Sri Visnu Puri.
Around the same time as Laxmipati Tirtha was a great Vaisnava preacher by the name Visnu Puri. Although this devotee is not mentioned as being one who occupied the Vedanta Pitha still as we briefly mentioned earlier he played a significant role in the changes or evolution of the philosophy of the day. We briefly mentioned something about him in relation to his guru, Jayadharma Tirtha in that section, so at this point let us look a little closer at his pastimes. Though he was not directly one of the noted 'acaryas' in the 'guru parampara', certainly it appears that he must have been a great devotee to have gained recognition by the great Kavikarnpur, the celebrated compiler of the Gaura Ganadesha Dipika. If Kavikarnpur thinks his name worthy of mentioning, then who am I to deny him a mention?
 Filling in the details over the past couple of generations, the Gauragannodesa Dipika (Text 22.), of Kavikarnapur says: "Rajendra's disciple was Jayadharma Muni. Among Jayadharma's disciples was Sriman Visnu Puri, the famous author of the Bhakti Ratnavali. Another disciple was Brahmana Purusottama."  But in the Kantimala, it states:
 
                                      iti sri purusottama-caranaravinda-
                                       krpa makranda-bindu pronmilita-
                                     viveka-tairabhukta-paramahamsa-
                                       sri visnu-puri grathita-sri
                                     bhagavatamrtabdhi labdha-
                                      sri bhaktiratnavali kantimala samapata

This indicates that Visnu Puri had some kind of disciple relationship with Purusottama Tirtha (Brahmanya) also; at least this confirms the time frame to be correct, if not his particular kind of 'guru'-disciple relationship. Substantiating the facts presented here, B.N.K Sharma points out that there is a traditional line stating that "Rajendra Tirtha carried the message of Madhwa north to Bihar and Bengal, and that Rajendra Tirtha's disciple was Jayadhvaja Tirtha, who was the 'Guru' of Visnu Puri, one of the precursors of the Caitanya school."(B.N.K. Sharma. History of the Dvaita School of Vedanta. page 540), so I feel it all ties in nicely.

In these days of yore, sometimes one would accept a particular 'mantra' or philosophical point etc., from someone and in that way he would become one's 'guru'. So sometimes certain initiations held more importance than others. For example, one's acceptance into a particular philosophical line would stand as more important than one's family initiation into a 'mantra' for charming snakes, catching ghosts or applying medicine from the Ayurveda.

Dr B.N.K Sharma further says that Visnu Puri was a contemporary of Jayadharma who followed the great Sridhar Swami, and due to his dedication to the 'bhakti marga' (devotional line) this could have been a great source of influence on Laxmipati Tirtha and Madhavendra Puri Goswami. In other words the reason why Madhavendra Puri took the name Puri to honour the name of this great devotee who had compiled wonderful prayers to offer to Lord Caitanya as mentioned earlier in conection with his guru Jayadharma Tirtha.

Another thing is that there is no record of Visnu Puri's activities in South India, save and except that he headed to North India to preach. To conclude, we can say that Laxmipati Tirtha and Madhavendra Puri were both from North India and were influenced by Visnu Puri to pursue the development of the spontaneous mood of 'bhakti'. Later some of Visnu Puri's previously used verses of Sridhar Swami's, found in his Bhakti Ratnavali, turned up in Rupa Goswami's "Padyavali" with reference to Bhakti Ratnavali.
 According to historicle accounts Visnu Puri was a 'sannyasi' of Tirhit District. One report is that Visnu Puri met Lord Caitanya at Kasi (Benares) while Lord Caitanya was on His way back to Nadia, West Bengal from Vrndavana. They were charmed with each other naturally. The following story is mentioned by B.D. Basu, in his presentation of Visnu Puri's "celebrated book" Bhakti Ratnavali, which says that at their meeting a wonderful interaction took place. By the 'bhakti' and learning of Visnu Puri, Lord Caitanya became inspired, and by the grandeur and personal magnetism of Lord Caitanya, the Personality of Godhead, Visnu Puri was inspired. Later a disciple of Visnu Puri left Benares for Jagannatha Puri to bring greetings to Lord Caitanya from his 'guru'. Lord Caitanya sent him back to Kasi with a message, "Make Me a garland of jewels". Everyone was astounded when they heard the greatest renunciate asking for jewels, but they had not the boldness to ask Him why He asked for this. Actually he was referring to what later became Visnu Puri's Bhakti Ratnavali - "the necklace of priceless jewels of the Srimad Bhagavatam".
 There is another version of this story recorded, that Lord Jagannatha, in a dream came to Visnu Puri and told him to compose and send these prayers to Him in the form of Lord Caitanya. The date recorded on this book, Bhakti Ratnavali, is 1555 Saka era or 1633 A.D., but it is humbly suggested that this is the date Bhakti Ratnavali was transcribed from the original, not the date of the actual original composition. As this was one year before Lord Caitanya passed from the devotees physical presence.
 Sriman Visnu Puri was previously known as Visnu dasa. He was a learned 'brahmin' who belonged to the Vaisnava school of Madhwa and was a disciple of Sripad Jayadharma Tirtha. He first led his life as a householder with wife and children, but when the temper of his wife became too much for him, he left home and took the dress of a 'sannyasi'. Everyone tried to pacify him but he would not return. He wandered and settled in Mithila at the shrine of Lord Siva (which is also known as Siva Puri). The 'Tirtha pandits' there say that in a dream, Lord Siva appearing with his consort Parvati Devi told him to resume family life, so he returned and took a second wife, for he could not stand to be soley with the first. In the dream Lord Siva also gave him the Visnu Mantra, while he was there at Siva Puri, so it is suggested that this is when he added Puri to his name, to remember that holy place, and the darshan of Lord Siva, as there is no mention of receiving the name from another source.

To have been a disciple of Jayadharma Tirtha who occupied the Pitha from 1448-1460 A.D., and to have met Lord Caitanya in Kasi, Visnu Puri must have lived for close on one hundred and fifty years. Of course that is presuming that the dates that we have are exactly correct. There is no doubt that his preaching from the 'Bhakti shastra', Srimad Bhagavatam, inspired many, among them the great Madhavendra Puri, who became the next in the disciplic succession. It is believed by some that Madhavendra Puri Goswami, though taking 'diksa' from Laxmipati Tirtha, was given 'siksa' (instruction and inspiration) from Visnu Puri, thus this is why the title "Puri" was added to his name to honour and respect Visnu Puri, instead of simply accepting Tirtha, as with the previous 'parampara acaryas'.
 "Most probably, it was this Visnu Puri, who was the real founder of the Bhakti Movement in the North and the teachers Lakshmipati, Madhavendra Puri and Ishwara were descended from him and of these Ishwara Puri was probably contemporaneous with Vyasa Tirtha and presumably well acquainted with him. This may, in a way, explain, how, in later days when genology of the Chaitanya Sampradaya had to be put up, he came to be reckoned in the line of Suddha Vaishnav monks descended from Madhwacarya."(BNK Sharma. History of the school of Dvaita Vedanta and its literatures. page 526.)

In Dr. B.N.K Sharma's "History of the Dwaita School of Vedanta" he makes a point to say that up until this time was the 'parampara' which came to be known as the Srila Vyasaraja Mutt line of the Madhwa Mutts, following down to the disciples of Sripad Vyasa Tirtha, a strict Madhwa line. From here on the line changed to a more predominantly Gaudiya mood, and we also agree to that.