Chaitanya and the vaishnava poets of Bengal
THE
INDIAN ANTIQUARY,
A JOURNAL OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH
IN
ARCHĘOLOGY, HISTORY, LITERATURE, LANGUAGES, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, FOLKLORE, &c., &c., &c.
EDITED BY
JAS. BURGESS, M.R.A.S., F.R.G.S.
VOL. II.--1873
[Bombay, Education Society's Press]
{Scanned and edited by Christopher M. Weimer, May
2002}
p. 1
CHAITANYA AND THE VAISHNAVA
POETS OF BENGAL.
STUDIES IN BENGALI POETRY OF
THE FIFTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH CENTURIES.
BY JOHN BEAMES, J.C.S.,
M.R.A.S. &c.
THE
PADKALPATARU, or 'wish-granting tree of song,' may be considered as the
scriptures of the Vaish.nava sect in Bengal. In form it is a collection of
songs written by various poets in various ages, so arranged as to exhibit a
complete series of poems on the topics and tenets which constitute the
religious views of the sect. The book has been put tegether in recent times,
and takes the reader through the preliminary consecration, invocations and
introductory ceremonies, the rise and progress of the mutual love of Radha and
K.rish.na, and winds up with the usual closing and valedictory hymns.
Before
beginning an analysis of this collection so remarkable from many points of
view, it will probably be of some assistance even to those who have studied the
history of Vaish.navism, if I state briefly the leading points in the life of
Chaitanya, and the principal features of the religion which he developed,
rather than actually founded.
Bisambhar
(Vishvambhara) Mir was the youngest son of Jagannath Mir, a Brahman, native
of the district of Sylhet in Eastern Bengal, who had emigrated before the birth
of his son to Nadiya (Nabadwīpa), the capital of Bengal.* His mother was Sachi Debi, daughter
of Nilambar Chakravarti. She bore to Jagannath eight daughters who all died
young; her first-born child, however, was a son named Biswarśp, who afterwards
under the name of Nityanand became the chief disciple of his more famous
brother. Bisambhar was born at Nadiya in the evening of the Purnima or day of the full moon of
Phalgun 1407 Sakabda, corresponding to the latter part of February or beginning
of March A.D. 1486. It is noted that there was an eclipse of the moon on that
day. By the aid of these indications those who care to do so can find out the
exact day. The passages
in the original are:--
|
Sri Krishna the Visible became incarnate in
Nabadwip, |
And
again--
|
On
the full moon of Phalgun at even was the lord's birth |
In
accordance with the usual Bengali superstition that if a man's real name be
known he may be bewitched or subject to the influence of the evil eye, the real
name given at birth is not made known at the time, but another name is given by
which the individual is usually called. No one but the father and mother and
priest know the real name. Bisambhar's usual name in childhood was Nimai, and
by this he was generally known to his neighbours.
In
person, if the description of him in the Chaitanyacharitamrita (Bk. I. iii.) is
to be considered as historical, he was handsome, tall (six feet), with long
arms, in colour a light brown, with expressive eyes, a sonorous voice, and very
sweet and winning manners. He is frequently called "Gaurang" or
"Gaurchandra," i.e., the
pale, or the pale moon, in contrast to the Krishna of the Bhagvat who is
represented as very black.
The
name Chaitanya literally means 'soul, intellect,' but in the special and
technical sense in which the teacher himself adopted it, it appears to mean
perceptible, or appreciable by the senses. He took the name Sri Krishna Chaitanya to intimate that he was
himself an incarnation of the god, in other words, Krishna made visible to the
senses of mankind.
The
Charitamrita being composed by one of his disciples, is written throughout on
this supposition. Chaitanya is always spoken of as an incarnation of K.rish.na,
and his brother Nityanand as a re-appearance of Balaram. In order to keep up
the resemblance to K.rish.na, the Charitamrita treats us to a long series of
stories about Chaitanya's childish sports among the young Hindu women of the
village. They are not worth relating, and are probably purely fictitious; the
Bengalis of to-day must be very different from what their ancestors were, if
such pranks as are related in the Charitamrita were quietly permitted to go on.
