her nose, and wishing to give it too she reflected, "Ah, if there had been a hole in the Lord's nose, I, his handmaid, could have made him put this pearl on!" With this thought she bowed and returned home. At the end of the night Gopal appeared to her in a dream and said, "In my infancy my mother had bored my nose and very tenderly hung there a pearl. The hole is there still. Make me wear the pearl you wished to give." The queen spoke to her husband, and the two went to the temple with the pearl, hung it from the hole in the nose which was found out, and a great festival of joy was held. From that day on has Gopal stayed at Katak and been known as Sakshi-Gopal.
The master with all His disciples heard the legend of Gopal from Nityananda and was delighted. While He stood before Gopal, the faithful seemed to see them both as of one body, of one complexion, large-limbed, red-robed, grave of mien, beaming with glory, lotus-eyed, moon-faced, both of them in rapture for each other.
At the sight of both, Nityananda in great joy winked at the faithful and they all smiled. So the night was passed in great entertainment, and next morning, after witnessing the matin service, they set off. Brindaban-das has described fully how He visited Bhubaneshwar on the way (to the Blue Mountain). At Kamalpur He bathed in the Bhagi[1] river, and gave His mendicant's stick to Nityananda to carry. With his disciples He went to see Kapoteshwar [Shiva]. Here Nityananda broke the Master's stick into three and threw it (into the river). From that Shiva shrine the Master returned, and was
- ↑ Indian Atlas (sheet 116) names the river here as Bargovee.
