VIJAYA

She was the wife of Suryadasa Misra, a resident of Navadvipa. She had two sons,
Sanatana and Kalidasa. According to Prema-vilasa 19, Kalidasa, named originally
Parasara, became so named as he was a devotee of goddess Kali. Sanatana Misra's
daughter was Visnupriya Devi.



VIJAYA DASA AKHARIYA

A resident of Navadvipa, he belonged to the sakha of Lord Caitanya. He had
beautiful handwriting, hence he was popularly known as "Akhariya" (copyist). He
copied several books for Lord Gauranga. The Lord referred to him as
"Ratnavahu". In his past incarnation was Kundanidhi (GGD. 103). He was
overwhelmed with ecstacy on the day in which Lord Gauranga revealed his
spiritual opulence (CC. 1.10.65-66, BRK. 12.3770-71).



VIJAYADHVAJA

He was a monk descending seventh in the line from Madhva, belonging to Pejavara
Matha. He wrote a commentary on Bhagavata-Tatparya of Madhvacarya
(Padaratnavali), Yamakabharatatika, Dasavatara-Harigathastotra, Sri Krsnastaka,
etc. Jiva Gosvami mentions Vijayadhvaja and Vyasatirtha as "Veda
Vedarthavit-srestha (supreme authority on the Vedas) in his Tattvasandarbha
and Sarvasamvadini.



VIJAYAKRSNA GOSVAMIPADA

He was born to Srimati Svarnamayi devi in the house of Ananda Candra Gosvami of
Sikarpura village in the district of Nadia on 19th Sravana (July-August), 1841
A.D., Jhulana Purnima. Sri Ananda Candra Gosvami, the father of Vijayakrsna,
was the seventh generation descendent of Sri Advaita Prabhu. Vijayakrsna's
father was a great scholar of Srimad Bhagavatam and noted religionist. It is
said that he personally cooked all the bhoga for Sri Syamasundara. He would
first prepare by washing all the wood for cooking in the Ganges. He was known
to always carry the Salagrama sila around his neck. Svarnamayi devi was also
exceedingly devotional and extremely kind-hearted.

In his childhood Vijayakrsna was very restless and naughty. Although involved
in numerous accidents, he always survived miraculously. He excelled in
education, talent and memory. Vijayakrsna was admitted to the Santipura
Sanskrit Grammar School and within a very short period he mastered Mugdhavodha
grammar. As per the old family tradition, he was converted by his mother. His
kind behavior and proper respect to all women was visible throughout his life.

While studying at the Sanskrit college he married. Shortly thereafter he became
an Advaitavadi after reading the commentary of Sankaracarya. Once he went to
his disciple's house in the village of Amalagachi in the district of Rangapura
where he listened as his disciple expressed his deep dedication to him. From
that day he gave of his post of spiritual master, considering his great
attachment. Later he heard an oracle which said, "Think of the world beyond
death." He inquired about the speaker but could not find him. Vijay became
afraid and was suddenly attacked with fever and from that very moment the
foundation of the doctrine of Vedanta shattered.

In 1860 A.D. he discarded his sacred thread after being converted into the
Brahmo religion by Maharsi Devandranatha Thakura. As a preacher he taught
Brahmoism in various places such as Baghanchar, Santragachi, Santipura, etc. in
the year 1863 A.D. He was elected the chancellor of Adi Brahmo Samaj. He went
to Santipura and at the request of Sri Harimohana Pramanik, a devotee, he
started reading Sri Caitanya Caritamrta and gained mental peace. He went to
meet Sri Caitanya dasa Babaji and Sri Bhagavan dasa Babaji and relished their
cordial gestures and sweet conversation. After hearing a devotional song from
his elder brother Sri Vrajagopala Prabhu, Vijayakrsna tried to introduce
devotional songs in the Brahmo Samaj.

In 1865, while living in Dacca, Vijay started publicity and medical practice in
places like Barishal, Tripura, Noakhali and Syllet. Though he earned fame in
the medical practice, he decided to leave the practice, considering it to be a
waste of time, and began concentrating more on preaching activities. His
preaching attracted many people. They were also charmed by his ideal way of
life. Sri Kesava Sen and others gave him great encouragement.

