CHAITANYA'S LIFE AND TEACHINGS

From his contemporary Bengali biography the Chaitanya-charit-amrita:

Translated into English

BY

JADUNATH SARKAR, M.A., I.E.S.

SECOND EDITION,

Revised and enlarged, with topographical notes.

1922

M. C. SARKAR & SONS, CALCUTTA, LUZAC & Co., LONDON.

Rs. 2.

PUBLISHED BY S. C. SARKAR

M. C. Sarkar & Sons, 90/2A, Harrison Road, Calcutta.

PRINTER: S. C. MAZUMDAR

SRI GOURANGA PRESS

71/1, Mirzapur Street, Calcutta.

1481/21.

TO

Professor RAJA GOPALACHARIAR, M.A., B.L.,

WHO HAS DONE SO MUCH TO MAKE THE VAISHNAV SAINTS OF THE SOUTH KNOWN TO US,

I DEDICATE THIS ATTEMPT TO PLACE THE ORIGINAL LIFE OF CHAITANYA—THE GREATEST VAISHNAV TEACHER OF THE NORTH WITHIN THE REACH OF ALL READERS OF ENGLISH WHO KNOW NOT THE BENGALI TONGUE.

PATNA COLLEGE, 10th April, 1913.

J. SARKAR

Table Of Contents

[THE AUTHOR AND HIS BOOK]

[A SHORT LIFE OF CHAITANYA]

[GLOSSARY]

[CHAPTER I. At the House of Adwaita]

[CHAPTER II. The Miracles of Madhav Puri]

[CHAPTER III. The Legend of Gopal the Witness]

[CHAPTER IV. The Conversion of Sárvabhauma]

[CHAPTER V. Healing the leper Vasudev]

[CHAPTER VI. The Meeting with Rámánanda Ráy]

[CHAPTER VII. The Pilgrimage to the South]

[NOTES ON THE PLACES VISITED BY CHAITANYA IN THE SOUTH]

[CHAPTER VIII. The Reunion of the Vaishnavs]

[CHAPTER IX. The Grand Chanting (Bera Kirtan)]

[CHAPTER X. Cleansing Jagannath's garden-house]

[CHAPTER XI. The Dance before Jagannáth's Car.]

[CHAPTER XII. The Hora-Panchami Procession of Lakshmi]

[CHAPTER XIII. The Dinner at Sárvabhauma's House]

[CHAPTER XIV. The Return to Bengal]

[CHAPTER XV. The Pilgrimage to Brindában]

[CHAPTER XVI. The Master's doings at Brindában]

[CHAPTER XVII. How the Master favoured Rup]

[CHAPTER XVIII. Sanátan meets the Master and is taught of God's forms]

[CHAPTER XIX. On the sweetness of Krishna's attributes]

[CHAPTER XX. Discourse on Devotion as the Aim]

[CHAPTER XXI. On Love, the fruit of Devotion]

[CHAPTER XXII. The Master converts the people of Benares and returns to Jagannáth]

[CHAPTER XXIII. The Master teaches His disciples at Puri; the meeting with Sanátan]

[CHAPTER XXIV. Meeting with Vallabh Bhatta; the Master stints His food]

[HOW THE MASTER STINTED HIS FOOD]

[CHAPTER XXV. The love of the pilgrims from Bengal]

[CHAPTER XXVI. The Master's love-sickness for Krishna; His visions and transports of bhakti]

[CHAPTER XXVII. The Master's last year on earth]

[THE LAST CHARGE TO THE APOSTLES]

THE AUTHOR AND HIS BOOK

Krishna-das Kaviraj, the author of the Chaitanya-charit-amrita, was born in the Vaidya caste, at Jhámatpur, a village of the Kátwá sub-division of the Burdwan district in Bengal, (1496 A.D.) Having lost his parents in early life, he was brought up by his late father's sister. He read Persian at the village school, and then began to study Sanskrit in order to qualify himself for practising Hindu medicine, the profession of his caste. Every part of his great poem bears evidence to his profound mastery of Sanskrit literature, particularly of the Bhágabat Purán. The young orphan, while still unmarried, was converted to Vaishnavism by Nityánanda, and begged his way on foot to Brindában, where he spent the remainder of his long life in religious study, meditation and worship. He was initiated as a Vaishnav monk by Raghunath-das, who along with Swarup Damodar had been body-servants to Chaitanya during that saint's stay at Jagannáth. From his guru, Krishna-das learned the particulars of Chaitanya's life and teaching which he has embodied in the present biography.

His first efforts at authorship were in Sanskrit and dealt with the mysteries of bhakti and the service of Krishna. The great work of his life was the composition of his old age, and was undertaken at the request of the faithful. Every evening the Bengali Vaishnavs of Brindában used to gather together and hear the acts of their Master read out from his poetical biography, the Chaitanya Bhágbat composed by Brindában-das. But this book dealt with the saint's last years in too meagre and concise a fashion to satisfy the curiosity of his followers. They, therefore, led by Haridas Pandit, the chief servitor of the Govindaji temple, pressed Krishna-das to write a new and fuller life of the Master. The poet was old and infirm, but he regarded the request as a solemn charge which he was not free to decline. That very evening he prayed to the image of Madanmohan, and the god's approbation was shown by a sign,—a garland of flowers slipping down from his neck at the end of the prayer! On the bank of the Radha-kunda tank, the aged Krishna-das completed his Chaitanya-charit-amrita in 1582 after nine years of unremitting toil. It is divided into three Books, the Adi Lilá, the Madhya Lilá, and the Antya Lilá, dealing respectively with the three stages of Chaitanya's life, viz., (i) the 24 years from his birth to the time of his entering the monastic order, (ii) the six years of his pilgrimage, and (iii) the last eighteen years of his life, which were spent in residence at Puri. In spite of its epic length, prolixity, and repetitions, the Chaitanya-charit-amrita is a masterpiece of early Bengali literature, and has the further merit of making the subtle doctrines of the Vaishnav faith intelligible to ordinary people. Indeed, the older school of Vaishnav Fathers, as represented by Jiv Goswámi, had at first objected to its publication, lest the merits and completeness of this vernacular work should cause the learned Sanskrit treatises on bhakti exegetics to be neglected by the public! The author's manuscript is still preserved in the Radha-Damodar temple of Brindában, and worshipped as a holy relic.

The Second Book (Madhya Lilá), which is the longest and most detailed of the three and the foremost authority on Chaitanya's teachings, life and character, and contains the clearest and fullest exposition of Vaishnav philosophy, has been here translated into English for the first time. In the second edition, many long extracts from the Third Book (Antya Lilá) have been added, to complete the story of Chaitanya's doings and sayings at Puri till his death. Readers to whom the Bengali tongue is unknown, will here find an unvarnished account of Chaitanya as his contemporaries knew him, without any modern gloss, interpolation or criticism. My version is literal; only, in certain places needless details have been curtailed, all repetitions have been avoided, and the texts so freely quoted by our author from the Sanskrit scriptures have been indicated by reference to chapter and verse, instead of being done into English. The word Prabhu, applied by the author to Chaitanya, has been rendered by me as Master.

There are three other contemporary lives of Chaitanya in old Bengali. The earliest of them is the Chaitanya Bhágabat, composed in 1535 A.D., by the Brahman Brindában-das, a sister's son of Shribas Pandit of Navadwip. This author (b. 1507, d. 1589) was a votary of God as incarnate in Nityánanda; to him Chaitanya was almost a secondary object of adoration. His poem is encumbered with miracles and digressions, and far inferior to Krishna-das's work in wealth of philosophic exposition and description of men and events.

Trilochan-das (born 1523) wrote the Chaitanya-Mangal at the age of fourteen! It is full of marvellous incidents and should be classed with romances rather than with sober histories. Its text is still sung by wandering minstrels and is appreciated by the lower ranks of the Vaishnav community.

Jayananda Mishra (b. about 1511) wrote his Chaitanya-Mangal about 1568, and his poem gives us much new information about the saint and his family. He is our only authority for the narrative of Chaitanya's death, which I have translated at the end of this work.

* * * *

In the second edition parts of two chapters of the first edition, viz., xviii. pp. 254-269 and xxii. pp. 290-303, have been omitted, as they can be understood only by very learned Sanskrit scholars, the remaining part of ch. xxii has been incorporated with ch. xxi, while ch. xxiii has been renumbered as xxii. In the present edition, all the chapters from xxiii to the end are taken from the Antya Lilá.

In preparing the second edition, the translation has been carefully compared with the text and minutely revised. Many mistakes have been detected and corrected; some of them came no doubt from the manuscript from which the first edition was printed, but most of the others were due to the inefficiency and carelessness of the press. In going through the original a second time I have in a few places modified my interpretation of the text made twelve years ago.

A long and important appendix has now been added, giving the exact situation and some description of the various holy places visited by Chaitanya, (with references to the best and most modern sources of information, such as Gazetteers and maps).

A SHORT LIFE OF CHAITANYA

Navadwip, a town in the Nadia district of Bengal, situated on the river Ganges, 75 miles north of Calcutta, was a great trading centre and seat of Hindu learning in the 15th century. Sanskrit logic (nyáy) for which Bengal is most famous among all the provinces of India, was very highly developed and studied here, and the fame of its scholars was unsurpassed in the land. But, if we may believe the biographers of Chaitanya, the atmosphere of the town was sceptical and unspiritual. There was a lack of true religious fervour and sincere devotion. Proud of their intellectuality, proud of the vast wealth they acquired by gifts from rich Hindus, the local pandits despised bhakti or devotion as weak and vulgar, and engaged in idle ceremonies or idler amusements. Vedantism formed the topic of conversation of the cultured few; wine and goat's meat were taken to kindly by the majority of the people, and such Shakta rites as were accompanied by the offering of this drink and food to the goddess and their subsequent consumption by her votaries, were performed with zeal and enthusiasm.

Jagannáth Mishra, surnamed Purandar, a Brahman of the Vaidik sub-caste, had emigrated from his ancestral home in Sylhet and settled here in order to live on the bank of the holy Ganges. His wife was Shachi, a daughter of the scholar Nilámbar Chakravarti. One evening in February or March, 1485 A.D., when there was a lunar eclipse at the same time as full moon, a son was born to this couple. It was their tenth child; the first eight, all daughters, had died in infancy, and the ninth, a lad named Vishwarup, had abandoned the world at the age of sixteen when pressed to marry, and had entered a monastery in the Madras presidency.

The new-born child was named Vishwambhar. But the women, seeing that his mother had lost so many children before him, gave him the disparaging name of Nimái or short-lived in order to propitiate Nemesis. The neighbours called him Gaur or Gauránga (fair complexioned) on account of his marvellous beauty. That the child was born amidst the chanting of Hari's name all over Navadwip on the occasion of the eclipse, was taken to be an omen that he would prove a teacher of bhakti. Passing over the lucky signs of his horoscope, and the miracles and Krishna-like antics with which pious imagination has invested his boyhood, we may note that he showed great keenness and precocity of intellect in mastering all branches of Sanskrit learning, especially grammar and logic.

On the death of his father, Vishwambhar, while still a student, married Lakshmi, the daughter of Vallabh Acharya, with whom he had fallen in love at first sight. He now became a householder, and began to take pupils like many other Brahmans of Navadwip. As a pandit he surpassed the other scholars of the place and even defeated a renowned champion of another province, who was travelling all over India holding disputations.

On his return from a scholastic tour in East Bengal, in which he received many gifts from pious householders, he found that his wife had died of snake-bite during his absence. After a while the widower married Vishnu-priya. At this time his head was turned by the pride of scholarship, and his victories in argument made him slight other men. During a pilgrimage to Gayá, he met Ishwar Puri, a Vaishnav monk of the order of Mádhavácharya and a disciple of that Mádhavendra Puri who had first introduced the cult of bhakti for Krishna among the sannyasis. Vishwambhar took this Ishwar Puri as his guru or spiritual guide. A complete change now came over his spirit. His intellectual pride was gone; he became a bhakta; whatever subject he lectured on, the theme of his discourse was love of Krishna. Indeed, he developed religious ecstasy and for some time behaved like a mad man: he laughed, wept, incessantly shouted Krishna's name, climbed up trees, or raved in abstraction imagining himself to be Krishna. He now made the acquaintance of the elderly scholar and bhakta Adwaita Acharya, and was joined by a sannyasi named Nityánanda, who became to him even more than what Paul was to Christ.

