One of the most important figures in the history of South Asia is the 15th-16th century spiritual leader Sri Chaitanya – often endearingly called Gauranga (गौराङ्ग), "fair-bodied", – the founder of what is known today as Gaudiya Vaishnanism. His hagiographies are replete with (often apocryphal) anecdotes of him winning over former adversaries, sometimes by dint of his wit and wisdom and sometimes by sheer charisma. I found one such story, involving the renowned sannyasi (सन्न्यासिन्) Prakashananda Saraswati (प्रकाशानन्दसरस्वती) of Varanasi (see this and this), in the early 20th century Bengali-language encyclopedia Biswakosh (বিশ্বকোষ; विश्वकोष), compiled by Nagendranath Basu (নগেন্দ্রনাথ বসু; नगेन्द्रनाथवसु), and I will now recount an amusing correspondence that the compiler claims these two scholars engaged in. However, I have reasons to doubt the authenticity of parts of the Biswakosh article on Prakashananda Saraswati (see my final notes at the end of the post).
(1) The story goes that, before meeting Chaitanya in person, Prakashananda was a proponent of mAyAvAda (मायावाद), a term used in Gaudiya Vaishnavism to denote Adi Shankara's philosophy, and had significant ideological disagreements with the concept of bhakti (भक्ति) to Krishna as promulgated by Chaitanya. Riled by the young Bengali preacher's rising popularity, especially following the induction of Prakashananda's beloved disciple Gopala into Chaitanya's order, the Varanasi resident wanted to take the Vaishnava sannyasi on, but Chaitanyadeva was yet to set foot in Varanasi, a city sacred to Shiva. When Prakashananda ran out of patience, he wrote the following chastising note in Sanskrit verse addressed to no one in particular, and had a traveler deliver it to Chaitanya.
Devanagari script:
Loose translation: Even the likes of Vishwamitra and Parashara (great ascetics and scholars) who subsisted on air, water, and leaves, had their minds deluded as soon as they saw the charming lotus-faces of women; (hence,) if those human beings who gorge themselves on rice prepared from high-quality autumnal paddy along with ghee, milk, and yogurt were to succeed in taming the flesh, then the Vindhyas would be able to swim across the ocean as well!
Notes: The author is definitely alluding to Vishwamitra and Parashara's infamous dalliances with Menaka and Matsyagandha respectively. There are several instances in religious literature of ascetics abstaining from solid food or even water for extended periods of time – such fasting is often considered crucial to disciplining the mind and the body, and acquiring superhuman powers or making spiritual progress. Chaitanyadeva had a long and intimate association with the Jagannath Temple at Puri, Odisha, where he is said to have regularly partaken of the mahAprasAda (महाप्रसाद), a lavish lacto-vegetarian meal ritually offered to the central deity jagannAtha (जगन्नाथ), then to the goddess vimalA (विमला), and finally distributed among devotees. In Prakashananda's worldview, this act would violate the principles of asceticism; so he is calling Chaitanya out on his perceived hypocrisy, and insinuating that someone given to such gastronomic excesses is unlikely to be abstinent in other aspects of life. The compiler of Biswakosh identifies the celebrated zAli (शालि) rice with the aaman (আমন) rice variety of Bengal. In Indic literature, a mountain (or a rock) floating on water is a standard metaphor for an impossibility.
(4) Before long, Prakashananda received a versified repartee which, according to Biswakosh, was authored by an outraged follower of Sri Chaitanya, but is ascribed to Chaitanya himself in Radhakanta Deb's 19th century Sanskrit dictionary Shabdakalpadruma (शब्दकल्पद्रुम) in its entry for the word अनुदिनम्.
