Early History of the Vaishnava Faith and Movement in Bengal, from Sanskrit and Bengali Sources c11.s2.12

c11.s2.12

Such emotional state becomes from this period a constant feature of his daily life of devotion at Puri, as well as during his pilgrimages; and several cantos are devoted in this and the succeeding section to similar descriptions in a more detailed form. Caitanya's journey through Yajpur and Bhuvanesvar and arrival at Puri are then described in six cantos (iii. 5-10). At Puri he goes straight to Sārvabhauma's house; and accompanied by Sārvabhauma's younger brother, he visits the temple of Jagannātha where, his emotions overcoming him, he falls senseless and is carried back and revived. At Sārvabhauma's place the old scholar wants to teach Vedānta to the young ascetic, but Caitanya is described (iii. 12. 12-13) as expounding the true meaning of the Vedānta. No elaborate Śāstric disputation is mentioned, but Caitanya's exposition struck the great Vedāntist with so much wonder that he at once recognises Caitanya as the Bhagavat, falls at his feet, and recites two stanzas (iii. 12. 17-18), which are traditionally ascribed to Sārvabhauma¹ and which are incorporated by Murāri into his own text. The next four cantos (iii. 13-16) describe Caitanya's journey to the South up to Setubandha, his meeting with Rāmānanda Rāya, Trimalla Bhaṭṭa and his young boy Gopāla Bhaṭṭa, and others, and return to Puri. The remaining two cantos deal with Caitanya's return to Bengal on his intended but frustrated journey to Vṛndāvana (in which connexion we are told that his object was lupta-tīrthasya prākaṭyam), his meeting with Sanātana and Rūpa at Ramakeli and return to Puri. The chief features of the last Prakrama of twenty-six cantos consist of elaborate description in eleven cantos (iv. 2-12) of the various places at Vṛndāvana and Mathurā, which Caitanya visits and which recall scenes of Kṛṣṇa's sports and awaken extraordinary emotions in Caitanya, as well as of his last years of devotional acts and emotions spent at Puri. In the course of his northern pilgrimage are described his meeting with Tapana Miśra and his son Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa at Benares (iv. 1. 15-17), with Rūpa at Prayāga and Sanātana at Benares (iv. 13. 6-20),¹ with his mother (iv. 14. 4) on his way back to Bengal, with his wife Viṣṇupriyā (iv. 14. 8) who makes an image of Caitanya for worshipping,² and, lastly, the homage of Gajapati Pratāparudra on Caitanya's return to Puri. The last two cantos give, after the manner of Purāṇic works, a list or Anukramaṇikā of the topics dealt with and the total number of Prakramas, Sargas and Ślokas.