Introduction to chapter 15

This chapter mainly describes the marriage pastimes of Gaura-Viṣṇupriyā.

Nimāi Paṇḍita regularly taught His students in the Caṇḍī-maṇḍapa, situated in the courtyard of Mukunda Sanjay. If the Lord, who is the protector of Sanātana-dharma, found any student without tilaka on his forehead, He would embarrass him in such a way that the student would never return to study without tilaka. The Lord would say, “The forehead of a brāhmaṇa that is not decorated with tilaka is as good as the crematorium. This is the injunction of the scriptures.” Whenever the Lord saw His students without tilaka, He told them that they have certainly not performed their morning rituals. Saying this, the Lord again sent them home. When the students returned after duly marking their bodies with tilaka, then they were eligible to study with the Lord.

Nimāi Paṇḍita joked with and teased everyone. He particularly made fun of the Śrīhaṭṭa residents’ pronunciation of words. The Lord, however, never laughed or joked with any women. As soon as He saw a woman in the road, He immediately came to the side or gave way. Conjugal activities as exhibited in the pastimes of Kṛṣṇacandra in this world were not displayed during the appearance of Gaura. That is why mahājanas and their followers, who know the science of Gaura-Kṛṣṇa, never address Gaurasundara as ‘Nadīyā-nāgara,’ or the amorous hero of Nadia, after the style of Kṛṣṇa, who is the personification of conjugal mellows. Simply by studying with the Lord for one year students became expert in scriptural conclusions.

Meanwhile, Śacīmātā, being anxious to marry her son for the second time, had Kāśīnātha Paṇḍita arrange the marriage of Nimāi with the supremely devoted daughter of Rāja Paṇḍita Sanātana Miśra of Navadvīpa. An intelligent aristocrat named Buddhimanta Khān personally agreed to bear the entire expenses of the Lord’s marriage. On an auspicious day at an auspicious time the festival of Adhivāsa, or the appropriate rituals to be performed the day before the marriage, were performed with great pomp. Riding on a palanquin, the Lord arrived at the house of the Rāja Paṇḍita at the auspicious time of dusk. All the Vedic and social rituals were performed, and the marriage pastimes of Viṣṇupriyā and Gaura, who are nondifferent from Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa were completed with great splendor. With a desire to please Lord Viṣṇu, Sanātana Miśra offered his dearmost daughter in the hands of the Lord and then also gave various gifts to his son-in-law. The next afternoon, sitting on a palanquin with Viṣṇupriyā-devī, the Lord returned home admits a continuous shower of flowers and the accompaniment of song, dance, and music. When Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa were seated inside the house, the entire universe began to glorify Them. If a living entity hears the eternal marriage pastimes of Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa, then he is cleansed of the desire for conjugal happiness that joins together male and female in this material world as enjoyer and object of enjoyment. At that time his good intelligence is awakened and he understands that Lord Nārāyaṇa alone is the enjoyer of the entire universe. When the Lord mercifully embraced Buddhimanta Khān, the happiness in his heart knew no bounds.