Experiences By The Way
Certain catholicity is evident in Chaitanya's pilgrim quest in keeping with his unconcern for orthodox rules of worship.
He did not confine himself to Vaishnava shrines alone, but seems to have visited all the holy places wherever he was, regardless of their sectarian connections.
Such, for instance, was his visit to the Śringerī maṭha of Śankarāchārya, the greatest of all names associated with that advaita philosophy which to the orthodox Vaishnava is anathema.
Even the orthodox Caritamṛta mentions repeatedly his visits to Śiva shrines:
It does not say more, but it is evident that to one of Chaitanya’s extreme sensibility the mere sight of any object to which people were making obeisance would stir in his breast those emotions of praise which for him constituted the heart of worship.
Two Vaishnava works, evidently new to Chaitanya, were discovered by him on this tour:
He had copies made of each and brought them back with the utmost care, carrying them, the biographer says, like two precious jewels:
These works were the Brahma Samhitā and the Kṛṣṇakarṇāmṛita.
Chaitanya spoke of these finds in superlative terms, and they were undoubtedly of great influence in the development of his thought. For this reason the account of these manuscripts is of very real interest.
The Brahma Samhitā was found in Travancore. It is known in Bengal only in fragmentary form, and it is not clear from what sect it sprang:
It exalts the infinite glory and forms of Govinda (one of the names given to Krishna), which would seem to mark it as Nimbārka, but nothing definite can be said about it.
The Kṛṣṇakarṇāmṛita was written by a Travancore Brahman, named Līlāśuka Bilvamaṅgala. Chaitanya found it at Paṇḍharpur:
It is believed to be a Viṣṇusvāmī work, because its teaching agrees with what little is known of Viṣṇusvāmī’s doctrinal point of view.
The influence of these works on Chaitanya is reflected in the saying among his followers, to the effect that he founded his religion on the Karṇāmṛita and his theology on the Brahma Saṁhitā.
It is significant also, that the theological work of the greatest theologians of the movement is founded upon the latter.
It is clearly a mistake, however, to think that Chaitanya's religious experience is based upon either of these works, for, as we have seen, that came to flower in the days of Navadvīpa, before he dreamed of being a sannyāsī or had ever heard of these writings.
The sources of his religious experience are clearly the Rādhā-Krishna songs of Jayadeva, Vidyāpati and Chaṇḍī Das.
What gave these new discoveries their hold upon him was that in them he found the passionate theme of the poets treated in definite works of devotion, with a background of theological interpretation which was probably quite new to him.
We may say, then, that the finding of these works probably deepened and clarified his vivid experience, and marked the beginning of a definite theological interest.
Whatever system Chaitanya bequeathed to his followers had its origin in the stimulus received from these manuscripts.
As we have indicated, the contagious effect of Chaitanya's fervent devotions in shrine after shrine is the main theme and interest of the narrative.
Wherever he went, this lover of Krishna sought to inspire men with the same bhakti which filled his own life to overflowing.
Unfortunately, the record is so exaggerated as to appear grotesque at times:
Were we to take it literally, we should have to believe the whole of south India converted to emotional faith in Krishna by the mere sight and sound of Chaitanya.
Here, for example, is a typical passage:
As before, those who caught sight of him on the road, and the inhabitants of the villages he entered, all became Vaishnavas and cried, "Krishna, Hari."
These, spreading the movement to other villages, made them Vaishnava also.
There were many kinds of people in the south: some wise, some religious, innumerable godless; these all, through the Master's influence, turned from their own creeds and became Vaiṣṇava.
Among the Vaishnavas, almost all were worshippers of Rāma, some being Mādhvas, and some Śrī Vaishnavas.
At sight of the Mahāprabhu these all became worshippers of Krishna and sang his name.
Equally irresistible was the might of his argumentation:
There were logicians, Mīm<āṁsakas, Vedāntists, and followers of the Saṅkhyā, Patañjali, Smṛiti, Purāṇa and the Vedas:
They were all bold to uphold their own scriptures, but the Master, having pointed out their defects, demolished all their opinions; everywhere he established Vaishnava doctrine and none could refute his conclusions.
Defeated, they accepted the Master's creed, and thus he made the whole south Vaishnava.
One incident reveals (all unconsciously) a touch of broad humour:
A Buddhist professor, supported by a group of disciples, undertook to vanquish Chaitanya one day. But he proved himself more than their equal, and left them no philosophic foot on which to stand.
Humiliated and smarting under their defeat, the Buddhists sought by a low stratagem to accomplish what their philosophy had failed to do:
They offered a plate of unclean rice to Chaitanya, representing it to be prasāda from a shrine of Vishnu:
Before he could taste it a great bird swooped down and carried off the rice, plate and all. But as he rose the plate slipped out of his talons, caught the luckless professor squarely on the skull, neatly cleaving it.
The unhappy disciples now clamoured for forgiveness and succour at Chaitanya’s feet, acknowledging his divinity.
At his command they began to sing and shout the name Krishna in the ear of the senseless professor, whereupon he straightway rose up and joined in the shout, thus showing himself, we are to infer, a truly converted Vaishnava.
After sufficiently discounting the exaggerations and the sectarian bias of our authority, we can arrive at a reasonable surmise as to the actual facts:
There is nothing in the after history of the sect to indicate any following whatever in the south:
If there were any such wholesale conversion of communities it was a purely ephemeral thing, leaving nothing to show for it in later years.
The truth these extravagant claims really seek to convey is that everywhere Chaitanya went crowds were deeply impressed by his evident devotion.
Nowhere in the world are the common people so quick to render homage to religious sanctity as in India.
Chaitanya combined with the traditional sanctity of the sannyāsī the powers of a gifted revivalist. The effect was tremendous.
It is easy to believe that whole villages were stirred by the passionate intensity of his emotions, and, while under the spell, joined enthusiastically in his devotions.
But this is very far from saying that these same villagers were changed from their various sectarian beliefs and practices into faithful Vaishnavas of the Chaitanya cult.
There were definite results from Chaitanya's travels, however, that were not ephemeral. His devotion did leave a permanent impress on the Vaiṣṇavism of the south land.
It does not seem too much to say that his personal influence effected a general stimulation of Vaishnava sects wherever he went:
In the Kannada country, for example, we find that he is credited with helping to bring in a Vaishnava revival, the mendicant singers who popularised Krishna worship having received their inspiration, in part at least, from him.