The Activities of Sākṣi-gopāla

I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of God [brahmaṇya-deva], who appeared as Sākṣi-gopāla to benefit a brāhmaṇa. For one hundred days He traveled through the country, walking on His own legs. Thus His activities are wonderful.

All glories to Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu! All glories to Lord Nityānanda Prabhu! All glories to Śrī Advaita Prabhu! And all glories to all the devotees of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu!

Walking and walking, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His party finally arrived at Yājapura, on the river Vaitaraṇī. There He saw the temple of Varāhadeva and offered His obeisances unto Him.

In the temple of Varāhadeva, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu engaged in chanting and dancing and offered prayers. He passed that night in the temple.

Afterwards, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu went to the town of Kaṭaka to see the temple of the witness Gopāla. When He saw the Deity of Gopāla, He was very much pleased by His beauty.

While there, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu engaged in chanting and dancing for some time, and being overwhelmed, He offered many prayers to Gopāla.

That night Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu stayed in the temple of Gopāla, and along with all the devotees, He heard the narration of the witness Gopāla with great pleasure.

Previously, when Nityānanda Prabhu had toured all over India to see different places of pilgrimage, He also had come to see Sākṣi-gopāla at Kaṭaka.

At that time, Nityānanda Prabhu had heard the story of Sākṣi-gopāla from the townspeople. He now recited this again, and Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu heard the narration with great pleasure.

Formerly at Vidyānagara in South India there were two brāhmaṇas who made a long tour to see different places of pilgrimage.

First of all they visited Gayā, then Kāśī, then Prayāga. Finally, with great pleasure, they came to Mathurā.

After reaching Mathurā, they started visiting the different forests of Vṛndāvana and came to Govardhana Hill. They visited all twelve forests [vanas] and at last came to the town of Vṛndāvana.

In the village of Pañcakrośī Vṛndāvana, at the site where the Govinda temple is now situated, there was a great temple where gorgeous worship of Gopāla was performed.

After taking baths at different bathing places along the river Yamunā, such as Keśī-ghāṭa and Kāliya-ghāṭa, the pilgrims visited the temple of Gopāla. Afterwards, they took rest in that temple.

The beauty of the Gopāla Deity stole away their minds, and feeling great happiness, they remained there for two or four days.

One of the two brāhmaṇas was an old man, and the other was young. The young man was assisting the old one.

Indeed, the young brāhmaṇa always rendered service to the older one, and the old man, being very satisfied with his service, was pleased with him.

The older man told the younger, “You have rendered various types of service to me. You have assisted me in traveling to all these places of pilgrimage.

“Even my own son does not render such service. By your mercy, I did not become fatigued while on this tour.

“If I did not show you any respect, I would be ungrateful. Therefore, I promise to give you my daughter in charity.”

The younger brāhmaṇa replied, “My dear sir, please hear me. You are saying something very unusual. Such a thing never happens.

“You are a most aristocratic family man, well educated and very rich. I am not at all aristocratic, and I am without a decent education and have no wealth.

“Sir, I am not a suitable bridegroom for your daughter. I render service to you only for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa.

“Lord Kṛṣṇa is very much pleased by service rendered to brāhmaṇas, and when the Lord is pleased, the opulence of one’s devotional service increases.”

The older brāhmaṇa replied, “My dear boy, do not doubt me. I will give you my daughter in charity. I have already decided this.”

The young brāhmaṇa said, “You have a wife and sons, and you have a large circle of relatives and friends.

“Without the consent of all your friends and relatives, it is not possible to give me your daughter in charity. Just consider the story of Queen Rukmiṇī and her father, Bhīṣmaka.

“King Bhīṣmaka wanted to give his daughter, Rukmiṇī, in charity to Kṛṣṇa, but Rukmī, his eldest son, objected. Therefore he could not carry out his decision.”

The elderly brāhmaṇa said, “My daughter is my own property. If I choose to give my property to someone, who has the power to stop me?

“My dear boy, I will give my daughter to you in charity, and I will neglect the position of all others. Don’t doubt me in this regard; just accept my proposal.”

The younger brāhmaṇa replied, “If you have decided to give your young daughter to me, then say so before the Gopāla Deity.”

Coming before Gopāla, the elderly brāhmaṇa said, “My dear Lord, please witness that I have given my daughter to this boy.”

