The Dance before Jagannath's Car.
Next day the Master took care to bathe with His followers before it was
dawn. Pratap Rudra himself accompanied by his Court showed the Master's
_bhaktas_ the ceremony of Jagannath leaving his throne to take his seat
in the car. Girt round by Adwaita, Nityananda and other _bhaktas_, the
Master delightedly witnessed the scene. The stout _pandas_ [attendants
on an idol] like so many wild elephants, conveyed Jagannath in their
arms, some holding the god's neck and some his feet. A strong thick rope
was fastened to his waist, and the _pandas_ raised the image by pulling
at the two ends of the rope. Thick and high heaps of cotton were placed
at different points, and the god was raised from one and quickly rested
on another of them; but the touch of his feet broke up the heaps and
scattered the cotton with a loud sound. (In fact) Jagannath supports the
universe; who can move him? He moves of his own will, to disport
himself. Shouts of "Great Lord! Master! Master!" rose up, but nothing
could be heard amidst the clang of many instruments of music. Then
Pratap Rudra, with his own hands, swept the path with a golden
broom-stick, and sprinkled sandal water on the ground. He was a king
accustomed to sit on the throne, but in as much as being so high he did
such lowly services, he gained Jagannath's grace. The Master rejoiced at
the sight, and this lowly service of the king gained for him the
Master's regard.
Men marvelled as they beheld the trappings of the car. It was covered
with fresh gold and high as the Sumeru mountain. Hundreds of
fly-whiskers and polished mirrors hung from it; above were flags and a
pure canopy. The _ghagar_ rattled, bells jingled on it. Many coloured
silk cloths covered it. Jagannath mounted one car, Subhadra and Balaram
two others.
For fifteen days had Jagannath remained (behind a screen), dallying in
secret with Lakshmi, and now with her leave he came out for a ride in
his car to give delight to his adorers. The fine white sand on the road
suggested a river bank, and the gardens on both sides made the place
look like Brindaban. Jagannath went along in his car, pleased with what
he saw on both sides. Bengali athletes dragged the car joyfully. It sped
at one time, slackened at another, and sometimes stopped altogether. In
fact it moved of its own will, and not under the force of men.
Then the Master with His own hands gave to the _bhaktas_ sandal paste
and garlands Then He divided the chanters (_kirtanias_) into four
parties, consisting in all of 24 singers and eight men playing on the
_khol_, their chiefs being Swarup and Shribas. Then He bade Nityananda,
Adwaita, Haridas, and Vakreshwar dance. In the first party Swarup was
the leading singer, while the other five were Damodar, Narayan, Govinda
Datta, Raghav Pandit and Shri Govindananda; with them danced Adwaita. Of
the second party the spokesman was Shribas, his followers being
Gangadas, Haridas, Shriman, Shuvananda, and Shri Ram Pandit. Here danced
Nityananda. Mukunda led the third party, consisting of Vasudev,
Gopinath, Murari, Shrikanta, and Vallabh Sen, with Haridas Thakur as the
dancer. The fourth party was composed of Haridas, Vishnudas, Raghav,
Madhav Ghosh and his brother Vasudev Ghosh, their leader being Govinda
Ghosh, and their dancer Vakreshwar Pandit. Other parties of _kirtan_
singers were formed by the pilgrims from the Kulin village, (with
Ramananda and Satyaraj as their dancers), the Acharyas of Shantipur
(with Achyutananda as their dancer), the men of Khand (with Narahari and
Shri Raghunandan as their dancers). In short four parties preceded the
car of Jagannath, two walked on the flanks, and one in the rear. These
seven parties played on 14 _khols_ in all, the music of which maddened
the Vaishnavs present. The cloud of Vaishnav enthusiasm melted in
showers, their eyes dropped tears along with the nectar of _kirtan_.
The shout of _kirtan_ filled the three worlds and drowned all other
sounds. The Master visited the seven positions shouting "Hari" and
"Glory to Jagannath!" with uplifted arms.
Another miracle did He manifest: at the same moment He was present with
all the seven parties, so that each cried out, "The Master is with us.
Out of His grace for us He has not gone elsewhere." No one can describe
the inscrutable power of the Master, only the pure-souled esoteric
_bhakta_ can know it.
Jagannath, pleased with the _sankirtan_, stopped his car. At this
Pratap Rudra marvelled exceedingly and became overcome with excess of
devotion. He spoke of the Master's greatness to Kashi Mishra, who
replied, "You are, O King, fortunate beyond limit." The king and
Sarvabhauma exchanged glances, as none else knew the secret manipulation
of Chaitanya;--only those whom He favours can know Him; without His
grace even Brahma cannot recognize Him. He had been delighted with the
lowly service done by the king, and for that reason had revealed His
mystery to him. True, He had shown Himself to the king only indirectly;
but who can pierce through this illusion of Chaitanya? Sarvabhauma and
Kashi Mishra were amazed at the grace shown to the king.