While he stayed with the Indian Brahmo Samaj he started medical practice,
teaching, writing essays for journals all through the day and night. Due to
this hard labor he was attacked with heart ailment. After being inspired by a
dream, he went to a saint in Jagannatha Ghat and recovered slightly by his
medicine. While staying in Kasi, Sriman Trailanga Swami took him in a secluded
place near the Varuna river and initiated him. In search of a spiritual
teacher, Vijay travelled to many place and in the year 1883 A.D. in the month
of Asadha he received initiation and the method of worshiping from Brahmananda
Paramahamsaji of Manasa Sarovara in Akasaganga hill in Gaya. When he was
engaged in deep meditation and worship, his guru appeared and advised him to
take sannyasa from Hariharananda Sarasvati in Kasi. But after, at the order of
his religious teacher, he again began living with his wife. When he was in
Dacca, he became frustrated and left his meditation but again, by the order of
his guru, he went to Jvalamukhi and acquired mental peace and again he was
engaged in meditation. In 1888 A.D. in the month of Vadra (Aug-Sept), he
established the asrama in Gendaria on the auspicious day of Janmasthami and
started living with his family. He stayed with the saints in Kasi and other
places and then in 1927 A.D. he went to Vrndavana as per the order of
Paramahamsaji and lived one year in the temple of Deuji which belonged to
Gopinatha Bagha. During this time he had frequent exchanges with Gaurasiromani
during which time he witnessed many strange incidents. Vijay, along with many
other saints, went in their astral bodies to see Muktinatha. In 1927 A.D., on
10th Phalguna after the death of Yogamaya devi, he went to the Kumbha Mela in
Hardwar where he stayed with many saints. In 1306 B.S on 22nd Jaistha he
breathed his last after eating sweets poisoned by the priests of a certain
Matha in Puri.

He wrote Vaktrta and Upadesa and Asavatira Upakhyana.



VIJAYA PURI

He was the maternal uncle of Advaita Acarya, not by blood-relations, but
through their residence in the same village. He lived in Navagrama earlier.
Advaita called him "Durvasa", while Nabha Devi, Advaita's mother, called Vijaya
"brother." He took spiritual initiation from Laksmipati, the guru of
Madhavendra Puri. Vijaya used to travel with Madhavendra Puri (Prema-vilasa
24.228)

Haricarana dasa, the author of Advaitamangala heard the biography of Advaita
Acarya orally from Vijay Puri at Navagrama in Srihatta and then he wrote this
book.

Another book (Advaita Prakasa 4.14) records Vijaya's meeting with Advaita
Acarya at Kasi.

Chapter three of Advaitavilasa states that on his arrival at the house of
Advaita, Vijaya listened to the interpretation of Srimad Bhagavatam presented
by Advaita and on request from the devotees Vijaya narrated the childhood and
adolescent sports of Advaita Prabhu.



VILASA ACARYA

He was a resident of Beleti village of Chittagong. He was the court-scholar of
the local King Citrasena. His son was Madhava Misra, who was the father of
Gadadhara Pandita Gosvami. (Prema-vilasa 24)



<B>VILVAMANGALA (BILVAMANGALA)<M>

He belonged to a brahmana-caste family residing on the western bank of the
river Krsnavenva in South India. Due to past sinful acts he became deeply
attached to the company of a prostitute named Cintamani who resided on the
eastern bank of the said river. This attachment was so intense that one monsoon
night even ignoring the observance of his father's funeral rites, Vilvamangala
went through extreme difficulty to reach the place of Cintamani. He had to
cross the turbulent river by holding on to a corpse and later finding the doors
of her house closed, he climbed the wall holding on to a snake. Once entering
the premises he lost consciousness.

Cintamani nursed him back to his senses and then spoke with detachment as
follows: Listen to me, o son of a brahmana. If you had directed the passion
you felt for me to attaining the Supreme Lord, you would have certainly
obtained the divine grace of the Supreme Lord."

Vilvamangala spent the night there and the following morning went to the asrama
of a guru residing in nearby Somagiri. Serving his guru with unfaltering
devotion, Vilvamangala at last went to Vrndavana. On the way he chanted
spontaneously some slokas as prompted by Lord Krsna. These slokas were compiled
by his companions and presented in the book titled Sri Krsnakarnamrta. The name
Lilasuka was given to Vilvamangala by his guru.

