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 to make the journey, but was induced to postpone his departure from season to season, at the urgent entreaty of King Pratāpa and the growing company of his disciples and admirers.
Now, after the departure of his Bengali disciples after their third annual visit, two years after his return from the southern tour, Chaitanya set out for Vrindāvan.
He left Puri accompanied by a large band of disciples, and under the escort of royal officers despatched by the king to insure his safety and comfort.
At the king's command every river crossed in his kingdom was marked by a pillar set up at the ford, in order that the spot might henceforth be observed as a tīrtha, a sacred place.
Special provision for the welfare of the disciples was made along the route, and quantities of prasāda were sent on from Purī to feed the whole camp for several days.
In this manner he was brought into Bengal, and from there on his course was attended by crowds of his countrymen as far as a village named Rāmkelī, near Gaur, the ancient capital in north Bengal.
En route he stopped at Śāntipura, near Navadvīpa, and here rejoiced his mother by a visit. It is characteristic that he begged at her feet for permission to make the Vrindāvan pilgrimage.
At Rāmkelī two remarkable men entered his discipleship of whom we shall hear more later:
They were two brothers, Sākar Mallik and Dābir Khās by name, high officials, in the Muhammadan court at Gaur. They had been Maratha Brahmans of princely descent, whose ancestors had migrated to Bengal.
These two had risen to influence and great wealth in the Moslem service, and had themselves adopted the faith of Islam.
It would seem that they were spiritually unsatisfied, for, when Chaitanya reached their part of the country, they sought him out and were immediately drawn to him.
They became his followers, and from that time secretly sought means of abandoning their worldly eminence for the ascetic life:
Under the names Rūpa and Sanātana, given them by Chaitanya, these men were destined to play a leading part in the movement.
Of this meeting Chaitanya says:
With great difficulty I came to Rāmkelī village, where two brothers came to me, Rūpa and Sanātana by name:
They were kings among bhaktas, objects of Krishna's mercy, prime minister and governor by profession, of the proficiency in knowledge, devotion and wisdom, and yet counting themselves lowly as the grass.
The sight of this humility would melt a stone. I was pleased and said to them,
"Although of high station, count yourselves very lowly, ere long Krishna will release you."
Speaking thus I bade them farewell, when on my going, Sanātana spoke a riddle:
"Accompanied by a million men, is this the right way to go to Vrindāvan?"
Aroused by this frank criticism from his new disciple, Chaitanya concluded that such a popular procession from village to village, "like a travelling showman," as he himself put it, was hardly the sort of pilgrimage to be expected of a humble mendicant.
He therefore gave up his plan and returned to Purī.
Upon the conclusion of the rainy season, he started out once more, but this time he stole away secretly with one Brahman follower and sought out unfrequented ways.
At Benares he stopped for 10 days with two Bengali disciples, but his presence made little impression on this centre of Śiva-worship and Vedantism.
The jibe of the leading Vedāntist, to the effect that Chaitanya was only a trader in emotionalism and would find no market in Benares for his wares, seemed to have stated the truth!
On reaching the sacred Yamunā river (the modern Jumna) he dashed headlong into it in ecstasy, and had to be rescued by his companion. This occurred repeatedly.
"On the way to Mathur a, wherever he halted, he made the people dance to Krishna's loved name."
At Mathura, which is associated with Vrindāvan in the sacred legends of Vaishnavism, Chaitanya visited all the holy sites and bathed at the 24 different ghāṭs.
All the while, as he approached the scenes of Krishna's exploits, his emotions grew in intensity, until his companion became fearful of the result.
Even the neck of a peacock was sufficient to send him into a swoon, the dark colours reminding him of Krishna.
On catching sight of Govardhana hill, near Vrindāvan, he was so affected that he threw himself on the ground, clasping the very rocks in frenzy.
Finding two shallow pools in a rice field he bathed in them rapturously, thinking them the pool where Krishna dallied with Rādhā in the water. In this manner he visited all the holy sites round about Vrindāvan, as far as they were discovered.