Chaitanya, however, seems to have been eccentric even as a youth; wonderful
stories are told of his powers of intellect and memory, how, for instance, he
defeated in argument the most learned Pandits. A great deal is said about his
hallucinations and trances throughout his life, and we may perhaps conclude
that he was more or less insane at all times, or rather he was one of those
strange enthusiasts who wield such deep and irresistible influence over the
masses by virtue of that very condition of mind which borders on madness.
When
he was about eighteen his father died, and he soon afterwards married Lachhmi
Debi, daughter of Balabhadra Acharjya, and entered on the career of a grihastha or householder, taking in
pupils whom he instructed in ordinary secular learning. He does not appear,
however, to have kept to this quiet life for long; he went off on a wandering
tour all over Eastern Bengal, begging and singing, and is said to have
collected a great deal of money and made a considerable name for himself. On
his return he found his first wife had died in his absence, and he married
again one Bishnupriya, concerning whom nothing further is said. Soon after he
went to Gaya to offer the usual pi.n.da to the manes of his ancestors.
It
was on his return from Gaya, when he was about 23 years of age, that he began
seriously to start his new creed. "It was now," writes Babu
Jagadishnath, "that he openly condemned the Hindu ritualistic system of
ceremonies as being a body without a soul, disowned the institution of caste as
being abhorrent to a loving god all whose creatures were one in his eyes,
preached the efficacy of adoration and love and extolled the excellence and
sanctity of the name, and the
uttering and singing of the name of
god as infinitely superior to barren system without faith." Chaitanya, however,
as the Babu points out, was not the originator of this theory, but appears to
have borrowed it from his neighbour Adwaita Acharjya, whose custom it was,
after performing his daily ritual, to go to the banks of the Ganges and call
aloud for the coming of the god who should substitute love and faith for mere
rites and ceremonies. This custom is still adhered to by Vaish.navas. The
Charitamrita veils the priority of Adwaita adroitly by stating that it was he
who by his austerities hastened the coming of Krishna in the avatar of
Chaitanya.
|
I
praise that revered teacher Adwaita of wonderful actions, |
Thus
in Sanskrit verses at the head of that chapter which sings the virtues of
Adwaita: by in the Bengali portion of the same chapter it is asserted that
Adwaita was himself an incarnation of a part of the divinity, e.g.--
p. 3
The teacher Adwaita is a
special portion of god.
And
the author goes on to say that Adwaita was first the teacher then the pupil of
Chaitanya. The probability is that Adwaita, like the majority of his
countrymen, was more addicted to meditation than to action. The idea which in
his mind gave rise to nothing more than indefinite longings when transfused
into the earnest fiery nature of Chaitanya, expanded into a faith which moved
and led captive the souls of thousands.
His
brother Nityanand was now assumed to be an incarnation of Balaram, and took his
place as second-in-command in consequence. The practice of meeting for worship
and to celebrate "Sankīrtans" was now instituted; the meetings took
place in the house of a disciple Sribas, and were quite private. The new
religionists met with some opposition, and a good deal of mockery. One night on
leaving their rendezvous, they found on the door-step red flowers and goats'
blood, emblems of the worship of Durga, and abominations in the eyes of a
Vaish.nava. These were put there by a Brahman named Gopal. Chaitanya cursed him
for his practical joke, and we are told that he became a leper in consequence.
The opposition was to a great extent, however, provoked by the Vaish.navas, who
seem to have been very eccentric and extravagant in their conduct. Every thing
that Krishna had done Chaitanya must do too, thus we read of his dancing on the
shoulders of Murari Gupta, one of his adherents; and his followers, like
himself, had fits, foamed at the mouth, and went off into convulsions, much
after the fashion of some revivalists of modern times. The young students at the
Sanskrit schools in Nadiya naturally found all this very amusing, and cracked
jokes to their hearts' content on the crazy enthusiasts.
