Jagannath Mishra was born in the village of South Dhaka in Sylhet. His grandfather, Madhu Mishra, had four sons: Upendra, Rangada, Kirtida and Kirtivasa. His father and mother, Upendra Mishra and Kalavati, had seven sons: Kamsari, Paramananda, Padmanabha, Sarveshvara, Jagannath Mishra, Janardana and Trailokyanath.

                                                            (Prema-viläsa, 24)

 

purä yaçodä-vrajaräja-nandau

våndävane prema-rasäkarau yau

çacé-jagannath-purandaräbhidhau

babhüvatus tau na ca saàçayo’tra

 

amü äviçatäm eva devävaditi-kaçyapau

çré-kauçalyä-daçarathau tathä çré-påñëi-tatpaté

(Gaura-gaëoddeça-dépikä 37-8)

According to the Gaura-gaëoddeça-dépikä, Upendra Mishra was Kṛṣṇa’s grandfather, the cowherd Parjanya. Jagannath Mishra was Nanda Mahäräja in Kṛṣṇa’s Vraja pastimes, who was Kashyapa, Dasharath, Sutapa and Vasudeva in the other incarnations of the Lord.

 

The king of Vraja has become Chaitanya’s father, Jagannath Mishra; the queen of Vraja is His mother Sachi. The son of Nanda is Chaitanya Gosai, and His brother Baladeva is Nityananda Prabhu.                                           

(Chaitanya Charitamrita 1.17.294-295)

 

In the Chaitanya Charitamrita, it is also stated that Jagannath Mishra, an ocean of virtues, was also known by his title Purandara, which is an epithet of Indra. His devoted wife Sachidevi’s father was Nilambara Cakravarti.

                                                (Chaitanya Charitamrita 1.13.59-60)

 

THE APPEARANCE OF MAHAPRABHU

 

At first, eight baby girls were born to Jagannath Mishra and Sachi Devi, but each of them died at birth. Jagannath Mishra then performed a special ceremony to have a son, and not long afterward a boy, Vishvarupa, appeared. Vishvarupa is a manifestation of Baladeva and belongs to the same ontological category in the spiritual world, named Sankarshan. Vishvarupa took sannyas at the age of twelve, adopting the name Shankararanya. He left this world in the year 1510 in Pandharpur, in the Solapur district of Maharashtra.

 

Jagannath Mishra and Sachidevi are eternally liberated companions of Kṛṣṇa; thus, it is clear that their heart and body are made of pure goodness or çuddha-sattva. Another name for pure goodness is vasudeva. Kṛṣṇa is named Vasudeva because He takes pleasure in the spiritual nature and makes His appearance through pure goodness or vasudeva.

 

At sundown on the full moon day of the month of Phälguna in 1486, at the auspicious moment of a lunar eclipse, amidst the joyful sounds that filled the sky the cries of “Hari!” and “Kṛṣṇa!” made by the town people, the uludhvani of the womenfolk, and the divine instruments of the gods in heaven – Gauranga Mahäprabhu accepted Jagannath Mishra and Sachidevi as His father and mother and appeared in the holy dham of Çré Mayapur.

 

It is said that witches, evil female spirits and other powerful demonic specters cannot go near a neem tree. Out of their feelings of maternal love, Sachi and the other women named the Lord Nimai in order that He be protected from any inauspiciousness. Later, when Nimai took the renounced order of life, he was given the name Çré Kṛṣṇa Chaitanya. Some of the other names by which He is known are Vishvambhara, Navadvépa Chandra, Gaura Hari, and Gauranga.

 

When Sachi and Jagannath Mishra saw their child’s face, they forgot themselves in their excitement. Nilambara Chakravarti was a great astrologer and when he examined the constellations at the baby’s birth, he announced that He would be a king among kings, that He would possess all divine virtues, indeed that He is Narayan Himself. Jagannath Mishra and his entire household were immersed in the ocean of ecstasy upon hearing these predictions.

 

 This ocean only increased in fullness as the baby Nimai began to display His childhood pastimes. Whenever Nimai cried, the adults would sing the Holy Names in order to pacify Him. When He was only four months old, He started throwing various household articles about, but as soon as He caught sight of His Mother He would lie down and start to cry. Mother Sachi would sing the Holy Names to stop Him from crying, and only when He had stopped would she notice the mess the baby had made of the room. Because He was so young, she never suspecting him of creating the disorder; rather, she though that it must have been some evil spirit whose efforts to harm the baby had failed due to the protective incantations she was always making over Him.

 

When the time came for Nimai’s name-giving ceremony, Nilambara Chakravarti and other learned men in the community called him Vishvambhara, which is thus His principal name, while the women gave Him the name Nimai. This latter name was given because neem leaves have a bitter taste and are said to keep death away, and they wished to bless Nimai with a long life. The name-giving ceremony is also the occasion when a child’s tastes and tendencies are tested. Jagannath placed rice, puffed rice, gold, silver and a manuscript of the Srimad Bhagavatam before the child, who ignored everything to reach out for the Holy Scripture. All were delighted by Nimai’s choice. The learned scholars began to say, “Vishvambhara would become a great vaishnava in the future and by His ascendancy in Viñëu bhakti He will attain exceptional scholarship in all the scriptures.” The womenfolk began to say, “Nimai will be a great scholar.” In fact, Nimai wished to show, even at this young age, that Çrémad-Bhägavatam is the supreme authority in spiritual matters. This is the teaching hidden within this pastime.

 

NIMAI’S CHILDHOOD

 

As Nimai grew, he began to crawl, giving pleasure to His mother and father and all their neighbors. One day, the child saw the Lord Sesha in the form of a cobra in the garden. He played with him for a while in the mood of Gaura Narayan, and then, like Sesasayi, curled up on the coiled snake and fell asleep. When Jagannath Mishra came upon this scene, he feared the worst for the child and started to shout and cry, frightening the beast, which then slithered away. Nevertheless, Sachi and Jagannath Mishra had seen the wondrous form that the child had displayed and became convinced that He was a divine personality.

 

The neighborhood women found that whenever they loudly chanted the names of the Lord, Nimai would stop crying and start dancing in ecstasy, even rolling about in the dust. So every morning they would surround Him and sing the Holy Names. Whether they knew Him or not, people would be attracted by His beautiful appearance and would affectionately give Him sandeça sweets or bananas. Nimai would take all these sweets and fruits and give them to the women who sang for Him as prasad.

 

When Nimai was able to walk, He would go into the neighbors’ houses and take milk and rice, and if He found nothing to eat, He would break various household items. This naughty behavior is a source of delight for His devotees. On one occasion, as Nimai was playing in front of Jagannath Mishra’s house, two thieves saw that He was wearing valuable ornaments and became greedy. They charmed the child by offering Him a ride on their shoulders and then started to carry Him away. However, they were bewildered by Viñëu’s illusory power and shortly they found themselves back in front of Nimai’s own home. Frightened by this unexpected turn of events, the two scoundrels ran away. Meanwhile, Jagannath Mishra had been searching anxiously for Nimai. When he saw that his child had returned, he held Him tightly to his heart and felt as though his life had also been returned to him.

 

One day, Jagannath Mishra asked Nimai to bring him a book from inside the house. When Nimai ran to fetch it, Sachi and Jagannath Mishra were surprised to hear the wondrous jingling of ankle bells. After Nimai had given His father the book and gone off to play, they were amazed to see that His footprints held the auspicious signs of the flag, the lightning bolt, the elephant rod and banner. Under the influence of their parental love, Jagannath Mishra and Sachi were not able to accept that these were Nimai’s own footprints, but took them rather to be the traces of Damodar, their household Çälagräma çéla deity, and so they did a special ceremony for the deity, bathing Him, performing the puja and offering food.

 

BABY NIMAI STEALS GOPAL’S OFFERINGS

 

On another day, a Brahmin pilgrim passed through Nabadvépa with Bala Gopal, his deity of the baby Kṛṣṇa. Jagannath Mishra offered the Brahmin a place to perform his puja as well as food to cook for an offering. When the pilgrim had finished cooking, he sat down to offer the bhoga to his deity. But as soon as he started meditation on his mantra, Nimai came and began eating the offering. The Brahmin saw this and started to shout in distress. Jagannath Mishra was extremely disturbed by the incident and the Brahmin had to intercede to stop him from giving the child a spanking.

 

Although the Brahmin did not want to cook again, Jagannath Mishra begged him to do so. Before he recommenced preparing the offering Jagannath Mishra took Nimai to a neighbor’s house so that He would not do any more mischief. Once again, when the Brahmin sat down to meditate on his Bala Gopal mantra to make his offering, Gaura Gopal appeared out of nowhere and started to enjoy the food-stuffs. The Brahmin again began to shout in frustration, “Everything’s ruined. Everything’s ruined!” For a second time Jagannath Mishra was devastated and once again was about to punish the child, only to be stopped by his guest. The Brahmin said, “He’s only a child and doesn’t understand anything. It’s not His fault. It seems that it is not my destiny to eat today.”

 

This time, Nimai’s older brother Vishvarupa begged the Brahmin to try a third time, and so finally, on his insistence, he began to cook again. This time it was quite late at night and Nimai was fast asleep in His room so no one suspected any trouble. Even so, the Brahmin waited until the entire household had gone to bed before making his offering; but once again, contrary to all expectation, Gaura Gopal came to accept the offering. This time, however, He gave the Brahmin a vision of an extraordinary eight-armed form.  In four of these hands, He held the conch, discus, mace and lotus flower of Narayana; but in the palm of another hand, He held a lump of butter from which He was taking morsels with another hand. The last two hands were engaged in playing a flute. When the pilgrim Brahmin saw this wonderful vision, he fainted away completely.

 

When he came to consciousness, Nimai told him not to reveal this pastime to anyone. He told him, “You have been My servant for many, many births. This very same pastime also took place at Nanda’s house in Gokula.”

 

Everyday after finishing his daily activities, he would return to Nimai’s house to behold his worshipable lord.

 

NIMAI’S EDUCATION

 

Nimai underwent the three rituals (saàskäras) in which a child’s ears are pierced, his hair is shorn and his education is begun. It took Nimai only three days to learn the entire alphabet and He started to read and write all of Kṛṣṇa’s names.

 

The little Gaura Gopal would often ask His parents to bring Him birds, even the stars or the moon, and would cry if they could not do so. When they chanted the Holy Names, He would stop crying, otherwise there was no way to quiet Him. One day, however, though they repeatedly sang the names of Hari, the child’s tears did not stop flowing. When pressed to tell them why He was crying so insistently, Nimai said that though it was Ekadasi, He wanted to eat the offerings that the Brahmins Jagadish and Hiranya had made to their Viñëu deity. Jagannath Mishra was astonished to hear this unusual request, but went to the house of his two friends. He told them the whole story, and they were delighted to give him the offering. When Jagannath Mishra brought the offering home and gave it to Nimai, He finally stopped crying.

 

Nimai continued His naughty behavior and the gents in the community reported it to His father while the girls and women would complain to Sachi. Though His father would be angry and want to punish his child, he would be quite astonished to see Him completely calm and free from any guilty demeanor. Both parents wondered, “Who is this child? Has Nandanandan Kṛṣṇa secretly appeared here as our son?”

 

Vishvambhar’s older brother Vishvarupa had been indifferent to material life since his childhood. After studying at Advaita Acharya’s school (tol), he came to understand that the ultimate conclusion of the scriptures was devotion to Kṛṣṇa. When he was twelve years old, his parents started making arrangements for his marriage, he left home and was initiated as a sannyasi, taking the name Shankararanya. This event traumatized Sachi and Jagannath Mishra, who were greatly pained by their separation from their oldest son. As a result, Jagannath Mishra was afraid that Nimai too would become indifferent to family life through studying the scriptures, so he stopped His education. Better that He should remain a fool at home than become a scholar only to abandon His family!

 

This decision did not please Nimai and He started to misbehave again. One day, He went and sat down in the rubbish heap where used and contaminated pottery was thrown. When Sachi saw this, she became angry and told him several times to leave that filthy area. Nimai answered her in the spirit of the divine master Dattatreya, “How can a fool tell the difference between what is pure and what is not? How can the pots that have been used to cook for Viñëu possibly be contaminated? What is more, how can any place be impure if I am there? Ideas of purity and impurity from the karma-käëòa that lack devotion to the Lord are just the imagination of materialistic people.”

 

Seeing that the boy would in no way heed her order to leave the unclean spot, Sachi finally dragged Him away and made Him bathe and then took a bath herself. After this she and other members of the community approached Jagannath Mishra and entreated him to allow Nimai to resume His studies.  Thus Jagannath Mishra was forced to relent.

 

Sometime after this, Nimai’s sacred thread ceremony was held. After the fire sacrifice, Nimai went out to beg alms, just as Lord Vamana did earlier. Jagannath Mishra then entrusted Him to Ganga Das Pandit, who is none other than the same Sandipani Muni who gave Kṛṣṇa His education. Ganga Das Pandit was overjoyed to accept the handsome and virtuous child as his student. Nimai would ask him and his fellow students trick questions based on logic and the ensuing arguments would be a source of amazement to everyone.

 

Jagannath Mishra was pleased to see his son take up a disciplined life in which He would bathe daily in the Ganges, perform puja to Viñëu strictly according to the regulations, and offer water to the sacred tulasi plant before finally taking prasad. Nimai would then go to a place where He could be undisturbed and study. Jagannath Mishra prayed to Kṛṣṇa for Nimai’s continued welfare, but at the same time was always afraid that He would come to understand the emptiness of the cycle of saàsära and eventually leave home. One day, Jagannath Mishra had a dream in which he saw Mahäprabhu’s beautiful form as a sannyasi, performing sankirtan, dancing, singing, laughing and crying, while surrounded by His devotees. After this he began to think it inevitable that Nimai would one day leave home. Sachi Devi tried to convince Jagannath Mishra that because Nimai had become so attached to His studies, He would never leave, but she failed. As it happened, Nimai’s father left this world before He became a sannyasi. On the disappearance of his father, Gaurasundara lamented just like Ramachandra did upon hearing of the disappearance of King Dasharath (due to separation from a devotee), but still showed great strength of character to console His heartbroken mother.