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History of Bengali Language and Literature c9: Chapter V. The Literature of the Vaiṣṇavas

History of Bengali Language and Literature c9

Language
English

Contents

Chapter V. The Literature of the Vaiṣṇavas

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I. Vaiṣṇavism in Bengal. II. The Life and Teachings of Chaitanya Deva. III. Vaiṣṇava Biographies.
(a) Kaḍchā or Notes by Govinda Dās.
(b) Chaitanya Bhāgabata by Vṛindāvan Dās.
(c) Chaitanya Maṅgal by Jayānanda.
(d) Chaitanya Charitāmrita by Kṛiṣṇa Dās Kavirāj.
(e) Chaitanya Maṅgal by Lochan Dās.
(f) Brief accounts of Nityānanda—Advaitāchāryya—Narottam Dās—Raghunāth Dās — Rupa — Sanātana — Çrinivās-Achāryya—Hari Dās and other Vaiṣṇava devotees.
(g) Bhakti Ratnākar and other biographical works. IV. Theological books. V. The Padas or Songs of the Vaiṣṇavas. —:0:—

I. Vaiṣṇavism in Bengal

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Chronologically speaking, a considerable portion of the Literature, which forms the subject-matter of this chapter, precedes works treated of in the last chapter. But as the Vaiṣṇava Literature is marked by distinct characteristics of its own and has little relation to the spirit that predominates in the rest of our Literature, we have found it convenient to group the works of Vaiṣṇava writers together and to deal with them separately in the present chapter, without observing their chronological order, in relation to non-Vaiṣṇava works.

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Works written by the Vaiṣṇavas form the most important and interesting portion of our literature.

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They cover a varied field and contain the finest examples of poetry that are to be found in our language, and are no less important for their lofty spiritual tone inspired by the great personality of Chaitanya Deva than for the influence they have exerted on our language in all its different channels.

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A contrast with the works of classical writers.

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In the literature dealt with in the last chapter, we marked the hand of classical writers, who had recast the earlier recensions of rustic poems after Sanskritic models. This literature of renaissance is permeated by a taste for classical figures and classical allusions. Words were recovered from the loose Prākrita to which they had degenerated, and restored to their original Sanskrit forms. Reformed Hindus took up subjects of Buddhistic origin, cast them into the mould of their own new ideas, Hinduized their spirit and Sanskritized their language. The Vaiṣṇava Literature, however, is essentially a literature of the people. This ‘people’ should not be identified with those rustic folk whose language was the hated patois and the subjects of whose songs were fables and stories in which facts were distorted or over-coloured without any artistic sense. The people who created Vaiṣṇava Literature had warred against orthodoxy and priest-craft. They had risen out of the stupor of ignorance of ages and become conscious of a new strength. A god-man had lived in their midst and in the living example before them, they had witnessed the fulfilment of the spiritual ideal of their country, greater than what scholars could teach or poets represent with all the inspiration of their language. The freedom and latitude of their literary attempts startle us by their boldness, as they attract us by their novelty.

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Bengal has, as I have already said, evinced in the history of her religious progress, a spirit of constant revolt against orthodoxy. Whenever an institution, basing itself on the dogmas of monastic pedants, has shut its portals against the immutable truths of nature and tried to blindfold men by learning and logic, the heterodox elements in this country have revolted against its theology and asserted themselves to break the fetters of social autocracy by proclaiming the true relation in which man stands to God and to his fellow men. It was this spirit which had at one time, made Bengal a staunch votary of the Buddhistic creed; it was for this reason that the Jain Tirthankaras had found it a suitable soil for the promulgation of their doctrines; and last but not least the Vaiṣṇavas of Bengal shewed the strength that lay dormant in her masses, a strength which by a Herculian application of its resources upset the whole social fabric, broke through the thick walls of time-honoured institutions, and opened up a vista for the passage of heaven's light.

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This great strength of the people had been silently gathering itself in the declining days of Buddhism, when the Vaiṣṇava creed had not yet assumed a new shape in Bengal. The Mahāyāna School of the Buddhists had branched itself in a hundred ways and the theory of the void (Çunyabād), though it occasionally led to scepticism and sophistry, counted a large number of votaries who developed a creed of devotion not unlike the Vaiṣṇava Mahāyānism and Vaisnavism.

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idea of love. Some of the scholarly Mahāyānists went a step further than Nagarjuna, the great promoter of the creed and founder of the Madhyamic School, and argued like atheists. This class earned for the Buddhists, the common name of sceptics in the country. But amongst the masses Mahāyānism gave rise to the worship of a hundred deities like that of Prajñā Pāramitā, Abalokiteçwar and Munjaçri, whose images have so many points in common with those of Vasudeva and other gods and goddesses of the Hindu Pantheon.

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Says Mr. Kern in his Manual of Buddhism,*—" Mahāyānism lays a great stress on devotion, in this respect as in many others, harmonising with the current of feeling in India which led to the growing influence of Bhakti. It is by that feeling of fervent devotion combined with the preaching of active compassion that the creed enlisted the sympathy of numerous millions of people." Mahāyānism in its higher theology professed doctrines not unlike those promulgated by the great Sankarācharyya. It bore a distinct affinity to Hinduism in its popular forms also. According to Kern, " Mahāyānism is much indebted to the Bhāgabata Gītā and more even to Çaivism."† The Buddhist masses had therefore developed an emotional creed which led them afterwards to accept the tenets of Vaiṣṇavism with such cordiality. The ‘Nām Saṅkirtan’ or the recitation of god's name which forms one of the most essential points in the Vaiṣṇava creed was also prevalent amongst these Mahāyāna Buddhists with whom the "void" was sometimes contemplated as merely a name.

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∗ P. 124.

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† P. 122.

