The Appearance of Lord Nityānanda

(Nityānanda Trayodaśī)

Fasting on Lord Nityānanda’s appearance

Observe half day fast (till noon) for appearance of Lord Nityānanda. Break fast with regular prasādam.

Identity of Lord Nityānanda

Excerpt from Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā, Chapter 5

When Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared, He [Balarāma] became His elder brother to serve Him to His heart’s content and make Him enjoy all sorts of happiness. Śrī Rāma and Śrī Lakṣmaṇa, who are plenary portions of Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Balarāma respectively, entered into Them at the time of Kṛṣṇa’s and Balarāma’s appearance. Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma present Themselves as younger brother and elder brother, but in the scriptures They are described as the original Supreme Personality of Godhead and His expansion. “I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who by His various plenary portions appears in the world in different forms and incarnations such as Lord Rāma, but who personally appears in His supreme original form as Lord Kṛṣṇa.”

Lord Caitanya is the same Lord Kṛṣṇa, and Lord Nityānanda is Lord Balarāma. Lord Nityānanda fulfills all of Lord Caitanya’s desires. The ocean of Lord Nityānanda’s glories is infinite and unfathomable. Only by His mercy can I touch even a drop of it.

Bhajans glorifying Lord Nityānanda

Śrī Nityānanda Aṣṭakam

Nadiya Nagare Nitāi Nece Nece Gāy Re

Boro Sukher Khabor Gāi

Nitāi-Pada-Kamala

Appearance of Lord Nityānanda

Excerpt from Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata by Śrīla Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura, Chapter 9

On the order of Śrī Gaura-Kṛṣṇa, Śrī Anantadeva personally appeared in the village of Ekacākā, in the district of Rāḍha-deśa, from the womb of Padmāvatī, the wife of Hāḍāi Ojhā, as Śrī Nityānanda-candra.

In His childhood pastimes, Śrīmad Nityānanda Prabhu and His associate childhood friends remained engaged in imitating various pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Sometimes He and His friends would form the assembly of the demigods, and someone dressed as mother earth, burdened by the atrocities of the demons, would come before that assembly and offer prayers. At that time Śrīmad Nityānanda Prabhu and the boys who were part of that assembly would go to the bank of a river and pray to Lord Kṣīrodakaśāyī. Thereafter, a boy acting as Kṣīrodakaśāyī would announce from a hidden place, “I will soon appear in Mathurā Gokula in order to diminish the burden of the earth.” At other times they imitated the various Dvāpara pastimes of Kṛṣṇa like the marriage of Vasudeva and Devakī, the birth of Kṛṣṇa in the prison cell, Vasudeva’s taking Kṛṣṇa to the house of Nanda, Vasudeva’s return with Mahāmāyā, the daughter of Yaśodā, the killing of Pūtanā, the breaking of Śakaṭa, Kṛṣṇa’s stealing butter and milk from the house of the cowherds, the killing of Dhenuka, Agha, and Bakāsura, tending the cows, lifting Govardhana, stealing the gopīs’ clothes, Kṛṣṇa’s bestowing mercy on the wives of the sacrificial brāhmaṇas, Nārada’s giving advice to Kaṃsa in a secluded place, and the killing of the elephant Kuvalaya, the wrestlers Cāṇūra and Muṣṭika, and Kaṃsa. Sometimes in the form of Vāmana, He deceived Bali; sometimes while enacting the pastimes of Rāma, He would gather His friends to form an army of monkey soldiers and build a bridge; He would personally play the role of Lakṣmaṇa and approach Sugrīva with bow and arrows in His hands; in the form of Rāma, He would diminish the pride of Paraśurāma; and while enacting the killing of Indrajit, He would fall unconscious in the mood of Lakṣmaṇa having been hit by Indrajit’s powerful arrow until Hanumān brought medicine, under His previous directions, and revived Him. In this way He exhibited pastimes of the various incarnations of the Lord.

In this way Śrīmad Nityānanda Prabhu engaged in enacting various pastimes up to the age of twelve. Thereafter, on the pretext of purifying Himself, He traveled to the holy places of Āryāvarta and Dākṣiṇātya up to the age of twenty. He then came to Navadvīpa and met His own Lord, Śrī Gaurasundara. In the course of visiting the holy places, Nityānanda Prabhu met Śrīman Mādhavendra Purī, Śrīpāda Īśvara Purī, and Śrīla Brahmānanda Purī. In this way Śrīmad Nityānanda Prabhu passed a few days discussing topics of Kṛṣṇa with Śrīman Mādhavendra Purī, who was accompanied by his disciples. Thereafter He proceeded to Setubandha, Dhanus-tīrtha, Māyāpurī, Avantī, Godāvarī, Jiyaḍa-nṛsiṃha, Devapurī, Trimalla, Kūrma-kṣetra, and many other holy places before arriving in Nīlācala. At Nīlācala, He saw Śrī Jagannāthadeva, the source of the catur- vyūha, and became overwhelmed in ecstasy. From Śrī Kṣetra, He returned to Śrī Mathurā.

Although Lord Nityānanda is omnipotent, He did not distribute devotional service to the Lord at that time. When Lord Gauracandra manifests His opulence, then on His order He would begin to distribute devotional service. Being a personal expansion of and nondifferent from Śrī Gaura-Kṛṣṇa, Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, who is Baladeva, the personification of pure goodness, and who is the only bestower of love for Gaura-Kṛṣṇa, neither displayed mercy on anyone nor distributed or preached chanting the holy names in love of God while visiting the holy places, thereby surpassing His eternally worshipable Lord Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s desire, direct order, or time for the pastimes of preaching the chanting of the holy names in love of God. When the supreme independent Lord Mahāprabhu, out of His own free will and causeless mercy, will manifest His own glories to the fallen souls, at that time Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu will also manifest the pastime of door to door distribution of the holy names and love of God to the sinful living entities. The servants and associates of Lord Caitanya did not like to do anything without His instruction, but this does not diminish their glories in the least.

Lessons from the appearance of Lord Nityānanda

1. Lord Nityānanda Prabhu is called adoṣa-darśī. He doesn't see the faults in anyone. Adoṣa-darśī means anyone who approaches Him with some eagerness in his or her heart to serve, He empowers them and gives them pure devotional service.

2. Following in the footsteps of Śrī Nityānanda, one should not transgress etiquette and manifest elevated language or material ego on the pretext of preaching topics of Kṛṣṇa while proudly masquerading as a guru in the presence of the Supreme Lord or His empowered representative, the Vaiṣṇava guru.

Classes about Lord Nityānanda

2012 02 05 Lord Nityānanda appearance day lecture

2017 02 09 Glorification of Lord Nityānanda

2021 02 20 Glories of Lord Nityānanda

2021 03 04 Lord Nityānanda trayodaśī celebration

2023 08 30 Take shelter of Lord Nityānanda