The journey to Kheturi
In the morning, the tour group started for Kantaka Nagara and on the way, Krsnadasa from Akaihata joined them. Yadunandana and others warmly welcomed them to Gauranga’s house. Meanwhile, Sri Raghunandana and his companions from Sri Khanda arrived there in the way to Kheturi. The many mahantas traveling to the festival in Kheturi were Sivananda, Baninath Vraja, Vallabha, Caitanyadasa, Sri Hari Acarya, Bhagavata Acarya, Nartaka Gopala, Jita Misra, Kasinath Misra, Nayana Misra, Kastakata Jagannatha, Uddhava, Sri Puspha Gopala, Raghunatha, Laksminath Pandita and others. People from the people took great pleasure in the meeting of the Vaisnavas.
When the mahantas visited the place from where Mahaprabhu had started his ascetic life shed tears of pain. By Mahaprabhu’s wish they controlled their emotions for a while. They were glad to hear that Dasa Gadadhara had seen Sri Gauranga in his dream.
Sri Jahnava cooked various types of delicious food which he first offered to Gaura Candra and then affectionately fed to the different mahantas.
Sri Yadunandana and those accompanying him did not take their food until after Sri Isvari had eaten. After the meal, everyone engaged in nama sankirtana at the Gauranga courtyard. Thereafter Sri Yadunandana and his companions prepared for the trip to Kheturi. Within each village, the people were satisfied to see the mahantas on their way to the big festival. Due to the presence of the great Vaisnavas, each village they entered became a holy place and the people of the village became fortunate.
That day they rested in the village of Telia Budhari and the happiness of the villagers
it was unlimited.
When they left Budhari for Kheturi, the villagers accompanied them to the bank of the Padmavati river. Sri Santosh Dutta had chartered a large boat which led them to the opposite bank of the river. Upon arrival of the Vaisnavas and Mahantas, the town of Kheturi became the central point of divine happiness.
Srinivasa and Sri Narottama led the party and came forward to receive the guests of honor, the townspeople fell at the feet of the great Bhagavatas.
Seeing that reception, a man commented that previously the villagers had been heretics, but by Narottama’s association they all became religious.
Srinivasa and Narottama arranged individual lodging places for each guest. The Vaishnavas were amazed to see so many lodging places, lots of prasadam, and so many attendees taking responsibility for the festival.
The people of Kheturi forgot their individual miseries by obtaining the
association of the great Bhagavatas, and everyone was anxiously awaiting the
start of the big festival. They were considered very
lucky because the village was blessed by the dust of the lotus feet of these
great devotees. They were impressed with the decorations of the houses
of the mahantas and on the throne of Mahaprabhu although the Lord
He hasn’t sat on it yet. The next day was Phalguna Purnima and six o’clock
Krsna deities would be placed on the thrones. Tomorrow the greatest devotees would gather and even the demigods would observe the great festival.
Everyone anxiously awaited the performance of sankirtana.
Someone spoke with appreciation of the fortunate King Santosh Dutta who
he had taken great care to organize the entire festival. he decorated
the composition that would be used for sankirtana by erecting a beautiful
pavilion and placing banana trees around it. someone else commented
that never in his life had he seen so many people making flowers
garlands and sandalwood paste. Another person said that he had never seen
not so many kinds of musical instruments, not so many singers and dancers
meet in his life. Another man wished the night would pass
quickly, for the next day to see the Bhagavatas and spend the
day with them, without feeling the need to go home.
The enthusiasm for the festival was intensified by the sound of musical instruments, signaling that morning was close.
Early in the morning, everyone went to the temple to see the beautiful deities. The mahantas gathered in the courtyard of Sri Gauranga wearing new clothes and decorated with Vaisnava tilaka. They took their respective seats and Sri Jahnava took her seat in a separate place. Srinivasa Acarya and Narottama were pleased with the well decorated area and Mahaprabhu’s companions gave Srinivasa permission to begin the ceremonial bathing of the deities. Srinivasa bowed to the Mahantas and other Vaisnavas before beginning the rituals and carefully installed each of the six deities on his own throne. According to the Lord’s wish, he announced the names of the deities as Sri Gauranga, Sri Vallabhi Kanta, Sri Vraja Mohana, Sri Krsna, Sri Radha Kanta and Sri Radha Ramana.
