20200916 Taking Leave of His Guru, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Begins His Travels

Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation By His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on 16th 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: So today we are continuing with the compilation of the Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya pastimes book. Lord Caitanya is in Katwa, and He had just taken sannyāsa. He was dancing all night in kīrtana with his sannyāsa-guru, Keśava Bhāratī Mahārāja, who was feeling great ecstasy and was rolling on the ground. Today’s chapter is called:

Taking Leave of His Guru, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Begins His Travels

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.156

eimane ānande sānande rātri yāya
prabhāte uṭhiyā prabhu māgena vidāya

Jayapatākā Swami: In this way, the night ecstatically and blissfully passed. When Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu rose in the early morning, Lord Caitanya requested permission from His spiritual master, to depart.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.157

guru pradakṣiṇa kari’ karaye praṇāma
nīlācala yāi yadi pāi samvidhāna

Jayapatākā Swami: So, He circumambulated His guru and He offered obeisances. He said, “If I go to Jagannātha Purī, I will attain an auspicious situation.”

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.158

gurura caraṇe ājñā māgaye ṭhākura
keśavabhāratīra hiyā kare dur-dur

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu begged at His spiritual master’s lotus feet, for permission to leave. Keśava Bhāratī Mahārāja’s heart was trembling.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.159

chala chala kare āṁkhi karuṇāra jale
vidāya-samaye gaurācāṁde kare kole

Jayapatākā Swami: Tears of mercy flowed from His eyes, and he said to Lord Śrī Caitanya, “Go! Go!” at the time of bidding farewell, Keśava Bhāratī Mahārāja embraced Lord Gauracanda.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.160

svatantra īśvara tumi āpanāra sukhe
karuṇā-kāraṇe padavraje bula loke

Jayapatākā Swami: “You are the independent Lord” said, Keśava Bhāratī to Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. “For Your own happiness, to give out Your mercy. You are going to wander around this world by foot.”

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.161

gurubhakti laoyābāre kara vidhikarma
saṁsthāpana karibāre saṅkīrtana-dharma

Jayapatākā Swami: You have shown how a disciple should show devotion to his guru, as stated in all the scriptures. Now You will establish a process, the religion of saṅkīrtana, congregational chanting of the holy names in this world. Lord Caitanya, His purpose of taking sannyāsa is actually to give mercy to the conditioned souls, by teaching them by His example, what is the proper process of devotional service. So, He is also showing what is the proper behavior of a disciple to his spiritual master. In every respect, Lord Caitanya is teaching by His example.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.162

sarvaloka nistārite karuṇā prakāśa
āmā viḍambite kaile ei ta’ sannyāsa

Jayapatākā Swami: In order to deliver all the people of this world, You have manifested Your mercy. You have tricked me into giving You sannyāsa.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.163

āmāra nistāra yena haya viśvambhara
ei mora vākya tumi pāliha antara

Jayapatākā Swami: O Lord Viśvambhara, please also deliver me. Please, in Your heart, accept my request.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.164

caraṇa-paraśa kari’ calila ṭhākura
pathe yāite premānanda bāḍhila pracura

Jayapatākā Swami: Touching the lotus feet of His spiritual master, Lord Caitanya departed. As He was walking on the path, His ecstasy of love of Kṛṣṇa increased immensely.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca 3.3.1: Then and bowing to the feet of His guru, the mighty-armed Mādhava then requested permission to depart. Following his order, He left secretly for Rāḍha-deśa, absorbed in confidential thoughts

Caitanya Carita Mahā Kāvya 11.57: Receiving the daṇḍa, in order to obey the instructions of his guru, intelligent Gaurāṅga remained there for a day, though his mind was restless. Taking his guru’s permission, the Lord, of mysterious, incomparable, excellent actions, then went to the pious place called Rāḍhadeśa.

Jayapatākā Swami: So Rāḍhadeśa means a place where the Ganges doesn’t flow. And Lord Nityānanda appeared in Ekacakra, which is in Rāḍhadeśa.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca 3.3.2: While travelling on the path in the company of the avadhūta, Śrī Caitanya again and again discussed the topics of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and danced and sang being personally absorbed in bhakti.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya was accompanied by Lord Nityānanda, whose other name is Avadhūta. And Lord Caitanya was discussing about Kṛṣṇa bhakti, and the topics of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, He was absorbed in spiritual ecstasy of love of Kṛṣṇa.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca 3.3.3: While wandering, He would meditate on the lotus feet of the soul of all souls. Then becoming covered by torrents of love-tears, He appeared like a mountain peak surrounded by cascading waterfalls.