Then the younger brāhmaṇa addressed the Deity, saying, “My dear Lord, You are my witness. I shall call for You to testify if it is necessary later on.”

After these talks, the two brāhmaṇas started for home. As usual, the young brāhmaṇa accompanied the elderly brāhmaṇa as if the older brāhmaṇa were a guru [spiritual master] and rendered him service in various ways.

After returning to Vidyānagara, each brāhmaṇa went to his respective home. After some time, the elderly brāhmaṇa became very anxious.

He began to think, “I have given my word to a brāhmaṇa in a holy place, and what I promised will certainly come to pass. I must now disclose this to my wife, sons, other relatives and friends.”

Thus one day the elderly brāhmaṇa called for a meeting of all his relatives and friends, and before them all he narrated what had taken place in front of Gopāla.

When those who belonged to the family circle heard the narration of the old brāhmaṇa, they made exclamations showing their disappointment. They all requested that he not make such a proposal again.

They unanimously agreed, “If you offer your daughter to a degraded family, your aristocracy will be lost. When people hear of this, they will make jokes and laugh at you.”

The elderly brāhmaṇa said, “How can I undo the promise I made in a holy place while on pilgrimage? Whatever may happen, I must give him my daughter in charity.”

The relatives unanimously said, “If you give your daughter to that boy, we shall give up all connection with you.” Indeed, his wife and sons declared, “If such a thing happens, we shall take poison and die.”

The elderly brāhmaṇa said, “If I do not give my daughter to the young brāhmaṇa, he will call Śrī Gopālajī as a witness. Thus he will take my daughter by force, and in that case my religious principles will become meaningless.”

His son replied, “The Deity may be a witness, but He is in a distant country. How can He come to bear witness against you? Why are you so anxious over this?

“You do not have to flatly deny that you spoke such a thing. There is no need to make a false statement. Simply say that you do not remember what you said.

“If you simply say, ‘I do not remember,’ I shall take care of the rest. By argument, I shall defeat the young brāhmaṇa.”

When the elderly brāhmaṇa heard this, his mind became very much agitated. Feeling helpless, he simply turned his attention to the lotus feet of Gopāla.

The elderly brāhmaṇa prayed, “My dear Lord Gopāla, I have taken shelter of Your lotus feet, and therefore I request You to please protect my religious principles from disturbance and at the same time save my kinsmen from dying.”

The next day, the elderly brāhmaṇa was thinking deeply about this matter when the young brāhmaṇa came to his house.

The young brāhmaṇa came to him and offered respectful obeisances. Then, very humbly folding his hands, he spoke as follows.

“You have promised to give your daughter in charity to me. Now you do not say anything. What is your conclusion?”

After the young brāhmaṇa submitted this statement, the elderly brāhmaṇa remained silent. Taking this opportunity, his son immediately came out with a stick to strike the younger man.

The son said, “Oh, you are most degraded! You want to marry my sister, just like a dwarf who wants to catch the moon!”

Seeing a stick in the hand of the son, the younger brāhmaṇa fled. The next day, however, he gathered together all the people of the village.

All the people of the village then called for the elderly brāhmaṇa and brought him to their meeting place. The young brāhmaṇa then began to speak before them as follows.

“This gentleman has promised to hand over his daughter to me, yet now he does not follow his promise. Please ask him about his behavior.”

All the people gathered there asked the elderly brāhmaṇa, “If you have already promised to give him your daughter in charity, why are you not fulfilling your promise? You have given your word of honor.”

The elderly brāhmaṇa said, “My dear friends, please hear what I have to submit. I do not exactly remember making a promise like that.”

When the elderly brāhmaṇa’s son heard this, he took the opportunity to juggle some words. Becoming very impudent, he stood before the assembly and spoke as follows.

“While touring various holy places of pilgrimage, my father carried much money. Seeing the money, this rogue decided to take it away.

“There was no one besides this man with my father. Giving him an intoxicant known as dhuturā to eat, this rogue made my father mad.

“Having taken all my father’s money, this rogue claimed that it was taken by some thief. Now he is claiming that my father has promised to give him his daughter in charity.

“All of you assembled here are gentlemen. Please judge whether it is befitting to offer this poor brāhmaṇa my father’s daughter.”

