History of Bengali Language and Literature c9.s2.9

c9.s2.9

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.