Madhai Ghat
Thirty meters north is Madhai Ghat, which is known to all.
(Sri Navadvipa-Dhama-Mahatmya, Chapter 5)
Jagāi and Mādhāi, the eighty-ninth and ninetieth branches of the tree, were the greatest recipients of Lord Caitanya’s mercy. These two brothers were the witnesses who proved that Lord Caitanya was rightly named Patita-pāvana, “the deliverer of the fallen souls.”
PURPORT
In the Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā (115) it is said that the two brothers Jagāi and Mādhāi were formerly the doorkeepers named Jaya and Vijaya, who later became Hiraṇyākṣa and Hiraṇyakaśipu. Jagāi and Mādhāi were born in respectable brāhmaṇa families, but they adopted the professions of thieves and rogues and thus became implicated in all kinds of undesirable activities, especially woman-hunting, intoxication and gambling. Later, by the grace of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, they were initiated, and they got the chance to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. As a result of chanting, both brothers became exalted devotees of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
(CC Adi 10.120)
Jagāi and Mādhāi were two brothers born in Navadvīpa in a respectable brāhmaṇa family who later became addicted to all kinds of sinful activities. By the order of Lord Caitanya, both Nityānanda Prabhu and Haridāsa Ṭhākura used to preach the cult of Kṛṣṇa consciousness door to door. In the course of such preaching they found Jagāi and Mādhāi, two maddened drunken brothers, who, upon seeing them, began to chase them. On the next day, Mādhāi struck Nityānanda Prabhu on the head with a piece of earthen pot, thus drawing blood. When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu heard of this, He immediately came to the spot, ready to punish both brothers, but when the all-merciful Lord Gaurāṅga saw Jagāi’s repentant behavior, He immediately embraced him. By seeing the Supreme Personality of Godhead face to face and embracing Him, both the sinful brothers were at once cleansed. Thus they received initiation into the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra from the Lord and were delivered.
(CC Ādi 17.17 purport)
Jagāi and Mādhāi had but one fault-they were addicted to sinful activity. However, volumes of sinful activity can be burned to ashes simply by a dim reflection of the chanting of Your holy name.
(CC Madhya 1.194)
The Lord said, “Listen as I tell you the means. Construct a bathing ghāṭa on the bank of the Ganges. When people happily take bath in the Ganges, they will all bless you. Serving the Ganges will counteract your offenses. What could be more fortunate for you than this? Humbly offer your obeisances to everyone. Then all your offenses will be forgiven.” Receiving the Lord’s instructions, Mādhāi then circumambulated the Lord and departed. Tears flowed from his eyes as he chanted the name of Kṛṣṇa. Everyone watched as he built a ghāṭa on the bank of the Ganges. People were greatly astonished on seeing this. Mādhāi then offered obeisances to everyone, saying, “Please bless me and forgive me for the offenses that I knowingly and unknowingly committed.” Seeing Mādhāi cry, everyone began to cry in ecstasy as they remembered Govinda. Everyone heard, “Nimāi Paṇḍita transformed Jagāi and Mādhāi into exalted personalities.” On hearing this, everyone was astonished and said, “Nimāi Paṇḍita is not a human being. Sinful people blaspheme Him without understanding. Nimāi Paṇḍita is engaged in the real glorification of the Lord. Nimāi Paṇḍita is a true servant of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Anyone who criticizes Him will be ruined. One who can rectify the mentality of these two must be either the Supreme Lord or empowered by the Supreme Lord. Nimāi Paṇḍita is not a mortal being. Now His glories have become manifest.” The people of Nadia discussed in this way and thereafter avoided the company of those who blasphemed the Lord. Mādhāi performed the most severe austerities and soon became known there as “Brahmacārī.” He constantly saw the Ganges while living at that ghāṭa on the riverbank. He took a shovel in his hand and personally worked there. Even today, everyone proclaims Mādhāi’s ghāṭa as the evidence of Lord Caitanya’s mercy. In this way, the two became greatly glorified as the two rogues who were delivered by the mercy of Lord Caitanya.
(Sri Caitanya Bhagavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 15.076 – 15.095)
For further reading, please refer to:
Sri Caitanya Bhagavata Madhya Khanda : Chapter Thirteen: The Deliverance of Jagāi and Mādhāi