Leaving royal service was not a simple matter of walking away for either brother. Rupa and Sanatana returned home from Ramakeli and spent a long time preparing to leave. They engaged two brahmanas to perform puraskarana ceremonies and chant the holy name, so that their release might go smoothly. Rupa moved first. He gathered the wealth he had built up in office. Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita describes it as filling boats. He set out with it for Bakla Chandradvipa, and there he divided everything according to a plan that the tradition has quoted as a model ever since. He gave fifty percent to brahmanas and Vaishnavas and twenty-five percent to relatives. He kept the remaining twenty-five percent in reserve, against whatever legal or personal difficulty his sudden retirement might bring. Part of this reserve he left as a working deposit with a local grocer.
| Detail | Description |
|---|---|
| Rupa's distribution of wealth | 50% to brahmanas and Vaishnavas, 25% to relatives, 25% kept in reserve |
| Deposit for Sanatana's later use | 10,000 gold coins, left with a Bengali grocer |
| Sanatana's excuse to the Nawab | Feigned illness |
| Result for Sanatana | Arrested and imprisoned by Husain Shah |
| Rupa's travelling companion | His younger brother Anupama (also called Vallabha) |
Preparing the Ground Before Leaving #
Rupa and Sanatana did not simply walk out of their positions the morning after Ramakeli. Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita records that the two brothers first engaged brahmanas to perform puraskarana ceremonies and chant the holy name on their behalf. They wanted their departure to be smooth and auspicious. Their lives could not simply be abandoned overnight without causing trouble for their households and the people who depended on them. Only after this preparation did Rupa begin the more visible part of his leaving. He gathered his wealth and told no one what he finally meant to do. Then he made his way toward Bakla Chandradvipa, a district in the Bengal delta some distance from the capital. There he could settle his affairs away from the immediate notice of the court.
A Ruse That Could Not Last #
While Rupa settled his own affairs, Sanatana tried a quieter approach. He told the Nawab he was too ill to attend to government business and simply stayed home. He spent his days discussing Srimad-Bhagavatam with an assembly of twenty or thirty learned brahmanas. Husain Shah was not so easily satisfied. He first sent his own physician to examine Sanatana. When the report came back that nothing was medically wrong, the Sultan came in person. He was furious, because he plainly saw that this was a resignation dressed up as sickness. Sanatana told him outright that he could no longer be counted on for service. The enraged Nawab accused Sanatana's elder brother of having "destroyed all Bengal" through his own departure. When Sanatana refused to go with him on a coming military campaign against Orissa, the Nawab had him arrested and thrown into prison.
A Brother's Deliberate Delay #
Sanatana's delaying tactic gave him time, but it did not win him sympathy. He kept up the pretense of illness for weeks. He went on with his Bhagavatam discussions with the visiting brahmanas, even as Husain Shah's suspicion grew. When the Sultan finally lost patience and confronted him in person, Sanatana answered so bluntly that nothing was left to discuss. He told the ruler outright that no further service could be expected of him. The two brothers left their posts in very different ways. Rupa's departure was quiet, carefully planned where money was concerned, and mostly unopposed. Sanatana's grew into open confrontation and imprisonment. This difference would shape the very different paths each brother took to reach Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu again.
Word Sent Ahead #
By the time this happened, Rupa had already learned that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had left Jagannatha Puri and was travelling toward Vrindavana through the forest of Jharikhanda. He wrote at once to his imprisoned brother. He told Sanatana where the ten thousand gold coins had been deposited, and he urged him to use that money in any way needed to win his release and follow on to Vrindavana. Then, with his youngest brother Anupama beside him, Rupa set out to overtake the Lord. His search would end at Prayaga, where Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was waiting. There the most important ten days of Rupa Gosvami's life were about to begin. That meeting, and the instruction that followed it, is described in full in The Instruction at Prayag. From this point the two brothers' paths separated until they were reunited in Vraja. So Sanatana's own escape from prison, and his separate two months of instruction from the Lord at Varanasi, are told on Sri Sanatana Gosvami's own page, not on this one.
