Isvara Puri appeared in a brahmana family and was the most beloved disciple of Srila Madhavendra Puri. In the last portion of Sri Caitanya-caritamrta (Antya 8.28-31), it is stated:

isvara-puri gosani kare sri-pada sevana
sva-haste karena mala-mutradi marjana

nirantara krsna-nama karaya smarana
krsna-nama krsna-lila sunaya anuksana

tusta hana puri tanre kaila alingana
vara dila krsne tomara ha-uka prema-dhana

sei haite isvara-puri premera sagara

Srila Isvara Puri was the spiritual master of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, but before initiating Lord Caitanya he went to Navadvipa and lived for a few months in the house of Gopinatha Acarya. At that time Lord Caitanya became acquainted with him, and it is understood that he served Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu by reciting his book, Krsna-lilamrta. This is explained in Sri Caitanya-bhagavata, Adi-lila, Chapter Eleven.

To teach others by example how to be a faithful disciple of one's spiritual master, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, visited the birthplace of Isvara Puri at Kamarhatta and collected some earth from his birthsite. This He kept very carefully, and He used to eat a small portion of it daily. This is stated in the Caitanya-bhagavata, Adi-lila, Chapter Seventeen. It has now become customary for devotees, following the example of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, to go there and collect some earth from that place.

sannyasira madhye isvarera priya-patra
ara nahi eka puri gosani se matra

damodara-svarupa paramananda-puri
sannyasi-parsade ei dui adhikari

niravadhi nikate thakena dui jana
prabhura sannyase kare dandera grahana

puri dhyana-para damodarera kirtana
yata-priti isvarera puri-gosanire

damodara-svarupereo tata priti kare

aji dhanya locana, saphala aji janma
saphala amara aji haila sarva-dharma

prabhu bale aji mora saphala sannyasa
aji madhavendra more ha-ila prakasa

kathoksane anyo 'nye karena pranama
paramananda-puri caitanyera priya-dhama

prabhu bale ami ye achiye prthivite
niscaya-i janiha puri-gosanira prite

Kesava Bharati: The Sarasvati, Bharati and Puri sampradayas belong to the Srngeri Matha in South India, and Sri Kesava Bharati, who at that time was situated in a monastery in Katwa, belonged to the Bharati-sampradaya. According to some authoritative opinions, although Kesava Bharati belonged to the Sankara-sampradaya, he had formerly been initiated by a Vaisnava. He is said to have been a Vaisnava on account of having been initiated by Madhavendra Puri, for some say that he took sannyasa from Madhavendra Puri. The temple and Deity worship started by Kesava Bharati are still existing in the village known as Khatundi, which is under the postal jurisdiction of Kandara in the district of Burdwan. According to the managers of that matha, the priests are descendants of Kesava Bharati, and some say that the worshipers of the Deity are descendants of the sons of Kesava Bharati. In his householder life he had two sons, Nisapati and Usapati, and a brahmana of the name Sri Nakadicandra Vidyaratna, who was a member of the family of Nisapati, was the priest in charge at the time that Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati visited this temple. According to some, the priests of the temple belong to the family of Kesava Bharati's brother. Still another opinion is that they descend from Madhava Bharati, who was another disciple of Kesava Bharati's. Madhava Bharati's disciple Balabhadra, who also later became a sannyasi of the Bharati-sampradaya, had two sons in his family life, named Madana and Gopala. Madana, whose family's surname was Bharati, lived in the village of Auriya, and Gopala, whose family's surname was Brahmacari, lived in the village of Denduda. There are still many living descendants of both families.

In the Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika, verse 52, it is said:

mathurayam yajna-sutram
pura krsnaya yo munih
dadau sandipanih so 'bhud
adya kesava-bharati

