On the eve of his son's advent Sri Jagannatha Mishra,
seeing the imminent signs of his child's arrival, sent
word to Advaita Acharya in Shantipura that the long-awaited
child was being born. Hearing news of the
advent of this unprecedented child, Advaita Acharya floated
in the waves of ecstasy. With Sri Haridasa
Thakura, he went to bathe in the river, and, after much
dancing and song, he sent his wife to go quickly to
Mayapura in Navadwipa.
According to Gaura-Ganodesha-Dipika, Sri Sita Thakurani
is Yogamaya. The Gaura-Parshada-Charitvali
says that in Krishna Lila, she was Purnamasi, the mother
of Sandipani Muni, grandmother of
Madhumangal and Nandimukhi and a disciple of Narada Muni.
(Gaura-Ganodesha-Dipika, however, says
that Paurnamasi in Krishna-lila became Sri Govinda Acharya
in Chaitanya lila.)
In Dvapara-yuga, during the celebration of Krishna's birth
ceremony, she was present in the house of
Nanda, and at that time gave Nanda and Yashoda many instructions
on how to care for the child. The
Caitanya-Caritamrita gives the following account of Sita
Thakurani's visit to the house of Jagannatha
Mishra after the birth of the Lord:
"One day, shortly after Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was born,
Advaita Acharya's wife, Sitadevi, who is
worshipable by the whole world, taking permission of
her husband, went to see that topmost child with all
kinds of gifts and presents. She brought different kinds
of golden ornaments, including bangles for the
hand, armlets, neclaces, and anklets. There were also
tiger nails set in gold, waist decorations of silk and
lace, ornaments for the hands and legs, nicely printed
silken saris and a child's garment, also made of silk.
Many other riches, including gold and silver coinds,
were also presented for the child.
Riding in a palanquin covered with cloth and accompanied
by maidservants, Sita Thakurani came to the
house of Jagannatha Mishra, bringing with her many auspicious
articles such as fresh grass, paddy,
gorocana, turmeric, kunkuma, and sandalwood. All these
presentations filled a big basket. When Sita
Thakurani came to the house of Sacidevi, bringing with
her many kinds of eatables, dresses, and other
gifts, she was astonished to see the newly born child,
for she appreciated that except for a difference in
color, the child was directly Krishna of Gokula Himself.
Seeing the transcendental bodily effulgence of the child,
each of His nicely constructed limbs full of
auspicious signs and resembling a form of gold, Sita
Thakurani was very much pleased, and because of
her maternal affection, she felt as if her heart were
melting. She blessed the newly born child by placing
fresh grass and paddy on His head and saying, "May You
be blessed with a long duration of life." But
being afraid of ghosts and witches, she gave the child
the name Nimai. On the day that the mother and son
took bath and left the maternity room, Sita Thakurani
gave them all kinds of ornaments and garments, and
then also honored Jagannatha Mishra. Then Sita Thakurani,
being honored by mother Sacidevi and
Jagannatha Mishra, was greatly happy within her mind,
and thus she returned home."
From that day on, Sita Thakurani would often come to Mayapura
from Shantipura, in order to teach
Sacimata how to care for the new baby. She would give
her many different instructions on how to raise
children. And after helping with the child in this way,
she would return to Shantipura. When it came time
for the child's birthday ceremony, Jagannatha Mishra
and Sacidevi let the worshipable Sita Thakurani be
the first to offer the child his new clothes.
Advaita Acharya Prabhu also had a house in Navadwipa.
There he would live from time to time and
discuss Krishna-katha with the devotees headed by Srivasa,
diving and surfacing in the waves of joy until
the break of dawn. After Sri Gaurasundara's appearance,
all the devotees prayed together with Sri Advaita
Acharya and Sita Thakurani that the child might live
long in Mayapura and have good fortune.
Sita Thakurani and Sacidevi were of one mind; the baby
Nimai was their life and soul. Every day Sita
Thakurani would go to the house of Sacidevi and help
her with the care and nurturing of the boy. In the
house of Jagannatha Mishra, the divine child increased
the pleasure of the eyes and minds of all the
devotees, just as the waxing moon gradually grows more
brilliant with each passing day.
After several years, when Jagannatha Mishra's son Vishvarupa
- Nimai's older brother - had grown up, he
suddenly took sannyasa. The grief and agony of Jagannatha
Mishra and Sacidevi upon their son's leaving
was great. Gaurasundara was also dismayed and unhappy
at his brother's separation. At that time Advaita
Acharya and Sita Thakurani consoled Jagannatha Mishra
and Sita Thakurani, and helped take care of
Nimai.
