Chaitanya's Life And Teachings Part 21

Then, Swarup in anxiety took counsel of the other _bhaktas_ next day and made Shankar Pandit sleep in the Master's room, nursing His feet. In fear of Shankar He could not leave the room nor knock His face against the walls. These feats Raghunath-das has described in his _Chaitanya-staba-kalpa-briksha_.

One _Baishakh_ night, when it was full moon, the Master went with His _bhaktas_ to visit the great Jagannath-vallabh park. The trees and creepers were in full bloom as at Brindaban, the green parrots, bees and cuckoos were discoursing [love]. The Zephyr was blowing laden the scent of flowers, and freshening made the tree-tops dance. Under the bright moonlight the plants and creepers blazed in a silvery sheen. Spring pervaded the atmosphere. The sight threw the Master into a rapture. He bade the stanza _Lalita labanga lata_ [of the _Git-Govinda_, canto ix.

verse 6] be sung, and moved up and down dancing with His followers.

Pa.s.sing thus from tree to tree, He came under an _Ashoka_ tree and lo!

he beheld Krishna standing there. He rushed to meet Krishna, who disappeared laughing. The Master, losing Krishna after having caught sight of him, fell down in a faint. The odour of Krishna's person filled the garden; it took away the Master's senses, it maddened Him, and He began to sing and hold forth on the verses that Radha, enamoured of the scent of Krishna's body, had addressed to her _sakhi_.

Swarup and Ramananda sang, the Master danced in rapture, and thus the night wore on to dawn.

THE LAST CHARGE TO THE APOSTLES

Thrilled with delight, the Master spoke, "Listen, Swarup and Ramananda Ray! the supreme healer in this iron age is _sankirtan of the Name_. It is [equivalent to] the Vedic sacrifice, and the true sacrificer in it is rewarded with Krishna's feet. Sankirtan enables us to conquer sin and the world; it creates purity of soul, all kinds of _bhakti_ and devotional practice. Chant the Name at meals, in bed, here there and every where. It is not restricted to a particular place or time, it works everywhere. It bears the name of _sarva-shakti_ (omnipotent).

"Listen, Ramananda, to the way in which the Name should be recited in order to conceive a pa.s.sion for it. The devotee, if high of rank, should regard himself as lowly like the gra.s.s. He should learn patience from the tree, which does not cry out even when it is cut down and which does not beg for water even when it is peris.h.i.+ng of drought, but on the other hand gives away its possessions to all who ask of it, bears sun and rain itself but protects others from them. The Vaishnav, however high, should be free from pride; he should venerate all forms of life as animated by Krishna. Take Krishna's Name thus, and you will be inspired with _prem_."

As He spoke He was filled with growing meekness of spirit and began to beg for pure _bhakti_ at Krishna's hands. The true devotee, as is the law of love, holds that he has not even a particle of faith in Krishna!

_"Lord! I ask not for wealth or followers or the gift of poesy. Give me in birth after birth only unreasoning instinctive devotion to G.o.d."_

In utter lowliness of spirit He proclaimed Himself a worldly-minded creature and prayed to be inspired with a slave's devotion (_dasya bhakti_). _"O Nanda's son! Have pity on this thy servant sunk in the dread ocean (of the World)! Look on me as a particle of dust on thy lotus-feet!"_ Next, He was seized with the anxiety of humility and begged of Krishna, "Without the wealth of thy love my life is poor and futile. Make me thy slave and give me the treasure of thy love as my wages."

Then came the mood of melancholy-humility: _"My eyes are running with tears like the rainy sky. A moment is as long to me as an aeon. The absence of Govinda (Krishna) has made the universe empty to me!"_

In this way He recited His own eight Sanskrit verses on the different moods of _bhakti_ and expounded them all. For twelve years He thus tasted the sweets of Krishna-love day and night with His two friends.

These acts of His are endless, even a thousand narratives cannot arrive at their end. Therefore, I bow my head and conclude His _lilas_ here. I bow at the feet of all my Vaishnav hearers and end my history of Chaitanya's acts.

The last scene (translated from the _Chaitanya-mangal_ of Jayananda, p.

150):

When dancing at the Bijaya of the Car festival in the month of Asharh, His left toe was suddenly pierced by a brick [lying on the road]. When Adwaita left for Bengal, the Master secretly told him [of His coming disappearance]. With all His followers He sported in the water of the Narendra tank [for the last time]. On the sixth day of the moon, the pain in His toe grew severer, and He was forced to take to His bed in the garden. Here He told the Pandit Goswami that He would leave the earth next night at 10 o clock. Celestial garlands of many-coloured flowers were thrown on Him from the unseen. Celestial singers (_vidyadhar_) began to dance on the highway. The G.o.ds began to cry out, "Bring the heavenly chariot!" The Master mounted into Vishnu's car with the figure of Garuda on its spire. His material body lay behind on the earth, while He went to Vaikuntha (Vishnu's heaven). Many of His servants killed themselves by serpent-bite. Meteors and thunderbolts fell on the earth. At the news Nityananda and Adwaita Acharya, Vishnupriya and Shachi swooned away. Purushottam and other servitors of the Master grew speechless at His departure.

Nityananda consoled the disciples and vowed before them, "We will keep the Name alive. We will make all men down to the Chandals, Vaishnavs. We will not differentiate [low] castes like the Chandals or Muslims, but will give them all love and _bhakti_ and make them all dance [with us]

at _kirtan_. We will make the realms of Bengal and Orissa blessed." The Vaishnavs shouted applause at his words.