All glories to Sri Chaitanya, glory to Sri Nityananda!

Glory to Advaita and Srivas and all the devotees of Gaura!

Glory to Gaura Bhumi, topmost of all, where Lord Chaitanya descended with the Holy Name!

Nityananda spoke.

"Listen, eveyone! The five streams of the Ganga join at this place. The Ganga mixes with the Mandakini and Alakananda, and Sarasvati appears hidden. From the west, along with Yamuna comes the Bhogavati. There also the Manasa Ganga flows quickly. Since this is a Maha Prayag, the rishis with Brahma undertook hundreds of thousands of such sacrifices here. The glory of the place is incomparable. If one lives here, one will not take another birth. How to describe the glories? All other tirthas become like dried-up rivers in comparison. From here the living entities give up earth, air and water and attain to Goloka Vrindaban. This place, known as Kuliapahara, is situated on the bank of the Ganga and raised up like a mountain. In the scriptures this is called Koladvipa. Hear now one story from Satya-yuga.

"A young brahmana named Vasudeva was busily engaged in worship of the Varaha incarnation. He did worship to Varaha murti and offered prayers.

"'Please give me mercy and show Yourself. Let my eyes and life be successful!' He choked upcrying. 'If my Lord does not show Himself, my life is worthless.'

"Shortly thereafter, the merciful Lord showed Himself to Vasudeva in the form of a boar. His body was decorated with ornaments, and His feet, neck, nostrils, face, and eyes were all attractive. He was towering high as a mountain. Seeing Him, the brahmana thought himself very fortunate. He fell on the earth and paid his respects. Crying and confused, he could not utter words. Seeing the devotion of the youth, Varaha spoke gently to him.

"'Oh, Vasudeva, as you are My devotee, I am satisfied by your worship. When kali-yuga comes, I will display My pastimes here. Hear My words. In the three worlds there is no comparison to Navadvipa. It is My very dear Dhama, though hidden now. Also the tirtha places like Brahmavarta reside here. That is the verdict of scripture. When Brahma performed a sacrifice, I appeared and killed Hiranyaksa with My tusks. The powerful effect of the place in which I appeared is present right here. By serving Navadvipa, all tirthas are served. By living in Navadvipa, all effects of living elsewhere are attained. You were fortunate to serve Me in Navadvipa, for when Gauranga comes, you will be born here again. You will see the mahasankirtan and the astounding form of Gauranga.'

"Varaha disappeared. The vipra searched out to understand the meaning of that message. As he was a great pandit, he came to a definite understanding by scrutinizing all scriptural evidence.

"During the reign of the Vaivasvata Manu, at the beginning of Kali-yuga, Gaura lila would occur at Nadiya. The sages held all this secret. It is told by hint alone, but the wise men understand the meaning. When the lila appears on earth, the sastric evidences will also become clear. Thus the brahmana received the hint about the secret truths of Gaura. In great bliss the brahmana did sankirtan. Always he sang the name of Gaura. Having once seen the mountainous form of Varaha, Vasudeva --carefully considering--called this place Kola (boar) Parvata (mountain), but it is now known as Parvata. The devotees know that this is Giri Govardhana of Vrndavana.

"See, to the north is Bahulavana, whose wonderful radiance spreads out in all directions. In Vrindavana there are twelve forests one after another in sequence, but that does not occur here. By the Lord's desire there is no such order. Only the Lord knows why. The uncommon form of the forest increases the prema all the more.

Going a little further, Nityananda again spoke.

"See here Samudragari. This is directly Dvaraka Puri and Ganga Sagar. Both of these are present here. For Samudra Sen, a king and great devotee, Krishna was all in all. When Bhima came here with his soldiers to conquer all opponents, he surrounded Samudragiri. The king knew that Krishna was the only resort of the Pandavas and that when they were in danger, He would come to their rescue. He thought that if he could get Bhima to show some fear and scream out, then Krishna would appear, being merciful to His devotees.