Thus did the Master play for some time, singing and making His followers
dance, now assuming one form, now many, ever putting forth His powers
according to the work to be done. In the ardour of play He forgot
Himself, and wished not to put a stop to it. Every moment did He do
supernatural feats, as He had in a preceding birth performed _rasa_ and
other sports at Brindaban.
Dancing thus, the Master swept the people away on the wave of enthusiasm
As Jagannath was going to the Gundicha garden-house, the Master
performed _kirtan_ before the god for a long time. First He made His
_bhaktas_ dance, and then, wishing to dance Himself, united the seven
parties, placed nine men (Shribas, Ramai, Raghu, Govinda, Mukunda,
Haridas, Govindananda, Madhav, and Govinda) under Swarup to sing and
move in the Master's company, while the other parties sang around Him.
After bowing to Jagannath, with folded palms and uplifted face the
Master prayed:
_"Salutation to Shri Krishna! who is the divine God, the protector of
brahmans and kine, and benefactor of the universe. To Krishna, to
Govinda, I bow again and again!"_ (_Vishnu Puran_, pt. I. xix. 48.)
_"Victory attend Devaki's son, the Lamp of the Vrishni race, the lord!
Deep blue like the clouds is his colour, tender are his limbs. He is the
Redeemer of the world from its load of sin. Victory to him! Victory!"_
(_Padavali_, c. 108.) Also _Bhagabat_, X. xc. 24 and _Padavali_,
c. 63.
Reciting these verses the Master bowed low again, while the _bhaktas_
with folded palms adored God. Dancing impetuously with loud roars, He
moved in circles, like a lathe. Wherever His feet touched the ground,
the "earth with its hills and oceans trembled. He manifested stupor,
perspiration, joyous weeping, tremour, turning pale, all sorts of
helplessness, pride, exultation and humility. Stumbling He rolled on the
ground, like a golden hill thrown on the earth. Nityananda and Adwaita
hastened to raise Him up in their arms, shouting _Hari! Hari!_ Three
circles were formed to keep the crowd back. The first was formed by
Nityananda, the second was composed of Kashishwar, Mukunda and other
_bhaktas_ locking their hands together. Outside Pratap Rudra with his
ministers formed another ring to keep the spectators in check. The king,
with his hand resting on the shoulder of his prime-minister, was gazing
in absorption at the Master's dance. As Shrinibas, sunk in devotion, was
standing before the king, the prime-minister touched him and said "Step
aside." But Shrinibas in the ardour of his dancing was forgetful of all
else. He was pushed repeatedly and at last grew angry and slapped the
minister to stop his pushing. At this the minister in anger wanted to
rebuke him, but Pratap Rudra checked him saying, "Blessed art thou, to
be touched by him. Such happiness has not been my share!"
Not to speak of the people, even Jagannath himself wondered at the
dancing of the Master, stopped his car, and gazed at the dance with
winkless eyes. Subhadra and Balaram smiled in delight at the sight of
the dance. A strange change came over the Master while dancing with all
His might: all the eight spiritual phases (_satwik bhab_) manifested
themselves at the same time. His hair stood on end, with their roots in
the skin bulging out, like a _Shimul_ tree girt round with thorns. His
teeth clashed together fearfully, as if they would be dislocated. Blood
and sweat ran over His body. He lisped _ja--ja--ga--ga_ inarticulately.
His eyes poured down tears like syringes, and moistened the men around.
Fair was His complexion, at times turning into rosy, at times resembling
the _Mallika_ flower. At times He stood inert, at times He rolled on
the ground; at times motionless like a dry wood, at other times
prostrate on the ground and breathing faintly, to the alarm of His
_bhaktas_. At times water oozed out of His eyes and nostrils and foam
out of His mouth,--as the moon sheds bubbles of nectar. Shuvananda, mad
with passion for Krishna, collected and drank up that froth; highly
fortunate was he.
After dancing violently for some time the Master wished to manifest
another mood. Leaving the dance He bade Swarup sing. Swarup, knowing His
taste, began,--
_"I have met the lord of my life, For whose sake I had been withering in
the fire of Cupid."_
Loudly did Swarup sing this burden, while the Master in delight danced
tenderly. Slowly Jagannath's car moved on, Shachi's son dancing before
it. With eyes fixed on Jagannath all danced and sang. (At times) the
Master walked behind the car with the party, of _kirtan_ singers,--His
arms making the action of song. When Chaitanya lagged behind, Jagannath
stopped his car; when the Master walked ahead the god propelled his car
slowly. Thus did the two urge each other on!
In the course of dancing another change of mood came over the Master:
with uplifted arms He loudly recited the following stanza.