During the Gambhira-lila Lord Caitanya enjoyed listening to this book day and

night. (CC. 2.9.307-308)



<B>VIPINA BIHARI CATTAPADHYA<M>

Vipina Bihari was born in the month of Pausa in the Bengali year 1276 (1869
A.D.) in a Radhi clan Kulina family of Kayastha lineage at the village of
Makadadaha on the bank of a river, previously known as Sarasvati, in the
district of Howrah. The place was well known on account of its temple of the
goddess Makadacaudi. It is said that the deity of Makadacaudi was originally
very tall but gradually became smaller due to the deity going underground over
a period of time. The inhabitants of the village mainly consist of a group of
prosperous and respectable brahmanas.

Vipina bihari was the second son of Syamacarana Cattopadhya, (his mother's name
was Tarangini devi, while Kedara babu was Vipin's elder brother), a devout
Vaisnava of virtuous practices, and lived in a house in close proximity of the
famous temple. Syamacarana, a highly-ranked employee in charge of a group of
post offices, had his posting at Srihatta. He used to hold Harinama-sankirtana
at his residence everyday. It is said that in course of his kirtana Syamacarana
and his associate, Devendra Cakravarti, used to become so charged with
devotional ecstacy that they would drop on the floor and remain unconscious for
hours after concluding their nama-recital. Some non-believers among the
audience who lived in the neighborhood, did not accept the said state of
unconsciousness of Syamacarana and Devendra. Thus one day they held pieces of
burning charcoal against their unconscious bodies. However, they were shocked
to see that there was no visible reaction from the bodies lying on the floor,
neither where there an marks of injury on them. Upon realizing their mistake,
the non-believers had a change of heart and became devotees of Syamacarana.

Vipina babu had to face many obstacles in the progress of study during his
boyhood due to financial difficulties. Nevertheless, through sheer perseverance
and dedication he passed his B.A. examination with honors and went on to
complete his law degree with success. In due course he started to practice as a
lawyer at the Hugli Court (at that time Howrah and Hugli were under one
district).

He had a religious trend of mind from a very early age. He is stated to have
asked his kula-guru (family priest) when the latter had been reciting Vedic
incantations during his Upanayana ritual, to reveal to him the prescribed
mantra. The Kula-guru said that he was not empowered to do so and advised
Vipina to keep company of saints and ascetics.

During his boyhood Vipina was fond of enacting rasa-lila in the company of boys
and girls of his own age. Sometimes he would sit in the posture of meditation
with his eyes closed and then become fully absorbed. Vipina himself was a very
simple and truthful person and acted according to the advice of others without
hesitation, which endangered his life on many occasions. In course of his
search for the association of saints as advised by his kula-guru, Vipina became
the target of many wicked persons in the guise of sadhus. On one occasion he
was convinced by a so-called sadhu to smoke ganja, though with repugnance, and
was robbed of his possessions.

On another occasion a sadhu came to Vipina's place at Makadadaha and told him
that he would be able to have the darsana of Devi provided Vipina would worship
kavna-pisaci (evil spirits) for twenty one days without taking any food except
the juice of a green coconut at night only after completion of his daily
worship. Natural believer that he was, Vipina at once agreed to abide by the
sadhu's advice and after receiving the mantra dedicated himself to the
prescribed method of worship. He rapidly lost weight and became weak, yet
without paying any heed to the advice of his relatives and friends, he
continued with the worship. On the night of the twentieth day of worship,
Vipina experienced a vision Sarasvati and was startled. So, he requested his
boyhood friend Madhusudana Bhattacarya to sleep near the adjoining veranda on
the following night and warned him to come to his rescue if he heard a loud
scream. After going through the routine worship around midnight of the last day
when Vipina was offering leaves of vela to invoke the goddess, he suddenly
realized that the vela leaves instead of falling on the ground were becoming
disappearing instantaneously. Out of fear he lost his concentration and began
chanting the prescribed mantra incorrectly. He felt as if his body were being
forcibly pulled by the evil spirit of Kavna and screamed out in fright. As
pre-arranged, his friend Bhattacarya quickly came into the room and slowly
nursed Vipina back to a normal state of mind.

But there was no respite for Vipina babu, because soon after this incident, as
if under the influence of an evil spirit, he became seriously ill with very
high fever resulting in a state of delirium, malfunctions of his liver and
kidney and constant bleeding from his gums. He remained bed-ridden for a long
time and the doctors gave up all hopes of his survival. A deed of will in
respect of his properties was drawn up. Vipina had become so weak that he could
neither talk nor express his feelings. He helplessly watched his mother
shedding tears of grief sitting by his bedside. Although he was not so bothered
about the impending danger to his life, but he became apprehensive that people
around him may attribute the cause of his dangerous state of health to the
dishonest and mischievous actions of sadhus with whom he got mixed up, and turn
antagonistic against all sadhus in general.

