January, 1873.] CHAITANYA. 5 beloved, hail I hail to him who is the joy of the existence of his well-beloved ! hail to the de¬ light of the eyes of his comrades in Braj! hail to the charm of the sight of the women of Nadiya ! hail! hail to Sridam, Sudam, Subal, and Aijun,* bound by love to him whose form is as a new cloud ! hail to Ram and the rest, beautiful and dear companions ! hail to the charmer, the in¬ comparable Gora (Chaitanya) I hail to the mighty younger brother of Balaram! hail! hail to Nitya¬ nand (who is) joy (personified) ! Hail to him who destroys the fear of good men, the object of the hope of Gobind Das!” I would call attention here, once for all, to what is one of the principal charms of Vaishnava hymns, the exquisitely musical rhythm and cadence. They seem made to be sung, and trip off the tongue with a lilt and grace which are irresistible. This hymn is interesting as shewing how com¬ pletely Chaitanya is by his followers invested with the attributes of, and identified with, Krishna ; it has no other special merits ; nor anything specially interesting from a philolo¬ gical point of view as it is nearly all Sanskrit. The next six are in praise of the sect itself, of Adwaita, and the principal disciples. That on Adwaita by his contemporary Brindaban Das gives a lively picture of the old Brahman, then follow seven in praise of the Kirtanias or the old master-singers—Bidyapati, Jayadeva, Chandi Das ; then four on Krishna and Radha, containing only a succession of epithets linked together by jay I jay I The twenty-third begins the adhibas or con¬ secration, and is curious less for its language than for the description it gives of the ceremo¬ nies practised. It is by the old masters Para- meshwar and Brindaban, with the concluding portion by a younger master Ban si. The poem is in four parts and takes the form of a story how Chaitanya held his feast. It runs thus :— 23. Atha sankirtanasya adhibdsa. Eka dina pahun hasi, Adwaita mandire basl, Bolilen 6achir kumara; Nityananda kari sange, Adwaita basiya range, Mahotsaber karila bichara: Suniya anande hasi, Sita thakurani asi, Kahilen madhura vachana: Ta Suni ananda mana, mahotsaber bidhane. Bole kichhu Sachir nandana : Suna thakurani Sita, Baishnaba aniye etha, Amantrana koriya jatane : Jeba gae jebajae, amantrana kari tae, Pptliak prithak jane jane : Eta boli Goraraya, agya dila sabbakaya, Baishnaba karalia amantrane: Khola karatala laiya, aguru chandana diya, Purna ghata karaha sthapane : Aropana kar6 kala, tahe band hi phulamala, Kirttana mandali kutuhale: Mala chandana guya, ghrita madhu dadhi diya, KholS mangala sandhyakale : Suniya prabhur katha, prite bidhi kaila jatha, Nana upahara gandhabase : Sabe Hari Hari bole khola mangala kare, Parameswara Dasa rase bhase : “ One day coming and smiling, sitting in Ad- waita’s house, spake the son of Sachi, having Nityanand with him and Adwaita, sitting in en¬ joyment, he planned a great festivity. Hearing this, smiling with joy, Sita Thakurani coming spoke a sweet word : hearing that with joyful mind the son of Sachi spoke somewhat in regard to arranging the festival. 1 Listen, Thakurani Sita,f bring the Baishnabs here, making pressiug invitation to them : whoso can sing, whoso can play, invite them separately, man by man.’ Thus Gora Rai speaking gave orders for an assembly: ‘ Invite the Baishnabs! Bring out the cymbal and drum, set out full pots painted with aloes and sandal-paste : plant plantains, hang on them garlands of flowers, for the Kirtan place joyfully. With garlands, sandal, and betelnut, ghee, honey, and curds consecrate the drum at evening-tide.’ Hearing the lord’s word, in lov¬ ing manner she made accordingly various offer¬ ings with fragrant perfumes : all cried 1 Hari, Hari!’ thus they consecrate the drum; Para- mesh war Das floats in enjoyment.” Of the remainder of the adhibas I give merely a paraphrase omitting the numerous repeti¬ tions. 2. Having prepared the entertainment she invites them, “kindly visit us, to you and Vaisli- navas, this is my petition, come and see and complete the feast;” thus entreating she brought the honoured guests, they consecrate the feast. Joyfully the Vaishnavas came to the feast: " to-morrow will be the joy of the great festi¬ vity, there will be the enjoyment of the singing Sri Krishna’s sports, all will be filled with de¬ light.” The merits of the assembly of the devo-
- Names of ChaiUnya's disciples.
t Sita was the wife cf Adwaita.
