The Lord Takes Initiation and Awakens His Love for Kṛṣṇa When Jagannātha Misra passed away, the Lord went to Gayā to perform the pindi ceremony for his His father. Different things can be done for deceased relatives. One thing is putting their ashes in the Ganges, and another is to perform pindi, which is a ceremony where you offer Kṛṣṇa prasādam for their departed soul. On the death anniversary the children offer pindi every year, and once in their lifetime they go to offer pindi at Gayā and offer worship to the lotus footprint of Lord Viṣṇu. In Gayā, there is a temple dedicated to this process of offering prasādam to the forefathers. Sannyāsīs don’t really have to perform pindi, because they are already civilly dead. By taking sannyāsa, they liberate their forefathers anyway. But Lord Caitanya, as a student, as a gṛhasta, He went to perform this pindi for his father.
At this time the Lord was not very old, maybe He was 17 or 18. When He went to Gayā, He met Īśvara Purī Mahārāja, the most celebrated disciple of Mādhavendra Purī. Mādhavendra Purī was in the Madhvācārya line of spiritual masters, and was the first one who manifested Rādhā’s love in this world. He showed the love that Śrīmati Rādhārāṇī has for Kṛṣṇa, technically known as mahābhāva. Before him, the Madhva line did worship Kṛṣṇa, but Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa was not prominent, so he instituted Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa worship. Īśvara Purī had stayed at the house of Jagannātha Misra when Lord Caitanya was younger. He had discussed Kṛṣṇa consciousness and accepted prasādam there, so the Lord already knew him. He had the opportunity to have his association as a child, and knew that he was a great soul. In Gayā, Lord Caitanya met with Īśvara Purī at his āśrama, and told him, “If I want to go back to Kṛṣṇa, I need a guru. If I don’t have a guru, how am I going to get back to Kṛṣṇa? How will I cross over the ocean of birth and death? I want you to be my guru. Please give me the mantra.” Then Īśvara Purī said, “You are a great paṇḍita, a great scholar—who am I? How can I give you initiation?” The Lord replied, “Please don’t cheat me. You know Kṛṣṇa. You served Mādhavendra Purī. If I don’t receive the mantra from you, I don’t know how I will live. Please give me the mantra.” He was very insistent, saying that some personal disaster may happen if He didn’t get the mantra. So then Īśvara Purī finally agreed and gave Him initiation, because it was well known that Nimāi Paṇḍita was a very strict brāhmaṇa.
From the time of His initiation, Lord Caitanya manifested His extreme loving sentiments for Kṛṣṇa. When He went into the Viṣṇupada temple He was chanting and dancing in ecstasy, and the brāhmaṇas gathered around and watched Him. He was oblivious to everyone and was so ecstatic, but when He noticed that everybody was watching, He became self-conscious and controlled Himself.
Then Lord Caitanya started performing an abhiṣeka to the lotus footprint of the Lord—pouring milk, yogurt, honey, ghee and pañcāmṛta. While He was offering, tears were pouring from His eyes. Just by getting initiation He felt a complete change of heart and started to manifest His love for Kṛṣṇa. He was filled with so much love, offering this abhiṣeka to the lotus feet of Lord Viṣṇu, that tears poured from His eyes. He bathed the lotus feet with His tears of love. Then He offered a plate of bhoga, rice offerings to the Viṣṇupada lotus footprint, then to the soul of His deceased father.
Gauranga – The golden incarnation of divine love- HH Jayapataka Swami
