The Supreme Personality of Godhead has infinite incarnations and forms that descend into this material existence from time to time to perform various functions. In whichever form God incarnates that is perfectly suitable to carry out the operation. For instance, Lord Varahadeva had to pick planet earth from the depth of Garbhodak ocean, He was incarnated as a giant boar; He incarnated as Lord Narsimha in order to kill demon Hiranyakashipu, thus satisfying all conditions of Brahma’s benediction. Similarly, after looking at the most fallen condition of living entities in Kaliyuga, He decided to incarnate. The Supreme devotee of Lord is His eternal consort Shrimati Radharani, she is of golden complexion. Thus in Kaliyuga, Lord incarnated in a golden complexion and took the devotional mood of Shrimati Radharani. The purpose of the Lord’s incarnation was to distribute the love of Godhead via His different names which are nondifferent from Himself.

Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, incarnated as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to liberate the people of Kaliyuga from the repeated cycle of birth, death and to advance them back home back to Godhead. He didn’t consider the time, ability, or eligibility of the person, and without any discrimination, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu distributed Kirhsna prema to anyone and everyone. Love of Godhead, Krishna prema, is so fathomless that along with Mahaprabhu many of His pure devotees also appeared, chief among them was Balram ji. In Vrindavan pastimes, Balram ji was the elder brother popularly known as dau ji; in Ramayan pastimes, Balram ji was the younger brother, Lakshman ji. In Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s pastimes, Balram ji appeared as Nityananda Prabhu.

Lochan Das Thakur writes in his devotional song –

parama koruna, pahu dui jana nitai gauracandra
saba avatara-sara siromani kevala ananda-kanda

The two Lords, Nitai-Gauracandra, are very merciful. They are the essence of all incarnations. The specific significance of these incarnations is that They introduced a process of chanting and dancing that is simply joyful.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is a yugavatar, He is not only yugavatar but chhannavatar too who has hidden His opulences. Mahaprabhu is the most magnanimous incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is non different from Krishna, His magnanimity is fathomless which can only be approached by the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu.

Who is Nityananda Prabhu?

Krishna Das Kaviraj Goaswami explains in Chaitanya Charitamrit –  

saṅkarṣaṇaḥ kāraṇa-toya-śāyī garbhoda-śāyī ca payo ’bdhi-śāyī
śeṣaś ca yasyāṁśa-kalāḥ sa nityā-nandākhya-rāmaḥ śaraṇaṁ mamāstu – (CC Adi 1.7)

“May Śrī Nityananda Rāma be the object of my constant remembrance. Saṅkarṣaṇa, Śeṣa Nāga and the Viṣṇus who lie on the Kāraṇa Ocean, Garbha Ocean, and ocean of milk are His plenary portions and the portions of His plenary portions.” 

It means in Kaliyuga Shri Krishna incarnated as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Balram ji as Nityananda Prabhu. Nityananda Prabhu is non different from Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in all respects except bhaav, love. Shri Gauranga Mahaprabhu is the worshippable Lord who accepts service whereas Shri Nityananda Prabhu is the servant Lord who serves. Thus the Lord Himself demonstrates how one can serve God.

Cause of the spiritual & material world’s creation

In the spiritual world, Balram ji is the first expansion of Shri Krishna. From Balram ji the first quadruple expands – Sankarshan, Vasudev, Pradyumna, Anirudha. Sankarshan further expands into Mahasankarshan which later expands into a second quadruple – Sankarshan, Vasudev, Pradyumna, Anirudha. This expansion of the Lord as Sankarshan assists in the creation of the spiritual world, which is 3/4th of the Lord’s entire creation. It means that the innumerable number of Vaikutha dhaams are nothing but the expansion of Lord Balram ji to serve the Lord. To create the material world, Balram further expands Himself into three Viṣṇu – Maha Viṣṇu also known as Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu.

Maha Viṣṇu (Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu) – Innumerable material universes come out of His body pores when He exhales. What to talk of this particular universe, we are unable to ascertain the beginning and end of this world. Such infinite universes are coming out from the body pores of Maha Vishnu, one can wonder how immense His form would be.

Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu – In each one of the universes the Lord enters as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. From the navel of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu has sprung the stem of the lotus flower, the birthplace of Brahmā, who is the father of all living beings and the master of all the demigod engineers engaged in the perfect design and working of the universal order.

Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu – From Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu there is expansion of the Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, who is the collective Paramātmā of all living beings. Paramātmā resides in all 84 lakh species of living entities as Supersoul. He is called Hari, and from Him, all incarnations within the universe are expanded.

All these three Viṣṇus are expanded from Balram ji aka Nityananda Prabhu!