In
January 1510, Chaitanya suddenly took it into his head to become a Sanyasi or
ascetic, and received initiation at the hands of Keshab Bharati of Katwa. Some
say he did this to gain respect and credit as a religious preacher, others say
it was done in consequence of a curse laid on him by a Brahman whom he had
offended. Be this as it may, his craziness seems now to have reached its
height. He wandered off from his home, in the first instance, to Purī to see
the shrine of Jagannath. Thence for six years he roamed all over India
preaching Vaish.navism, and returned at last to Purī, where he passed the
remaining eighteen years of his life and where at length he died in the 48th
year of his age in 1534 A.D. His Bengali followers visited him for four months
in every year and some of them always kept watch over him, for he was now quite
mad. He had starved and preached and sung and raved himself quite out of his
senses. On one occasion he imagined that a post in his veranda was Radha, and
embraced it so hard as nearly to smash his nose, and to cover himself with
blood from scraping all the skin off his forehead; on another he walked into
the sea in a fit of abstraction, and was fished up half dead in a net by a
fisherman. His friends took it in turns to watch by his side all night lest he
should do himself some injury.
The
leading principle that underlies the whole of Chaitanya's system is Bhakti or devotion; and the principle is
exemplified and illustrated by the mutual loves of Radha and K.rish.na. In
adopting this illustration of his principle, Chaitanya followed the example of
the Bhagavad Gīta and the Bhagavat Pura.na, and he was probably also influenced
in the sensual tone he gave to the whole by the poems of Jayadeva. The Bhakta
or devotee passes through five successive stages, Santa or resigned contemplation of the deity is the first, and from
it he passes into Dasya or the
practice of worship and service, whence to Sakhya
or friendship, which warms into Batsalya,
filial affection, and lastly rises to Madhurya
or earnest, all-engrossing love.
Vaish.navism
is singularly like Sufiism, the resemblance has often been noticed, and need
here only be briefly traced.* With the
latter the first degree is nasūt or
'humanity' in which man is subject to the law shara, the second tarīkat,
'the way' of spiritualism, the third “arūf
or 'knowledge,' and the fourth hakīkat
or 'the truth.' Some writers give a longer series of grades, thus--talab, 'seeking after god;' “ishk, 'love;' m“arifat, 'insight;' istighnah,
'satisfaction;' tauhīd, 'unity;' hairat, 'ecstacy;' and lastly fana, 'absorption.' Dealing as it does
with God and Man as two factors of a problem, Vaish.navism necessarily ignores
the distinctions of caste, and Chaitanya was perfectly consistent in p. 4 this respect, admitting men of all castes,
including Muhammadans, to his sect. Since his time, however, that strange love
of caste-distinctions, which seems so ineradicable from the soil of India, has
begun again to creep into Vaish.navism, and will probably end by establishing
its power as firmly in this sect as in any other.
Although
the institution of love towards the divine nature, and the doctrine that this
love was reciprocated, were certainly a great improvement on the morbid gloom
of iva-worship, the colourless negativeness of Buddhism, and the childish
intricacy of ceremonies which formed the religion of the mass of ordinary
Hindus, still we cannot find much to admire in it. There seems to be something
almost contradictory in representing the highest and purest emotions of the
mind by images drawn from the lowest and most animal passions.
"Ut matrona meretrici
dispar erit atque discolor."
