Narottam Das Thakur

Narottam das Thakur was born in Khethuri in 1534, the year of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's disappearance. His father was king, but by caste he was kayastha (sudra). Before that, when Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu visited Ramakeli, He went to River Padma and suddenly began to call out: "Narottam!" "Narottam!" He told His devotees: "Very soon a personality will be born in Khethuri and he will absorb My kirtana-rasa with all of my love. Now I am depositing my prema to Padma and she will deliver it to Narottam Young Narottam Das Thakur became brilliant student and one day Lord Nityananda appeared to him in a dream and told him to go to river Padma and take bath. On waking Narottam Das Thakur rushed towards the river and while bathing his body changed from blackish to golden. Narottam Das Thakur  started to call and cry and upon returning his parents could not recognize him. He was dancing and singing the holy names day and night. After some time Narottam Das Thakur had a dream in which Sri Caitanya ordered him to go to Vrindavan and take initiation from Lokanath Goswami. Narottam Das Thakur ran away from his home much to the despair of his parents Upon arriving to Vrindavan he fainted in front of Sri Govindaji and all devotees headed by Srila Jiva Goswami came there to meet him as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu predicted his appearance. Narottam Das Thakur became the only disciple of Lokanath Goswami and his bhajans are famous among vaisnavas even today. Srila Prabhupada said that even stones are getting melted listening to Narottam Das Thakur's bhajans. This puspa-samadhi contains his garland, cloth, kaupin and japa beads. Narottam Das Thakur is Vilas Manjari, one of the Radharani's intimate maidservants who usually prepares milk products. Narottam's body is not entombed anywhere since his transcendental body dissolved as milk into the water during his bath in a river at his disappearance.
Narottama Das Thakur is best known for his devotional poetry wherein he describes emotionally intense feelings towards Srimati Radharani and Sri Krishna. His prayers Sri Rupa Manjari Pada and Sri Guru Carana Padma are still sung in within both Gaudiya Math and ISKCON temples on a regular basis.
Among the writings of Narottama Das Thakur, Prarthana and Premabhakticandrika (The Moonrays of Loving Devotion) are the most well-known. Narottama Das Thakur translated Smaranamangala into Bengali verse. In eleven slokas this work describes the pastimes of Srimati Radharani and Sri Krishna in eight parts of the day.
Srila Prabhupada, a spiritual descendant of Narottama Das Thakur through Gaur Kishore Das Babaji, had often cited his prayers as many of Gaudiya Vaishnava acharyas did: "The prayers of Narottama dasa Thakura," he said. "This sound is above the material platform. It is directly from the spiritual platform. And there is no need of understanding the language. It is just like a thunder burst. Everyone can hear the sound of thunder-there is no misunderstanding. Similarly, these songs are above the material platform, and they crack like thunder within your heart."

 Pushpa Samadhi of Narottam Das Thakur               Narottam Das Thakur