That year, Mahāprabhu took the deserted Jharikhand route to Vṛndāvana after the Ratha-yātrā festival. Rāmānanda Rāya and Svarūpa Dāmodara arranged for two people to accompany Him, Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya and another brāhmaṇa servant. As He travelled, His absorption in ecstatic love increased a hundred-fold over that which He experienced in Purī. Upon arriving in Mathura, it increased a thousand-fold, and when He went through the twelve forests of Vraja, it increased a hundred-thousand-fold.

As He was wandering through the twelve forests, the Lord came to the place known as Akrura Ghat on the banks of Yamunā. The Lord jumped into the water and remained immersed for a long time. Kṛṣṇadāsa, a Rājaput who had been attracted by the Lord after seeing Him in Vṛndāvana and was accompanying Him, became afraid that the Lord had drowned and started to cry out for help. Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya heard his shouts and quickly dove into the water to pull Him out.

Balabhadra was anxious about the Lord’s great distraction due to His divine ecstasies and so he discussed with Mādhavendra Purī’s disciple, the Sanoḍiya brāhmaṇa, about what could be done to protect Him. After some discussion, they decided that the best thing to do was to propose to Mahāprabhu that He go to Soro Ksetra on the banks of the Ganges for the full-moon bath at the end of the month of Māgha, known also as Makara-sankrānti. From there, they could take Him on to Prayāga. The Rājaput Kṛṣṇadāsa and the Mathura brāhmaṇa were well acquainted with the route along the Ganges and so they remained with the Lord as guides.

As they tired from walking, the Lord sat down underneath a tree. Nearby, a herd of cows was grazing which reminded the Lord of Kṛṣṇa’s Vraja-līlā. Suddenly, the cowherd began to play his flute causing Mahāprabhu to faint in ecstasy. He fell to the ground, His breathing stopped and foam accumulated around His mouth.

At this very moment, the Muslim soldier, Bijlī Khān was passing by with a troop of ten cavalrymen. His immediate suspicion on seeing the Lord’s condition was that the four men (Kṛṣṇadāsa Rājaput, Sanoḍiya brāhmaṇa who was a disciple of Śrī Mādhavendra Purī, Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya and a brāhmaṇa) accompanying Him had poisoned Him with dhuturā in order to steal His money.

The Pāṭhāna immediately bound the Lord’s four companions, causing the two Bengali brāhmaṇas to tremble in fear. The two others, however, were fearless and quickly thought of a way out of the situation. The Sanoḍiya brāhmaṇa explained to the Pāṭhāna as follows: “I am a brāhmaṇa from Mathura and I know hundreds of people in the Emperor’s court. This sannyāsī is my guru and He happens to be ill, which makes Him faint from time to time. Tie us up and wait for a few minutes. He will regain consciousness and you will know the truth for yourself.”

The Pāṭhāna listened and said, “I can understand what you two are saying. You are from Mathura but these two Bengalis are trembling with guilt. They must have done something wrong.”

The Rājaput Kṛṣṇadāsa was acutely aware of the danger of the situation and said, “I live in the neighbouring village. I have two hundred soldiers with a hundred cannons at my command. I only have to shout and they will come here and take your horses and equipment. I think that you must be robbers, not these two Bengalis. You are only interested in robbing pilgrims like us.”

The Muslim cavalrymen were cast into doubt and fear by these fearless words. Meanwhile, the Lord came back to consciousness and in a transport of ecstasy, shouted out the Names “Hari! Hari!” and began to dance. The Pāṭhāna soldiers were overcome by fear when they heard the Lord roar and saw His ecstatic dancing. They immediately liberated their four prisoners and the Lord never saw His devotees tied up. Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya consoled the Lord and made Him sit and the Lord came back to external awareness upon seeing the Muslims in front of him. They were attracted by the Lord’s physical beauty and by His spiritual mood and they asked Him the question that had been troubling them.

The Lord answered, “I am a sannyāsī and I have no wealth. These four men are my companions. I sometimes suffer from epilepsy and fall unconscious as a result. These four companions mercifully stay with Me when this happens to protect Me and take care of Me.”

In the group of cavalrymen, one Muslim dressed all in black introduced himself as a saintly person. He was pleased by the Lord’s appearance and wished to discuss scriptures with Him. He established that the Supreme Truth was impersonal on the basis of the Islamic scriptures. The Lord, however, demonstrated the invalidity of the Sufi’s arguments by giving evidence from Koran, establishing the personal nature of the Supreme Truth and the Supreme Lord’s transcendental qualities. Then the Lord went on to refute the philosophies of karma, jñāna and yoga and established pure love of God as the supreme goal of life.

All the Pāṭhānas were enchanted by the Lord’s physical appearance and were even more attracted when they heard Him speak on the goal of spiritual life. The Sufi Pāṭhāna began spontaneously to chant the Names of Kṛṣṇa. When Mahāprabhu heard the saintly Muslim chant the Lord’s Names, He was pleased and said that all the sins that he had accumulated over millions of births had all been destroyed and that he had been purified. The Lord told them all to chant, which they did. He initiated the Sufi Pāṭhāna in the Holy Name and gave him the name Rāma Dāsa. When the prince Bijlī Khān saw the good fortune of his own servant, he fell down at the Lord’s feet and repeated the name, “Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa.” The Lord blessed him also.

After bestowing His mercy upon them in this way, Mahāprabhu continued on His way. All the Muslim soldiers then became mendicants and were celebrated as the “Pāṭhāna Vaiṣṇavas.” They toured all over the country, glorifying Mahāprabhu’s activities. Bijlī Khān became a greatly advanced devotee, and his fame was sung at every holy place of pilgrimage. (Caitanya Caritāmṛta 2.18.210-2)