Hearing all these statements, all the people gathered there became a little doubtful. They thought it quite possible that because of attraction for riches one might give up his religious principles.

At that time the young brāhmaṇa said, “My dear gentlemen, please hear. Just to gain victory in an argument, this man is lying.

“Being very satisfied with my service, this brāhmaṇa said to me of his own accord, ‘I promise to hand over my daughter to you.’

“At that time I forbade him to do this, telling him, ‘O best of the brāhmaṇas, I am not a fit husband for your daughter.

“ ‘Whereas you are a learned scholar, a rich man belonging to an aristocratic family, I am a poor man, uneducated and with no claim to aristocracy.’

“Still this brāhmaṇa insisted. Again and again he asked me to accept his proposal, saying, ‘I have given you my daughter. Please accept her.’

“I then said, ‘Please hear. You are a learned brāhmaṇa. Your wife, friends and relatives will never agree to this proposal.

“ ‘My dear sir, you will not be able to fulfill your promise. Your promise will be broken.’ Yet, again and again the brāhmaṇa emphasized his promise.

“ ‘I have offered you my daughter. Do not hesitate. She is my daughter, and I shall give her to you. Who can forbid me?’

“At that time I concentrated my mind and requested the brāhmaṇa to make the promise before the Gopāla Deity.

“Then this gentleman said in front of the Gopāla Deity, ‘My dear Lord, please bear witness. I have offered my daughter to this brāhmaṇa in charity.’

“Accepting the Gopāla Deity as my witness, I then submitted the following at His lotus feet.

“ ‘If this brāhmaṇa later hesitates to give me his daughter, my dear Lord, I shall call on You as a witness. Please note this with care and attention.’

“Thus I have called upon a great personality in this transaction. I have asked the Supreme Godhead to be my witness. The entire world accepts the words of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”

Taking this opportunity, the elderly brāhmaṇa immediately confirmed that this was really true. He said, “If Gopāla personally comes here to serve as a witness, I shall surely give my daughter to the young brāhmaṇa.”

The elderly brāhmaṇa thought, “Since Lord Kṛṣṇa is very merciful, He will certainly come to prove my statement.”

The atheistic son thought, “It is not possible for Gopāla to come and bear witness.” Thinking thus, the father and son agreed.

The young brāhmaṇa took this opportunity to speak: “Please write this down on paper in black and white so that you may not again change your word of honor.”

All the assembled people got this statement down in black and white and, taking the signatures of agreement from both of them, served as the mediators.

The young brāhmaṇa then said, “Will all you gentlemen present please hear me? This elderly brāhmaṇa is certainly truthful and is following religious principles.

“He had no desire to break his promise, but fearing that his kinsmen would commit suicide, he deviated from the truth.

“By the piety of the elderly brāhmaṇa, I shall call the Supreme Personality of Godhead as a witness. Thus I shall keep his truthful promise intact.”

Hearing the emphatic statement of the younger brāhmaṇa, some atheists in the meeting began to cut jokes. However, someone else said, “After all, the Lord is merciful, and if He likes, He can come.”

After the meeting, the young brāhmaṇa started for Vṛndāvana. Upon arriving there, he first offered his respectful obeisances to the Deity and then narrated everything in full detail.

He said, “My Lord, You are the protector of brahminical culture, and You are also very merciful. Therefore, kindly show Your great mercy by protecting the religious principles of us two brāhmaṇas.

“My dear Lord, I am not thinking to become happy by getting the daughter as a bride. I am simply thinking that the brāhmaṇa has broken his promise, and that is giving me great pain.”

The young brāhmaṇa continued, “My dear Sir, You are very merciful and You know everything. Therefore, kindly be a witness in this case. A person who knows things as they are and still does not bear witness becomes involved in sinful activities.”

Lord Kṛṣṇa replied, “My dear brāhmaṇa, go back to your home and call a meeting of all the men. In that meeting, just try to remember Me.

“I shall certainly appear there, and at that time I shall protect the honor of both you brāhmaṇas by bearing witness to the promise.”

The young brāhmaṇa replied, “My dear sir, even if You appear there as a four-handed Viṣṇu Deity, still, none of those people will believe in Your words.

