Mahaprabhu and His Seven Kirtan Groups During Rathayatra
All of Mahāprabhu’s associates, Advaita Acharya, Nityananda Prabhu, Mukunda, Srivas, Vidyanidhi, Vasudeva and Murari, went every year to meet with the Lord, staying in Puri for four months. The Lord enjoyed a multitude of pastimes with these devotees during this time. (Chaitanya Charitamrita 2.1.255-6)
The time for Rathayatra came again and the devotees started off on the annual pilgrimage to Nilachala. They were following the Lord’s order to come every year to see the Rathayatra festival. With Advaita Acharya at their head, all the devotees set off toward Nilachala. (Chaitanya Charitamrita 3.8.4-6)
During the Rathayatra festival, the Lord formed seven kirtan groups with the devotees from Bengal. One of these was composed uniquely of the devotees from Srikhanda. Kṛṣṇa Das Kaviraj Gosvāmī writes that Narahari Sarkar Ṭhākura and Raghunandan were the dancers for this group. (Chaitanya Charitamrita 2.13.46)
The kirtan around the temple started and the seven groups began to sing. In each of the seven groups, one devotee was the designated dancer: Advaita Acharya, Nityananda Prabhu, Vakresvara, Achyutananda, Srivas Pandit, Satyaraj Khan, and Narahari Das. The Lord wandered from group to group, but all the devotees thought that He was with them alone. (Chaitanya Charitamrita 3.10.58-61)
Sri Svarupa Damodar was the lead singer and Advaita Acharya the dancer in the first kirtan group. Srivas Pandit was the principal singer in the second kirtan group or sampradaya, whose chief dancer was Nityananda Prabhu Himself; in the third, Mukunda Datta was the principal singer, while Hari Das Ṭhākura danced. Govinda Ghosh the lead singer in the fourth, with Vakresvara Pandit dancing. The fifth sampradaya came from the village of Kulina, and Ramananda Raya and Satyaraja were its principal dancers. The sixth group was from Shantipur in which Achyutananda danced. The seventh group was composed of the residents of Srikhanda, of whom Narahari and Raghunandan took the lead roles.
When Mahaprabhu wanted to dance in front of Lord Jagannath’s chariot, he would gather the seven sampradayas together into one kirtan group. Meanwhile, the devotees formed three rings of protection around the Lord. The innermost line of defense was headed by Nityananda Prabhu, the second by Kashisvara Pandit, Mukunda and other devotees. Prataparudra and his soldiers formed the outermost circle to defend the Lord from the crowds.
Mahārāja Prataparudra watched mesmerized while the Lord danced, resting his hand on the shoulder of his minister (mahāpātra) Haricandan. At that time, Srivas Pandit, who was also absorbed in watching the Lord’s ecstatic dancing, came and stood in front of the King, blocking his vision. Haricandan repeatedly tried to push Srivas to one side, telling him to let the King see until finally Srivas Pandit lost his temper and slapped Haricandan. When Haricandan became angry and was about to respond to Srivas Pandit’s aggression, the King said:
“You are very fortunate, for you have been graced by the touch of Srivas Ṭhākura. I have not been so fortunate. You should feel obliged to him.” (Chaitanya Charitamrita 2.13.97)
When the ratha was being pulled from Balgandi to Gundicha, it suddenly came to a stop and even the strongest men and most powerful elephants were unable to move it, much to the worry of Mahārāja Prataparudra. When the Lord saw that everyone was worried, He told everyone to leave the chariots alone and told His own devotees to man the ropes. Mahāprabhu Himself went behind the chariot and began to push it with His head. In a moment, the chariot began to move with a great rumbling noise. King Prataparudra and the rest of his entourage marveled at this feat of the Lord.