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| Jagannath Mishra and Shachi Mata - Nimai's Parents |
Antardvipa is Gokula-Mahavana. The forest of Madhuvana and Mathura city are north of Prithu Kunda.
The island at the junction of the Ganges and the Yamuna is called Antardvipa. Within Antardvipa is Sri Dham Mayapur, where Lord Caitanya appeared.
Within the central island of Antardvipa is Mayapur. This entire area is considered a holy place.
Just as Krishna was born and performed his childhood pasttimes in Gokula, living in the house of Nanda Maharaja and Mother Yasoda. So too in the form of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu he performed His childhood pastimes in the house of Jagannatha Mishra in Navadvipa. Gokula is known as non different to Antardvipa, that is it is simultaneously one and different, achintya bheda abheda tattva. Jagannath and Shachi named the Lord Nimai, to protect him from evil spirits, as evil spirits can not come close to a Neem tree, so the name offered some protection to their special child. It was later after taking the renounced order of life, that Nimai became known as Sri Krishna Chaitanya, Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu.
As a baby, Nimai could only be pacified by the singing of the Holy Names. He would stp crying and dance when he heard them.
Just as Krishna used to play on the banks of the Yamuna at Brahmanda Ghat in Vraja, so too Sri Sacinandana Gaurahari, Krsna in the form of Nimai Pandita, used to play games on the bank of the Ganga in Navadvip. Nimai would go to the girls on the banks of the Ganga, who were worshipping Sankara with various offerings, such as sweets. He would tell them that they should give him all that they had collected to offer to the Ganga to receive a benediction. If they did not hand over all their paraphernalia meant for the Ganges, to him, he said a curse would fall upon them. They would argue with him, but he would take their offerings by force and tell them not to be upset, because he was the husband of the Ganga and that they were greatly blessed to have his darshan.
Sometimes Nimai would splash water on the Brahmanas who were on the banks of the Ganga here taking bath and reciting their mantras. He would wait until they were clean and had applied their tilak and then he would spit water from his mouth at them. Of course they would get angry claiming that Nimai had contaminated them, not knowing that Nimai was the supremely pure Sri Sacinandana Gaurahari himself. They would complain to his father, Jagannatha Misra, who decided that he should beat Nimai with a stick when he returned hom, to teach him a lesson, not to bother the Brahmanas again. The girls that Nimai had teased heard of this and warned him about his impending beating. So Nimai smudged ink and dust on his face and hands and when his father asked him whether he had been bothering people on the banks of the Ganga, he denied it, saying that he had not been there and had come straight home from school. As Jagannath Misra could see the dust and ink spots on Nimai, he believed his son, thinking that the Brahmanas must have been mistaken. So Nimai escaped the beating and his father was pacified.
Nimais parents were worried that if Nimai continued learning from scriptures, that he would forsake family life, like his brother Vishvarupa had. So they tried to end his education. This only made Nimai more mischievous, he would go to a place where dirty pots were collected and sit down there, angering his mother. Nimai said to her..
“How can a fool tell the difference between that which is pure and that which is not? How can the pots that have been used to cook for Vishnu possibly be contaminated? What is more, how can any place be impure if I am there? Ideas of purity and impurity from the karma-kanda have no place in devotion to the Lord. It is just the imagination of people who know nothing but the material world.”
She dragged him out of that place, but after that entreated Jagannath Mishra to allow him to continue his studies, which he did.
So Nimai performed His childhood pastimes on the banks of the Ganga, which is also where He met Visnupriya later to be his wife.
Also in Antardvipa-Mayapura is a place called Srivasa-angana, the home of Srivasa Thakura. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Sri Nityananda prabhu, Sri Gadadhara pandita, Sri Advaita Acarya and Srivasa Thakura, would perform congregational chanting, maha-sankirtana, at this place.
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