*/ Joys of Bhakti in Purī During the two years of Chaitanya’s absence from Purī, interest in him seems to have become quite general among the leading personages connected with the temple. This was doubtless a result of the prestige which the new type of religion gained through Sārvabhauma’s conversion. Returning to Puri after his extended travels, Chaitanya met with

*/ The Vrindāvan Pilgrimage From the very beginning of his absorption in Vaishnavism, Chaitanya had cherished an ardent desire to see Vrindāvan , the holy city of Krishna-worshippers. His first thought on becoming a sannyāsī was to make this pilgrimage, but, as we have seen, the guile of his followers defeated this plan. Each year at Purī he had planned

*/ The Last Years at Purī Chaitanya never again left Purī. Although in commissioning his followers to settle and preach at Vrindāvan, he repeatedly expressed the wish that such could have been his own lot, yet it is clear that he accepted his mother's word as determining his residence for life at Purī. Having once visited the sacred sites, he

*/ CHAPTER IV Chaitanya's Contribution to the Sect It will be helpful at this point, before we pass on to consider the development of the sect, to gather up and enumerate those influences which made Chaitanya's distinctive contribution to the movement which bears his name. We shall not attempt to determine exactly or exhaustively the full extent of that contribution;

*/ The Power of His Religious Experience The emotional fervour, which required for its expression the strenuous exertions of Chaitanya's sankirtan and dance, was a new element in Vaishnavism, at least in north India. This statement is true in spite of the fact that the Bhāgavata Purāṇa has much to say about singing praises to Krishna. It is not asserted

*/ Social Consequences of His Bhakti It is hardly accurate to write of Chaitanya in terms of social reform, or to credit him with a revolutionary social vision: Indeed, it is difficult to come at the truth in describing his influence in this respect, for his life and teaching had manifold social effects which lend plausibility to the assertions sometimes

*/ CHAPTER V The History of the Sect The foregoing chapters have made clear Chaitanya's relation to the sect: Although he did not seek to build up a cult around his own person, yet he was manifestly responsible for the initial steps in the spread of the clearly marked type of Vaishnavism which had gathered about himself as its expounder

*/ The Influence of Nityānanda How far there was any definite organisation of his followers it is difficult to say. Tradition ascribes to his leading disciple, Nityānanda , more than to anyone else, whatever there was of this activity. The institution of the ascetic order of vairāgīs , under the banner of Chaitanya, is popularly accredited to him. It is

*/ How the Movement Grew The growth of the movement in this first generation was not an organised expansion in any sense. It was rather the spreading out of various uncoordinated groups or communities, each one gathering about the person of a disciple of Chaitanya who had caught something of the power of his master's contagious bhakti and was intent