20200903 Lamentation of Śacī and Viṣṇupriyā After Nimāi's Departure from Home. (Part 2)

Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation By His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on 3rd September 2020 in Śrīdhāma Māyāpur, India.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram
Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Introduction: As we are continuing with the description after Nimāi, Viśvambhara left Navadvīpa to take sannyāsa, what was the situation in Navadvīpa? This is a very, very intense description. It is heart rendering, what the devotees are going through. So, we know that meeting with the Lord is called sambhoga and separation from the Lord is called vipralambha. And they say that separation from the Lord is actually more ecstatic. But from the external point it appears like lamentation. But any meditation on Kṛṣṇa is Absolute. So, lamentation in separation is very intense, and that experience is a very close meditation on Kṛṣṇa. So, the devotees were practically mad in separation from Viśvambara.

Today’s chapter is entitled:

Lamentation of Devotees in Separation After Hearing About Nimāi Leaving the Home. (Part 2)

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 28.73

bhaktagaṇera prabhu-virahe viṣāda—
śuni' mātra bhakta-gaṇa prabhura gamana
bhūmite paḍilā sabe hai' acetana

Jayapatākā Swami: As soon as the devotees heard about Lord Gaurāṅga’s departure, they immediately fell on the ground, unconscious.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 28.74

ki haila se vaiṣṇava-gaṇera viṣāda
kāndite lāgilā sabe kari' ārta-nāda

Jayapatākā Swami: What was the Vaisnavas’ lamentation? They all began to cry loudly in distress. 

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 28.75

anyonye sabei sabāra dhari' galā
vividha vilāpa sabe karite lāgilā

Jayapatākā Swami: Putting their arms around the necks of others, with different kinds of lamentation, they began expressing their grief in various ways. 

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 28.76

“ki dāruṇa niśi pohāila gopīnātha”
baliyā kāndena sabe śire diyā hāta

Jayapatākā Swami: O my dear Gopīnātha! They cried out. What a terrible night we have passed. They held their heads in their hands and they wept.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 28.77

“nā dekhi' se cāṅda-mukha vañciba kemane
kibā kārya e vā āra pāpiṣṭha jīvane

Jayapatākā Swami: If we cannot see that moonlike face, how will we live? How will we survive? What is the use of this sinful life?

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 28.78

ācambite kene hena haila vajrapāta”
gaḍāgaḍi' yāya keha kare ātmaghāta

Jayapatākā Swami: Suddenly why has this thunderbolt struck us. Some of them are rolling on the ground and some are striking their chests.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 28.79

samvaraṇa nahe bhakta-gaṇera krandana
haila krandana-maya prabhura bhavana

Jayapatākā Swami: There was no stopping the devotees’ weeping, while Lord Gaurāṅga’s house was filled with uncontrolled weeping.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 28.80

ye bhakta āise prabhu dekhibāra tare
sei-i āsi' ḍube mahā-viraha-sāgare

Jayapatākā Swami: Those devotees when they came to see Lord Gaurāṅga, they were drowned in a great ocean of separation.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 28.81

kānde saba bhakta-gaṇa bhūmite paḍiyā
“sannyāsa karite prabhu gelena caliyā

Jayapatākā Swami: Weeping, all the devotees, fell to the ground. Lord Gaurāṅga has left us to take sannyāsa.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 28.82

anāthera nātha prabhu gelena caliyā
āmā “sabe viraha-samudre phelāiyā”

Jayapatākā Swami: The protector of the unprotected, Lord Gaurāṅga, has left and gone away. He has thrown all of us in an ocean of separation.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 28.83

kāṅde saba bhakta-gaṇa, haiyā acetana,
`hari hari' bali' uccaiḥsvare

Jayapatākā Swami: All the devotees were weeping and some fell unconscious. In loud voices, they chanted Hari! Hari!

ki vā mora dhana-jana, ki vā mora jīvana,
prabhu chāḍi' gelā sabākāre

Jayapatākā Swami: What is the use of our wealth, our families? What is the use of our lives? Lord Gaurāṅga has left all of us!

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 28.84

māthāya diyā hāta, buke māre nirghāta,
‘hari hari’ prabhu viśvambhara

Jayapatākā Swami: As they held their heads within their hands, and they beat their chests, they exclaimed, O Hari O Lord Hari! O Lord Viśvambhara!

sannyāsa karite gelā, āmā’-sabā’ nā balilā,
kānde bhakta dhūlāya dhūsara

Jayapatākā Swami: You have gone to take sannyāsa. You have not told anyone of us. Devotees cried and they were covered with dust.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 28.85

prabhura aṅgane paḍi’, kānde mukunda-murāri,
śrīdhara, gadādhara, gaṅgādāsa

Jayapatākā Swami: The devotees fell in Lord Gaurāṅga’s courtyard. Crying were Mukunda Datta, Murāri Gupta, Kholaveca Śrīdhara, Gadādhara Paṇḍita, and Gaṅgādāsa .