Thinking in this way Vipina felt despondent and exclaimed "Oh Hari, Oh Hari."
The very remembrance of the name of the Lord caused a spontaneous turbulence
within, which permeated through his body and mind. Before he was able to get
control of himself, he heard the musical recital of some kirtana from very
close quarters saying, "Premadata, Nitai says Gaura-Hari Haribol. Nitai has
brought the nama Gaura-Hari Haribol." Hearing this his whole physical structure
became energized. Vipina babu, who had remained speechless for over a month,
who could not even turn on his side without the help of others, suddenly sat
upright on his bed, as if released from the influence of the evil spell of
Kavna-pisaci and requested his mother Tarangini devi to invite the kirtaniyas
inside his room. In great joy his mother rushed downstairs covering two and
three steps at a time and begged the devotees to go up to her son's bedroom.

Vipina fell prostrate before them and collecting the holy dust of their feet
rubbed it on his body. He then washed their feet with water and drank the
`carana-jala.' At Vipina's earnest request the Vaisnavas spent a few days with
him and Vipina served them with great devotion. During the course of
conversations with them Vipina found out one of the Vaisnavas in the group was
his maternal cousin, Bhupala Harivola, and that they were all disciples of Sri
Harivola Thakura, under whose instructions they had come to Vipina's house at
Makadadaha. Sri Thakura lived at Kasi and did not wish to visit Bengal.

Soon thereafter, Vipina left for Kasi, but told his relatives and friends that
he was going to Vaidyanatha to recoup his health. Vipina's father-in-law was a
distinguished and prosperous Zamindar of Gourdalpada in Caudanagar, and had a
house at Kasi. Upon arriving at Kasi, Vipina stayed with his in-laws. He then
located Sri Harivola Thakura and had his darsana. Thereafter he regularly
visited Thakura's place.

Although Vipina loved to hear discourses on Hari-katha from Thakura, he could
not grasp the intrinsic religious value of Thakura's words even after visiting
him for fifteen days. When he humbly presented his problem before Thakura the
latter said, "Oh yes, oh yes." From that day forward, Vipina not only
understood what he heard, but also stored everything like a treasure in his
memory. Thakura then initiated him with the eighteen lettered holy mantra, gave
Vipina the name Nityananda and bestowed divine power in him.

After some time, Thakura Harivola decided to test the advancement of his
disciple Nityananda (Vipina). On the pretext of his own financial problem,
Thakura asked Vipina if he would sit in front of the Annapurna temple with a
piece of cloth spread before him like a mendicant and at the end of the day,
make over all his collection to Thakura. Without any hesitation Vipina
positioned himself as directed by his guru. Some members of his in-laws family
noticed Vipina on their way to Annapurna-Visvesvara temple. They tried every
possible means to persuade him to stop begging, but Vipina's determination to
execute the order of his guru was fixed and he would not yield to their
pressure. In the evening, when Vipina handed over his days collection of alms
consisting of some cloth, holy thread, some small coins and rice to his guru,
Thakura held the collections on his head and danced in joy.

Vipina continued to serve his guru with devotion, efficiency and punctuality
and in appreciation of his commendable performance Thakura made him the chief
of all disciples. After three months Thakura advised Vipina to return to his
family and home. Vipina was not keen to return to his life of a practicing
lawyer, which involved dealing with lies and fraudulence. However, when his
guru told him that he would become a munsiff within seven days, he returned to
his work. Sure enough, within seven days of his return Vipina joined his new
post as a munsiff (moonshee, translator and language teacher).

He used to attend Harinama sankirtana twice everyday with the members and
servants of his family regardless of his place of posting. His neighbors like
him very much and craved his company. Vipina babu had an exceptionally sweet
and melodious voice and his kirtana recitals were unique. Those who were
fortunate enough to hear his recitals cherished them throughout their lifetime.
In the course of his recitals he became so surcharged with devotion that he
would begin to dance in a manner of skipping, frisking and leaping with
occasional loud sounds. Sometimes, while dancing in a devotional trance, he
would slap someone lovingly or mount on some other person's shoulders.