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When Buddhism ceased to be a living force, a great number of people who had adhered to that faith lost all social prestige in the country. They became out-castes—the Hindu revivalists having refused to admit them to their society. These people readily responded to the brotherly call of the Vaiṣṇavas and gathered under the flag of Nityānanda—the great apostle of Chaitanyism in Bengal in the sixteenth century. Thus the Bāuls, the Neḍa Neḍis, the Sahajīas and the sects that afterwards went by the name of Kartā Bhajās and Kisori Bhajaks, who had originally formed the bulk of the Buddhist masses, now swelled the ranks of the lay Vaiṣṇavas. Some of these people still uphold the doctrines of the Mahāyānists though they outwardly profess Chaitanyism. The Mahimā Dharmis of Orissa have a vast literature which promulgate the doctrines of Chaitanya and Nagārjuna alike. In some works of this class such as those of the Uriyā poets Chaitanya Dās and Jagannāth Dās who flourished in the sixteenth century and are popularly known as Vaiṣṇava poets, the creed of Madhyamic Mahāyānism is elaborately explained without any excuse, and the names of Dharma (Prajnā Pāramitā), and of Buddha are of frequent occurrence in them. Indeed one poet went so far as to give an account of the five Dhyani Buddhas on the lines of the Mahāyānists, calling himself a follower of Chaitanya all the while. Some of these startling facts recently discovered by Babu Nagendranath Vasu will be found embodied in his archæological Report on Orissa which is already in the press. It will be curious to observe how Chaitanyism and Mahāyānism have

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The lay Buddhist society furnishing a recruiting ground for the Vaiṣṇavas.

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commingled amongst some of these Vaiṣṇava sects. In one instance a religious mendicant of the Vaiṣṇava sect of Bāul was asked by the writer of the present treatise if he worshipped the image of Chaitanya. He said in reply that there could be really no image of Chaitanya to be worshipped as he was merely 'the void' and existed only as a name!

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Thus the scattered Mahāyānists,—who lay like a disbanded army, without any great leader to govern and control them, after Buddhism had been banished from the soil of its birth,—were now brought together and made to accept the emotional creed of love, in its fully developed form; they were thus merged in the great community of the Vaiṣṇavas. The Vaiṣṇavas, while calling all people to accept their theory of spiritual love, also beat the drum of war against caste-distinction and priest-craft; and the evolution of what remained of Buddhism in the country to the highly spiritual and emotional creed of the Vaiṣṇavas came to happen as the natural sequence of this revolution; for the Buddhist masses had already developed a creed of devotion being influenced by the spirit of the Paurāṇic revival all around, and Vaiṣṇavism attracted them most, as it did away with caste—now the only barrier that could prevent them from joining with the Buddhists.

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The points of similarity.

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What distinction is there between the Buddhist Vikṣu and the Vaisnava Vairagi with his shaven head and loose over coat? When we read Yuang Chuang's travels—his description of Kuçi Nagar and Benares for distance, and read mythological accounts of Buddha's killing the demons related with a devotional fervour, are we not reminded of stories about Viṣṇu so exactly alike, described in Vaiṣṇava books as Narottam Vilās and Bhakti Ratnākar? In the latter, the mythological deeds of Viṣṇu are found marked by temples, while in the former the scenes of Buddha's conquest of demons are said to have been marked by pillars of Açokā Rājā. The religious history prevalent in the country merely changed name when the Buddhist theology passed into Vaiṣṇavism and a careful study of the two religions will shew them often to be as similar as the image of Avalokiteçwar of the Buddhists and Vasudeva of the Hindus.

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But this detracts nothing from the praise due to the Vaiṣṇavas. They infused new life, where vitality was sinking. It is true, materials lay all around in the shape of a spirit of devotion and a desire for renunciation. But in the world materials are at no time wanting. It is only when a great power works them up to their highest capacity and leads to striking success that we have opportunities of observing that they were capable of such achievements. Buddhism and Vaiṣṇavism, besides, originally differed in their tenets, one laying stress on knowledge and the other on devotion. It was only when the higher classes of the Mahāyānists had left the country, that the Buddhist masses found it possible to accept a leader who preached the doctrine of Bhakti (devotion), without reserving a place for Jnan (knowledge) in his theology.

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Credit due to the Vaiṣṇavas

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Fundamental difference.

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The message of Eastern India to the world.

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Eastern India seems to have a singular mission for the world. There is no Haldighāt, no Chillin-walā, no Kurukheṣtra, no Pānipat in this part of the country. No martial feats, no acts of extraordinary bravery or patriotism mark this blessed land; but the pre-historic temples of Benares rise aloft invoking people from the furthest provinces of India to respond to their high religious call; the Sāma-songs accompanied by the evening-bells and sung in chorus by Vedic Brāhmins in the holy city carry us to the times when the Riṣis of old, set their first great utterances on religion to sublime music. The monastery of Nālendā, once one of the greatest centres of learning in the world, opened its portals to all peoples without distinction and drew pupils from every part of the then known world. The pillar-inscriptions of Aṣoka proclaimed from here the great truths of universal equality, forbearance, and kindness, and shewed the solicitious care of an ideal monarch who was a father to his people—nay, was full of compassion even for the dumb animals. Here, in yet earlier times, lived Rāma in Uttara Koṣola whose name as that of an incarnation of God is uttered by all Hindus in the hour of death. And it was here that the great Buddha from Kapilāvastu preached his religion which has left its stamp on the civilization of the whole world, and whose influence may be traced not only in the ‘Karma-bad’ on which modern Hinduism is based, but even in the Catholic Church of Christians and in the creed of the Shufis amongst Mahammadans. The Jaina Tirthankaras all attained their spiritual goal in this part of India, and the great temple of Jagannāth in Purī, and the educational institutions of Mithilā, and Nadīā in comparatively recent times, have held up a torch which has lit up the Hindu world and led it along the path of intellectual and spiritual progress. Here in Eastern India, sang Vālmiki, that master of epics, the deep pathos of whose sublime poetry flows like the noble stream of the Tamasā itself on whose banks it was first composed. Of the Rāmāyana it has been said;—"So long as the mountains of the world endure and so long as noble rivers flow, this epic will be read."

