25.167
nija-loka lana prabhu aila vasaghara
varanasi haila dvitiya nadiya-nagara
SYNONYMS
nija-loka lana—with His personal associates; prabhu—Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu; aila vasa-aghara—came to His residential place; varanasi—the city of Varanasi; haila—became; dvitiya—second; nadiya-nagara—Navadvipa (Nadia).
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu then returned to His residence with His personal associates.
Thus He turned the whole city of Varanasi into another Navadvipa (Nadiya-nagara).
PURPORT
Both Navadvipa and Varanasi were celebrated for their highly educational activities.
At the present time these cities are still inhabited by great, learned scholars, but Varanasi is especially a center for Mayavadi sannyasis who are learned scholars.
However, unlike Navadvipa, there are hardly any devotees in Varanasi.
Consequently a discussion of Srimad-Bhagavatam was very rare in Varanasi.
In Navadvipa, such a discussion was quite ordinary.
After Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu visited Varanasi and turned Prakasananda Sarasvati and his disciples into Vaisnavas, Varanasi became like Navadvipa because so many devotees began discussing Srimad-Bhagavatam.
Even at the present moment one can hear many discussions on Srimad-Bhagavatam taking place on the banks of the Ganges.
Many scholars and sannyasis gather there to hear Srimad-Bhagavatam and perform sankirtana.