Srila Lokanath Goswami Samadhi

It is believed that Lokanatha Goswami entered samadhi in the year 1583, and his sacred body was entombed here next to the temple that he founded and where he also performed bhajana. It is said he was born in 1483, and received instructions from Lord Chaitanya in a dream to go to Vrindavana and locate the sacred forests and Krishna’s pastime places. He arrived in the holy land in 1509, accompanied by his close friend Bhugarbha Goswami, who had also received the same dream in which Lord Chaitanya told him to go to Vrindavana and locate the sacred forests. Lokanatha was an extremely humble Vaishnava and requested Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami not to mention his name in his classic Vaishnava literature Chaitanya-charitamrta. Due to his natural humility, he did not feel qualified to accept any disciples, although many were ready to accept him as their guru. However, Lord Chaitanya appeared to him in a dream and told him that in the future he would have to accept at least one very special devotee as his disciple, whose name would be Narottama Dasa. When eventually Narottama Dasa arrived in Vrindavana, Lokanatha was still not in the mood of initiating any disciples, but once again Lord Chaitanya appeared to him in a dream and asked him to give his mercy to Narottama Dasa; who was certainly the most worthy candidate. After receiving the dream, Lokanatha Goswami finally relented and accepted Narottama Dasa Thakura as his only disciple. According to the Gauraganoddesha-dipika, Lokanatha Goswami was Manjulali-manjari in Krishna’s Vrndavana pastimes.

Sri LokanathaGosvami,
often called the seventh Gosvami of Vrndavana, did his bhajana, initiated Sri NarottamaDasaThakura, and eventually entered samadhi in this same courtyard beside the Radha-Gokulanandamandir. The samadhis of NarottamaDasaThakura, Sri VisvanathaCakravarti, Sri Ganga NarayanaCakravarti
A personal associate of Lord Gauranga, fully absorbed in pure love, Sri Lokanatha Gosvami was the eldest of the Gosvamis living in Vraja-bhumi. He shunned name and fame so much that he asked Krishna Dasa Kaviraja to keep his name out of Caitanya-caritamrta.
His body and mind were completely attached to Vrndavana-dhama. The divine lilas of Radha-Vinoda played in his heart. His ears existed only to hear the Srimad Bhagavatam. “Anyone who reads the Srimad Bhagavatam,” said Lokanatha Gosvami, “he is my friend.”
Once Sri Krishna Himself appeared and gave Lokanatha a Deity of Radha-Vinoda. Lokanatha Gosvami carried his Deity all over Vraja in a cloth bag hung around his neck.
Although reluctant to accept disciples, Lokanatha Gosvami finally initiated Narottama Dasa as his only disciple. He appreciated his genuine humility and determination to serve. Every night for one year Narottama Dasa secretly served his guru by carefully cleaning the field where Lokanatha Gosvami passed stool.
Lokanatha Gosvami’s original Deities of Radha-Vinoda are now worshiped in Jaipur, Rajasthan. A prati-bhu murti (expanded form of the original Deity) of Radha-Vinoda adorns the altar at the Radha-Gokulananda temple in Vrndavana. The samadhi of Lokanatha Gosvami is the largest one in the temple courtyard. He serves Srimati Radharani as Manjuali-manjari in nitya Vrndavana lila.
srimad radha vinodaika, seva sampat samanvitam padmanabh atma jam srimal, lokanatha prabhu bhaje
“I worship the lotus feet of Sri Lokanatha Gosvami Prabhu, the son of Sri Padmanabha. He is a storehouse of single-minded service to the lotus feet of Radha-Vinode.” (Narottama Dasa Thakura)