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The Aryans who came to Bengal and settled here had distinctly a high religious object in view. From Çīlā Bhadra, Dīpaṅkara and Mahāvīra to Mīnanāth, Gorakṣanāth, Haḍipā, Kālupā, Chau-rāngee and even Ramāi Pandit—the apostles of Bengal all proclaimed to the people the transitoriness of this world and the glory of a religious life. I have referred to the whole of Eastern India, because Bengali civilization four hundred years ago was the result of all these influences combined. The environment of a man shapes his proclivities to a great extent and the Bengal of the 16th century was pre-eminently marked by the influences that had governed Eastern India for ages. Nadīā-Tolas, represented a revival, not indeed on such a wide scale yet in a subtler way, of the learning of the Nālanda monasteries. Buddha had taught kindness to animals and a process of introspection by which a conquest over the warring passions of the soul might be gained. Peace was proclaimed, not only with the human, but also with the animal world, and when the soil was so far pre- Chaitanya advanced a step further.

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Born in a pious family.

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pared by Buddhism, came Chaitanya Deva into this historic land of religion, to advance a step further and teach love to God.

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He taught it unmistakably. The family to which he belonged had for many generations past been Vaiṣṇavas—which means that they had abstained from all kinds of meat. No fish or flesh could cross the threshold of a Vaiṣṇava family. The word killing is not to be found in their vocabulary; to speak of ‘cutting’ even a vegetable, for food, was unholy with them. They called it বানান or dressing (lit. preparing). The older phraseology current in the country had been changed by the Vaiṣṇavas. The idea of kindness to animals had reached perfection with them and how can this be explained, except as the result of Buddhism which long predominated here? The family of Chaitanya Deva were of an unworldly character. His father Jagannāth Miçra, was very poor. His wife Çachī Devī asked him one day why he did not worship Chandī—for the avocation of such a priest would bring him more money. Jagannāth Miçra smiled and said he did not care to have it.

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It was a family that cared only for the grace of God,—God who was real to the Hindus of that period, and not a mere matter of speculation as he is to so many modern Bengalis. The life of Chaitanya proves that all the tender emotions of love,—the yearnings of a mother for her child,—all that friendship of man or woman may inspire in the soul, do not represent a tithe of what a man can feel or suffer when he realises the love of God. But it requires the clear vision of one in whom all worldly desires have been extinguished, to appreciate and realise this great love. Chaitanya Deva, became completely lost in his own devotion to God. The poetry that welled up round him from those who witnessed the superb sight of his beautiful love ecstacy, has enriched our literature beyond measure in the matchless padas of the Vaiṣṇava poets which will remain as an invaluable treasure to us for ages to come.

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He inspired the ‘padas’ by his love-ecstacy.

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All honour to thee, O Navadwīpa,—the glory of Bengal! The historic city is now crumbling to decay. Its splendour is now a tale of by-gone ages. But Navadwīpa will remain sacred to Hindus for ever. Its very dust proclaims a history which holds us under a spell. For ages it has held a torch that has illuminated Bengal and in the 15th century a heavenly light appeared on its horizon which, moon-like, developed into a glorious luminary; verily was Chaitanya Deva ‘Navadwīpa-Chandra’ or the moon of Navadwīpa, as he is popularly called.

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Navadwīpa, the birthplace of Chaitanya

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and a seat of learning.

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In speaking of the glories of Navadwīpa I am not referring to the fact that it was the last seat of the Hindu kings of Gauḍa. In later times it became a far-famed seat of learning. Its great school of Logic, founded by Vasu Deva Sarvabhauma, and brought to perfection by Raghunāth Çiramaṇi, drew pupils from all parts of India. The new system of Logic called Navya Nyāya which supplemented the old system of Gautāma, indicates

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Navya Nyāya.

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the keenness of the Bengali intellect. The subtlety with which the Navya Nyaya has been worked out, gives it a unique character and in the brilliant mode of its exposition, it may be considered as a land-mark of progress in human thought, and an achievement of which every Indian may be justly proud. This school of Logic at Navadwīpa drew pupils from Benares, the Panjab, Poonā and all the other recognised centres of Sanskrit learning; so that by the early 16th century the Tolas or Sanskrit schools of Navadwīpa, had become the metropolis of learning in India. Narahari Chakervarty, author of Bhaktiratnākara gives a topography of Navadwīpa of this period, from which we see that the area of the city was sixteen square miles at the time. It included within this area the following among other wards :—Ātāpur, Simuliā, Majitagrām, Vāmanpukhuriā, Hāt-danga, Rātupur, Vidyanagara, Belpukhuriā, Chāmpāhāt, Mangāchi, Rāhupur, Miñāpur, Gandhavanik Pārā, Mālākara Pārā, Çāṅkhāri Pārā and Tānti Pārā. Vrindāvan Dās, author of Chaitanya Bhāgbata, thus describes the flourishing condition of Navadwīpa.

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"It is impossible to describe the glories of Navadwīpa. Hundreds of thousands of people bathe there in the Ganges every day. Various races of people dwell in the city whose num-

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* নবদ্বীপের সমৃদ্ধি কে বর্ণিবারে পারে।
এক গঙ্গাঘাটে লক্ষ লোক স্নান করে ॥
ত্রিবিধ বৈসে এক জাতি লক্ষ লক্ষ।
সরস্বতী দৃষ্টিপাতে সবে মহা দক্ষ ॥

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bers may be counted by lacs. There are hundreds of scholars in it by the grace of Sarasvati (the goddess of learning). There are many professors who are fond of displaying their learning. Even a boy there, will challenge a veteran professor to an intellectual discussion. People from various countries flock to the Tols of Navadwipa, and when they have finished their studies there, their education becomes complete."

