Narottama-vilasa, the traditional biography of Narottama Dasa Thakura compiled by his followers, does not describe Ganga Narayana Chakravarti simply walking up and asking for initiation. It tells the story as a dream. After a day of grieving over how he had once looked down on Narottama, Ganga Narayana fell into a troubled sleep. Narottama himself is said to have appeared to him there, shining with light and full of compassion. Smiling, he spoke: "Why do you lament? You are my servant. All your desires shall be fulfilled. You will get to meet me tomorrow while bathing in the Ganges. I shall come over here from Kheturi; we shall talk more tomorrow while bathing."
A Hesitant Guru #
Ganga Narayana woke, finished his morning duties, and went straight to the river. It was the same stretch of the Bhagirathi, a tributary of the Padma, that still flows past Murshidabad today. Narottama was there, exactly as promised, and Ganga Narayana at once fell at his feet and begged for initiation. But the answer he got was not an immediate yes. Narottama pointed out the same difficulty that Ganga Narayana himself had once raised against others. Narottama was a kayastha and Ganga Narayana was a brahmana. If Narottama initiated him, it would only give brahmana critics a new reason to blame them both. This was a real warning, not a formality. Not long after, the same controversy did reach Narottama's brahmana disciples, in the events told on The Disguised Shopkeepers of Kumarapura.
An Answer That Settled the Matter #
Ganga Narayana's reply is the line by which this meeting is remembered: a disciple who has taken shelter at Narottama's feet, he said, has nothing to fear from any brahmana devoid of devotion. Whatever doubt Narottama still carried, that answer resolved it. Pleased with Ganga Narayana's conviction, he initiated him then and there, on what Narottama-vilasa calls an auspicious day, and, in the biography's own words, offered him unto the lotus feet of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu himself.
Criticism, and an Answer to It #
The criticism Narottama had predicted came quickly. Brahmanas heard that Ganga Narayana Chakravarti had taken initiation from Narottama. Of all people, he was the very scholar who had once mocked Narottama's kayastha birth. So they made him a target of exactly the kind of mockery he had once given to others. Tradition says it had no real effect on him. By his own account, Ganga Narayana had already found what all his years of scholarship had failed to give him. Tradition also says that in time some of the very brahmanas who had criticized him became his own disciples. He went on to study the writings of the Six Goswamis under Narottama's guidance. The family record at Gambhila says that he engaged himself in near-constant harinama sankirtana. He became the foremost among all of Narottama's disciples. The same account says that in later years he was a teacher of countless disciples. He was well known among the Vaishnavas of Vrindavana and held dear by them, even though his own household never left Bengal.
An Ordinary Life Made Extraordinary #
Many of Narottama's other disciples survive only as names in a list. Ganga Narayana's story is told here in detail because of exactly this reversal. His scholarship and wealth had once made him unwilling to humble himself. But within a single episode he was ready to humble himself completely, and he stayed that way for the rest of his life. Before long, he was devoted enough to risk his own safety in his guru's defense. That episode is told next on The Disguised Shopkeepers of Kumarapura.
