When Mahāprabhu arrived in Mathura after passing through Kāśī and Prayāga, He first came to the Vishram Ghat in Mathura where He bathed. Then He visited Kṛṣṇa’s birthplace and the deity of Ādi Keśava, dancing before Him in ecstatic love. Other visitors to the temple were amazed and charmed by the Lord’s ecstatic dancing. At the same time, a certain brāhmaṇa fell at the Lord’s feet and then started to dance with Him, joining the Lord in His trance of divine love. They embraced each other and then raised their arms and while singing the Holy Names of Hari and Kṛṣṇa, a great tumult arose within the Ādi Keśava Temple when everyone present joined the loud chanting of kīrtana. When the kīrtana finished, Mahāprabhu took the brāhmaṇa aside and asked him,

“You are a sincere and respectable elderly brāhmaṇa. Tell me where you got this wealth of love for Kṛṣṇa.” (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 2.17.155)

The brāhmaṇa replied, “While on his tour, Mādhavendra Purīpāda came to Mathura. He blessed me by setting foot in my humble abode. He initiated me by giving me the mantra and further blessed me by accepting food that I had cooked. He uncovered the Gopāla deity, which is still being worshipped to this day at Govardhana.”

As soon as He learned of the elderly brāhmaṇa’s relationship to Mādhavendra Purī, the Lord fell at his feet. The brāhmaṇa was taken aback at the Lord doing this, and he touched the Lord’s feet. To teach that the spiritual master’s godbrothers are worshipable by the disciple, the Lord said, “You are my guru, and I am practically your disciple. It is not fitting for a guru to pay obeisances to a disciple.” (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 2.17.170)

The brāhmaṇa was astonished by the Lord’s humility and said, “You are a sannyāsī; it is not proper for a sannyāsī to pay obeisances to a fallen person like myself.” But the brāhmaṇa had also determined from the Lord’s ecstatic symptoms that He too had some relationship to Mādhavendra Purī. He asked the Lord’s travelling companion, Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya, the name of the Lord’s guru. Upon learning that his guess had been correct, he was overjoyed.

The brāhmaṇa then invited the Lord to his house and the Lord accepted. Thus the brāhmaṇa got the opportunity to personally render Him various kinds of service.

When it was time, the brāhmaṇa asked Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya to cook the Lord’s lunch, but Mahāprabhu intervened. He said, “Purī Gosāñi ate your cooking, so you should cook for Me too. This is what I have learned from his example.”

The Lord’s host belonged to the Sanoḍiya community of brāhmaṇas. According to Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, members of the business community (vaiśyas) in the north of India are divided into several castes: Agrawals, Kalwars, Sanwars, etc. Of these, the Agrawals are considered to be very pure, while the two other groups are considered fallen as a result of their own karma. Those brāhmaṇas who perform the ritual activities for the gold and jewellery merchants (Sanwars) are known as Sanoḍiya brāhmaṇas. Normally, because of these low caste associations, they are considered to be fallen as a caste. Sannyāsīs thus refuse to accept food in their homes.

Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura adds to this the following analysis based on pure devotion. “The Sanoḍiya brāhmaṇa was a pure devotee, and although even drinking water from his hand was prohibited due to his caste status, he nevertheless was fixed in the daiva-varṇāśrama system and the Absolute Truth, both of which favour pure devotion. Those who judged devotees in terms of their mundane caste status (the adaiva-varṇāśrama) or who cast aspersions on mahā-prasāda were unhesitatingly identified as wicked fools by the Lord.”

Though sannyāsīs generally do not accept food from members of the Sanoḍiya caste, Mādhavendra Purī did not hesitate to do so. Judging this brāhmaṇa to have the qualities of a Vaiṣṇava, Purīpāda gave him initiation and then ate in his house. In spite of that, the Sanoḍiya brāhmaṇa himself was simply concerned for the Lord’s reputation, which would be subject to criticism if He ignored caste rules prevalent at that time. The Lord explained that since there may be some difference of opinion between the various scriptures and the seers, the best course of action was to follow the example set by those saintly persons who establish the principles of religion. Finally, the brāhmaṇa could understand the desire of the Lord and he personally cooked for Him.

As the Lord travelled from Purī to Mathura, His absorption in ecstatic love increased a hundred-fold over that which He experienced in Purī. Upon arriving in Mathura, it increased a thousand-fold, and when He went through the twelve forests of Vraja, it increased a hundred-thousand-fold. Before leaving Nīlācala, Rāmānanda Rāya and Svarūpa Dāmodara had arranged for two people to accompany Him, Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya and another brāhmaṇa servant.