Many people of Navadwip now believed Chaitanya to be an incarnation of Krishna and did him worship, while Nityánanda came to be regarded as Balaram, (the elder brother of Krishna). Religious processions were frequently got up, in which the devout, headed by the two, went dancing and singing through the streets or assembled in the courtyards of houses. This was the origin of the nam-kirtan ('chanting God's name') which has ever been the most distinctive feature of this creed. Chaitanya's greatest achievement at this time was the reclamation of two drunken ruffians, Jagái and Mádhái, who were a terror to the city. The apostles of bhakti had also to face mockery and persecution from scoffers and unbelievers (páshandi), which were overcome by supernatural signs. We pass over the scenes of ecstasy, tireless exertion in kirtan, madness and miracles, which form the extant history of this period of Chaitanya's life. But the conversions among the learned were few, and Chaitanya at last in despair resolved to turn hermit for their salvation, arguing thus, "As I must deliver all these proud scholars, I have to take to an ascetic life. They will surely bow to me when they see me as a hermit, and thus their hearts will be purified and filled with bhakti. There is no other means." So, he induced Keshav Bhárati to initiate him as a sannyasi (1509) under the name of Krishna-Chaitanya, usually shortened into CHAITANYA, which we have anticipated in this sketch. He was then 24 years of age. His mother, who had often before urged him not to desert her as his elder brother had done, was heart-broken at the loss of her sole surviving child, but Chaitanya consoled her in every possible way, and bowed to her wishes in many points in his after years as obediently as he had done before renouncing the life of a householder.

The next six years were passed by him in pilgrimages to Orissa, the Southern Land, and Brindában, and in the preaching of bhakti in many parts of India, as described in detail in the present volume.

Thereafter, at the age of 30, he settled at Puri, and spent his remaining days in the constant adoration of Jagannáth. Disciples and admirers from many places, chiefly Bengal and Brindában, visited him here; and he edified them by his discourses, acts of humility, and penances. Towards the close of his life he had repeated fits of religious ecstasy in which he acted in utter disregard of his life,—once leaping into the blue ocean, at another time battering his face against the walls of his room.

At last in June-July, 1533, his physical frame broke down under such prolonged mental convulsion and self-inflicted torments, and he passed away under circumstances over which the piety of his biographers has drawn the veil of mystery.

In his lifetime his disciples had organized a mission. In Bengal the new creed was preached and spread far and wide by Nityánanda, who afterwards came to be regarded as a god, co-ordinate with Chaitanya. Modern Brindában, with its temples, Sanskrit seminaries and haunts for recluses, is the creation of the Bengali Vaishnavs, and it has eclipsed the older city of Mathura. Here the brothers Rup and Sanátan,—descended from a Prince of Karnat who had settled in Bengal and whose descendants had become completely Bengalized, joined Chaitanya's Church. These two and their nephew Jiv Goswámi were great Sanskrit scholars and their devotional works, commentaries, &c. encouraged a revival of Sanskrit studies in general in that Muslim age. These three, with Gopal Bhatta, nephew of the celebrated Vedantist Prakashananda who was latterly converted to bhakti by Chaitanya and changed his name into Prabodhananda, and Raghunath Bhatta, son of an up-country Brahman bhakta, and the last Raghunath-das, a Kayastha saint of the Saptagram zamindar family of the Hugli district and the guru of our author, formed the six Fathers of Chaitanya's Church. Except Rup and Sanátan, most of the other disciples of Chaitanya adopted the Bengali tongue as their medium, and greatly enriched it with their songs, biographies, poems, travels, and translations of the bhakti literature from Sanskrit. The Vaishnav Goswamis, both at Brindában and Navadwip, have kept up the study of Sanskrit to our own day. A classified list of Chaitanya's disciples is given in Book I. canto x and those of Nityánanda and Adwaita's disciples in cantos xi and xii respectively.

GLOSSARY

Abadhut—an ascetic who has renounced the world.

Acharya—a family name or title of Brahmans, lit., teacher.

Adwaita Acharya—an elderly scholar of Shantipur and associate in Chaitanya's devotions before he became a sannyasi.

Arati—divine service performed to a god in the early morning or after dusk, with lamps, incense, and instrumental music, especially bells.

Balarám—the elder brother of Krishna; the images of the two with that of their sister Subhadrá between them, are worshipped in the temple of Jagannáth.

Baniá—grocer, (also acts as banker).

Bhágabat—an adorer of Bhagabán or Vishnu as God; the Bhágabat, the name of a Puran, regarded by the Vaishnavs as their Scripture.

Bhakta—a devotee, who seeks salvation through faith.

Bhakti—faith, devotion.

Bhárati—the title of an order of monks.

Bhattáchárya—a title of Brahmans.

Bhog—see prasád.

Dhoti—a sheet of cloth worn round the lower limbs by Hindu males.

Gandharva—a class of celestial musicians.

Garuda—a bird ridden by Vishnu, sacred to the Vaishnavs.

Gaur—(1) a city in the Malda district, the capital of Bengal during the Pathan period; also applied to the whole country of Bengal, (Gaur). (2) or Gauránga, a title of Chaitanya.

Gauriyá—a native of Bengal.

Ghághar—a musical instrument.

Ghát—bathing stairs in a river, usually sacred.

Ghee—melted butter.

Gopis—milk-maids of Brindában with whom Krishna disported.

Goswámi—a title of respect, usually given to spiritual leaders among the Vaishnavs.

Govardhan—a sacred hill near Brindában.

Guru—spiritual preceptor, initiator into learning or a faith.

Haridás—a Muhammadan who had turned Vaishnav under Chaitanya's influence. There was another Haridas, a born Hindu, among Chaitanya's followers.

Jagannáth—or Lord of the Universe, name of the idol of Krishna worshipped in the temple at Puri; also applied to the town of Puri.

Jhárikhand—the jungle country, Chota Nagpur and the Santhal parganas.

Kali yug—the present or iron age of the world.

Katak—the capital of Orissa and the seat of King Pratap Rudra of the Gajapati dynasty.

Kholan—instrument of music, being a long earthenware drum covered at both ends with leather; distinctive of the Bengali Vaishnavs.

Kirtan or sankirtan, chanting God's name to the accompaniment of dance and song.

Kulin—(1) a man of blue blood (kul), descended from a mythical ancestor of high character or social position in a very far-off age. (2) the name of a village in Bengal.

Kunda—a pool of water, sacred to some god or saint.

Lilá—the antic or sport of a god, particularly of Krishna.

Mádhav Pun—also Madhavendra, a monk, the spiritual guide of that Ishwar Puri who was the guru of Chaitanya.

Mahá-pátra—minister of the Rajah of Orissa.

Mahá-prasád—food offered to Jagannáth and thereafter considered as holy.

Mangal-árati—early morning worship, see árati.

Mantra—spell, sacred verse (usually in Sanskrit).

Mahánta—the abbot of a Hindu monastery.

Niláchal—the Blue Mountain. Name of the mound on which the temple of Jagannáth at Puri is situated.

Nimái—a nick-name of Chaitanya.

Nupur—bells tied to the feet in dancing.

Odhra—Orissa.

Pándás—attendants at a temple (such as Jagannáth); they act as guides to pilgrims for a consideration.

Pandit—scholar, one versed in Sanskrit.

Parichhá—the highest servitor of the temple of Jagannáth.

Prasád—food dedicated to a god at his worship, and thereafter eaten by the faithful as something holy.

Prayág—the town of Allahabad, at the junction of the Ganges and the Jamuna.

Prem—love, the highest form of bhakti or devotion.

Puri—(1) a town on the sea-coast in Orissa, containing the temple of Jagannáth. (2) the title of an order of monks.

Purushottam—a title of Vishnu; usually applied to the temple of Jagannáth at Puri.

Rárh—the upland of Burdwan and Birbhum districts, west of the Ganges.

Sankirtan—see kirtan.

Sannyási—ascetic, monk, religious mendicant.

Sárvabhauma—i.e., "universal doctor," a man of encyclopaedic knowledge. In the book this title is applied to a great scholar and Vedántic philosopher of Navadwip, who had settled at Puri and was held in high honour by the local king. His father was the scholar Visharád, a fellow-student of Chaitanya's maternal grandfather. His sister's husband was Gopinath Acharya, who, too, lived at Puri. Also called the Bhattáchárya, and Bhatta; not to be confounded with the Bhattáchárya (i.e., Balabhadra) of ch. xv-xxiii.

Shálgrám—a round dark pebble, worshipped as an emblem of Vishnu, (found in the Gandak river).

Shántipur—a town on the Ganges, some miles below Navadwip.

Shástra—Scripture.

Shikdár—the revenue collector of a district, local governor.

Shloka—a complete verse, couplet or quatrain.

Shripád—a title of respect, here applied to Nityánanda.

Shri-Vaishnav—one of the four main sects of the Vaishnavs; they adore Náráyan and Lakshmi (=Shri), instead of Krishna and Rádhá.

Shudra—the lowest caste among the Hindus.

Subhadrá—the sister of Krishna.

Thug—a class of professional robbers who used to strangle or poison their victims, after mixing with them on the way, disguised as travellers.

Tirtha—sacred place, usually containing a bathing place.

Tulsi—(1) the Indian Basil plant, sacred to Vishnu, and venerated by the Vaishnavs as almost divine. "She is the Indian Daphne" (Birdwood). (2) the name of a minister of the king of Orissa.

Vaikuntha—the heaven of Vishnu.

Vaishnav—worshipper of Vishnu, the preserver, one incarnation of whom is Krishna. The Shaivas are the worshippers of Shiva the destroyer, while the Shaktas are the worshippers of Shakti or energy, the wife of Shiva.

Varáha—the "Boar," the 3rd incarnation of Vishnu.

Vidyá-nagar—Rajmahendri, in the Madras presidency.

Vrihaspati—the teacher of the gods; hence, a man versed in all the branches of learning.

Vishwarup—Chaitanya's elder brother, who turned a sannyási under the title of Shankaráyana and died in the monastery of Pandharpur in Southern India.

Yug—era or cycle of time.

KING PRATAP RUDRA BOWING TO CHAITANYA
(From an old painting in the possession of the Zamindar of Kunjagháta)

CHAITANYA-CHARIT-AMRITA

CHAPTER I

At the House of Adwaita

Glory to Shri Chaitanya! Glory to Nityánanda, to Adwaita, and to all followers of Gaur! In the month of Mágh when the Master completed His twenty-fourth year, in the bright fortnight, He turned hermit. Then led by devotion He set off for Brindában, and wandered for three days in the Rárh country, hallowing it with His footsteps and chanting the following verse in rapture:

"I too shall cross the terrible and dark ocean of the world by means of devotion to the Supreme Being, as the sages did of yore, by service at the lotus-like feet of Mukunda." [[1]]

The Master said, "True are the words of this Brahman, who chose the service of Mukunda as his life's task. The highest robe [in which a man can clothe himself] is devotion to the Supreme Soul, the service of Mukunda which brings salvation. That robe he put on. Now shall I go to Brindában and serve Krishna in solitude."

So saying the Master moved day and night, the picture of religious ecstasy, heedless which way He walked. Nityánanda, Acharya Ratna, and Mukunda, all three followed Him. All who saw Him, cried "Hari! Hari!" in devotion, and forgot sorrow and loss. The cow-boys shouted Hari's name, at the sight of the Master, who stroked their heads saying, "Go on with your chant," and thanked them saying, "Blessed are ye! ye have gratified me by pouring Hari's name into my ears!" Nityánanda took the boys apart and thus tutored them, "When the Master asks you about the road to Brindában, show Him the path leading to the Ganges." This they did and He took that path. Nityánanda spoke to Acharya Ratna, "Hasten to Adwaita and tell him that I shall lead the Master to his house. He should keep a boat ready at the riverside. Thence go to Navadwip and fetch Shachi and all the disciples."

Sending him off, Nityánanda came before the Master and showed himself. "Whither are you going, Shripád?" the Master asked. "With thee to Brindában" was the reply. "How far is Brindában?" "Behold, yonder is the Jamuna!" So saying Nityánanda led the Master to the Ganges. This river He mistook for the Jamuna. He thanked His stars that He had beheld the Jamuna, sang its praise, and after bowing bathed in it. He had no second clothing except His loin-cloth with Him. Just then Adwaita arrived in a boat, with a fresh loin-cloth and upper garment, and appeared bowing before the Master, who was puzzled to see him and asked, "You are the Acharya Goswámi. Why have you come here? How did you know that I was at Brindában?" The Acharya replied "It is Brindában wherever you are. It is my good luck that you have come to the Ganges bank." The Master said, "So, Nityánanda has played me a trick: he has led me to the Ganges and called it the Jamuna!" The Acharya replied, "False are not the words of Shripád. You have now indeed bathed in the Jamuna, for the Ganges and the Jamuna flow in one channel, the eastern waters being called Ganga and the western (in which you have bathed) Jamuna. Change your wet cloth for a dry one. Four days have you fasted in fervour of love. Come to my house to-day, I invite thee. I have cooked a handful of rice, with dry coarse curry, broth and green herbs." Saying this he took the Master on board to his house, and joyfully washed His feet. His wife had al ready done the cooking. The Acharya himself dedicated the food to Vishnu, and served it in three equal portions. [Description of the dinner omitted.]

