Lord Nityānanda's appearance day

Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu appeared in the village of Ekacakrā, in West Bengal, India, around 1474. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛita and other scriptures He is declared to be the avatar of Lord Balarāma,, the direct expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

As a child He was called Nitāi and had a close circle of friends. Together they used to imitate the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa and His associates. All the adults of Ekacakrā were fascinated by this unique little boy, and they loved Him as their own. Seeing His total absorption in Kṛṣṇa and the avatars of Viṣṇu, they suspected that He might be some sort of incarnation Himself. He was relentless, day after day enacting a different pastime, and did it so skillfully that His neighbors wondered, "How is it that He is so talented? How does He know the stories so well? No one has explained all these details to Him." On one occasion, one of the boys dressed as Akrūra and took Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma away from Vṛndāvana on the order of Kaṁsa. Nitāi cried in grief, feeling the separation of the cowherd girls who loved Kṛṣṇa with their whole being. Tears of love flowed from His eyes. His acting was so authentic that it made all who watched question whether He was merely acting or in some way experiencing the part He played. This was true whether He was playing Kṛṣṇa, Balarāma, or even Vāmana and other Incarnations of the Lord. When questioned, Nitāi would respond: "They are My own divine pastimes, and I am allowing you to see them."

 Among His most convincing roles was that of Lakṣmaṇa, the brother of Rāma, which intimated His divine identity as Balarāma. For His first twelve years, Nityānanda Prabhu stayed in Ekacakrā and shared loving pastimes with His neighbors.

Traveling on Pilgrimage

Just thirteenth year, however, a traveling mendicant came to His home and was welcomed as a guest by Hāḍāi Paṇḍita, Nityānanda's affectionate father. With deep respect and brahminical hospitality, Hāḍāi Paṇḍita offered his eminent guest all that he had. "Please feel free to take whatever you like," he said. "My home is your home." The visiting ascetic explained that his was a simple life, and that his needs were minimal. However, he said, he needed a traveling companion, and young Nitāi would be an appropriate person for such a service. Nitāi was eager, and reluctantly, Hāḍāi Paṇḍita agreed to let his son go.

Nitāi traveled from holy place to holy place for the next twenty years, until He was thirty-two, receiving instruction and friendship from His elderly sannyāsī companion. He journeyed the length and breadth of India and sanctified the subcontinent by His presence, making holy places even holier. As Nitāi continued to travel, feeling the ecstasy of these sacred areas, He more and more took on the character of an avadhūta, or a spiritually elevated person who appears crazy to the uninformed. His mode of activity and general behavior became increasingly unexplainable and erratic; no one could understand what motivated Him or why He behaved in the way that He did. For example, He was known to dance ecstatically with the cloth meant to cover His loins wrapped instead around His head.

In Pāṇḍarapura  (in present-day Maharashtra), Nityānanda Prabhu met Lakṣmīpati Tīrtha. It is said that Lakṣmīpati was given to intense dreams about Lord Balarāma, and when he met Nityānanda in Pāṇḍarapura, he was convinced that this beautiful young Nityānanda was none other than Balarāma Himself. As they developed a deep, loving relationship, Nityānanda became increasingly more and more dear to Lakṣmīpati Tīrtha, and Lakṣmīpati Tīrtha became dear to Him.

According to some authorities, Lakṣmīpati Tīrtha initiated Nityānanda Prabhu at this time, giving Him the brahmacārī name "Svarūpa." Lakṣmīpati's most famed disciple was Mādhavendra Purī, who is credited with having established the sweet truth of the amorous relationship with Kṛṣṇa, which later became an integral part of Lord Caitanya's teachings, and also with being the first to openly articulate the preeminent position of Rādhārāṇī. Because Mādhavendra Purī was His senior, Nityānanda Prabhu always treated him as though he were His spiritual master.

Soon Nityānanda  Prabhu reached Vraja (Vṛndāvana.) His ecstasy increased one million times. Visiting the many places associated with Kṛṣṇa's pastimes, He shouted, danced, rolled around, laughed, and howled like a madman. With overflowing intensity, He cried out, "Where is Kṛṣṇa? Where is My very life and soul?" As these words emanated from His anxious lips, He shivered uncontrollably and tears of love poured from His eyes like torrents of rain. At that moment, He was seized with a startling inner vision, which showed Him that Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu had completed His childhood pastimes. Mahāprabhu was now overtly engaged in His mission. This realization made Nityānanda chortle with unbridled affection for His spiritual brother, and so from śṛṅgāra-vata He proceeded to Navadvīpa to join in Mahāprabhu's pastimes.

nityānandam aham vande karṇe lambita-mauktikam caitanyagraja-rūpeṇa pavitrī-kṛta-bhutalam

"Salutations to Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, Who has a single pearl suspended from one of His ears, Who is the elder brother of Śrī Kṛṣṇa-Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and Who is the purifier of the world."