śrīvāsera gaṇa yata, tārā kānde avirata,
śrī-ācārya kānde haridāsa

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīvāsa and his family were weeping constantly, Candraśekhara Ācārya and Haridāsa Ṭhākura continuously cried.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 28.86

śuniyā krandana-rava, nadīyāra loka-saba,
dekhite āise saba dhāñānā dekhi' prabhura mukha,

Jayapatākā Swami: Hearing the sound of the crying of the devotees, the people of Navadvīpa came running to see what had happened.

sabe pāya mahā-śoka,
kānde sabe māthe hāta diyā

Jayapatākā Swami: When they did not see Lord Gaurāṅga’s lotus face, they all were stricken with great grief. They began weeping, holding their heads.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 28.87

nāgariyā yata bhakta, tārā kānde avirata,
bāla-vṛddha nāhika vicāra

Jayapatākā Swami: All the devotees from the city of Navadvīpa, they were continuously crying. There was no young or old, men or women, there was no discrimination. Everyone was crying incessantly.

kāṅde saba strī-puruṣe, pāṣaṇḍī-gaṇa hāse,
‘nimāire nā dekhimu āra’

Jayapatākā Swami: When all the ladies and men were crying, the atheists were laughing. Now we will not see Nimāi again. So, see how the devotees are feeling great separation from Nimāi. They have intense love. And all the devotees of the city, are also feeling great separation. But the atheists, they are very happy. The demons are happy. The devotees are suffering. They are thinking, what is the use of living if we cannot see the lotus face of Lord Viśvambhara. 

This reminds us of the lamentation of the vraja-vāsīs when Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma were taken by Akrūra to Mathurā. I heard that in the spiritual world, Kṛṣṇa comes back after two weeks, but because of the curse of Śrīdāma given to Rādhārāṇī, that Kṛṣṇa left Vṛndāvana for 100 years. Of course, He is there in His unmanifest form. Kṛṣṇa is present in Navadvīpa eternally. Lord Gaurāṅga is eternally here. And He, seeing the separation of the devotees, He stays with the devotees. That is why in their separation, the devotees actually feel intensely connected with Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Although they are lamenting, but somehow the connection with the Lord is very real. Better to have this relationship with the Lord, than the atheists who have no relationship. They are happy when the Lord left, so this is very unfortunate for them.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 28.88

bhaktagaṇera dhairya o śacīke beḍiyā upaveśana—
kata-kṣaṇe bhakta-gaṇa hai' kichu śānta
śacī-devī veḍi saba vasilā mahānta

Jayapatākā Swami: After some time, all the assembled devotees became somewhat pacified. The great devotees sat around mother Śacī devī.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.28

caudige bhakata mare antara-yantraṇā
ki kahiba sambarite nā pāre āpanā

Jayapatākā Swami: In all directions, all around, the devotees were suffering with internal pain. They could not say anything to stop themselves.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.29

aneka śakati sabhe bole dhīre dhīre
ki diba prabodha tore—prāṇa kara sthire

Jayapatākā Swami: One great powerful devotee told everyone very, very softly. “What shall I say to console all of you? Please be peaceful at heart.”

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.30

ṣe dekhile ye śunile etakāla dhari
prāṇa sthira kara—sei saba mane kari’

Jayapatākā Swami: What you have heard, what you have seen all the time, of Lord Gaurāṅga, please make your heart peaceful. Remember all those wonderful things.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.31

ki jānaha bhagavān kāra āpanāra
śuniyācha yata yata purva avatāra

Jayapatākā Swami: What do you know about who the Supreme Personality of Godhead belongs to? You have heard about the previous incarnations.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.32

loka-veda-agocara caritra tāhāra
baḍabhāgya nāma dhare sambandha tomāra

Jayapatākā Swami: His character is beyond the Vedas, for the people to understand. It is a great good fortunate, that you have chanted His name, and that you had relationship and He has a relationship with all of you.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.33

yāre yei ājñā kailā––thāka seimate
sei ājñā pālana karaha dṛḍha cite

Jayapatākā Swami: Whomsoever Lord Gaurāṅga has given instructions, follow those instructions, accordingly follow those instructions, with a firm heart. 

