Pradyumna Miśra came one day to Mahāprabhu eagerly asking to hear some harikathā, Who in turn sent him to meet Rāmānanda Rāya. At the time, Rāmānanda Rāya was living in the Jagannātha-vallabha gardens. The service he was engaged in for the pleasure of Lord Jagannātha was beyond the capacity of even great self-controlled sages, what to speak of ordinary human beings. He would prepare two young deva-dāsīs for the performance of a play which was to be given before Lord Jagannātha, not only by training them in the songs that they would sing and in the dance they would perform, but also by bathing, dressing and decorating them. While Rāmānanda Rāya was engaged in such service, no one was allowed to interrupt him.

The first time that Pradyumna Miśra came to see Rāmānanda Rāya, one of Rāmānanda’s servants told him that he was busy and asked Miśra to sit outside and wait. When Rāmānanda Rāya finished his service and came outside he learned that Pradyumna Miśra had been waiting there for a long time to hear about Kṛñṇa from him. He showed the brāhmaṇa the appropriate respect and begged forgiveness for his offence in making him wait. Miśra realized that it was too late that day for his wish to be fulfilled and he returned home.

Some days later, when Mahāprabhu saw Miśra, He asked him how the meeting with Rāmānanda Rāya had gone and what topics they had discussed. At first, Pradyumna Miśra remained silent because of the doubts that he had about Rāmānanda Rāya’s behaviour. Mahāprabhu, as the antaryāmī, was able to understand what was going through his mind and began to glorify Rāmānanda Rāya’s extraordinary character with great force. His words are found in the Caitanya Caritāmṛta:

“I am a sannyāsī and consider Myself to be renounced. But if I even hear the name of a woman, what to speak of seeing one, I feel an effect on My mind and body. So who is not moved by the sight of a woman? Listen to Me, everyone. Let Me tell you about Rāmānanda Rāya’s activities, even though they are so wonderful and uncommon that they really cannot be properly described. He directly serves Lord Jagannātha’s young and beautiful deva-dasīs in every possible way. He personally bathes and dresses them and puts on their ornaments. While doing so, he naturally sees and touches their private parts, but even so, his mind is never affected. He teaches the girls how to physically express all the moods of love so that they can act them out before Jagannātha Deva, but his mind and body are as steady as wood or stone. Indeed, it is amazing that even when he touches such young girls, his mind is not disturbed. Only Rāmānanda Rāya has the right to do such things, and when I see him do them, I can understand that his body is not material but is spiritual.” (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 3.5.35-42)

Thus saying that Rāmānanda Rāya was highly qualified to speak on matters connected to Kṛñṇa, the Lord sent Pradyumna Miśra back again. When he arrived in the Jagannātha-vallabha gardens, Rāmānanda greeted him by paying obeisances. Pradyumna then heard Rāmānanda Rāya explain all the different topics on sambandha, abhidheya and prayojana, which he had earlier recounted to the Lord at Vidyanagar during His trip to South India. Both the speaker and the hearer completely forgot themselves in the ecstasies of kṛñṇa- kathā. The whole day passed in this way. Pradyumna Miśra felt himself to be completely fulfilled by the hearing all these subjects of Kṛñṇa and he went to tell Mahāprabhu about it.

Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura has made the following commentary on this anecdote in his Anubhāñya: “Ordinarily, the brāhmaṇa acts as a preceptor to the three other varṇas and the sannyāsī is the guru of all brāhmaṇas in the three other āśramas. The Lord wished to curb the false pride arising from these notions by sending Pradyumna Miśra, even though he was a pure brāhmaṇa, to take instruction from Rāmānanda Rāya, who belonged to the lowest varṇa, that of the śudras, and to the lowest āśrama, that of the householder. The Lord Himself, though a sannyāsī, also showed the same example by taking instruction personally from him, accepting the conclusions he preached.”