"ISODYANA" NANDANA ACARYA'S HOUSE -Where LORD NITYANANDA & LORD CAITANYA Met The First Time

Hare Krishna! On 6 Feb'12, Monday is "Nityananda Trayodasi", the Appearance day of Lord Nityananda (Nitai). Fasting is till noon.

I perpetually worship Sri Nityananda, the root of the tree of Krishna-Bhakti, who wandering around in Bengal approached the door of every home. With upraised arms he exclaimed: "O Brothers! Please constantly chant the holy names of Hari. If you do so, I will take the responsibility to deliver you from the ocean of material existence." --Sri Nityanandastakam by Srila Vrindavana Das Thakura

Lord Nityananda appeared about twenty years before the appearance of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Nityananda Trayodasi is an important celebration for devotees, as without His mercy one cannot get the mercy of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. One must take the shelter of the lotus feet of Lord Nityananda Prabhu, for He is the original spiritual master. It is by the mercy of Nitai that we can obtain love of Krishna. The eve of Nityananda Trayodasi is celebrated for the purpose of invoking auspiciousness.

"SRI ISODYANA" - NANDANA ACARYA'S HOUSE

THE PLACE WHERE LORD SRI GAURANGA MAHAPRABHU & LORD NITYANANDA MET THE FIRST TIME

Nandana Acarya is an associate of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in His Navadvipa-Mayapur pastimes. His house is where Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda met for the first time. Advaita Acarya and his wife Sita Devi also came here to hide when Advaita Prabhu issued a challenge to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to test His claim that He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Gauranga Mahaprabhu also hid here for one night, creating intense feelings of separation in His associates. This temple is between ISKCON temple and boat ghat to Navadvipa. The area from confluence of Ganga and Sarasvati rivers to samadhi mandir of Srila Prabhupada (ISKCON) is known as Isodyana, the Lord's garden.

 

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura explains in Navadvipa-bhava-taranga: "In this garden, my Lord Sri Sacinandana performs His midday pastimes along with His devotees. Seeing the brilliance of this grove, I will remember Radha-kunda in Vraja. May all these be eternally visible to my eyes. Amid the huge trees and dense vines, various types of birds are singing the glories of Gauranga. There is a large lake and a golden temple covered with diamonds as well as blue and yellow sapphires. Materialists with their eyes bewildered by the illusions of material sense perception, and who are envious of Lord Sri Krishna, can never see these groves. Rather they see only a small piece of land covered with thorns, periodically thrown into utter disruption by the forceful flooding of the river."

Main altar: Centre of the altar has beautiful big neem Deities of SRI SRI GAURA-NITAI and also LORD NRSIMHADEVA.

Left altar has two Deities of GAURANGA MAHAPRABHU with Their right arm raised and GIRI-GOVARDHANA.

SRI SRI RADHA-VINODA BIHARI preside on right side of the altar.

SRI SRI GAURA-NITAI AND LORD NRSIMHADEVA

SRI SRI RADHA-VINODA BIHARI

Their Lordships are very charming!

SRI SRI RADHA-VINODA BIHARI

On the left hand side of the main altar is another altar with the Deities of SRI ADVAITA ACARYA & SRIMATI SITA THAKURANI (the eternal wife of Sri Advaita Acarya), LORD SRI GAURANGA MAHAPRABHU and LORD SRI NITYANANDA PRABHU.

This is the exact spot of Nandana Acarya's house, where Lord Nityananda hid.

SRI ADVAITA ACARYA & SRIMATI SITA THAKURANI, LORD SRI GAURANGA MAHAPRABHU and LORD SRI NITYANANDA PRABHU.

 

Other points of interest at Nandana Acarya's house:

Main hall is on left inside the front gate. It is very nicely maintained with painted terracotta reliefs showing the pastimes of Lord Caitanya and Krishna. From here one can see a murti of HH Bhakti Saranga Goswami, a disciple of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura who established this temple.

On right, just inside the front gate of and up a flight of stairs is a series of moving dioramas showing the pastimes of Krishna and Lord Caitanya.

FIRST MEETING OF SRI GAURANGA & SRI NITYANANDA AT NANDANA ACARYA'S HOUSE

Lord Nityananda left his childhood home of Ekachakra when He was 12 years of age and travelled on pilgrimage for approx 20 years. He then went to Vrindavana where He waited for Lord Caitanya to reveal His sankirtana pastimes. He spent His days roaming around the forests of Vraja absorbed in the ecstasy of his previous pastimes as Balarama, roaring loudly and rolling in the dust of Gokula. He would play with local cowherd boys and their cows. Upon hearing that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was revealing His true identity as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His sankirtana pastimes, Lord Nityananda immediately came to Navadvipa-Mayapur Dhama. He waited here at Nandana Acarya's house for His younger brother, Gaurasundara, to find Him.

