Śrī Puruṣottama Dāsa Ṭhākura

[February 21, 2022 is the disappearance day of Śrī Puruṣottama Dāsa Ṭhākura, in Vṛndāvana, India. The following is an excerpt of a bhāva anuvāda of the kathā given by Śrīla Bhakti Vijñāna Bhāratī Gosvāmī Mahārāja on March 2, 2017. Editors’ input: Additional text has been included in square brackets to facilitate the flow of content.]

Today is a special day - the āvirbhāva tithi of Puruṣottama Dāsa Ṭhākura.

In Vaiṣṇava-vandanā, Devakīnandana Dāsa, the disciple of Puruṣottama Ṭhākura writes:

iṣta-deva vando śrī-puruṣottama nāma

ke kahite pare tā’ra guṇa anupama

sarva-guṇa-hīna tāhāre dayā kare

‘apanāra sahaja-karuṇā-śakti-bale

saptama vatsare jā’ra śrī-kṛṣṇa-unmāda

bhuvana-mohana-nṛtya sakati agādha

[I bow down to my worshipable Lord, Puruṣottama Dāsa Ṭhākura. Who can list his incomparable qualities? He was merciful to those who were devoid of virtue, displaying the natural power of his compassion. When only seven years old, he was so intoxicated with love for Kṛṣṇa that he danced in a way that enchanted the entire world”.]

All these Vaiṣṇavas, who were rich in incomparable transcendental qualities, came with Mahāprabhu [to this material world] as His associates.

I do not know much about Puruṣottama Dāsa Ṭhākura, so what more can I say? My whole life was spent in construction of maṭhas and mandiras, therefore, I do not know so much about him. In those days, due to the responsibilities of the maṭha and non-availability of the scriptures, even the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam had to be borrowed from household devotees to read. Later such scriptures became more readily available but in those days, it was not such. By the time scriptures became more easily accessible, old age had already come and study became more difficult, hence I could not study anything much other than what was in practice.

[In any case, today we are remembering him, and praying for his merciful glance upon us.]