Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami
From the book “Sri Vraja-maṇḍala-parikramā”:
This temple is also called the Ṭhākura-bāḍī of Rājarṣi Rāya Vanamālī dāsa. It is situated on the left side of an unpaved lane some distance from the main road that leads from Vṛndāvana to Mathurā. Śrī Vāñchārāmajī, an official in the Taḍāsa state in Bengal, was a great devotee of Kṛṣṇa. Daily, he used to take bath in the flowing water of a nearby river. Once, while taking his morning bath, he heard a very sweet voice coming from inside the river. “Please take Me out of the water and take Me home,” the voice said. However Śrī Vāñchārāma was unable to see the source of that voice in the nearby vicinity. The next day, the same thing happened. While bathing on the third day, he not only heard the sweet voice but simultaneously felt the touch of something under the water. When he picked up the object that touched him, he saw that it was an amazingly beautiful deity of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. That same deity became famous by the name of Śrī Vinoda-Ṭhākura.
By His own will, Śrī Ṭhākurajī arrived at the house of the great devotee, Śrī Vanamālī Rāya, and the regular service of the deity began there. The only daughter of Śrī Vanamālī Rāya was extremely beautiful, highly qualified and especially devoted. When the princess had darśana of Śrī Vinoda-Ṭhākura, she became fascinated by His sweet smile. Śrī Vinoda-Ṭhākura also began to play directly with that girl whose name was Rādhā. One day, He caught the corner of the princess’s sari and said, “You should marry Me.” After some time, the princess became ill. Ṭhākura Vinodajī told Rādhā’s mother in a dream, “Rādhā will not survive now. You should make one deity of Rādhā from the wood of the dry cedar tree in your garden and marry her to Me.” And so it happened that as soon as the deity of Rādhā was installed, the princess Rādhā passed away. The cremation of Princess Rādhā was carried out at the same time that Rādhā’s deity form was being installed beside Ṭhākura Vinodajī. Śrī Vinoda-Ṭhākura now became Śrī Rādhā-Vinoda-bihārī Ṭhākura. After some time, Śrī Vanamālī Rāyabahādura went to Vṛndāvana and brought Śrī Rādhā-Vinoda- bihārī Ṭhākurajī with him. He constructed a temple at this place and established Ṭhākurajī here.
Rājarṣi Rāya Vanamālī dāsa was a highly pious great person of the Śrī Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava sampradāya. He published one edition of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam with eight commentaries in the devanāgarī script. In about 1954 AD, our most worshipful oṁ viṣṇupāda Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja collected a set of this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam with its eight commentaries from the Taḍāsa Temple. [Today these books are still well-kept in the library of the author.]
