His brother Nity??nand was now assumed to be an incarnation of Balar??m,
and took his place as second-in-command in consequence. The practice
of meeting for worship and to celebrate "Sank?®rtans" was now
instituted; the meetings took place in the house of a disciple Srib??s,
and were quite private. The new religionists met with some opposition,
and a good deal of mockery. One night on leaving their rendezvous,
they found on the door-step red flowers and goats' blood, emblems of
the worship of Durg??, and abominations in the eyes of a Vaish.nava.
These were put there by a Brahman named Gopal. Chaitanya cursed him
for his practical joke, and we are told that he became a leper in
consequence. The opposition was to a great extent, however, provoked
by the Vaish.navas, who seem to have been very eccentric and
extravagant in their conduct. Every thing that K.rish.na had done
Chaitanya must do too, thus we read of his dancing on the shoulders of
Murari Gupta, one of his adherents; and his followers, like himself,
had fits, foamed at the mouth, and went off into convulsions, much
after the fashion of some revivalists of modern times.
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