Chapter Six: The Rasika Lineage of Rama Worship
“—Haryananda’s disciple was Raghavananda, and Ramananda—Hari himself—became Raghavananda’s disciple.”
The lineage through this point is Agrasvami’s verse account. Several branches arose thereafter. Sri Kantasharan continues with his own:
- From Ramananda came Surasurananda, then Madhavananda, then Garivananda, and then Lakshmidas.
- From Lakshmidas came Gopaladas, then Naraharidas; Kevalaram received the six syllables from him.
- Kevalaram’s disciple was the wise Damodaradas, devoted to serving saints, filled with compassion, and established in right conduct.
- From him came detached and virtuous Hridayaram; from him Kriparam, and then Ratnadas.
- Then came Nripatidas, a faultless devotee of Rama; from him Shankaradas, revealer of Rama’s name.
- From him was born the rasika leader Jivaram, a radiant sovereign who long resided at the auspicious place called Chiran.
- From his line arose a powerful maharaja, a great lord who shone in the beautiful city named Saketa.
- Sita and Rama gave him the extraordinary name Yugalananyasharan, by which he became known upon earth. 27–28. His limitless auspicious qualities were remarkable: natural graciousness, compassion free of harshness, beauty, charm, and sweetness that increased rasa. The qualities of Sita’s Lord shone in him.
Keval Ram, also called Kuva, was born in Vikrama year 1544 and is said to have lived for 180 years, departing for the supreme abode in Vikrama 1724. His contemporary guru-brother Raghunathadas composed an excellent Sanskrit life interspersed with couplets. It names Keval Ram as Naraharidas’s first disciple and Goswami Tulsidas as the second: “The second of Naraharidas’s disciples was Tulsidas; composing the pure Rāmāyaṇa, he illumined the world.” The biography is preserved at the Fiyada seat.1
Footnotes
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The dates and biographical claims are reported as given in the source. ↩