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.