Next day He took leave of the Ray and ordered him, "Give up your earthly concerns and go to Puri, where I shall soon return after finishing my pilgrimage. There we shall live together passing our days happily in talking about Krishna."
So saying He sent Rámánanda home with an embrace, and then lay down to sleep. At dawn the Master saw a Hanuman (monkey), bowed to it, and set out. All classes of people at Vidya-pur, on meeting with the Master, quitted their own faiths and turned Vaishnav. Rámánanda was distracted by the absence of the Master and ever meditated on Him, utterly disregarding all his own affairs.
Chaitanya's character is by nature like thickened milk, Rámánanda's character is sugar added to it, and the dalliance of Radha and Krishna is like camphor thrown into this compound, which only the fortunate can taste. He who once drinks it in through his ears, can never leave it for its deliciousness. All spiritual truths are learnt if you hear it; it creates faith and love in Radha-Krishna's feet.
Know the hidden truth of Chaitanya from this episode. Attend to it with faith; do not reason. This supernatural deed is deeply mysterious. You can realize it if you believe, but reasoning will only set it afar off. This precious thing is for them only whose sole riches are the feet of Shri Chaitanya, Nityánanda, and Adwaita! I have celebrated the Meeting with Rámánanda on the basis of Damodar Swarup's Diary (Karchá). [Text, canto 8.]
[[1]] Evidently Simhachalam, a hill five miles north of Vizagapatam, containing a temple to Narasimha. This is the most famous, richest and best sculptured shrine in Vizagapatam. An inscription shows that a queen of Gonka III. covered the image with gold. Architecturally the temple apparently deserves high praise. (Vizagapatam Gazetteer, 323-325, 28-29.)
CHAPTER VII
The Pilgrimage to the South
The Master travelled very extensively in the South, visiting thousands of holy places. At His touch they became the holiest of holy places. Under the pretext of a pilgrimage He delivered the people of that country. I shall only give a list of the places without arranging them in the order in which they were visited.
As before, whoever met Him on the way and all the people of every village that He lodged in, were turned into Vaishnavs and made to chant Hari's name. They in their turn converted other villages. Diverse were the people of the South, some scholars, some ritualists, some extreme sceptics, Lo! the marvellous effect of the sight of the Master! all such men gave up their own creeds and turned Vaishnav. Even among the Vaishnavs [of the South] some were worshippers of Vishnu in the incarnation of Ram, some the followers of Madhwacharya, some of Ramanuj's sect of Shri Vaishnavs. All of them, on meeting with the Master, became worshippers of Vishnu in the incarnation of Krishna, and began to chant Krishna's name.
The Master journeyed on, reciting the verse: