Radha Krishna Ganoddesa Dipika

Book excerpt: Srila Rupa Goswami, one of the six Goswamis of Vrindavana, was an incarnation of Rupa Manjari, the most important of the eight confidential maidservants of Srimati Radharani in the eternal transcendental Vrindavana. It is said that without taking shelter of Rupa Gosvami one cannot enter into the pastimes of Lord Caitanya, and without taking shelter of Rupa Manjari one cannot enter into the confidential loving pastimes of Sri Sri Radha Krishna. Srila Rupa Gosvami's lineage can be traced back to Karnataka, South India where his Sarasvata brahmana descendants held influential positions. Rupa Gosvami's nephew, Jiva Gosvami has explained in his Laghu Toshani that Rupa's descendants were of the Bharadvaja gotra and were learned in the Yajur Veda.