On the Oḍana-ṣaṣṭhī festival, Lord Jagannātha’s servants dress Him in a cloth that still has starch (māruwā) in it. Śrī Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi was a pure sad-ācārī, i.e., attached to the proper etiquette of Vaiṣṇava-dharma. When he observed this custom, he did not feel happy about it and said to his friend, Svarūpa Dāmodara, “Why do they give this unwashed cloth to the Lord? The people of this country know the rules in the Smṛtis and the Śrutis, so why do they give this māṛuwā cloth to the Lord?”

Svarūpa Dāmodara Prabhu answered that the Supreme Lord is beyond the customary rules and regulations of the scriptures and that therefore there was no fault. Vidyānidhi did not find this conclusion satisfying and he countered by saying, “That may be true for the Lord Himself. But His servants should follow the rules of the scripture. The śrī-vigraha of the Lord is beyond the material qualities, so you can say this of Him, but His servants are not of the same nature as He. So they have to judge whether or not it is proper to offer a particular object in the service.”

Vidyānidhi is Mahāprabhu’s dear associate and beyond any fault, but once again we see that the Lord teaches particular lessons through His devotees. Here He wished to show that we have no right to make judgments or to find fault with the behaviour of Lord Jagannāth’s devotees. That night Mahāprabhu entered in the dream of Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi as Lord Jagannātha. Vidyānidhi was frightened when he saw the anger of the Lord. He saw both Lord Jagannātha and Lord Balarāma slap him on each of his cheeks and he started to cry out in distress, “Kṛṣṇa, save me! Kṛṣṇa, save me! Forgive my offence!” Lord Jagannātha said,

“There is no end to your offensiveness. Just as there is no question of pure and impure in My case, the same holds true for My servants. You are staying here; you should know all this. If you thought that it was impure, then why did you stay at all? Go home and maintain your purity.” (Caitanya Bhāgavata 3.10.131-3)

When Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi woke up in the morning, the devotees saw the marks of the Lords’ slaps on his cheeks, which had swollen as a result, and they started to laugh. This pastime shows just how dear Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi was to Lord Jagannātha and to Mahāprabhu, for the Lord only comes to His dearest devotees to personally punish them in this way.

That night Lord Jagannātha and Balarāma came to him and, laughing all the while, slapped him on the cheeks. Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi felt a secret joy at his swollen cheeks, as has been described by Vṛndāvana Dāsa in detail. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 2.16.80-1)

Vṛndāvana Dāsa Ṭhākura concludes the Caitanya Bhāgavata with the following glorification of Śrī Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi:

The Supreme Lord Gaurāṅga called out the name of this devotee, crying “Puṇḍarīka, My father.” Anyone who hears about his life and activities will undoubtedly attain Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet. (Caitanya Bhāgavata 3.10.183-4)