Early History of the Vaishnava Faith and Movement in Bengal, from Sanskrit and Bengali Sources c6.s2.46

c6.s2.46

3 It is often stated that Nityānanda was a disciple of Mādhavendra Puri; but evidence on this point is not definite. In his early wanderings he appears to have met Mādhavendra in Southern India (C-bh, Ādi vi) but it is not clear if he was actually initiated by Mādhavendra. On the other hand, the universal description of him as "an Avadhūta" may indicate that he originally belonged to some Tāntric order. Jayānanda's description of him (p. 54): सुसितलोचन वारुणीमदे मत । हरषित now destined to play, along with him, an important part in the history of the movement. Although one of Vṛndāvana-dāsa's object in his biography of Caitanya is to supply information about Nityānanda,¹ not much is recorded of his earlier life. He is said to have been born at a village named Ekcākā (Ekacakra) in the district of Birbhum, but his birth-date is uncertain. His parents were Hāḍāi Paṇḍita and his wife Padmāvatī, of whom, however, nothing is known. At the early age of twelve (according to Vṛndāvana-dāsa), fourteen (according to the *Prema-vilāsa* vii), or eighteen (according to Jayānanda), Nityānanda left home for homelessness, and as a wandering Avadhūta travelled extensively over Northern and Southern India. He was older than Caitanya by some eight years, and bore such resemblance to his elder brother Viśvarūpa, who had also become a Saṃnyāsin, that Śacī Devī welcomed him as her own son.² He was living at that time at Navadvīpa, and his meeting with Viśvambhara was not only providential but mutually