So here when the devotees feel great separation from the spiritual master, they are also told to serve his instructions, his vāṇī. So here the devotees had the priceless gift, the treasure of associating with the Lord. He was in Navadvīpa for twenty-four years, and He gave so many instructions, to think about Kṛṣṇa, to chant the names of Kṛṣṇa. So, a very powerful devotee is telling them, to follow these instructions. Be faithful to Lord Gaurāṅga. In this way, keep your hearts steady. So, we don’t have any experience to associate with the Lord. We have some experience, of associating with the representative of the Lord. Think what the devotees who could actually associate with the Lord, they must be going through great separation, great lamentation. But this is actually like the atheists, they didn’t feel anything, but the devotees, they are feeling so much pain, grief and lamentation, because they love the Lord. And the atheists, they don’t have any such relationship. So they are not disturbed. But what is the use of their life? The devotees are so fortunate that they had experienced the real transcendental association. They had it for so long! So it says that even if we have association with the devotee of the Lord for a fraction of a second:

sādhu-saṅga sādhu-saṅga sarva-śāstre kaya
lava-mātra sādhu-saṅga sadhu sarva-siddhi haya.

you can achieve all perfection. So, what to speak if someone has the association of the Lord for so long. Naturally they are feeling great separation. This is because of their intense love for the Lord. So, we can see this as another aspect of the Lord’s association.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.34

eteka vacana yabe baila bhaktagaṇa
śuniñā kātara hiyā—sambare krandana

Jayapatākā Swami: When the assembled devotees heard these words, the sorrowful-hearted devotees checked their crying.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.35

tabe nityānanda laiyā saba bhaktagaṇa
yukti kare––kothā gele pāba daraśana

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Nityānanda, He reasoned with all the devotees. Let us consider, where the Lord went, where we can find the Lord, where we can get His audience.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.36

keho bale—yata tīrtha kariba gamana
yathā gele gaurācāṁdera pāba daraśana

Jayapatākā Swami: Somebody said, all of the places of pilgrimage He had went, we should go there, and maybe we can have the audience of Lord Gauracandra.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.37

keho bele-vṛndāvana yāba vārāṇasī
nīlācale yāba yathā thākaye sannyāsī

Jayapatākā Swami: Someone said, maybe He went to Vṛndāvana, or He went to Varanasi, or to Jagannātha Purī, Nīlācala, many sannyāsīs stay in those places.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.38

kāñcana-nagare āche bhāratī gosāñi
sannyāsa kariba tathā paṇḍita nimāi

Jayapatākā Swami: Keśava Bhāratī Gosvāmī now lives in Katwa city, maybe Nimāi Paṇḍita has gone there to accept sannyāsa from him.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.39

ei vākya kabhu prabhura mukhe śuniyāchi
satya kari’ ei vākya daḍha nāhi bujhi

Jayapatākā Swami: I heard this news from Lord Gaurāṅga’s mouth. But I do not know for certain that this is the truth, what He did.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.40

mithyā-vākye saba loka dhāiva tathāre
āge āmi tattva jāni’ kahiba sabhāre

Jayapatākā Swami: On false rumors, all the people will run to that place, first I will go, learn the truth and tell everyone.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.41

dhīrabhakta janakatho deha mora saṅge
dhariyā āniba mora prabhu se gaurāṅge

Jayapatākā Swami: Give Me some steady devotees, to come with Me, and I will go and bring back Lord Gaurāṅga.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.42

tabe saba bhaktagaṇa mane anumāne
mukhya mukhya janakatho dila tāra sane

Jayapatākā Swami: Then all the devotees considered and agreed and gave Him some prominent devotees to go with Him.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.43

śrīcandraśekharācārya, paṇḍita dāmodara
vakreśvara-ādi kari’ calilā satvara

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrī Candraśekhara Ācārya, Dāmodara Paṇḍita, Vakreśvara and some other devotees set out at once.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.44

ei saba lañā nityānanda cali’ yāya
prabodhiyā śacī-viṣṇupriyāra hṛdaya

Jayapatākā Swami: Taking all these devotees, Lord Nityānanda left. He consoled the hearts of mother Śacī and Viṣṇu-priyā. So Lord Nityānanda Prabhu, He is taking some devotees with Him and going to Katwa, to see the Lord, if He is there. Since He told someone that He would take sannyāsa from Keśava Bhāratī. So after considering all the options, this seems to be the most possible. 

Thus ends the chapter, Lamentation of Devotees in Separation After Hearing About Nimāi Leaving the Home.