As Śrī Jīva approached Śrī Navadvīpa-dhāma, he offered his obeisance from a distance and fell unconscious. Some time later he composed himself and, with his hairs standing on end, he entered Navadvīpa-dhāma.
Upon arriving in Navadvīpa, Jīva met with Vaiṣṇavas whom Nityānanda Prabhu had sent to bring him. Upon hearing Nityānanda Prabhu’s name, Śrī Jīva became unconscious and fell to the ground.
The Vaiṣṇavas took Jīva Gosvāmī to Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, who was in internal consciousness, singing the pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṇa in the company of the Vaiṣṇavas. Upon seeing Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu’s transcendental form, ecstasies arose in the body of Jīva Gosvāmī, and he fell unconscious.
The supremely compassionate Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu lifted Jīva up and accepted him as His own associate. Jīva Gosvāmī, overcome with emotion, prayed to Nityānanda Prabhu.
tomāra karuṇā vinā gaura nāhi pāya
śata janma bhaje yadi gaurāṅge hiyāya
Śrī Navadvīpa-dhāma Mahātmya 5.34
Even if someone worships Gaurāṅga in his heart for a hundred births, without Your kind mercy he will not be able to attain Gaura.
Jīva prayed, “Please give me Your mercy and sanction to obtain Gaura’s darśana and develop attachment to Him. Śrīman Mahāprabhu ordered me to study Vedānta and to reveal kṛṣṇa-bhakti as explained therein. Accepting Mahāprabhu as my only shelter, I took His order to heart and studied many subjects as much as I could. However, in Bākalācandradvīpa, I could not find any vedānta-ācārya to my liking. Now I have come to You in Navadvīpa and am surrendering unto Your lotus feet. Whatever You order I will follow. If You give me your blessings, I will go to Jagannātha Purī and study Vedānta from Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya.”
Taking Śrī Jīva on His lap, Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu began to weep and said, “O Jīva, I came here just to meet with you; otherwise I would have stayed in Khardaha. Mahāprabhu has ordered Me to send you to study Vedānta under Śrī Madhusūdana Vācaspati and from there to go straight to Vṛndāvana, to be with Śrī Rūpa and Sanātana.
“Under Rūpa’s guidance, perform bhajana of Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa and preach the spotless Mahā-purāṇa, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, for it is the essence of all scriptures and the genuine commentary on Vedānta-sūtra. Śrī Gaurahari explained Vedānta to Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya according to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and he in return carefully taught this knowledge to Śrī Madhusūdana Vācaspati in Jagannātha Purī. Madhusūdana Vācaspati now lives in Vārāṇasī and you should go there and meet him.”
After thus speaking, Jīva performed saṅkīrtana along with Nityānanda Prabhu, Śrīvasa Paṇḍita, and the other Vaiṣṇavas. Śrī Jīva stayed in Śrīvāsa-aṅgana, and again met with Nityānanda Prabhu in the evening.
Jīva enquired about the nature of Śrī Navadvīpa-dhāma. Nityānanda Prabhu explained this highly confidential topic. He said, “As Śrī Kṛṣṇa never leaves Vṛndāvana to go elsewhere, similarly Śrīman Mahāprabhu never leaves Śrī Navadvīpa-dhāma. Only from an ordinary viewpoint does Mahāprabhu take sannyāsa and leave Navadvīpa, but in reality Śrī Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu never leaves Māyāpura in Navadvīpa-dhāma to go elsewhere.
“Devotees still witness Gaurāṅga’s daily eternal pastimes in Navadvīpa, and in time O Jīva, you will too. If you want to see all the pastime places of Śrī Gaura in Navadvīpa-dhāma, then you should perform parikramā.”
Hearing Nityānanda Prabhu’s advice, Śrī Jīva replied,
“O Lord, please give this poor soul Your mercy and take me on parikramā.” Nityānanda Prabhu, completely free from any pride, happily agreed to be Śrī Jīva’s guide.
Nityānanda Prabhu first took Jīva to Jagannātha Miśra’s house, where He said to Śacī Mātā, “O Mother, this supremely intelligent Jīva is a dear servant of Śrī Gaurāṅga. He is very lucky.”
Jīva fell unconscious in ecstasy. Upon awakening, he rolled on the ground at Śacī Mātā’s lotus feet. Mother Śacī mercifully
blessed Śrī Jīva.
Śrīmatī Viṣṇupriyā-devī was also present, but she would always remain inside the house, along with Śacī Mātā, Vaṁśīvadanānda Prabhu, and Īśāna Ṭhākura, who was an aged servant of the household who had helped the family for a few generations. Īśāna Ṭhākura performed his services under the guidance of Vaṁśīvadanānda Prabhu, the incarnation
of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s flute. (see more)