The Master said, "Long have you made me dance, now leave it off. Dine with Mukunda and Haridas." Then the Acharya broke his fast with those two, to his heart's content. The people of Shantipur, hearing of the Master's arrival, flocked to gaze on His feet. In joy they cried "Hari! Hari!" and wondered at His beauty. His fair complexion, which eclipsed the Sun in splendour, was set off by his red robe. Endless streams of people came and went throughout the day. At dusk the Acharya began a sankirtan; he danced, while the Master gazed on. Goswámi Nityánanda danced hand in hand with the Acharya, and Haridas behind them. This song accompanied their dance:

"How shall I speak of my bliss to-day?
The Beloved (Krishna) has entered my temple for ever!"

With perspiration, thrill, tears of joy, shout, and roar, they turned and turned, touching the Master's feet now and then. The Acharya embraced Him and said "Long did you wander after escaping from me. Now that I have got you in my house, I shall hold you fast!" So the Achaiya continued dancing and singing for three hours after nightfall. The Master was in an attitude of longing as He had not yet gained union with Krishna, and this separation made His love burn the more fiercely. Impatiently He fell down on the ground, at which the Acharya stopped his dance. Mukunda, who knew the Master's heart well, began to sing verses apt for His passion. The Acharya raised Him to make Him dance. At the verses, the Master could no longer be held back. He was all tears, tremour, thrill, sweat, and broken accents,—now rising up, now falling down, now weeping.

The song: [Radha speaks]

Woe is me, dear sister, for my present state!
The love of Krishna has caught my body and soul like a poison.
My heart burns day and night; I know no peace.
O that I could fly where Kanu (Krishna) is to be found!

Sweetly did Mukunda sing the above ditty, which made the Master's heart burst, as the emotions of penitence, melancholy, rapture, frolicsomeness, pride, and humility struggled with it. He was stricken down by the force of His passion, and lay down breathless on the ground. The faithful grew alarmed, when lo! He sprang up with a shout, overcome with ecstasy and saying "Chant, chant, [the name of Hari]." None could under stand the strong tides of His emotion.

Nityánanda moved on holding Him, while the Acharya and Haridas danced behind them. Three hours did He pass thus, now joy now sadness surging in His heart. The dinner had come after five days of fasting; so the wild dance greatly fatigued Him, but He felt it not to His ecstasy. Nityánanda held Him back by main force; the Acharya ended the kirtan, and laid the Master in His bed with every care.

In the same way ten days were passed in dinners and singing. In the morning the Acharya brought mother Shachi in a litter followed by the faithful. All the people of Navadwip came,—old and young, men and women,—forming a vast crowd. The Master was dancing and singing the Name, when Shachi arrived at Adwaita's house and He fell prone at her feet. She took Him up into her bosom and wept, both of them being rapt at seeing each other. Shachi was distracted at seeing His shaven crown: she wiped His body, kissed His mouth, and gazed at Him intently; but could not see anything as tears filled her eyes. She mourned saying, "My darling Nimái! be not cruel to me as Vishwarup was, whom I never saw after he had turned hermit. If you too do so, it will be the death of me." The Master replied amidst tears, "Listen, mother! This body is your gift and not my own. My birth is from you, my body has been nursed by you. In ten million births I cannot repay my debt to you. True, I have become a sannyasi with or without your consent, but I shall never slight your wishes. I shall live wherever you bid me, I shall do whatever you command." So saying He bowed to her again and again, while she joyfully clasped Him repeatedly.

Then the Acharya led her in, and the Master made haste to receive the faithful, welcoming them, looking into their faces and embracing them, one after another. They grieved at the sight of His bare head, and yet delighted at His beauty. How can I name all the devotees Shrivas, Ramai, Vidyanidhi, Gadadhar, Gangadas, Vakreshwar, Murari, Shuklambar, Buddhimanta Khan, Nandan, Shridhar, Vijay, Vasudev, Damodar, Mukunda and Sanjay? Graciously He smiled on meeting the people of Navadwip. They danced in delight singing "Hari, Hari." The Acharya's house was turned into Vishnu's Heaven. From Navadwip and many villages men flocked to see the Master. For many days the Acharya supplied them all with food, drink and quarters; his store was inexhaustible, the more he spent the more was it filled again. From that day forward Shachi herself did the cooking, and the Master dined in the company of the faithful. In the day they had the Acharya's love and the sight of the Master, at night His dance and song. While He was singing all passions swept over Him, now He stood still, now trembled, now shed tears of joy or uttered broken words, now He fainted. At times He fell down on the ground, at which mother Shachi wept, saying "Methinks Nimái's body has been shattered." Then she piteously prayed to Vishnu, "Grant me this reward for my worship of thee since my infancy, that when Nimái falls on the ground, it may not hurt Him!" The loving mother Shachi was out of herself with transports of delight and meekness.

Shrinivas and other Brahmans wanted to feast the Master. But Shachi entreated them saying, "Where again shall I see Nimái? You will meet Him elsewhere, but for me, miserable one, this is His only visit. Therefore, so long as He lives with the Acharya, I shall feed Him. I beg this favour of you all."

The faithful bowed in assent to the mother's wish. The Master too, caught His mother's love-longing and said to His assembled followers: "I had started for Brindában without your consent. So my journey was cut short by a hindrance. True, I have embraced the monastic life all of a sudden, yet I shall not be dead to you all. I shall not leave you in life, nor shall I leave my mother. It does not, however, become a hermit to live with his kindred in his birth-place. Let me not lay myself open to this charge. Devise a means by which I can be true to both my duties."

At these sweet words, the Acharya and others went to Shachi and told her of His wish. Shachi, the Mother of the World, answered, "I shall be happy if He stays here, but if He is blamed it will grieve me. This plan strikes me as a happy solution: let Him live on the Niláchal (Puri), which is as it were a next door house from Navadwip; men pass frequently between the two places, and I shall always get news of Him. You all may come and go, and He too may sometimes visit Navadwip at the Ganges bath. I count not my own joy or sorrow. What makes Him happy is happiness to me."

The faithful praised her, "Mother, thy words are like an oracle of the gods!" At their report the Master rejoiced, did reverence to the people of Navadwip and other adorers, and said, "You are my greatest friends. Grant this my prayer, all of you, that you may ever in your homes sing Krishna's sankirtan, Krishna's name, Krishna's deeds, Krishna's worship. Now give me leave to go to the Niláchal; I shall visit you between whiles." Smiling He bade them farewell with due respect. But when He wished to start, Haridas cried piteously "You are going to the Niláchal, but what will be my salvation? I have not strength enough to go there. How can this lowly one hold to his sinful life without getting sight of you?" The Master answered, "Have done with thy self-abasement. It agitates my mind. For thy sake I shall pray to Jagannáth; I shall take thee to Purushottam". Then the Acharya meekly begged Him to stay for a few days more, and the Master listened to him and did not go away. So, the Acharya, Shachi, and the faithful rejoiced. Daily did the Acharya hold the grand celebration the sweet discourse on Krishna in the company of the devout in the day-time, and the revelry of sankirtan at night. Joyfully did Shachi cook, and merrily did the Master dine with the faithful. The service of the Master brought fulfilment to Acharya's reverence, devotion, home, and wealth, while Shachi delighted in gazing on her son, and feasting Him to her heart's content.

Thus did the faithful beguile some days in the Acharya's house in great bliss. At last the Master told them, "Go you all to your own homes; there make Krishna's sankirtan. We shall meet again; sometimes you will go to Puri, at others I shall come to you at the Bathing in the Ganges." Goswámi Nityánanda, Pandit Jagadananda, Pandit Damodar, and Mukunda Datta, these four [ [2]] were sent by the Acharya to bear the Master company. Comforting His mother, He bowed at her feet, walked round her, and then set off. The cry of lamentation rose in the Acharya's house, but the Master quickened His pace, heedless of it. Adwaita followed Him some distance weeping, when He turned back with clasped hands, solaced him, and spoke these gentle words, "You should comfort my mother and look after the congregation, for if you give way to grief they will all die!" Embracing He turned Adwaita back, and passed on freely. To the bank of the Ganges He went with the four, and then to Puri by way of Chhatrabhog. [[3]] [Madhya Lilá, text, canto 3.]

[[1]] From the Brahman mendicant's speech reported in the Shrimad Bhágabat, XI. xxiii. verse 53.

[[2]] The Chaitanya Bhágabat mentions two others, Govinda and Gadadhar, (III. 2).

[[3]] Chhatrabhog. A village where the Ganges divides into innumerable branches before falling into the sea. It is famous for its submerged Shiva styled Ambu-linga.

CHAPTER II.

The Miracles of Madhav Puri

So the Master went to the Niláchal, with His four companions, absorbed in the kirtan (singing) of Krishna. One day He entered a village and brought back a large quantity of rice by personally begging for alms. On the way the ferrymen did not refuse Him a crossing. He blessed them and came to Remuna, [[1]] where He devoutly visited the charming image of Gopinath. As He bowed down at the feet of the image, the bunch of flowers on its crown dropped upon His head. At this Master rejoiced and danced and sang long with the faithful. The attendants of Gopinath marvelled at His power, ardour, beauty, and accomplishments, and served Him in many ways. There He passed the night, in desire of the kshir prasád (condensed milk) of which He had heard from Ishwar Puri before. The god was known as the Gopinath who stole the kshir, because, as the devotees told the tale, he had once stolen kshir for Madhav Puri.

In days gone by Madhav Puri had wandered on to Govardhan, near Brindában, in his ecstasy heeding not whether it was day or night, and falling down to the ground without caring what sort of place it was. After making a circuit of the rock, he came to the Govinda-kunda (pool), bathed, and sat down under a tree in the evening. A Cow-boy came and held a pail of milk before him, saving with a smile, "Puri! drink this milk. Why don't you take what you have longed for? What are you musing on?" The Child's beauty charmed the heart of the Puri, and his sweet words took away his hunger and thirst. The Puri asked, "Who are you and where do you live? How did you know that I was fasting?" The Boy answered, "I am a milk-man of this village. In my village none can remain fasting. Some beg for rice, some for milk. I convey food to those who do not beg. The women who had come to draw water saw you, and sent me with this milk for you. I must be off now to milk my cows, but I shall come again for my pail." Then the Boy went away and was not seen again. Madhav Puri wondered, laid the emptied pail down, and began to pray without sleeping. Towards the end of the night he dozed off into unconsciousness, and dreamt that the Boy came and led him by the hand to a bower saying "Here I dwell, suffering much from cold and rain, wind and sun. Bring the villagers together, remove me from the bower to the hill-top and there lodge me properly in a monastery. Bathe me profusely in cold water. Long have I looked forward to the day when Madhav would come to serve me. Moved by thy love I have accepted thy service, and I shall appear in the flesh to save the world by my sight. I am Gopal, the Uplifter of Govardhan Hill. My image was installed by King Bajra, [[2]] and is the guardian deity of this place. My attendant, in fear of the misbelievers, removed me from the hill to this grove for concealment and then fled. Since then I have been here. It is well that you have come. Now bring me out carefully." So saying the Boy disappeared. Madhav Puri awoke, and judging that he had seen Shri Krishna without recognizing him, he rolled on the ground in a transport of devotion. After some weeping he calmed his mind and set about to carry out the Lord's bidding. After his morning bath he went into the village, called the people together, and said, "The Lord of your village, the Uplifter of Govardhan, is in a grove. Let us seek him out. The grove is dense and hard to enter. Take hatchets and spades with yourselves to make a door." The villagers joyfully accompanied him, and cut an entrance into the grove, where they found to their joy and wonder the image lying hidden under earth and grass. Removing the covering they knew (the image). But it was very heavy, so the strongest men joined together to take it up the hill. There the idol was placed on a stone seat, with another big stone at its back as a support. The Brahmans of the village fetched water from the Govinda-kunda in fresh pots. Nine hundred pots of water were brought; many musical instruments were played; the women sang. It was a great festival with dancing and singing. All the curd milk and ghee in the village were brought there with sweets, and all other articles of offering. The image was bathed by Madhav Puri himself, worshipped and installed there. All the food available in the village was brought to the hill, offered to the god and an anna-kut (pyramid of consecrated food) was formed. In one day's preparation this grand feast was accomplished. The image was laid on a bedstead, a straw thatch built over it, with walls of straw.

