Farewell to Nadia
The effect of Chaitanya's action upon the Vaishnava community at Navadvīpa was overwhelming:
So completely had he been the very life and soul of its activities, that his sudden renunciation of all he had held dear in the community came as a terrible blow, prostrating his followers.
He was far more than the leader of a community of believers in Krishna; he had increasingly become the object of their devotion.
Many had come to believe him an incarnation of Krishna, and were secretly paying him divine adoration.
His personal charm had won the hearts of many outside the Vaishnava community, and his passionate devotion had become an asset of the entire community.
There was a sense of common bereavement, therefore, in the loss of the Prabhu - the master - from their midst, which was not unshared by those who had been least friendly to his movement.
This grief is found recorded in the literature of the sect:
Many of the songs about Chaitanya, which soon came to be written by the hundred, dwelt upon the sorrow of his departure from Navadvīpa.
In the hands of a skilful singer these songs never fail to touch the hearts of a Bengali audience, as the pathos of that deserted home, the bereft wife and mother, and the stricken disciples, is made to live again after four hundred years.
The following, by Vāsudeva Ghosh, one of the Chaitanya singers, are typical of these songs:
Coming to Śachī’s room, Viṣṇupriyā sits
By the door. Slowly she speaks:
"He was in the sleeping room, but at the night's end
He fled away. I am thunder-struck."
Mother Śachī, sleepless with thought of Gaurānga, arises
At her daughter-in-law's word, with hair dishevelled
And garments falling. Quickly lighting a lamp,
She searches everywhere - but finds no trace.
Crying Nimāi! , Śachī calls aloud, while
Viṣṇupriyā weeps, beside her in the road,
"Call, Viṣṇupriyā! Call the lord of your life I
While I cry Nimāi, Nimāi!”
Loudly wail the Nadia folk hearing
Her cry. Of every passer-by she inquires.
A man advances, ten men accost him:
“Have you seen Gaurānga going anywhere?"
Comes the reply, “I saw him running,
Alone, on the way to Kāñchannagore."
Bāsu says, “Alas, the pity! I fear
Lest my Gaurānga Hart shaves his head!"
Why has he taken the daṇḍa and put on
The coloured cloth? For what has he shaven his head?
Why with face like the moon does he cry,
“Rādhā, Rādhā"? Why leave his native place?
Śrīvāsa’s cry would melt a stone; lifeless
Is Gadādhar's heart; like a river flow
The scalding tears from Mukuṇḍa’s eyes.
From house to house Love goes, enlightening
Each bhakta, but solaced is no one.
Why has be abandoned his wife, and cast off
Her caresses, a burning fire?
How shall I speak of my sorrow - the soul's
Unutterable pain? The heart breaks
For sight of him. Separation breeds in us all
A restlessness that makes day and night alike.
Bāsu Ghosh faints.
Very soon after the ceremony at Kātwā, Chaitanya, with shaven head and wearing the saffron robe of the sannyāsi, started out for Vrindāvan in a state of emotional excitement.
Oblivious of surroundings, as he was, it was a comparatively easy matter for his disciples, by means of a simple ruse, to deceive him as to the route and to bring him to Śāntipura, where lived the venerable Advaitācārya.
There in the latter's home Chaitanya was prevailed upon to remain for a fortnight, holding a sort of farewell reception and a last glorious sankirtan with his friends and followers of Nadia.
On receipt of the news they quickly assembled, bringing Chaitanya’s mother with them. Says the Caritamṛta:
The Āchārya, Śachī and all the bhaktas were full of joy. Every day the Āchārya made a great Mahotsava. By day there was talk with the faithful of Krishna’s delights; night after night they celebrated the Mahotsava with sankirtan.
Śachī, delighted, did the cooking, and the Master with his followers feasted happily ... Śachī's bliss increased as she gazed on her son’s face. In feasting him her joy was complete.
An important decision was made during these days which affected Chaitanya's whole future life. Before they separated, he yielded to his mother's entreaties, and promised to make Purī his residence.
Overcome by her storm of grief at the sight of his shaven head, Chaitanya promised never to abandon her completely, and left to her decision the whole matter of his residence.
It was her suggestion that he should live at Purī in Orissa, whence news of him could be brought to her by pilgrims, and where it would be possible for the faithful at Nadia to visit him now and then.
By this act Chaitanya barred himself from active participation in the project nearest his heart, the reclamation of the sacred sites at Vrindāvan.
The old familiar joys together could not go on without end, as the faithful would have desired. Repeatedly they had persuaded him to tarry a few days longer, but now the sorrowful leave-taking was at hand.
Commending the care of the Nadia Vaishnavas to his host, Chaitanya now set out amid the general lamentations of his followers. Four disciples were detailed to accompany him, and with these he turned his face toward Purī.