Article by: Damagosha dasa

Sri Nimbarka Debates a Jain Monk

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta
Saraswati Thakura Prabhupada

…It is said that one day a sannyāsī from a Jain sampradāya
came to Mathura and invited all the learned scholars
there to a debate on the scriptures. This Jain sannyāsī
scholar desired to conquer the entire country by proving
the uselessness of Vedic religious principles. However,
Nimbaditya, the vaiṣṇava monk from Vaidurya Pattana,
effortlessly refuted all the arguments put forward by the
Jain sannyāsī by quoting scriptural evidence.

 The Jain sannyāsī, after being defeated, took shelter
of the vaiṣṇava ācārya. The vaiṣṇava ācārya thus
accepted him as a disciple and then instructed him
in the true meaning of Vedic religious principles.
It is said that after the scriptural debate commenced
between the Jain sannyāsī and the vaiṣṇava ācārya, it
continued for a long while. Finally, realizing that the
sun was about to set, the vaiṣṇava ācārya offered some
remnants of Lord Vishnu to his guest, who had come to
his ashram to gain relief from fatigue. Jain sannyāsīs are
prohibited to eat anything in the evening or at night,
so at first he refused to honor the prasāda. Because of
this, the vaiṣṇava ācārya climbed a neem tree and held
the sun above the horizon until the sannyāsī could
finish his meal. According to one rendition of the story,
he climbed a neem tree and then invoked the Lord’s
Sudarshan cakra in the sky. As the cakra was as effulgent
as the sun, the sannyāsī thought it to be the sun.
Because he climbed a nimba (neem) tree and
manifested the arka (sun), also known as āditya, he
became known as Nimbarka, Nimbaditya and Nimba
Vibhavasu. At some places he was known as Aruneya,
Niyamananda and Haripriyacharya. Some people say
that Nimbarka appeared in this world when Krishna’s
great grandson Vajranabha was the king of Mathura.

 — Excerpts from pages 33-34. The Life and Teachings of the Four
Vaishnava Ācāryas. Translated by Bhumipati Das. Edited by
Purnaprajna Das. Presented by Laxman Das and Sanmohini Devi
Dasi. Published by Jai Nitai Press. Vrindavan. 2007.
(Gopal Jiu Publications is a branch of the International Society
for Krishna Consciousness, Founder-Acharya: His Divine
Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.)