Once, Acarya Lakshmana (Ramanujacarya) came to Jagannatha Puri. He pleased Lord Jagannatha by offering many prayers to Him. Lord Jagannatha mercifully appeared in front of him and told him, “You should go to take darsana of Navadvipa-dhama. Very soon I will appear in Nadianagara in the house of Jagannatha Misra. Navadvipa is very dear to Me. The entire spiritual sky exists in one portion of this Navadvipa-dhama. You are My eternal servant and great devotee so you will definitely see Navadvipa-dhama. Your disciples are engaged in My service in the mood of servitude. Let them all stay here in Nilacala while you go to Navadvipa alone. O, Ramanuja! If a person does not take darsana of Navadvipa-dhama, his human life is useless. Sri Rangakshetra and Sri Venkatacala are plenary expansions of Sri Navadvipa-dhama. For this reason you must just go to Navadvipa and take darsana of Sri Gauranga. You have come to this earth to preach about bhakti. Let your life be worthwhile (sarthaka), or meaningful, by the mercy of Sri Gauranga. After seeing Navadvipa go to Kurmasthana. There you will meet with your disciples.” Hearing all this from Lord Jagannatha, Ramanujacarya replied with folded hands, “O, Lord ! By Your mercy only have I heard gaura-katha, but I do not know which tattva this Gauracandra is.” Lord Jagannatha mercifully explained, “Everybody knows that Sri Krishna is the Lord of Goloka. Narayana is the vilasa-murti of Sri Krishna. That Krishna is the para-tattva. His abode is Vrindavana. That Krishna in His complete form is eternally manifested as Sri Gaurahari. That Vrindavana-dhama is also Navadvipadhama. In Navadvipa I reside eternally as Gaurasundara. Navadvipa is the greatest dhama in this entire cosmic manifestation. By My mercy this dhama is present in Bhu-mandala. All scriptures mention that maya does not touch this dhama. There is no trace of maya there. If one thinks that these dhamas in this material world are inferior because they manifest in Bhumandala, one’s bhakti will reduce day by day. By My inconceivable potency the transcendental dhamas exist even in this illusory material realm.Scripture is unaware of some truths which are beyond argument. Only My devotees can understand these truths by My mercy.”

By hearing the words of Lord Jagannatha, Sri Ramanuja became very restless and eager. He said, “O, my Lord! Your pastimes are very wonderful. Veda-sastra does not know Your opulence! O, Lord Jagannatha! Why does sastra not mention the pastimes of Lord Gauranga more elaborately? Only if I search the sruti and the Puranas very deeply, I occasionally get a sphurti (revelation) of gaura-tattva in my heart. Now by Your order I am free from all doubts and gaura-lila-rasa has arisen within my heart. If You order me then I will go to Navadvipa and preach the pastimes of Gauranga in the three worlds. I will reveal the secret truths of the scriptures and inform everyone. Let me make everyone in these three worlds a devotee of Sri Gauranga.” By seeing the enthusiasm of Ramanuja, Lord Jagannatha said, “Ramanuja! Do not speak like this. Gaura-lila is very confidential. Please keep it hidden. Only when these pastimes become unmanifest, will everyone be informed about their glories. Now preach about Mydasya-rasa, but within yourself worship Gauranga constantly.” Having been instructed by the Lord, Ramanuja secretly came to Navadvipa. Feeling apprehensive that gaura-lila may be exposed to people in general prematurely, Vishvaksena took Ramanuja to paravyoma, Sri Vaikunthapura. Ramanuja was very pleased to see this place. The merciful Paravyoma-pati Narayana, served by Sri-devi and Bhudevi, gave His darsana to Ramanuja. Ramanuja felt blessed to see his ishtadeva, the worshipable Lord Narayana. But after just a moment Ramanuja saw the molten-gold-colored form of the Lord as the son of Jagannatha Misra, who was very attractive. By seeing that most gorgeous form of the Lord, Ramanuja fainted. Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu placed His lotus feet on the head of Ramanuja, who offered prayers with his transcendental knowledge, requesting the Lord to bless him with darsana of His confidential Nadia pastimes. Saying this Ramanuja Swami cried in ecstasy, saying, “I will not go anywhere, I cannot leave Nadia.” Sri Gaurahari mercifully said, “O, Kesava-nandana! Your desire will definitely be fulfilled. When I manifest My Nadia pastimes you will take birth in Navadvipa.” Sri Gaurahari vanished and Ramanuja then departed. After some days he reached Kurma-kshetra, where he met with all his disciples. In South India Ramanuja preached dasya-rasa-bhakti while meditating on Navadvipa and Sri Gauranga within his heart. By the mercy of Sri Gauranga, Ramanuja appeared as Sri Ananta in this eternal Navadvipa-dhama. He went to Vallabha Acarya’s house, where he saw the marriage of Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu and Lakshmipriya. This is the place of Sri Ananta. The kings of that time introduced Narayana-seva at this pitha-sthana, while many devotees of Lord Narayana were living here on the border of the River Viraja. Devotees experience immense happiness by visiting this place. 