"'He will come to my country, and I will see with my own eyes the black figure of Krishna.' Thinking like this, he gathered together his soldiers, elephants, horses and foot soldiers and went to battle. All the time remembering Krishna, he began firing his arrows. Bhima, seeing the shower of arrows, in great danger called to Krishna. 'Oh, Lord, protect Your Bhima, since You are merciful. I cannot fightwith Samudra Sen. If I were to defeat him, he would be humiliated. It is very shameful, but I must now be defeated.'

"Hearing the plaintive call of Bhima, Krishna appeared on the battlefield. No one could see that form except the king. He was of youthful form with complexion the color of a new cloud. Around His neck hung a garland and on His head a crown sparkled. On all His limbs were ornaments, and yellow garments clothed His wonderful figure. Seeing that form, the king fainted in ecstasy. Controlling himself, he revealed his request to the Lord.

"'Krishna, You are the master of the universe, the deliverer of the fallen. Seeing me so fallen, You have come. Everyone is singing about Your pastimes. Hearing that, I had the desire to see Your lila. My vow was that You should appear in Navadvipa. Now I see Your enchanting form here. Never will I leave Navadvipa. You have upheld My vow and have made Your appearance in the form of Krishna in Navadvipa. But my desire goes even further. Please become Gauranga before my very eyes!'

"As he looked on, the king beheld the sweet lila of Radha and Krishna. In the forest of Kumuda, Krishna and His friends performed their afternoon activities of going to herd the cows. Then in an instant this lila disappeared and he saw the form of Gauranga in a huge kirtana, with the devotees. Gauranga was dancing and singing. Brilliant gold was His complexion, all attractive His eyes drunken, body quivering. The desire of the king's eyes was fulfilled. When he saw this, the king considered his great fortune and offered prayers at the Lord's lotus feet. In a few moments, however, this all vanished. Deprived, the king began to weep.

"Bhima had not been able to see this incident and thought that the king had become suddenly afraid. He was surprised when the king gave up fighting and simply begged to pay a tax to Bhima. Bhima took the levy and went off to other places. The whole world sings the praises of Bhima, conqueror of all directions.

"That incident took place at Samudragari, on the edge of Navadvipa. Even Brahma cannot know the glory of this place. The ocean, one time taking shelter of the Ganga, came up this far and in devotion served the Lord's feet. Ganga devi said, 'Oh ocean, very soon my Lord will stay in a forest on your shore.'

"The ocean answered, 'Listen, goddess! The son of Sachi will never leave Navadvipa, though unseen to the common eye. The eternal Dhama of the Lord is this Navadvipa. All the Vedas sing of His visible and invisible pastimes here. In your shelter I will stay here, Ganga, and serve Gauranga of Navadvipa.'

"Thus the milky ocean stayed at Navadvipa, contemplating always the eternal lila of Gauranga."

The party took rest at Vaninatha's house and in the afternoon toured Champa Hatta. Nityananda Prabhu explained to Sri Jiva: "Listen, son of Vallabha. At this place there was a Champaka forest once. It was a portion of Khadira Forest of Vrndaban. Sakhi Champalata takes Champa flowers, strings garlands and offers them to Radha and Krishna as her eternal pastimes. When Kali-yuga grew in influence, capitalists moved in and took the flowers very eagerly. They set up market and sold them to the villagers and townfolk. Therefore this place is called Champa Hatta, more commonly known as Champahati.

"When Laksmana Sen was the king of Nadiya, Jayadeva was one of his subjects in Navadvipa. He built a hut on Ballal Dirgika's bank and lived with his wife Padma in peace. There he wrote the Dasa Avatara poem, which came into the king's hand. The king read the poem with great relish and inquired who had written it. Govardhana acharya answered that Jayadeva had written it. The king asked where he lived and the acharya told him. Secretly the king made a search and in the night came to Jayadeva's house. Dressed as a Vaisnava, the king entered the cottage, paid respects to the poet and seated himself. But Jayadeva knew that he was the king dressed as a penniless Vaisnava. The king then introduced himself and begged the poet to come to his palace. Jayadeva, being very detached from materialism, could not agree to go to the house of a materialist.

