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
Another day the Master went with His party to behold Jagannáth at his
rising from bed. There He began the _berá kirtan_. Seven parties began
to sing, and seven chiefs danced in them, Adwaita Acharya, Nityánanda,
Vakreshwar, Atrhyutananda, Shribas Pandit, Satyaraja Khan and
Narahari-das. The Master visited all the seven groups, each thinking
that He was with it only! The roar of the _kirtan_ filled the earth;
all the citizens came out to see it; the king came with his Court and
gazed from a distance, the queens beheld the scene from the roofs of
houses. The earth trembled under the influence of the _kirtan_. Men
shouted _Hari!_ thus adding to the din. After a while, the Master was
inclined to dance Himself. Around Him the seven parties sang and beat
their instruments; in the centre He danced in supreme transport of love.
He recollected the Oriya verse, _Jagamohan parimundá jáun!_ 'Charmer of
the universe! I abase myself before Thee', and bade Swarup sing it. To
this air He danced in ecstasy, while all the men around swam in tears of
love. With uplifted arms He cried, "Chant! chant!" and they in delight
shouted _Hari! Hari!_ At times He fell down in a trance and ceased to
breathe, then suddenly started up with a roar. Frequent tremour burst
over His body, making it look like the _shimul_ tree, now it was
quivering and now it stiffened. The sweat burst through every pore in
His skin. With faltering speech he muttered _ja ja, ga ga, pari
pari_,--every tooth in his mouth shaking as if about to be loosened.
Even in the third quarter of the day His dance did not cease. All the
people in ecstasy forgot [fatigue of] body and [the distinction of] self
and others. Then Nityánanda resorted to a device; he silenced the
_kirtan_-singers gradually, and only the leaders of the seven groups
continued singing with Swarup, but in a low tone. At the cessation of
noise, the Master came to Himself somewhat. Then Nityánanda told Him how
fatigued all were. The Master at this put an end to the _kirtan_ and
went to bathe in the sea with them all.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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