The year was 1996; the day was 25 January, Vasant Panchami, the holiest of holy days according to the Gaudiya Vaishnava Vedic Calendar; and the time was 1:15 pm—when my wife gave birth to a baby boy. I was exulted.
Five days later, when Radhanath Swami returned to Mumbai after his week long visit to Poona, he expressed his desire to see the child that same day. So, in the afternoon, while my wife and I occupied a couple square feet of Radhanath Swami’s room floor, our infant occupied Radhanath Swami’s arms. There his body lay motionless and draped in cloth, bathing in Radhanath Swami’s unprecedentedaffectionate gaze.
“Please name him,” I requested Radhanath Swami.
He looked up at me. “What name should I give him? Have you thought of any?”
“No. I haven’t. You name him according to your choice,” I quickly retorted. At that moment, when everything in Radhanath Swami’s entire being—except for his heart—seemed dysfunctional due to affection, I was confident his heart exclusively would respond to my request.
“I will name him after a person who very much inspired me to gravitate towards the tradition of Gaudiya Vaishnavism while I treaded my path towards Krishna Bhakti in Vrindavan, in 1971. I was very much influenced by the determination, renunciation and lifestyle of this personality—Raghunath Das Goswami. Since this child was born on the birthday of Raghunath Das Goswami, I name him Raghunath.” Hearing this, I felt a chill tingle up my spine, and my mind awash with gratitude. My family’s fortune apart, what just transpired had revealed the sacred substance of Radhanath Swami’s consciousness. Raghunath Das Goswami, Radhanath Swami’s role model, was a saint of the sixteenth century renowned for his renunciation. He drank only a palm full of buttermilk once in three or four days for his own subsistence, and would devote all his time for devotion to God and selfless service to others.
Amid those exhilarating moments, my mind nudged me to be rid of a concern that gnawed at it. “What if after twenty five years of my laborious upbringing, my boy doesn’t become a devotee of Lord Krishna?” I asked Radhanath Swami. I was a Krishna devotee, and I wanted my son too to grow up to be one.
Upon hearing my words, Radhanath Swami’s expression became grave. “Whether he becomes a devotee of Krishna is between him and Krishna. But one thing is for sure. If you do your duty of providing him all care, Krishna will definitely take care of your devotion.”
He had imparted a lesson in true renunciation: attachment only to devotion and to service—selflessly. And, of course non-coincidentally, it was exactly what Raghunath Das Goswami had exemplified in the sixteenth century.
—Ashok Parikh
79 replies on “Radhanath Swami Inspired by Raghunath Das Goswami”
Radhanath Swami Maharaj’s renunciation is supernatural!
Radhanath Swami is following in the footsteps of Raghunath Das Goswami by himself setting a very high standard of selfless service & devotion. He is inspiring thousands of people the world over to take to God consciousness & is thus bringing lot of glory to Srila Prabhupada’s ISKCON movement.
This incident has really touched my heart to the core. Radhanath Swami has revealed here how we must all be inspired and guided by acaryas in our own lives before we can guide others.
This incident shows how Radhanath Swami knows what is duty of each and everyone and how nicely he inspires his students to act according to their duty.Thanks a lot for sharing.
Thank you very much Prabhuji for sharing this amazing incident.
Radhanath Swami is so respected because in every situation he practices the tenets of Vaishnavism and inspires everyone through his words, deeds and actions. Especially, in this case, he is reminding us that we should be attached to service not to the results.
Thank you very much for sharing.
Very nice message being given by Radhanath Swami.
Thank you very much for revealing the mood of radhanath swami.
haribol. becoming a devotee or not is in between him and krishna —- striking point by mahraj
Very inspiring message by HH Radhanath swami maharaj.
Maharaj is compassionate towards each soul upliftment and deliver from this material world.
Thank you so much prabhu for sharing us
Very meaningful message by Radhanath Swami for all pareants.
Radhanath swami perfectly exemplifies and reiterates renunciation in the mood of selfless service. Swwamiji’s last statement really gives me inspiration to raise my kids in a similar fashion.
Haribol…thanks for sharing!
This is a very telling statement from Maharaj, “Whether he becomes a devotee of Krishna is between him and Krishna. But one thing is for sure. If you do your duty of providing him all care, Krishna will definitely take care of your devotion.” We parents need to do our duty and let Krishna take care of the rest. Thank you Maharaj.
Very nice. hanks for sharing.
Radhanath Swami Maharaj is transferring the blessings of Raghunath Das Goswami to little Raghunath
All glories to the three R.
wonderful experience and thanks for sharing it with all of us, haribol, rajesh karia
HHRNSM is so merciful and pure and this family is for fortunate, haribol, bhakti
Thanks for sharing
Thank you
Wonderful narration. Thank you for sharing
very nice hari bol!!!
DEar Anand Vrindavan Pr, thank u for sharing this pastime & helping us understand mood of Guru Maharaj.
Maharaj has actually exemplified by his words that we are just menat to serve Krishna & HIs devotees. Whether a person becomes devotee or not should not be our concern while rendering service. HK!
Thank you so much for sharing this pastime… We as parents are always ina anxiety about our children’s Krishna Consciousness. But Maharaj has really laid down clearly what our duty is and what we have to leave to Krishna
jai…..thankyou Prabhuji for sharing such a beautiful incident with Radhanath swami
Amazing experince with Radhanath Swami. This show how he is concerned with everyone’s care both materially and spiritually.
Thank you so much for sharing.
Very inspiring. Thank you for sharing.
Raghunath Das Goswami ki JAY !!! thanks for sharing such nice incident..
Radhanath Maharaj gave an instructive note of the consciousness in which the children should be raised.
Thank you very much for sharing.Its a deep lesson to know while bringing up children.
Radhanath Swami, through this incident is reminding us one of the important teachings of the Bhagavad gita, that is, service in detachment
Here is a message from HH Radhanath Swami to all parents.
Thank you so much for sharing mellifluous Experience with Maharaj.
Thank you so much for sharing such mellifluous Experience with Maharaj.
HH Radhanath Swami is a true saint who has imbibed the qualities exhibited by our acharyas. Thanks for sharing this wonderful experience.
Fortunate is the child who got the mercy of Maharaj very soon after his birth.Nice article.Thanks for sharing.
Very inspiring. I read about the saint Raghunath das Goswami and was awestruck with the spiritual qualities he manifested. Now i can relate the book “The Journey Home” better.
Beautiful…
Beautiful…thank you for sharing this.
Simply Amazing
Thank You very much for sharing this beautiful instruction by Radhanath Maharaj on a devotees responsibility towards those whom Krishna has entrusted in his care.
you are very fortunate Prabhuji
Tahnk you for sharing this, as we too have a 4 month old whom Maharaj named Lakshman. This is very instructive for us.
Selfless service attitude this what comes out of every action,conversation of Maharaj.
Radhanath Swami is a tru follower of Raghunath Das Goswami in principle.
very very very inspiring…a very great lesson to learn.
attachment only to devotion and to service—selflessly Radhanath Maharaj practices it.