Devanagari script:
(1) The story goes that, before meeting Chaitanya in person, Prakashananda was a proponent of mAyAvAda (मायावाद), a term used in Gaudiya Vaishnavism to denote Adi Shankara's philosophy, and had significant ideological disagreements with the concept of bhakti (भक्ति) to Krishna as promulgated by Chaitanya. Riled by the young Bengali preacher's rising popularity, especially following the induction of Prakashananda's beloved disciple Gopala into Chaitanya's order, the Varanasi resident wanted to take the Vaishnava sannyasi on, but Chaitanyadeva was yet to set foot in Varanasi, a city sacred to Shiva. When Prakashananda ran out of patience, he wrote the following chastising note in Sanskrit verse addressed to no one in particular, and had a traveler deliver it to Chaitanya.
Devanagari script:
यत्रास्ते मणिकर्णिकामलसरः स्वर्दीर्घिका दीर्घिका
रत्नं तारकमक्षरं1 तनुभृते शम्भुः स्वयं यच्छति|
तस्मिन्नद्भुतधामनि स्मररिपोर्निर्वाणमार्गे स्थिते
मूढोऽन्यत्र मरीचिकासु पशुवत् प्रत्याशया धावति||
variant: 1तारकमोक्षदं
रत्नं तारकमक्षरं1 तनुभृते शम्भुः स्वयं यच्छति|
तस्मिन्नद्भुतधामनि स्मररिपोर्निर्वाणमार्गे स्थिते
मूढोऽन्यत्र मरीचिकासु पशुवत् प्रत्याशया धावति||
variant: 1तारकमोक्षदं
yatrAste maNikarNikAmalasaraH svardIrghikA dIrghikA
ratnaM tArakamakSaraM tanubhRte zambhuH svayaM yacchati|
ratnaM tArakamakSaraM tanubhRte zambhuH svayaM yacchati|
tasminnadbhutadhAmani smararipornirvANamArge sthite
mUDho(a)nyatra marIcikAsu pazuvat pratyAzayA dhAvati||
mUDho(a)nyatra marIcikAsu pazuvat pratyAzayA dhAvati||
Loose translation: Where the tank called Manikarnika sits in its immaculate glory, and the heavenly river (the Ganges) of great length flows by, and Shiva himself bestows the precious gift of the mantra of liberation upon living beings – in spite of the existence of this wondrous abode of the Enemy of Cupid (i.e. Shiva) which grants access to nirvana, it is but a moron who seeks the fulfillment of his desires elsewhere, just like an animal running towards a mirage (to quench its thirst)!
Notes: Manikarnika is a major ghat (ghat: a flight of steps leading down to a body of water) in Varanasi and one of the most hallowed cremation grounds in Hinduism; a sacred stepwell called Manikarnika Kunda (मणिकर्णिकाकुण्ड) is located on top of the flight, and this is what the author of the above verse is referring to in the first quarter. दीर्घिका denotes an "oblong" lake or pond, but the anthologist Purnachandra De identifies स्वर्दीर्घिका, "the (oblong) water-body of heaven", as the Ganges; I have not found this particular appellation of the holy river in any lexicon but the near-synonymous term svarvApI (स्वर्वापी) is well-known. As such, I have interpreted the दीर्घिका at the end of the first quarter as an adjective, meaning "long", of the preceding word. tAraka (तारक), "the deliverer", in this context refers to the mystical formula, usually called tArakabrahma (तारकब्रह्म), that Shiva is said to "whisper into the ears" of those who die or are dying or are cremated in Varanasi, especially at Manikarnika Ghat, thus liberating them from the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth (the word तनुभृत्, which I have translated as 'living being' here, literally means 'body-bearer').
(2) On receiving this veiled invitation, peppered with choice insults (मूढ, पशु), to visit his challenger's home ground, Chaitanya turned Prakashananda's words around and against him, and penned the following rejoinder in the same meter (zArdUlavikrIDita (शार्दूलविक्रीडित)) as the original, affirming his conviction that Krishna is svayaM bhagavAn (स्वयं भगवान्).
