Transformation of Bir Hambir
One day Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī heard Śrīnivāsa explain a verse from Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi and was so impressed by his erudition that he bestowed the title “Ācārya” upon him. Jīva Gosvāmī also gave the titles “Ṭhākura” to Narottama and “Śyāmānanda” to Duḥkhī Kṛṣṇadāsa. All the three had studied Vaishnava scriptures under Srila Jiva Goswami.
And later Srila Jiva Goswami sent the three of them to Bengal with all the hand-written manuscripts of the Goswamis to Bengal. The idea was to spread the teachings found in these books throughout Bengal and Orissa. Those books, which were hand-written, were very precious and rare. They were written on leaves. Carrying those manuscripts, Srinivas, Narottama and Syamananda arrived at a Hindu kingdom called Bana Vishnupura (in West Bengal). There the books were stolen by the King of that kingdom who in actuality was a dacoit.
Srinivas, Narottam and Shyamananda had felt relief on entering that Hindu kingdom and thought that they were risk-free there. They were unaware of the fact that the king of that place behaved like a king in the daytime and a robber at night. Before the three arrived in Bana Vishnupur, the king was foretold by an astrologer that a lot of wealth will soon reach his kingdom and that he should rob that wealth. Those books were wrapped up in a large cloth and were carried in a chest. The king mistook the chest containing the books to be his desired wealth and, on seeing an opportunity, he stole the chest. But when he opened the chest he saw that it contained mere manuscripts and thus he felt dejected.
When Srinivas, Narottama and Syamananda woke up they saw that all their books were missing and thus they started crying, becoming utterly despondent. Srinivas Acharya sent Narottam to Kheturi and Shyamananda to Orissa and he himself continued to stay there to try and find the books. Someone informed Srinivas that he doubted that the king himself might have sent a group of robbers to steal the chest thinking that it contained gold and jewels.
The king used to hear Srimad Bhagavatam everyday and at night he used to carry out robberies. Srinivas arrived at the place where Srimad Bhagavatam was being read. On seeing his tall, golden-complexioned divine form all became astounded. Even the king became astonished on seeing him but he did not say anything. Srinivas sat down to hear. When the reader of Bhagavatam gave some wrong explanation of devotional principles, Srinivas corrected it. The king then asked him if he could explain Srimad Bhagavatam and Srinivas said he will. The actual intention of Srinivas was only to retrieve the books from the king. In this way Srinivas started reading Srimad Bhagavatam to the king and his audience. On hearing from Srinivas, the heart of the king and all his family members and associates were purified and they all became his disciples. But in spite of all this, Srinivas knew no whereabouts of the books. He became morose and locked himself in a room. When his disciples saw him in such a state, they became worried. They started telling each other, “Our Gurudev is crying so much!!! Maybe we didn’t serve him nicely and committed an offense at his feet.” All of them became very afraid to see Srinivas like this. Finally the king apologized to Srinivas and asked him the reason behind his sorrow. When Srinivas told him the cause of his sadness the king immediately handed him the cloth bag which contained the books. Srinivas became jubilant on seeing the priceless books he had been searching for such a long time.
Srinivas accepted Gopal Bhatta Goswami (one among the six Goswamis) as his Gurudeva. During Vraja-mandala parikrama when our Gurudeva visited the Samadhi of Gopal Bhatta Goswami he used to recite the sad-goswami-ashtakam written by Srinivas Acharya. This bhajan glorifies all the Goswamis.
“I offer my respectful obeisances unto the six Gosvamis, namely Sri Rupa Gosvami, Sri Sanatana Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, Sri Jiva Gosvami, and Sri Gopal Bhatta Gosvami, who were engaged in chanting the holy names of the Lord and bowing down in a scheduled measurement. In this way they utilized their valuable lives and in executing these devotional activities they conquered over eating and sleeping and were always meek and humble enchanted by remembering the transcendental qualities of the Lord.”
It is not always easy to understand the divine activities of Mahāprabhu’s devotees. Only someone who is totally surrendered to the Lord and His devotees can comprehend their glories.
One of his most important disciples was Rāmacandra Kavirāja, the son of Srikhanda resident, Cirañjīva Sena. Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī Prabhu gave Rāmacandra the title kavirāja after hearing his poems. Narottama Ṭhākura had a close friendship with Rāmacandra Kavirāja and even wrote about it in one of his songs:
“O my master, Śrīnivāsa Ācārya! Please be merciful to me. I, Narottama Dāsa beg you to give me the association of Rāmacandra.
Pure devotees have no objective in life other than to fulfill the desires of the Supreme Lord. They are thus ready to do anything if it pleases the Lord. None of their activities has the slightest hint of material desire in it. Śrīnivāsa Ācārya is the śaktyāviṣṭa-avatāra of Mahāprabhu and only a person who has received his special blessings can describe his transcendental activities.