Uniting With Caitanya Mahāprabhu

The year was 1506, and after arduous travel through dense forests in the trance-like state of frantic devotion, Nityānanda Prabhu reached the land of Nadīyā, where Caitanya Mahāprabhu resided. When the two Lords finally saw each other for the first time, they were immediately overtaken by waves of ecstasy. Nitāi was roughly thirty-two-years-old, and Mahāprabhu was twenty. They each felt that their lives were now perfectly complete. Embracing, they cried rivers of ecstasy.

Soon after their initial meeting, Mahāprabhu took Nityānanda to Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura's home to offer Vyāsa-pūjā, or guru-worship, to Nitāi, who is the original guru for all mankind. However, Nityānanda grabbed all of the worship articles from Mahāprabhu and worshiped Him instead. Nitāi kept repeating, "Nimāi Paṇḍita [Mahāprabhu] is my Lord and master! Nimāi Paṇḍita is my Lord and master!" There was constant competition as to who would serve whom. Their love for each other is indescribable. From this point until Mahāprabhu left Navadvīpa for Jagannātha Purī, Nitāi was always at His side. Both Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura and Kṛṣṇa dāsa Kavirāja Goswami unequivocally assert that Nitāi holds the key to Mahāprabhu's heart. The teaching of the Caitanya tradition is emphatic: One who thinks that he can attain love of God without first attaining the mercy of Nityānanda Rāma is living in a hallucination.

The Liberation of Jagāi and Mādhāi

Mahāprabhu asked Nityānanda Prabhu and Haridāsa Ṭhākura to serve as His door-to-door preachers, spreading the message of love of God to every home in Navadvīpa. It was at this point that Nitāi and Haridāsa met the two brothers Jagāi and Mādhāi. They were the descendents of an illustrious brāhmaṇa dynasty but had abandoned the pious ways of their forefathers for a life of debauchery.

When the two emissaries of Mahāprabhu's mercy first met them, Jagāi and Mādhāi were in a drunken stupor, creating havoc throughout the village. Nitāi felt compassion on these fallen souls and reasoned that if they could be rectified, then Mahāprabhu's mission would become even more well received in Navadvīpa. Approaching the two wayward brothers on the street, Nitāi begged them to chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa and to taste the sweet nectar of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. But the two villains just chased Nitāi down the road, shouting profanities and calling Him foul names. Mādhāi threw a broken clay pot that came crashing down on Nitāi's divine head, causing Him to bleed. (Although Nitāi's body is perfectly spiritual, He manifested this pastime so that Jagāi and Mādhāi could attain liberation.)

When Mahāprabhu heard what had happened, He became infuriated and rushed to the area Himself. How could anyone harm a gentle soul like Nitāi? Summoning His divine disk-like weapon, which is flaming and radiant, Mahāprabhu was prepared to kill the two repellent brothers on the spot, forcing them to taste the wrath of God. His anger, however, was assuaged by Nitāi, who reminded Him that the majority of people in this age are as fallen as Jagāi and Mādhāi, and that it is His mission to liberate them with love, not with violence.

Hearing Nitāi's words, Mahāprabhu was willing to forgive Jagāi, for he had tried to protect Nityānanda Prabhu, but Mādhāi, who perpetuated the most evil deed of harming Nitāi, needed to be forgiven by Nitāi Himself. Nitāi's mercy knows no bounds, and He quickly forgave Mādhāi for all he had done.

When Jagāi and Mādhāi saw the loving exchange between Mahāprabhu and Nityānanda  and, observed Nitāi's forgiving nature toward them, their hearts were changed. They resolved to become devotees and enthusiastic supporters of Mahāprabhu's saṅkīrtana mission. Seeing their sincerity, Mahāprabhu took all of their sins on His own head. For a few brief moments, His beautiful golden body turned into an unsightly blackish color. Indeed, when Yamarāja's assistant Citragupta tried to tally Jagāi and Mādhāi's collective sins, he could not do so, and he collapsed from sheer exhaustion. After the incident with Nitāi, however, Jagāi and Mādhāi set the highest standard of devotional service by constantly chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa (at least 100,000 times daily) and instructing others in devotion to Kṛṣṇa.

 Jagāi and Mādhāi became devotees of the Lord...

