Prema prayojana prabhu was next asked by Srila Maharaja to speak some words on Srila Jiva Gosvami.

"Srinivasa acarya has glorified the gosvamis in the following verse:

nana-sastra-vicaranaika-nipunau sad-dharma-samsthapakau
lokanam hita-karinau tri-bhuvane manyau saranyakarau
radha-krsna-padaravinda-bhajana nandena mattalikau
vande rupa-sanatanau raghu-yugau sri-jiva-gopalakau

"He explains that they were expert in scrutinizing all the sastras to establish the sad-dharma, prema dharma for the benefit of all living entities. From the notes compiled by Gopala Bhatta gosvami, Srila Jiva Gosvami has established the conclusions of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Rupa gosvami with irrefutable evidence and logic from all the vedas, vedanta sutra upanisads and puranas.

"Srila Jiva Gosvami was the son of Anupama. Before he departed for Jagannath puri, Srila Rupa gosvami left a large sum of money with his family, particularly so that Srila Jiva Gosvami would be able to receive a very good education. Srila Jiva Gosvami was the only initiated disciple of Srila Rupa gosvami. Srila Jiva Gosvami had three very prominent disciples, namely Srila Syamananda prabhu, Srila Narottama das Thakura and Srila Srinivasa acarya. However, none of them were initiated by him in pancaratrika diksa. Srila Narottama das Thakura received diksa from Srila Lokanath Gosvami, Srila Syamananda prabhu received it from Hrdaya Caitanya and Srinivasa acarya received it from Gopala Bhatta gosvami. But even so, their primary relationship was with Srila Jiva Gosvami. Therefore they are in the line of Srila Rupa gosvami which is not based on the giving of mantra but rather in proficiency in bhajan. Srila Jiva Gosvami was vastly learned in siddhanta, most proficient in bhajan and the dear dasi of Srimati Radharani. Therefore he was supremely qualified to write such literatures.

From an early age, Srila Jiva Gosvami was quite brilliant. At the time that Srila Rupa gosvami was writing his Bhakti Rasamrta Sindhu, Srila Vallabhacarya came to visit him. At this time Srila Vallabhacarya was a very senior and respected vaisnava acarya, about eighty years old, while Srila Rupa gosvami was much younger. Srila Rupa gosvami had previously been introduced to Srila Vallabhacarya by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in a small village near Prayaga. Seeing that Srila Rupa gosvami was writing a book, Srila Vallabhacarya offered to proof read it for him, to which Srila Rupa gosvami humbly and gratefully agreed. As Srila Vallabhacarya began to glance through it, one sloka caught his eye:

bhukti-mukti-sprha yavat
pisaci hrdi vartate
tavad bhakti-sukhasyatra
katham abhyudayo bhavet

("The material desire to enjoy the material world and the desire to become liberated from material bondage are considered to be two witches, and they haunt one like ghosts. As long as these witches remain within the heart, how can one feel transcendental bliss? As long as these two witches remain in the heart, there is no possibility of enjoying the transcendental bliss of devotional service." Quoted in Madhya 19.176)

Reading this he thought that there was some fault in it, but he wanted more time to think it over first. Excusing himself, he left for the Yamuna. As the faithful disciple of Srila Rupa gosvami, Srila Jiva Gosvami was not happy about Srila Vallabhacarya's offer to his guru. Secretly pouring away the supply of water, he took permission from Srila Rupa gosvami to go to the Yamuna to refill it. Catching up with Srila Vallabhacarya, Srila Jiva Gosvami humbly requested to know why Srila Vallabhacarya wanted to proofread Srila Rupa gosvami's book. Srila Jiva Gosvami pointed out to him that Srila Rupa gosvami was a highly realized soul, and was known for never making mistakes.

Hearing this, Srila Vallabhacarya told Srila Jiva Gosvami that Srila Rupa gosvami had stated in his Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu that mukti is a witch. However, he went on, it is not appropriate to say this. Many great yogis and rsis have performed austerities for thousands of years to obtain her, so she should not be described as a witch. In reply, Srila Jiva Gosvami told Srila Vallabhacarya that Srila Rupa gosvami had not in fact written this. Rather he had stated that the *desire* for mukti is a witch.