“Only if You go there in this form of Gopāla and speak the words from Your beautiful face will Your testimony be heard by all the people.”

Lord Kṛṣṇa said, “I’ve never heard of a Deity’s walking from one place to another.”

“My dear Lord, You are not a statue; You are directly the son of Mahārāja Nanda. Now, for the sake of the old brāhmaṇa, You can do something You have never done before.”

Śrī Gopālajī then smiled and said, “My dear brāhmaṇa, just listen to Me. I shall walk behind you, and in this way I shall go with you.”

The Lord continued, “Do not try to see Me by turning around. As soon as you see Me, I shall remain stationary in that very place.

“You will know that I am walking behind you by the sound of My ankle bells.

“Cook one kilo of rice daily and offer it. I shall eat that rice and follow behind you.”

The next day, the brāhmaṇa begged permission from Gopāla and started for his country. Gopāla followed him, step by step.

While Gopāla followed the young brāhmaṇa, the tinkling sound of His ankle bells could be heard. The brāhmaṇa became very pleased, and he cooked first-class rice for Gopāla to eat.

The young brāhmaṇa walked and walked in this way until he eventually arrived in his own country. When he neared his own village, he began to think as follows.

“I have now come to my village, and I shall go to my home and tell all the people that the witness has arrived.”

The brāhmaṇa then began to think that if the people didn’t directly see the Gopāla Deity, they would not believe that He had arrived. “But even if Gopāla stays here,” he thought, “there is still nothing to fear.”

Thinking this, the brāhmaṇa turned to look back, and He saw that Gopāla, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, was standing there smiling.

The Lord told the brāhmaṇa, “Now you can go home. I shall stay here and shall not leave.”

The young brāhmaṇa then went to the town and informed all the people about Gopāla’s arrival. Hearing this, the people were struck with wonder.

All the townspeople went to see the witness Gopāla, and when they saw the Lord actually standing there, they all offered their respectful obeisances.

When the people arrived, they were very pleased to see the beauty of Gopāla, and when they heard that He had actually walked there, they were all surprised.

Then the elderly brāhmaṇa, being very pleased, came forward and immediately fell like a stick in front of Gopāla.

Thus in the presence of all the townspeople, Lord Gopāla bore witness that the elderly brāhmaṇa had offered his daughter in charity to the young brāhmaṇa.

After the marriage ceremony was performed, the Lord informed both brāhmaṇas, “You two brāhmaṇas are My eternal servants, birth after birth.”

The Lord continued, “I have become very much pleased by the truthfulness of you both. Now you can ask for a benediction.” Thus with great pleasure the two brāhmaṇas begged for a benediction.

The brāhmaṇas said, “Please remain here so that people all over the world will know how merciful You are to Your servants.”

Lord Gopāla stayed, and the two brāhmaṇas engaged in His service. After hearing of the incident, many people from different countries began to come to see Gopāla.

Eventually the King of that country heard this wonderful story, and he also came to see Gopāla and thus became very satisfied.

The King constructed a nice temple, and regular service was executed. Gopāla became very famous under the name of Sākṣi-gopāla [the witness Gopāla].

Thus Sākṣi-gopāla stayed in Vidyānagara and accepted service for a very long time.

Later there was a fight, and this country was conquered by King Puruṣottama-deva of Orissa.

That King was victorious over the King of Vidyānagara, and he took possession of his throne, the Māṇikya-siṁhāsana, which was bedecked with many jewels.

King Puruṣottama-deva was a great devotee and was advanced in the civilization of the Āryans. He begged at the lotus feet of Gopāla, “Please come to my kingdom.”

When the King begged Him to come to his kingdom, Gopāla, who was already obliged for his devotional service, accepted his prayer. Thus the King took the Gopāla Deity and went back to Kaṭaka.

After winning the Māṇikya throne, King Puruṣottama-deva took it to Jagannātha Purī and presented it to Lord Jagannātha. In the meantime, he also established regular worship of the Gopāla Deity at Kaṭaka.

When the Gopāla Deity was installed at Kaṭaka, the Queen of Puruṣottama-deva went to see Him and, with great devotion, presented various kinds of ornaments.

The Queen had a very valuable pearl, which she wore on her nose, and she wished to give it to Gopāla. She then began to think as follows.