Spreading the saṅkīrtana Movement

After Caitanya Mahāprabhu took on the renounced order of life, sannyāsa, to spread the saṅkīrtana movement, the two brothers moved to Jagannāth Purī, on the east coast of India, where Mahāprabhu left Nityānanda and proceeded on a tour of South India that was to last for two years. When Mahāprabhu returned, He was pleased to see that Nitāi had developed the movement in Purī with the help of the local devotees. However, the movement in Navadvīpa had been sorely neglected, and so in 1511, Mahāprabhu requested Nityānanda, His most reliable saṅkīrtana commander, to return to Bengal.

Household Life and Final Pastimes
 

When Nitāi first returned to Bengal, He began His mission in Pāṇihāṭī, a village four miles north of Calcutta. For almost five months, He preached and gathered followers in this area, until thousands chanted and danced in ecstasy under His able supervision. It was at this time that Raghunātha dāsa Goswami, then a young boy, approached Nityānanda Prabhu as a surrendered servant. Since Raghunātha was born into a wealthy family, Nitāi asked him to hold a huge festival in which all the devotees could have as much yogurt and chipped rice as they desired. The festival at Pāṇihāṭī was a grand success, drawing pilgrims from miles around to participate in various ways. This naturally enhanced the saṅkīrtana movement and pleased Nityānanda very much.

 

 In Pāṇihāṭī, Nityānanda used the house of Rāghava Paṇḍita as a headquarters, and from there He taught Kṛṣṇa consciousness to thousands of people from both sides of the Bhāgīrathī River. From there, He moved on to Varāhanagara, where he stayed in the house of Gadādhara dāsa. He transformed this small dwelling into another huge center for the movement. It is said that He moved the people of this area so thoroughly that even the young children were allowed to come from neighboring villages, even on school days, just to join the kīrtana.

After a fruitful period in these places, founding self-sufficient, ongoing preaching centers, Nityānanda Prabhu arrived in Saptagrāma, one of the wealthiest towns in Bengal. Many of this town's inhabitants were considered outcastes. Although they were untouchable by Hindu standards, Nityānanda viewed all souls equally and lovingly spread Mahāprabhu's teachings to everyone He met.

After staying in Saptagrāma for some time, Nityānanda Prabhu traveled on, visiting Śantipur and Navadvīpa, where He went door-to-door and begged people to surrender to Mahāprabhu's saṅkīrtana mission. He carried this request to Thanajora, Baragachi, Dogachiya, Fulia, and all villages on both sides of the Ganges. At Khardaha, He is said to have converted no less than 1,200 male and 1,300 female Buddhists.

Nityānanda  Prabhu's most important followers joined Him at this time. With their help, Nityānanda Prabhu was successful in spreading Krishna consciousness throughout Bengal

Household Life and Final Pastimes

 When Nitāi returned to Bengal at Mahāprabhu's request, He decided to abandon His avadhūta status and get married. A village leader named Sūrya dāsa Sarakhel had two daughters who were great devotees; their names were Jāhnavā and Vasudhā. As qualified girls who felt great affection for Nityānanda  Prabhu, they were chosen to marry Him, and He, in turn, loved them dearly. According to Kavi-karṇapūra, the two girls were incarnations of Revatī Devī and Vāruṇī Devī respectively, the wives of Lord Balarāma.

After some time Vasudhā gave birth to two children - a boy named Vīrabhadra and a girl named Gaṅgā devī. Vīrabhadra, especially, became a great leader in the Vaiṣṇava community and continued to spread Lord Caitanya's teachings in the mood of His distinguished father. Soon after the birth of her two divine children, Vasudhā passed away, and Jāhnavā vowed to raise them as her own.

As the years went by, Jāhnavā developed a reputation as a superlative Vaiṣṇava, embodying the ideals of devotion in Lord Caitanya's line. She initiated her son Vīrabhadra as well as many other male and female members of the Vaiṣṇava community. Major figures in Mahāprabhu's lineage took shelter at her lotus feet, and personalities like Śrī Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, Śrīnivāsa Ācārya, and Śyāmānanda Prabhu accepted her as the most prominent Vaiṣṇava in Bengal.

In Ekacakra, not far from Nityānanda Prabhu's birthplace there is a Kṛṣṇa deity known as Baṅkima Rāya, established by Nityānanda Himself. On the right side of this deity is a deity of Jāhnavā and on the left is Śrī Rādhā. The priests of this temple say that Nityānanda Prabhu merged into the form of Baṅkima Rāya to leave the earth for His eternal pastimes in the spiritual sky. There are no other stories of Nitāi's departure, and so this one is generally accepted by the orthodox Vaiṣṇava community. Be that as it may, His presence is always felt in the presence of one's own guru, for the guru is considered a living manifestation of Nityānanda Prabhu's love, and His power is what gives a true disciple the ability to perform devotional service and to experience the bliss of devotional life.