On Krishna's Nativity Day took place the ceremony of Nanda's grand festival, at which the Master with His bhaktas personated the cowherds [of Mathura]. On His own shoulders did He carry the loads of milk and curds to the place of the ceremony, shouting Hari's name. Kánái Khuntiá played the róle of Nanda and Jagannáth Mahanti that of the queen of Braja. With Pratap Rudra himself, Kashi Mishra, Sarvabhaunia, and the Parichhá (minister) Tulsi, the Master danced and sported, spattering all their bodies with milk, curds and yellow liquid. Adwaita said, "Bear with me when I tell the truth. I shall know you for a cowherd only if you can brandish a staff!" At this the Master began to play with the staff. He tossed it in the air and caught it repeatedly as it fell. He swung it round His head, behind, before, on the two sides, and between the legs, spectators laughing. The stick circled round and round like a lathe, all men wondering at the sight. Similarly Nityánanda too played with his staff. Who can fathom the deep cowherd mood of these two? At the king's command, Tulsi Parichha brought out a costly cloth, once worn by Jagannáth, and tied it round the Master's head. [Other clothes] were presented to the Acharya and other followers of the Master. Kanai Khuntia and Jagannáth Mahanti, in their enthusiasm, gave away all the wealth of their houses. At this the Master was greatly delighted, and bowed to them as his parents (i.e., as Nanda and his wife, the foster-parents of Krishna). In deep spiritual exaltation did He return to His quarters. Thus did Chaitanya play.
On the Bijaya-dashami, the day of the storming of Lanka, the Master with His followers played the part of the monkey army [of Ram]. Transported by the spirit of Hanuman, He seized a branch and broke it off as if it were the citadel of Lanka, shouting in a rage, "Where art thou, Ravan! Thou hast kidnapped the Mother of the World. Wretch! I shall destroy thee with thy kith and kin." The people marvelled at His passion and exclaimed "Glory! glory!" So, too, did He witness the celebration of Rása-yátrá, Dipávali and Utthán-dwádashi. One day He and Nityánanda formed a plan in secret, the nature of which His followers afterwards guessed only from the result. Calling all His bhaktas together, He said, "Return ye all to Bengal. Come here every year and visit the Gundichá garden with me." On Adwaita Acharya he honourably laid His command, "Teach the lesson of faith in Krishna to all men, down to the Chandals." Nityánanda was bidden, "Go to Bengal. Freely proclaim the gospel of devotion and love. Ramdas, Gadadhar and some others will assist you. Now and then I shall be with you, and standing unseen shall witness your dancing." Embracing Shribas Pandit, He clung to his neck and said tenderly, "In the kirtan at your house I shall always dance. You alone of all men will be able to see me. Give my mother this cloth and all this prasád bow to her and beg her pardon for all my faults. I have turned a monk leaving her service; this has been an act of irreligion and not of religion on my part. I am bound by her love; service to her is my religion. It has been madness on my part to quit it. Tell her to have pity on me, as No mother finds fault with a crazy child. What need have I of monachism? Love is wealth to me; I must have gone out of my mind when I turned sannyasi. At her command I am staying at the Niláchal. I shall occasionally go home to see her. Daily do I go and behold her feet; she feels a delighted sensation but does not admit it as true. One day [for instance] she cooked rice, five or six vegetable soups, sák, mochághanta, fried patal, nim leaves, lemon, bits of ginger, curds, milk, and sugar and cream, and offered these many dishes to Saligrám. Taking up the prasád she lamented, All these were Nimái's favourite dishes. He is not here. So I went there quickly and ate up every thing. On seeing the empty dish she wiped her tears and asked, Who has eaten the rice and soups? Why is the dish empty? Has the young Gopal (idol) eaten them up? Or has an illusion seized my mind? Has some animal came in and devoured them? Or did I by mistake serve no food on the plate at all? So thinking she looked again at the cooking-pots and found them full, to her wonder and suspicion [of defilement by some beast or demon]. She then called Ishan, had the place cleaned, and offered rice to the god Gopal afresh. Thus, whenever she cooks nice dishes, she weeps in eager desire to feed me on them. Her affection compels me to eat (the food there); and she is pleased at heart, though outwardly she is disconsolate. This happened on the last Bijayá-dashami day. Say unto her and make her believe." Though overcome in making this speech, the Master composed Himself in order to bid farewell to the bhaktas.
To Raghav Pandit He spoke feelingly, "Your pure devotion has made me your servant. Hear, all ye, the story of his serving Krishna in the most pious and excellent manner. Let me speak of one thing only, namely his offering of cocoanut as bhog. In his place cocoanut sells at five gandás [i.e., quarter anna each]. Though his orchards have hundreds of cocoanut palms yielding lakhs of fruits, yet wherever he hears of very sweet cocoanuts, he procures them at the price of four annas for one, even from 20 miles distance. Every day he strips the fibre off five or six fruits and cools them in water. Then at bhog he smoothes them and making small holes at the top offers the fruits to Krishna, who drinks the milk within, and leaves the fruits empty or full of liquid at different times. When the fruit is empty of milk, the Pandit rejoices, cracks the nut and spreading the kernel on a hundred dishes, offers them to Krishna, while he meditates outside (the god's dining room). Krishna eats the offering, and leaves the dishes bare, or fills them again with the kernel. At this the Pandit's devotion grows and he swims in the ocean of love.
