Sri Uddharana Datta Thakura was an intimate associate of Lord Nityananda. Raised in a family of gold merchants, he later married and became a wealthy minister. Lord Nityananda would often stay in his home. At the age of twenty-six, Uddharana Datta Thakura renounced home and family and joined Lord Nityananda's kirtana party. (See Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi- lila 11.41.)