So
must also Vaish.navism differ from true religion, the flesh from the spirit,
the impure from the pure. The singing of hymns about Radha and Krishna is much
older than Chaitanya's age. Not to mention Jayadeva and his beautiful, though
sensual, Gītagovinda.* Bidyapati,
the earliest of Bengali poets, and Cha.n.di Das both preceded Chaitanya, and he
himself is stated to have been fond of singing their verses. There was
therefore a considerable mass of hymns ready to his hand, and his
contemporaries and followers added largely to the number; the poems of the Padakalpataru in consequence are of all
ages from the fifteenth century downwards; moreover, as Vaish.navism aspires to
be a religion for the masses, the aim of its supporters has always been to
write in the vulgar tongue, a fortunate circumstance which renders this vast
body of literature extremely valuable to the philologist, since it can be
relied on as representing the spoken language of its day more accurately than
those pretentious works whose authors despised everything but Sanskrit.
The
Padakalpataru, to keep up the
metaphor of its name throughout, is divided into 4 akhas or 'branches,' and each of these into 8 or 10 pallabas or smaller branches, 'boughs.'
It should be explained that the kīrtans are celebrated with considerable
ceremony. There is first a consecration both of the performers and instruments
with flowers, incense, and sweetmeats. This is called the adhibas. The principal performer then sings one song after another,
the others playing the drum and cymbals in time, and joining in the chorus; as
the performance goes on many of them get excited and wildly frantic, and roll
about on the ground. When the performance is over the drum is respectfully
sprinkled with chandana or sandalwood
paste, and hung up. Several performances go on for days till a whole akha has
been sung through, and I believe it is always customary to go through at least
one Pallab at a sitting, however long it may be. The Bengali Kīrtan in fact
resembles very much the Bhajans and Kathas common in the Mara.tha country, and
each poem in length, and often in subject, is similar to the Abhangas of
Tukaram and others in that province.
The
first Pallab contains 27 hymns, of these 8 are by Gobind Das, 8 by Baishnab
Das, 3 by Brindaban Das, the rest by minor masters. Brindaban Das and
Parameshwar Das were contemporaries of Chaitanya, the others--including Gobind
Das, who is perhaps the most voluminous writer of all--are subsequent to him.
Of the hymns themselves the first five are invocations of Chaitanya and
Nityanand, and one is in praise of the ceremony of Kīrtan. There is nothing
very remarkable in any of them. Number 5 may be taken as a specimen, as it is perhaps
the best of the batch.
"Nand's
son, lover of the Gopīs, lord of Radha, the playful Syam:
Is he, Sachi's son, the Indra
of Nadiya, the heart-charming dwelling of gods and saints; victory to him who
is love embodied to his own p. 5 beloved,
hail! hail to him who is the joy of the existence of his well-beloved! hail to
the delight of the eyes of his comrades in Braj! hail to the charm of the sight
of the women of Nadiya! hail! hail to Sridam, Sudam, Subal, and Arjun,* bound by
love to him whose form is as a new cloud! hail to Ram and the rest, beautiful
and dear companions! hail to the charmer, the incomparable Gora (Chaitanya)!
hail to the mighty younger brother of Balaram! hail! hail to Nityanand (who is)
joy (personified)! Hail to him who destroys the fear of good men, the object of
the hope of Gobind Das!"
I
would call attention here, once for all, to what is one of the principal charms
of Vaish.nava hymns, the exquisitely musical rhythm and cadence. They seem made
to be sung, and trip off the tongue with a lilt and grace which are
irresistible.
This
hymn is interesting as shewing how completely Chaitanya is by his followers
invested with the attributes of, and identified with, K.rīsh.na; it has no
other special merits; nor anything specially interesting from a philological
point of view as it is nearly all Sansk.rit.
The
next six are in praise of the sect itself, of Adwaita, and the principal
disciples. That on Adwaita by his contemporary Brindaban Das gives a lively picture
of the old Brahman, then follow seven in praise of the Kīrtanias or the old
master-singers--Bidyapati, Jayadeva, Cha.n.di Das; then four on Krishna and
Radha, containing only a succession of epithets linked together by jay! jay!