Devanagari script:
Notes: Manikarnika is a major ghat (ghat: a flight of steps leading down to a body of water) in Varanasi and one of the most hallowed cremation grounds in Hinduism; a sacred stepwell called Manikarnika Kunda (मणिकर्णिकाकुण्ड) is located on top of the flight, and this is what the author of the above verse is referring to in the first quarter. दीर्घिका denotes an "oblong" lake or pond, but the anthologist Purnachandra De identifies स्वर्दीर्घिका, "the (oblong) water-body of heaven", as the Ganges; I have not found this particular appellation of the holy river in any lexicon but the near-synonymous term svarvApI (स्वर्वापी) is well-known. As such, I have interpreted the दीर्घिका at the end of the first quarter as an adjective, meaning "long", of the preceding word. tAraka (तारक), "the deliverer", in this context refers to the mystical formula, usually called tArakabrahma (तारकब्रह्म), that Shiva is said to "whisper into the ears" of those who die or are dying or are cremated in Varanasi, especially at Manikarnika Ghat, thus liberating them from the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth (the word तनुभृत्, which I have translated as 'living being' here, literally means 'body-bearer').
(2) On receiving this veiled invitation, peppered with choice insults (मूढ, पशु), to visit his challenger's home ground, Chaitanya turned Prakashananda's words around and against him, and penned the following rejoinder in the same meter (zArdUlavikrIDita (शार्दूलविक्रीडित)) as the original, affirming his conviction that Krishna is svayaM bhagavAn (स्वयं भगवान्).
Devanagari script:
घर्माम्भो मणिकर्णिका भगवतः पादाम्बु भागीरथी
काशीनां पतिरंशमस्य2 भजते श्रीविश्वनाथः स्वयम्|
एतस्यैव हि नाम शम्भुनगरे निस्तारकं तारकं
तस्मात् कृष्णपदाम्बुजं भज सखे निर्वाणमोक्षप्रदम्3||
variants: 2पतिरर्धमेव; 3श्रीपाद निर्वाणदम्.
काशीनां पतिरंशमस्य2 भजते श्रीविश्वनाथः स्वयम्|
एतस्यैव हि नाम शम्भुनगरे निस्तारकं तारकं
तस्मात् कृष्णपदाम्बुजं भज सखे निर्वाणमोक्षप्रदम्3||
variants: 2पतिरर्धमेव; 3श्रीपाद निर्वाणदम्.
gharmAmbho maNikarNikA bhagavataH pAdAmbu bhAgIrathI
kAzInAM patiraMzamasya bhajate zrIvizvanAthaH svayam|
kAzInAM patiraMzamasya bhajate zrIvizvanAthaH svayam|
etasyaiva hi nAma zambhunagare nistArakaM tArakaM
tasmAt kRSNapadAmbujaM bhaja sakhe nirvANamokSapradam||
tasmAt kRSNapadAmbujaM bhaja sakhe nirvANamokSapradam||
Loose translation: The Manikarnika tank is (filled with) the Lord's perspiration, and the Ganges is but water from his feet; Vishwanatha, i.e. Shiva in his capacity as the Master of Kashi, himself constitutes but a part of Him; His very name is the mantra of liberation in this city of Shiva. Hence, my dear friend, devote yourself to the nirvana-bestowing lotus-feet of Krishna!
Notes: According to at least one mythological source – the Kashikhanda (काशीखण्ड) of the Skanda Purana (स्कन्दपुराण) – it was Vishnu (often identified with Krishna) who dug the tank that is now called Manikarnika Kunda with his cakra (चक्र), and filled it up with his sweat. पादाम्बु भागीरथी invokes one of the several myths that associate the Ganges with the feet of Vishnu or one of his incarnations. The word Kashi (काशी) is used at present as an alternative name of the city of Varanasi, mostly by religious Hindus; it has been assigned the plural number by our author, perhaps just to glorify the city (according to a well-known rule of Sanskrit grammar) or to allude to one of the traditions that accord the status of a "subordinate Kashi" or a "Kashi-equivalent" to locations sacred to Shiva scattered across the Subcontinent. In many belief systems, particularly those current in Bengal, tArakabrahma is identified with an invocation to Vishnu, Krishna, or Rama (ॐ रामाय नमः|; ॐ श्रीराम राम|; हरे कृष्ण हरे कृष्ण कृष्ण कृष्ण हरे हरे| हरे राम हरे राम राम राम हरे हरे|| etc.). The word zrIpAda (श्रीपाद) occurring in the second variant noted above is an honorific that is frequently applied to religious / spiritual scholars and is ubiquitous in Chaitanya hagiographies; अर्धमेव भजते, "shares a half only", is presumably a reference to the syncretic deity Harihara.
