We quote from some wonderful stories in the Sri Chaitanya-Charitamrita. They are fairly recent.
Sri Madhabendra Puri went on pilgrimage to Brindaban. Brindaban filled him with joy, and tears of gladness streamed down from his eyes. He then went to Gobardhan Hill which he circled once and then proceeded to Govindakunda. There he bathed, sat under a tree, and meditated on Lord Krishna. A boy came before him and said:
“Puri, drink this milk.
Why don’t you ask for it,
Instead of always meditating?”
Sri Madhabendra Puri was thrilled to see the hand- some boy and to hear his sweet voice. He asked, “Where is your home, boy? And how do you know I am fasting today?” The boy answered:
“I am from this village;
I am cowherd here.
And in my village no one fasts.
They’d rather beg for rice and milk,
Than pray the whole day long.
But of my own I give my milk,
To those who do not beg.
So please do drink it now.”
Saying this, the boy put the milk pot in front of Madhabendra and went away.
In his sleep at the end of that very night Madhabendra saw the same boy of fair complexion and soothing countenance. The boy was so beautiful to look at that he seemed to be made of spiritual light. He caught hold of Madhabendra Puri’s hand and took him to a village where he said:
“I stay in this village,
And suffer heat and cold.
Please take the people of this village
Beyond the mountain there;
And build a temple there,
Bathing in cold water.
I’ve longed for you these many days.
When will you come to me?
I’m serving you because you love,
And I’ll come to others too.
I am Gopal, the holder of the hill,
the King of Brajaland.”
The boy vanished. The dream filled the heart of Madhabendra with sorrow. “Alas! I could not recognize the boy who came to me with milk.” He cried, “my beloved in disguise!” Madhabendra fell down as he tried to rise to his knees. He rolled on the ground in agony. But the Lord, beloved and unseen, saw his devotion and was pleased.
The news of the dream spread in all directions like wildfire. Many worshippers came in great joy from distant places to establish an image of Sri Gopal on Mount Gobardhan, Sri Madhabendra Puri dedicated himself to the service of that holy image. After two years Sri Gopal showed himself again in a dream of Madhabendra, saying:
“Madhab, I’m not so comfortable here.
Massage me with some sandal paste
Brought from Nilachal.
Go and bring it quickly.”
The horizon may have a limit, but not the fate of Sri Madhabendra Puri. He put another man in charge of the image and went to Bengal. There in Shantipur he initiated Acharjya Adyaita and went to Remuna where he found another image already established. This image was of Gopinath.
“In Remuna he visited Sri Gopinath,
Stunned to see his beauty.”
Sri Madhabendra Puri asked the men who were serving the image, “With how many foods do you daily worship Gopinath ?” One worshipper replied:
“Condensed milk at sunset,
Called by us The Nectar,
In twelve round pots of earth.”
Hearing this, Sri Madhabendra Puri thought, “If I could once taste that nectar, I’d know if it were fit for Gopal.” At night Sri Gopinath came in a vision to one of his worshippers and said :
“Wake up, ye worshipper,
And open ye the gate!
I’ve kept some condensed milk for a saint,
Beneath a lid.
I’ve kept condensed milk
Which none of ye know of.
My precious Madhab is in the market,
Go, give him that good milk.”
The dreamer was thrilled to see his Gopinath thus just before dawn. He went and found the covered milk, called Madhab from the market, and gave it to him.
From Remuna Sri Madhabendra went to Nilachal for the sandal paste. There he saw the image of Lord Jagannath and was again overwhelmed with devotion.
He collected sandal paste and on the way home stopped over again at Remuna. There the very first night he saw again the face of Sri Gopal who said:
“Listen, Madhab,
I’ve received the camphor, sandal.
Now put the camphor with the sandal;
And bring them here in paste.
Put the paste on Gopinath,
For I and Gopinath are one.
If you will rub him with the paste,
My body shall be comforted.
Don’t hesitate in your mind.
Believe in me and do.”
Sri Madhabendra Puri reported the matter to the worshippers of Gopinath and got them to do the wish of Sri Gopal.
This marvelous story of Sri Gopal in Brajaland and of Sri Gopinath in Remuna was told by Sri Chaitanya himself to his disciple-devotees : Nityananda, Jagadananda, Pundit Damodar, and Mukunda Dutta. He told the story as he was proceeding through Nilachal towards Remuna, and his last recorded words on the subject were these:
“Nityananda, just imagine
How lucky Puri was !
There was no one luckier in the world!
Lord Krishna came to him
And gave him milk to drink!
Thrice he came in vision
Exposed by force of love;
For Madhab served the whole wide world
And Gopinath stole the milk for him.”
So Gopinath is sometimes known as the “Milk-Thief.”
