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
As He was late in rising, Govinda wakened Him; but He saddened when He
became conscious of the real world. After performing the necessary acts
of the morning He went to behold Jagannáth. He stood close to the image
of Garuda, while hundreds of thousands of worshippers thronged in front
of Him. An Oriya woman, unable to see the god on account of the crowd,
climbed upon the Garuda and rested one foot on the Master's shoulder.
Govinda saw it and hurriedly pushed her a way, but the Master forbade
him to make her dismount from His shoulder, saying, "Don't remove her.
Let her gaze at Jagannáth to her heart's content". The woman, however,
quickly got down on seeing the Master and fell at His feet. The Master
remarked, "Jagannáth has not inspired _me_ with this woman's passionate
longing for him. Her body mind and soul are so absorbed in the God that
she did not notice that she was treading on my shoulder! She is blessed.
Let me worship her feet that I too may have her intensity of devotion."
Sadly did the Master return home, and sitting down on the ground began
to draw lines on the floor with His finger-nails. Tears streamed from
His eyes and blinded His vision. "Alas!" He cried, "after gaining
Krishna, I have lost him. Who has taken away my Krishna? Where have I
come?" In His trances He quivered with delight; but when He regained
consciousness, He felt that He had lost His treasure, and sang and
danced like mad, though He went through His bath, dinner etc. by
mechanical habit.
The ten forms of love-sickness possessed Him day and night, never giving
Him rest. Rámánanda Ray by reciting verses [from Vidyápati, Chandidás
and _Git-Govinda_] and Swarup by singing songs on Krishna's acts,
brought the Master somewhat back to His senses. At midnight they laid
Him to bed in the inner room, and Rámánanda returned to his own house,
while Swarup and Govinda slept at the door. It was the Master's wont to
wake all night, loudly chanting Krishna's name. [To-night] noticing the
silence within, Swarup pushed the door open. He found the other three
doors [also] closed from within, but the Master was not in the room.
They became alarmed at His absence, lighted their lanterns, and went out
in search of Him.
They found the Master lying on an open space a little north of the
Lion-gate of the temple. His body was 5 or 6 cubits long; He was
unconscious and His breathing had ceased! Each arm and leg was three
cubits long and consisted only of bones and skin. His hands feet neck
and waist were disjointed from the trunk by half a cubit and the places
of junction were covered with the bare skin. He was foaming at the mouth
and His eyes were fixed in a deadly stare.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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