chapter iii
The Legend of 'Gopal the Witness'
Glory to Chaitanya! Glory to Nityananda! Glory to Adwaita! and Glory to the followers of Chaitanya!
On His way the Master came to the village of Jajpur, where He bowed to the image of Varáha. He danced and sang in love and prayed long, passing the night in that village. To Katak[1] He went to see the Sákshi-Gopál, whose beauty threw Him into a rapture. After dance and song He prayed to the Gopal with abstraction. That night during His halt there with His disciples He heard the legend of Gopal. Nityananda in his former pilgrimage had come to Katak, seen the Sakshi-Gopal, and heard the legends of the god, which he now narrated to the Master.
Once on a time two Brahmans of Vidya-nagar [Rajmahendri] set out on a pilgrimage, and after visiting Gaya, Benares, Allahabad, &c., reached Mathura. They made a tour of the [Mahá-] ban, and beheld Govardhan and the Twelve Woods, known as Dwádash ban, finally going to Brindaban. In the great temple Gopal was worshipped with great pomp. They bathed at the Keshi ghat, the pool of Káliya, and other places, and rested in the temple of Gopal, whose beauty ravished their hearts. There they blissfully passed a few days. One of the Brahmans being old had been tended carefully by the
- ↑ The image of Sakshi-Gopal is now installed at a village of the same name 48 miles south of Katak town.