The mahantas shed tears seeing the beauty of the six deities, and even the demigods caused flowers to rain down from the sky. Sri Hari’s name resounded and the musicians began to play the different instruments. The Brahmins uttered hymns from the Vedas, while Srinivasa dressed the deities in splendid clothes. He offered Mahaprabhu scented sandalwood paste and flower garlands. After performing the deity worship ceremony, Srinivasa arranged an offering of lamps before the deities.
The mahantas shouted Hari’s name and prostrated themselves on the ground before the Lords. Narottama composed a verse by which he paid his respects to the deities by chanting the names of Gauranga, Vallabhi Kanta, Sri Krsna, Vraja Mohan, Radha Raman and Radha Kanta. Although the courtyard did not have enough space, many hundreds of people gathered in the temple to watch the offering of lamps. After that offering, Srinivasa Acarya offered many tasteful preparations to the deities, placing them in a different utensil. He then offered water to wash and betel leaves to chew on. He offered the deities garlands of flowers and sandalwood paste and then enlivened them with a chamara. When he opened the door of the temple, the sweet scent of the bodies of the deities filled the entire courtyard. Everyone was overwhelmed by the brilliant glow of the Lords’ bodies. Even Srinivasa lost control of his emotions upon seeing the beauty of the deities and fell to the ground to offer obeisances. He bowed humbly at the feet of Mahaprabhu’s companions and embraced them all with tears of joy. He fell prostrate at the feet of Sri Isvari, who affectionately ordered him to distribute the offered garlands and sandalwood paste to the assembled devotees. Srinivasa carried each garland in a different container and offered them all to Mahaprabhu’s companions. Sri Isvari ordered Nrsimha Caitanya to offer the garlands to Srinivasa, Narottama and his followers. Sri Isvari was so overwhelmed by the touch of the garland and the sandalwood paste that she lost control of her emotions.
Sri Jahnava Isvari continually gazed at Narottama, imbuing him with spiritual power beyond the comprehension of ordinary men. Advaita Acarya’s son Sri Acyuta nanda blessed Thakura Narottama and the mahantas gave him permission to begin sankirtana. Narottama’s companions were all experts in singing, dancing, and musical instruments.
Devidasa, who sat on Narottama’s left side, began stroking the sweet mardala. The other musical instruments joined in, each seeming to sing sweet words. Narottama led the kirtana and Sri Vallabha dasa and others repeated each line in turn. Sri Gauranga dasa and others played other instruments and sang sweetly.
There are two methods of kirtana, namely unbinding and binding. Sri Gokula sang the first method and his sweet voice impressed everyone. The audience was mesmerized by the musicians and the stage participants.
Narottama surrounded by the musicians looked like the moon surrounded by stars. During the kirtana, Narottama and the other singers concentrated on the thoughts of Caitanya, Nityananda and Advaita, devoting themselves to the mercy of those Lords. By their pitch, volume, scale and modulation, the ragas and raginis they sang seemed to come to life.
The depth of their songs increased the rhythm of the instrumentalists, and as the volume of the song increased, the pleasure of the Vaisnavas also increased. Khandavasi Sri Raghunandana offered sandalwood paste and flower garlands to Srikhola and Karatala, Mahaprabhu’s personal instruments, and then embraced Narottama and the other singers in a wave of emotion. He garlanded Narottama and each singer and they bowed to him.
Thereafter Narottama switched to the binding style of kirtana which explained the emotional condition of Nadia Candra in Sri Radhika’s state of mind. The singers themselves became emotional during her performance and this increased the ecstasy of the audience.
Sri Jahnava Isvari wept when she heard the song that described the spiritual and devotional qualities of Sri Gaura. Sri Acyutananda, Sripati, Srinidhi and others lost control of their emotions and trembled in ecstasy.
People commented on Narottama’s kirtana recital in various ways. One person appreciated the way Narottama expressed the inner meaning of each song. Another person appreciated the overall masterful presence. One person said that Narottama had attempted to duplicate the kirtana method enjoyed by Mahaprabhu at Svarupa Damodara’s house in order to attract Mahaprabhu to kirtana. Another man agreed that Mahaprabhu must be enjoying kirtana with his beloved companions. One devotee expressed his inner desire to see the Lord and his companions manifest within sankirtana.
Everyone appreciated the quality of the kirtana with its precise pitch, meaning and rhythm, saying that the Gandharvas and Kinnaras would be ashamed of their own songs.
