One day, while wandering near the sea at Jagannātha Purī, Lord Caitanya went into the ecstasy of love of Godhead and mistook the sea for the Yamunā River. Unseen by others, He ran swiftly and jumped into the water. There He lost consciousness and forgot where He was. Sometimes he sank beneath the waves, and sometimes He floated above them, just like a piece of dry wood. All the while He was absorbed in remembering how Lord Kṛṣṇa had enjoyed pastimes with the gopīs in the Yamunā River. Meanwhile, the Lord's devotees looked everywhere for Him, with no success. Finally, while looking on the beach, they came upon a fisherman who was acting strangely. Laughing, crying, dancing, and singing, he kept repeating the holy name, "Hari! Hari!"
Svarūpa Dāmodara questioned the fisherman about why he was acting this way, and he replied as follows: "While casting my net in the water, I caught a dead body. I lifted it with great care, thinking it was a big fish, but as soon as I saw that it was a corpse, I became terrified. I tried to cut the body free, but when I touched it a ghost entered my heart. Since then, whenever I try to protect myself from the ghost's influence by chanting the name of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, the ghost redoubles his power over me, and I laugh and dance while chanting the name of the Lord."
The devotees were all relieved, because they knew they had now found Lord Caitanya.