Fallen Unconscious Beneath a Tree #
As the four travelers made their way along the Ganges bank - Mahaprabhu, Balabhadra Bhattacharya, the Rajaputa Krishnadasa, and the Sanoriya brahmana - they stopped to rest under a tree near grazing cows. Mahaprabhu was already fatigued and deeply absorbed. Then a cowherd boy nearby blew on his flute, and the sound struck Mahaprabhu with such force of ecstatic love that He fell to the ground unconscious, foaming at the mouth, His breathing stopped.
While He lay there, ten Pathan cavalry soldiers rode up and dismounted. Seeing a sannyasi senseless on the ground, they jumped to an ugly conclusion: this holy man, they reasoned, must have been carrying gold, and these four men around Him must have poisoned Him with dhuturā to rob him. Without waiting to find out otherwise, the soldiers seized all four companions, intending to kill them.
Two Frightened, Two Fearless #
Of the four, two - almost certainly Balabhadra Bhattacharya and one other Bengali in the party - began to tremble openly in fear. The other two did not. Krishnadasa, of the Rajaputa warrior community, was fearless by nature. So, the text says just as plainly, was the Sanoriya brahmana - and he spoke first, and spoke boldly.
He told the soldiers directly that they were under the authority of their own king, and that the matter should be taken to their commander. Then he identified himself: "This sannyasi is my spiritual master, and I am from Mathura. I am a brahmana, and I know many people who are in the service of the Muslim king." He proposed a plan any reasonable captor could accept - tie them up, wait, and let the sannyasi Himself explain when He woke. When the soldiers accused the group of belonging to different, suspicious places (one from the west, one from Mathura, two trembling Bengalis), it was Krishnadasa who answered with a bluff of his own, claiming two hundred Turkish soldiers and a hundred cannons were his to call on. Between the brahmana's composure and Krishnadasa's nerve, the Pathan soldiers hesitated.
Mahaprabhu Wakes, and a Sufi Is Converted #
At that moment Mahaprabhu regained consciousness, chanting "Hari! Hari!" loudly and dancing in open ecstasy. The sight and sound apparently struck the soldiers "as if their hearts were struck by thunderbolts," and, seized by fear, they released all four men at once.
What followed turned an armed standoff into something else entirely. The soldiers came before Mahaprabhu themselves, worshiping His feet and accusing the four companions of drugging and robbing Him. Mahaprabhu corrected them simply: "These are not rogues. They are My associates... Due to epilepsy, I sometimes fall unconscious. Out of their mercy, these four men maintain Me." One of the Muslim soldiers present, a Sufi practitioner, was moved by Mahaprabhu and tried to defend an impersonal reading of God from the Quran. Mahaprabhu refuted him point by point, arguing that the Quran itself ultimately establishes a personal, transcendental God, until the man could no longer speak. He fell at Mahaprabhu's feet, chanting Krishna's name, and asked to be taught the goal of life. Mahaprabhu initiated him on the spot, renaming him Ramadasa.
A second Pathan present, a young man who turned out to be the son of the local king, also fell at Mahaprabhu's feet - his name was Vijuli Khan (also written Bijali Khan). Mahaprabhu placed His foot on his head in blessing. All the Pathan soldiers there became mendicants, and in time came to be celebrated as the Pathana Vaishnavas, touring the country and singing Mahaprabhu's glories. Vijuli Khan himself, the text says, became a greatly advanced devotee, honored at every place of pilgrimage he visited.
From there Mahaprabhu continued toward Soro-kshetra and Prayaga, still accompanied by the Sanoriya brahmana and Krishnadasa - though not, as the Lord Himself proposed, for very much longer. That final stretch of the journey is told on Onward to Prayaga.