History of Bengali Language and Literature c9.s2.72

c9.s2.72

But the word had passed his lips, and all who knew his character felt that he was inexorable. He left Navādwip in the month of March in 1509 A.D. and passed through the usual ceremonies required for the Sanyāsi'ns vow. The Guru or the religious preceptor elected by him for the occasion was Bhārati of Kātwā. Nimāi thus cut off all the ties of world, threw away his sacred thread and shaved his head. He was given the name of Kṛṣṇa Chaitanya as a Sanyāsin and has ever since been called Chaitanya or Chaitanya Deva. He went to Orissa, where he met Vāsu Deva Sarbabhauma, the greatest Indian scholar of the period. Vāsu Deva was already advanced in years. He took Chaitanya to task for turning a Sanyāsin when only a young man, as he had no right to do. Chaitanya said in reply “O my venerable sir, do not call me by such a high epithet as that of a Sanyāsin. The Love of God has driven me mad and I have thrown away my sacred thread and shaved my head for this. Bless me sir that my mind may be ever devoted to him.” Vāsu Deva was explaining the Gītā, but Chaitanya interpreted it in a new light. The veteran scholar was struck by the new ideas, by the flow of sentiment and by the remarkable intellect of the young Sanyāsin. When after three continuous nights Chaitanya had finished his exposition, Vāsu Deva felt that he was in the presence of a superhuman man, endowed with poetical and spiritual gift, the like of which he had never before seen. From that time he became a humble disciple of Chaitanya Deva. Pratāpa Rudra the King of Orissa, who was dreaded by the Pāṭhāns and was known as a powerful prince of India at the time, became his next disciple, and his prime minister Rāma Rāy, deeply versed in Sanskrit lore and an eminent poet avowed his faith in Chaitanya Deva and was so much devoted to him that he constantly sought the company of the great master in subsequent times.