Jayapatākā Swami: This is explaining how the tears are pouring from the eyes of Lord Caitanya.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.166

buka bāñā paḍe dhārā nayanera jale
suranadīdhārā yena sumeru-śikhare

Jayapatākā Swami: His eyes’ tears floated down to His chest, as a flood river of tears, like the celestial Ganges flows down Mount Sumeru.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca 3.3.4: Sometimes His eyes became blinded by tears, sometimes His body trembled, and sometimes His hairs bristled out of ecstasy, sometimes He would stumble and sometimes run swiftly.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.167

kadambakeśara jini’ vipula-pulaka
kaṇṭakita sarva aṅga āpādamastaka

Jayapatākā Swami: His hairs were standing erect on His body, befitting the filaments of the kadamba flowers. His body from head to foot, all of His body seemed to be adorned with thorny flowers.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.165

kṛṣṇa-kṛṣṇa bali’ ḍāke premāra ullāsa
kṣaṇeke rodana kṣaṇe aṭṭa-aṭṭa hāsa

Jayapatākā Swami: In great bliss, in pure love of Kṛṣṇa, He called out, “Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa!” One moment, He was crying and the next moment, He was loudly laughing. This shows Lord Caitanya’s ecstatic symptoms of love of Kṛṣṇa. Sometimes crying in separation, sometime laughing in spiritual bliss.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca 3.3.5: Sometimes He would walk like a maddened elephant, and sometimes His effulgence would increase very much. Sometimes, He would fondly utter, “Govinda! Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa!”

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.168

matta karibara yena raṅge cali’ yāya
nirbhara premāya kṣaṇe kṛṣṇa bali’ gāya

Jayapatākā Swami: Like a maddened elephant, He would quickly walk, and another moment, under the influence of great spiritual love, He would sing Kṛṣṇa.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.169

kṣaṇeke paḍaye bhūmi–rahe stavdha hañā
kṣaṇe lampha diyā uṭhe haribola baliyā

Jayapatākā Swami: One moment He would fall to the ground, being stunned and remaining immobile. Sometimes He would jump up, and He would cry out, “Hari Bol! Haribol!”

Caitanya Carita Mahā Kāvya 11.58: On the road, overcome with happiness, he meditated on the Lord’s activities. Soft with prema for the name and attached to it at every moment, he stumbled about, sometimes singing, sometimes wailing in pain, sometimes moving slowly and sometimes going quickly like a lion.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.170

kṣaṇe gopikāra bhāva–kṣaṇe dāsyabhāva
kṣaṇe dhīre dhīre cale–kṣaṇe śīghra dhāva

Jayapatākā Swami: At one moment, He felt the ecstasy of the gopīs, and another moment, He felt the ecstasy of servitude. One moment He would go very, very slowly. Another moment, He would run swiftly.

Caitanya Carita Mahā Kāvya 11.59: Not hearing the Lord’s name in one place, the Lord became bewildered and went to the riverbank to end his life. As he lowered himself into the water, some children uttered the Lord’s name. By that sound, he melted with prema. Tears fell constantly and his body became stunned.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, hear by children, playing near the Ganges, naturally chanted the Lord’s name, and that inspired Lord Caitanya, and He felt immense love of Kṛṣṇa.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca 3.3.6: He did not hear the names of Śrī Hari that land and so He felt great distress and declared, “I shall at once enter this water and give up this body.”

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.171

eimane divārātri nā jāne ānande
rāḍhadeśe nā śunila kṛṣṇanāma-gandhe

Jayapatākā Swami: In this way, Lord Śrī Caitanya was in such ecstasy that He didn’t know whether it was day or night. When He entered into Rāḍha-deśa, He could not even hear the scent of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s holy name.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca 3.3.7: “In this land, which is populated by so many brāhmaṇas, why do I not hear chanting of the names of Śrī Hari?” Thus, with fixed determination to die within the water, Prabhu approached the water’s edge.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.172

kṛṣṇanāma nā śuniñā kheda uṭhe cite
niścaya karila jale praveśa karite

Jayapatākā Swami: Not hearing the holy names of Lord Kṛṣṇa, in Lord Caitanya’s heart arose a deep sadness. He decided He would enter the water and end His life.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.173

dekhi’ saba bhaktagaṇa kare anutāpa
gaurāṅga goloke yāya—ki habe re bāpa

Jayapatākā Swami: Seeing this, all the devotees were struck with grief. If Gaurāṅga goes to Goloka, what will happen now?

