Who is Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī Prabhu?

Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī Prabhu is an eternally perfected associate of the Lord. He is jagad-guru and the emperor of the devotees. In kṛṣṇa-līlā he is Śrī Rūpa-mañjarī. Śrī Rūpa Prabhu is also an intimate devotee of Śrī Gaurāṅga. He does not belong to the jīva-tattva and is not an ordinary living entity. Rather, he is the master of the living entities and part of the Lord’s internal energy. He is dear to the daughter of Vṛṣabhānu.

Śrī Rūpa Prabhu is special among the devotees of Lord Gaurasundara, and is extremely dear to Śrī Gaurasundara Himself. Śrī Rūpa Prabhu understood Śrī Gaurasundara’s internal mood. No other follower of Gaurasundara acted as an ācārya manifesting the topics of the highest supreme service. Śrī Gaurasundara’s confidential internal mood is shown only to those who follow Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara and Śrī Rūpa. Therefore, we are all indebted to Śrī Rūpa. As long as the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava sampradāya exists, no one will deny Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī Prabhu’s extraordinary and matchless charity. Neither can anyone repay his debt to Śrī Rūpa Prabhu, even those who surrender fully at his feet. He who dwells in the lap, on the chest, and on the head of Śrī Kṛṣṇa is our eternally worshipable Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī Prabhu. The dust from his lotus feet is our most cherished item. His lotus feet are our only hope and shelter.

How can we attain Kṛṣṇa’s service? Śrī Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī Prabhu tells us to serve Kṛṣṇa by serving Śrī Rūpa and Raghunātha. Our realization of the Lord’s service is determined by how we are cheated of the lotus feet of Śrī Rūpa Prabhu. Śrī Rūpa’s followers possess all opulence. Śrī Rūpa is the ideal example of how to cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In the ordinary historians’ vision, he was a disciple of his elder brother Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī, but even Sanātana Gosvāmī Prabhu begs Śrī Rūpa’s mercy. Śrī Sanātana Prabhu says that those who do not aspire for Śrī Rūpa’s mercy will never see the beauty of service to Rādhā-Govinda.

When fruitive workers and impersonalists began to gather strength in their attempts to discredit devotional service, Śrī Gaurasundara required a commander-in-chief who could preach the philosophy of devotional service and defeat their arguments. Śrī Rūpa and Sanātana were His two commanders-in-chief, and all their followers formed the Lord’s army. Śrī Svarūpa Damodara Prabhu is the leader of the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas, and through him all armies are recruited for defeating the opponents of bhakti.

Śrī Rūpa’s army has no weapon other than kīrtana. Śrī Gaurasundara empowered His commander-in-chief Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī Prabhu to use this weapon when they were together at Prayāga; He taught him how to lead an expedition against those opposed to devotional service and how to protect oneself from bad association. By discussing the battle, we can also learn to fire at the conceptions of people opposed to bhakti. We too can learn to destroy sinful mentality, fruitive and other forms of material desire, atheism, godlessness, and any other contrary mood.

Amṛta Vāṇī - Nectar of Instructions for Immortality, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura