Adi-lila, Chapter 10 259

TRANSLATION

Pundarika Vidyanidhi, the third big branch, was so dear to Lord Caitanya Maha-
prabhu that in his absence Lord Caitanya Himself would sometimes cry.

PURPORT

In the Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika Srila Pundartka Vidyanidhi is described to be the
father of Srimatt Radharani in ‘krsna-lila, Caitanya Mahaprabhu therefore treated
him as His father. Pundarika Vidyanidhi’s father was known as Banesvara or, accord-
ing to another opinion, Suklambara Brahmacari, and his mother’s name was
Gangadevi. According to one opinion, Banesvara was a descendent of Sri Sivarama
Gangopadhyaya. The original home of Pundarika Vidyanidhi was in East Bengal in
a village near Dacca named Baghiya which belonged to the Varendra group of
brahmana families. Sometimes these Varendra brahmanas were at odds with another
group known as Radhiya brahmanas, and therefore Pundarika Vidyanidhi’s family
was ostracized and at that time was not living as a respectable family. Bhaktisiddhanta
Sarasvati informs us that one of the members of this family is living in Vrndavana
and is named Sarojananda Gosvami. One special characteristic of this family is that
each of its members had only one son or no son at all, and therefore the family was
not very expansive. There is a place in the district of Cattagrama in East Bengal that
is known as Hatahajari, and a short distance from this place is a village known as
Mekhala-grama in which Pundarika Vidyanidhi’s forefathers lived. One can
approach Mekhala-grama from Cattagrama either on horseback, by bullock cart or
by steamer. The steamer station is known as Annapdrnara-ghata. The birthplace of
Pundarika Vidyanidhi is about two miles southwest of Annaptrnara-ghata. The
temple constructed there by Pundarika Vidyanidhi is now very old and much in
need of repair. Without repair, the temple may soon crumble. There are two in-
scriptions on the bricks of that temple, but they are so old that one cannot
read them. There is another temple, however, about 200 yards south of this one,
and some people say that this is the old temple constructed by Pundarika
Vidyanidhi.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu called Pundarika Vidyanidhi “father,” and He gave him
the title Premanidhi. Pundarika Vidyanidhi later became the spiritual master of
Gadadhara Pandita and an intimate friend of SvarGpa Damodara. Gadadhara Pandita
at first misunderstood Pundarika Vidyanidhi to be an ordinary pounds and shillings
man, but later, upon being corrected by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he: became lhis
disciple. Another incident in the life of Pundarika Vidyanidhi involves his criticizing
the priest of the Jagannatha temple, for which Jagannatha Prabhu chastised him
personally {by slapping his cheeks. This is described in Caitanya-bhagavata, Antya-
fila, Chapter Seven. Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura informs us that there
are still two living descendants of the family of Pundaritka Vidyanidhi, who
are named Sri Harakumara Smrtitirtha and Sri Krgnakinikara Vidyalankara.
For further information one should refer to the dictionary known as Vajsnava-
mapijusd.
