Alongside Madhavendra Puri, a second, less commonly followed Gaudiya tradition names Lakshmipati Tirtha as the initiating guru of Nityananda Prabhu as well. Srila Prabhupada himself mentions this tradition twice in his purports to Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita. Both times he speaks carefully and does not present it as certain.
What Prabhupada's Purports Actually Say #
In his purport to Madhya-lila 3.85, discussing how people in Khadadaha sometimes misunderstood Nityananda Prabhu's own background, Srila Prabhupada writes:
"Nityananda Prabhu was always a brahmachari of a sannyasi of the Vaidika order. Actually He was a paramahamsa. Sometimes He is accepted to be a disciple of Lakshmipati Tirtha. If He is so accepted, Nityananda Prabhu belonged to the Madhva-sampradaya. He did not belong to the tantrika-sampradaya of Bengal."
Elsewhere, in the purport to Madhya-lila 8.128, discussing how great souls sometimes accept initiation outside expected social lines, he writes more directly still:
"Similarly, Sri Nityananda Prabhu was initiated by Madhavendra Puri, a sannyasi. According to others, however, He was initiated by Lakshmipati Tirtha."
In neither place does Prabhupada decide which account is correct. He gives both as traditions that are told, not as a settled fact that forces us to choose between them.
The Fuller Devotional Story #
A more detailed account tells the story at length. It is kept on gaudiyahistory.iskcondesiretree.com and, by its own account, is drawn from an older devotional compilation. Lord Balarama is said to have appeared to Lakshmipati Tirtha in a dream while the elderly sannyasi wept alone at night, singing of his own unworthiness. Balarama told him that a wandering brahmana would arrive in his town, appearing as an avadhuta, a renounced madman. Balarama instructed him to give that visitor Vaishnava diksha. Lakshmipati Tirtha did so. The disciple was Nityananda Prabhu Himself. Later He came to Lakshmipati Tirtha a second time in a dream, again as Balarama. He told him never to reveal what had passed between them, and then disappeared. Not long afterward, the account says, Lakshmipati Tirtha stopped speaking altogether. His disciples grew anxious watching him fade, and he left the world without warning.
A Second, Independently Reported Story #
The same page records a separate tradition, which it reports secondhand. H.H. Bhakti Hridoy Mangal Maharaja of Sri Chaitanya Gaudiya Math recalled a class that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura gave in the late 1920s. In that class, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura told of a sannyasi who came begging alms at the home of Nityananda Prabhu's father, Hadai Pandit, as recorded in Chaitanya Bhagavata. The sannyasi asked for the boy Nityananda Himself as alms. Hadai Pandit gave him, and the young Nityananda walked off with the sannyasi without looking back. That sannyasi, the account says, was Lakshmipati Tirtha.
How Seriously to Take This #
We should be honest about how strong this material really is. Both stories trace back to a single devotional website that collects older spoken and written reports. They do not come from a source that could be confirmed independently elsewhere. And Prabhupada's own purports clearly present the tradition that Lakshmipati Tirtha was Nityananda's guru as one account among others, not as the main or preferred one. Gaudiya sources themselves differ on this point. Prabhupada's purport to Madhya-lila 8.128, quoted above, gives Madhavendra Puri as Nityananda's initiating guru. It adds that, according to others, it was Lakshmipati Tirtha. The Chaitanya-bhagavata (Adi 9.188) says that Nityananda regarded Madhavendra Puri as His guru. The Bhakti-ratnakara names Lakshmipati Tirtha, which would make Nityananda and Madhavendra Puri Godbrothers. So only this much can fairly be said. In Gaudiya devotional memory, even though the evidence is weak, different tellings credit Lakshmipati Tirtha with initiating two of the tradition's most important figures. This is a rare distinction.