“If there were a hole in the Deity’s nose, I could transfer the pearl to Him.”

Considering this, the Queen offered her obeisances to Gopāla and returned to her palace. That night she dreamed that Gopāla appeared and began to speak to her as follows.

“During My childhood My mother made a hole in My nose and with great endeavor set a pearl there.

“That very hole is still there, and you can use it to set the pearl you desired to give Me.”

After dreaming this, the Queen explained it to her husband, the King. Both the King and the Queen then went to the temple with the pearl.

Seeing the hole in the nose of the Deity, they set the pearl there and, being very pleased, held a great festival.

Since then, Gopāla has been situated in the city of Kaṭaka [Cuttack], and He has been known ever since as Sākṣi-gopāla.

Thus Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu heard the narration of Gopāla’s activities. Both He and His personal devotees became very pleased.

When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was sitting before the Gopāla Deity, all the devotees saw Him and the Deity as being of the same form.

They were of the same complexion, and both had gigantic bodies. Both wore saffron cloth, and both were very grave.

The devotees saw that both Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Gopāla were brilliantly effulgent and had eyes like lotuses. They were both absorbed in ecstasy, and both Their faces resembled full moons.

When Nityānanda saw the Gopāla Deity and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in that way, He began to exchange remarks with the devotees, all of whom were smiling.

Thus with great pleasure Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu passed that night in the temple. After seeing the maṅgala-ārati ceremony in the morning, He started on His journey.

[In his book Caitanya-bhāgavata] Śrīla Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura has very vividly described the places visited by the Lord on the way to Bhuvaneśvara.

When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu arrived at Kamalapura, He took His bath in the Bhārgīnadī River and left His sannyāsa staff in the hands of Lord Nityānanda.

When Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu went to the temple of Lord Śiva known as Kapoteśvara, Nityānanda Prabhu, who was keeping His sannyāsa staff in custody, broke the staff in three parts and threw it into the river Bhārgīnadī. Later this river became known as Daṇḍa-bhāṅgā-nadī.

After seeing the temple of Jagannātha from a distant place, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu immediately became ecstatic. After offering obeisances to the temple, He began to dance in the ecstasy of love of God.

All the devotees became ecstatic in the association of Lord Caitanya, and thus absorbed in love of God, they were dancing and singing while going along the main road.

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu laughed, cried, danced and made many ecstatic vibrations and sounds. Although the temple was only six miles away, to Him the distance seemed thousands of miles.

Thus walking and walking, the Lord eventually arrived at the place known as Āṭhāranālā. Arriving there, He expressed His external consciousness, speaking to Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu.

When Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu had thus regained external consciousness, He asked Lord Nityānanda Prabhu, “Please return My staff.”

Nityānanda Prabhu said, “When You fell down in ecstasy, I caught You, but both of Us together fell upon the staff.

“Thus the staff broke under Our weight. Where the pieces have gone, I cannot say.

“It is certainly because of My offense that Your staff was broken. Now You can punish Me on this account as You think proper.”

After hearing the story about how His staff had been broken, the Lord expressed a little sadness and, displaying a bit of anger, began to speak as follows.

Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “You have all benefited Me by bringing Me to Nīlācala. However, My only possession was that one staff, and you have not kept it.

“So all of you should go before or behind Me to see Lord Jagannātha. I shall not go with you.”

Mukunda Datta told Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, “My Lord, You should go ahead and allow all the others to follow. We shall not go with You.”

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu then began to walk very swiftly before all the other devotees. No one could understand the real purpose of the two Lords, Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Nityānanda Prabhu.

The devotees could not understand why Nityānanda Prabhu broke the staff, why Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu permitted Him to do so, or why, after permitting Him, Caitanya Mahāprabhu became angry.

The pastime of the breaking of the staff is very deep. Only one whose devotion is fixed upon the lotus feet of the two Lords can understand it.

The glories of Lord Gopāla, who is merciful to brāhmaṇas, are very great. The narration of Sākṣi-gopāla was spoken by Nityānanda Prabhu and heard by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

One who hears this narration of Lord Gopāla with faith and love very soon attains the lotus feet of Lord Gopāla.

Praying at the lotus feet of Śrī Rūpa and Śrī Raghunātha, always desiring their mercy, I, Kṛṣṇadāsa, narrate Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, following in their footsteps.