The Master's last year on earth
Thus did the Master in love-madness for Krishna lament night and day.
Jagadananda Pandit was very dear unto Him, and was every year sent by
Him to Nadia to console his forlorn mother Shachi. "Go to Nadia", so the
Master charged Jagadananda, "convey my salutation to mother, touch her
feet on my behalf. Tell her to remember that I go there daily (in the
spirit) to bow to her. That I have taken the _sannyasi's_ vow leaving
her service only shows that I am mad and have really undone all
_dharma_. Mother! pardon this fault of mine. I am obedient to thee, I
am thy son. It is at thy bidding that I am living at Nilachal. I cannot
leave thee while life remains to me." The Master presented to His mother
(at the Puri's suggestion) the consecrated cloth that He had received at
the _Gopa-lila_ with choice _prasad_ of Jagannath. He was the crowning
example of filial piety, for even though a _sannyasi_ He served His
mother.
After receiving an enigmatic message in verse from the Acharya Goswami
(of Shantipur) through Jagadananda when he returned to Puri, the Master
plunged into a deeper trance. His ecstasy at Krishna-separation was
doubled. He raved frantically day and night, identifying Himself with
Radha. Suddenly imagining that Krishna was leaving Brindaban for
Mathura, He (in the character of Radha) was seized with dizziness and
developed madness, mourning deliriously while clasping the neck of
Ramananda and addressing Swarup as one of the _sakhis_ (i.e., Radha's
companions). He repeated the verse which Radha had spoken to Vishakha
(her handmaid) and held forth on it.
Thus did Gauranga weep, saying, "Alas! alas for Krishna! where hast thou
gone?" Swarup and Ramananda consoled Him in many ways, singing joyous
songs, which calmed Him a little.
These lamentations were carried on to midnight. Then Swarup laid the
Master to bed in His room. Ramananda left for his home, and Govinda lay
down at the door of the room. Love for Krishna was thrilling the
Master's heart; He awoke and began to sing the Name; the pang of
separation convulsed His heart, and He began to rub His face against the
wall; His face, cheeks, nose were all lacerated, but in the vehemence of
ecstasy He knew not of the blood streaming down.
All night He battered His face thus. Swarup, noticing the groaning
sound, lighted a lamp, entered the room and saw His face. In intense
grief the two brought Him back to His bed and soothed Him. Swarup asked,
"Why didst thou do this?" The Master answered, "I could not contain
myself in the room in my [love] anxiety. I rushed in search of the door
in order to go out very soon. I could not find the door and only knocked
my face against the four walls. It was torn, it bled, but still I could
not go out."
Then, Swarup in anxiety took counsel of the other _bhaktas_ next day
and made Shankar Pandit sleep in the Master's room, nursing His feet. In
fear of Shankar He could not leave the room nor knock His face against
the walls. These feats Raghunath-das has described in his
_Chaitanya-staba-kalpa-briksha_.
One _Baishakh_ night, when it was full moon, the Master went with His
_bhaktas_ to visit the great Jagannath-vallabh park. The trees and
creepers were in full bloom as at Brindaban, the green parrots, bees and
cuckoos were discoursing [love]. The Zephyr was blowing laden the scent
of flowers, and freshening made the tree-tops dance. Under the bright
moonlight the plants and creepers blazed in a silvery sheen. Spring
pervaded the atmosphere. The sight threw the Master into a rapture. He
bade the stanza _Lalita labanga lata_ [of the _Git-Govinda_, canto ix.
verse 6] be sung, and moved up and down dancing with His followers.
Passing thus from tree to tree, He came under an _Ashoka_ tree and lo!
he beheld Krishna standing there. He rushed to meet Krishna, who
disappeared laughing. The Master, losing Krishna after having caught
sight of him, fell down in a faint. The odour of Krishna's person filled
the garden; it took away the Master's senses, it maddened Him, and He
began to sing and hold forth on the verses that Radha, enamoured of the
scent of Krishna's body, had addressed to her _sakhi_.
Swarup and Ramananda sang, the Master danced in rapture, and thus the
night wore on to dawn.