"He answered the king: 'I will give up your kingdom and go elsewhere. Association with materialists is not auspicious. I will cross the Ganga and head for Puri.'

"The king said, 'Do not give up Navadvipa ever. Listen to my words. Your vow should remain true, but my wish also should be fulfilled. Do your activity but be merciful to me. Across the Ganga is the enchanting Champa Hatta. Stay there for a few years. I will not go there as I please, but will see you only on your wish.'

"Hearing the king's words, the poet agreed and replied quickly, 'Though you are endowed with so much wealth and such a kingdom, you are a devotee of Krishna and are not bound to the material world. To test you, I called you a materialist, but you have tolerated it. Thus I know that you are a devotee of Krishna. Though taking material things, you remain unattached. I will remain some time in Champa Hatta and you can come secretly, giving up your opulent position.'

"The king very happily had his ministers build Jayadeva a cottage in Champa Hatta. There Jayadeva stayed for some time, engaged in worshipping Krishna according to the process of raga marga. Padmavati would bring heaps of Champaka flowers which Jayadeva would offer to Krishna. In great love the poet offered, and Krishna, seeing that, accepted the Champaka.

"Krishna then appeared, golden in hue, the color of the Champa flower, all attractive, shining like a hundred thousand moons, with a beautiful face. He had curled hair and a garland of flowers around His neck. His arms were long. His effulgence lit the room. Seeing that form of Gauranga, Jayadeva fainted and tears streamed from his eyes. Padmavati fell to the earth unconscious.

"The Lord with His two lotus hands lifted the couple up and spoke nectarean words: 'Very soon I will take birth in Nadiya in the womb of Saci. With all lthe devotees of all the avataras, I will distribute the gift of prema and Krishna sankirtan. After twenty-four years I will take sannyas and live in Puri. There in the association of the devotees, overcome by prema, I will taste the poems of your Gita Govinda continuously, for it is very dear to me. You will return to this Navadvipa Dhama after death. This I say for certain. Therefore, both of you go to Puri now, worship Jagannatha and attain love of God.'

"Gauranga disappeared. The two fainted, overcome by separation, and began to weep profusely. While weeping, they made a request.

"'What a form we have seen! How can we live in your absence? Why did you order us to leave Nadiya? We must have committed some offense here. We are becoming disturbed just to think that we must leave Nadiya, the spiritual kingdom. It would have been better to be a bird or beast in Navadvipa, for then we could stay a long time, always meditating on the Dhama. We can give up living, but we cannot give up Navadvipa, for the attachment is too deep. Oh Lord, give us Your lotus feet, and let us stay here.'

"As they were crying, they heard a voice: 'Do not be sorrowful, but go to Puri. There are two things to keep your heart undisturbed. Some time before, you two were thinking of going to Puri for a visit. The Lord had to fulfill that wish. Jagannatha is eager for your darshan. By plesing him, on leaving your body, you will again come to Navadvipa and remain here eternally.'

"Hearing that, the two immediately left. Turning back, they glanced once more at Navadvipa, and with tears flowing and heart throbbing, they spoke in sorrow to the residents.

"'Please give your mercy to us, who have offended. Please purify us!'

"While looking back, they proceeded further and further away. Navadvipa out of sight, they crossed out of Gaura Bhumi, weeping as they went. Arriving at Nilacala some days later, they pleased Lord Jagannatha.

"Jiva Goswami, this is the place of Jayadeva. Only a raised portion of earth remains. This is the story the old people tell."

Seeing the place, Jiva became speechless and began weeping.

"Fortunate Jayadeva, fortunate Padmavati, Gita Govinda and Krishna Rati! Be merciful to me and give me one drop of the ocean of prema that Jayadeva enjoyed!"

Saying this, Jiva fell to the earth at the feet of Nityananda. They spent the night at Vaninatha's house, where Vaninatha and Vamsivadana attended on Nityananda Prabhu.

This vile, worthless one, whose aspiration is the shade of the lotus feet of Nitai and Jahnava, sings this glorification of Nadiya.