Vaishnavcharan Goswami—Famous Vaishnava scholar of his times, leader of the contemporary Vaishnava community, acknowledged authority on Bhakti text including the Bhagavata. Son of the reputed sadhaka Utsavananda Goswami (Vidyavagish), also said to be his guru (by another theory Totaram Babaji of Vrindavan considered his guru) and Padma Devi, daughter of Mahanta Shyam Adhikari. According to some Vaishnavcharan first met the Master at the Danda Mahotsava at Panihati (1858) where he had perceived the Master’s sublime spirituality. The Great Master (pp. 581-82) records Mathur Babu’s invitation to him to come to Dakshineswar. He and his party met Bhairavi Brahmani and Mathur Babu to ascertain the nature of the Master’s spiritual condition. Vaishnavcharan came to know that the Master was a great soul at the very first sight of him and claimed that the spiritual mood of “maha bhava”—observed in Sri Radha and Sri Chaitanya—were manifested in the Master. Afterwards he began to frequent Dakshineswar to enjoy the Master’s blissful company and seek spiritual advice. Soon a meeting was convened at Dakshineswar to debate the Master’s spiritual state. Vaishnavcharan fell at the Master’s feet as soon as he arrived and the Master, in an exalted mood, sat on his shoulders. The latter, feeling blessed, chanted a hymn to the Master composed extempore. Gauri Pandit of Indes, come for the debate, observed all and announced that a debate would be useless as Vaishnavcharan was strengthened by the Master’s grace. Later he said that Vaishnavcharan’s estimate of the Master being an Incarnation of God was quite inadequate, for the Mater was He from whom Incarnations come down (Sri Ramakrishna, the Great Master, Vol. II, pp. 593-94).
Vaishnavcharan took the Master to the well-known Kolootala Hari Sabha for a recital of the Bhagavata and, in an ecstatic mood, he sat on the sacred seat of Sri Chaitanya preserved there, to the dismay of all present. This act was later supported by Sri Bhagwandas Babaji, the famous saint of Kalna. The Master respected Vaishnavcharan but considered him orthodox (The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, p. 423). The Master’s frequent allusions to him prove his high regard for him: “Vaishnavcharan used to say that one has attained Perfect Knowledge if one believes in God sporting as man. I wouldn’t admit it then. But now I realize that he was right. Vaishnavcharan liked pictures of man expressing tenderness and love” (The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, p. 392); “… if anyone could look upon the object of his love as his Chosen Ideal, his mind would soon turn to the Divine Lord” (Sri Ramakrishna, the Great Master, Vol. II, pp. 596-97); “… God is known by the mind and intellect that are pure” (The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, p. 158); “… Why should one constantly dwell on sin? Be merry!” (Ibid., p. 224); “… One attains Perfect Knowledge when one sees God in man” (Ibid., p. 419); “… In the end the mind of the devotee is absorbed in the human manifestation of God” (Ibid., p. 688).