paramÄnanda purÄ«, Ära keÅ›ava bhÄratÄ«
brahmÄnanda purÄ«, Ära brahmÄnanda bhÄratÄ«
viṣṇu-purÄ«, keÅ›ava-purÄ«, purÄ« kṛṣṇÄnanda
Å›rÄ«-ná¹›siá¹hatÄ«rtha, Ära purÄ« sukhÄnanda
ei nava mūla nikasila vṛkṣa-mūle
ei nava mūle vṛkṣa karila niścale
paramÄnanda purÄ« - ParamÄnanda PurÄ«; Ära - and; keÅ›ava bhÄratÄ« - KeÅ›ava BhÄratÄ«; brahmÄnanda purÄ« - BrahmÄnanda PurÄ«; Ära - and; brahmÄnanda bhÄratÄ« - BrahmÄnanda BhÄratÄ«; viṣṇu-purÄ« - Viṣṇu PurÄ«; keÅ›ava-purÄ« - KeÅ›ava PurÄ«; purÄ« kṛṣṇÄnanda - KṛṣṇÄnanda PurÄ«; Å›rÄ«-ná¹›siá¹ha-tÄ«rtha - ÅšrÄ« Ná¹›siá¹ha TÄ«rtha; Ära - and; purÄ« sukhÄnanda - SukhÄnanda PurÄ«; ei nava - of these nine; mÅ«la - roots; nikasila - fructified; vá¹›ká¹£a-mÅ«le - in the trunk of the tree; ei nava mÅ«le - in these nine roots; vá¹›ká¹£a - the tree; karila niÅ›cale - became very steadfast.
ParamÄnanda PurÄ«, KeÅ›ava BhÄratÄ«, BrahmÄnanda PurÄ« and BrahmÄnanda BhÄratÄ«, ÅšrÄ« Viṣṇu PurÄ«, KeÅ›ava PurÄ«, KṛṣṇÄnanda PurÄ«, ÅšrÄ« Ná¹›siá¹ha TÄ«rtha and SukhÄnanda PurÄ« — these nine sannyÄsÄ« roots all sprouted from the trunk of the tree. Thus the tree stood steadfastly on the strength of these nine roots.
ParamÄnanda PurÄ«: ParamÄnanda PurÄ« belonged to a brÄhmaṇa family of the Trihut district in Uttara Pradesh. MÄdhavendra PurÄ« was his spiritual master. In relationship with MÄdhavendra PurÄ«, ParamÄnanda PurÄ« was very dear to ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu. In the Caitanya-bhÄgavata, Antya-khaṇá¸a, there is the following statement:
sannyÄsÄ«ra madhye Ä«Å›varera priya-pÄtra
Ära nÄhi eka purÄ« gosÄñi se mÄtra
dÄmodara-svarÅ«pa paramÄnanda-purÄ«
sannyÄsi-pÄrá¹£ade ei dui adhikÄrÄ«
niravadhi nikaá¹e thÄkena dui jana
prabhura sannyÄse kare daṇá¸era grahaṇa
purÄ« dhyÄna-para dÄmodarera kÄ«rtana
yata-prÄ«ti Ä«Å›varera purÄ«-gosÄñire
dÄmodara-svarÅ«pereo tata prÄ«ti kare
“Among his sannyÄsÄ« disciples, Īśvara PurÄ« and ParamÄnanda PurÄ« were very dear to MÄdhavendra PurÄ«. Thus ParamÄnanda PurÄ«, like SvarÅ«pa DÄmodara, who was also a sannyÄsÄ«, was very dear to ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu and was His constant associate. When Lord Caitanya accepted the renounced order, ParamÄnanda PurÄ« offered Him the daṇá¸a. ParamÄnanda PurÄ« was always engaged in meditation, and ÅšrÄ« SvarÅ«pa was always engaged in chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahÄ-mantra. As ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu offered full respect to His spiritual master, Īśvara PurÄ«, He similarly respected ParamÄnanda PurÄ« and SvarÅ«pa DÄmodara.†It is described in the Caitanya-bhÄgavata, Antya-khaṇá¸a, chapter three, that when ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu first saw ParamÄnanda PurÄ« He made the following statement:
Äji dhanya locana, saphala Äji janma
saphala ÄmÄra Äji haila sarva-dharma
prabhu bale Äji mora saphala sannyÄsa
Äji mÄdhavendra more ha-ilÄ prakÄÅ›a
“My eyes, My mind, My religious activities and My acceptance of the sannyÄsa order have now all become perfect because today MÄdhavendra PurÄ« is manifest before Me in the form of ParamÄnanda PurÄ«.†The Caitanya-bhÄgavata further states:
kathoká¹£aṇe anyo ’nye karena praṇÄma
paramÄnanda-purÄ« caitanyera priya-dhÄma
“Thus ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu exchanged respectful obeisances with ParamÄnanda PurÄ«, who was very dear to Him.†ParamÄnanda PurÄ« established a small monastery behind the western side of the JagannÄtha temple, where he had a well dug to supply water. The water, however, was bitter, and therefore ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu prayed to Lord JagannÄtha to allow Ganges water to come into the well to make it sweet. When Lord JagannÄtha granted the request, Lord Caitanya told all the devotees that from that day hence, the water of ParamÄnanda Purī’s well should be celebrated as Ganges water, for any devotee who would drink it or bathe in it would certainly get the same benefit as that derived from drinking or bathing in the waters of the Ganges. Such a person would certainly develop pure love of Godhead. It is stated in the Caitanya-bhÄgavata (Antya 3.255):
prabhu bale Ämi ye Ächiye pá¹›thivÄ«te
niÅ›caya-i jÄniha purÄ«-gosÄñira prÄ«te
“ŚrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu used to say, ‘I am living in this world only on account of the excellent behavior of ÅšrÄ« ParamÄnanda PurÄ«.’ †The Gaura-gaṇoddeÅ›a-dÄ«pikÄ (118) states, purÄ« Å›rÄ«-paramÄnando ya ÄsÄ«d uddhavaḥ purÄ. “ParamÄnanda PurÄ« is none other than Uddhava.†Uddhava was Lord Kṛṣṇa’s friend and cousin, and in caitanya-lÄ«lÄ the same Uddhava became the friend of ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu and His uncle in terms of their relationship in the disciplic succession.
