Once, many years ago, several brahmanas, devotees of Shiva, worshiped him here, offering white leaves. Among them was a young brahmana named Nimbaditya, who was very attentive to worship. Lord Siva spoke to him:
- At the edge of the village is a sacred grove of trees bilva. Four Kumaras are sitting in meditation in it. By their grace you will gain spiritual knowledge. They are your teachers.
Having said this, Lord Siva disappeared. Nimbaditya went to look for this place and soon saw four brothers: Sanaku, Sanandana, Sanatana and Sanat-kumara. Nimbaditya exclaimed in excitement:
- Krishna! Krishna!
Hearing the holy name, the Kumaras left meditation, opened their eyes and saw a brahmana in front of them.
- Who are you? They asked. “And why did you come here?” What do you want? We will fulfill your request.
Nimbaditya bowed to the sages and gave his name. Sanat Kumar smiled and said:
- Knowing that Kali-yuga will be very restless, the all-merciful Lord endowed His four associates with the power of devotion and sent them to the material world to preach His glory. The names of three of them are Madhva, Ramanuja and Vishnuswami. You are the fourth of these great devotees. We used to meditate on the impersonal Brahman, but by the grace of the Lord, we now know the sweet taste of pure devotional service. I wrote a book called Sanat-kumara-samhita, and you should carefully study it.
Seeing the mercy of the guru, Nimbarka quickly took a bath in the Ganges and returned. The Kumaras gave him initiation in the Radha-Krishna Mantra and instructions on how to worship the Divine couple in the mood of bhava-marga.
Nimbaditya settled in this forest and worshiped Krsna for some time, chanting His mantra and studying the Sanat-kumara-samhita. Soon, Lord Krishna and Srimati Radharani, pleased with Nimbarka, appeared before him. They said:
- You're incredibly lucky. You were engaged in the service of Us in Navadvipa, the holy monastery, which is very dear to us. Here We reveal Our one image - Sri Gaurahari.
Having said this, Krishna and Srimati Radharani united in the form of Lord Caitanya. Nimbarka was amazed. He exclaimed:
- I have never heard of anything like this!
Mahaprabhu said:
- Do not reveal this secret to anyone yet. Preach the glories of krsna-bhakti and the eternal pastimes of Krsna and Srimati Radharani. And when I come to Earth in the form that you see now, you will become one of My companions, a scientist named Keshava Kashmiri. By the grace of Saraswati, you are aware of My divine nature, you will rid yourself of pride, and you will seek refuge from Me. And then I will give you bhakti and send again to preach devotional service to the Lord. And now you can give Me pleasure by preaching the twitwait philosophy (monism and dualism), and keeping secret the revelation received.
When Gauracandra disappeared, Nimbarka sobbed with love. Bowing to the feet of his gurus, he went to preach krsna-bhakti.
Translated from dhama.dayalnitay.ru