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But what was this Navya Nyaya of Bengal? Those who have read the system of Logic founded by Gautāma, know that its basis is a spiritual philosophy. But this Navya Nyaya of Bengal has nothing to do with religion. It is a secular system of purely intellectual reasoning. In the latter days of Buddhism, faith in God, as I have said, had become nearly extinct amongst some of the scholarly Mahāyānists, and the creed become almost identical with scepticism in popular estimation. Human mind in this country after long ages of scepticism and mystic Tāntrik rites,—confounded and stupefied by the supernatural feats of 'siddhas' wanted to extricate itself from the mazy ways of an old and rotten institution and panted for light and for love of God. The horrors of Tān-

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সবে মহা অধ্যাপক করি গর্ব্ব করে। বালকে হো ভট্টাচাৰ্য্য সনে কক্ষা করে ॥ নানা দেশ হইতে লোক নবদ্বীপে যায়। নবদ্বীপে পড়িলে সে বিদ্যারস পায় ॥ trikism are thus described by Narahari Chakravarty in his Narottam Vilās :—*

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"Who can count their crimes? The blood of goats and buffaloes stain each house. Many of them hold in one hand the heads of men severed from the body and in another a sword and dance in frightful ecstacy. If any body falls in their way, he is sure to meet with death at their hands. There is no way to avoid the frightful doom—not even if he be a Brahmin. All of them are addicted to meat and wine and are lost to all sense of sexual morality."

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Vrindāvana Dāsa's Chaitanya Bhāgabata also shews the spirit of the times.†

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"The people are wealthy by the grace of Lakṣmī (goddess of wealth). But they spend their

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* "করয়ে কুক্রিয়া যত কে কহিতে পারে।
ছাগ মেষ মহিষ শোণিত ঘরে ঘরে ॥
কেহ কেহ মানুষের কাটা মুণ্ড লৈয়া।
খড়্গ করে করয়ে নর্তন মত্ত হৈয়া ॥
সে সময়ে কেহ যদি সেই পথে যায়।
হইলেও বিপ্র তার হাত না এড়ায় ॥
সভে স্ত্রী-লম্পট জাতি বিচার রহিত।
মদ্য মাংস বিনে না ভুঞ্জয়ে কদাচিত ॥"
Narottam Vilās.—Canto VII.

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† "রমা দৃষ্টিপাতে সর্ব্ব লোক সুখে বৈসে।
ব্যর্থ কাল যায় মাত্র ব্যবহার রসে ॥
ধৰ্ম্ম কৰ্ম্ম লোক সব এই মাত্র জানে।
মঙ্গল চণ্ডীর গীত করে জাগরণে ॥

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times in vain worldly pursuits. Their religious observances consist of singing songs in praise of Chandī sometimes for whole nights together. There are some who take pride in worshipping Manasā Devī. Immense money they spend for making images of gods. They also spend money foolishly for the marriages of their sons and daughters. Thus do they spend their lives. Even scholarly professors do not interpret the sacred books in the light of faith."

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This was the state of things in which the Paurānik Renaissance took its birth, and engaged in its struggle to give to the people better ideals and a purer faith; but while the Brahmins did a truly noble work on these lines, their power gradually became oppressive. The rules of caste became more and more stringent as Kulīnism was stereotyped. While better ideals in religion were upheld by the Brahmins, the gap between man and man was widened by caste-restrictions. The lower strata of society groaned under the autocracy of the higher, who shut the portals of learning against the inferior classes. They were also debarred from having any access to a higher life,

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দম্ভ করি বিষহরি পূজে কোন জন।
পুতলি করয়ে কেহ দিয়া বহু ধন ॥
ধন নষ্ট করে পুত্র কন্যার বিভায়।
এই মত জগতের ব্যর্থ কাল যায় ॥
যেবা ভট্টাচার্য চক্রবর্তী মিশ্র সব।
তাহারাও না জানয়ে গ্রন্থ অনুভব ॥

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From Chaitanya Bhāgabata.

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and the religion of the new school, became the monopoly of the Brahmins as if it were a commodity of the market-place.

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The human mind in Bengal, as I have already said, was ready for a great faith. The people were unconsciously waiting for a democratic movement of reaction against the school of religious monopoly. They desired to be taught that an intricate system of rigid monastic rites is not needed for the attainment of salvation. A simple life, with the name of God on the lips, holy abstinence, and a pure faith, are better than all that was ever said by school-men. To say this in a society ridden by the Brahmin as Sinduavāda—the sailor by the Old Man of the Sea—in a society where theological dogmas ruled over ignorant men with iron sway, menacing those who dared any opposition, would obviously require a unique personality. That Bengal had the strength of producing not only the great man who was needed, but also the society that could recognise and appreciate him, is fully seen in the life of Chaitanya Deva, who was born in 1486 A.D.

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As the Vaiṣṇava literature to be dealt with in this chapter was inspired throughout by admiration for Chaitanya Deva, and bore the stamp of his influence in all its various departments, I shall here give an account of his life at some length.

II. The Life and Teachings of Chaitanya Deva

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Chaitanya Deva was born at Miñāpur in Navadvipa in 1486. This Miñāpur has now been transformed into Māyāpur by the orthodox Vaiṣṇavas who can not bring themselves to call Chaitanya Deva's birth place by a Mahammadan name. It was in the evening of the 7th day of the month of Phālgun (18th of February) when the full moon had just emerged from the shadow of an eclipse and the air was resounding with cries of ‘Kṛṣṇa’ ‘Kṛṣṇa’ ‘O Lord’ ‘O Lord’ as is wont of Hindus on an occasion like this, that the birth of the devotee who was to preach the Kṛṣṇa-cult all his life, took place.