KeÅ›ava BhÄratÄ«: The SarasvatÄ«, BhÄratÄ« and PurÄ« sampradÄyas belong to the ŚṛṅgerÄ«-maá¹ha in South India, and ÅšrÄ« KeÅ›ava BhÄratÄ«, who at that time was situated in a monastery in Katwa, belonged to the BhÄratÄ«-sampradÄya. According to some authoritative opinions, although KeÅ›ava BhÄratÄ« belonged to the Åšaá¹…kara-sampradÄya, he had formerly been initiated by a Vaiṣṇava. He is said to have been a Vaiṣṇava on account of having been initiated by MÄdhavendra PurÄ«, for some say that he took sannyÄsa from MÄdhavendra PurÄ«. The temple and Deity worship started by KeÅ›ava BhÄratÄ« are still existing in the village known as KhÄá¹undi, which is under the postal jurisdiction of KÄndarÄ in the district of Burdwan. According to the managers of that maá¹ha, the priests are descendants of KeÅ›ava BhÄratÄ«, and some say that the worshipers of the Deity are descendants of the sons of KeÅ›ava BhÄratÄ«. In his householder life he had two sons, NiÅ›Äpati and ŪṣÄpati, and a brÄhmaṇa of the name ÅšrÄ« Nakaá¸icandra VidyÄratna, who was a member of the family of NiÅ›Äpati, was the priest in charge at the time that ÅšrÄ« BhaktisiddhÄnta SarasvatÄ« visited this temple. According to some, the priests of the temple belong to the family of KeÅ›ava BhÄratī’s brother. Still another opinion is that they descend from MÄdhava BhÄratÄ«, who was another disciple of KeÅ›ava BhÄratī’s. MÄdhava BhÄratī’s disciple Balabhadra, who also later became a sannyÄsÄ« of the BhÄratÄ«-sampradÄya, had two sons in his family life, named Madana and GopÄla. Madana, whose family’s surname was BhÄratÄ«, lived in the village of Ä€uriyÄ, and GopÄla, whose family’s surname was BrahmacÄrÄ«, lived in the village of Denduá¸a. There are still many living descendants of both families.
In the Gaura-gaṇoddeÅ›a-dÄ«pikÄ (52), it is said:
mathurÄyÄá¹ yajña-sÅ«traá¹ purÄ kṛṣṇÄya yo muniḥ
dadau sÄndÄ«paniḥ so ’bhÅ«d adya keÅ›ava-bhÄratÄ«
“SÄndÄ«pani Muni, who formerly offered the sacred thread to Kṛṣṇa and BalarÄma, later became KeÅ›ava BhÄratÄ«.†It is he who offered sannyÄsa to ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu. There is another statement about KeÅ›ava BhÄratÄ« from the Gaura-gaṇoddeÅ›a-dÄ«pikÄ (117): iti kecit prabhÄá¹£ante ’krÅ«raḥ keÅ›ava-bhÄratÄ«. “According to some authoritative opinions, KeÅ›ava BhÄratÄ« is an incarnation of AkrÅ«ra.†KeÅ›ava BhÄratÄ« offered the sannyÄsa order to ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu in the year 1432 Å›akÄbda (A.D. 1510) in Katwa. This is stated in the Vaiṣṇava-mañjuá¹£Ä, Part Two.
BrahmÄnanda PurÄ«: ÅšrÄ« BrahmÄnanda PurÄ« was one of the associates of ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu while He was performing kÄ«rtana in NavadvÄ«pa, and he also joined Lord Caitanya in JagannÄtha PurÄ«. We may note in this connection that the name BrahmÄnanda is accepted not only by MÄyÄvÄdÄ« sannyÄsÄ«s but by Vaiṣṇava sannyÄsÄ«s also. One of our foolish Godbrothers criticized our sannyÄsÄ« BrahmÄnanda SvÄmÄ«, saying that this was a MÄyÄvÄdÄ« name. The foolish man did not know that BrahmÄnanda does not always refer to the impersonal Brahman. Parabrahman, the Supreme Brahman, is Kṛṣṇa. A devotee of Kṛṣṇa can therefore also be called BrahmÄnanda; this is evident from the fact that BrahmÄnanda PurÄ« was one of the chief sannyÄsÄ« associates of Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu.
BrahmÄnanda BhÄratÄ«: BrahmÄnanda BhÄratÄ« went to see ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa Caitanya MahÄprabhu at JagannÄtha-dhÄma. At that time he used to wear only a deerskin to cover himself, and ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu indirectly indicated that He did not like this deerskin covering. BrahmÄnanda BhÄratÄ« therefore gave it up and accepted a loincloth of saffron color, as used by Vaiṣṇava sannyÄsÄ«s. For some time he lived with ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu at JagannÄtha PurÄ«.
