paramesvara-dasa—nityanandaika-sarana

krsna-bhakti paya, tanre ye kare smarana

(C.C.1.11.29)

 

   Parameshvara dasa, said to be the fifth gopala of Krishna-lila, completely surrendered to the lotus feet of Nityananda. Anyone who remembers his name, Parameshvara dasa, will get love of Krishna very easily.

 

   Shrila Prabhupada writes in the purport: 

 

   Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura writes in his Anubhasya, “The Chaitanya-bhagavata states that Parameshvara dasa, known sometimes as Parameshvari dasa, was the life and soul of Shri Nityananda Prabhu. The body of Parameshvara dasa was the place of Lord Nityananda’s pastimes. Parameshvara dasa, who lived for some time at Khadadaha village, was always filled with the ecstasy of a cowherd boy. Formerly he was Arjuna, a friend of Krishna and Balarama. He was the fifth among the twelve gopalas. He accompanied Shrimati Jahnava-devi when she performed the festival at Khetari. It is stated in the Bhakti-ratnakara that by the order of Shrimati Jahnava-mata, he installed Radha-Gopinatha in the Temple at Atapura, in the district of Hugli. The Atapura station is on the narrow-gauge railway line between Howrah and Amata. Another Temple in Atapura, established by the Mitra family, is known as the Radha-Govinda Temple. In front of the Temple, in a very attractive place among two Bakula trees and a Kadamba tree, is the tomb of Parameshvari Thakura, and above it is an altar with a Tulasi bush. It is said that only one flower a year comes out of the Kadamba tree. It is offered to the Deity.

 

   “Parameshvari Thakura belonged, it is said, to a vaidya family. A descendant of his brother’s is at present a worshiper in the Temple. Some of their family members still reside in the district of Hugli, near the post office of Chanditala. The descendants of Parameshvari Thakura took many disciples from brahmana families, but as these descendants gradually took to the profession of physicians, persons from brahmana families ceased becoming their disciples. The family titles of Parameshvari’s descendants are Adhikari and Gupta. Unfortunately, his family members do not worship the Deity directly; they have engaged paid brahmanas to worship the Deity. In the temple, Baladeva and Shri Shri Radha-Gopinatha are together on the throne. It is supposed that the Deity of Baladeva was installed later because according to transcendental mellow, Baladeva, Krishna and Radha cannot stay on the same throne. On the full-moon day of Vaishakha (April—May), the disappearance festival of Parameshvari Thakura is observed in this Temple.”