Introduction ll

with awe and veneration. Sometimes the young girls took pleasure in
making the Lord cry and then stopping Him by chanting the holy name.
So from His very childhood the Lord began to preach the importance of
the holy name. In His early age Lord Sri Caitanya was known as Nimii.
This name was given by His beloved mother because the Lord took His
birth beneath a nim tree in the courtyard of His paternal house.

When the Lord was offered solid food at the age of six months in the
anna-prasana ceremony, the Lord indicated His future activities. At this
time it was customary to offer the child both coins and books in order to
get some indication of the future tendencies of the child. The Lord was
offered on one side coins and on the other the Srimad-Bhdgavatam. The
Lord accepted the Bhdgavatam instead of the coins.

When He was a mere baby crawling in the yard, one day a snake ap-
peared before Him, and the Lord began to play with it. All the members
of the house were struck with fear and awe, but after alittle while the snake
went away, and the baby was taken away by His mother. Once He was
stolen by a thief who intended to steal His ornaments, but the Lord took
a pleasure trip on the shoulder of the bewildered thief who was searching
for a solitary place in order to rob the baby. It so happened that the thief,
wandering hither and thither, finally arrived just before the house of
Jagannatha Miéra and, being afraid of being caught, dropped the baby at
once. Of course the anxious parents and relatives were glad to see the lost
child.

Once a pilgrim brahmana was received at the house of Jagannatha Miéra,
and when he was offering food to the Godhead, the Lord appeared before
him and partook of the prepared food. The eatables had to be rejected
because the child touched them, and so the brahmana had to make
another preparation. The next time the same thing happened, and when
this happened repeatedly for the third time, the baby was finally put to
bed. At about twelve at night when all the members of the house were fast
asleep within their closed rooms, the pilgrim brahmana offered his specially
prepared foods to the Deity, and, in the same way, the baby Lord appeared
before the pilgrim and spoiled his offerings. The brahmana then began to
cry, but since everyone was fast asleep, no one could hear him. At that
time the baby Lord appeared before the fortunate brahmana and disclosed
His identity as Krsna Himself. The brahmana was forbidden to disclose this
incidence, and the baby returned to the lap of His mother.

There are many similar incidences in His childhood. As a naughty boy
He sometimes used to tease the orthodox brahmanas who used to bathe in
the Ganges. When the brahmanas complained to His father that He was
