Initiating the Buddhists

On His extraordinary tour of South India, Lord Caitanya visited many villages, and all the residents became Vaisnavas (devotees of Krsna) by chanting the holy names Hari and Krsna. In this way, many thousands of people were delivered from the miseries of material life.

Sometimes the Lord would establish the supremacy of Krsna consciousness by defeating various opposing philosophies. Once, a very learned Buddhist scholar came before the Lord with his disciples to establish the philosophical conclusions of Buddhism. With great pride, he set forth the nine Buddhist principles, but Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu broke them to pieces with strong logical arguments.

Many people had gathered to hear the debate, and when they all began to laugh, the Buddhists, who were all atheists, became fearful and ashamed. Atheists may be very expert in mental speculation and argument, but they can be defeated by a Vaisnava firmly situated in his conviction and God consciousness. The Buddhists understood that Lord Caitanya was a powerful Vaisnava, and they returned home very unhappy.

Later they began to plot against the Lord. Their plan was to discredit Him by tricking Him into eating untouchable food. The next day the Buddhists brought a plate of contaminated food to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, calling it maha-prasada (spiritual food offered to Krsna). As the food was being offered to the Lord, a very large bird swooped down, grabbed the plate with its beak and flew up into the air with it. All the food fell on the Buddhists and the plate itself fell down on the head of the chief Buddhist teacher, making a great sound. The teacher's head was cut by the edge of the plate, and he immediately fell to the ground unconscious.

At this calamity, all the Buddhist disciples cried aloud and ran to the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu for shelter. They addressed Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, saying, "Sir, please excuse our offense. Please have mercy on us and bring our spiritual master back to life."

The Lord replied, "Chant the names of Krsna and Hari very loudly near the ear of your spiritual master. Then he will regain consciousness."

Following Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's advice, all the Buddhist disciples began to chant the holy names of Krsna, Rama and Hari in unison. Soon the Buddhist scholar regained consciousness and immediately began to chant the holy name of Lord Hari with his disciples, much to the astonishment of all the onlookers. In this way Lord Caitanya initiated the Buddhists into the chanting of the holy name of Krsna, converting them to Vaisnavism by reviving their original Krsna consciousness.