When Srila Vallabhacarya heard Srila Jiva Gosvami's explanation he was extremely impressed. Returning to Srila Rupa gosvami, he praised the amazing qualifications of Srila Jiva Gosvami, who was so knowledgable. Srila Vallabhacarya was a pure devotee and he did not mind glorifying Srila Jiva Gosvami. When Srila Jiva Gosvami returned from the Yamuna, Srila Rupa gosvami chastised him saying that those who display their erudition in front of a senior are too proud to do bhakti and that he should therefore leave Vrndavana. Srila Jiva Gosvami went to a place on the verge of Vraja, and started to live in a crocodile hole. When Uddhava was sent to Vrndavana by Krsna to pacify the vrajabasis, the gopis asked him to explain the meaning of love with and without a cause, hetu and ahetu prema. As examples of love with a cause they said that a bird will live in tree till it catches fire, as will deer live in a forest. A bee will stay in a flower as long as it has nectar inside it. A prostitute will stay with her client until he runs out of money and a student will remain with his teacher as long as he has something new to learn from him. The nature of this kind of love is that when the cause disappears, the relationship will be finished. But love which is causeless can never be broken. Similarly, the love of a sad sisya for his sad guru is ahetu prema, causeless. Srila Rupa gosvami spoke very harshly to Srila Jiva Gosvami even though Srila Jiva Gosvami had been quite correct in defending his guru before a detractor. But now he simply lay down crying again and again "ha gurudeva, ha gurudeva" and was prepared to give up his life.

After Srila Jiva Gosvami had left, Srila Sanatana gosvami told Srila Rupa gosvami that Srila Rupa gosvami had forgotten the teachings of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Hearing this, Srila Rupa gosvami went through the teachings in his mind until he came to jiva daya, showing mercy to jivas. Then he realized that he should show mercy to Srila Jiva Gosvami as well.

"As Sri Nabin Krsna prabhu was saying earlier, in his Tattva sandarbha Srila Jiva Gosvami has spoken about pramana tattva. What is reliable authority? Sabda pramana coming in parampara. But there are so many types of sabda pramana. Karma kanda, jnana kanda, puranas for those in sattva guna, puranas for those in raja guna, puranas for those in tamah guna. But where has the ultimate conclusion been given? In Srimad Bhagavatam. The topmost evidence is coming from Srimad Bhagavatam, and Srila Jiva Gosvami has established it: pramanam amalam prema pumartho mahan.

"In his Bhakti sandarbha Srila Jiva Gosvami has established what is a bonafide guru. In Srimad Bhagavatam it is written:

tasmad gurum prapadyeta
jijnasuh sreya uttamam
sabde pare ca nisnatam
brahmany upasamasrayam

"Any person who is seriously desirous of achieving real happiness must seek out a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation. The qualification of a spiritual master is that he must have realized the conclusion of the scriptures by deliberation and arguments and thus be able to convince others of these conclusions. Such great personalities, who have taken complete shelter of the Supreme Godhead, leaving aside all material considerations, are to be understood as bona fide spiritual masters."

"Tasmad guru, or sad guru has three qualities. The most important is svarupa laksana, the intrinsic quality and the other two are tatastha laksana and are marginal. One of the marginal qualities is that he is completely detatched. However, this is not in itself an absolute qualification, since the same may also sometimes be said of jnanis and tapasvis. Srila Jiva Gosvami in his commentary on this verse has said: pare brahmani veda tatparya vicarena nisnatam that the meaning of sabde is that the guru knows all the conclusions of the vedas by deliberation and has the power to convince others of them.

"He goes on to say:

pare brahmani bhagavat rupadi avirbhavestu aparoksanubhavena

"that the instrinsic qualification of sad guru is his realization of Bhagavan. The verse in question was written thousands of years ago, and Srila Jiva Gosvami has explained its true meaning, but since the time of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu the qualification of guru is even higher:

nikunja-yuno rati-keli-siddhyai
ya yalibhir yuktir apeksaniya
tatrati-daksyad ati-vallabhasya
vande guroh sri-caranaravindam

"Such a guru is very, very dear to Srimati Radharani and Krsna and is expert in making transcendental arrangements for their loving pastimes. Srila Jiva Gosvami has also explained the meaning of diksa. There are many different types of diksa. Traditionally in India a brahmana boy will be given diksa at the upanayana ceremony at the age of 10 or 11 to show that he has reached maturity. But this is not the same as vaisnava diksa. Srila Jiva Gosvami has described it:

divyam jnanam yato dadyat
kuryat papasya sanksayam
tasmad dikseti sa prokta
desikais tattva-kovidaih

"At diksa, 'divyam jnanam' (transcendental knowledge) is imparted to the sisya while ignorance and its cause is taken away. Many people don't know the meaning of transcendental knowledge. They think that knowing 'I am not this the body' as well as understanding about the existence of the three modes of nature and reincarnation is divyam jnanam, but it is not. Srila Jiva Gosvami has given the definition of divyam jnana in his Bhakti sandarbha:

divyam jnanam hyatra mantra bhagavat svarupa jnana tena bhagavat sambandha visesa jnanam ca

"Divyam jnana is knowledge of the svarupa of bhagavan given in the form of mantra and also knowledge of one's specific relationship with Bhagavan, bhagavat sambandha visesa jnana. In the general sense sambandha jnana refers to jivera svarupa haya krsnera nitya dasa the jiva is the eternal servant of Krsna. But here divya jnana means visesa jnana, the specific eternal service, mood, and qualities in latent position in the jiva."