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Chaitanya Deva's ancestors were inhabitants of Jājpur in Orissa who owing to the oppression of Raja Bhramarbara, had settled in the village of Dhākā-Dakṣiṇa in Sylhet. Jagannāth Miçra the father had come to Navadwīpa to complete his education and there married Çachī Devi a daughter of Nilāmvara Chakravarty originally an inhabitant of Sylhet, who was now settled in Navadwīpa. Jagannāth Miçra and this Çachī Devi had eight daughters and two sons. The daughters all died in infancy. The elder son was Viçvarupa and the younger Viçvambhara. They called him, however, by the pet name Nimāi because he had been born in a shed under a Nimba-tree. This Nimāi afterwards became famous as Chaitanya Deva.

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The eldest son Viçvarupa was about to be married when he was only sixteen. On the night previous to the date fixed for his marriage the boy whose ascetic tendencies, had been already marked, left home and took the vow of a Sannyāsin.

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His parents rose in the morning with hearts full of joy at the prospect of celebrating Viçvarupa's marriage. But what a disappointment when they found that the bird had flown! They received information that he had turned Sannyāsīn and renounced the world for ever. In what cave of the mountains, in what holy shrine or in what recess of the forests where the Indian Pine and Fir trees raise their heads to touch the skies, the young Sannyāsīn roamed for the rest of his life has remained a mystery up to now. The parents were struck dumb with sorrow, and there remained to them their Nemāi alone—the last ray of light to dispel the gloom of their house.

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A mother's fears.

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Jagannāth Miçra a man of strong character and of a spiritual bent of mind, bore this misfortune patiently; but Çachī Devi watched over Nemāi with an anxious mother's care, always afraid lest he also would leave home and throw her into depths of misery. At last this fear became a mania with her. "Since study makes a man realise the transitoriness of the world, let not my Nemāi be sent to school. I would much prefer that he should remain at home and be a dunce." Thus did Çachi Devi argue with her husband.

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But the lad was as yet only five years old. This was the age when Hindu parents sent their boys to school. Jagannāth Miçra, however, could not do so with Nemāi owing to Çachī Devi's objections.

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A wild boy.

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Nemāi grew up a wild boy. He mixed with the bad boys of the village and carried on little depredations in the neighbouring houses and orchards in their company. The pious Brahmins after their bath, used to close their eyes in prayerful attitude before small figures of gods on the banks of the Ganges. The little thief would come stealthily along, and carry away their images. Sometimes when a Brahmin's *chadar* was left on the banks while he bathed, Nimāi would take it away and conceal it under a bush for the sake of fun. The little girls that came to bathe in the Ganges were teased and subjected to his wild pranks. He would collect the thorny seeds of Okra-plants and throw them on their flowing hair. Once a little girl complained to Çachī Devī that Nimāi had threatened to marry her. The little fellow was six years old at the time. At times Nimāi would step in among unclean and refuse things which a Brāhmin would not touch. His parents would find him there, and gently admonish him for his conduct. His reply surprised them with the wisdom it disclosed. "You do not allow me to study," said he, "how I am to know what is clean or unclean. Nothing is either clean or unclean in my eyes, all things are alike to me." His words "সর্ব্বত্র আমার এক অদ্বিতীয় স্থান" are fraught with the deepest truths of Vedāntic philosophy. They strike the key-note of their speaker's subsequent work in demolishing orthodox traditions about the sacredness of particular objects. Nothing indeed could be holy or unholy in the eyes of Chaitanya, who had in subsequent years reached the stage of সাম্য দর্শন, when one looks upon all objects without prejudice for or against.

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But this mischief-making imp could not be tolerated any longer, inspite of his sage-like sayings, and the gentle folk of the neighbourhood went in a body to Jagannāth Miçra to complain to him against his boy and insist on his putting him to school without delay. Gaṅgā Dās was the name of the teacher to whose care he was entrusted. Nimāi began to read in this pundit's tol. He learnt the alphabet within a short time and commenced reading Sanskrit Grammar.

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"He does not leave his book for a moment," says Vṛndāvan Dās, his biographer,* "while bathing or dining or going to bed, his mind wanders over the pages of his books. The rules he reads he quickly masters, and in discussions amongst students he beats every rival. He wrote a commentary on Sanskrit Grammar himself with patient application."

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Yet Sanskrit Grammar was the subject least suited to a student who possessed an emotional nature like that of Nimāi. Ardent in spirit, and eccentric in temper as he was, he applied himself, with his whole soul, to whatever fell in his way, and study kept him engaged day and night in this early youth. But he was not a quiet and good-natured boy. As long as he remained engaged in his studies, he restrained himself. During recreation-hours, he gave free scope to his eccentricities.

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∗ " না ছাড়েন শ্রীহস্তে পুস্তক এক ক্ষণে। কিবা স্নানে কি ভোজনে অথবা শয়নে॥ নাহিক প্রভুর আর চেষ্টা শাস্ত্র বিনে। একবার যে সূত্র পড়িয়া প্রভু যায়॥ আর বার উলটিয়া সবারে ঠকায়। আপনি করেন প্রভু সূত্রের টিপ্পনি॥"

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Murāri Gupta, an aged scholar, highly esteemed for his character and learning, and a Vaidya, or physician, by caste, was passing by, one day, when young Nimāi met and accosted him with smiling face. "Will you, sir," said he, "kindly clear up some difficulties of mine in grammar." The veteran scholar liked the child for his handsome appearance and for his talent. He proceeded to explain the passages required, but Nimāi had not approached him in the spirit of a bona-fide student. He wanted to puzzle the old scholar. In the discussion, that followed, Murāri was completely beaten, and young Nimāi triumphantly made some very impertinent remarks.† "You are a Vaidya. Why should you read Sanskrit Grammar at all? It is a very difficult thing to master this science. It is not like books that teach how to prescribe medicine for cough, biles and indigestion."