While he was posted as a Munsiff at Rouyana in the district of Cattagrama, some
of his devotees approached him just before the Ratha yatra festival and
requested him to lead the procession with his kirtana recital. Vipina babu
agreed on the condition that people from all communities must participate and
join him in a chorus. His opening recital "Vole-Haribol-Gaura Haribol" followed
by his kirtana recital was stated to be so outstanding and intoxicating that
many devotees had the vision of Lord Jagannatha in person on the chariot and
many others were overwhelmed with deep devotional absorbtion.

Vipina babu had the habit of chanting aloud "Haribol" regularly at daybreak and
hearing his voice his devotes from far and near would arrive at his place to
join his kirtana session from 4:00 AM to 7:00 AM. Then Vipina would perform his
daily prescribed prayer, sit down and write his professional judgement, take a
bath and after doing routine tilaka seva, perform his worship of the Deity.
Finally after taking prasadam he would leave for the court.

Before commencing his court proceedings he would bow his head in obeisances and
after completing his days work he would chant "Haribol." When he returned home
his devotees would already be there waiting for him. After taking a bath Vipina
would join them for the evening session of kirtana and also recitals from
Srimad Bhagavatam. Thereafter he would take prasadam with his devotees before
retiring to bed. Even on the day of (Sri Harivasara) fasting, Vipina would
follow the same routine, except that he would not take any meal.

The preaching and practice of Vipina was filled with devotion and dedication at
the lotus feet of his guru, by whose grace he was able to realize the Supreme
Lord as depicted in the Srimad Bhagavatam. Due to their deep attachment for
each other, guru (Thakura) and his disciple (Nityananda) though physically
apart, enjoyed the company of each others association on the spiritual
platform.

It is said that once in the course of his recital of the verses on `Kazi-daman'
from Sri Caitanya Bhagavata, Vipina became so engrossed in prema-bhava that a
shining reflection of a picture, depicting Lord Gauranga on his way to
subjugate the Kazi, appeared on the wall in full view of the devout audience,
then disappeared shortly thereafter. It has also been said that Vipina Babu
received darsana of Sri Haridasa Thakura at Comilla and that of Prabhu
Nityananda at another place.

While Vipina would not hesitate to reprimand his sons or disciples for any
lapses on their part, he remained silent when his daughters or the women folk
acted in a similar manner. He inculcated a spirit of devotion and love amongst
all the members of his family.

He never allowed his daily kirtana session to be interrupted even when he was
seriously ill. Any devotee, irrespective of his caste, creed or religion was
welcome to live under his shelter and dedicate himself to his own way of
mediation, while Vipina would bear the expenses for the maintenance of the said
devotee's family.

While posted at Nadaila, many teenage boys, inhabitants of Mahisakhola colony,
used to assemble at his place to participate in kirtana. Amongst these boys
Kirana Caudra Mitra and Girindranatha Ghosh were the leaders. Vipina's charming
kirtanas transformed Girindra and he became a permanent servant of Nityananda.
Girindra gave up his studies and went along with his master from Nadaila to
Bankura. Girindra served Nityananda for more than twenty years, during which
time he was fortunate enough to witness bhava-lila of Nityananda. Their
relationship was more of a father and son, full of love and affection, rather
than that of a master and servant. Nityananda did not hesitate to chastise
Girindra whenever he noticed any lapse on his part. Sometimes he would go out
of his way to help Girindra during difficult periods and even cured him from a
dangerous illness through his divine power.

While Nityananda was posted at Kumilla (Visnupura), Raja Bahadura Manindra
Candra Nandi organized a Vaisnava conference. A few days prior to the occasion,
Nityananda, for no apparent reason, began to put on the pattern of tilaka
according to Sri Gadadhara's clan instead of his prescribed pattern of Prabhu
Nityananda's clan. Soon thereafter, the famous Gauda-bhakta Sripada Harimohana
Siromani Gosvami of Sripata Adial (Vikvampura) in Dacca appeared at
Nityananda's place without any prior intimation. The meeting of the two great
Vaisnavas brought about an atmosphere of transcendental bliss. Nityananda was
so impressed with Siromani's firm faith and love in Lord Gauranga that he
himself became a member of the family of Sri Gadadhara after receiving
initiation in Gaura-mantra from Sripada Siromani Prabhu. When Sripada Siromani
visited Makadadaha again on Nityananda's request, Nityananda arranged that all
his family members, servants and associates were initiated in Gaura-mantra by
Sripada Siromani Prabhu.

