HOW THE MASTER STINTED HIS FOOD

Ramchandra Puri Goswámi came to Niláchal and there met the Master and Paramananda Puri Jagadananda Pandit invited Ramchandra Puri and fed him on the prasád of Jagannáth. After the meal the Puri asked Jagadananda to feed on the food left over, and serving the prasád repeatedly made him eat much. And thereafter, washing his hands and mouth, Ramchandra Puri began to cavil, "I had heard that Chaitanya's bhaktas were great gluttons. Now I see it with my own eyes to be true. By gorging sannyasis with so much food, their piety is destroyed. You are bairagis and yet you are such huge eaters! Your bairagya is not sincere."

Ramchandra Puri was notorious as the universal fault finder, having been cursed for it by his own religious preceptor, Madhavendra Puri. He now dwelt at Niláchal, detached by nature, staying at one place for some time, taking his meal at some [other] place without having been bidden, and taking note of what others ate.

The Master was daily fed at different houses, at a cost of four pan of cowries [i.e., one anna] for the three of them,—the Master, Kashishwar, and Govinda (His body-servant.) Ramchandra Puri closely inquired into the Master's abode, manners, food, bed and travels. He could not reach the Master's merits, but roaming in search of His defects, could not find any. Then he began to slander the Master to all the people, saying, "He is a sannyasi and yet eats sweetmeats. How can such luxury enable him to control the lusts of the flesh?"

He daily came to visit the Master, but only to pry into His shortcomings,—for that was the only work of the Puri,—while the Master did him reverence as His guru. He knew of the slanders spoken by the Puri [against Him], but welcomed and honoured him greatly. One day the Puri came to the Master's house in the morning, and noticing some ants on the floor, delivered this covert attack, "Verily sweetmeats were brought here last night, for ants are running about. A wonder sannyasis dead to the world have such gluttonous cravings!" And then he left in a hurry.

The Master now saw with His own eyes what He had only heard before, [about the slander spread against Him]. He called Govinda and told him, "From to-day my meal will be one packet of rice and curry of the pinda-bhog worth 20 cowries [i.e., one quarter-anna]. Don't accept any food above this for me. If you bring more, you will not see me here."

Half of this the Master ate and the other half He left for Govinda, and both remained famished. Then He commanded Govinda and Kashishwar to beg their food elsewhere. Thus some days passed in great hardship. Hearing of it, Ramchandra Puri came to the Master and smiling told Him, "It is not a sannyasi's dharma to gratify his appetite. He eats just enough to fill his stomach anyhow. I find you lean and hear that you eat only half your fill. This drying bairagya is not a sannyasi's dharma. A sannyasi performs true jnan-yog when he fills his stomach as far as is necessary but does not enjoy his food. (Gitá, vi. 16-17.)"

The Master replied, "I am an ignorant child and your pupil. It is my good fortune that you are teaching me." Ramchandra Puri then left.

Next day the bhaktas headed by Paramananda Puri complained to the Master against Ramchandra as a universal fault-finder and instigator of gluttony, which he afterwards censured. They urged Him not to listen to Ramchandra and famish Himself, but to return to His old diet and accept invitations. But the Master replied, "Why do you blame Ramchandra Puri? He expounds the natural dharma, and has done no wrong. It is very wrong for a sannyasi to have a lustful palate. It is a sannyasi's duty to eat just as little as will keep body and soul together." They all pressed Him hard, and yielding to their entreaty He fixed His rations at one-half of its former cost, viz. at two pan of cowries [i.e., half annaj, which was shared by two, sometimes three persons. If a Brahman whose cooking He could not eat, invited Him, He took only prasád worth two pan of cowries. If it was a Brahman whose cooking He could eat, He took a little of prasád [purchased with money] and a little of the meal cooked in His host's house. But at the houses of Pandit Goswámi, Adwaita Acharya, and Sárvabhauma, He ate whatever they asked Him, for there He had no independence; He had come down to earth to render His devotees happy.

After a time Ramchandra Ptiri left Niláchal on a pilgrimage, to the intense delight of the Vaishnavs, who felt that a heavy stone had been lifted from their heads! They now freely invited the Master to kirtan and dance, and all freely partook of the prasád.