The Supreme Lord Sri Krishna-Chaitanya Part III

Then from Kulia-Nabadwip the site of the absolution of offence, the Lord made His way to Ramkeli. At this time Husain Shah was the independent King of Gauda (Bengal). Dabir Khas and Sakar Mallick were the two right-hand men of the King in conducting the government of the country. Dabir Khas and Sakar Mallick became subsequently known as ‘Sree Rup’ and ‘Sree Sanatan’ respectively.

Husain Shah was informed by Dabir Khas of the greatness of the Lord and was convinced that the Lord was really the Godhead Himself. The Lord had with Him at Ramkeli Nityananda, Haridas, Sribasa Gadadhara, Mukunda, Jagadananda, Murari, Bakreshwara and other devotees. The Lord with all His devotees accepted as His own Sri Rupa and Sanatana who are indeed, His eternal servants. In compliance with the advice of Sanatana giving up for the present His intention of proceeding to Brindabana the Lord returned to Santipur by way of Kanai’s Natshala.

The Lord stopped at Santipur for seven days at the house of Advaitacharyya. He consoled His mother who obtained this opportunity of seeing Him a second time and who was sorely stricken with grief at separation from her Son. The Lord also met here Raghunath Das, Son of the famous Gobardhan Das of Saptagram. Sri Raghunath Das is the eternal servant of the Lord. He was at this time pining for an opportunity of joining the Lord by renouncing the world. The Lord, however advised him to conceal his ardour and return to his father’s house and there lead a life of detachment from the world the object of the Lord being to teach the people the difference between superficial and real detachment by his example.

From Santipur the Lord returned to Puri taking with Him Balabhadra Bhattacharyya and Damodar Pandit. After spending a few days at Puri accompanied only by Balabhadra Bhattacharyya, the Lord set out form Brindabana and journeyed to Kashi by way of Jharikhanda. While the Lord was making His way through the forest He indulged in the pastime of making the tiger and the deer dance and chant the Kirtan.

On His arrival at Benares the Lord bathed in the Manikarnika and after beholding Bishweshwar and Bindu-Madhaba in the company of Tapan Misra went the latter’s house and put up there. Raghunath (subsequently Sri Raghunath Bhatta Goswami) the son of Tapan Misra thus obtained an opportunity of tending the feet of the Lord and honouring the remains of His meals. During the four days of His stay at Benares on this occasion Tapan Misra and a certain Marhatta Brahman expressed their great sorrow to the Lord at the unfortunate condition of Benares which was wholly in the grip of illusionism (mayavada). They also regretfully informed the Lord of the slanders against Himself which were disseminated by Prakashananda, the leader of the mayavadi Sannyasis. The Lord manifested an attitude of indifference towards the activities of this mayavadi Sannyasis and having accepted the Marhatta Brahman as His own left for Prayaga.

At the sight of the Yamuna at Prayaga in the excitation of the Braja lila the Lord plunged into the water of the stream and was rescued by Balabhadra. The Lord stayed at Prayaga for three days and then proceeded by slow stages towards Mathura along the Mathura road dispensing the Name and love of Krishna.

At Mathura the Lord accepted the alms of food cooked by a Sanoria Brahman who was a disciple of Sri Madhabendra Puri. Sanoria Brahmans lie under the ban of untouchability, have no social standing and all intercourse with them is avoided by other Brahmans. By His action on this occasion the Supreme Lord laid down the principle of conduct of a Vaishnaba.

The Lord visited the different sites of the Brindabana lila. The Lord performed the lila of chanting the holy Name and instructing the people in regard to the same till midday sitting under the tamarind tree of the Age of Krishna that stood near the Chira Ghat. The Lord showed His mercy to Krishna-das, a Rajput who became thence formed a constant companion of the Lord and His Kamandulu bearer. The people got up a rumour to the effect that Krishna Himself had appeared in the Kaliya Lake, mistaking the activities of a fisherman at night. The simple minded Balabhadra Bhattacharyya also felt a strong desire of visiting the subject of the false rumour. The Lord removed the error of Balabhadra. By this lila the Lord made it clear that it is extremely difficult for a tiny jiva to escape the tricks of the illusory power which seeks every opportunity of beguiling the unwary. So great is the power of Maya that a person who happened to be in the very presence of Krishna Himself could be deluded by her into mistaking her trick for Krishna.

Noticing that His stay at Brindabana had the effect of producing excessive loving excitement in the Lord Balabhadra Bhattacharyya deemed it advisable to coduct the Lord back to Prayaga after performing the bath in Ganges at Soro Khetra Krishnadas the Rajput, the Sonaria Brahman of Mathura, Balabhadra Bhattacharyya and a Brahman who had accompanied Balabhadra from the start, set out on the journey with the Lord.

On the way noticing the cows in the act of grazing and hearing the sudden strains of a flute sounded by a cowherd the Lord swooned away due to excitation of the memories of the Braja lila. Just at this moment there arrived on the spot a body of ten Pathan horsemen who finding the Lord in an unconscious state and suspecting that His companions had caused the fit for robbing the Lord of His property, at the instance of their leader, Bijali Khan, the Pathans bound them with chains mentioning their suspicion as the reason of such procedure. As the external consciousness of the Lord returned He had a talk and religious discussion with a Moulana who happened to belong to Bijali Khan’s party. The Lord proved from the Koran itself the superiority of devotion to Krishna. Whereupon the Moulana sought the shelter of the feet of the Lord Who after absolving him from his sins bestowed on him the name of Ramdas. Bijali Khan and the other horsemen also surrendered themselves at the feet of the Lord and turned into devotees of Krishna. They were subsequently known as “the Pathan Vaishnabas.”

After performing the bath in the Ganges at Soro Kshetra the Lord reached the triple confluence of the rivers at Prayaga. There at Dasavamedha Ghat the Lord met Sri Rupa who arrived there after enacting the lila of renouncing the service of the King and wealth and family. In the meantime Sri Ballabh Bhatta invited and took the Lord to his house at the village of Arail situated on the opposite side of the Yamuna. There the Lord accepted the alms of cooked food. Sri Ballabh Bhatta with all his kindred accepted the water touched by the feet of the Lord and worshipped His holy feet. The Supreme Lord introduced Sri Rupa to Ballabh Bhatta. Subsequently on the arrival of Raghupati Upadhyaya from Tirhoot the Lord had a prolonged mellow conversation with him.

The Lord stopped at Prayaga for ten days at the Dasasvamedha Ghat. Here He secretly infused His power into Sri Rupa and teaching him the principles of amorous devotion in the form of aphorisms commanded him to write “the Rasamritasindhu”. Then the Lord despatched Sri Rupa to Brindabana and Himself returned to Kashi where He took up His residence at the lodging of Chandra Shekhara.

Sri Sanatana having got rid of his official connection with the King with great skill longing for a sight of the feet of the Lord made his way to Benares and presented himself at the doorstep of Chandra Sekhar. The Supreme Lord, Knower of all hearts, causing him to be brought from the gate-way into the interior of the house commanded him to be made cleanly. After Sanatana had gone through the lila of being made bhadra he put on koupin and bahirbas (inner and outer sheets worn by one who has renounced the world) made from a piece of old cloth obtained from Tapana Misra. The answers embodying the substance of all spiritual truth which were given by the Supreme Lord Himself to the questions addressed to Him in the right spirit of enquiry by His eternal servant Sanatana, regarding the nature, duty and object of the jiva are known collectively as ‘Sri Sanatana Siksha’.