The Goswámi Puri ordered the Brahmans to feast all the villagers, old and young. They dined, the Brahmans and Brahmanis first, then the others in due order. The people who came from other villages looked at Gopal and got his prasád. Men wondered at the power of the Puri who had produced the pyramid of rice. He brought all the Brahmans to Vaishnavism and employed them in the various services (of the god). Again, at close of day he roused the god, offered some light refreshments as bhog. It was noised abroad that Gopal had appeared there, and people flocked from neighbouring villages to see the god. The villagers joyfully gave feasts in honour of him on different days, each building up a pyramid of rice. At night the image was laid to rest; the Puri drank a little milk.

Next morning the same kind of service began. The people of a village came with all their milk, curd, ghee and rice, and offered them to Gopal. The Brahmans cooked as before and Gopal tasted of the heap of rice. The people of Brindaban love Gopal of themselves, and he too loves them. They all came, partook of the holy prasád and forgot their sorrow and loss at the sight of him. From other provinces men arrived with presents when they heard that Gopal had appeared there. The rich men of Mathura sent costly offerings out of devotion. Gold, silver, cloth, incense and food stuffs were daily presented in vast quantities and swelled the store (of the temple). One very rich Kshatriya built the temple (at his own cost), some one else the kitchen, another the walls. The citizen of Brindában presented a cow each, and thus Gopal got a thousand cows. Two Brahman hermits came from Bengal, and the Puri received them with attention, made them his disciples, and entrusted to them the service of the god. So he waited on the god for some two years, glad to see him served right royally.

One night the Puri had a dream, in which Gopal spoke to him, "I burn, I burn! Rub me with sandal wood from the Blue Mountain, and from nowhere else, and then shall I be cooled. Go there quickly." The Puri, inspired by devotion, travelled to the eastern country to do the Lord's behest, appointing others to carry on the service. At Shantipur he visited Adwaita Acharya, who was moved by his devotion to get himself initiated by him and became his disciple. Thence the Puri proceeded south [i.e., to Orissa], and at Remuna saw the Gopinath, whose beauty threw him into ecstasy. After singing and dancing he sat down in the vestibule and asked the (attendant) Brahman about the different dishes served to the god. The splendour of the service made him infer that the bhog was excellent. So he resolved to inquire into the character of the bhog and appoint it for his Gopal too. The Brahman described to him how twelve earthen pots full of kshir, called amrita-keli (the cream of nectar) famous and unmatched in the world, were offered to the god every evening. Just then that bhog was presented. The Puri only thought, "If I can get a little of the kshir prasád unasked, I may learn its taste for the purpose of establishing it as my Gopa's bhog." But the longing shamed him and he prayed to Vishnu.

Then the bhog was removed and the árati was celebrated. The Puri bowed and went out without saying a word. He was passionless, indifferent to the world, vowed not to ask for anything. If he got anything unasked he ate it, otherwise he fasted; the nectar of love was enough for him, he felt not hunger or thirst. That he had coveted the kshir struck him as a sin. So he sat down in the deserted square of the village-market singing hymns.

In the meantime the priest laid the image to sleep, finished his duties, and went to bed, where he had a dream. The god came and told him, "Up, priest, and open my door. I have kept a pot of kshir for the hermit. You will find it concealed under the skirt of my lower garment. You all did not notice it under my illusion. Take the kshir quickly to Madhav Puri who is sitting in the market place." The priest arose, bathed, opened the shrine, and found the kshir under the lappet of the god's dhoti. He washed the spot and went into the village with the pot of kshir and walked through the market crying, "Take this kshir, whosoever is named Madhav Puri! For your sake Gopinath had concealed this kshir. Take it and eat it, Puri, thou luckiest man in the three worlds."

At this the Puri disclosed himself. The priest gave him the kshir, bowed, and told the whole story, to the rapture of the Puri. The attendant priest marvelled at his devotion and said, "It is only fitting that Krishna should be obedient to him."

Lovingly did the Puri drink the kshir, then he washed the pot, broke it, and tied the sherds in a corner of his sheet, eating one of the broken pieces every day, at which he grew wonderfully enraptured. At the close of the night he set off for Puri (Jagannáth), bowing to Gopinath then and there, in fear that a crowd would gather round him next morning, when they heard that the Lord had sent him kshir.

So he fared on, till he came to Puri in the Blue Mountain; the sight of Jagannáth threw him into an ecstasy, he rose up and fell down, he laughed, danced, and sang, in intense delight. It was noised abroad that Madhav Puri had come to the holy place: men flocked to do him reverence. Such is the nature of fame, it comes God-sent to those who seek it not. In fear of public notice the Puri had fled thither, but fame clung to this devotee of Krishna all the way. Eager as he was to escape from the place, the need of sandal for his god held him back. He told the story of Gopal to the attendants of Jagannáth and the mohants, and begged sandal wood for him. The faithful exerted themselves for it. Those who knew the Rajah's minister (pátra) begged him and thus collected the camphor and sandal. A Brahman and a servant for carrying the sandal were sent with the Puri, and given their travelling expenses. Royal passports were given to the Puri by the minister, addressed to the officers of the frontier outposts and the ferries.

So he returned to Remuna after some time, made many bows to Gopinath, and danced and sang long in rapture. The servitors of the temple did him reverence and fed him on the kshir prasád. While sleeping in the temple, he had a dream at the close of night: Gopal came and told him, "Hark thee, Madhav! I have got all the camphor and sandal. Rub this sandal with camphor and anoint Gopinath with it daily. Gopinath's body is one with mine! Lay the sandal on him and I shall feel the cooling effect. Doubt not, hesitate not, believe and give up the sandal as I bid you." So saying, Gopal vanished; the Goswámi awoke, called together the servitors of Gopinath, and told them, "The Lord bids you rub all this sandal and camphor on Gopinath's person; for thus will Gopal be cooled. He is the Supreme Lord and his order is mighty. In summer Gopinath should be anointed with sandal paste." The servitors rejoiced at it. The Puri set the two men to rub the sandal into paste and hired two other men also [for the work]. So he daily rubbed the sandal and the attending priests laid it on gleefully. He stayed there doing this till the sandal was all gone. At the end of summer he again went to the Niláchal and passed there four months.

The Master told His disciples of the sweet life of Madhav Puri and remarked, "Think of it, Nityánanda; happiest of men is the Puri. Krishna appeared to him on the pretext of giving him milk. Thrice did he appear to him in dream to lay his commands. His love so influenced the god that he revealed himself, accepted the Puri's service, and saved the world. For his sake Gopinath stole the kshir and got the surname of "kshir-stealer." On the god's body did he lay camphor and sandal, and his love overflowed at it. Hard it is to carry camphor and sandal through a Muslim country (Bengal and Upper India). Gopal knew that the Puri would be put in distress in doing this task. So, the gracious god, ever tender to his devotees, himself took the sandal (at Remuna) in order that the Puri's task might be done. Think of the Puri's extreme devotion! It transcends nature, it amazes the mind! He is silent, passionless, indifferent to every earthly thing. He keeps with himself no companion, lest he should have to speak on any ungodly material subject. That such a man, on receiving Gopal's command, travelled two thousand miles to beg for sandal! He lay fasting and yet did not ask for food! Such a man carried the sandal one maund of sandal and 20 tolas of camphor, rejoicing that he would lay them on Gopal! The frontier custom-officer of Orissa stopped him but he showed the royal pass and was set free. He never reflected how he would carry the sandal through the Muslim land, long distance, and countless hindrances. He had not a shell (kowri) with him to pay duty at the custom barrier, and yet in his enthusiasm he set forth to carry the sandal. Such is the natural effect of true love,—not to think of one's own sufferings and troubles! Gopal had bidden him bring the sandal, only to show to the world the Puri's deep devotion. And he brought it joyfully through all hardships to Remuna. Gopal had meant by it only to try him, and when the trial was over the god grew gracious. We are powerless to understand the depth of his love for Krishna and Krishna's graciousness to his devotee."

So saying the Master recited a stanza of the Puri's composition, which has lighted the world like the moon. Discourse on the stanza only revealed its full beauty, just as the odour of sandal wood spreads with rubbing. I deem this stanza the rarest gem in poetry. Radha speaks it through the mouth of Madhavendra. How did Chaitanya relish it! None besides these three can know its full flavour. The Puri finally attained to the supreme realization [i.e., death], reciting this stanza:

The stanza [Radhika speaks]:—

"O Lord! Gracious to the lowly! thou art now in
Mathura. When wilt thou come to me? Darling mine!
my heart runs about in pain of longing to see thee.
What shall I do?"

On reciting the stanza the Master fell down on the ground in a trance, senseless with the intensity of love. Nityánanda hurriedly took Him up in his arms. Chaitanya rose weeping, and ran hither and thither in a transport of devotion, shouting, laughing, dancing, and singing. Oft did He repeat the first word of the stanza, His voice choked with emotion and tears running down His cheeks. He trembled, perspired, wept with joy, stood still, changed colour, now showing remorse, now grief, now stupor, now pride or meekness. The stanza opened the gate of His love. The servitors of Gopinath gazed on tke Master's outpouring of love. But He came back to Himself on seeing a crowd gathering. The bhog was performed, then the árati. The priest laid the god to rest, came out of the shrine and placed the twelve pots of kshir before the Master, who joyfully took five pots for Himself and His disciples and returned the other seven to the priest. True, the sight of Gopinath had been food enough for Him; but He now drank the kshir as a mark of reverence. The night was passed in singing the Name. In the morning He attended the mangal árati and then departed. [Text, canto 4.]

[[1]] Remuna, 10 miles north-west of Baleshwar in Orissa.

[[2]] The great-grandson of Krishna and his successor on the throne of Mathura.

CHAPTER III

The Legend of Gopal the Witness

Glory to Chaitanya! Glory to Nityánanda! Glory to Adwaita! and Glory to the followers of Chaitanya!

On His way the Master came to the village of Jajpur, where He bowed to the image of Varáha. He danced and sang in love and prayed long, passing the night in that village. To Katak [[1]] He went to see the Sakshi-Gopal, whose beauty threw Him into a rapture. After dance and song He prayed to the Gopal with abstraction. That night during His halt there with His disciples He heard the legend of Gopal. Nityánanda in his former pilgrimage had come to Katak, seen the Sakshi-Gopal, and heard the legends of the god, which he now narrated to the Master. Once on a time two Brahmans of Vidya-nagar [Rajmahendri] set out on a pilgrimage, and after visiting Gaya, Benares, Allahabad, &c., reached Mathura. They made a tour of the [Mahá-] ban, and beheld Govardhan and the Twelve Woods, known as Dwádash ban, finally going to Brindában. In the great temple Gopal was worshipped with great pomp. They bathed at the Keshi ghát, the pool of Káliya, and other places, and rested in the temple of Gopal, whose beauty ravished their hearts. There they blissfully passed a few days. One of the Brahmans being old had been tended carefully by the younger one. The old man, pleased with his attendance, said, "Long have you served me, and through your help have I performed my pilgrimage. Even a son does not serve his father so lovingly. Through your kindness I have been saved every trouble. It will be rank ingratitude if I do not honour you. So I shall wed my daughter to you." The youth replied, "Listen, sir! Why talk of that which cannot be? You are a high kulin, great in learning and Wealth, while I am a non-kulin lacking in scholarship and riches. I am no worthy match for your daughter. Through love of Krishna have I served you, as he is pleased with attention to Brahmans. What pleases the Lord increases the store of faith." The elder answered, "Doubt not. What wonder is there in it that I should give you my daughter?" The younger Brahman rejoined, "You have a large circle of kindred, friends and sons, without whose consent you cannot possibly wed your daughter to me. Witness the case of Bhishmak, the father of Rukmini, who was opposed by his son in giving his daughter, as he wished, to Krishna." The old man answered, "My daughter is my property. Who can oppose me in giving away what is mine? I shall give you my daughter in despite of all. Don't doubt it, but derive your consent." The youth said, "If you have really decided to give me your daughter, make a vow before Gopal." The old Brahman addressed Gopal and said, "Know that I shall give my daughter to this man." The youth added, "Lord, be thou my witness, and I shall summon thee to give thy testimony if he breaks his promise."

So saying the two returned to their homes, the young man serving the other like an elder. The old man now reflected, "I pledged my word to this Brahman in a holy place, but how can I keep it? I must consult my wife, sons, kindred and friends." So, one day he gathered his own folk and told them the whole story, at which they lamented and cried "Never utter such words again! You will lose your kul if you wed your daughter to a low-born man. You will be a laughing stock to all!" The Brahman urged, "How can I retract a promise made in a holy place? Come what may, I will give him my daughter." His kinsfolk threatened to boycott him, and his wife and children to take poison. The Brahman pleaded, "He will make a case of it by calling his witness. When he wins my daughter by a decree, my faith will be proved worthless!" His son answered, "Oh! the witness is an idol in a far-off land. Who will bear testimony against you? Do not be alarmed. You need not tell the lie that you had never made him such a promise; you will only have to pretend forgetfulness. If you do that I shall beat the Brahman in court." At this the Brahman, full of anxiety, prayed intently to Gopal, "Gopal, to thee I appeal: save my faith and save my kindred, save both sides!"

