6. Madhavi Devi - The "Half" Most Intimate

6. Madhavi Devi - The "Half" Most Intimate

In Sri Caitanya-caritămyta (antya 2.104-106). Srila Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami describes:

mahitira bhagini sei, nama-madhavi-devi

vrddhā tapasvini ära parama vaisnavi

prabhu lekha kare yare-radhikara gana 

jagatera madhye 'patra-sade tina jana

svarupa gosäñi, ära raya ramananda 

sikhi-mahiti-tina, tanra bhagini-ardha-jana

Sikhi Mahiti's sister was named Madhavi Devi. She was an elderly lady who always performed austerities. She was very advanced in devotional service. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu accepted her as having formerly been an assocate of Srimati Radharani. In the entire world, three and a half people were his intimate devotees. Swarupa Damodar Goswami, Ramananda Ray, Sikhi Mahiti, and half a person was Sikhi Mahiti's sister.

Srila Kavi Karnapura describes Madhavi Devi's connection with Srimati Radharani in text 189 of his Gaura- ganoddeśa-dipika:

rägalekha-kalakelyau rādhā-dāsyau pură sthite 

te jñeye sikhi-mähäti tat-svasä mädhavi-kramat

Srimati Radharani's maidservants, Ragalekha Devi and Kalakeli Devi, appeared as Sikhi Mahiti and his sister Madhavi Devi.

In his purport to Cc. adi 10.137. His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada mentions that Sikhi Mahiti's sister, Madhavi Devi, was considered "half" because she was a woman. Apparently this was due to the social stricture that sannyasis are not allowed to associate with women. Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada speaks about Madhavi Devi and her two brothers in his purport to Cc. adi 10.135-136: Sikhi Mahiti, Madhavi and their brother Murari Mahiti were all unalloyed devotees of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who could not forget Him for a moment of their lives.

Madhavi Dasi was a resident of the village Bentapur, which is situated close to Brahmagiri Alarnath, about 14 miles west of Puri. Bentapur is also the native place of Bhavananda Ray and his famous five sons: Ramananda Ray, Gopinath, Kalanidhi, Sudhanidhi and Vaninath. Although her father's name is not given, Madhavi Devi is considered to be the daughter of Bhavananda Ray's brother, which would mean that she was the cousin-sister of Ramananda Ray. Kaviraj Goswami describes her as one of the constant associates of Mahaprabhu.'

Madhavi Devi was said to have been a karana by caste and was appointed the pāñjiä, historian or record keeper, of the Puri Jagannath temple chronicle known as Madalā Pāñji. Her brother Sikhi Mahiti is said to have been in charge of calculating the daily horoscope for Lord Jagannath that is used in the Puri temple. According to Orissan tradition, Madhavi Devi was initiated by Raghava Puri, a disciple of Madhavendra Puri.

Madhavi Devi's renunciation is famous, While speaking about sannyāsa in the line of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the Samskära-dipikā mentions Madhavi Devi:

Examples (of renunciates) in Mahaprabhu's line are his associates Swarup Damodar, who gave up his brahmin thread and sikha and donned a kaupina, thus attaining his natural position (svarūpa) as a sannyasi; the vaişnavi Madhavi Devi and Raghunath Das Goswami, who was given kaupina by Nityananda Prabhu himself.

Srimati Madhavi Devi is remembered in connection with the banishment of Chota Haridas, Caitanya-caritāmita (antya 2.101-103) relates that the devotee Bhagavan Acharya, who was cooking one day for Mahaprabhu, requested Chota Haridas to beg some fine rice from the elderly Madhavi Devi. When Mahaprabhu found out that Chota Haridas, who was in the renounced order of life, had begged the rice from a lady, the Lord rejected him."

Madhavi wrote in Oriya, Bengali and Brajaboli, commonly used languages for the poet followers of Mahaprabhu. The Orissan scholar Subhas Pani describes Madhavi as the first lady to write devotional poetry in the Oriya language, while Prabhat Mukherjee has called her "the Mira Bai of Bengali religious songs." A few of Madhavi's Bengali poems are found in the famous song book Pada-kalpataru."

Sri Madhavi Devi established the worship of Sri Sri Radha Gopinath in Bentapur." The deities are still being worshiped there today. The current sevak in charge is named Govardhan Das, and the temple is managed by the Puri Radhakanta Marha, also known as the Gambhira. Madhavi Devi's samādhi is in the corner of the temple compound along with those of some of the former mahantas of the temple.


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