During the kirtana recital, the demigods in heaven showered flowers on the singers. Narada and other famous saints and ascetics came down from the higher planets to attend kirtana. Even the animals, birds, snakes and other creatures were mesmerized by the songs. As the ocean of sankirtana overflowed little by little, the people in the sankirtana pavilion forgot their own existence and were bathed in tears.
While the sankirtana was being heard, Lord Gaura decided to reveal Himself. Within the pavilion area, Caitanya, Nityananda, Sri Advaita and other companions suddenly manifested like lightning within a cloud. The universe was captivated by their appearance, they became the precious jewels of sankirtana.
This pastime of Mahaprabhu enjoying and participating in sankirtana was beyond the comprehension of even Lord Brahma and other demigods. The audience was enchanted by the beautiful dress and graceful movements of these divine beings. In the midst of sankirtana they gracefully danced to the rising rhythm of the musical instruments. Mahaprabhu’s indescribable dance in that kirtana seemed to shower love all over the world. Sri Nityananda’s dance made the whole world tremble, while Sri Advaita Candra danced like a maddened lion roaring with joy. Pandita Gadadhara joyfully danced with Srinivasa. The joyous dance of Srivasa Pandita, Murari Gupta, Vakresvara, Haridasa Thakura, Svarupa Gosvami, Dasa Gadadhara, Rai Ramananda, Vasudeva Sarvabhauma and Vidya Vachaspati brought the people out of their sorrows and miseries. Acyutananda danced with tears of joy flowing from her eyes as the dance of Mukunda, Sri Narahari, Sri Raghunandana, Gauridasa Pandita, Sripati, Sri Nidhi, Govinda, Madhava and Vasu Ghosh enchanted the world.
Hundreds of thousands of people participated in that dance including Mukunda, Sri Acharya Sundara, Vasudeva Dutta, Brahmacari Suklambara, Sriman Pandita, Yadu, Sri Mukunda Dutta, Sri Madhusudana, Sri Natha, Mahesa, Sridhar, Sankara, Jagadish, Sri Yadunandana, Kasiwara, Sri Bhatta Sosa, Rupa, Sanatana, Sri Nakul Brahmacari, Dhanajaya, Vipra Vāṇīnātha, Sikh, Kanai, Vijaya, Suryadasa, Sri Nrsimha, Hṛdaya Caitanya, Syamananda, Srinivasa, Sri Narottama and others. Even the demigods and Gandharvas danced with them.
Gauracandra loves His disciples and thus fulfilled the wishes of Srinivasa and Narottama by appearing before them during sankirtan. As he hugged Srinivasa and Narottama he softly told them something confidential that others could not hear. Then Mahaprabhu and his companions disappeared, leaving his followers in utter despair. His pitiful wailing broke the hearts of all who witnessed the scene.
Mahaprabhu’s sudden disappearance within that sankirtana created a sense of despair among the entire audience. After the disappearance of the Lord, people were struck by the reality of their miserable lives in disappointment and pitifully lamented. One person cried out for Mahaprabhu while another looked everywhere, trying to find Sri Advaita or Nityananda. Someone else was longing for another look from Sri Gadadhara Pandita while another was looking for Haridas and Vakresvara. One person called Srivasa and Murari while another asked about Sri Mukunda and Narahari. One devotee wanted to see Gauridasa and Gadādhara while another sought out Sri Svarupa Damodara. At last they gave up all hope, rolling on the ground and crying aloud, as they would never see Mahaprabhu and his associates again. Her tears flowed so profusely that the ground turned muddy. Even the heretics who had come to sankirtana just for fun also began to cry. Raising their hands in the air, they prayed to Mahaprabhu to protect them from sin and misery.
When Sripati, Srinivasa and others regained their external senses, they could not believe that they had indeed enjoyed the company of the Lord. The people in the audience were also shocked at the sight they had seen. Srinivasa and Narottama explained to them that they had witnessed another time of Mahaprabhu and that the pastimes of the Lord are always beyond the comprehension of laymen. Sri Jahnavi Isvari confirmed this by saying that Mahaprabhu had fulfilled the great wishes of his beloved devotees by appearing in the form of life during his sankirtan. By this merciful appearance of Mahaprabhu he freed many heretics from sin and damnation by pulling humanity out of their ocean of sadness.
Bhakti-ratnakara Ch.10 – Narahari Cakravarti Thakura’s
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