Disappearance Day of Sri Jayadeva Gosvami

What is the disappearance day of Sri Jayadeva Gosvami?

Vaishnavas keep the disappearance day of Sri Jayadeva Gosvami, author of the Gita-govinda, on Wednesday, 27 January 2027. On this day he entered the Lord's eternal pastimes, after spending the last part of his life in Jagannatha Puri.

Significance

Before Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared, Jayadeva Gosvami served Lakshmana Sena, King of Bengal, as his court pandita. With his wife Padmavati he left royal life for a grass hut in Champahatti, Navadvipa, and there he wrote the Gita-govinda, his songs of Sri Sri Radha and Krishna. He later introduced the daily reading of the Gita-govinda in the Jagannatha temple at Puri. His samadhi is in the 64 Samadhis area.

The Gaudiya biography tells how Jayadeva hesitated to write that Krishna touches the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani. While he was away bathing, Lord Krishna Himself wrote the line, dehi pada pallavam udaram, and accepted prasadam from Padmavati. In Puri, Mahaprabhu heard the Gita-govinda sung every day by Svarupa Damodara and Mukunda.

He also passed His time reading the books and singing the songs of Caṇḍīdāsa and Vidyāpati, and listening to quotations from the Jagannātha-vallabha-nāṭaka, Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta and Gīta-govinda.

Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila 2.77

How to observe it

Hear the story of the line Krishna wrote, and read a few verses of the Gita-govinda, which tells of Srimati Radharani's feelings of separation before the rasa dance. Close the day by chanting the holy names.