Brahmananda Puri: Sri Brahmananda Puri was one of the associates of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu while He was performing kirtana in Navadvipa, and he also joined Lord Caitanya in Jagannatha Puri. We may note in this connection that the name Brahmananda is accepted not only by Mayavadi sannyasis but by Vaisnava sannyasis also. One of our foolish Godbrothers criticized our sannyasi Brahmananda Svami, saying that this was a Mayavadi name. The foolish man did not know that Brahmananda does not always refer to the impersonal. Parabrahman, the Supreme Brahman, is Krsna. A devotee of Krsna can therefore also be called Brahmananda; this is evident from the fact that Brahmananda Puri was one of the chief sannyasi associates of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Brahmananda Bharati: Brahmananda Bharati went to see Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu at Jagannatha-dhama. At that time he used to wear only a deerskin to cover himself, and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu indirectly indicated that He did not like this deerskin covering. Brahmananda Bharati therefore gave it up and accepted a loincloth of saffron color, as used by Vaisnava sannyasis. For some time he lived with Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu at Jagannatha Puri.

enechi ausadhi maya nasibara lagi'
hari-nama-maha-mantra lao tumi magi'

bhakativinoda prabhu-carane padiya
sei hari-nama-mantra laila magiya

anarpita-carim cirat karunayavatirnah kalau
samarpayitum unnatojjvala-rasam sva-bhakti-sriyam
harih purata-sundara-dyuti-kadamba-sandipitah
sada hrdaya-kandare sphuratu vah saci-nandanah

bharata-bhumite haila manusya janma yara
janma sarthaka kari' kara para-upakara

Human life is especially meant for God realization, as stated in the Vedanta-sutra: athato brahma-jijnasa. Anyone who takes birth in the land of India (Bharata-varsa) has the special privilege of being able to take advantage of the instruction and guidance of the Vedic civilization. He automatically receives the basic principles of spiritual life, for 99.9% of the Indian people, even simple village farmers and others who are neither educated nor sophisticated, believe in the transmigration of the soul, believe in past and future lives, believe in God and naturally want to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead or His representative. These ideas are the natural inheritance of a person born in India. India has many holy places of pilgrimage, such as Gaya, Benares, Mathura, Prayaga, Vrndavana, Haridvara, Ramesvaram and Jagannatha Puri, and still people go there by the hundreds and thousands. Although the present leaders of India are influencing the people not to believe in God, not to believe in a next life and not to believe in a distinction between pious and impious life, and they are teaching them how to drink wine, eat meat and become supposedly civilized, people are nevertheless afraid of the four activities of sinful life--namely, illicit sex, meat-eating, intoxication and gambling--and whenever there is a religious festival, they gather together by the thousands. We have actual experience of this. Whenever the Krsna consciousness movement holds a sankirtana festival in a big city like Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Ahmedabad or Hyderabad, thousands of people come to hear. Sometimes we speak in English, but even though most people do not understand English, they nevertheless come to hear us. Even when imitation incarnations of Godhead speak, people gather in the thousands, for everyone who is born in the land of India has a natural spiritual inclination and is taught the basic principles of spiritual life; they merely need to be a little more educated in the Vedic principles. Therefore Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, janma sarthaka kari' kara para-upakara: if an Indian is educated in the Vedic principles, he is able to perform the most beneficial welfare activity for the entire world.

At present, for want of Krsna consciousness, or God consciousness, the entire world is in darkness, having been covered by the four principles of sinful life--meat-eating, illicit sex, gambling and intoxication. Therefore there is a need for vigorous propaganda to educate people to refrain from sinful activities. This will bring peace and prosperity; the rogues, thieves and debauchees will naturally decrease in number, and all of human society will be God conscious.

The practical effect of our spreading the Krsna consciousness movement all over the world is that now the most degraded debauchees are becoming the most elevated saints. This is only one Indian's humble service to the world. If all Indians had taken to this path, as advised by Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, India would have given a unique gift to the world, and thus India would have been glorified. Now, however, India is known as a poverty-stricken country, and whenever anyone from America or another opulent country goes to India, he sees many people lying by the footpaths for whom there are not even provisions for two meals a day. There are also institutions collecting money from all parts of the world in the name of welfare activities for poverty-stricken people, but they are spending it for their own sense gratification. Now, on the order of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Krsna consciousness movement has been started, and people are benefiting from this movement. Therefore it is now the duty of the leading men of India to consider the importance of this movement and train many Indians to go outside of India to preach this cult. People will accept it, there will be cooperation among the Indian people and among the other people of the world, and the mission of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu will then be fulfilled. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu will then be glorified all over the world, and people will naturally be happy, peaceful and prosperous, not only in this life but also in the next, for as stated in the Bhagavad-gita, anyone who understands Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, will very easily get salvation, or freedom from the repetition of birth and death, and go back home, back to Godhead. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu therefore requests every Indian to become a preacher of His cult to save the world from disastrous confusion.

