Isvara Puri was born in the town of Kumara Hatta on the full moon day of the month of Jyestha to a family of Brahmins hailing from Rarha. Kumara Hatta is in the 24 Paraganas district about two miles towards west from the Halisahar train station. Some local people indicate his appearance place to be near the Kali temple in Mukhopadhyaya Para of Kumara Hatta. Srivas Pandit and his brothers moved here after Mahäprabhu took sannyas because they were unable to tolerate all the painful reminders of Him in Nabadvépa. The temple not far from Chaitanya Doba is indicated to be their habitat.
Ishvara Puri’s birthplace is popularly known by the name “Chaitanya Doba.” The word òobä means “a pool of water.” When Chaitanya Mahäprabhu passed through Kumara Hatta on His way to Puri, He showed respect for His spiritual master by picking up some earth from the place of his birth, wrapping it in His cloth and taking it with Him. Thousands of pilgrims have since followed His example, thus forming a pit that has since filled with water.
THE MERCY OF THE SPIRITUAL MASTER
Ishvara Puri is a sannyas name. His name prior to taking sannyas is unknown. His father’s name was Shyamasundara Acharya. Ishvara Puri took initiation from Madhavendra Puri, the embodiment of nectarine devotional love. Madhavendra Puri was pleased with Ishvara Puri’s guileless, sincere and loving service and thus showered him with blessings, so that he too became immersed in the ocean of love for Kṛṣṇa. If a disciple can satisfy his spiritual master, then he will be fortunate and attain all auspiciousness and the fulfillment of all his desires. On the other hand, if the guru is unhappy with his disciple, then he will only know inauspiciousness. These teachings have been highlighted in the exemplary life of Madhavendra Puri.
Ramachandra Puri was another of Madhavendra Puri’s initiated disciples, but because of his arrogance he was bereft of his guru’s grace. Kṛṣṇa Das Kaviraj has described the incident with great beauty in the Chaitanya Charitamrita (3.8.16-30) as follows:
Previously, when Madhavendra Puri was showing pastimes of sickness, Ramachandra Puri came to see him. Madhavendra Puri was singing the names of the Lord and crying out, “I have not attained Mathura!” Ramachandra then began to instruct him– he had no compunction about doing so, even though he was a disciple. He said, “Remember that you are completely full of the bliss of Brahman. Why are you crying like this despite being knowledgeable of your own Brahma-nature?”
When Madhavendra Puri heard this, he became angry and began to rebuke Ramachandra, saying, “Get away, get away, you most sinful rascal! I am dying from the distress of not having received Kṛṣṇa’s mercy, of not having attained Mathura, and you come to add to my misery! Go wherever you like, but don’t show your face to me again! If I see you while I am dying I will take a lower birth. I am dying from the distress of not having attained Kṛṣṇa and this lowly fool is teaching me about Brahman.”
As a result, Madhavendra Puri withdrew his blessings from his disciple who thenceforth started to develop material desires. He became a dry philosopher without any interest in Kṛṣṇa. Not only that but he became critical of everyone and devoted himself to faultfinding.
Ishvara Puri, on the other hand, served his guru, even personally cleaning his urine and faeces. He continuously repeated the name of Kṛṣṇa and recounted Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes. Madhavendra Puri was so pleased with Ishvara Puri that he embraced and blessed him, saying, “May you have the treasure of love for Kṛṣṇa!”
From that time onward, Ishvara Puri became an ocean of love for Kṛṣṇa, while Ramachandra Puri became a mine of insults. These two personalities thus bear witness to the results of pleasing or displeasing a great soul. Madhavendra Puri taught this truth through them.
In this connection Srila Bhakti Siddhänta Sarasvaté Gosvämé Prabhupada has written in his Anubhäñya, “Even though Ramachandra Puri saw his own guru suffering of separation from Kṛṣṇa, he was incapable of recognizing the transcendental nature of this transport of emotions. He judged his guru to be an ordinary man and took his mood to be mundane, the result of some material insufficiency. As a result he tried to explain to him the value of experiencing the oneness of Brahman. Madhavendra Puri reacted to his disciple’s stupidity and disregard for his instructions and thus stopped wishing for his welfare. He abandoned him and drove him away.”
MAHAPRABHU TAKES INITIATION FROM ISHVARA PURI
Mahäprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and has no need of any teacher. Even so, He wishes to teach that it is absolutely necessary to take shelter of a bonafide spiritual master. For this reason He played the role of a disciple taking initiation from Ishvara Puri when He met him at Gaya. This in itself shows beyond a doubt Ishvara Puri’s greatness and importance.