(3) The proud pandit from Varanasi was not to be cowed so easily, and responded with a vicious personal attack on his rival.
विश्वामित्रपराशरप्रभृतयो वाताम्बुपर्णाशना4-
स्तेऽपि स्त्रीमुखपङ्कजं सुललितं दृष्ट्वैव मोहं गताः|
शाल्यन्नं सघृतं पयोदधियुतं ये भुञ्जते मानवा-
स्तेषामिन्द्रियनिग्रहो यदि भवेद्विन्ध्यस्तरेत्सागरम्5||
variants: 4ये चाम्बुपर्णाशना / ये वारिपर्णाशना; 5भवेत् पङ्गुस्तरेत्सागरम्.
स्तेऽपि स्त्रीमुखपङ्कजं सुललितं दृष्ट्वैव मोहं गताः|
शाल्यन्नं सघृतं पयोदधियुतं ये भुञ्जते मानवा-
स्तेषामिन्द्रियनिग्रहो यदि भवेद्विन्ध्यस्तरेत्सागरम्5||
variants: 4ये चाम्बुपर्णाशना / ये वारिपर्णाशना; 5भवेत् पङ्गुस्तरेत्सागरम्.
vizvAmitraparAzaraprabhRtayo vAtAmbuparNAzanA-
ste(a)pi strImukhapaGkajaM sulalitaM dRSTvaiva mohaM gatAH|
ste(a)pi strImukhapaGkajaM sulalitaM dRSTvaiva mohaM gatAH|
zAlyannaM saghRtaM payodadhiyutaM ye bhuJjate mAnavA-
steSamindriyanigraho yadi bhavedvindhyastaretsAgaram||
steSamindriyanigraho yadi bhavedvindhyastaretsAgaram||
Loose translation: Even the likes of Vishwamitra and Parashara (great ascetics and scholars) who subsisted on air, water, and leaves, had their minds deluded as soon as they saw the charming lotus-faces of women; (hence,) if those human beings who gorge themselves on rice prepared from high-quality autumnal paddy along with ghee, milk, and yogurt were to succeed in taming the flesh, then the Vindhyas would be able to swim across the ocean as well!
Notes: The author is definitely alluding to Vishwamitra and Parashara's infamous dalliances with Menaka and Matsyagandha respectively. There are several instances in religious literature of ascetics abstaining from solid food or even water for extended periods of time – such fasting is often considered crucial to disciplining the mind and the body, and acquiring superhuman powers or making spiritual progress. Chaitanyadeva had a long and intimate association with the Jagannath Temple at Puri, Odisha, where he is said to have regularly partaken of the mahAprasAda (महाप्रसाद), a lavish lacto-vegetarian meal ritually offered to the central deity jagannAtha (जगन्नाथ), then to the goddess vimalA (विमला), and finally distributed among devotees. In Prakashananda's worldview, this act would violate the principles of asceticism; so he is calling Chaitanya out on his perceived hypocrisy, and insinuating that someone given to such gastronomic excesses is unlikely to be abstinent in other aspects of life. The compiler of Biswakosh identifies the celebrated zAli (शालि) rice with the aaman (আমন) rice variety of Bengal. In Indic literature, a mountain (or a rock) floating on water is a standard metaphor for an impossibility.
(4) Before long, Prakashananda received a versified repartee which, according to Biswakosh, was authored by an outraged follower of Sri Chaitanya, but is ascribed to Chaitanya himself in Radhakanta Deb's 19th century Sanskrit dictionary Shabdakalpadruma (शब्दकल्पद्रुम) in its entry for the word अनुदिनम्.
