[[1]] The author, however, tells us in canto 1 that Rámánanda Ray accompanied the Master to Bhadrak. Remuna is 5 miles west and Bhadrak 28 miles south of Baleshwar.
CHAPTER XV
The Pilgrimage to Brindában
With the coming of early autumn the Master's mind turned to His pilgrimage. He secretly took counsel with Rámánanda and Swarup, saying, "If you two help me, I can visit Brindában. At night I shall quit my bed and escape by the forest path without taking a single attendant. If any one afterwards seeks to follow me, do you detain him, letting none depart. Mind not the sorrow. Be of good cheer and give me leave. If I leave you pleased, my way-faring will be happy."
The two replied, "You are God and a free agent; you act your will, subject to none. But listen to one request of ours. You have just now said that our happiness would make you happy. Well, then, Sir, grant this our prayer. You must take a good Brahman with you. He will cook your food and carry your pots. In the forest path you will not meet with any Brahman whose cooking is fit to be eaten. Give us leave to send a Brahman along with you."
The Master replied, "No, I shall take none of my own comrades with me. If I take one, the others will be grieved. Some sweet-souled stranger may be my companion. I can take one such if I can get him." Swarup suggested, "Here is Balabhadra Bhattáchárya, tender to you, a scholar, a pious man and a gentleman. He had come from Bengal with you during your first advent. He wishes to visit all the tirthas. He has a Brahman servant; he will do your cooking on the way. We shall all be happy if you take him with you, as then you will feel no hardship in making your way through the forest. The Brahman servant will carry your cloth, water, and pots, while Bhattáchárya will cook your food." The Master agreed to it and took Balabhadra Bhattáchárya with Him.
The night before, He visited Jagannáth and took the god's leave, and before sunrise He slipped away unperceived. In the morning the bhaktas missed Him and ran about anxiously seeking Him. Swarup stopped them, and they stayed, knowing such to be the Master's wish. Leaving the beaten track the Master took to by-paths, and passing by the left of Katak entered the jungle. In the lonely forest He fared forth, chanting Krishna's name,—elephants and tigers moved away from the path at the sight of Him. In an ecstatic mood He passed through herds of tigers, elephants, rhinoceroses and boars. Bhattáchárya shrank in terror, but they stepped aside cowed by the Master's power.
One day a tiger was lying across the path. The Master in abstraction trod on it and cried, "Speak Krishna's name!" And lo! the tiger stood up and began to dance, while chanting Krishna! Krishna! Another day He was bathing in the river, when a herd of wild elephants came there to drink. They arrived before Him as He was offering the oblation of water. Bidding them repeat Krishna's name He rushed sprinkling the water on them. Every elephant touched by that water shouted Krishna and danced and ran about in love. Some rolled on the ground, some bellowed, to the marvel of Bhattáchárya.
On the way the Master sang kirtan aloud. The deer flocked thither, drawn by His sweet voice, and marched with Him on two sides, while He patted their backs and playfully recited the verses, Bhágabat, X. xxi. 11. Just then six or seven tigers came up and joined the deer in accompanying the Master. The sight reminded the Master of Brindában and He recited the verses descriptive of the virtues of Brindában. Bhágabat, X. xiii. 55.
When the Master shouted "Chant Krishna's name," the deer and the tigers danced together (peacefully) shout ing Krishna! Krishna! a wonderful sight to Balabhadra Bhattáchárya. The tigers and deer embraced and kissed each other, the Master smiling at the fun of it. Leaving them there He went on. The peacock and other birds, on seeing Him, proceeded in His company singing Krishna! and dancing like mad. The Master shouted, 'Say Hari!' Trees and creepers rejoiced at the sound. To all the animate and inanimate things in the jungle of Chota Nagpur (Jhárikhand) He communicated the name of Krishna and maddened them with love. In every village that He passed through or halted in, all the men were filled with devotion. If one heard the name of Krishna from His lips, he spread it to a second, the second to a third, and so on. All chanted Krishna-Hari's name, danced, wept, and laughed; from one to another the whole land became Vaishnav. Though for fear of drawing a crowd the Master concealed His devotion and gave no outward exhibition of it, yet the very sight of Him, the hearing of His words, and His power made all the people Vaishnpv. Travelling in Central Bengal, East Bengal, West Bengal, and Orissa, He had delivered the people there. Now, on the pretext of a pilgrimage to Mathura, He came to Jharikhand and saved the ruffianly bearish people by teaching them the faith that springs from Krishna's name. The wood suggested Brindában, every hill looked like Govardhan, every river seemed to Him a Jamuna. There He danced in ecstasy, and fell down weeping.