While He was wandering through the twelve forests, a Rājaputa, Kṛṣṇadāsa, was attracted by the Lord and joined Him and His companions. When the Lord came to Akrura Ghat, He jumped into the Yamunā in a transport of ecstasy and remained submerged for a long time. Kṛṣṇadāsa became afraid that the Lord had drowned and started to cry out for help. Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya heard his shouts and immediately went into the water to pull the Lord out.

Balabhadra was anxious about the Lord’s distraction from the normal state due to His absorption in divine ecstasy and so he discussed with Mādhavendra Purī’s disciple, the Sanoḍiya brāhmaṇa, about what could be done to protect Him. After some discussion, they decided that it was not wise to allow the Lord to stay any longer in Vraja-maṇḍala. Rather, by telling Him of the full-moon bath at the end of the month of Māgha, known also as Makara-saṅkrānti, they should incite Him to go to Soro Ksetra on the banks of the Ganges, whence they could go on to Prayāga. Since the Sanoḍiya brāhmaṇa was the worshipable godbrother of His guru, the Lord was not able to refuse him when he made the suggestion to leave Vraja.

Though the Lord’s body left the boundaries of Vṛndāvana, His consciousness remained fixed in love for Kṛṣṇa, and His ecstatic trance remained unbroken. As He became tired from walking, the Lord sat down underneath a tree. Nearby, a herd of cows was grazing which reminded Him of Kṛṣṇa’s Vraja-līlā. All of a sudden, a cowherd began to play his flute causing Mahāprabhu to faint in an ecstasy of love. The Lord fell to the ground, His breathing stopped and foam accumulated around His mouth. At this very moment, the Muslim soldier Bijlī Khān was passing by with a troop of ten cavalrymen. On seeing the Lord’s condition, Bijlī Khān immediately became suspicious that foul play was afoot. He thought that the four men accompanying the Lord had poisoned Him with dhuturā in order to steal gold He had in His possession.

The Pāṭhāna immediately arrested the Lord’s four companions with the intention of killing them. The two Bengali brāhmaṇas began to tremble in fear; the two others, however, were fearless and smart. The Sanoḍiya brāhmaṇa tried to explain to the Pāṭhana by saying: “This sannyāsī is my guru and He happens to have an illness that makes Him faint from time to time. Go ahead and tie us up and wait for a few minutes. My guru will soon regain consciousness and you will be able to understand the truth. I know hundreds of people in the Emperor’s court.”

Bijlī Khān listened to the Sanoḍiya brāhmaṇa speak fearlessly and began to doubt his understanding of the situation. He replied, “I can recognize from your speech that you are from Mathura, but these two people are foreigners. They are also trembling, so they must be guilty of something.”

The Rājaput Kṛṣṇadāsa sensed that the situation was becoming more dangerous and said brazenly, trying to frighten the Pāṭhāna, “I live in the neighbouring village. I have two hundred soldiers with a hundred cannons. I only have to shout and they will come here and take your horses and equipment. I think that you must be the real highwaymen and not these two Bengalis.”

The Muslim cavalrymen were cast into fear by the Rājaput’s fearless words. Meanwhile, the Lord came back to consciousness and in a transport of ecstasy, loudly cried out the Names “Hari! Hari!” and began to dance. The Pāṭhāna soldiers were overcome by fear when they heard the Lord roar and saw His ecstatic dancing. They immediately liberated their four prisoners so that the Lord did not see His devotees tied up. The Muslims were attracted by the Lord’s physical beauty and spiritual mood and submitted their doubts in front of him.

The Lord answered, “I have no wealth. These four men are My companions. I sometimes suffer from epilepsy and fall unconscious as a result. These four companions mercifully stay with Me when this happens to protect Me and take care of Me.”

Upon His arrival at Soro Ksetra, Mahāprabhu took His bath in the Ganges and then desired to set off for Prayāga along the banks of the holy river. He turned to the Sanoḍiya brāhmaṇa and the Rājaput Kṛṣṇadāsa, “You have taken such trouble to come all this way from Mathura just to show us the way. I do not wish you to trouble yourselves any further. Please go back now.”

They answered, “We don’t know when we will have the good fortune of Your company again. There is a great likelihood of danger on the highways of this country as it is dominated by unscrupulous persons. Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya does not know the local language. We think that these are good reasons for us to accompany You as far as Prayāga.”

The Lord approved their desire by His mild laugh.