THE LAST CHARGE TO THE APOSTLES
Thrilled with delight, the Master spoke, "Listen, Swarup and Ramananda
Ray! the supreme healer in this iron age is _sankirtan of the Name_. It
is [equivalent to] the Vedic sacrifice, and the true sacrificer in it is
rewarded with Krishna's feet. Sankirtan enables us to conquer sin and
the world; it creates purity of soul, all kinds of _bhakti_ and
devotional practice. Chant the Name at meals, in bed, here there and
every where. It is not restricted to a particular place or time, it
works everywhere. It bears the name of _sarva-shakti_ (omnipotent).
"Listen, Ramananda, to the way in which the Name should be recited in
order to conceive a passion for it. The devotee, if high of rank, should
regard himself as lowly like the grass. He should learn patience from
the tree, which does not cry out even when it is cut down and which does
not beg for water even when it is perishing of drought, but on the other
hand gives away its possessions to all who ask of it, bears sun and rain
itself but protects others from them. The Vaishnav, however high, should
be free from pride; he should venerate all forms of life as animated by
Krishna. Take Krishna's Name thus, and you will be inspired with
_prem_."
As He spoke He was filled with growing meekness of spirit and began to
beg for pure _bhakti_ at Krishna's hands. The true devotee, as is the
law of love, holds that he has not even a particle of faith in Krishna!
_"Lord! I ask not for wealth or followers or the gift of poesy. Give me
in birth after birth only unreasoning instinctive devotion to God."_
In utter lowliness of spirit He proclaimed Himself a worldly-minded
creature and prayed to be inspired with a slave's devotion (_dasya
bhakti_). _"O Nanda's son! Have pity on this thy servant sunk in the
dread ocean (of the World)! Look on me as a particle of dust on thy
lotus-feet!"_ Next, He was seized with the anxiety of humility and
begged of Krishna, "Without the wealth of thy love my life is poor and
futile. Make me thy slave and give me the treasure of thy love as my
wages."
Then came the mood of melancholy-humility: _"My eyes are running with
tears like the rainy sky. A moment is as long to me as an aeon. The
absence of Govinda (Krishna) has made the universe empty to me!"_
In this way He recited His own eight Sanskrit verses on the different
moods of _bhakti_ and expounded them all. For twelve years He thus
tasted the sweets of Krishna-love day and night with His two friends.
These acts of His are endless, even a thousand narratives cannot arrive
at their end. Therefore, I bow my head and conclude His _lilas_ here. I
bow at the feet of all my Vaishnav hearers and end my history of
Chaitanya's acts.
The last scene (translated from the _Chaitanya-mangal_ of Jayananda, p.
150):
When dancing at the Bijaya of the Car festival in the month of Asharh,
His left toe was suddenly pierced by a brick [lying on the road]. When
Adwaita left for Bengal, the Master secretly told him [of His coming
disappearance]. With all His followers He sported in the water of the
Narendra tank [for the last time]. On the sixth day of the moon, the
pain in His toe grew severer, and He was forced to take to His bed in
the garden. Here He told the Pandit Goswami that He would leave the
earth next night at 10 o clock. Celestial garlands of many-coloured
flowers were thrown on Him from the unseen. Celestial singers
(_vidyadhar_) began to dance on the highway. The gods began to cry out,
"Bring the heavenly chariot!" The Master mounted into Vishnu's car with
the figure of Garuda on its spire. His material body lay behind on the
earth, while He went to Vaikuntha (Vishnu's heaven). Many of His
servants killed themselves by serpent-bite. Meteors and thunderbolts
fell on the earth. At the news Nityananda and Adwaita Acharya,
Vishnupriya and Shachi swooned away. Purushottam and other servitors of
the Master grew speechless at His departure.
Nityananda consoled the disciples and vowed before them, "We will keep
the Name alive. We will make all men down to the Chandals, Vaishnavs. We
will not differentiate [low] castes like the Chandals or Muslims, but
will give them all love and _bhakti_ and make them all dance [with us]
at _kirtan_. We will make the realms of Bengal and Orissa blessed." The
Vaishnavs shouted applause at his words.