Srila Shyamananda Pandita Samadhi

Shyamananda Tilak Sthana and Samadhi
Just opposite to the Radha Shyamasundara Mandira is the Tilak-sthana where Shyamananda found the ankle bell of Radharani and also the place where his pushpa-samadhi is situated. According to the Gaura-ganoddesha-dipika, Shyamananda Pandita was Kanaka-manjari in Krishna’s Vrindavana pastimes.
Shyamananda Discovers Radharani’s Ankle-bell
There are many different of versions concerning the episode of Shyamananda, who was then known as Duki Krishnadasa, receiving the special tilak mark and a new name as well as a deity from Radharani, although none can be verified, the version which is accepted by the disciplic descendants of Shyamananda Pandita is as follows. One day while sweeping Seva Kunja, Duki Krishnadasa (Shyamananda) found a golden ankle-bell (nupur) lying ori the ground. The anklet shone very brightly and after picking it up, he was overcome with ecstatic emotions and began to cry. He concluded that the anklet must belong to one of the gopis, or even Shrimati Radharani Herself. He carefully wrapped the anklet in his cloth and became consumed by thoughts of Krishna’s pastimes. After some time, a village girl approached him and asked if he had found a golden anklet that had been lost in Seva Kunja by her sister. Duki Krishnadasa informed the girl that he had indeed found the anklet lying on the ground and the girl asked him to give it to her and she wo~ld return it to her sister. Duki Krishnadasa told the girl that as he was the one who found the anklet, he would like to personally hand it over to her sister himself.
The girl, who was actually Radha’s close friend Lalita-sakhi, disguised as a local village maiden,agreed, and guided Duki Krishnadasa to Lalita-kunda in the middle of Seva Kunja. She then informed him that if he wanted to meet her sister, he would first have to bathe in the sacred kunda. Duki Krishnadasa immediately bathed in the kunda and on coming out of the water, saw that his form had changed into that of a young girl.
Duki Krishnadasa was then taken to a nearby grove where he suddenly saw the exquisitely beautiful and transcendental form of Shrimati Radharani, seated on a jewel-encrusted golden throne and surrounded by hundreds of Her intimate girlfriends. Radharani signaled for him to come forward and after offering his prostrated obeisance’s before Her, he handed Her the golden anklet. Taking the anklet from Duki Krishnadasa, Radharani thanked him for his wonderful service of daily sweeping Her beloved Seva Kunja. She then touched the anklet to his forehead, which left a special tilak mark on his forehead and give him the name Shyamananda, which means one who gives pleasure (ananda) to Shyama, another name of Radharani (pronounced Shyaama). She then gave the anklet to Duki Krishnadasa and asked him to personally place it around Her ankle. After he had done this, Radharani asked Lalita to present Shyamananda with the gift of a beautiful deity of Lord Shyamasundara for his personal seva-puja. Then after once again offering his prostrated obeisance’s to Shrimati Radharani, Lalita-sakhi escorted Duki Krishnadasa back to the place where she first met him, and by then he had regained his previous male form. Lalita-sakhi then requested Shyarnananda not to reveal this incident to anyone. The next day, Duki Krishnadasa was seen by Jiva Goswami and the other students with a new tilak mark on his forehead, which appeared somewhat different to the regular Gaudiya tilak mark. That night in a dream, Lalita-sakhi appeared before Jiva and informed him of the circumstances surrounding the new tilak mark and the new name given to Duki Krishnadasa, but told him to say nothing. After some time the news of Duki’s name-change and new tilak mark reached the ears of Hriday Chaitanya in Bengal, who concluded that ]iva Goswami must have re-initiated his disciple. Hrdaya Chaitanya became disturbed as re-initiation amounted to a very serious Vaishnava aparadha. He was thinking that he had sent his disciple to study under ]iva Goswami, and now this re-initiation had occurred. Hridaya Chaitanya gathered his disciples and along with a group of senior Vaishnavas, immediately left for Vrindavana to challenge ]iva Goswami regarding the re-initiation of his disciple.
On arrival in Vrindavana, a public meeting was arranged by Hridaya Chaitanya, where ]iva Goswami was going to be asked to explain the circumstances of Duki’s re-initiation. As both ]iva and Duki Krishnadasa were sworn to secrecy, the situation was very tense. That night before the meeting, Lalita-sakhi again appeared in ]iva’s dream and told him what to do. When the meeting started, ]iva addressed the gathering saying he had no part in what had transpired and had not re-initiated Duki Krishnadasa as some people thought, saying that the new name and tilak mark was a divine transcendental arrangement. To further prove the point, he requested Hridaya Chaitanya and his followers to wipe off the new tilak mark from Duki Krishnadasa’s body. If the new tilak mark could not be removed, then they would have to accept it was the divine will of the Lord. A few of the senior Vaishnavas from Hridaya Chaitanya’s group came forward, but when they tried to remove the tilak mark, it could not be removed, no matter how hard they tried. Hridaya Chaitanya then realized that it had been some transcendental arrangement.
After embracing his disciple and apologizing to Jiva Goswami, he returned to Bengal with his party, fully satisfied that no Vaishnava aparadh had been committed.
Even today, those in the disciplic line of Shyamananda Pandita still apply the same tilak mark. It became quite common for the disciples of various Gaudiya Goswamis to adopt some variation on the standard Gaudiya Vaishnava tilak mark, similar to the various tilak marks that differentiate the four Vaishnava sampradayas. The tilak mark used by Iskcon devotees is the tilak mark used by Lord Chaitanya and his disciplic succession headed by Shrila Rupa Goswami.

Feeling very sad (dukhi) over losing several children before his birth, his parents named him Dukhi Krishna Dasa. Upon taking diksa from Hrdaya Caitanya he became known as Krishna Dasa. In Vrndavana, he joined Narottama Dasa Thakura and Srinivasa Acarya to study the Gosvami granthas under Sri Jiva Gosvami.
Many “ankle bell stories” describe how Krishna Dasa received Radharani’s mercy, the name Syamananda, and his unique tilaka mark. Sripad B.V. Narayana Maharaja gives this account in Navadvipa Dhama Parikrama:
“While living in Vrndavana, Krishna Dasa regularly swept the streets before dawn. He performed this humble service so that the Vaisnavas would not hurt their feet while walking to the temples. One morning he found a captivatingly beautiful golden ankle bracelet. When Lalita and Visakha-sakhis asked for the bracelet Krishna Dasa said he would only give it to the original owner.
“Blindfolding Krishna Dasa, the gopis brought him to Srimati Radhika. She allowed him to put the bracelet on Her ankle. But before fastening it, Krishna Dasa reverentially touched it to his forehead. This left a new tilaka mark which now distinguishes all of Syamananda’s followers.
“Rejoicing over Krishna Dasa’s transcendental fortune, Sri Jiva Gosvami awarded him the name Syamananda (one who pleases Srimati Radharani or the servant of Syamasundara Krishna. Sometime after Hrdaya Caitanya’s disappearance, he reappeared in a dream telling Syamananda to preach. With the help of his foremost disciple, Rasikananda, Syamananda profusely spread the worship and service of Gaura-Nityananda all over Orissa.” Twenty-four hour kirtana surrounds Syamananda’s pushpasamadhi which is located on the opposite side of the street running between Radha-Syamasundara and Radha-Damodara temples in Vrndavana.

The samadhi of RasikanandaPrabhu, a prominent disciple, is on the left side of Syamananda’s.