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† “ প্রভু কহে বৈদ্য তুমি ইহা কেন পড়। লতা পাতা লৈয়া গিয়া রোগ দৃঢ় কর ॥ ব্যাকরণ শাস্ত্র এই বিষম অবধি। কফ, পিত্ত, অজীর্ণ, ব্যবস্থা নাহি ইথি।”

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Not only in Sanskrit Grammar but in Logic too he shewed particular proficiency. Gadādhara, a great scholar in Logic, was once challenged by him to a free discussion on several knotty problems in that Science, and had to admit that he was no match for Nimāi.

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Assails veteran scholars.

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Ridicules East Bengal-men.

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The people of Navadwīpa loved the young scholar. He was so handsome, so brilliant, and so affectionate of disposition, yet withal so wild. The people of Western Bengal have always felt a delight in ridiculing the peculiar accents of the men of Eastern Bengal. Among the youths of Navadwīpa, Chaitanya Deva was the foremost in ridiculing these people for this defect. The people of Sylhet were specially marked out by Nimāi for his jokes. He teased them till they became enraged. One of them with angry looks asked him,—"You sir, can you say to which country you belong? Is it not a fact that your father and mother were born in Sylhet?"—This was quite true, for his parents had come from Sylhet, a remote place in Eastern Bengal, and settled at Navadwīpa. But fair argument was not the object of Nimāi bent on provoking them to anger; and angry they became till one pursued him with a club, and another went to the Kaji to lodge a complaint against him.

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Sets up a Tol.

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Nimāi set up a Tol or Sanskrit School himself at the age of twenty. His reputation as a scholar was already well-established and pupils flocked from all quarters to receive instruction from him. His mode of teaching and his treatment of scholars soon made him very popular amongst them.

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Keçava Kāçmiri visits Navadwīpa.

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About this time, there came to Navadwīpa, a renowned scholar named Keçava Kāçmiri. In the middle ages when learning was the chief object of admiration with the middle classes, and hundreds of scholars were taught in various centres of Sanskrit learning all over India, any one who acquired special proficiency in a particular subject made it the mission of his life to travel to the various seats of learning, challenging scholars to free controversy. If he could win his laurels in this competition, he naturally enjoyed great esteem in the country and the scholars who were vanquished acknowledged the fact of their defeat in an open letter presented to him. This letter was called ‘জয়-পত্র’ or letter of victory.

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Keçava Kāçmīrī after having vanquished the scholars of the rest of India had come to Navadwīpa, then the most important seat of Sanskrit learning in the country. There were veteran scholars at Navadwīpa about this time; old Vāsudeva Sarvabhauma, the first authority in Logic in India; Raghu Nandan Bhaṭṭāchāryya whose jurisprudence up till now governs Hindu society in Bengal; and Raghu Nath Çiromaṇi whose grand work, Chintāmani Didhiti, a commentary on the Tattva Chintāmoni by Gangeç Upādhāya is a monument of scholarship, and excelled the treatise it commented on, were all living. These were the intellectual giants of their period. But they were scholarly recluses who for many years had scarcely mixed with men. The people of Navadwīpa, however, were proud of the scholarship of young Nimāi, who was always eager to enter into controversy with others. They brought the veteran Keçava to Nimāi who received him cordially on the bank of the Ganges, where his Tola was situated.

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Nimāi asked Keçava Kāçmiri, himself, a reputed poet, to describe the Ganges as it flowed past in an extempore poem. A few moments passed, and like a noble stream, rich and rhythmical flow cf verses fell from the lips of the old scholar to the wonder of the pupils of the Tol, and he surprised the audience by the brilliance of his metaphors and the sublimity and beauty of his ideas. Nimāi noted the poem in his memory. His assailant, after delivering it, looked round in haughty pride, and said to Nimāi, "You have learned Grammar only, I hear, and have no knowledge of Rhetoric. It is not in your power to appreciate or judge of the beauty of my poem."

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Nimāi however shewed no want of patience, nor displayed any sign of being disturbed by the remark. He praised the poetry but gently pointed out that there were some serious errors of Rhetoric in it. In the first line he had used the word ভবানী-ভর্ত্তৃ signifying Çiva while the word really meant Lord of the wife of Çiva. This fallacy was called বিরুদ্ধ মতি. In the word বিভবতি in the next line there was the fallacy of ক্রমভঙ্গ, in the word শ্ৰীলঙ্কী the fallacy of পুনরুক্ত বদাভাস. Thus he pointed out fallacies too numerous to be mentioned and as he went on, the natural brilliance of his speech and the light that emanated from his eyes shewed that he was endowed with special gifts of genius. The veteran scholar was dumb-struck and retired with a broken heart. Thus the glory of Navadwīpa was saved. All felt that day that young Nimāi was an extraordinary man, and the reputation of his Tol spread far and wide.

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But he always scoffed at religion. Old saint-like men, who delighted in him for his wonderful gifts and could not help loving him for his pleasing disposition, were pained to find that he was a godless young man, sceptical in his views and conduct. Içvara Puri, a learned saint,—a very old and highly esteemed man of Kumārhatta,—frequently called on him and advised him on religious matters, explaining and illustrating how faith could be obtained—faith that cleanses the soul and lifts man to the rank of the gods. He quoted chapter and verse from various works to prove what he argued. But Nimāi would suddenly interrupt him, finding a grammatical flaw in his quotations and stop him by some such remarks as “Surely, sir, the verb that you use is not of the Āttanīpadi class!” The saint was much saddened by the failure of his attempts to reform the young sceptic. But the eccentricities of Nimāi had a limit when he grew into manhood; he stoically avoided any contact with women.