Due to taking some medicine from a `Bhairavi', Nityananda again became
seriously ill with bronchitis. He took leave from work and first went to
Kasidhama and from there went to Calcutta, under the advice of his nephew and
other associates. There he stayed with his boyhood friend Vipina Datta at
Hogala Kuvide Lane (now known as Sahitya Parisada Street). After recovering
from his illness under the care of Dr. Bidhana Candra Raya he returned to his
work.

His beloved disciple Girindra used to sleep near the feet of his guru. One
night he had a bad dream suggesting that Nityananda would leave the world after
two days. Upon awaking Girindra began to sob at the feet of Nityananda, whose
consolation did not change his gloomy state of mind. Two days after Girindra's
dream, Atula Campati Mahasaya, a very close friend of Nityananda, came to the
latter's residence at Makadadaha at about three in the afternoon. When the two
friends started their conversation, with Nityananda holding the smoking pipe,
Campati Mahasaya said, "Look Vipina, you need not worry about your death. When
Nityananda asked the reason for such a remark, Campati replied, "After all you
have your wife and son, at least they will give you some drops of water at your
last moment, whereas I have no one to do so at the end of my life." As soon as
Nityananda heard Campati's reply he threw away the smoking pipe from his hand
and said, "What do you say Campati? Nityananda Dasa' would just chant "Hari"
and drop dead." At that moment he expired. Later, Campati was heard to say that
Vipina had taught him a good lesson as to how one should die. Vipina died on
the eight lunar day of the dark fortnight of the month of Magha in 1923 A.D.
(1330)



VIPINAVIHARI GOSVAMI

He was a resident of Baghnapada in the district of Burdwan. He was a follower
of the famous Rami Gosvami. He translated the following titles: Dasamularasa,
Haribhaktitarangini, Harinamamrtasindhu, Visnushasranama. He was alive toward
the early part of the 19th saka century.



 119.VIPRADASA

He was the disciple of Narottama Thakura. His Sripata was at Pachpada near
Gopalapura. His wife was Bhagavati and his two sons were Jadunatha and
Ramanatha (BRK. 10.193)

It was from the granary of this Vipradasa that Narottama Thakura found a Deity
of Lord Gauranga (Prema-vilasa 20).



 122.VIRA DARPANARAYANA

He was the King of Kachad (Assam) who got a conch made carrying the Deities of
ten avataras in Saka 1553 (1631 A.D.).



VIRA HAMVIRA

He was the King of Vanavisnupura in the district of Bankura and a disciple of
Srinivasa Acarya. His wife was Sulaksana and his son was Dhira Hamvira (or
Dhadi Hamvira). Vira Hamvira was a tyrant but was later converted to
Vaisnavism. Jiva Gosvami named him Caitanyadasa (BRK. 7.61, 9.5, 9.265-266,
273, 9-270). When he installed the Deity of Kalacand, the installation ceremony
was conducted by Srinivasa Acarya.

Two padas composed by him are found in Padavali literature (Karnananda p. 19)



VIRABHADRA GOSVAMI

He translated in brief the essence of the entire Srimad Bhagavatam which was
published in two volumes in 1858-1861 A.D. (1265-1268).



VIRACANDRA GOSVAMI

He was the step-brother of Raghunandana Gosvami, a descendant of the family of
Lord Nityananda, and a resident of Madograma. He wrote commentaries on Sri
Gopalacampu and Padyavali (1878 A.D.)



<B>VIRACANDRA (VIRABHADRA GOSVAMI)<M>

He was the son of Lord Nityananda and was also known as "Viracandra" and
"Jagatdurlabha." He was born of Vasudha. In his past incarnation he was
Payodhisayi, Nisatha, Ulmuka (GGD. 67). He was a disciple of Jahnava Mata.

According to BRK. 9.420, Viracandra, at the desire of Jahnava, married both the
daughters of Yadunandana Acarya, a resident of Jhamatpura near Rajabalahat. His
wives were named Srimati and Narayani. Jahnava gave diksa to these two women,
while Viracandra gave diksa to his father-in-law, Yadunandana.

Viracandra had three sons namely Gopijanavallabha, Ramakrsna and Ramacandra.
All three were ardent devotees.

Viracandra once left Khardaha on a pilgrimage to Vrndavana passing through
Saptagrama, Santipura, Amvika, Navadvipa, Srikhanda, Yajigrama, Kantakanagara
and Kheturi. Right through he was warmly received by devotees and he performed
and danced ecstatically in love of God.

