The Supreme Lord Sri Krishna-Chaitanya Part IV

With the object of delivering the sannyasis resident in Kashi who professed the doctrine of illusionism (mayavad) the Lord at the request of the devotees by the manifestation of humility and the power of enforcing universal obedience drew unto Himself the hearts of those sannyasis and their guru Prakasanannda assembled at the house of the Marhatta Brahman. Thereafter and in reply to questions addressed to Him by Prakasananda the Lord pointed out all the defects of the view of Sri Sankaracharyya by exposing the baselessness of the mayabad position and expatiated on the greatness of the holy Name of Krishna. The sannyasis of Kashi obtained deliverance by the mercy of the Lord from the all-devouring jaw of the demoness of mayavad.

On a certain day at Benares when the Supreme Lord in the company of His devotees began to chant the kirtan in the temple of Bindu Madhab, Prakasananda arriving there with his disciples fell down at the feet of the Lord passionately denouncing his own past conduct and enquired about the principle of devotion conformably to the conclusions of the Vedanta. The Supreme Lord after describing the principles of devotion as established in the Brahma Sampradaya made it known to him that the Srimad Bhagabat offers the only un-ambiguous exposition of the Vedanta philosophy. After this the Supreme Lord sent Sanatan to Brindaban and Himself set out for Nilachal.

Sri Rup Goswami Prabhu arrived at Puri from Brindaban and stayed with Thakur Haridas. The Supreme Lord freely gave vent to His delight on seeing the famous verses composed by Sri Rup beginning with ‘the self same Darling…’. Another day the Lord listened with great satisfaction to the prefatory and other verses from Sri Rup’s dramas ‘Lalita Madhab’ and ‘Bidagdha Madhab’.

In order to establish in the world the ideal of conduct for one who has renounced the world and as a warning to hypocritical psilanthropists the Lord forbade the junior Haridas entry into His house and finally disowned him altogether for the offence of sensuous association with females. The junior Haridas had procured by begging a quantity of raw rice to be used for preparing the Lord’s meal, from an aged matron, Madhabi Devi, at the instance of Bhagaban Acharyya who acted the part of the immature devotee. After waiting for a year in the vain hope of being pardoned the junior Haridas gave up his body in the triple confluence at Prayag. The Supreme Lord on learning this declared that it was the only proper expiation for a pseudo-Bairagi who chooses to associate with females.

The fallen jiva during the period of spiritual novitiate must not be supposed to be on a level with the paramahansa who has attained self-realisation or with the Godhead Himself. In order to make this clear the Lord exhibited the lila of sending back Damodar Pandit to Navadwip in consequence of the latter having warned the Lord Himself against unpleasant consequences that might follow His allowing the handsome boy of a youthful Brahman lady to terms of intimacy with Himself.

By the exhibitions of the appearance of the uncouth disease of itching sores all over the body of Sri Sanatan on his arrival at Puri from Mathura and the consequent resolve of Sanatan who was the embodiment of humility to sacrifice his body under the wheels of the Car of Jagannathadeva, as also by explicit declarations to the effect that the transcendental body of Sanatan was the chosen instrument for the fulfilment of the purpose of the Supreme Lord Himself and by such other activities the Lord taught those who are guided by the speculative instinct of their sinful natures that the practice of hollow asceticism is not the method of attaining to Krishna thereby establishing the transcendence of the body of the devotee who makes a complete surrender of himself at the feet of the Lord. The Supreme Lord made Sanatan stay at Sri Kshestra during the year, commanding him to proceed to Sree Brindaban at its close.

When Pradyumna Misra of Srihatta expressed his wish to listen to discourses about Krishna from the lips of the Lord Himself the Supreme Lord directed him to Sri Ramananda. Pradyumna Misra’s regard for Rai Ramananda, however, gave way and he returned disappointed on learning the occupation of Rai who in exercise of amorous devotion which is the function of the greatest devotees and paramahansas, taught the female attendants at the Temple of Jagannath the art of dramatic performance. The Supreme Lord after explaining Rai’s nature which is incomprehensible to fallen souls sent Misra back, for the purpose of being instructed in the principles of the Absolute Truth, to Sri Rai Ramananda, the chanter of the kirtan of Krishna, who although appearing in a family belonging to non-Brahman caste by seminal descent, was the guru of all the Brahmans.

The Lord could never tolerate to listen to any propositions opposed to the principle of the Truth or charged with the unwholesome quality of sensuous sentimentalism. The Lord consented to listen only to such books as had undergone a previous and searching examination at the hands of Swarup Damodar as to the author’s views regarding principles of devotion and had been passed by him as being worth listening to.

In the state of acutely-felt separation exhibited at Nilachal by the Supreme Lord, Swarup and Ramananda alone ministered to Him.