(_Kavya-prakash_, I. canto 4 and also _Padavali_ c. 380).
Again and again did He read the stanza, of which the meaning was known
to Swarup only. It meant in effect that as the milkmaids at Kurukshetra
were delighted to see Krishna, so was the Master gratified at the sight
of Jagannath. Under that emotion He had the burden sung (by Swarup). At
last Radha prays to Krishna, "You are the same [beloved] and I am the
same [lover, as during your incarnation as Krishna], and yet Brindaban
steals my heart. Appear at Brindaban again! Here there are crowds and
the din and bustle of elephants, horses and chariots;--there only flowery
woodlands, the bee's murmur, the cuckoo's cooing! Here you are dressed
as a King girt round by warriors, there you were a cow-boy, in the
company of flute players! Here I have not a drop of the ocean of bliss I
used to taste in thy society at Brindaban. Take me with thee to dally at
Brindaban again. Thus only can my heart be gratified." In the ardour of
His devotion the Master recited the stanzas of the _Bhagabat_, voicing
Radhika's longing. But other people could not understand the verses;
Swarup alone knew their meaning but spoke not. (Afterwards) Rup Goswami
proclaimed the sense. (_Vide Bhagabat_ X. lxxxii. 35 and 31).
In Swarup's company had the Master day and night enjoyed the sense of
these verses in His house. During His dance the same emotion overcame
Him; so He recited the stanzas and danced gazing at Jagannath.
Swarup,--fortunate beyond expression in being absorbed body and soul in
the Master,--sang, while the Master drank in his music in abstraction.
Under passion's sway the Master sat down and with bowed head traced
letters on the ground with His finger. Lest His finger should be hurt,
Swarup prevented Him. Swarup's song was in exact accord with the
Master's emotion; he gave a vocal shape to every mood of the Master's
heart.
As He gazed at Jagannath's lotus-like face, flashing in the sunlight,
his beautiful eyes, his perfumes, robes, garlands and ornaments, the
ocean of joy surged up in the Master's heart, a wild storm swept through
Him; rapture and wildness raised a tumult, the different emotions fought
in Him like hostile armies. A passion rose, a passion subsided, it came
to terms with another, and at last His normal mood of spirituality
(_satwik_) asserted itself. The Master's body was a pure hill of gold;
His emotion a tree with every flower in bloom. The sight drew the hearts
of all; with the nectar of love He moistened their minds. All the
servitors of Jagannath, all the courtiers of the king, the pilgrims, and
the residents of Puri,--all marvelled at the Master's dance and rapture,
and all felt devotion to Krishna. In enthusiasm they danced, sang, and
set up a din. The pilgrims by joining the dance increased the happiness
fourfold. Jagannath hiniself moved on slowly to witness the Master's
dance.
Thus dancing, the Master advanced to where Pratap Rudra stood, and was
about to fall down when the king held Him up. On seeing him the Master
recovered composure and cried shame on Himself for having touched a
King, a worldling, adding, "In his rapture Nityananda has ceased to be
heedful [of me]. Kashishwar, Govinda and others, too, are at a
distance." True, the Master had been pleased to see Pratap Rudra numbly
serving Jagannath as a sweeper, and had meant to meet the king, yet He
professed anger in order to warn His followers against consorting with
worldly-minded men. The king grieved at the Master's speech, but
Sarvabhauma told him not to lose heart, "The Master is pleased with you;
He is only instructing His followers by means of you. I shall seize a
proper time for entreating Him. You will then go and meet Him."
Then the Master walked round the car, and standing behind it pushed it
with His head. At His push the car ran on with a clatter; the people
around shouted _Hari! Hari!_ Next the Master led His followers away to
dance before the cars of Subhadra and Balaram, and when that was done He
returned to dance before Jagannath's car. So the cars reached Balgandi,
where they stopped, and Jagannath looked on both sides: on the left were
the abodes of Brahmans in cocoanut groves, on the right a flower garden
resembling Brindaban. It is the rule that Jagannath breakfasts here on
ten million dishes. Every devotee of Jagannath, whatever his position,
offers his best food to the god. The king, his wives, ministers and
courtiers, all citizens of Puri, great and small, the pilgrims from
various lands, the people of the province, all offered him their
respective _bhog_. No order was observed, each deposited his offering
of food in front, behind, on the two sides of the god, or in the garden,
wherever he could find a spot. The crowd grew immense at the time of the
_bhog_, and so the Master stopped dancing and entered the garden, where
He lay prostrate on the veranda of the garden house, overcome with love;
the exertion of dancing made Him perspire copiously and He enjoyed the
fragrant cool wind. All the _bhaktas_ who had been singing _kirtan_
came and rested under the trees. [Text, canto 13.]