As Mahaprabhu's boat approached Adaila's ghat on the river near Prayag, He was seized by such powerful ecstatic love that He began to dance where He stood. The boat tilted under His weight, filling with water and coming close to capsizing, until the boatmen and companions grabbed hold of Him and pulled Him back onto its deck. Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita tells openly what happened next. Mahaprabhu tried to stay composed in front of Vallabha Bhattacharya, but, in Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami's words, His prema was "difficult to stop" and could not be held back by will alone. He was aware of the circumstances: ordinary people were watching, and His host was still largely unknown to Him. Only this awareness allowed Mahaprabhu to settle His mind before the boat finally reached Adaila's shore.
Welcomed Into Vallabha Bhattacharya's Home #
Once Mahaprabhu had landed, Vallabha Bhattacharya stayed close by Him, because he was fearful for the Lord's welfare after what had just happened on the water. He arranged for His bath and personally brought Him home. There he offered Mahaprabhu a fine seat, washed His feet with his own hands, gave Him spices to freshen His mouth, and later massaged His feet himself while Mahaprabhu rested. A meal was prepared with what Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami calls "affection and great care." The remnants of Mahaprabhu's own plate went first to Rupa Gosvami. Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita specifies that they went to "the two brothers": Rupa Gosvami and his younger brother, Anupama Mallika, who in his youth was known simply as Sri Vallabha. Only then did they go to Krishnadasa, the disciple accompanying them on the journey. The household was now settled and well fed, though still recovering from the drama of the river crossing. Just then, a visitor arrived unannounced.
A Scholar Arrives From Tirhut #
Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami introduces him in a single line: a pandita of Tiruhita, a great vaishnava, a mahashaya - "a respectable gentleman." Raghupati Upadhyaya came forward, offered his obeisances at Mahaprabhu's feet, and received a blessing in return: four words in Bengali that Srila Prabhupada renders in English as "Always stay in Krishna consciousness." Raghupati Upadhyaya, delighted to hear it, was then asked by Mahaprabhu Himself to describe Krishna.
Two Verses That Undid Mahaprabhu's Composure #
Raghupati Upadhyaya did not recite memorized scriptural verses. He recited his own Sanskrit compositions. The first verse put aside all the usual objects of worship at once: "Those who are afraid of material existence worship the Vedic literature. Some worship smriti, the corollaries to the Vedic literature, and others worship the Mahabharata. As far as I am concerned, I worship Krishna's father, Maharaja Nanda, in whose courtyard the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth, is playing." Mahaprabhu, hearing it, was overwhelmed with ecstatic love and asked for more. Raghupati Upadhyaya offered a second: "To whom can I speak who will believe me when I say that Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is hunting the gopis in the bushes by the banks of the river Yamuna?" Both verses were later given a permanent place in Rupa Gosvami's Padyavali, the first as verse 126 and the second as verse 99. But at that moment they were only one scholar's private devotion, spoken aloud to a man he had met only that evening. By the time the second verse ended, Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami writes, Mahaprabhu's "body and mind" had grown limp with prema. Srila Prabhupada's own purport on this moment reads simply: "Our minds and bodies are always engaged in material activities. When they are activated on the spiritual platform, they slacken on the material platform." Raghupati Upadhyaya was astonished to see Mahaprabhu in this slackened, transformed state. His astonishment carried the evening into its second half, told on What Raghupati Taught the Lord.