Appearance and pastimes of Nityananda Prabhu

In 1474, Nityananda Prabhu appeared in the village Ekachakra of Bengal. He was born to a religious Bengali Brahmin, known as Pandit Hadai, and his wife, Padmavati. They are the real parents of Nityananda Prabhu in Goloka Vrindavan. At an early age, He used to re-enact various pastimes of the Lord with His friends. They all were amazed at how many details of the Lord’s pastimes Nityananda Prabhu knew at that age. When they ask Him, He would simply say, these all wereHis pastimes. They would all laugh and no one would believe Him. After a few years, in the company of a Sanyasi, he visited all the pilgrimages, then started living in Vrindavan. While residing there, he got to know that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had started the sankirtan movement. He came to meet Mahaprabhu and took permission. After that, He started preaching Krishna consciousness.   

It is impossible to get the mercy of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu without getting mercy of Shri Nityananda Prabhu. Whatever knowledge of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s life we have available today is only due to the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu. One gets the power to glorify and to preach from His Nityananda Prabhu because, in His AnantShesha form, He empowers. 

Mercy of Lord Nityananda Prabhu

Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami, the author of Chaitanya Charitamrit, got instructions from Nityananda Prabhu in his dreams. Nityananda Prabhu instructed him to go to Vrindavan and all his desires would be fulfilled. Vrindavan Das Thakur, the author of Chaitanya Bhagwat, was also inspired by Nityananda Prabhu. This concludes that due to the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu only we get to know about Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s life and pastimes. Therefore, Nityananda Trayodashi is of utmost importance to all devotees who are aspiring to Krishna prema. Nityananda Prabhu is Adiguru, who teaches us how to approach and take shelter of the lotus feet of Godhead. Therefore, to get love of Godhead, to get the mercy of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, to deliver the fallen souls of Kaliyuga we must have the mercy of Shri Nityananda Prabhu. Thus we should take shelter of His lotus feet and pray for His mercy, because Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu can’t deny and has to give shelter to someone if Nityananda Prabhu approves him. We know that Mahaprabhu was about to kill Madhai, but left him alive because Nityananda Prabhu intervened. That’s why Nityananda Trayodashi is of much significance for us.

How Balram ji serves the Lord in all mellows (rasas)

Shri Nityananda Prabhu serves the Lord in all five mellows, rasas. In shant rasa, Nityananda Prabhu is serving the Lord by expanding Himself in apparel, ornaments, vehicle, flag, bed, kartaal, mridanga, etc. In dasya rasa, He serves the Lord in the form of all cowherd boys. In sakhya rasa,He serves the Lord in the form of very intimate friends. In Vatsalya rasa, He serves the Lord as His elder brother. In madhurya rasa, he serves the Lord as Anang Manjari, younger sister of Shrimati Radharani ji.

Constitutional position of a living entity is to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead –  jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya — kṛṣṇa ‘nitya-dāsa’. If we love someone but we don’t serve then that is not true love and could be inspired by some ulterior motives. That’s why to love someone means to serve to please the beloved. We can only get the servitude attitude by the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu.

Therefore, on this auspicious occasion of Nityananda Trayodashi, we should primarily pray and ask for his serving attitude and inculcate in letter and spirit. Anticipating the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu, one should dedicate this human form of life in the service of the Lord and His devotees.

Hare Krishna,

            Shri Nityananda Prabhu Appearance day, fasting till noon.

Akshaya Tritya is considered the most auspicious day to start any new activity. It appears on the third day of Shukla paksha of Vaishakh month. The third day of Akshaya Tritya is utsava tithi, which means it falls on the same day every year. This utsava tithi in the Hindu calendar corresponds with the third day of Shukla paksha, which begins at sunset of each lunar day. The date will be determined based on various factors, such as which Vedic deity is worshipped that night and whether any auspicious event occurred on that particular moonless night. The next Akshaya Tritya will fall on May 3rd, 2022.

In the Hindu religion, Akshaya means that which is unlimited, unbroken. Therefore, this day is celebrated for eternal and permanent happiness, peace, and prosperity. Many great things happened on this day. For instance, 1500 years ago, Buddha was born in India, and he would later teach people about mindfulness and meditation and become known as the “Gautama Buddha.”

1.) Lord Parshuram Ji appeared on the day of Akshaya Tritya which is also known as Parshuram Jayanti. He is also known as Lord Krishna, and he is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Lord Keshav had a son named Sri Krishna, who became his 6th incarnation. Lord Parshuram was born to Queen Renuka and King Kushadhwaj, high-ranking devotees of Lord Vishnu.

kshatriya-rudhira-maye jagad-apagata-papam
snapayasi payasi samita-bhava-tapam
kesava dhrita-bhrigupati-rupa jaya jagadisa hare (Sri Dasavatara Stotra)

“0 Kesava! O Lord of the universe! O Lord Hari, who has assumed the form of Bhrigupati [Parasurama]! All glories to You! At Kurukshetra, You bathe the earth in the rivers of blood from the bodies of the demoniac Kshatriyas that You have slain. The world’s sins are washed away by You, and because of You, people are relieved from the blazing fire of material existence.”

