Devananda Pandita

If one considers the statements of the Caitanya-bhāgavata along with the description by Locana dāsa Ṭhākura, it is clear that present-day Navadvīpa was formerly known as Kuliyā-grāma. While at Kuliyā-grāma, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu bestowed His favor upon Devānanda Paṇḍita and delivered Gopāla Cāpala and many others who had previously committed offenses at His lotus feet.
(CC Madhya 1.151 purport)

The village originally known as Kuliyā has developed into what is now the city of Navadvīpa. In various authorized books like the Bhakti-ratnākara, Caitanya-carita-mahākāvya, Caitanya-candrodaya-nāṭaka and Caitanya-bhāgavata it is mentioned that the village of Kuliyā is on the western side of the Ganges. Even now, within the area known as Koladvīpa, there is a place known as kuliāra gañja and a place called kuliāra daha, both within the jurisdiction of the present municipality of Navadvīpa. In the time of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the two villages on the western side of the Ganges named Kuliyā and Pāhāḍapura both belonged to the jurisdiction of Bāhiradvīpa. At that time the place on the eastern side of the Ganges now known as Antardvīpa was known as Navadvīpa. At Śrī Māyāpur that place is still known as Dvīpera Māṭha. There is another place of the name Kuliyā near Kāṅcaḍāpāḍā, but it is not the same Kuliyā mentioned here. It cannot be accepted as aparādha-bhañjanera pāḍa, or the place where the offense was excused, for that occurred in the above-mentioned Kuliyā on the western side of the Ganges.
(CC Adi 17.55-56 purport)

In the Aparādha-bhañjana a pure devotee expresses his feelings: “My dear Lord, I am ashamed to admit before You that I have carried out the orders of my masters named lust, anger, avarice, illusion and envy. Sometimes I have carried out their orders in a way most abominable. Yet in spite of my serving them so faithfully, they are not satisfied, nor are they kind enough to give me relief from their service. They are not even ashamed of taking service from me in that way. My dear Lord, O head of the Yadu dynasty, now I have come to my senses, and I am taking shelter of Your lotus feet. Please engage me in Your service.” This is another instance of surrendering and taking shelter of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa.
(Nectar of Devotion 36)

Devānanda Paṇḍita was a professional reciter of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, but by the mercy of Vakreśvara Paṇḍita and the grace of the Lord he understood the devotional interpretation of the Bhāgavatam.
PURPORT
In the Caitanya-bhāgavata, Madhya-khaṇḍa, Chapter Twenty-one, it is stated that Devānanda Paṇḍita and Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya’s father, Viśārada, lived in the same village. Devānanda Paṇḍita was a professional reciter of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, but Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not like his interpretation of it. In the present town of Navadvīpa, which was formerly known as Kuliyā, Lord Caitanya showed such mercy to him that he gave up the Māyāvādī interpretation of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and learned how to explain Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in terms of bhakti. Formerly, when Devānanda was expounding the Māyāvādī interpretation, Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura was once present in his meeting, and when he began to cry, Devānanda’s students drove him away. Some days later, Caitanya Mahāprabhu passed that way, and when He met Devānanda He chastised him severely because of his Māyāvāda interpretation of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. At that time Devānanda had little faith in Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu as an incarnation of Lord Kṛṣṇa, but one night some time later Vakreśvara Paṇḍita was a guest in his house, and when he explained the science of Kṛṣṇa, Devānanda was convinced about the identity of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Thus he was induced to explain Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam according to the Vaiṣṇava understanding. In the Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā (106) it is described that he was formerly Bhāguri Muni, the sabhā-paṇḍita who recited Vedic literatures in the house of Nanda Mahārāja.
(CC Adi 10.77)

Vakreśvara Paṇḍita, the fifth branch of the tree, was a very dear servant of Lord Caitanya’s. He could dance with constant ecstasy for seventy-two hours. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu personally sang while Vakreśvara Paṇḍita danced, and thus Vakreśvara Paṇḍita fell at the lotus feet of the Lord and spoke as follows.
(CC Ādi 10.17 – 10.18)

If the devotee commits an offense at the feet of a Vaiṣṇava while cultivating the creeper of devotional service in the material world, his offense is compared to a mad elephant that uproots the creeper and breaks it. In this way the leaves of the creeper are dried up.
(CC Madhya 19.156)