SRI GANGA DASA PANDITA

My obeisances to Sri Gangadasa Pandita, who is the disciple of the husband of Sarasvati, the master of the Vedas. [C.B.M 1.283] After the ceremony in which Sri Gaursundara was invested with the sacred thread, He took up his studies at home, under the tutorship of his father. When Sri Jagannatha Misra saw that his son was very eager to be admitted to an academic institution, his father took him to the house of Sri Ganga dasa Pandita, to get Him admitted into Ganga dasa Pandita's toll. In Krsna-lila Ganga dasa Pandita was the teacher of Balarama and Krsna, Sandipani Muni.

When he saw Jagannatha Misra had come to his house, Ganga dasa got up to respectfully receive him and after embracing him, he very affectionately requested him to take his seat. Jagannatha Misra addressed him, "I have brought my son to you. Please become his teacher and instruct him how to read and write." Sri Ganga dasa Pandita replied, "Only unless one is greatly fortunate does he get the chance to instruct a child who is endowed with the symptoms of such a high-souled saintly person. I will teach him to the best of my ability."

Thus Sri Jagannatha Misra presented his son Nimai into the hands of Ganga dasa Pandita and then returned home.

While looking at his new disciple, Gangadas became immersed in great happiness and kept Nimai with him just as if he was his own son. [C.B. Adi 8.32]

Ganga dasa could understand by the divine appearance and nature of this boy that he was not ordinary, and so he began to carefully instruct him while treating him just like his own son. The boy Nimai had such a miraculous intellect that after hearing the sutras only once, he had completely committed them to the memory. Within a few days he came to occupy the seat at the head of the class. Gradually it came to pass that sometimes Nimai would explain the sutras even better than his teacher. Not one amongst hundreds and hundreds of students in the toll could rival him. Ganga dasa understood very quickly that Nimai was his best student. Whatever pastimes the Lord enacts He does so to the penultimate degree.

Amongst the better students of the Pandit was Sri Kamalakanta, Murari Gupta, Sri Krsnananda and others, to whom Nimai would pose many tricky questions. Their discussions would usually end up at the bathing ghat at the Ganga with loud arguments and eventually pushing and mud slinging.
 Nimai would establish one conclusion, then defeat that by establishing another, and then establish the original conclusion again with better arguments. Seeing his genius the other students were simply struck with wonder and Ganga dasa Pandita was in total ecstasy.
 After practicing logic and rhetoric for some days under the tutelage of Ganga das Pandit, Sri Nimai then opened his own grammar toll by the order of His guru. His toll was held at the house of Mukunda Sanjay in the pavilion where they conducted Durga Puja. Day by day his students increased and even at such a young age he attained such proficiency in scholarship that everyone including even Ganga dasa Pandita was simply amazed.

While He engaged in His pastimes of learning His mother Saci Mata was very happy. Eventually the time came for Him to go to Gaya under the plea of offering rites for His deceased father. After being initiated by Sri Isvari Puri He returned from there a changed person. Now he explained all the sutras in relationship to Sri Krsna. Besides that, he knew nothing else. Finally his students went to Ganga dasa Pandita to inform him of the new developments. That afternoon when Nimai came to offer his respects to his guru, Ganga dasa Pandita very affectionately blessed him saying, "Bap Visvambhara (Bap is an affectionate term which literally means father, but which is used loosely even by mothers to address their sons), now hear my words. The scholarship of brahmanas is not a matter of small fortune. On both sides of your family Nilambara Cakravarti, your maternal grandfather, and your father Jagannath Misra weren't uneducated fools. You are also very qualified to explain ins and outs of logic. If by giving up teaching one attains devotion, then why didn't your father and grandfather give it up? Were they not devotees? Considering all this, please continue your studies. By study one becomes a Vaishnava brahmana. If a brahmana becomes a fool then how will he distinguish between good and bad. Reflecting on these matters you should pursue your studies and continue to teach your students nicely. On my honor I am stating this, that you might not explain things in a contrary fashion."

Nimai replied, "By your mercy, there is not a soul in Navadwipa who can defeat me in philosophical debate. Let me see which of these great panditas can refute the explanations of the sutras that I will now give. I am going to the toll to begin instructing these points just now." Hearing these words of Sri Gaurasundar, Ganga dasa was pleased. Thus Mahaprabhu took the dust of his lotus feet and went of to the toll. (Then what happened?)

"What is left for Ganga dasa to accomplish, who has most worshippable person in the fourteen worlds as his disciple?"