a0 He gave him the mantra, \u201cHare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare\u201d and said, \u201cI do not have worldly jewels, but I have transcendental jewels. The jewel of Lord Krsna and Sri Radha will come to you in a very short time. So remain here. Your daughter\u2019s marriage will take place automatically. Stay here and chant Hare Krsna.\u201d That brahmana followed his instruction and became a very elevated saint.<\/p>\n
Srila Sanatana Gosvami, the great Vaisnava saint who resided in Vrndavana near the old Sri Madana-Mohana temple, would go daily to see Sri Gopisvara Mahadeva at his temple. Once, in his older years, Sanatana Gosvami had a dream wherein Gopisvara Mahadeva appeared and instructed him: \u201cNow that you are old, please do not go through so much trouble to see me.\u201d Sanatana Gosvami replied, \u201cI will continue to come. I cannot change this habit.\u201d Gopisvara Mahadeva said, \u201cThen I will come and stay very near to your residence, manifesting in Bankhandi.\u201d The very next day, Sri Gopisvara Mahadeva appeared in Bankhandi, halfway between his original temple and Srila Sanatana Gosvami\u2019s residence. Seeing this, Sanatana Gosvami became overwhelmed with transcendental ecstasy, and from that day on he visited Bankhandi Mahadeva every day.<\/p>\n