One day the younger Brahman visited him, bowed reverently, and said with folded hands, "You promised me your daughter, but are now silent on the point! Is this your sense of justice?" The old man remained silent; but his son ran with a stick to beat the visitor, crying, "Wretch! you want to wed my sister! Dwarf, you wish to catch the moon!" The youth fled, but another day he called all the villagers together, who summoned the old man. Then the younger Brahman spoke, "This man promised his daughter to me. Ask him why he does not give her up now." On being questioned by the people, the elder Brahman replied, "Listen, friends, I do not remember what I said so long ago." At this his son got the chance to put in his words boldly, "My father had much money with him during his pilgrimage. This villain, his only companion, coveted the money, intoxicated him with dhuturá, robbed him and said that thieves had taken away his money, and then spread the tale that he had promised his daughter to him. Judge ye all, whether he is a worthy match for my sister." The assembled people were filled with suspicion, as greed often makes men commit sin. The younger Brahman pleaded, "Hear, my masters, he is lying to win the case. His father, pleased with my attendance, promised me his daughter voluntarily, and when I declined alleging my unworthiness and our disparity in wealth, learning and kul, he repeatedly pressed me to accept her, and at my suggestion called Gopal to witness his promise. I conjured the god to bear testimony for me, should this Brahman break his word. He is my witness, whose word is held true in the three worlds." The old man replied, "This is good. If Gopal appears here and bears testimony, I shall certainly give you my daughter." His son agreed to it. The old man only thought, "Kind is Krishna. Surely he will bear my word out." His son was confident that the image would not come to act as a witness. So thinking diversely they agreed. At the younger Brahman's request both parties signed a written deed of agreement to abide by this test, to prevent future disputes. It was left with an umpire. The young man continued, "Listen, all ye here! This Brahman is pious and true of speech, never wishing to retract his word. It is only his fear of the suicide of his kinsfolk that has made him tell a lie. Thanks to his piety, I will bring Krishna as a witness and enable Hm to keep his word." At this the sceptics laughed; some said, "God is good, He may come."

Then the younger Brahman went to Brindában, prostrated himself and prayed to the image, "God of the Brahmans! thou art ever kind. Have pity and save the honour of two Brahmans. I mind not whether I get the girl or not, but it would be a great pity if a Brahman's promise is broken. For this reason, do thou bear witness, for he who will not bear testimony to the truth that he knows, commits a sin." Krishna replied, "Brahman! return home, assemble the public, and meditate on me. I shall appear and give my evidence. But my image can not be taken there." The Brahman protested, "Even if you appear in your four-armed form, none will believe you. But if this very image goes there and speaks out of its mouth, then all will deem it true." Krishna said, "Nobody ever heard of an idol travelling!" The Brahman replied "Why do you speak of being an idol? You are not a mere image but the Darling of Brindában. Do an unprecedented act for the sake of a Brahman." Laughingly Gopal said, "Hear, Brahman, I shall travel after you; but do not look behind, or else I shall stop there. You will hear (on the way) only the jingling of my nupur, and thus know that I am going on. Give me one seer of rice [daily], which I shall eat when accompanying you." Next day, after taking the Lord's leave, the Brahman set out on his return, delighted to hear the jingle of the nupur behind him, and offering excellent rice to the image. So he arrived near his village and then thought, "Now have I come to my village and shall go home and tell the people of the arrival of my witness. But I cannot believe if I do not see him with my own eyes. It will be no harm if he stays here. So he looked behind him; and Gopal stopped there, saying with a smile, "Go home; here will I stay without going any further."

When the Brahman reported the tale, the people marvelled at it, and came to see the witness. They bowed to Gopal, delighted with his beauty and amazed to hear that the image had travelled thither. Then the old Brahman in joy prostrated himself before Gopal, who gave his evidence before the people, and the younger Brahman got his betrothed bride. The Lord spoke to the two Brahmans, "You will be my servants birth after birth. I am pleased with you; beg a boon." They prayed together, "Grant us this that you remain here, so that all may know your favour to your servants." Gopal remained there, and the two served him. The people of the country flocked to see him. The king of the land heard the wonderful legend and beheld the Gopal with supreme delight. He built a temple and endowed the service of the god, who became famous under the name of GOPAL THE WITNESS. Thus has Sakshi-Gopal accepted, worship and stayed at Vidya-nagar for long. Purushottam, the Rajah of Orissa, conquered the country in battle and seized the many-jewelled throne named mánik-sinhásan. Purushottam Dev was a great devotee and entreated Gopal to go to his capital. Gopal, pleased with his piety, consented and was taken to Katak, where his worship was installed. The Rajah gave the mánik-sinhásan to Jagannáth. His queen, when visiting Gopal, gave him many ornaments in devotion. A costly pearl hung from her nose, and wishing to give it too she reflected, "Ah, if there had been a hole in the Lord's nose, I, his hand maid, could have made him put this pearl on!" With this thought she bowed and returned home. At the end of the night Gopal appeared to her in a dream and said, "In my infancy my mother had bored my nose and very tenderly hung there a pearl. The hole is there still. Make me wear the pearl you wished to give." The queen spoke to her husband, and the two went to the temple with the pearl, hung it from the hole in the nose which was found out, and a great festival of joy was held. From that day on has Gopal stayed at Katak and been known as Sakshi-Gopal.

The master with all His disciples heard the legend of Gopal from Nityánanda and was delighted. While He stood before Gopal, the faithful seemed to see them both as of one body, of one complexion, large-limbed, red-robed, grave of mien, beaming with glory, lotus-eyed, moon-faced, both of them in rapture for each other.

At the sight of both, Nityánanda in great joy winked at the faithful and they all smiled. So the night was passed in great entertainment, and next morning, after witnessing the matin service, they set off. Brindában-das has described fully how He visited Bhubaneshwar on the way (to the Blue Mountain). At Kamalpur He bathed in the Bhagi [[2]] river, and gave His mendicant's stick to Nityánanda to carry. With his disciples He went to see Kapoteshwar [Shiva]. Here Nityánanda broke the Master's stick into three and threw it (into the river). From that Shiva shrine the Master returned, and was thrown into ecstasy by the sight of the spire [[3]] of the temple of Jagannáth. He prostrated Himself and danced in love; the disciples too, in love, danced and sang, following the Master on the highway. He laughed, wept, danced, roared and shouted, and made a thousand leagues of those six miles. On reaching Athára-nála (Eighteen Water courses) the Master came to His senses a little and asked Nityánanda for His stick. But Nityánanda answered, "It was broken into three bits. You fell down in a swoon of devotion, and as I caught you, we two tumbled on the stick which was broken by our weight. I know not where it was dropped. Through my fault was your stick broken. Punish me as you think fit." The Master was sad and spoke a little bitterly, "You have all done me great good, forsooth, by coming to the Blue Mountain! You could not even preserve the stick, my only property. You go before me to see Jagannáth or let me go there before you. But we will not go together." Mukunda Datta said, "Master, go thou before us; we shall arrive after and not in thy company". The Master hastened there. None could understand the cause why one Master broke the other's stick and why the latter suffered it to be done, or was angry at the result. The deep mystery of the breaking of the stick can be understood only by him who has constant faith in the two Masters. [Text, canto 5.]

[[1]] The image of Sakshi-Gopal is now installed at a village of the same name 48 miles south of Katak town.

[[2]] Indian Atlas (sheet 116) names the river here as Bargovee.

[[3]] The place meant is evidently Jagannáth Vallabh, six miles north of Puri; from this place the spire of the temple of Jagannáth can be seen. Athára-nála is two miles north of Puri.

CHAPTER IV

The Conversion of Sárvabhauma

The Master went in an ecstatic mood to the temple of Jagannáth, and was beside Himself with love at the sight of the god. He rushed to embrace the image, but fell down on the temple floor, senseless with devotion. Happily Sárvabhauma noticed Him, and stopped the door keeper (Parichhá, mace-bearer) who was about to beat the Master. Sárvabhauma marvelled exceedingly as he gazed on the beauty of the Master and His transport of love. The hour of bhog arrived, yet the Master did not come to His senses. Sárvabhauma then thought of a plan, and had Him conveyed by his disciple the door-keeper to his house and laid Him down on a clean spot. But the Master showed no respiration, no heaving of the chest. The Bhattáchárya grew alarmed. He held a fine piece of cotton to the Master's nose; it stirred, and he was reassured. The Bhattáchárya sat musing thus, "This is the sáttvika form of the passion for Krishna. It is named the "bright-pure" (sudipta sáttvika), and is displayed only by a devotee who has attained to constant realization (nitya-siddhi). This ecstasy is possible only in one whose devotion is extreme. I wonder to see it manifested in an [ordinary] man's person."

While he was pondering thus, Nityánanda and the others arrived at the main gate, and overheard the people talking among themselves, "A sannyasi came here and swooned away at the sight of Jagannath; he is still in a trance. Sárvabhauma has conveyed him to his own house." They knew from this that it was the Great Master. Just then came there Gopinath Acharya, the son-in-law of Visharad of Nadia, and a devotee and acquaintance of the Master. He knew Mukunda from before, and was surprised to see him there. Mukunda bowed, the Acharya embraced him and asked him news of the Master. Mukunda replied, "The Master has come here, and we with Him." The Acharya bowed to Nityánanda Goswámi, and again asked them all about the Master. Mukunda said, "After taking the monastic vow, the Master came to the Blue Mountain taking us with Him. Leaving us behind He came to visit this temple, and we have arrived now to seek Him. From what we have heard from others, we conclude that He is in Sárvabhauma's house, whither He was removed on fainting at the sight of the god. I have met you luckily, just as I was wishing for your sight. Let us go to Sárvabhauma's house, and after seeing the Master we shall visit the temple."

Gopinath in delight conducted them to Sárvabhauma's house, where he beheld the Master and felt mingled joy and grief. He introduced them all to Sárvabhauma, and took them inside. Sárvabhauma bowed to Nityánanda Goswámi and saluted the others in the proper mode. Then he sent them all in charge of his son Chandaneshwar, to the temple. They joyed to behold the god. Nityánanda went out of himself in devotion, but the others quieted him. The servitor of the shrine presented them with the garland and prasád of the god, to their great delight. Then they returned to the Master, and chanted the divine name loud and long. In the third quarter [of the day], Chaitanya awoke, and rose up shouting, Hari! Hari! Reverently Sárvabhauma took the dust of His feet [to place it on his own head], and entreated Him, "Take your midday meal soon. I shall feed you to-day with Jagannath's mahá-prasád." The Master quickly came back from His bath in the sea, and feasted with His followers on the rice, broth and other kinds of prasád, which Sárvabhauma served to them from golden dishes. The Master said, "Help me with the hash of gourd (lau) and other vegetables, and serve these others with cakes and sweets." But the Bhattáchárya entreated Him with folded palms, "How has Jagannáth himself fed? Do you too taste all of these," and so made Him eat the cakes and sweets too. After the dinner, he helped the Master to wash, then took leave to retire with Gopinath Acharya and eat their own meals. When they returned, [the Acharya] bowed saying "I salute Náráyan," and the Master responded with "Be thy mind constant in Krishna!" At these words Sárvabhauma knew Him to be a Vaishnav hermit. He then asked Gopinath Acharya about the worldly life of the Master. The Acharya replied, "His home was at Navadwip; his father Jagannáth Mishra, surnamed Purandar Mishra, gave him the name of Vishwambhar. His maternal grandfather was Nilambar Chakravarti." Sárvabhauma added "Nilambar Chakravarti! why, he was a fellow-student of my father Vishárad, who, I know, had a high regard for Purandar Mishra, too. I honour both for their connection with my father."

Delighted to hear that Chaitanya was a man of Nadia, Sárvabhauma thus addressed Him, "You are of honourable birth, and a sannyasi in addition. Make me, therefore, your personal disciple." At this the Master cried out, "O Vishnu! O Vishnu!" and then spoke humbly to the Bhattáchárya, "You are the teacher of the world and the benefactor of mankind. You teach Vedánta and [thereby] benefit men of monastic life. I am a young monk, ignorant of good and evil. I have sought refuge with you, regarding you as my teacher. For your society have I come here, hoping that you will train me in all ways. You saved me in my great danger to-day." The Bhattáchárya said, "Never go to the temple alone, but always with me or one of my men." The Master replied, "I shall not enter the shrine, but gaze from the Garuda [pillar in the quadrangle]." Then Sárvabhauma addressed Gopinath Acharya, "You will be guide to this Goswami in visiting the temple. Lodge him in the house of my mother's sister, which is a quiet place, and look to all his needs." So he did. Next day Gopinath took the Master to the temple to show Him Jagannáth as he rose from his bed. Mukunda Datta led Him back to Sárvabhauma's house, who spoke thus, "This sannyasi is meek in disposition, lovely in form. I daily love Him the more. Tell me what order He has joined and what name He has chosen." Gopinath replied, "He has been named Shri Krishna-Chaitanya; His spiritual guide is Keshav Bhárati, blessed man!" Sárvabhauma remarked, "His name is well-chosen, but the Bhárati order is not ranked high [among the ten classes of sannyasis]."

