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Mahaprabhu Nitayananda took sannyasa at an early age. As per the Sri Sri Chaitanya-Bhagavata, the first authentic biography of Sri Chaitanya by Srila Vrindavana Das Thakura, Sri Advaita Acharya says Nityananda Mahaprabhu lovingly:

matsya khay mansa khay kemata sannyasi/...tare boli sannyasi ye kichu naahi chhay/bolaye sannyasi dine tinbar khay// (Madhya-KhaNda, Chapter 24).

Meaning : You eat fish! You eat meat! How are you a sannyasin? A sannyasin should eat food once in a day, but you claim to be one and eat thrice.

Was Mahaprabhu Nityananda a non-vegeterian?

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Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Goswami Maharaja's commentary on this verse:

In the course of argument and counter-argument, Śrī Advaita Prabhu became very angry and said,

“Your behavior is similar to that of a dārī sannyāsī who eats fish and meat and who brags that he has given up the dress of a householder and become naked. You are just like the Tantric sannyāsīs who are envious of the Vaiṣṇavas, who are attached to sense gratification, who are followers of Śākta philosophy, and who try to protect their reputation as sannyāsīs by indulging in pañca-makāra [Pañca-makāra refers to māṁsa, madya, matsya, mahila, and maithuna— meat, wine, fish, women, and sex]. Whimsical behavior can never be the characteristic of a sannyāsī under the shelter of the Vedas.”

After reading these statements, foolish people should not consider Śrī Baladeva-Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu as fallen from sannyāsa and proper behavior. It should be known that one who exposes his natural foolishness by failing to understand the actual purport of Advaita’s statements is unqualified to understand the characteristics of Nityānanda Prabhu. These sarcastic or disguised as blasphemous statements of Śrī Advaita are simply a ploy to increase the sinful propensities of those who eat fish and meat. Those not understanding the purport of these words who are most unfortunate and bereft of intelligence take shelter of worldly sinful activities and traverse the path to hell. Those who are easily influenced by the word jugglery of others can never become intelligent devotees of Kṛṣṇa.

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    – Community Bot
    Commented Mar 25, 2022 at 12:45
  • This is from Chaitanya Bhagavata, Madhya Khanda, Chapter 24, text 89. The link for english translation :- archive.org/details/CBMadhya/page/n1920/mode/2up. The link for its original bengali text and commentary by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati :- archive.org/details/CBBSSTMadhya/CB-BSST-Madhya-24/page/n5/mode/…
    – Krsna Dasa
    Commented Mar 26, 2022 at 5:06
  • The response is offensive to people of a different opinion, it is ad hominem. In fact, I'd be interested in the answer too. In the book Chaitanya: A Life and Legacy by Professor Amiya P. Sen, I also learnt that according to hagiographies, Nityananda not only ate meat but also drank alcohol, wore expensive jewellery. Unfortunately, the book is not written in a scholarly manner, it is more of a narrative and does not contain a direct reference to this claim.
    – Jeeva
    Commented Feb 12 at 13:45

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