Early History of the Vaishnava Faith and Movement in Bengal, from Sanskrit and Bengali Sources c7.s2.3

c7.s2.3

¹ This meeting is commemorated by an annual festivity, called Daṇḍa-mahotsava. The origin of the festivity and its quaint name are thus explained. Perceiving that Raghunātha was filled with a desire for ascetic life, but outwardly engrossed in worldly concern, Nityānanda laughingly called him a "dissembler" and pronounced a punishment (*daṇḍa*) on him that he should feed all the assembled Vaiṣṇavas. The rich young man, in obedience, gave a sumptuous feast and distributed large sums of money among the Vaiṣṇava guests. The account is to be found in *C-C.* Antya vi. It is curious, however, that Raghunātha nowhere mentions Nityānanda in his works, although in his *Caitanyāṣṭaka* and *Gaurāṅga-stava-kalpataru*, he refers to Īśvara Purī, Govinda, Kāśī Miśra and Svarūpa. It is also noteworthy that, with the exception of Murāri, Kavikarṇapūra and Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja, Raghunātha is not mentioned by the other biographers of Caitanya.