This is not only the duty of Indians but the duty of everyone, and we are very happy that American and European boys and girls are seriously cooperating with this movement. One should know definitely that the best welfare activity for all of human society is to awaken man's God consciousness, or Krsna consciousness. Therefore everyone should help this great movement. This is confirmed in Srimad-Bhagavatam, Tenth Canto, Twenty-second Chapter, verse 35, which is next quoted in Caitanya-caritamrta.

In this verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam it is said that one should be interested in sreyas. To achieve the ultimate goal of sreyas, or good fortune, one should engage everything, including his life, wealth and words, not only for himself but for others also. However, unless one is interested in sreyas in his own life, he cannot preach of sreyas for the benefit of others.

This verse cited by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu applies to human beings, not to animals. As indicated in the previous verse by the words manusya-janma, these injunctions are for human beings. Unfortunately, human beings, although they have the bodies of men, are becoming less than animals in their behavior. This is the fault of modern education. Modern educators do not know the aim of human life; they are simply concerned with how to develop the economic condition of their countries or of human society. This is also necessary; the Vedic civilization considers all aspects of human life, including dharma (religion), artha (economic development), kama (sense gratification) and moksa (liberation). But humanity's first concern should be religion. To be religious, one must abide by the orders of God, but unfortunately people in this age have rejected religion, and they are busy in economic development. Therefore they will adopt any means to get money. For economic development one does not need to get money by hook or by crook; one needs only sufficient money to maintain his body and soul. However, because modern economic development is going on with no religious background, people have become lusty, greedy and mad after money. They are simply developing the qualities of rajas (passion) and tamas (ignorance), neglecting the other quality of nature, sattva (goodness), and the brahminical qualifications. Therefore the entire society is in chaos.

The Bhagavatam says that it is the duty of an advanced human being to act in such a way as to facilitate human society's attainment of the ultimate goal of life. There is a similar verse in the Visnu Purana, Part Three, Chapter Twelve, verse 45, which is quoted in this chapter of Caitanya-caritamrta as verse 43.

yanti deva-vrata devan
pitrn yanti pitr-vratah
bhutani yanti bhutejya
yanti mad-yajino 'pi mam

The real purpose of life, therefore, is to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Srila Rupa Gosvami describes in his Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu that devotional service is so exalted that it is beneficial and auspicious for every man. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu also declared that to propagate the bhakti cult of devotional service in human society, one does not need to be very rich. Anyone can do it and thus render the highest benefit to humanity if he knows the art. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu takes the part of a gardener because although a gardener is naturally not a very rich man, he has some fruits and flowers. Any man can collect some fruits and flowers and satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead in devotional service, as the Lord recommends in the Bhagavad-gita (9.26):-

patram puspam phalam toyam
yo me bhaktya prayacchati
tad aham bhakty-upahrtam
asnami prayatatmanah

Unnecessarily cutting trees without consideration is another example of human debauchery. The paper industry cuts many hundreds and thousands of trees for its mills, and with the paper so much rubbish literature is published for the whimsical satisfaction of human society. Unfortunately, although these industrialists are now happy in this life by dint of their industrial development, they do not know that they will incur the responsibility for killing these living entities who are in the forms of trees.

This verse, quoted from Srimad-Bhagavatam, was spoken by Lord Krsna to His friends when He was taking rest underneath a tree after His pastime of stealing the clothes of the gopis (vastra-harana-lila). By quoting this verse, Caitanya Mahaprabhu teaches us that we should be tolerant like trees and also beneficial like trees, which give everything to the needy persons who come underneath them. A needy person may derive many advantages from trees and also from many animals, but in modern civilization people have become so ungrateful that they exploit the trees and animals and kill them. These are some of the sinful activities of modern civilization.

While chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu sometimes fainted and remained unconscious for many hours. He prays in His Siksastaka (7):

yugayitam nimesena
caksusa pravrsayitam
sunyayitam jagat sarvam
govinda-virahena me

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports to Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, Ninth Chapter, describing the tree of devotional service.

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