At this place, Lord Caitanya forgave Devananda Pandita for the offense he had committed. Everyone who comes here is freed from all insults. The Deities of Radha-Vinoda-Bihari and the Deity of Varaha are established here.
In Satya Yuga, Lord Varaha appeared to Vasudeva, one of His devotees, who lived in Mayapur. He told him that he would come to Kali-yuga, to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Lord Caitanya Himself also revealed the image of Varaha in this place.
Nowadays, here is located Sri Devananda Gaudiya Math Bhakti Pragyan Kesava Maharaja, who dedicated Srila Prabhupada to sannyasa. Here is his samadhi, and his murti is set on the altar of the temple.
The story of Devananda Pandita
Devananda Pandita was a scholar in scriptures, an ascetic brahmana who had renounced the world from childhood. But even as a great pundit, he nonetheless had no devotion to Lord Krishna and did not understand that bhakti is the essence of Srimad-Bhagavatam. He always read this great scripture, and taught him others, while glorifying liberation and renunciation, but not devotional service to the Lord. He lived in a suburb of Qulia Gram. (Now Kulia is the modern city of Navadvipa, on the west bank of the Ganges.) Subsequently, this place was also called aparadha-bhanjanera pata - "a place where insults are forgiven" ("Caitanya-bhagavata", Madhya, 9.98).
Once, Srivasa Thakur came to Devananda's lecture on the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Listening to the verses of the Bhagavatam, he cried, fell to the ground and lost his senses. Not understanding the essence of such a state of the great Vaisnava, the stupid disciples of Devananda Pandita, simply carried Srivasa to the sidelines so that he would not "disturb" others. Devananda silently looked at this, not stopping his foolish students. Therefore, he became guilty of insulting a great devotee, because of which on him Mahaprabhu was angry.
Once, passing by the house of Devananda and hearing how he, devoid of faith in Vaisnavas, commenting on the Bhagavatam, Mahaprabhu became enraged and fell upon Devananda: "He completely does not understand the true meaning of the Bhagavatam! What right does this fraudster have to explain it? After all, the Srimad-Bhagavatam is Krishna Himself in the form of a book. It says, that devotional service is the ultimate goal of life. That is why the four Vedas say that the Bhagavatam is the personified love of Krsna ... Devotional service is the only topic of this greatest of scriptures. It does not discuss anything else ... This villain does not know anything! Today I will tear his book to shreds and you will all witness this! " (Caitanya-Bhagavata, Madhya, 13.13-15, 20-21). But the devotees, rejoicing in this manifestation of the Lord’s wrath, stopped Him.
Hearing such words of Lord Gaurasundara, we should not have a misconception about Devananda, which can cause insult. Vrindavan das Thakur says: “Although the Lord severely condemned Devananda, all the same Devananda was very pious and fortunate. Those who were scolded or punished by Lord Caitanya become great righteous. One who humbly accepts the punishment of Lord Caitanya attains the necessary qualifications to receive ecstatic love for Krsna. Those who do not experience fear in the heart from the punishment of Lord Caitanya, are sinners. Life after life, they will suffer from the punishment of Yamaraja. "(Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya, 21.77-80).
Once, thanks to great luck, the dear companion of Devananda Vakreshvara Pandita came to the house of Devananda. Vakreswara Pandita was known for his dance during kirtan. Once he danced without stopping for three days in a row, and Lord Caitanya sang at that time. Vakresvara fell at the feet of the Lord and asked, "O Chandramukha, the moon-faced Lord! Give I have ten thousand gandharvas and let them sing, and I will dance! ”The Lord answered him:“ You are My wing, if I had one more such wing, I would fly up to the skies! ” (Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi, 10.17-20).
Vakresvara also danced during many significant events: during the performances of Lord Caitanya in the house of Srivasa Thakura; during the Ratha Yatra in Puri, in one of 7 groups of sankirtana; during the departure of Haridas Thakur; before the procession that carried the body of Haridas to the sea, and during the ceremony of his samadhi.
“Sri Gaura-ganoddesha-dipika” says that Vakresvara Pandita is the combined form of Lord Aniruddha from chatur-vyuha, the dominant Deity of the mind, as well as dear sakhi Srimati Radharani Shashirekhi. Dhyanachandra Goswami, a student of Gopala Guru Goswami, a student of Vakresvara Pandita, claims that Vakresvara is also the embodiment of the Tungavidya Sakhi.
When Vakresvara was dancing, all ecstatic signs showed in his body at the same time - tears, trembling, his voice was interrupted, sweat was coming out, he laughed and cried, often lost consciousness. Devananda was impressed by the exalted spiritual state of Vakresvara and the blinding radiance emanating from his body. He began to sincerely serve his guest. When Vakreshvara was dancing, Devananda was next to him, protecting him from the crowd with a pole in his hand. When Vakresvara passed out, Devananda grabbed him, not letting him fall. With reverence, Devananda dusted Vakresvara's body and applied it to his own body. Watching the experiences of Vakresvara, his greatness, hearing from him about the glories of Lord Caitanya, Devananda changed his attitude towards Mahaprabhu and faith in Him arose in his heart. By the grace of Vakresvara Pandita, his misconceptions were corrected and he became a follower of Sri Caitanya. This story confirms the words of the Puranas about the result of service to the Vaishnavas: "The Supreme Personality of Godhead may be perfected, but may not be perfected ... But there can be no doubt about the perfection of those who serve the servants of the Lord." (Caitanya Bhagavata, Antya 3.486)
When Sri Caitanya learned of this behavior of Devananda, the heart of the Lord immediately melted. And this meant that Devananda was forgiven, that he gained the mercy that so I searched for a long time, but could not find it.
Later, when the Lord came to Quliya, Devananda Pandita came to see Him. Due to his association with Vakresvara, he already longed for a meeting with Lord Caitanya with love. Satisfied with the behavior of Devananda, the Lord said: “You served Vakresvara, therefore you became close to Me. Vakresvara Pandita is Krishna’s personal energy, which means one who serves him with devotion attains Krsna. The heart of Vakresvara is the house of Krsna. Krishna himself is dancing when Vakresvara is dancing. If Vakresvara stops in some place, all the holy places appear there. "After that, the Lord instructed Devananda to always explain to the Bhagavatam only in the light of devotional service and not talk about anything except bhakti.
Thus, by the grace of Vakresvara, a close servant of Sri Gaura Raya, Devananda realized the divine nature of Sri Krishna Caitanya and surrendered to Him. The Lord forgave him an insult and blessed him with bhakti. This story shows how dear Vakresvara was to Gauranga Mahaprabhu. Thanks to his service, Devananda Pandita, devoid of devotion and committing an offense at the lotus feet of Srivasa Thakura, he received the forgiveness and mercy of Lord Caitanya.
In this place, we must ask the Lord and His devotees to forgive our insults and give us pure devotional service to the servants of the servants of the Lord. It will allow you to earn the mercy of the Lord and thus attain krsna-prema.
Translated from dhama.dayalnitay.ru