Page:Chaitanya and His Age.djvu/83

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ADWAITA AND HARI DAS
47

Krishna all rituals such as initiation and taking the sacred thread are quite unnecessary, every one is free to worship and caste is no barrier.)

At Laur, when a mere hoy he could by n6 means he led to bow before Kali and suffered much persecution for his refractory conduct.

Adwaita's father Kuver Pundit was the minister of the Raja of Laur. The latter became a disciple of Adwaita in after years and took the name of Krishna Das and wrote Adwaita's biography in 1409 Saka (1487 A.D.) when Chaitanya was a baby, a little more than one year old. Adwaita was the title; the real name of the saint and scholar was Kamalakshya. He was 32 years old when Chaitanya was born. It is stated in the Vaishnab works that Chaitanya came into the world owing to the constant prayers and appeal from Adwaita to the Most High to send one who would redeem the world-from the sceptical tendencies of the age.

Hari Das.

A band of enthusiastic bhaktas gathered round Adwaita at whose house frequent meetings were held for devising means to inculcate the bhakti cult. Of these men Hari Das was one of the most noted. He was born at Buran in Jessore and was a Mahomedan; though later writers have tried to prove that he had been originally of Brahmin extraction, and was merely brought up by a Mahomedan, older authorities, however, are unanimous in saying that he