At this time there was nothing of the modern Vrindāvan; even the sites of sacred history and legend had been lost and forgotten.
However, Chaitanya's Nadia friend and disciple, Lokanātha, had been living here for some years now; and at the period of this visit other disciples were there, although the record makes no mention of their presence.
During these days, Chaitanya lived in such a continuous state of emotional excitement that he was practically unaccountable for himself.
Finally, after another experience of fishing his master senseless out of the water of the Yamuna, the Brahman companion decided that a change of scene was advisable.
Chaitanya was persuaded to start for Prayāga, but he was so overcome at the thought of leaving Vrindāvan that he became unconscious and was carried away in that condition.
As they travelled along the Ganges, Chaitanya's emotions nearly cost him the lives of his followers, although, as it turned out, the final result was a group of new disciples:
While resting one day in a shady spot, the sight of a herd of cows filled his mind with a flood of thoughts about the scenes of Krishna's exploits.
Suddenly a cowherd began to play upon the flute, and Chaitanya immediately went into a swoon, foaming at the mouth and giving every appearance of being at death's door.
Unfortunately, at this moment a troop of Pathāns happened upon the scene, and promptly concluded that they had found a band of robbers and their drugged victim.
The hapless disciples were bound, and might have had short shrift, had Chaitanya not revived and commenced to dance joyously with uplifted hands, chanting the name of Hari.
The Pathāns now realised the character of the sannyāsi, and, in great awe at his devotion, quickly released the disciples, but accused them of poisoning Chaitanya.
He readily explained the situation, and then entered into a religious discussion with one of the Pathāns who was something of a holy man himself.
The Moslems tried to win Chaitanya to the faith of Islam, but in the end they themselves turned Vaishnava and became disciples of Chaitanya.
They were known thereafter as the Pathān Vaishnavas. One of them, according to the account, a young prince named Bijulī Khān, became an ascetic widely known for his sanctity.
From Vrindāvan they came to Prayāga where Chaitanya spent several days at the Kumbha mela, the great bathing festival.
Here he was joined by one of the two new disciples from the Moslem court in Bengal, whom we have described:
This man, Rūpa, had relinquished his post, rid himself of all his wealth except sufficient for his family's welfare, and then gone in search of Chaitanya.
Another interesting visit at this point was from Vallabhācārya, the founder of the Vaishnava sect of that name.
At Benares Rūpa's brother, Sanātana, arrived:
He had been thrown into prison by the Sultan of Bengal, to prevent him from leaving his service, but had escaped and left everything for the sake of Chaitanya.
On these two men, according to the record, Chaitanya spent much time, teaching them the doctrines of the bhakti cult.
Six long chapters of the principal book of the Caritamṛta are devoted to detailed theological exposition, which he is represented as teaching the two brothers.
They were commissioned to settle at Vrindāvan and spend their lives as recluses, searching out the forgotten sites sacred to the Krishna faith and teaching its doctrines by word and pen.
During this stay in Benares, Chaitanya came into more successful contact with the Brahman pandits than before. The most striking result of this was the conversion to Vaishnavism of Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī, the leading Vedanta scholar of the city.
When Chaitanya had first come to Benares, this pandit had scoffed at him in these terms:
I have heard of a sannyāsi in the country of Gaur, a sentimentalist, one of Keśava Bhāratī’s disciples, and a deceiver. Chaitanya is his name.
With his sentimental crowd he goes dancing from place to place and village to village, and all who see him in his ecstasy, call him god. His bewitching art is such that all are charmed at sight of him.
The great scholar, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭāchārya has gone mad after Chaitanya, I hear. He is only a sannyāsi in name; much more a great magician! His sentimentality will not sell at Kāśī.
Listen to the Vedanta; don’t go to him. With that wild man is destruction in both worlds!
This is the man who now surrendered to the sentimentality he had denounced.
He was a recruit worthy to rank with Sārvabhauma; and his conversion to the bhakti cult is an added commentary upon the remarkable power possessed by Chaitanya to touch and move the hearts of men.
From Benares the return to Purī was made by unfrequented ways, with one attendant only.