The Magical Coin

I recently acquired an old, silver tanka (somewhat similar to the one pictured above) from the reign of Husain Shah in Bengal (1493-1519). This is the same Husain Shah that enlisted Sanatana and Rupa Goswami in his service. Here’s a bit about him from Wikipedia (yeah, I know, it’s Wikipedia, but the information is accurate, so who cares!):

“The reign of Husain Shah is also known for religious tolerance towards his Hindu subjects of Bengal. However, R.C. Majumdar claims that during his Orissa campaigns, he destroyed some Hindu temples, which Vrindavana Dasa Thakura has mentioned in his Chaitanya Bhagavata. The celebrated medieval saint, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his followers preached the Bhakti cult thorughout Bengal during his reign. When Husain Shah came to know about Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's huge following amongst his subjects, he ordered his qazis not to injure him in any way and allow him to go wherever he liked. Later, two high level Hindu officers in Husain Shah's administration, his Private Secretary, (Dabir-i-Khas) Rupa Goswami and his Initmate Minister (Saghir Malik) Sanatana Goswami became devoted followers of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.”

As I hold this coin and reflect upon the history behind it, I can’t help but feel its spiritual potency. It was on the planet, in Bengal, at the very same time that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates were present there, wandering about and propagating the sankirtan movement. I begin to imagine the coin’s secret history. I wonder about who’s hands it passed through. I wonder about the person that made it. Had he at some point known about or met Srila Rupa Goswami or Srila Sanatana Goswami? Was this coin once in the possession of someone at that time who had seen or known about Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates? Perhaps they had even heard or participated in sankirtan?

It’s so surreal to think back in history like this and to imagine the details of the time. Here is this coin that has traveled through time, from at least 1493, and made it into the palm of my hand. When we, as devotees, come in contact with historical artifacts from the Lord’s pastimes it really makes you appreciate everything so much more. At least for me, it makes me realize that, “Yes, this is real. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is real. He was really here with all of his associates and devotees!” Of course as spiritualists we are supposed to accept all of these things on faith regardless of if there is physical, material, historical evidence. I admit my faith is not so strong.

Sometimes in India, specifically in the holy dhamas, we may come across temples that proclaim they have Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s water pot or danda or Sri Krishna’s footprints in a rock or other such items. I can’t help having a healthy sense of doubt about a lot of these items. I know that maybe I shouldn’t, but I do. You never really know if the temple sevaites are just making stories up to gain more attention and (ultimately) more donations or if these articles are genuine.

Since Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared so long ago I have no way of empirically knowing if He’s real or not. I have to accept what has been handed down through the written histories, as well as through the disciplic succession. That’s the oddest, most curious thing about the past: we never really know if it happened. Even if we have historical records of the past, we never really know the details of things. We are forever trapped in the eternal present that is unfolding at every moment, unable to ever fully know the past or future. It’s just another one of our limitations as conditioned jivas.

This coin is a recorded moment in time. It honors and proclaims Husain Shah’s reign for everyone who was to later encounter it. This is the nature of creating history. We make our mark and move on from this current body, this current time. We become history ourselves.

I wonder what I will leave behind. I wonder if anyone in the future will look at what I did and wonder if it really happened or not. I wonder if in 200 or 300 years someone would read about my experiences with my Guru Maharaja and wonder if he was real and wonder if my stories about him were true. Of course they will never be able to truly know, being stuck in that nefarious, eternal present.

The people who were around when this coin was made and the people that possessed this coin (along with their personal histories and stories) have come and gone. Wouldn’t it have been amazing if someone had kept a written record of this coin’s origin and history, from the moment it was made to the moment it ended up in the hands of a rare coin specialist in modern day California? And what if we had known the details of the lives of every person that owned it? It’s amazing to think of the rich history this coin holds.

I will never known all of these things. I can only know that by serendipity this coin has come into my possession. It has become many things to me. It has become a reminder to me that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, His associates and His sankirtan movement were (and are) real. It is a reminder to me that I am mortal and that I too will become part of the past. It has (strangely) become an object to increase my faith in Sri Krishna and the process of devotional service.

Such a simple thing this old coin is, yet it resonates the energy of a magical touchstone.