The following is an excerpt from the Bhakti-ratnakara. Long ago, when Narada Muni visited Vaikunthapura and had darsana of Lord Gauranga (as previously described), there was a great, qualified king who was ruling this country. He introduced the worship of Lord Sri Narayana. After some time this village became almost hidden, then slowly people started to live here again. At that time one old vipra was living here. He used to perform worship with the Lakshmi-Narayana mantra. He had unalloyed undeviating love for Lakshmi and Narayana. Occasionally he would visit Vallabha Misra’s house and serve Lakshmi-Narayana in a private place. That vipra had developed great affection for Vallabha Misra, who in turn respected the vipra as his guru. The vipra was present at the marriage ceremony of Lord Gauranga and Lakshmipriya. Upon seeing this Lakshmi-Visvambhara form of the Lord, he started dancing and chanting “Lakshmi-Narayana!” His eyes were filled with tears of bliss and his body was exhibiting symptoms of ecstasy in the form of pulaka (hairs standing on end). After some time by the desire of the Lord, the vipra was pacified and became calm. He stayed there that night and the next day went back to his simple cottage under a tree. The vipra entered his humble kutira and started crying profusely, feeling great ecstasy of love as he remembered Lakshmi and Gauracandra in the house of Vallabha Misra. The vipra was convinced that Lord Narayana had come in the form of Gauranga, the son of Saci-devi. “The daughter of Vallabha Misra is Lakshmi-devi Herself. Both Lakshmi and Narayana have appeared on this earth. Would the Lord of my life Gauracandra who is Lakshmi-prana-natha, bless a fallen and ill-minded person like me?” While the vipra was praying to the Lord in many ways, the Lord Himself appeared in his kutira, manifesting the most opulent Vaikuntha pastimes. Sri Gauranga in His most attractive form was sitting on a ratna-simhasana along with Lakshmi-devi. His auspicious body was decorated with a variety of ornaments. There was no comparison to the beauty of Their forms. The vipra was surprised to see Gauracandra immediately transform into the fourhanded form of Lord Narayana. The vipra fell at the lotus feet of the Lord and offered many prayers. The Lord, who is controlled by His devotee, smiled and said, “Life after life you are My dear servant. You are fully qualified to see My pastimes but please do not reveal what you have seen now. Whatever you wish your desire will always be fulfilled.” The Lord placed His lotus feet on the head of the vipra. Inconceivable pastimes manifested in this vipra’s kutira. Saci-kumara along with His associates performed many pastimes here in Vaikunthapura.

Isana Thakura said, “Narada Muni, after declaring the news everywhere, finally came back to this place in Navadvipa. The sage was thinking to himself, ‘I wonder if I will be so fortunate to see the same thing here that I witnessed in Dvaraka?’ Thinking like this he looked all around and immediately saw the opulence of Dvaraka in Nadia. He saw that Gauracandra was sitting on a ratna-simhasana. With the beauty of His form He was attracting even Kandarpa. It is not possible to describe how Narada Muni felt after seeing that beautiful form of the Lord. The Lord spoke to Narada Muni with very sweet words, ‘Now you will see My manifested pastimes here in Nadia. Your desire for removing the suffering of all living entities will be fulfilled in all respects.’ 

After saying this and giving His blessings, Lord Sri Gaurahari vanished. Being deprived of the Lord’s darsana, Narada Muni felt great separation. He spent a few days here at this Narayanapitha and then left for traveling. Because this is the place where Narada Muni received darsana of Narayana it is known as Narayana-pitha. All the opulence of Vaikuntha manifests here, therefore this place is also famous as Sri Vaikunthapura.”

Isana Thakura continued, “On the arrival of Narada Muni in Dvaraka, Rukmini-natha Sri Krishna looked at him in great ecstasy. Sri Krishna satisfied Narada Muni by receiving him nicely and asked, ‘Where have you come from?’ Narada Muni replied, ‘I have just come from Navadvipa.’ Having said this, sage Narada became silent. Understanding the mind of Narada Muni, the most merciful Sri Krishna transformed Himself into His most attractive Gauranga form. After seeing Lord Gauranga, the moon of Nadia, Narada Muni could not maintain his composure. Tears started to flow from his eyes and indescribable ecstatic transformations took place on his body. Immediately Narada Muni saw the Lord’s form change from that of Gauranga to the beautiful blue form of Sri Krishna. Narada Muni kept that most valuable form of Gaura- Krishna hidden within his heart. He constantly meditated upon this most extraordinary beauty with undeviating attention. Lord Sri Krishna was happy to see the condition of Narada Muni. After pacifying Narada and helping him to regain composure, Lord Sri Krishna spoke softly, ‘Go to Kailasa to meet with Siva. Inform everyone about My appearance in Navadvipa. The time has come. There is no need to delay any longer.’ Thus, after hearing the sweet words from Sri Krishna, Narada Muni took leave. Very soon he reached the Kailasa Mountain while chanting the glories of Gaura-Krishna and playing his vina. He offered his obeisances to Siva and informed him about everything Sri Krishna had told him. Mahadeva was very much overwhelmed to hear the news from Narada Muni. He put Narada on his lap and started to cry in happiness. One cannot describe the amount of happiness manifested on Kailasa Mountain after the news was announced.”