Early History of the Vaishnava Faith and Movement in Bengal, from Sanskrit and Bengali Sources c9.s2.7.1

c9.s2.7.1

Without going into the details of the story narrated in the second part, it can be outlined briefly. There was a Brahman of Prāgjyotiṣa who worshipped the goddess Kāmākhyā, and through her grace obtained in dream a Mantra of ten syllables (Gopāla-mantra) to meditate upon Kṛṣṇa. He practised uttering of the Mantra, which gave him great peace of mind. Starting on a pilgrimage he comes to Benares where the goddess Kāmākhyā appears to him in a dream and directs him to go to Mathurā. At Mathurā he meets a young Gopa or cowherd (Gopa-kumāra), who has received the grace of Kṛṣṇa and who now begins to relate his own history. The rest of the work is taken up with the story of the strange and varied devotional experiences of the Gopa-kumāra, which, in its allegorical form, is a kind of *Pilgrim's Progress* perhaps of Sanātana's own spiritual experiences. He was the son of a Vaiśya cowherd of Govardhana; and on one occasion he happened to meet on the banks of the Yamunā a pious Mathurā Brahman named Jayanta, an incarnation of Kṛṣṇa born in Gauḍa and greatly devoted to the worship of Kṛṣṇa. The Brahman becomes his Guru or religious guide, and gives him a similar Kṛṣṇa-mantra of ten syllables. The Gopa-kumāra is filled with a great desire to see Kṛṣṇa, and at the direction of his Guru goes to Puri where he stays for some time and worships the image of Jagannātha.