Sri Chainyata Mahaprabhu
began to preach the congregational chanting of the holy name of the
Lord at Navadvipa. Some of the brahmanas became envious of His
popularity, and they put many hindrances on His path. They were so
jealous that they finally took the matter before the Muslim magistrate
at Navadvipa. Bengal was then governed by Pathans, and the governor of
the province was Nawab Hussain Shah.
The Muslim magistrate of Navadvipa took
up the complaints of the brahmanas seriously, and at first he warned the
followers of Nimai Pandita not to chant loudly the name of Hari. But
Lord Caitanya asked His followers to disobey the orders of the Kazi, and
they went on with their sankirtana
(chanting) party as usual. The magistrate then sent constables who
interrupted a sankirtana and broke some of the mrdangas (drums).
When Nimai Pandita heard of this
incident He organized a party for civil disobedience. He organized a
procession of one hundred thousand men with thousands of mrdangas and
karatalas (hand cymbals), and this procession passed over the roads of
Navadvipa in defiance of the Kazi who had issued the order. Finally the
procession reached the house of the Kazi, who went upstairs out of fear
of the masses. The great crowds assembled at the Kazi's house displayed a
violent temper, but the Lord asked them to be peaceful.
At this time the Kazi came down and
tried to pacify the Lord. He pointed out that Nilambara Cakravarti
referred to him as an uncle, and consequently, Srimati Sacidevi, the
mother of Nimai Pandita, was his sister. He asked the Lord whether his
sister's son could be angry at His maternal uncle. In this way the issue
was mitigated, and the two learned scholars began a long discussion on
the Koran and Hindu sastras. The Lord finally convinced the Kazi, who
became the Lord's follower.
The Kazi thenceforth declared that no
one should hinder the sankirtana movement which was started by the Lord,
and the Kazi left this order in his will for the sake of progeny. The
Kazi's tomb still exists in the area of Navadvipa, and Hindu pilgrims go
there to show their respects.
No comments:
Post a Comment