Devanagari script:
सिंहो बली द्विरदशूकरमांसभोजी6
संवत्सरेण कुरुते रतिमेकवारम्।
संवत्सरेण कुरुते रतिमेकवारम्।
पारावतः खलु शिलाकणमात्रभोजी
कामी भवेदनुदिनं वद कोऽत्र हेतुः॥
variant: 6सिंहो बली द्विरदकुञ्जरमांसभोजी / सिंहो बलिद्विरदमस्तकमांसभोजी.
कामी भवेदनुदिनं वद कोऽत्र हेतुः॥
variant: 6सिंहो बली द्विरदकुञ्जरमांसभोजी / सिंहो बलिद्विरदमस्तकमांसभोजी.
siMho balI dviradazUkaramAMsabhojI
saMvatsareNa kurute ratimekavAram|
saMvatsareNa kurute ratimekavAram|
pArAvataH khalu zilAkaNamAtrabhojI
kAmI bhavedanudinaM vada ko(a)tra hetuH||
kAmI bhavedanudinaM vada ko(a)tra hetuH||
Loose translation: The mighty lion, which devours the flesh of elephants and boars, makes love but once a year; on the other hand, the pigeon, which sustains itself merely on grit and grains, engages in sexual activity on a daily basis – pray tell, what is the explanation for these phenomena?
Notes: शिलाकण can be translated as "particle of stone"; some birds including pigeons are known to swallow small pieces of stone to help grind food in the gizzard. However, कण also refers to a single seed or grain of corn (Monier-Williams), which, I believe, is a more appropriate reading here. The contrast between a sexually temperate predator and a grain-eating bird notorious for its prurience is meant to highlight the point that food choice is not necessarily correlated with libido (according to the commentary by Chandramohan Tarkaratna Bhattacharya in Udbhata Chandrika, सत्यपि उत्तमान्नादिभोजनरूपविकारहेतौ सर्वेषां मनो न विकृतिमायाति परन्तु लघुचेतसामेवेति दर्शयन्नाह . . .).
Sources: My primary source is the entry for Prabodhananda Saraswati (see final notes below) in Bishwakosh. However, the versions of verses (1) and (2) quoted above occur in Udbhata Sagara Part III (Verses 84 (a) and (b)), and the collection of all four with slight variations is also found in the 1899 edition of Udbhata Chandrika Volume I (Verses 39-40). The compilers of both anthologies present this sequence of stanzas as an exchange of wits between a Shaiva resident of Varanasi named Shripaada (श्रीपाद) and his Vaishnava friend living in Vrindavana. Subhashita Ratna Bhandagara, in its chapter on the glorification of women (स्त्रीप्रशंसा), quotes verse (3) from Prof. D. D. Kosambi's critical edition of bhatRharisubhASitasaMgraha (भर्तृहरिसुभाषितसंग्रह), a collection of epigrams traditionally ascribed to Bhartrihari who is generally placed long before Chaitanyadeva.
Final notes: According to Biswakosh, Sri Chaitanya ultimately converted Prakashananda Saraswati to Krishnabhakti (कृष्णभक्ति), "devotion to Krishna", and renamed him Prabodhananda Saraswati (You can read some English-language retellings of their encounter here and here, for example). However, Prabodhananda Saraswati is the name of a famous Sri Vaishnava sannyasi from Srirangam, the uncle of Gopala Bhatta Goswami, who was converted by Chaitanya (see this), and I do not know if he had any association with Varanasi whatsoever. I would really appreciate if an expert could help me out here.
Final notes: According to Biswakosh, Sri Chaitanya ultimately converted Prakashananda Saraswati to Krishnabhakti (कृष्णभक्ति), "devotion to Krishna", and renamed him Prabodhananda Saraswati (You can read some English-language retellings of their encounter here and here, for example). However, Prabodhananda Saraswati is the name of a famous Sri Vaishnava sannyasi from Srirangam, the uncle of Gopala Bhatta Goswami, who was converted by Chaitanya (see this), and I do not know if he had any association with Varanasi whatsoever. I would really appreciate if an expert could help me out here.
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