Gopinath answered, "He does not care for outward [dignity]. Hence His indifference to the more famous orders of monks." The Bhattáchárya joined in, "Ah, He is in the full bloom of youth. How can He keep the monastic rules? However, I shall ceaselessly teach Him Vedánta, and lead Him on to the rank of a recluse of the Monist school (adwaita). If He then wishes it, I shall robe Him anew with the yellow robe of a yogi, purify Him, and enter Him into one of the higher orders."

Gopinath and Mukunda grieved to hear it; and the former expostulated, "Bhattáchárya! You know not His greatness. The signs of divinity have reached their extreme limit in Him! Hence He is famed as the Great God. But in a place of ignorance even the wise know nothing."

The [Sárvabhauma's] disciples asked, "What proof is there of His divinity?" The Acharya replied, "The belief of the wise is proof of divinity." The disciples objected, saying, "It is by inference that God is recognized." But the Acharya answered, "No, God is not known by inference, but only by those on whom He bestows His grace, even a particle of it. Witness Brahma's praise of Vishnu in the Shrimad Bhágabat, Book X. canto xiv. verse 28:

"'Lord! true it is that knowledge can gain salvation, but Thy glories can be known only by him who has been blessed even with a particle of favour from Thy lotus-like feet. O Perfect Being! A man lacking Thy grace, may be free from earthly lusts, may have studied the scriptures for ages, but still he cannot know Thee fully!'

"O Sárvabhauma, you may be the World's Teacher, a master of theology, unrivalled in the world in scholarship. But you have not gained God's grace, hence you cannot know God. I do not blame you, but the scripture says clearly that the knowledge of God cannot come from mere scholarship."

Sárvabhauma replied, "Weigh thy words well, Acharya! How do you prove that you have gained God's grace?" The Acharya replied, "We know a material thing by observing it. Our knowledge of the nature of a thing is proved by grace. On this sannyasi's person are all the marks of divinity. You yourself witnessed his ecstasy of spiritual love. And yet you know not God! Such are the ways of God's illusion, materialists see Him and yet recognize Him not!"

Smilingly spoke Sárvabhauma, "We are arguing in a friendly spirit. Don't get warm. Blame me not, I am only arguing from the strict standpoint of view of Shastra. Chaitanya Goswámi is [I admit] a great saint. But there is no incarnation of Vishnu in the Kali era. Hence Vishnu's epithet Tri-yug or the Lord of Three. But scripture tells us that the Kali era is without an incarnation."

Sadly did the Acharya answer, "You pride yourself on your knowledge of scripture, but you do not mind the Bhágabat and the Mahábharat, which are the chief of scriptures. Both of them assert that God will appear in the human form in the Kali era, and yet you maintain the contrary! As God will not appear in Kali for mere earthly exploits [but only for purifying faith], we call him Tri-yug. In every era Krishna appears for the spiritual needs of the age. You are a logician, and yet you do not perceive this!"

Texts quoted in support; Bhágabat, X viii. 9, XI. v. 28, 29; Mahabharat, Anushasan Parva, Dan-dharma, canto 149, v. 75-92.

"I need not waste these many words on you. They will bear no more fruit than seed sown on sterile soil. When His grace is on you, you will be convinced. Your disciple, who is plying me with all sorts of sophistic arguments, I blame him not; he is under illusion (máyá). As the Bhágabat, Book VI. canto iv. verse 26, puts it:

[The words of Daksha to God], 'I bow to the Omnipotent Supreme God, whose power of illusion raises endless controversies among logicians fond of dispute, and keeps their souls ever wrapt in delusion!'

"Again, the Bhágabat, XI. xxii. 3, [Krishna's words to Uddhava]."

Then Sárvabhauma said, "Go to the monk [Chaitanya] and invite him and his followers to my house. First feed them with prasád, and then give me lessons [in theology]!" The Acharya, being Sárvabhauma's sister's husband, could [boldly] blame, praise, laugh at or school him.

Mukunda was greatly pleased with the Acharya's reasoning, as he was inly grieved and angry at the speech of Sárvabhauma.

The Acharya came to Chaitanya's house and invited Him on behalf of the Bhattáchárya. As he talked with Mukunda he spoke ill of Sárvabhauma in a pained spirit. But the Master broke in with, "Say not so. The Bhattáchárya has really favoured me; he wants to safeguard my monastic life, and has taken pity on me out of tenderness. Why blame him for it?"

Next day, the Master visited the temple of Jagannáth in the company of the Bhattáchárya, and then accompanied him to his house. The Bhattáchárya seated the Master first and began to teach Him Vedánta. With mingled tenderness and reverence he said, "It is a sannyasi's duty to hear the Vedánta read. You should constantly attend to it." The Master answered, "Show me thy favour. Whatever you bid me is indeed my duty."

For seven days did the Master thus listen to the expounding of the Vedánta, without making any comment of His own. On the eighth day, Sárvabhauma asked Him, "For seven days have you heard me in unbroken silence. I know not whether you follow me or not." The Master replied, "I am ignorant, and have not studied [the subject]. I merely listen at your bidding. I listen only because such is a sannyasi's duty. But I cannot follow your interpretation." The Bhattáchárya retorted, "He who is conscious of his own ignorance asks for a second explanation. But you remain ever silent as you listen. I know not your mind's workings." The Master replied, "I understand the verses clearly enough. But it is your commentary that puzzles me. A commentary should elucidate the text, whereas your exposition conceals the text! You do not expound the plain meaning of the aphorisms, but cover them up with your fanciful interpretation. The primary meaning is the plain sense of the terms of the Upanishad, and Vyas says it in his aphorisms. You [on the other hand] let the primary sense go, and give a conjectural secondary sense. You reject the meanings of words as given in lexicons, and attribute to them meanings evolved from your imagination. Shruti is the chief of proofs. The primary meaning as given by Shruti can alone carry conviction.

"What are conchshells and cowdung but naturally unclean things, viz., the bone and ordure of animals? And yet they are taken as very pure, because Shruti says so. Of the spiritual truth that is held forth [in Vedánta] the meaning is plain and self-evident. Fanciful interpretation only spoils the clear sense. The sense of Vyas's aphorisms is clear like the sun; you are only enveloping it with the cloud of your conjectural commentary. The Vedas and the Purans tell us how to discern Brahma. That Brahma is [only another name for] God in His totality. The Supreme Being is full of all powers, and yet you describe Him as formless? The Shrutis that speak of Him as abstract (nir-bishesha), exclude the natural and set up the unnatural.

"From Brahma originates the Universe, it lives in Brahma, and it is merged again in the same Brahma. The three attributes of God are that He is the three cases, Ablative, Instrumental and Locative [in relation to the Universe]. These three qualities particularize God. When He desired to be many, He looked at [=employed] His natural powers. The physical mind and eye could not have then existed. Therefore, the Immaterial Brahma had an eye to see and a mind to will with. The terms Brahma means the Perfect Supreme Being (Bhagabán), and the scriptures affirm that Krishna is the Supreme Being. The meaning of the Vedas is too deep for human understanding, the Purans make their senses clear. Witness Brahma's address to God in the Bhágabat, X. xiv. 31:—

'Blessed, blessed are Nanda the cowherd and other citizens of Mathura, whose friend is the Beatific Perfect Eternal Brahma'.

"Shruti itself denies to Brahma material hands and feet, and yet it says that God moves swiftly and receives everything! Therefore, Shruti asserts Brahma to be particular (sa-bishesha). It is only a fanciful interpretation as opposed to a direct one, that speaks of Brahma as abstract (nir-bishesha). How do you call that God formless who has the six qualities and is supremely blissful? You conclude Him to be powerless, who has the three natural powers, as is evident from the Vishnu Puran, VI. vii. 60 and 61, and I. xii. 41.

"God's nature consists of sat, chit and ánanda. The chit power assumes three different forms in three aspects; it becomes hládini from the ánanda aspect; it becomes sandhini in the sat aspect, and sambita (known as knowledge of Krishna) in the chit aspect. The chit power is God's very essence [or inner nature]; the life power (jiba-shakti) appertains to Him only occasionally; máyá is entirely outside Him [i.e., affects creation only]. But all these three offer devotion in the form of love. The Lord's six powers are only manifestations of the chit power. And yet you have the presumption to deny such a power? God and creation differ as the master and the slave of illusion respectively, and yet you affirm that creation is identical with the Creator! In the Gitá creation is recognized as a force exerted by God, and yet you make such creation one with God! See the Gitá, vii. 4, the words of Shri Krishna to Arjun:—

Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, sense, and self-consciousness these eight powers (or natures) have emanated from me.

"Again, the next verse in the Gitá:

Valiant hero! the eight natures (prakriti) about which I have already spoken to you, are inferior. Beyond them I have a higher or living nature which upholds this Universe.

"God's form is composed of sat, chit and ananda; and yet you assert that form to be a corruption of the satwa quality! He is a wretch who denies form to God; touch not, behold not that slave of Death. The Buddhists are atheists from not respecting the Vedas. Atheism in a believer of the Vedas is a worse heresy than Buddhism. Vyas composed his aphorisms for the salvation of men, but the interpretation of these aphorisms by the 'school of illusion' (máyá-vádi) is the cause of perdition.

"Vyas's aphorisms accept the theory of effect (parinám). God is an incomprehensible power, but He is manifested as creation. The philosopher's stone produces gold without undergoing any change in itself, similarly God takes the form of creation without suffering any corruption. Objecting to this aphorism as an error of Vyas, you have set up the theory of bivarta by a fanciful interpretation [of it]. Error consists in a creature imagining I am one with the Creator. But creation is not unreal, it is only perishable. The great word Pranaba is the image of God; from that Pranaba all the Vedas have sprung in this world. The words Thou art That (tat-twam asi) when applied to creation are only fractional (prádeshika), but you, without minding the Pranaba, call these words the supreme truth."

Thus did the Master find a hundred faults with the fanciful interpretation [of the Vedantists]. The Bhattáchárya supported his own position, using refutation, feint, pressure, and other logical devices. But the Master answered them all and established His own view. The Vedas [he maintained] assert only three things about God, viz., our relation to Him, devotional exercises, and love (our need) as the fruit of devotion. All the rest [attributed to Him] is mere conjecture. The words of the Veda are self-evident, and should not be interpreted with the help of conjecture. But Sárvabhauma was not to blame for it; he was merely carrying out God's will, in expounding atheistical philosophy based on fancy. Vide the Padma Puran, Part II. canto 62, verse 31.

The Bhattáchárya was speechless and motionless with wonder as he heard these words. The Master addressed him, "Marvel not, O Bhattáchárya! The supreme manhood consists in faith in God. Even those who directly commune with God (átmáram) adore Him, the Supreme Being's attributes are so incomprehensible! Witness the Bhágabat, I. vii. 10, Suta's words to Saunaka and others:

'Such are the attributes of Hari that even mystical and passionless recluses feel for Him unreasoning devotion.'

The Bhattáchárya said, "Sir, I long to hear this verse interpreted." The Master replied, "Do you first explain it, and then I shall say what I think of it." The Bhattáchárya expounded the verse, like a logician, in nine different ways in accordance with the scriptures. But the Master smiled as He said, "I know, Bhattáchárya, that you are a veritable Vrihaspati, and surpass all other men in interpreting the scriptures. But your interpretation shows mere scholarship. The verse has yet another sense!" Then at the Bhattáchárya's request the Master gave His own interpretation; passing by the nine interpretations given by the Bhattáchárya, He gave 18 other explanations of His own. First He determined the meaning of each of the eleven words contained in the verse, as taken separately; then He gave different explanations in connection with átmárám, laying emphasis on each of the eleven words in succession. The Lord, His powers, and His attributes, all three are incomprehensibly, unspeakably great! These three steal the heart of the devotee, to the neglect of all other forms of devotion. Sanak, Shukadev and others bear witness to this. His diverse expositions filled the Bhattáchárya with wonder, and the self-abasing belief that the Master was Krishna indeed. "Alas!" thought he, "He is Krishna incarnate, but I in my ignorance have grievously sinned by showing pride to Him." Penitently he sought refuge with the Master, who graciously appeared to him in His divine form, first as four-armed (Vishnu), then as Krishna playing on the flute. At this vision Sárvabhauma fell prostrate on the ground, then rose again and prayed to Him with clasped hands. The Master's grace made spiritual knowledge illumine his heart, he now knew the glory of God's name, faith, gift, the esoteric meanings of the letters of the alphabet, &c. In a moment he composed a hundred verses, such as even Vrihaspati would have failed to frame. The delighted Master embraced him, and the Bhattáchárya fainted in an ecstasy of joy, weeping, standing still, tumbling down at the Master's feet.

