Cmp 18. Nimai Illness As Pretence Poem by Rajaram Ramachandran

CHAITANYA MAHAPRABHU

For reasons not known,
One day, Nimai fell down.
He rolled on the ground.
Strange were his spoken words

He suddenly fell unconscious.
The situation became serious,
For those men, who witnessed,
And this news began to spread.

Medicated oils were applied
By physicians o'er his head,
As he sighed and roared,
Everyone became afraid.

Actually it was his pretence.
He shouted in the presence
Of all those assembled there,
That he himself had taken care.

In a mad voice, he said,
"I'm the Universal Lord,
You can't recognize me
Vishvambhara is my name."

On seeing this, people were afraid.
It was a demon's work, they said
Each one had his own opinion,
But none found proper reason.

He got up of his own accord.
For their ignorance, he laughed.
He sat down amongst disciples.
And started taking up lessons.

Thereafter he went home.
He watered Tulsi just in time.
And sat down for his meal
Chanting the holy name, as usual.

Lakshmi Devi served him food
While mother sat by his side
And was watching his beauty
To her full satisfaction close by.

For a while he went to sleep.
After a short nap, he woke up,
Once again took up his books
And, as usual, left his house.