"One day his servant brought ten cleaned cocoanuts to be offered to the god; but while waiting outside the door he happened to touch the wall above with his hand and then placed the same hand on the fruits. On seeing this the Pandit threw away the fruits as defiled and unworthy of offering to the god, because the dust raised by the feet of people entering at the door sticks to the wall above. By such pure loving service he has surpassed the world . . . Similarly whenever he hears of any good fruit like plantain, mango, or jack, in far off villages, he carefully buys them dear, washes, cleans, and offers them to the god. So, too, vegetables, roots, fruits, chirá, hurum, confects, cakes, sweet drinks, condensed milk, káshandi, pickles, scents, cloth, ornaments, and the pick of all things he offers cleanly to the god. His loving service is unmatched and soothes the eyes of all who behold it."
So saying the Master embraced Raghav, and showed due respect to the other bhaktas. To Shivananda Sen he spoke in terms of honour, "Do you look after Vasudev Datta, who is so charitable that every day he spends all his day's earnings, saving nothing. But he is a householder and ought to save, for without saving a man cannot support his kinsmen. You have the charge of the income and expenditure of his house. In your capacity as head man arrange (his affairs properly). Come every year with all the bhaktas to the Gundichá garden, taking care of them."
To the pilgrims from the Kulin village He said, "Come here every year with striped silk cloth (for Jagannáth). Gunaraj Khan wrote the Shri Krishna Vijay, one devotional sentence of which, 'Nanda's darling Krishna is the lord of my life', has made me the bondsman of his line. Not to speak of you, even a dog of your village is dear to me, above all others."
At this Satyaraj Khan and Rámánanda too entreated the Master, "I am a worldly man; how can I practise devotion? I beg thee to lay commands on me." The Master replied, "Ever serve Krishna, ever serve Vaishnavs, ever sing Krishna's name." Satyaraj asked, "How shall I know a Vaishnav? Tell me of his general characteristics." The Master answered, "Whosoever utters Krishna's name even once is to be honoured above all other men. Krishna's name alone washes away all sins and kindles many forms of faith. It does not make a man wait for religious initiation or priestly ministration, but as soon as the word is formed on the tongue, it redeems all men down to the Chandál caste. Along with that, Krishna's name destroys our bondage to the world and draws the heart to the love of Krishna. Vide Shridhar Swami's stanza in the Padávali, xviii. Therefore, he who utters Krishna's name alone is truly a Vaishnav. Honour him as such."
Of the pilgrims from Khanda the leaders were Mukunda-das, Raghunandan, and Narahari. To the first, Shachi's son spoke thus, "Tell me truly whether you are the father and Raghunandan your son, or the converse? Dispel my doubt." Mukunda replied, "I verily believe that Raghunandan is my father and I his son, because our devotion to Krishna has been imbibed from him." The delighted Master broke out, "True are thy words. He who gives us faith in Krishna is our guru." Bliss it is to the Master to unfold the greatness of bhaktas, and He holds forth on the subject through five mouths as it were. Turning to His followers He said, "Hark ye about Mukunda's faith. It is a pure and deep love, like unalloyed gold. Outwardly he is a physician royal and serves his master. But who can fathom his heart's devotion? One day the Musalman king was talking with him about medicine, on a high dais, when a servant held a peacock-feather fan over the Nawab's head. At the sight (of Krishna's crest), Mukunda in a rapture of devotion tumbled down from the height. The Nawab, thinking that he was overcome by death, dismounted, restored him to his senses, and asked where he had been hurt. Mukunda replied that he did not feel much pain. Then to the Nawab's query about the cause of his fall, he replied that he was subject to epilepsy. The Nawab was very wise, he discerned the real reason and thenceforth regarded Mukunda as a great devotee."
Raghunandan served at Krishna's temple, in front of which there was a tank with a Kadamba tree blooming all the year round on its ghát. Daily two flowers blossomed there (as if) derived from Krishna. The Master continued, turning to Mukunda, "Your business is to earn money, Raghunandan's to serve Krishna. His heart has no other desire. Let Narahari remain with my bhaktas. Do you three ever perform these duties respectively."
Graciously He addressed the two brothers, Sárvabhauma and Vidyá-váchaspati, "Krishna is at present manifest in the form of wood and water, the sight and ablution of which saves mankind. As the wooden god he lives at Puri, while the deity as water is the river Bhagirathi. Let Sárvabhauma worship the wooden god and Vachaspati the water-deity".