Early History of the Vaishnava Faith and Movement in Bengal, from Sanskrit and Bengali Sources c5.s2.46

c5.s2.46

But tradition is definite that Mādhavendra's disciple, Īśvara Purī, meeting with whom at Gaya is said to have formed a turning point in Caitanya's life, was a Bengali. Īśvara Purī, whose original name is not known, is said to have been born at Kumārahaṭṭa (modern Halisahar, near Naihati) of Rāḍhīya Brahman family, his father's name having been Śyāmasundara Ācārya³. The Bhakti-ratnākara tells us (ch. xii) that he composed a Śrīkṛṣṇa līlāmṛta in Sanskrit at the house of Gopinātha Ācārya, brother-in-law of the great scholar Vāsudeva Sārvabhauma. This may or may not be the same work as Rukmiṇī-svayaṃvara, which is attributed to Īśvara Purī by Rūpa Gosvāmin and from which two verses are quoted in the Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi.⁴ It is probable that Īśvara Purī came pretty often to Navadvipa, and it is recorded (C-bh, Ādi. ix) that on one of these occasions he tried to win Caitanya, then a proud and light-hearted young scholar, to devout life; but Caitanya's only response to the attempt was to pick flaws in the grammar of the Sanskrit texts quoted from Īśvara Purī's Śrīkṛṣṇa-līlāmṛta. Later on at Gaya, Caitanya received Mantra-Dīkṣā from Īśvara Purī and came back a changed man. In later years Caitanya spoke of him with great reverence; and on one occasion when Caitanya was passing by Kumārahaṭṭa, he is reported to have said that the very dust of the place which saw the birth of Īśvara Purī, was to him dearer than life or wealth.⁵ Īśvara Purī, like Mādhavendra was also an emotional mystic, who used to go into trances on hearing the Kīrtana of Kṛṣṇa’s name.¹