Srivasa Pandit's wife Malini Devi also was always very
affectionate towards the child, nurturing him and
caring for him. She and Sacidevi were of one mind in
doing this.
After exhibiting his childhood pastimes, Nimai gradually
progressed into his Kishora-lila, or pastimes of
youth. After some time, he went to Gaya and revealed
his true form and real purpose. Having returned
from Gaya he gathered all the devotees at the house of
Srivasa Angan for the purpose of beginning kirtan.
At that time, Advaita Acharya brought Sita Thakurani
from Shantipura to Mayapura, and, having arrived
there was the first to worship the lotus feet of Sri
Caitanya.
Gradually Sri Gaurasundara began, in Navadwipa, to unfold
his kirtan pastimes, wishing to deliver the
fallen souls. As time went by he took sannyasa and turned
his face towards Vrindavana, and ran off, half
mad into the jungle in search for Sri Krishna. Upon hearing
this, Sri Sita Thakurani spent four days with
Sacidevi, who, plunged in the darkness of separation
as if the sun had left the sky forever, lay fallen on
the ground like one near death.
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, being bound by the ropes of love,
was unable to go to Vrindavana, but was
drawn to return to Shantipura. When he arrived in Shantipura,
Advaita Acharya and Sita Thakurani felt as
if their life has returned. After having fasted for four
days, Sri Gaurasundara accepted prasada cooked by
the hand of Sita Thakurani.
Previous to taking sannyasa also, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu
along with Nityananda Prabhu would, from
time to time go to the house of Advaita in Shantipura,
where they would have a festival and perform
Krishna-nama-lila-kirtan all day and all night. The beautiful
nature of this subject has been described by
Sri Parameshvari Dasa Thakura in his Sri Pada Kalpataru
as follows:
One day the Lord laughed, having arrived in the temple
of Sri Advaita and thus the son of Saci took his
seat. Along with Nityananda, Advaita sat down, and the
two of them began playfully assessing the idea of
having a festival. Hearing all this, Sita Thakurani entered
smiling. At that time, in sweet words which made
the minds of those who heard them blissful, the son of
Saci ruled that there must be a great festival. He
said, "Listen Sita Thakurani: we shall extend invitations
to all the different Vaishnavas who live nearby.
Let whoever hears the sound of our song, resounding through
the air, come and join us. We shall invite
one and all."
Saying this, Sri Gaurachandra gave orders to the devotees
saying,
"You, invite the Vaishnavas."
"You, ready the mridanga and karatalas."
"You, prepare sandalwood and aguru for distribution."
"Have everything ready at the ghat."
"Carrying out these assignments expertly, and after garlanding
the devotees with flower garlands, the
devotees shall gather together in a circle for an uproarious
kirtan."
Hearing the words of Mahaprabhu, the devotees followed
his orders with great affection, collecting
garlands, sandalwood, betel, ghee, honey, and milk, and
everything else essential for worhsiping the Lord.
The different gifts and fragrant articles for the devotees
and the Lord were then distributed in the proper
ways. The kirtan began at midday. At that time everyone
chanted "Hari! Hari!" and the mridanga made
the whole kirtan auspicious. Thus swims Parameshavara
Dasa in the rasik pastimes of the Lord.
After Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu took sannyasa and went to
live in Jagannatha Puri, Sri Advaita Acharya
and Sita Thakurani used to go and visit him each year,
bringing their son Achyutananda with them. On
one such occasion, Sita Thakurani prepared some of the
Lord's favorite preparations for him and invited
Him to their home to take lunch. Simply to increase their
ecstasy, the Lord, who was always absorbed in
Krishna Nama, honored their invitation and took lunch
in the home of Advaita and Sita.
Sita Thakurani, being always overwhelmed with vatsalya-prema
treated him as affectionately as if he were
her own son. The Lord himself also treated her with the
same kind of regard and affection that he had for
Sacidevi herself. Sri Sita Thakurani bore three sons,
Achyutananda, Krishna Mishra and Gopala Mishra,
who were followers of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
According to Bhakti-Ratnakara, Sri Sita Thakurani's father
was Sri Nrishimha Baduri. Sita Thakurani also
had a sister, Sri. According to the Gaura-Ganoddesha-Dipika,
Sita Thakurani, the wife of Sri Advaita
Acharya, is Yogamaya, and her sister Sri is the prakasha,
or manifestation, of Yogamaya. (yogamaya
bhagavati, grihini tasya sampratam, sita rupenavatirna,
"Sri" namni tat prakashatah)