Chaitanya's Life And Teachings: From his contemporary Begali biography the Chaitanya-charit-amritaKṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmi
Religion
Chaitanya's Life And Teachings: From his contemporary Begali biography the Chaitanya-charit-amrita
Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmi
Chaitanya, 1486-1534; Hinduism
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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account