Adi-tila, Chapter 9 223

the Caitanya-/ila the same Uddhava became the friend of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu
and His uncle in terms of their relationship in the disciplic succession.

_ Kesava. Bharati. The Sarasvati, Bharati and Puri sampradayas belong to the
Srngeri Matha in South India, and Sri Kesava Bharati, who at that time was situated
in a monastery in Katwa, belonged to the Bharati-sampradaya. According to some
authoritative opinions, although Kesava Bharati belonged to the Sankara-sampradaya,
he was formerly initiated by a Vaisnava. He is supposed to have been a Vaisnava on
account of having been initiated by Madhavendra Puri, for some say that he took
sannyasa from Madhavendra Puri. The temple and Deity worship started by Kesava
Bharati are still existing in the village known as Khatundi, which is under the postal
jurisdiction of Kandara in the district of Burdwan. According to the managers of
that matha, the priests are descendants of Kesava Bharati, and some say that the
worshipers of the Deity are descendants of the sons of Kesava Bharati. In his house-
holder life he had two sons, Nisapati and Usapati, and a brahmana of the name Sri
Nakadicandra Vidyaratna, who was a member of the family of Nisapati, was the
priest in charge at the time that Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati visited this temple.
According to some, the priests of the temple belong to the family of Kesava Bharati’s
brother. Still another opinion is that they descend from Madhava Bharati, who was
another disciple of Kesava Bharati. Madhava Bharati’s disciple Balabhadra, who also
later became a sannyasi of the Bharati-sampradaya, had two sons in his family life
named Madana and Gopala. Madana, whose family’s surname was Bharati, lived in
the village of Auriya, and Gopala, whose family’s surname was Brahmacart, lived in
the village of Denduda. There are still many living descendants of both families.

In the Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika, verse 52, it is said:

mathurayam yajna-sutram pura krsnaya yo munih
dadau sandipanih so ’bhut adya kesava-bharati

“Sandipani Muni, who formerly offered the sacred thread to Krsna and Balarama,
later became Kesava Bharati.” It is he who offered sannyasa to Sri Caitanya Maha-
prabhu. There is another statement from the Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika, verse 117.
Iti kecit prabhasante ‘krurah kesava-bharati: ‘“‘According to some authoritative
opinions, Kesava Bharati is an incarnation of Akrira.”’ Kesava Bharati offered the
sannyasa order to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in the year 1432 sakdbda (1510 A.D.)
in Katwa. This is stated in the Vaisnava-manjusa, Part Two.

Brahmananda Puri. Sri Brahmananda Puri was one of the associates of Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu while He was performing kirtana in Navadvipa, and he also joined Lord
Caitanya in Jagannatha Puri. We may note in this connection that the name
Brahmananda is accepted not only by Mayavadi sannyasis but Vaisnava sannyasis
also. One of our foolish Godbrothers criticized our sannyas7 Brahmananda Svami,
saying that this was a Mayavadi name. The foolish man did not know that Brahma-
nanda does not always refer to the impersonal. Parabrahman, the Supreme Brahman,
is Krsna. A devotee of Krsna can therefore also be called Brahmananda; this is
evident from the fact that Brahmananda Puri was one of the chief sannyasi associ-
ates of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