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Though he outwardly feigned scepticism, a deep religious faith was in fact ingrained in his nature. Çrīdhara and Gadādhara, two respectable Brāhmins were known for the piety of their characters. He ridiculed them frequently, but if a single day passed without his meeting them, his whole soul yearned for their company, and he felt that to him the oft-ridiculed Içvara Puri was as a god. His mind was as clear as the autumnal sky, and his temperament like the tender sweet-scented Çephālika flower that diffuses its fragrance in the morning air. It silently attracted all who came in contact with him by its inherent love; his ardent nature, which would not brook any restraint and seemed so often to run wild, had in it a secret spring of magnetism which facinated, even while it startled. It flowed like a noble fountain pleasing all by its playfulness,—a

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The inward faith.

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and an ardent nature.

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little dashing and abrupt in its course, yet nevertheless lovely and joyous, it indicated the presence of elements in his character which were destined to leap over the walls of orthodoxy and carry the world with him, by the innate force of pure and lofty natural instincts.

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Father's death. Marriage.

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In the meantime Jagannāth Miçra had died and Nimāi had married. His wife was Lakṣmī Devī who had herself elected Nimai as her lord expressing a wish to her mother to marry the young scholar.

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Nimāi was now settled in life. His homestead consisted of five large and beautiful houses on the banks of the Ganges. He lived a simple life devoted to his studies. The death of his father weighed on him and he contemplated a journey with a view to restoring his peace of mind. He accordingly visited Eastern Bengal making a tour through the several centres of Sanskrit learning that then existed in that part of the province. His commentaries on grammar were taught in the tols there and his name was widely known. He met with a cordial reception everywhere, and is said to have stayed at Kotālipārā in the District of Faridpur for some-time. Having received honours and rewards from his admirers, he set out again for Navadwīpa after a few months. Returning home, he caught sight of Navadwīpa, in the distance girdled by the Ganges, with its temples rising above the tops of the green trees. The place had a peculiar attraction for him, and he hastened to meet his mother and wife. His friends Çridhara and Gadādhara met him half way, with open arms, and in his height of joy he mimicked the accents of the East Bengal

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Tour in Eastern Bengal.

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Return.

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people and the ring of his merry laughter resounded once more through the air as he came near his home. His companions left him and he went to his home in haste and threw himself at the feet of his mother, who began to weep as she saw her dear son come back.

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Her tears were inexplicable to him, for he had expected glad looks and blessings from his mother on his return home. He, soon, however, discovered with sorrow that his wife Laksmi Devi had died of snake-bite. The merry and joyous young scholar collected himself in a moment and betraying no outward signs of grief, sweetly discoursed on the inevitableness of the course of nature, and tried to console his mother. A month or two passed, but the poor woman was always sorrowful; she insisted on his marrying again and Nimai to please his mother married Visnupriya, daughter of Sanatan, a famous scholar of Nadia.

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He was only twenty-one at the time. His mother seemed to be once more happy, but there came a change over the spirit of her son. A deep feeling seemed to weigh upon his soul and his mirth was gone; he shewed signs of a deeper nature growing in him. He asked his mother's permission to go to Gaya to offer Pinda or offerings of food and water at the feet of Visnu there, by which the spirit of a deceased person is freed from sins and his passage to heaven is insured. When Nimai wanted permission to go to Gaya to offer Pinda for the spirit of his father, Cachi Devi could not withhold it though she longed to keep her son at her side, ministering to her own comfort, old and feeble as she now was.

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The death of his wife.

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Takes a second wife.

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A deeper nature growing in him.

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Starts for Gayā.

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Nimāi started for Gayā; his companions were gay, but he was sad. An emotion passed over him which brought tears to his eyes and he yearned for better company. Near Kumār Hatta he halted, and wanted to have a sight of Içvara Purī, the saint whom he had so often ridiculed. As he came to Kumār Hatta, he said, "It is heaven to me—this native land of Içvara Purī." The saint was dining when Nimāi arrived at his place. He partook of the food which the veteran Vaiṣṇava was taking and wept for joy; he said, "Dearer than my own soul,—than anything that I possess, than my life itself, you are to me, O venerable sir, for you are a true servant of God." As he said this, tears began to flow from both his eyes, and he clasped the feet of Içvara Purī. The old man appeared as a god to him and he said again and again, "Blessed am I that I have seen such a holy man." Indeed Içvara Purī's devotion to God was such that he was admittedly the head of the Vaiṣṇava community at that time.

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Meets Içvara Puri.

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Nimāi set out for Gayā; his life, his conversation and ways became altogether changed. He would speak but few words, and left Kumār Hatta as in a trance. While leaving, he took a handful of dust from the place and tied it in a corner of his cloth and said, "This is the dust of the place where Içvara Purī was born. It is sacred,—it is dearer to me than all that I have, nay than life itself." He stood there absorbed in a reverie and seemed to see nothing around.

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Indeed a higher life was calling him. The portals of heaven seemed to open before him. His companions thought that there was something wrong with his head; they tried to divert his mind to worldly matters by merry conversation; for a time he joined them and was even jovial and gay.

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They came to Gayā, and the great temple came in view with its crowd of pilgrims that flocked and pressed one another. At the sight of the temple he again grew pensive. This was the temple of Viṣṇu, the great God of the Hindu Trinity. Viṣṇu, while conquering the demon Gayāsura, had placed his feet on the demon's head and this foot-print was changed to stone. Nimāi stood with offerings before the lotus feet, ‘পাদপদ্ম’ as they were called. The Pāndās sang in sanskrit—“These feet, O Pilgrims, lead to heaven,—take ye refuge in them! These feet were adored by Vali, the King who went into the nether worlds; from these feet flows the sacred stream of the Ganges. The great yogis in their mystic vision desire to catch a glimpse of these feet; their glory is sung by the God Çiva and rendered into divine music by the sage Nārada. They lead to Heaven, these feet of God;—there is no other way for man's salvation.” Nimāi appeared to be listening, but in fact he heard nothing of the song. He added the tribute of tears to those of constant shower of flowers that were offered at the lotus-feet by the pilgrims, and fell straightway into a trance. His companions attended him carefully and he was soon restored to consciousness. When he came back to his senses, tears were still flowing down his cheeks and he wept and said, “Leave me, my friends, leave me, I am no longer fit for the world. Let me go to the Vrindā groves to find out Kṛṣṇa, my Lord and the Lord of the Universe.”

