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Chaitanya and the Vaishnava Poets by John Beames
page 7 of 17 (41%)
divinity, e.g.--


The teacher Adwaita is a special portion of god.


And the author goes on to say that Adwaita was first the teacher then
the pupil of Chaitanya. The probability is that Adwaita, like the
majority of his countrymen, was more addicted to meditation than to
action. The idea which in his mind gave rise to nothing more than
indefinite longings when transfused into the earnest fiery nature of
Chaitanya, expanded into a faith which moved and led captive the souls
of thousands.

His brother Nityanand was now assumed to be an incarnation of Balaram,
and took his place as second-in-command in consequence. The practice
of meeting for worship and to celebrate "Sankirtans" was now
instituted; the meetings took place in the house of a disciple Sribas,
and were quite private. The new religionists met with some opposition,
and a good deal of mockery. One night on leaving their rendezvous,
they found on the door-step red flowers and goats' blood, emblems of
the worship of Durga, and abominations in the eyes of a Vaish.nava.
These were put there by a Brahman named Gopal. Chaitanya cursed him
for his practical joke, and we are told that he became a leper in
consequence. The opposition was to a great extent, however, provoked
by the Vaish.navas, who seem to have been very eccentric and
extravagant in their conduct. Every thing that K.rish.na had done
Chaitanya must do too, thus we read of his dancing on the shoulders of
Murari Gupta, one of his adherents; and his followers, like himself,
had fits, foamed at the mouth, and went off into convulsions, much
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