SRI GANGA DASA PANDITA

My obeisances to Sri Gangadasa Pandita, who is the disciple of the husband of
Sarasvati, the master of the Vedas. [C.B.M 1.283]

After the ceremony in which Sri Gaurasundara was invested with the sacred
thread, He took up his studies at home, under the tutorship of his father. When
Sri Jagannatha Misra saw that his son was very eager to be admitted to an
academic institution, his father took him to the house of Sri Ganga dasa
Pandita, to get Him admitted into Ganga dasa Pandita's tol. In Krsna-lila Ganga
dasa Pandita was the teacher of Balarama and Krsna, Sandipani Muni.

When he saw Jagannatha Misra had come to his house, Ganga dasa got up to
respectfully receive him and after embracing him, he very affectionately
requested him to take his seat. Jagannatha Misra addressed him, "I have brought
my son to you. Please become his teacher and instruct him how to read and
write." Sri Ganga dasa Pandita replied, "Only unless one is greatly fortunate
does he get the chance to instruct a child who is endowed with the symptoms of
such a high-souled saintly person. I will teach him to the best of my
ability."

Thus Sri Jagannatha Misra presented his son Nimai into the hands of Ganga dasa
Pandita and then returned home.

While looking at his new disciple, Gangadas became immersed in great happiness
and kept Nimai with him just as if he was his own son. [C.B. Adi 8.32]

Ganga dasa could undestand by the divine appearance and nature of this boy that
he was not ordinary, and so he began to carefully instruct him while treating
him just like his own son. The boy Nimai had such a miraculous intellect that
after hearing the sutras only once, he had completely committed them to the
memory. Within a few days he came to occupy the seat at the head of the class.
Gradually it came to pass that sometimes Nimai would explain the sutras even
better than his teacher. Not one amongst hundreds and hundreds of students in
the tol could rival him. Ganga dasa undestood very quickly that Nimai was his
best student. Whatever pastimes the Lord enacts He does so to the penultimate
degree.

Amongst the better students of the Pandit was Sri Kamalakanta, Murari Gupta,
Sri Krsnananda and others, to whom Nimai would pose many tricky questions.
Their discussions would usually end up at the bathing ghat at the Ganga with
loud arguments and eventually pushing and mud slinging . Nimai would establish
one conclusion, then defeat that by establishing another, and then establish
the original conclusion again with better arguments. Seeing his genius the
other students were simply struck with wonder and Ganga dasa Pandita was in
total ecstasy. After practising logic and rhetoric for some days under the
tutelage of Ganga das Pandit, Sri Nimai then opened his own grammar tol by the
order of His guru. His tol was held at the house of Mukunda Sanjoy in the
pavilion where they conducted Durga Puja. Day by day his students increased and
even at such a young age he attained such proficiency in scholarship that
everyone including even Ganga dasa Pandita was simply amazed.

While He engaged in His pastimes of learning His mother Saci Mata was very
happy. Eventually the time came for Him to go to Gaya under the plea of
offering rites for His deceased father. After being initiated by Sri Isvara
Puri He returned from there a changed person. Now he explained all the sutras
in relationship to Sri Krsna. Besides that, he knew nothing else. Finally his
students went to Ganga dasa Pandita to inform him of the new developments. That
afternoon when Nimai came to offer his respects to his guru, Ganga dasa Pandita
very affectionately blessed him saying, "Bap Visvambhara (Bap is an
affectionate term which literally means father, but which is used loosely even
by mothers to address their sons), now hear my words. The scholarship of
brahmanas is not a matter of small fortune. On both sides of your family
Nilambara Cakravarti, your maternal grandfather, and your father Jagannath
Misra weren't uneducated fools. You are also very qualified to explain ins and
outs of logic. If by giving up teaching one attains devotion, then why didn't
your father and grandfather give it up? Were they not devotees? Considering all
this, please continue your studies. By study one becomes a Vaisnava brahmana.
If a brahmana becomes a fool then how will he distinguish between good and bad.
Reflecting on these matters you should pursue your studies and continue to
teach your students nicely. On my honor I am stating this, that you might not
explain things in a contrary fashion."

Nimai replied, "By your mercy, there is not a soul in Navadwipa who can defeat
me in philosophical debate. Let me see which of these great panditas can refute
the explanations of the sutras that I will now give. I am going to the tol to
begin instructing these points just now." Hearing these words of Sri
Gaurasundara, Ganga dasa was pleased. Thus Mahaprabhu took the dust of his
lotus feet and went of to the tol. (Then what happened?)

"What is left for Ganga dasa to accomplish, who has most worshipable person in
the fourteen worlds as his disciple?"