 

Nandana Acarya was a very elevated devotee and he was very happy to have Lord Nityananda stay with him. He looked after the Lord with great care and attention. He saw that,

-      the Lord was very effulgent like the brilliant sun.

-      the Lord had a large body and was dressed in the clothes of a travelling renunciate.

-      He was always grave and equipoised. Day and night He chanted Lord Krishna's holy name.

-      His beautiful, glowing face could have easily defeated a thousand shining full moons.

-      A captivating smile played sweetly on His exquisite lips.

-      So white and radiant were His teeth that if a pearl were held next to them the pearl would look like a faded and discarded piece of glass.

-      His long, languid eyes stole the pinkish tinge of the early rising sun.

-      His arms were long and reached down to His knees, and He possessed a robust chest and broad shoulders.

-      His lotus feet were soft and His gait was graceful.

-      He spoke to everyone with kind words which severed the bonds of material attachment within everyone's heart.

 

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu understood that Lord Nityananda had reached Navadvipa. He felt great happiness with His heart and informed all the devotees, "O, My dear brothers! A great personality will come to here with few days." But no one could understand about whom Lord was talking. Then, gathering all His associates together, Gaurasundara told them of a dream He had the previous night. The Lord said, "Today I had a very wonderful dream. A great chariot called Taladhvaja came and stopped in front of My house. Sitting on that chariot was a great personality with huge body. He was holding a club over His shoulder and in His left hand was a kamandalu pot bound to a stick. He was wearing a blue cloth, had a blue turban on His head, and a wonderful earring was hanging from His left ear. Upon seeing this character I felt He had the mood of Haladhara, Lord Balarama. He asked Me 10 or 20 times, 'Is this the house of Nimai Pandita?' He looked like a great avadhuta. I have never seen such a personality. I felt very respectful to Him and asked Him,

'O, great personality! Who are You? He smiled and said, 'I am Your brother. Tomorrow We will meet with each other.'

 

From this dream I think a great person must have come to Navadvipa. I have told you before that very soon we will meet with a great personality. O, Haridasa! O, Srivasa! Please go and find out whether He has already arrived."

 

By the order of Lord, two great spiritual stalwarts, Haridasa Thakura and Srivasa Pandita went to search for Him all over Navadvipa, but they could not find a personality anywhere. After searching for Him all over for 9 hours, they finally came back to Lord Gauracandra and informed Him, "We searched for this personality everywhere, in houses of all the Vaishnavas, sannyasis and grhasthas, even in the homes of all the atheists, we could not find Him anywhere. We have searched all over Navadvipa, but we have not gone to other villages."

 

Upon hearing this Lord Gauracandra smiled and explained to them how this personality, Lord Nityananda, is very confidential. Not everyone can find Him; unless Lord Gauranga Himself reveals Him, He cannot be found. Lord Gauranga said, "All of you come with Me. We will go and search for Him together." All the devotees became very jubilant and chanted, "All glories to Krishna" and they accompanied the Lord. Lord Gauracandra along with all the devotees went directly to Nandana Acarya's house.

 

There they saw this great jewel among all persons. He was as effulgent as millions of suns. He was in immense meditative bliss and was always laughing. Mahaprabhu understood His great devotion and along with all His associates offered obeisances to Him. All stood there with respect, no one said a word, they just looked on silently. Lord Visvambhara stood in front of that personality. He recognized Lord Nityananda, the Lord of His life. Lord Nityananda also recognized His Lord. In ecstasy Lord Nityananda became stunned and looked upon Lord Visvambhara with undeviated, focused attention in such a way that it seemed as if He was licking with His tongue, drinking through His eyes, embracing with His arms and smelling through His nose.

 

Thus Nityananda became silent and motionless. Everyone was surprised to see this but Lord Gaura Raya could understand everything. In order to reveal Lord Nityananda's svarupa to everyone Lord Gauracandra devised a plan. He made an indication to Srivasa Pandita to recite a verse from Srimad Bhagavatam. Understanding the desire of the Lord, Srivasa recited the following verse:

barhapidam´ nata-vara-vapuh karnayoh karnikaram´

bibhrad vasah kanaka-kapisam´ vaijayantim´ ca malam

randhran venor adhara-sudhayapurayan gopa-vrndair

vrndaranyam´ sva-pada-ramanam´ pravisad gita-kirtih

 

"Wearing a peacock-feather ornament upon His head, blue karn?ikara flowers on His ears, a yellow garment as brilliant as gold, and the Vaijayanti garland, Lord Krishna exhibited His transcendental form as the greatest of dancers as He entered the forest of Vrindavana, beautifying it with the marks of His footprints. He filled the holes of His flute with the nectar of His lips, and the cowherd boys sang His glories." (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.21.5)

 

