GaudiyaVaishnavism is the philosophy propounded by ChaitanyaMahaprabhuwho kept Lord Vishnu as the supreme head. NarottamaDasa was one in that sampradayaand his life was so exemplary that he was known as Thakur Mahasaya.
Profile
NarottamDasawas the son of a king ShriKrishnanandaDatta who ruled Gopalpura which is now a part of Bangladesh. His mother’s name was Narayani. From his childhood he was attracted to Sri Chaitanya. The astrologers predicted that he would either become a king or a mendicant and the latter proved to be true. When he was twelve, Narottam had a vision asking him to bathe in Padmavati River to take the love (prema) kept in store for him there. He executed his vision and that was the final touch of divinity in him. Though from a royal family, he would go door to door and get his food. His initiation was given by LokanathaGoswami, a personal associate of ChaitanyaMahaprabhu. LokanathaGoswami never entertained disciples around but the humble and continuous service of Narottam impressed him and finally initiated him into a mantra and gave the name NarottamDasa. Soon he left his family and moved to Vrindavan. Unlike his spiritual master he had many devotees around him and he preached to them the love of the Lord. NarottamDasa’s Samadhi is seen in RadhaGokulananda’s Temple courtyard.
Philosophy Propounded
One main point that NarottamDasa said was that Vaishanava had no caste and his Vaishnavism should be gauged according to his surrender to the Lord, to Krishna Consciousness.
Work Done to Spread the Philosophy
NarottamDasa addressed the people as much as possible. His spiritual master, LokanathaGoswami, asked him to go back to his native town and preach there. With great reluctance he moved away from his master. NarottamDasa spread the philosophy through innumerable devotional songs (kirtans) that he had written. These kirtans are sung even to this day.