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.174

tabe nityānanda prabhu bole vīradāpe
rākhiba caitanya āmi āpana pratāpe

Jayapatākā Swami: Then, however, the great heroic Lord Nityānanda said, “By My own power, I will rescue, I will protect Lord Caitanya.”

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.175

seikhāne śiśugaṇa godhana carāya
nityānandaprabhu tāra praveśe hiyāya

Jayapatākā Swami: At that moment, some children were grazing the cows or herding the cows. Lord Nityānanda Prabhu entered into their hearts.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.176

niścaya kariyā gelā jalera samīpa
hari bali’ eka śiśu bhāke ācambita

Jayapatākā Swami: Approaching nearby the river, one boy suddenly began to call out,“Haribol! Haribol!” everal boys who were tending their cows one boy suddenly began to call out, and sporting amongst one another. Nityānanda Avadhūta instructed them on the chanting of the names of Śrī Hari.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca 3.3.9: Amongst them was a boy of prodigious intelligence, who with great exhilaration proclaimed loudly again and again, “Say Hari! Say Hari!”

Jayapatākā Swami: “Haribol! Haribol!” Saying these words saved the life of Lord Caitanya. If all the devotees want Lord Caitanya to remain in the saṅkīrtana movement, then they should chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra and chant Haribol!

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.177

tāhā śuni’ leuṭi āilā gaurahari
bola bola bole ḍāke śiśu-hasta dhari

Jayapatākā Swami: So, hearing that, Lord Gaurahari, He ran to the boy. He grasped the child’s hand, and He called out to him,“Chant! Chant! Chant!”

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.178

tomāre karuṇa kṛpā prabhu bhagavān
kṛtārtha karile śunāiyā hari-nāma

Jayapatākā Swami: “May the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Bhagavān, give mercy upon you. I am grateful, that you have had me hear the harināma from you.”

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca 3.3.10: Hearing this, the Lord felt happy and thus decided to desist from destroying His body. Then He wept loudly out of feeling anguish of separation from Kṛṣṇa and fell entranced to the earth.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya wants to hear everyone chanting the holy names of Kṛṣṇa. If you don’t chant the names of Kṛṣṇa, He doesn’t feel like staying in this world. So, by Lord Nityānanda’s mercy, the children chanted, and Lord Caitanya decided to stay. So, we should always chant to keep Lord Caitanya with us.

Caitanya Carita Mahā Kāvya 11.60: Hearing the children utter the name loudly, the Lord became mad with prema and falling on the ground, wept intensely. Going some distance, he ate food obtained by begging. He continued walking, sometimes laughing, dancing, singing or crying.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, being a sannyāsa, He was begging for getting some prasāda, and thus, He was dancing in ecstasy, sometimes laughing, sometimes crying, sometimes singing.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.179

premānande bhāse prabhu anandita hiyā
bhikṣā karilā prabhu kathodūra giyā

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Gaurāṅga was floating in the ecstasy of love of Kṛṣṇa. His heart was filled with bliss. He begged some alms and had something to eat, and then the Lord, He went on His journey, in some distance.

Caitanya Carita Mahā Kāvya 11.61: Full of joy, the Lord, soft with unlimited prema, moved with dancing steps, sometimes in the mood of a gopī, sometimes as a servant and sometimes with reverence. He headed towards the west. For three days he was unaware of himself.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, He was going away from the Ganges to the west, and three days He traversed, and He was not aware of anything, because He was absorbed in His own internal ecstasy.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa, 13.180

henamate divāniśi nāhi jāne sukhe
tina dina rahi’ amnajala dilā mukhe

Jayapatākā Swami: In this way He was in such spiritual bliss that He didn’t know whether it was day or night. After three days passed, He placed some food and water in His mouth. This is the second day after taking sannyāsa that He is travelling up to Rāḍha-deśa and He doesn’t know whether it is day or night. After three days He ate something. So, this is the situation we are reading about in the Caitanya pastimes.

Thus ends the chapter, Taking Leave of His Guru, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Begins His Travels.

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