The sight delighted Gopinath Acharya. The Master's disciples smiled at the dance of Sárvabhauma. Gopinath spoke to the Master, "You have so transformed that Bhattáchárya!" The Master replied, "You are a devotee, your society has so wrought on him through the great grace of Jagannáth." Then He composed Bhattáchárya, who thereafter praised Him long, saying, "It was a light work to Thee to save the world, in comparison with the wonderful power Thou hast manifested in converting me. Logic had made me hard like an ingot of iron. Thou hast, melted me. Oh Thy wondrous might!"

The Master returned to His quarters; Sárvabhauma feasted Him by means of Gopinath Acharya. Next day He went to Jagannáth's temple, and beheld the god rise from his bed. The attending priest presented to the Master the garland and offered rice of the god. The Master rejoiced at it, tied the gifts to the hem of his garment, and hastened to Bhattáchárya's house. It was dawn; Bhattáchárya awoke just then and cried out "O Krishna! O Krishna!" to the delight of the Master. Coming out Bhattáchárya met the Master, bowed at His feet in a tumult of reverence, and seated Him. The Master untied the knot in His skirt and presented the prasád to Sarvabhaurna, who joyously ate it after reciting the following verse, though he had not yet bathed, nor said his matin prayer, nor even cleaned his teeth,—because Chaitanya's grace removed all stupor from his mind.

From the Padma Purán, Taste the mahá-prasád as soon as you get it, though it may be dry, stale or brought from a distance. Wait not for a more proper time in this case.

Then, again, Hari has said, 'In tasting the mahá-prasád no rule of time or place should be observed; a good man should eat it as soon as he gets it.'

At this the Master was delighted and embraced Sárvabhauma in a transport. They both danced, Master and pupil, clasping each other, perspiring, trembling, shedding tears in ecstasy. The Master said, "To-day have I conquered the three worlds lightly! To-day have I ascended Baikuntha! To-day all my wishes are realized! Because Sárvabhauma has shown faith in the mahá-prasád. To-day you have taken refuge in Krishna with all your heart. Krishna has taken pity on you without any reserve. To-day he has removed your bondage to flesh; to-day you have torn off the meshes of illusion. To-day your heart has been made worthy to gain Krishna, because you have eaten the prasád in violation of Vedic ceremonies. As the Bhágabat, II. vii. 41, puts it:

"Those whom the Lord favours and who take refuge at His feet with all their heart and without reserve, can conquer illusion. Then they no longer look upon this fleshly body the food of dogs and jackals as 'I' or 'mine'."

So saying the Master returned home. Thenceforth Bhattáchárya lost his pride (of learning). Thenceforth he knew of nothing except Chaitanya's feet, and expounded no scripture except that of bhakti. At his deep Vaishnavism, Gopinath Acharya danced, clapping his hands and crying Hari! Hari! Next day Bhattáchárya came to visit the Master, without having first gone to Jagannáth. He lay prostrate, and thanked the Master much, penitently recounting his own former follies. As he wished to hear of the chief means of cultivating faith, the Master instructed him by chanting Hari's name.

"Hari's name, Hari's name, Hari's name alone; in the Kali era there is no other means of salvation, no other, indeed no other!" [Vrihad Narad Puran.]

In full detail did the Master hold forth on the meaning of the above verse. Bhattáchárya was filled with wonder. Gopinath Acharya said, "Bhattáchárya! I told you before that you would come to this!" Bhattáchárya bowed to him thankfully and replied, "The Master has blessed me by reason of my being related to you. You are a great devotee, and I a blind logician. For your sake has the Master favoured me." Pleased with his meekness, Chaitanya embraced him and then said, "Now go and see the god". Bhattáchárya, after visiting Jagannáth, came home with Jagadánanda and Damodar [two disciples of Chaitanya], and sent to Chaitanya many kinds of choice prasád with his own cook in their company, and also put two verses of his own written on a palm leaf into the hands of Jagadánanda for Chaitanya. When they arrived at the Master's house, Mukunda Datta took the letter from his hand, and wrote the two verses on the outer wall. Then Jagadánanda took the letter inside to Chaitanya, who read and tore it up, but the followers learnt the verses by rote from the wall. The verses are given in Chaitanya-chandrodaya, Act VI. Sc. 32:

I seek refuge with that unequalled supreme Man, who has become incarnate as Shri Krishna Chaitanya, in order to teach passionlessness (bairágya) and devotion through faith (bhakti-yog). May my mind, like a bee, settle firmly on the lotus-feet of the Lord Shri Krishna Chaitanya, who has appeared in order to revive his own bhakti-yog, which had perished through the wickedness of ages.

Sárvabhauma became a disciple of the Master, attending to nothing but His service. Ever did he meditate, pray, and recite the name 'Shri Krishna-Chaitanya, the son of Shachi, the abode of virtues!' One day he came to the Master, bowed, and recited Brahma's hymn to God from the Bhágabat, changing two letters near its end. The Bhágabat, X. xiv. 8:

'Lord! That man alone enters into the inheritance of Thy salvation like a true heir, who in eager longing for the day of Thy grace passes his life worshipping Thee with all his mind body and speech and enjoying the fruits of his actions without being attached to them.'

The Master interrupted him saying, "The text has Thy salvation (muktipada). Why do you read it as Thy faith (bhaktipada)?" Bhattáchárya answered, "Salvation is not the fruit at which the faithful fix their gaze; as for those who lack faith in the Lord, salvation becomes a sort of punishment to them [as they are annihilated in the Lord without being able to serve and love Him]. He who does not admit the incarnate Krishna, and he who blames and fights against that incarnation, both of them are punished by being merged in the Lord (Brahma sáyujya mukti). The devotee does not long for emancipation. There are five kinds of salvation, viz., sálokya (living in the same plane with God), sámipya (nearness to God), sárupya (assuming the same form as God), sárshti (equalling the glory of God) and sáyujya (absorption in the Deity). Though the first four afford means of serving the Lord, yet true devotees seldom elect them, but they dread and despise the sáyujya emancipation, preferring hell to it. 'Absorption in the abstract God (Brahma)' and 'Absorption in the God clad in attributes (saguna ishwar)' are two forms of the same thing, indeed the latter is worse still. Vide the Bhágabat III. xxix. II, Kapila's speech to Devahuti."

The Master objected, "The term muktipada has other senses too; it means God Himself, i.e., He whose feet are the means of salvation. It may also mean The abode of salvation, which is the 9th object [mentioned in the Bhágabat, II. x. 1]. Both etymologies yield the sense of Krishna. Why need you change the text to Bhaktipada?" Bhattáchárya replied, "No, I cannot adopt the reading. Though you interpret the term muktipada in the same sense of bhaktipada, yet the former is objectionable as ambiguous. Though mukti has five connotations, yet its principal meaning is absorption in God. So, the word mukti fills me with fear and contempt, while bhakti kindles delight in the heart". At this the delighted Master smiled and clasped Bhattáchárya firmly to His bosom. It was a pure act of grace on Chaitanya's part that Bhattáchárya, who had been a student and teacher of the doctrine of illusion, spoke thus. We recognize the philosopher's stone only when it touches a piece of iron. So all men knew the Master for the veritable Darling of Braja (Krishna) when they saw the deep the Vaishnav spirit of [His disciple] Bhattáchárya. Then did Kashi Mishra and others of the Blue Mountain come and seek asylum at the Master's feet. I shall first describe how Sárvabhauma served the Master, and how carefully he fed Him. [Text, canto 6.]

CHAPTER V

Healing the leper Vasudev

The Master renounced the world in the bright fortnight of Mágh, and came to reside at Puri in Fálgun. At the end of the latter month He witnessed the swinging ceremony of Jagannáth and danced and sang long in ecstasy. In Chaitra He liberated Sárvabhauma. Early in Baishakh He wished to travel to the South. He assembled His followers, embraced them, held them by the hand, and spoke humbly, "I know you to be dearer than life. Life I can part with, but not with you. You my friends have done me a good turn by bringing me here to see Jagannáth. Now I beg one favour from you all, give me leave to go to the South. I must set out to seek Vishwarup [my elder brother], and I will travel alone, taking none with me. Do you all stay at Puri till I return from Setubandha."

They all knew that Vishwarup had attained to liberation, and that the quest of him was only a ruse of the Master for carrying salvation to Southern India. Greatly did they grieve on hearing His words, and sat silent with woe-begone faces. Nityánanda said, "How can that be? We cannot let you go alone. One or two of us must bear you company, lest mishap should befall you. Choose any two that you like. I know the roads to the holy places of the South. Bid me, Master, go with you." The Master replied, "I am as a dancer and you are like the manager (sutradhár) of the play. I dance as you make me. On turning hermit I set out for Brindában, but you brought me to Adwaita's house. On the way to the Niláchal you broke my staff. Your deep love is marring my [life's] work. Jagadánanda wants me to turn a worldling. In fear of him I have to do whatever he bids, me. If ever I disobey him he in anger speaks not to me for three days! Mukunda grieves at the rigours of my monastic life: the three baths daily even in winter, the sleep on the bare ground. He grieves inly, though he speaks not of it; but his sorrow makes me doubly unhappy. I am a sannyasi, Damodar is a Brahmachari, and yet he constantly holds the pedagogue's rod over me. I did not know his character before. My conduct must be quite different from his. Having gained the favour of Krishna, he cares not for the opinions of other men; but I cannot be so regardless of the public. Do you all, therefore, stay behind at Puri, while I make my pilgrimage alone for some time."

Under the pretext of picking their faults the Master really pointed out the merits which had made them win His heart. Words cannot describe Chaitanya's love for His devotees. He himself bore the hardship of an ascetic's life, but when one of His devotees grieved at the sight of these hardships, the Master could not bear the sight of his grief! He set forth on His pilgrimage as a solitary hermit. Four of them entreated Him hard for permission to accompany Him, but He followed His own will and did not listen to them. At last Nityánanda urged, "As you please. It is my duty [to obey you], be the result my happiness or sorrow. But one further request I must make: consider whether you can accept it. Your loin-band wrapper and gourd of water, these are the only articles that you will take with you. But your two hands are ever busy in counting your recitation of Hari's name [on the notches of your fingers]. How, then, will you carry your wrapper and gourd? Who will take care of these when you fall down on the road in a trance? Keep my word: take this honest Brahman Krishna-das with you. He will only carry your wrapper and gourd, and never say a word, whatever you may do." The Master consented. They took him to Sárvabhauma's house, who seated them all after salutation. After a varied discourse on Krishna, the Master said, "I have come to beg your permission. I must search for Vishwarup who retired as a hermit to the South. Give me leave to go South. Your permission will enable me to return in safety." At these words Sárvabhauma was much grieved at heart; clasping the Master's feet he said piteously, "Through the accumulated merit of many previous births have I gained your society. But Fate has now parted our company. I can bear the death of a son through a stroke of lightning, but not the pang of separation from you! You are your own master and shall go; but stay some days more and let me gaze on your feet." His humility relaxed the Master's resolution and He lingered for some time longer. Eagerly did the Bhattáchárya invite and feast Him with dishes cooked in his own house. His wife, called Shathi's mother, cooked the meal: her history is marvellous, and I shall narrate it in detail later on.

After a halt of five days at the Bhattáchárya's place, the Master asked leave to start. His eagerness forced the Bhattáchárya to consent. He went with him to the temple and sought the permission of Jagannáth. The serving priest presented the Master with the god's garland, which He joyously took as a symbol of permission.

The Lord Gaur started for the South in joy, after walking round Jagannáth in the company of His disciples and the Bhattáchárya. He took the road of Alálnáth, along the shore. Sárvabhauma sent Gopinath Acharya to bring from his house four loin-bands and wrappers and some prasád, to the Vipradwár gate. Then he begged the Master, "You must keep my request. On the bank of the Godavari dwells Rámananda Ráy, governor of Vidya-nagar. [[1]] Despise him not as a Shudra and worldling. See him for my sake. He is worthy of your society. The world has not another appreciative devotee like him. In him scholarship and faith have reached their extreme points. When you talk with him you will know his worth. I used to laugh at him as a Vaishnav, because I failed to understand his superhuman words. But Thy grace has now made me know his true merit. Conversation with him will disclose his greatness." The Master agreed, embraced him and bade him farewell saying, "Worship Krishna at home and bless me, so that through your favour I may return to Puri."