As soon as Lord Nityananda heard this verse He immediately fell down and lost His external consciousness. When Lord Nityananda fainted in ecstasy, Lord Gauranga instructed Srivasa to recite more and more. By hearing again and again Lord Nityananda regained His external consciousness and started to cry. Hearing the verse repeatedly increased His ecstasy and He started roaring like a lion. He was jumping high in the air and falling to the ground. Everyone was thinking that His bones would break. Everyone prayed to Lord Sri Krishna, "Please save Him, please save Him!" Lord Nityananda was rolling on the ground, His whole body drenched in tears. He was looking at the face of Visvambhara and breathing heavily experiencing ecstasy within his heart and laughing loudly. Sometimes He was dancing, sometimes He was bending down, sometimes He was beating on His arms and at other times He was jumping which was a very amazing sight. By seeing this most wonderful ecstasy due to madness for Lord Krishna, Sri Gauranga cried along with all the Vaishnavas. Constantly the happiness increased. No one was able to catch hold of Lord Nityananda and after their failed attempts Lord Visvambhara Himself took Lord Nityananda onto His lap. As soon as Lord Nityananda reached the lap of Visvambhara He became quite and surrendered His life to Him. Lord Nityananda was floating in the water of love of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He looked exactly like Laksmana when he was hurt by the sakti weapon of Indrajit, and Visvambhara looked exactly like Ramacandra, holding His wounded brother on His lap. Lord Nityananda fainted, pierced by the arrows of prema-bhakti. Lord Gauracandra was crying, holding Nityananda. After some time Lord Nityananda regained His external consciousness and the devotees started chanting "Hari! Hari!" and "Jaya, Jaya".

 

Nityananda and Gauracandra just looked at each other without saying anything as tears flowed from Their eyes. Then Lord Gauranga started glorifying Lord Nityananda by saying,

-      "Today is a very auspicious day because I have seen Bhakti-yoga in You, which is the essence of all the Vedas. Without the energy of Isvara how can anyone exhibit tears and other symptoms like these?

-      By serving You one will get Krishna-Bhakti. You have come to purify all 14 planetary systems.

-      You are the personification of Krishna-Bhakti.

-      Now I understand that Krishna has brought You here to give Me Your association which will definitely deliver Me."

After glorifying Nityananda for some time Lord Gauranga asked fearfully, "Kindly tell Me, where have You come from?" Nityananda, who has a childlike nature and was talking like a child, said, "I had set off for tirtha-yatra (pilgrimage). I went to see all the holy places of Sri Krishna but wherever I went I saw only empty places without Krishna. I asked some gentlemen why this was so, 'Why are all these simhasanas empty? O, my dear brothers! Please tell me in which direction Krishna has gone?' They replied that Krishna had gone to Gauda-desa. 'Just a few days ago He went to Nadia after visiting Gaya. There is a great Hari-Sankirtana happening in Nadia.' Some said, 'Lord Narayana has appeared there, I heard the deliverer of fallen souls has appeared in Nadia!' Hearing this great news a fallen soul like Me has come here." Mahaprabhu said, "We are all very fortunate that a great devotee like You has arrived here. By seeing the flow of bliss in You we have been blessed today."

 

Thus Lord Nityananda and Lord Gauracandra met each other at Nandana Acarya's house. It is stated in Sri Caitanya Bhagavata by Srila Vrindavana Das Thakura: Whoever listens to this description will become free from material bondage and receive pure Krishna-Bhakti.

NITAI-PADA-KAMALA - One must take the shelter of the lotus feet of Lord Nityananda, for He is the original spiritual master. It is by the mercy of Nitai that we can obtain love of Krishna.

"Sri Nityananda Prabhu's face is more beautiful and cooling than the autumnal moon. The effulgence coming out from His body is supremely beautiful. He always moves like a mad elephant, since He is always intoxicated with Krishna-prema (love of God). He is always mad after Krishna-prema. His body is completely pure spiritual energy. He always has a smiling face. His eyes are very fickle, moving to and fro. His lotus hand always holds a glowing staff. Yes, that is Sri Nityananda, who by the beating of that staff, destroys all our reactions of Kali-yuga. We should take shelter of Sri Nityananda and cry for the mercy of Sri Nityananda! He is the root of Krishna-prema bhakti-kalpa-taru, the root of the tree of loving devotion unto Krishna. I [Vrindavana Das Thakura] do my bhajana of Lord Nityananda, the very root of the Krishna-Bhakti-Vriskha."

Lord Nityananda is an ocean of mercy, the shelter of all Vaishnavas and the giver of devotion.

 

 

Directions: Turn left outside the main gate of ISKCON Mayapur and proceed about 500 meters past Srila Prabhupada boat ghat. Nandana Acarya's house is the first temple on the left side of the road and has ornate main gate.

 

Mayapur TV: http://Mayapur.tv

 

Live Darshan Sri Krishna-Balaram Temple Vrindavan: http://www.iskconvrindavan.com/krishnalive.html

 

 

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