Srimati Jahnava Mata Thakurāni is the origin of our Dīksā line (aka Nityānanda Parivar)

Nityānanda Prabhu gave two children to Srimati Vasudha Mata but He gave millions of children (disciples) to Srimati Jahnava Mata by telling her to give dīksā and bestow her special blessings to one and all. Our line is therefore a matriarchal one and dīksā is usually given by the wife of the Guru. (In exceptional cases, such as if the wife dies when her son is too young to receive dīksā, he may receive it from his father or grandmother).

After our three Prabhu (Nitai Gaur Sitanath) ended their manifest pastimes, all their close associates and devotees were feeling intense seperation. Some of them also entered Nītya Lilā while others went into secluded places to engage in deep bhajan.

The preaching stopped completely and a dark period began for our Gaudiya Vaishnav Sampradaya. The envious smartha Brahmins started harassing the Vaishnavas and misguiding the common people about our sampradaya. And as there was no proper guidance, many bogus sects started rising in the name of our sampradaya. Hence during that period, Gaudiya Vaishnav Siddhānta (philosophy) and practices were considered very cheap and the sampradaya lost its reputation in society. It was our Srimati Jahnava Mata Thakurāni who took charge of our sampradaya by preaching, establishing the proper siddhānta and spreading the glories of Nitāi Gaurānga. Under her leadership, a big festival of Gaur Purnima (appearance day of Sriman Mahaprabhu) was celebrated in Kheturi (the birth place of Narottama Das Thākur Mahāshaya) and the reunion of all the Gaudiya Vaishnavas from all over the world took place. Today we all are able to chant Mahāmantra and the names of Nitāi Gaurānga only because of our Ma Jahnava. Hence, she is considered the Mother of our whole Gaudiya Vaishnav Sampradaya. She is also the one who installed Srimati Radharani’s deities in every Krishna temple. Before her, there was only Krishna (Govind, Gopinath, Madanmohan) alone in the temples. It’s by her causeless mercy that we can have darshan of Radha Krishna together in every temple.

In Krishna Lila, Srimati Jahnava Mata is Ananga Mañjarī, Srimati Radharani’s younger sister and the head of our guru pranali (mañjarī) line.