In Vrndavana his presence was a great pleasure for the devotees there such as
Bhugarbha, Jiva Gosvami, etc. who showed him great respect. Viracandra and his
devotees visited Dvadasa Vana and met Kaviraja Gosvami at Radhakunda. Kaviraja
Gosvami accompanied Viracandra from Radha Kunda to Vrndavana.

On the occasion of the installation ceremony of Radhavinoda in the house of
Govinda Cakravarti, a disciple of Srinivasa Acarya and a resident of Borakuli
village, Viracandra charmed the audience by his ecstatic dancing in harmony
with the kirtana sung by Narottama Thakura.

Viracandra zealously took up the task of preaching and maintaining the sanctity
of the faith. There was a person named Jayagopala belonging to the Kayastha
caste who lived in the village of Kandra in the land of Radha. He was extremely
proud of his erudition. Since Jayagopala's guru was not very learned the former
never spoke about and his guru and when specifically asked to mention who his
guru was Jayagopala referred to his parama-guru.

Once, out of vanity, Jayagopala showed disrespect to the prasadam. Thereafter
Viracandra cut off all relations with Jayagopala and informed the rest of the
Vaisnava community of it. Thus the entire community also threw Jayagopala out.

In CC. 1.11.8 it is stated that Virabhadra was the trunk and from him sprang
numerous branches.

Viracandra's third and youngest son Ramacandra lived at Khardaha and his
family-descendants settled in the following places: Vrndavana, Navadvipa,
Khardaha, Calcutta, Dhaka, Butni, Uddharanapura, Saptagrama, etc. Viracandra's
second son Ramakrsna settled at Maldaha and his family descendants lived at
Vrndavana, Gayespura, Sodpur, Kanaidanga, Gorabajar, Mado, etc. Viracandra's
eldest son Gopijanavallabha lived at Lata. His family descendants spread and
settled in the following places: Latadaha, Nupuravallabhapura, Purunia in
Bankura district, Kodala, Moktarpur, Agartala, Jessore, etc. The genealogical
line descends as follows:



Ramacandra | __________________________|___________________________ | | | | | |
| | Ramadeva Krsnadeva Radhamadhava Visnudeva |
_________________________|______________________ | | | | | Gopikanta Raghava
Ragendra Yadava Balarama | Harigovinda (migrated from Khardaha to Butni village
in Dhaka) | ______________|________________ | | | Sarvesvara Vangesvara
Nandesvara | _______________|______________ | | | Laksmikanta Gopikrsna
Ratnakrsna | _________| | | Krsnakisora | |_______________________ | |
Candramohana Atlokamohana | ____________|______________ | | | | Krsnagopala
Pranagopala



In CCU P. 690-692 B.B. Majumdar writes as follows: VV. of Jiva 51-54,
Devakinandana 12-13, Vrndavanadasa 15-17. There is no mention of Viracandra's
name in CBh., CC. 1.11.5-9 refers to Virabhadra.

When mentioning the names of Advaita Acarya's sons, Krsnadasa Kaviraja in each
case introduced them as "Advaitanandana" but while writing about Virabhadra,
Kaviraja Gosvami never mentioned him as the son of Nityananda. This led some to
argue that Virabhadra was not the son, but disciple of Nityananda.

Jayananda P. 151 and BRK. P. 589 refer to Virabhadra as the son of Nityananda.
Virabhadra must have been born during the lifetime of Lord Caitanya, otherwise
his name wouldn't have been found in GGD and VV. Perhaps he was a child when
Vrndavana dasa wrote CBh. and hence his name was not mentioned.

It is said that Viracandra converted 1,200 Nedanedi into Vaisnavism. They were
possibly Sahajiya Buddhists.

The following is taken from GPC:

Srimad Viracandra or Sri Virabhadra was born in the month of Kartika (Oct-Nov),
on the 9th day of the black fortnight. He was the manifestation of Sri
Sankarsana. He was the inseparable vigraha-svarupa of Sri Caitanya. In
Bhakti-ratnakara, Sri Narahari Cakravarti has written that Viracandra Prabhu
was the son of Sri Nityananda and Srimati Vasudha. He was the disciple of
Jahnava Mata. Sri Yadunandana Acarya was the disciple of Sri Viracandra and his
two daughters Sri Sat and Sri Narayani were initiated by Sri Jahnava Mata. The
daughter of Sri Vasudha and sister of Sri Viracandra  Sri Ganga devi was the
manifestation of the Ganges. She was married to Sri Madhava Acarya and he was
the manifestation of King Santanu. VV. mentions the name of Sri Madhava
Acarya.

