Twilight of the Sultanate c18.s5.9

c18.s5.9

Born in a high class Brahman family, Nimaī shaped well as a boy and was renowned for his love of learning. When eighteen he got married and settled down as a teacher in a *tol* (school) established by himself on the banks of the Bhagīrathī. Nadia at this time was a famous educational centre.⁵² The chief interest of Nadia society was debates on philosophical subjects, and Chaitanya is said to have defeated many famous scholars of the day in intellectual bouts. Soon the call from within did not let him continue in his profession for long. Even as a boy he seems to have been eccentric and used to swoon at the name of Krishna. He left his school and went to east Bengal, where he added to his scholastic reputation. At Gaya he met Ishwar Purī, a Vaishnav devotee and preacher, who initiated him into the Bhakti cult.