2.) On Akshaya Tritya, Demigod Sun presented Akshaya Patra to Draupadi and Pandavas. This vessel was a divine vessel where Draupadi could prepare unlimited foodstuffs till she took prasadam.

However, it is essential to note that this vessel was not helpful on other days of the year, and on different days of the year, it would be filled with flowers and incense to cleanse it of its ill-gained impurities.

3- The Holy river Ganga appeared in this material world from the spiritual world on this day. First and foremost, the flow of the Ganga river was controlled by Lord Shiva on his matted hair, and then he released it on Gangotri.

Thus, mother Ganga and Gangotri Dham appeared on Akshaya Tritya.

4.) Akshaya Tritya is the day on which Lord Shri Krishna was welcomed back to Dwarka. Sudama, a close friend of Lord Shri Krishna, came to meet the Lord to secure his and his family’s future.

He presented the Lord with puffed rice, which he had received from friends from afar. The Lord was pleased to accept and consume those puffed rice. Thus the Lord gave him benediction for all his opulence.

5- On Akshaya Tritya, Lord Ganesha started writing Mahabharata, a great epic, under the supervision of Vedvyas Ji. Mahabharata is one of the important scriptures and contains Bhagavad Gita.

This work of fiction tells the tale of a warrior prince named Arjuna who strives to win his throne from his wicked uncle. Vedavyas first wrote down this epic on this auspicious day.

6.) On the day of Akshaya Tritya, the day before the summer solstice and significant because it is the first day of Anant Chaturdashi, a new cart is built for Lord Jagannatha. This cart will be used in rath yatra.

In this tradition, Lord Jagannatha and His brother Lord Baladeva Ji are taken on a procession from Jagannatha temple to Gundicha temple every year. The construction for this cart starts on that day.

7- Shri Madhvendra Puri Ji is an Indian spiritual master who was in his late 20s when he began exploring the path of spirituality. At 27, he renounced the world and became a wandering ascetic for five years before settling at Jagannath Puri. Shri Madhvendra Puri Ji is regarded as a perfect model of devotion to Lord Krishna. He has been celebrated in religious texts from various Gaudiya Vaishnavism traditions and has influenced other religious figures like Sri Radha Krsna devotees and Hare Krishnas.

Madhvendra Puri is an Indian spiritual leader born in Mumbai and lived there until he was eight years old. He proceeded to Jagannath Puri to get some sandalwood, but on the way, he stopped in a small village named Remuna. In Remuna, there was a magnificent and divine temple of Lord Gopinatha Ji, famous for His mahaprasad. It was said that His mahaprasad Kheer, sweet rice, was just like nectar. 

Madhavendra Puri desired to taste it, thinking he would also prepare similar food in Vrindavana and offer it to the Deity of Gopala. Then he immediately realized his offence that he had desired to taste the food before it was offered to the Lord. Repenting to his unholy thought, Madhavendra Puri left the temple. Procrastination is an undesirable habit: In less than a month, we will be launching our website, and our volunteer base will be expanded nationwide. We’re so excited! But some people are more excited than others. Unfortunately, in particular, one person is dragging their feet- and they’re just not going to do it by themselves.

Lord Gopinatha, or Krishna, is a prominent deity of Hinduism. He is also known as Gopinath, Govinda, and Keshava. He is a God of love and devotion who is considered the greatest avatar of Vishnu. In a dream that the temple priest had on that night, Lord Gopinatha instructed him to go to Madhavendra Puri and give him the pot of sweet rice which he had hidden under his garments. So the priest went to Madhavendra Puri, where Lord Gopinatha was so overwhelmed by ecstasy to learn everything from him that he continued his journey and reached Puri, collecting sandalwood and camphor.

Madhavendra Puri had gone on a pilgrimage to Haridwar, but he returned to Remuna on his way back. There, he had a dream in which the Gopala Deity at Vrindavan told him to grind the sandalwood into pulp, mix with camphor and apply it to the body of the Gopinatha Deity. Lord Gopala said that He was non-different from the Deity of Gopinatha. So Madhavendra Puri made all arrangements to carry out the order of Lord Gopala.

A tradition popularly known as Chandan yatra starts from the day of Akshaya Tritya and lasts for 21 days. Chandana-yatra celebrations, Chandana (sandalwood pulp) is applied to the Lord. It is considered very auspicious to start anything, and most people purchase gold on Ashaya Tritya. In Spiritual life, God’s name and His devotional loving service are priceless. That is why today, we should chant the names of God more and more or start chanting the names of God.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rāma Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma Hare Hare