The
twenty-third begins the adhibas or consecration, and is curious less for its
language than for the description it gives of the ceremonies practised. It is
by the old masters Parameshwar and Brindaban, with the concluding portion by a
younger master Bansi. The poem is in four parts and takes the form of a story
how Chaitanya held his feast. It runs thus:--
23. Atha sankirtanasya adhibasa.
"One
day coming and smiling, sitting in Adwaita's house, spake the son of Sachī,
having Nityanand with him and Adwaita, sitting in enjoyment, he planned a great
festivity. Hearing this, smiling with joy, Sīta Thakuranī coming spoke a sweet
word: hearing that with joyful mind the son of Sachī spoke somewhat in regard
to arranging the festival. 'Listen, Thakuranī Sīta, bring the Baishnabs here; making
pressing invitation to them: whoso can sing, whoso can play, invite them
separately, man by man.' Thus Gora Rai speaking gave orders for an assembly:
'Invite the Baishnabs! Bring out the cymbal and drum, set out full pots painted
with aloes and sandal-paste: plant plantains, hang on them garlands of flowers,
for the Kīrtan place joyfully. With garlands, sandal, and betelnut, ghee,
honey, and curds consecrate the drum at evening-tide.' Hearing the lord's word,
in loving manner she made accordingly various offerings with fragrant perfumes:
all cried 'Hari, Hari!' thus they consecrate the drum; Parameshwar Das floats
in enjoyment."
Of
the remainder of the adhibas I give merely a paraphrase ommiting the numerous
repetitions.
2.
Having prepared the entertainment she invites them, "kindly visit us, to
you and Vaish.navas, this is my petition, come and see and complete the
feast;" thus entreating she brought the honoured guests, they consecrate
the feast. Joyfully the Vaish.navas came to the feast: "to-morrow will be
the joy of the great festivity, there will be the enjoyment of the singing
Sri K.rish.na's sports, all will be
filled with delight." The merits of the assembly of the devotees p. 6 of Sri
Krishna Chaitanya singeth Brindaban Das.
3.
First set up the plantains, array the full pots, adorned with twigs of the
mango; the Brahman chants the Vedas, the women shout jay! jay! and all cry
Hari! Hari! Making the consecration with curds and ghi, all display their joy; bringing in the Vaish.navas, giving
them garlands and sandal-paste, for the celebration of the Kīrtan; joy is in the hearts of all, hither come the Vaish.navas,
to-morrow will be Chaitanya's kīrtan; the virtue of Sri Krishna Chaitanya's name, and the indwelling
of Sri Nityanand singeth Das Brindaban.*
4.
Jay! jay! in Nawadwip; by Gorang's order Adwaita goes to prepare the
consecration of the drum. Bringing all the Vaish.navas with sound of "Hari
bol," he initiates the great feast. He himself giving garlands and
sandal-paste, converses with his beloved Vaish.navas, Gobind taking the drum
plays ta-ta-tum tum, Adwaita lightly clashes the cymbals. Hari Das begins the
song, Sribas keeps time, Gorang dances at the kīrtan celebration. On all sides
the Vaish.navas crowding echo "Hari bol," to-morrow will be the great
feast. To-day consecrate the drum and hang it up, joyfully saith Bansi sound
victory! victory!!
Having
thus concluded the initiatory ceremonies in the lst Pallab, the 2nd Pallab
begins the real "Kīrtan." It contains 26 hymns by masters who are
mostly of comparatively recent date. Of the old masters Gobind Das and Cha.n.di
Das alone appear in this Pallab. We now commence the long and minutely
described series of emotions and flirtations (if so lowly a word may be used)
between Radha and K.rish.na, and this Pallab and in fact the whole of the first
Sakha is on that phase called "pūrbaraga" or first symptoms of love.