Then the Lord went to Gaya where He met Ishvara Puri. After taking initiation from him, He started to display the signs of love of God and when He returned to His homeland, He began to engage in the pastimes of divine love.
(Chaitanya Charitamrita 1.17.8-9)
When they met, Mahäprabhu and Ishvara Puri were overcome by the ecstasy of love and drenched each other in the tears of prema that fell from their eyes. The Lord said, “My pilgrimage to Gaya is successful, for today I have seen your lotus feet. When one makes the piëòa (offering to the ancestors at a holy place), then that ancestor is delivered. But simply by seeing you, ten million ancestors are delivered from all forms of bondage in a single moment. Therefore no holy place is your equal, and you are the primary source of auspiciousness for even the holy places. Please lift Me up from the ocean of material suffering; I offer this body up to your service. The only gift I ask for is that you give Me the nectar of Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet to drink.”
(Chaitanya Bhagavat 1.17.49-55)
Mahäprabhu was acting the role of an ordinary mortal, a pilgrim who had come to Gaya to offer the çräddha oblations for His deceased father. On the day that He had performed these rituals, He returned to His room and began to cook. When Ishvara Puri came and placed his holy feet in Mahäprabhu’s room, Mahaprabhu personally served him the rice and vegetables that He Himself had cooked with great satisfaction. In so doing, Mahäprabhu demonstrated most perfectly how to serve the guru.
ISHVARA PURI IN NABADWIP
Ishvara Puri had met Mahäprabhu in Nabadvépa even prior to giving him the ten-syllable mantra in Gaya. He had also met with Advaita Acharya, who had similarly played the role of Madhavendra Puri’s disciple. Vrindavan Das Öhäkura has described this meeting in the Chaitanya Bhagavata.
Once Ishvara Puri passed through Nabadvépa when Nimai was still engaged in His pastimes as a student. He stayed there for a few months in the house of Gopinath Acharya as his guest. One day he saw Nimai and was most impressed and attracted by His bodily beauty. Nimai invited Ishvara Puri to His house to eat and had His Mother Sachi cook and serve him Kṛṣṇa prasad. Then He and Ishvara Puri began talking about Kṛṣṇa.
Ishvara Puri also met Gadadhar Pandit and was pleased when he saw the depth of his renunciation and pure love for Kṛṣṇa. He started to affectionately give him lessons from Çré-Kåñëa-lélämåta, a book of his own composition. Nimai would also come daily to visit Ishvara Puri while he was teaching Gadadhar and offer him His obeisance. One day, Ishvara Puripada asked Nimai to correct any mistakes that were in his book. Nimai answered:
“Anyone who finds any fault with a devotee’s description of Kṛṣṇa is a sinner. If a devotee writes a poem, no matter how poorly he does it, it will certainly contain his love for Kṛṣṇa. A fool says viñëäya while a scholar knows the correct form is viñëave, but Kṛṣṇa accepts the sentiment in either case. If anyone sees a fault in this, the fault is his, for Kṛṣṇa is pleased with anything the pure devotee says. You too describe the Lord with words of love, so what arrogant person would dare criticize anything that you have written?”
(Chaitanya Bhagavat 1.11.105-110)
The same incident is described in the Bhakti-ratnäkara (12.2205-7) in the following way:
Look here, this is the house of Gopinath Acharya where Vishvambhara would visit from time to time. Ishvara Puri stayed here for a while and composed his book Çri-Kṛṣṇa-lélämåta. He had great affection for Gadadhar Pandit and when he saw the symptoms of love for Kṛṣṇa in him, he taught him that book.
When Nityananda Prabhu was traveling in the west of India, he inccidentally met Madhavendra Puri. When the two met, they fainted. Nityananda Prabhu was overcome by love and started to describe Madhavendra Puri’s glories and Madhavendra Puri himself embraced Nityananda Prabhu and wet him with his tears. Ishvara Puripada understood that Nityananda Prabhu was extremely dear to his spiritual master and so, like his guru’s other disciples, held him in great affection and felt a deep love for him.
All glories to Madhava Puri, the ocean of love for Kṛṣṇa! He was the first shoot of the desire tree of devotion. That first shoot was nourished and grew in the form of Ishvara Puri and from him the thick trunk of Chaitanya lila took shape.
(Chaitanya Charitamrita 1.9.10-11)
Before he left this world, Ishvara Puri sent two of his disciples, Kashisvara and Govinda, to serve Mahäprabhu. Even though they were His god brothers, Mahäprabhu still obeyed the order of His spiritual master and accepted them as His servants.
