Page:History of Bengali Language and Literature.djvu/607

ডি] BENGALI LANGUAGE. & LITERATURE. fall of the Buddhistic monasteries. These men and women heard of the great idea of universal love preached by the Vaisnavas who had raised the flag of equality for all men and they quickly res- ponded to the call. Chaitanya Deva lived at Puri for the last 18 years of his life, and all this time he dwelt on man’s relation to God and showed the power and beauty of the Divine grace, by his own life and example. In Khardah and Cantipur, however, Nityananda and Advaitacharyya initiated a great movement for organising the Vaisnava community on a new basis. The place is still pointed out at Khardah where 1200 Nadas or shaven men and 1300 Nadies or shaven women— the Buddhist Bhiksus and Bhiksunies came to the great Vaisnava apostle Nityananda and surrendered He took them So glad were these people at being admit- themselves to him. into his new order. ted to the new order, that they have since held a mela at Khardah every year in commemoration of the event. Nityananda is justly called jpatita pavana or “afriend of the fallen” owing to his The fallen women of Hindu society also, against whom sympathetic attitude towards the out-castes. it has always closed its gate with iron bars, found a place Widow marriage is allowed amongst the lay Vaisnavas, in the Vaishnava community. who override all considerations of caste; in fact it is forbidden to ask a Vaishnava to what caste he had belonged before he accepted the Vaishnava faith. With what indignation the Hindu society looked upon this movement may be seen from the following slokas in Yantraratnakar. Vatuka Bhairava asked Ganadevya if the great demon Tripurasura killed by 567 Nityanan- da and Advaita, The Buddhist Bhiksus and Bhiksu- nies. The tota upsetting of the old Society