When the Master turned to go, Sárvabhauma fell down there in a faint, but the Master moved on quickly, without heeding him. Who can understand the heart and mind of the Master? The hearts of the great are at once tender as flowers and hard as the thunderbolt. Nityánanda raised Bhattáchárya and sent him home with his men. The faithful quickly overtook the Master, and Gopinath also arrived with the clothes and prasád. The Master went with them to Alálnáth, where He sang hymns for a long time, dancing and singing in rapture. The persons present flocked to gaze on the scene: they shouted Hari! Hari! while the Master danced in ecstasy in their midst. The people marvelled as they gazed at His golden hue, His crimson robe, and His tears of delight, His tremour and perspiration, which set off His beauty. All who came to see it forgot their homes and stayed to join in the dance and song of Shri Krishna Gopal; men and women, old and young, all were swept away by the tide of spiritual love. Seeing it Nityánanda said to the faithful, "He will dance thus at every village [on the way]." It was high time, but the people did not leave Him; so Nityánanda contrived a plan: He took the Master away for His noonday bath, the people rushing on all sides to look on. After the bath he led the Master to the temple, and as soon as his own men had entered he shut the door. He fed the Master, and they all ate His leavings. The crowd gathered outside the gate, shouting 'Hari! Hari!' Then he opened the door and the people entered joyfully to gaze on the Master.

The stream of people thus passed and repassed till the evening. They all became Vaishnavs and danced and sang [with the Master]. He passed the night there with the faithful, in delightful discourses on Krishna. Next morning after the morning bath, He bade farewell to the faithful. They fainted, but He looked not at them. The Master wended His way grieving at separation from them, Krishna-das following Him with the gourd. The faithful passed the day there in a fast, and returned sorrowing to Puri the next day. Like a raging lion the Master walked forth, chanting God's name in a transport of love. His words were:

Krishna! Krishna! Krishna! Krishna! Krishna! Krishna! Krishna! O!

Krishna! Krishna! Krishna! Krishna! Krishna! Krishna! Krishna!

Krishna! Krishna! Krishna! Krishna! Krishna! Krishna! Save me!

Krishna! Krishna! Krishna! Krishna! Krishna! Krishna! Deliver me!

Ram Raghav! Ram Raghav! Ram Raghav! Save me!

Krishna Keshav! Krishna Keshav! Krishna Keshav! Deliver me!

As the Lord Gaur walked on reciting the above verses He met a wayfarer and asked him to chant Hari's name. Mad with love that man cried 'Hari! Krishna!' and followed the Master out of longing to gaze at Him. After a long embrace the Master dismissed him, filled with spiritual power.

The man on returning home made all his village Vaishnav, talking of Krishna, laughing, weeping, dancing incessantly, and urging all to take Krishna's name. Chance visitors from other villages became like Him from the sight of Him, and spread Vaishnavism in their own villages. In this way was the whole Southern country converted to Vaishnavism. In this way did the Master make hundreds Vaishnav by embracing them in His travels. If He lodged and dined in anybody's house in a village, all the villagers flocked to see Him. Through the Master's grace they became great bhaktas, and acted as apostles for the deliverance of mankind. All the way to Setubandha, He did this; connection with Him made all the land Vaishnav. The power He had not manifested at Navadwip, He now put forth for the salvation of the South. He who worships the Master gains His favour and realizes the truth of these miracles. He who believes not in supernatural miracles loses both this world and the next.

In this way the Master travelled to the shrine of the Tortoise [[2]] [the Second Incarnation], saluted and praised the god, dancing, singing, smiling and weeping in rapture, to the wonder of by-standers. Crowds gathered to see Him; the Very sight of His marvellous beauty and devotion made them Vaishnavs. They danced with uplifted arms chanting Krishna's name in deep emotion. These very men converted other villages. Thus did the nectar of Krishna's name overflow the country, Vaishnavism spreading from man to man.

After a time the Master came back to His senses. The priest of the Tortoise did Him great reverence. This happened everywhere that He went. In that village a Vaidik Brahman named Kurma, very reverently invited the Master, brought Him home, washed His feet, and with his whole family drank the washing of His feet; then he lovingly fed the Master with many kinds of dishes, and they all partook of the leavings. He praised the Master thus: "Thy lotus-like feet, which Brahma himself adores, have come to my house. O my boundless good fortune! To-day my birth, race, and faith have been glorified. Lord, have mercy on me and take me with Thee! I cannot bear the sorrows of this worldly life." But the Master replied, "Say not so! Stay at home and recite Krishna's name ceaselessly. Teach Krishna's lore to whomsoever you meet with. At my bidding be thou an apostle and save this land! The world will never entangle you, but you will see me here again."

Every one at whose house He dined, made this request, and received this charge from the Master. Everywhere in His pilgrimage, till the return to Puri, it was exactly what He did at the Tortoise temple.

The night spent there, next morning, the Master bathed and resumed His journey; the Brahman Kurma followed Him long, but at last the Master persuaded him to return home. A high-minded Brahman named Vasudev, was covered with leprosy, but as the maggots dropped from his rotting limbs he used to pick them up and restore them to their places. [[3]] At night he heard of Chaitanya's arrival, and next morning went to Kurma's house to see Him; on hearing that the Master was gone, he fell down in a faint, and lamented in many ways. Just then the Master returned, embraced him, and lo! his leprosy as well as grief was gone at the touch and his body became sound and beautiful! He marvelled at the Master's grace and clasped His feet and praised Him by repeating the verse in the Bhágabat X. lxxxi. 14, (Rukmini's message sent to Krishna by the mouth of a Brahman).

Long did he thank the Master, saying, "Listen, Gracious One! No man has your virtue. Even wretches fled from me at the stench of my body. But thou, Supreme Lord, hast touched me! Better for me my former state of misery, because henceforth my heart will swell with pride." The Master soothed him saying, "No, you will not be puffed up. Ever take Krishna's name and save men by teaching them about Krishna. Soon will Krishna accept you".

So saying the Master vanished. The two Brahmans wept with joy at His grace, clasping each other by the neck. [Text, canto 7.]

[[1]] Vidya-nagar. Evidently Rajmahendri, now on the left bank of the Godavari. It was an important strategic point, being on the natural frontier between Kalinga and the kingdoms of the Madras coast. In 1459 a minister of the Gajapati king was ruling in this town; in 1470 it was captured by the Muhammadan Sultan of the Bahmani dynasty. Soon after 1480 it was taken by the king of Orissa; about 1515 it was captured by Krishna Dev, the king of Vijayanagar, but restored. In 1543 we find it ruled by Vidyádri, a Prince of the Gajapati line, who lost it finally to the Muhammadans in 1571. (Godavari Gazetteer, 244-245.)

[[2]] Sri Kurmam, 8 m.e. of Chicacole and the greatest place of pilgrimage to the Telegus. (Ganjam Manual 62).

[[3]] In Christian hagiology the same story is told about a saint of Europe, who addressed the maggots, "Eat, brothers, eat!"

CHAPTER VI

The Meeting with Rámánanda Ráy

Thus did the Master wend His way. On reaching the temple of the Nrisingha (Man-lion) Incarnation at Jiyad, [[1]] He made His bow and rapturously sang and danced long in honour of the god, saying, "Glory to Nrisingha! Glory to Nrisingha! Prahlad's Lord! Glory to you, O Lotus-lipped, O Bee on the Lotus!" [The Bhágabat, VII. ix. I. verse quoted in Shridhar Goswámi's commentary].

Many such verses did the Master recite as He prayed to the god. The serving priest presented Him with the god's garland. As before, a Brahman invited and fed the Master, who passed the night there. Next morning He took up His journey again, His emotion of faith making Him heedless of outer things day and night. As before, He made the people turn Vaishnav, and after a long time reached the bank of the Godavari, which reminded Him of the Jamuna, while the wood on the bank suggested Brindában. After dancing in the wood, He crossed the river and bathed there. Sitting at the water's edge away from the ghát, the Master chanted Krishna's name. Just then arrived Rámánanda Ráy in a litter, attended by Jiyad musicians and many Vaidik Brahmans, to bathe. He bathed and performed the rites duly. The Master at first sight knew him for Rámánanda Ráy, and longed to meet him, but sat checking His eagerness. Rámánanda Ráy came up to Him on seeing a sannyási, and wondered as he gazed on His person beaming like a hundred suns, His robe of the hue of the morning sun, His large vigorous frame, His eyes like the lotus. As he prostrated himself before the Master, the latter stood up and said, "Rise, and chant Krishna's name", and though thirsting with desire to embrace him, He asked, "Art thou Rámánanda Ráy?" The man answered, "Yes, I am that slave, a vile Shudra." Passionately did the Master embrace him, and both tumbled down on the ground in excess of devo tion, senseless with love, inert or perspiring, weeping, trembling, with hair standing on end, pale of hue, and lisping 'Krishna! Krishna!'

The Vaidik Brahmans marvelled as they beheld it, and inly thought, "This sannyasi, we see, is powerful like Brahma. Why does he weep after embracing a Shudra? This noble is a grave and learned man; why then has he been maddened by the touch of the sannyasi?" The Master checked Himself on seeing strangers. The two composed themselves and sat down there. Smilingly the Master began, "Sárvabhauma Bhattáchárya has spoken to me of your merits, and pressed me to see you. For that purpose have I come here. It is well that I have met you so easily." The Ray replied, "Sárvabhauma knows me for his servant, and is ever on the watch to do me good even indirectly. Through his grace have I met you, and to-day my life has become a success. That you have graciously touched this untouchable Shudra is the proof of your mercy and that of Sárvabhauma. Thou art the God Náráyan himself, and I a royal servant, a worldling, a wretch! In touching me thou didst not feel repulsion or fear of the Vedas! The Vedas forbid you even to look at me. Thy mercy leads thee to perform a forbidden act. Thou art God indeed; who can know thy ways? For delivering me hast thou come here, O Fountain of Mercy! O Saviour of the Fallen! Such is the habit of the great, to sate a wretch he goes out of his way to pay him a visit! Vide the Bhágabat, X. viii. 2, Nanda's words to Garga:

'Master, that saints travel from their own hermitages is only for doing [spiritual] good to those householders who cannot leave their houses; there is no other purpose in it.'

"The thousand men, Brahmans and others, in my train, have had their hearts melted by Thy sight. All of them are shouting Krishna! Hari! All are tremulous, all are weeping in joy. Verily you have every characteristic, internal and external, of God. No mortal can possess such supernatural power!"

The Master replied, "You are the greatest of devotees. It is your sight that has softened the hearts of all. Why impute it to another? I am only a sannyasi holding the theory of illusion (máyá-vád), but even I have been steeped in the love of Krishna by your touch. Knowing that my heart is hard to reform, Sárvabhauma had asked me to meet you."

Thus did the two praise each other, each delighted to see the other. Then a Vaishnav Vaidik Brahman bowed and invited the Master, who accepted the invitation knowing him to be a Vaishnav. Smiling, the Master said to Rámánanda, "I wish to hear the discourse of Krishna from your lips. I hope I shall see you again." The Ray replied, "You have come here to save this sinner. But my wicked heart has not been cleansed by the mere sight of you. Stay for 5 or 7 days to purge my hard heart of its sins." Rámánanda Ray bowed and went away, though loth to part, while the Master went to the Brahman's house to dine. Eagerly did the two look for their meeting in the evening. As the Master was sitting after his sunset bath, the Ráy arrived with a servant. He bowed to the Master, who embraced him. The two conversed in a retired spot. The Master bade him recite the verses indicating the means of gaming devotion (sádhya). The Ray replied, "We acquire faith in Vishnu by doing the duties of our rank. As the Vishnu Puran, III. viii. 8, says, 'Worship the Supreme Being Vishnu by doing the prescribed duties of your caste. There is no other means of pleasing Him.'" The Master objected, "This is only an external means. Mention one more advanced." The Ray replied, "The highest means of acquiring devotion is to resign to Krishna the fruits of our acts, as the Gitá, IX. 27, puts it:

'O Son of Kunti, consign to me whatever you do, be it eating, performing the horn ceremony, alms-giving, or austerity.'"

The Master again objected, "This too is external. Go deeper into the subject." The Ray answered, "The highest means of devotion is abandoning one's caste-duties [out of love for Krishna], as the Lord says to Uddhav in the Bhágabat, XI. xi. 32:

'He too is the highest of holy men, who knowing well the gain and loss of such a course, worships me by renouncing the Vedic rites and ceremonies of his caste, though these too were ordained by me.'