After receiving his mother's permission, Sri Viracandra Prabhu proceeded to Sri
Vrndavana. He first reached the house of Sri Uddharana Datta Thakura in
Saptagrama. Srinivasa Thakura, the son of Sri Uddharana Thakura, entertained
him with much honor for two days. From there Viracandra Prabhu came to Sri
Advaita Bhavan in Santipura and was received and treated with much care by Sri
Krsna Misra, the son of Advaita Acarya. From Santipura he reached Amvika-Kalna
and stayed at Sri Gauridasa Pandita's house. Sri Hrday Caitanya Prabhu
entertained him nicely. When he reached Jagannatha Misra's house in Navadvipa a
hearty reception was given to him by the relatives of Mahaprabhu. He then went
to Srikhanda where Sri Raghunandana and Kanai Thakura showed him great respect
and embraced him. After spending a few days, Sri Viracandra Prabhu reached the
house of Srinivasa Acarya in Yajigrama. Acarya Prabhu worshiped him with deep
respect. There he participated in a grand sankirtana festival and afterwards
went to Kantakanagara. He stayed for one day and then went on to Sri
Govindaraja's house in Budhari. Sri Govinda Kaviraja worshiped him along with
his many associates. Sri Viracandra was very pleased with their devotion and
stayed there for two days. After that he went to Kheturi. There he spent time
with Sri Narottama Thakura, performing sankirtana with great delight and then
left for Sri Vrndavana.

On his way to Vrndavana, many degraded and fallen persons came under his
influence and were completely rectified. When he reached Vrndavana all the
Gosvamis of Vrndavana came forward to welcome him. They were Sri Jiva Gosvami,
Sri Krsna dasa Kaviraja, Sri Ananta Acarya, Sri Haridasa Pandita-Sri Madana
gopala deva's priest, Sri Gopinatha Adhikari, Sri Madhu Pandita and his brother
Sri Bhavananda  the priest of Sri Gopinatha, Sri Kasisvara and his disciple
Sri Govinda Gosvami and Sri Yadavacarya and others (BRK).

Then Sri Viracandra Prabhu was permitted by Sri Bhugarbha Gosvami and Sri Jiva
Gosvami to visit the forests of Vrndavana. He visited the twelve forests in
Mathura, Sri Radhakunda and Syamakunda and Govardhana hill, etc. Many people
who saw him were charmed by his display of devotional ecstacy. After spending
some time in Vrndavana, he returned to Gauda and his fame spread far and wide.
Like Sri Nityananda Prabhu, he was enriched with divine wealth.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada has written in CC. Anubhasya that
Gopijanavallabha, Ramakrsna and Ramacandra were his three sons, and also his
disciples. Ramacandra, the youngest one lived in Khardaha. The eldest, Sri
Gopijanavallabha lived in Latagrama near Manakara, and the second son Ramakrsna
lived in Ganesapura near Maladaha.

Virabhadra efficiently organized the Vaisnava community in Gaura Vanga. He
showed great respect to Srinivasa Acarya and Narottama Thakura. The authority
which Virabhadra exercised over the Vaisnava community can be understood from a
letter extracted in BRK.

Jayagopala dasa, a Kayastha and a resident of Kanda slighted his guru, being
puffed up with the arrogance of erudition hence Viracandra socially
excommunicated him and forbid all the devotees to associate with him.

Jayagopala dasa was not a person of insignificant stature. He received the
grace of Sundarananda Thakura, a companion of Nityananda. Jayagopala wrote
Sanskrit books such as: Hari-bhakti-ratnakra, Bhakti-bhava-pradipa,
Krsna-vilasa, Manovuddhi-sandarbha, Dharma-sandarbha, Anumana-samanvaya and in
Bengali Gopalavilasa. It is clear from the story of Jayagopala that thereafter
a hostile group turned against Viracandra. The associates of Nityananda were
accustomed to wear the dress of a cowherd and a Cuda on the head. Viracandra
forbade them to wear a Cuda. When one refused to abide by his order, Viracandra
excommunicated him also. People following this dissenting group are known to
belong to the Cudadhari sampradaya.



VISNAI HAJRA

He belonged to the sakha of Lord Nityananda (CC. 1.11.50). In his past
incarnation he was born as Kalavinka in Vraja.


