Sri Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya-lila Chapter 16 Verse 217

Madhya-līlā | Chapter 16: The Lord's Attempt to Go to Vṛndāvana

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Madhya 16.217

'hiraṇya', 'govardhana', — dui sahodara

saptagrāme bāra-lakṣa mudrāra īśvara

SYNONYMS

hiraṇya — Hiraṇya; govardhana — Govardhana; dui sahodara — two brothers; saptagrāme — in the village named Saptagrāma; bāra-lakṣa — 1,200,000; mudrāra — of coins; īśvara — the masters.

TRANSLATION

Two brothers named Hiraṇya and Govardhana, who were residents of Saptagrāma, had an annual income of 1,200,000 rupees.

PURPORT

Hiraṇya and Govardhana were inhabitants of Saptagrāma in the district of Hugli. Actually they were inhabitants not of Saptagrāma but of a nearby village named Kṛṣṇapura. They took their birth in a big kāyastha family, and although their family title has not been ascertained, it is known that they came from an aristocratic family. The elder brother's name was Hiraṇya Majumadāra, and the younger brother's name was Govardhana Majumadāra. Śrī Raghunātha dāsa was the son of Govardhana Majumadāra. Their family priest was Balarāma Ācārya, who was a favorite of Haridāsa Ṭhākura's, and the family's spiritual master was Yadunandana Ācārya, a favorite of Vāsudeva Datta's.

The village of Saptagrāma is located on the eastern railway from Calcutta to Burdwan, and presently the railway station is called Triśabighā. In those days there was a large river there known as the Sarasvatī, and present-day Triśabighā is a great port. In 1592, the Pāṭhānas invaded, and due to a flooding of the Sarasvatī River in the year 1632, this great port was partially destroyed. It is said that in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Portuguese businessmen used to come aboard their ships. In those days, Saptagrāma, situated on the southern side of Bengal, was very rich and popular. The merchants, who were the principal residents, were called Saptagrāma suvarṇa-vaṇiks. There were very many rich people there, and Hiraṇya Majumadāra and Govardhana Majumadāra belonged to the kāyastha community. They also were very rich, so much so that it is mentioned in this verse that their annual income as landlords amounted to 1,200,000 rupees. In this connection, one may refer to Ādi-līlā (Chapter Eleven, verse 41), which describes Uddhāraṇa Datta, who also belonged to the Saptagrāmī suvarṇa-vaṇik community.

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