Early History of the Vaishnava Faith and Movement in Bengal, from Sanskrit and Bengali Sources c7.s2.2

c7.s2.2

Nityānanda later on¹ at Pānihāṭi, near Calcutta, stimulated his spiritual longings further, and very soon he escaped the vigilance of his apprehensive father and left, as Kṛṣṇadāsa tells us, wealth befitting Indra and a wife like an Apsaras (इन्द्रसम ऐश्वर्य स्त्री अप्सरासम). This is confirmed by Raghunātha's own statement in his *Gaurāṅga-stava-kalpataru* that Caitanya saved him from the influence of wealth and wife (*mahāsampad-dārād api*).² After an arduous journey, he reached Caitanya at Puri, where he was handed over for spiritual training to Svarūpa Dāmodara. The extreme austerities which Raghunātha practised was a thing of wonder even to the devout Vaiṣṇavas, and Caitanya himself is said to have acknowledged their depth and sincerity.³ According to Kavikarṇapūra (*Caitanya-candrodaya*, x. 3), Raghunātha's Dīkṣā-guru was Yadunandana Ācārya; but Raghunātha himself in some of his poems⁴ pays homage to Rūpa Gosvāmin.