In No. 2, Cha.n.di Das represents two of Radha's Sakhis, or girl-friends,
whispering together as they watch her from a distance (the punctuation {i.e. colon (:)} refers to the cęsura,
not to the sense):
"She
stands outside the house, a hundred times restlessly she comes and goes:
depressed in mind, with frequent
sighs, she looks towards the kadamba jungle. Why has Rai (Radhika) become thus?
serious is her error, she has no fear of men, where are her senses, or what god
has possessed her? Constantly restless, she does not cover herself with the
corner of her robe: she sits still for a while, then rises with a start, her
ornaments fall with a clang. Youthful in age, of royal descent, and a chaste
maiden to boot: what does she desire, (why) does her longing increase? I cannot
understand her motives: from her conduct, this I conceive, she has raised her
hand to the moon: Cha.n.di
Das says with respect she has fallen into the snare of the black one
(K.rish.na)."
This
poem vividly expresses the first symptoms of love dawning in the girl's heart,
and from a religious point of view the first awakenings of consciousness of
divine love in the soul. It is difficult for the European mind, trained to draw
a broad distinction between the love of God and love for another human being,
to enter into a state of feeling in which the earthly and sensual is made a
type of the heavenly and spiritual, but a large-souled charity may be perhaps
able to admit that by this process, strange though it be to its own habits and
experiences, there may have been some improvement wrought in the inner life of
men brought up in other schools of thought; and my own experience, now of
fourteen years standing, enables me to say that Vaish.navism does, in spite of,
or perhaps in virtue of, p. 7 its peculiar modus operandi, work a change for the
better on those who come under its influence.
Two
more hymns on the same subject follow, and in No. 5 Radha herself breaks
silence.
"In
the kadamba grove what man is (that) standing? What sort of word coming is
this: the plough of whose meaning has penetrated startlingly the path of
hearing? With a hint of union, with its manner of penetrating making one
well-nigh mad: My mind is agitated, it cannot be still, streams flow from my
eyes: I know not what manner of man it is who utters such words: I see him not,
my heart is perturbed, I cannot stay in the house: My soul rests not, it
flutters to and fro in hope of seeing him: When she sees him, she will find her
soul, quoth Urdbab Das."
I
have left myself no space to finish this Pallab, or to make remarks on the
peculiarities of the language, which in the older masters would more properly
be called old Maithila than Bengali. It is nearly identical with the language
still spoken in Tirhut, the ancient Mithili, and in Munger and Bhagalpur, the
ancient Magadha, than modern Bengali. As the Aryan race grew and multiplied it
naturally poured out its surplus population in Bengal, and it is not only
philologically obvious that Bengali is nothing more than a further, and very
modern development of the extreme eastern dialect of Hindi. All these
considerations, however, I hope still further to develope at some future time.
Footnotes
p. 1
* The facts
which here follow are taken from the "Chaitanyacharitamrita," a
metrical life of Chaitanya, the greater part of which was probably written by a
contemporary of the teacher himself. The style has unfortunately been much
modernized, but even so, the book is one of the oldest extant works in Bengali.
My esteemed friend Babu Jagadishnath Ray has kindly gone through the book, a
task for which I had not leisure, and marked some of the salient points for me.
There was an
eclipse of the moon before midnight Feb. 18, O.S. 1486.
p. 3
* Conf. Capt.
J. W. Graham's paper 'On Sufiism,' Bombay
Literary Soc. Trans. Vol. I. pp. 89 et seqq.; Rajendralala Mittra's
valuable introduction to the Chaitanya
Chandrodaya (Biblioth. Ind.), pp. ii-iv and xv; also Jones' 'Mystical
Poetry of the Persians and Hindus,' Asiat.
Res. Vol. III. pp. 165-207; and Leyden, 'On the Rosheniah Sect, &c.,' As. Res. Vol. XI. pp. 363-428.--ED.
p. 4
* It is many
years now since I read Gitagovinda as a text-book at college, but the
impression I still retain is that it was in many parts far too warm for
European tastes.
p. 5
* Names of
Chaitanya's disciples.
Sīta was the
wife of Adwaita.
p. 6
* The poet's
name is inverted to make a rhyme for Kīrtan in the preceding line.
She has
formed some extravagant desire.