Two brahmins of Vidyanagar Village went on a pilgrimage to Brindaban. One was old and the other was young. The old man could not go without the help of the young one. He became pleased with the young one’s service and was willing to give his daughter to him in marriage. But when he came back to his village, he did not keep his word. He even declared the young man’s allegations to be lies. After a long debate in a village meeting it was decided that if Sri Gopal gave witness of the promise, they would hold the old man to it. After this decision the young man went again to Brindaban and prayed before Sri Gopal :
“You are the master of all,
And most kind,
As generous as you are,
Please save my reputation.
Not for the girl I ask,
But for the prestige and the promise.
Be, my Lord, my witness,
In it there’ll be no sin.”
Sri Gopal answered,
“Brahmin, go home.
In the meeting call on me,
I’ll stand by you,
And save both you and
The promise given you.”
But the young brahmin said,
“If you go just as you are now
And testify,
Throngs and throngs will hear.”
Sri Gopal asked,
“Where have you heard that images move about?
Said the Brahmin:
“You are not an image.
You are the living God of Braja.
Just do a miracle for this poor brahmin boy.”
Because he was a fulfiller Sri Gopal submitted. He said:
“All right, I’ll go-but just behind you.
Don’t turn around to see if I am coming.
If you look, I’ll halt on the spot.
So be content to hear the tinkling
of my ankle bells.”
Sri Gopal kept His word. He attended the village- meeting and gave witness to the promise. So He is sometimes called “Gopal the Witness”.
When the king of Vidyanagar heard this story of “Gopal the Witness” he brought the image to his own palace and dedicated himself to its service. Afterwards the King of Cuttack, Sri Purushottam, brought the image to his own palace and established. His wife one day wanted to decorate the image with diamonds in its nose, but there was no hole in the nose. Thereupon Sri Gopal one day came to her in a vision and said:
“My mother made a hole
And put a diamond there,
When I was still a baby.
Still that hole is there;
So do as you intended.”
When Sri Chaitanya was leaving Remuna for Cuttak, Nityananda narrated the story of “Gopal the Witness” to him, thereby giving him much pleasure. When Sri Chaitanya first saw the image of “Gopal the Witness”, what were his feelings?
“When the Lord came before the sacred Image,
Devotees saw in wonder-
Both were the same complexion,
the self-same stature.
Both had a ruddy color, but mien serene.
Light sparkled from their eyes
And sunshine was on their lips.”
At the time of the Car Festival in Puri the intimate connection between the living and the imagined deity was again shown. The Car of Jagannath’s image was not moving. King Prataprudra had tried to move it with an elephant but could not. Sri Chaitanya was resting in the Balagandi Garden, when he was told that the Car was not moving, Chaitanya left the Garden.
“He pressed his head on the back of the Car,
And the Car moved smoothly on.
There are many wonderful stories of images and image worship in our scriptures. We bow our heads to the holy images.
Things existing on the Earth and the heavens are all centered on some one thing. Men too are usually centered on one. They get detached from their point when they do wrongs based on instinctive inclinations. They get detached, but still the center exerts an influence on them. They cannot get rid of center altogether and are led on by it sometimes unwittingly. It is a most wonderful fact that the center of centers, God Himself, sometimes comes and sports among men as a man. “The most outstanding fact about Krishna is that He came as a man to live among men,” said Sri Chaitanya.
There are a couple of instructive incidents from the life of Sri Chaitanya himself in this connection. One day Ramananda Roy went to see Sree Chaitanya in Nilachal. Sri Chaitanya asked him if he had paid a visit to the image of Jagannath. “Later I will see him,” said Ramananda. Hearing this, Sri Chaitanya said in a surprised tone:
“What have you said? What have you done?
Not seeing God, you come here ?”
Ramananda replied:
“My feet are my car,
My heart its driver,
And you my life-companion.
Because my mind has chased me here,
I did not think to see Sri Jagannath.”
On another occasion when in Cuttack and on the way to Brindaban with Pundit Gadadhar, Sri Chaitanya advised Pundit Gadadhar to stay in Nilachal. They had words about this :-
Pundit : “Where you stay is my Nilachal. I don’t want to stay in Nilachal.'”
Chaitanya: “Then you may stay here in Cuttack and worship Gopinath.”
Pundit: “If I serve your feet, it is enough for me.”
Chaitanya : “You reject service to God when you insist on staying with me. I want you to stay here and worship Gopinath.”
Pundit: “I am taking the responsibility for my decision. I am going alone, not with you.”
But Pundit Gadadhar could not follow Chaitanya. Chaitanya left him under the guidance of Sarba Bhouma Bhattacharjya. We quote here a few lines from Santa scripture :
“The chatak bird never goes back on his vow;
Insects burn in the flame ;
Fish live in water alone.
Who sticks to his Master shall have Him.”
Sri Krishna and Sri Chaitanya are the same. To stay with Chaitanya is to stay with God. Patanjal says, “Seer Guru is above sufferings, calamities and wordily attachments.” He is the master of all masters and is never influenced by time and space. To keep contact with such a one is the best thing, we say. And the man who knows Him can be called God. To worship the Guru or Master or Ideal is better than idol worship. We bow our heads at the feet of our Guru the Ideal.