5.149
nityananda-svarupa purve ha-iya laksmana
laghu-bhrata haiya kare ramera sevana
SYNONYMS
nityananda-svarupa—Lord Nityananda Svarupa; purve—formerly; ha-iya—becoming; laksmana—Laksmana, Lord Ramacandra’s younger brother; laghu-bhratra haiya—becoming the younger brother; kare—does; ramera sevana—service to Lord Ramacandra.
Lord Nityananda Svarupa formerly appeared as Laksmana and served Lord Ramacandra as His younger brother.
PURPORT
Among the sannyasis of the Sankara-sampradaya there are different names for brahmacaris.
Each sannyasi has some assistants, known as brahmacaris, who are called by different names according to the names of the sannyasi.
Among such brahmacaris there are four names: Svarupa, Ananda, Prakasa and Caitanya.
Nityananda Prabhu maintained Himself as a brahmacari; He never took sannyasa.
As a brahmacari His name was Nityananda Svarupa, and therefore the sannyasi under whom He was living must have been from the tirthas or asramas.