Gadadhar Pandit :: Bhakti Shakti (Part II)
The first part of this article can be found HERE . Part II. Comparing the Four Synoptic Accounts a. Vastra-haraṇa-līlā One of the questions raised in the previous section is that of the extent to which Mahaprabhu and his companions actually reenacted some of the pastimes that Krishna performed and became enshrined in the Gaura-candrikā songs. Acting out the lives and līlās of the different incarnations has always been part of the Hindu devotional scene, particularly for Vaishnavas. In the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa , it is mentioned as a duty for one initiated in Krishna-mantra (HBV 2.159). If the purpose of devotional rules and regulations is to come to the point of remembering God, then such plays can certainly help. That Nimai and his devotee followers performed plays is clear from all his biographies. The most famous such occasion took place at the house of Nimai’s maternal uncle, Chandrashekhara Acharya or Acharya Ratna, which we will examine further down. There were sev...