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Arrives at Gayā.

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The feet of Viṣṇu.

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Falls into a trance.

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Nimāi was brought home by his companions more or less unconscious. "Where, O, where is my God?" he cried with tears flowing night and day. When he came home they found him a changed man. "I have seen a wonderful spectacle at Gayā; and I shall relate it to you,"—he said to Gadādhara and Çridhara. But while attempting to tell of it, his voice became choked with emotion and he fell senseless into the arms of his friends. It was of the God-vision that he wanted to speak, but he could not, being overpowered by his feelings.

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God-vision.

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Poor Çachi Devi, what was she to do with a son in such a condition! Physicians were called in, but Nimāi told them that he had no malady to be cured by medicines. The Highest had appeared to him and he could think of nothing else. Strange it was, he said, that living in His kingdom they did not feel His presence and His great love, and again tears fell from his eyes and over-powered him.

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The pupils of his Tol flocked round their beloved teacher, but he told them that he could not teach them anything of earth. He spoke of God's love and wept. His mother Çachi Devi sent Viṣṇupriya the youthful wife, to him, thinking that a sight of her would divert his mind, but Nimāi did not even look at her. "Where is my Lord, my Kṛṣṇa!"—he cried, and read verses from sacred books and wept.

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But this over-flow of feeling was not all;—he went to the banks of the Ganges; the scene of his juvinile freaks, now witnessed acts which shewed him to be completely changed. He would carry the burdens of old and sickly people for them,

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Serves people.

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sometimes he would wash the clothes of others and perform acts of menial service, which as a Brāhmin he should not have done; and if people objected to being served by him, he would say "forbear, Friends! Do not, I beg of you, prevent me! While I serve you, I see God. These little acts are holy to me."

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Sometimes he would chant the name of God for hours together, and as he sang, his eyes would become full of tears. The whole day long he would recite and sing the name of Kṛṣṇa in profound devotion, till the people of Navadwipa could no longer resist his influence. When he spoke of God and his relation to man, they thronged in thousands to hear him. He preached, for instance of love. "What", he said, "is love? Is it that attraction by which man and woman are drawn to one another? I say it is not so. Only when in your eyes man and woman appear the same and sex loses all it charms, only then can true love come"—and again, "Be like a tree. The tree gives shade even to him who cuts its boughs. It asks no water of any one, though it be withering away for want of it. Rain and storm and the burning rays of the sun it suffers, but gives sweet-scented flowers and delicious fruits to others. Patiently serve others even as a tree and let this be your motto." The words that fell from his lips appeared inspired; they went to the hearts of the men and women who thronged to hear him. But he invariably finished speaking, chanting the name of Kṛṣṇa,—the music of which with its deep pathos made all weep for the love of God. Multitudes were attracted

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The effect of his faith and preachings.

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from all quarters; for the news spread on all hands that a God-man had come into their midst. By this time the sage Nityānanda, who was then a young man, had come and joined Nimāi. They became the centre of a circle of men who lived holy lives, did act of charity, and recited and chanted the name of God, night and day, till songs of great poetic beauty were composed. Their music, consisted of songs accompanied by the Khol, Karatāl and Rāmçingā, and for whole nights the music would go on, with Nimāi in the centre of the party, sometimes in a state of unconsciousness, and at others, singing enthusiastically with the rest, while his face beamed with a strange God-vision.

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The Bhaṭṭāchāryyas, the great scholars of Navadwīpa, opposed this movement. Nimāi had broken the trammels of caste. He boldly declared, "Though one is a Chanḍāl (Pariā) he is superior to all Brāhmins, if he is pious and has love for God." If any one says, "Thou O Kriṣṇa art my life," he will embrace him, no matter to what caste he may belong. Nothing indeed was holy or unholy in his eyes—even as he had said in his boyhood. "If any one takes food," he said, "from the same plate with a Doma (sweeper), he becomes preeminently entitled by that act of mercy for obtaining the favour of god. If a Muchi (cobbler) prays to God with true devotion, a hundred times do I offer salutes at his feet."* In a society where the Brāhmin was held as a God, and a Doma as worse than a dog, these sayings from the lips of a Brāhmin sounded strangely bold. The company of men, drawn

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∗ For authorities in regard to the above quotations, see my Banga-Bhāṣā-o-Sāhitya, pp. 284—89.

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The breaking of caste and opposition of the Bhaṭṭāchāryyas.

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together by his teachings and by his wonderful devotion, consisted of people from all ranks of society. They mixed freely and distinction of caste was no barrier to them. The Bhaṭṭāchāryyas who represented the orthodox community harassed him by all means that lay in their power. "Look at these men", they said, "we cannot sleep at night for their screamings. This uproar that they create is certainly no prayer to God." They applied to the Kāzi (Mahammadan Magistrate) to issue a rule prohibiting the march of the Saṅkīrtana-Party, as his procession was called, through the town. The Kazi did so. That day in the evening Nimāi with his followers, who now numbered hundreds of men, made a grand procession and led it to the very door of the Kāzi, who though at first very much enraged at this breach of orders, yet felt a desire to see the procession. When he came down, a strange spectacle met his eyes. Hundreds of men with flags and musical instruments were chanting the name of God in chorus, and in the midst of them, like a vision of heaven, young and beautifull Nimāi stood God-like,—his face beaming with superhuman light and eyes like two stars, floating in a fountain of tears. He heeded not any earthly obstruction and was evidently lifted into divine ecstacy. The Kazi said, he was delighted to see the procession.

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