History of Bengali Language and Literature c9.s2.48

c9.s2.48

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.”