Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Madhya 25.167

nija-loka lañā prabhu āilā vāsāghara

vārāṇasī haila dvitīya nadīyā-nagara

SYNONYMS

nija-loka lañā — with His personal associates; prabhu — Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu; āilā vāsa-aghara — came to His residential place; vārāṇasī — the city of Vārāṇasī; haila — became; dvitīya — second; nadīyā-nagara — Navadvīpa (Nadia).

TRANSLATION

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu then returned to His residence with His personal associates. Thus He turned the whole city of Vārāṇasī into another Navadvīpa [Nadīyā-nagara].

PURPORT

Both Navadvīpa and Vārāṇasī were celebrated for their highly educational activities. At the present time these cities are still inhabited by great, learned scholars, but Vārāṇasī is especially a center for Māyāvādī sannyāsīs who are learned scholars. However, unlike Navadvīpa, there are hardly any devotees in Vārāṇasī. Consequently a discussion of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was very rare in Vārāṇasī. In Navadvīpa, such a discussion was quite ordinary. After Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu visited Vārānaṣī and turned Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī and his disciples into Vaiṣṇavas, Vārāṇasī became like Navadvīpa because so many devotees began discussing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Even at the present moment one can hear many discussions on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam taking place on the banks of the Ganges. Many scholars and sannyāsīs gather there to hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and perform sańkīrtana.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness