20200529 Mahāprabhu's Ecstatic Dancing

Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on 29^th May 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: Just as when Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared in the world, He told all the devas in the celestial planets to take birth in the Vṛṣṇi dynasty. So here Lord Caitanya’s pastimes were only for 48 years—24 as a gṛhastha and 24 as a sannyāsī. This kīrtana throughout Navadvīpa up to the Chand Kazi, is like a universal kīrtana, that people from all over the universe came down and participated, and that even from the Vaikuṇṭhalokās, they were eager to be part of the Lord’s pastime. So, this kīrtana we still haven’t come to the Chand Kazi’s house. This kīrtana is going throughout the town of Navadvīpa, even atheists and debauches, and fallen people, when they see the ecstatic dancing of Lord Caitanya, some of them roll on the ground, some of them immediately started dancing and chanting. Lord Caitanya made a shower of mercy, so that everybody felt love of Kṛṣṇa. Someone asked yesterday what is love of God? Well you have to be in Lord Caitanya’s kīrtana, and then you can find out. Somehow everybody was so much ecstatic, they all realized love of Godhead! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! So, we are continuing with the reading.

Mahāprabhu's Ecstatic Dancing

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.258

prabhura apūrva rūpa—

`bola bola' bali' nāce gaurāṅga-sundara
sarva-aṅge śobhe mālā ati-manohara

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Gaurāṅga-sundara, He danced and called out, Chant! Chant! all His body was beautiful, and decorated with a flower garland, which was most attractive, most enchanting.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.259

yajña-sūtra, trikaccha-vasana paridhāna
dhūlāya dhūsara prabhu kamala-nayana

Jayapatākā Swami: The Lord had a thin brāhmaṇa thread, and a dhoti with three parts tucked in. The Lord Gaurāṅga’s body was covered with dust. The body of the lotus eyed Lord Gaurāṅga, was covered with dust.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.260

mandākinī-hena prema-dhārāra gamana
cāndere nā laya mana dekhi' se vadana

Jayapatākā Swami: Just as the Mandākīnī Ganges flows, Lord Gaurāṅga’s tears were flowing from His eyes. Once people saw the beautiful face of Lord Gaurāṅga, they were no longer attracted to the moon.

Purport by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura: The current of ecstatic love was compared to the Mandākīnī, the Ganges in the heavenly planets, and the beauty of the moon was insignificant before the face of Śrī Gaurasundara.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.261

sundara nāsāte vahe avirata dhāra
ati kṣīṇa dekhi yena mukutāra hāra

Jayapatākā Swami: The beautiful thin stream of liquid that flowed incessantly from His nose, looked like a thin string of pearls.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.262

sundara cāṣcara keśa—vicitra bandhana
tahiṅ mālatīra mālā ati-suśobhana

Jayapatākā Swami: His beautiful curly hair was attractively bound on the top, and extremely beautifully was decorated with a jasmine garland. The beautiful form of the Lord is something that devotees can meditate on; this form is transcendental - not of the material world. Those who see it or meditate on it, will be purified, and transported to the spiritual realm.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.263

sakalera prabhu-sthāne vara prārthanā—

“janame janame prabhu, deha' ei dāna
hṛdaye rahuka ei keli avirāma”

Jayapatākā Swami: My Lord, please give me this benediction, that this pastime may remain in our hearts blissfully, birth after birth!

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.264

bhaktamahimā vardhanārtha prabhura priyagaṇera sākṣāte nṛtya—

ei mata vara māge sakala bhuvana
nāciyā yāyena prabhu śrī-śacīnandana

Jayapatākā Swami: The whole universe was asking for this benediction. As the son of Śacī, Lord Śrī Śacīnandana, danced as He went along.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.265

priyatama saba āge nāci' nāci' yāya
āpane nācaye pāche vaikuṇṭhera rāya

Jayapatākā Swami: His dear associates were dancing ahead, and the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha was dancing behind.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.266

caitanya-prabhu se bhakta bāḍāite jāne
yena kare bhakta tena karaye āpane

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He knows how to glorify His devotees. He acts according to the desire of His associates and devotees.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.267

ei mata mahāprabhu nācite nācite
sabāra sahite āisena gaṅgā-pathe

Jayapatākā Swami: In this way, Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu was dancing along with His devotees. He went on the Ganges path, the path by the side of the Ganges.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.268

prabhura nṛtya o bhaktagaṇera kīrtana

vaikuṇṭha-īśvare nāce sarva nadīyāya
catur-dike bhakta-gaṇa pūṇya-kīrti gāya

Jayapatākā Swami: The Lord of Vaikuṇṭha, Gaurāṅga, danced throughout Navadvīpa, and He was surrounded by devotees, who were singing His auspicious glories, in all directions.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.269

bhaktagaṇera kīrtana pada—

“‘hari’ bala mugdha loka, ‘hari’ ‘hari’ bala re
nāmābhāse nāhi raya śamana-bhaya re”

Jayapatākā Swami: The enchanted people were chanting the name of Hari. Even by chanting the name of Hari accidentally, which is known as nāmābhāsa, they are delivered from the fear of Lord Yamarāja.

Purport by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura: “Chanting the name of the Lord without offence, yet with unmanifested knowledge of one’s relationship with the Lord is called nāmābhāsa. Such chanting results in the liberation of the living entity. There is a possibility of experiencing distress in the course of nāma-aparādha, but there is no possibility of experiencing the distress of Yamaraja’s punishment in the course of nāmābhāsa.”

Jayapatākā Swami: By spontaneously participating in the saṅkīrtana of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, even if one does not understand their position as an eternal servitor of the Lord, just by chanting the holy names, they get freed from the fear of going to the hellish planets, and they can achieve the mercy of Lord Kṛṣṇa. So, there is the pure chanting, the accidental chanting, and the offensive chanting. So even if people are just swept away by this kīrtana, and they spontaneously chant, seeing everybody is chanting, by that they get saved also from so many karmas. So, they don’t have to fear going to the hellish planets. We have seen in kīrtanas in the Mardi Gras Festival in New Orleans, that some people would spontaneously start to offer flowers and chant and dance, just being inspired by the devotees chanting and dancing. Even this kind of playful spontaneous chanting, helps in many ways. We can imagine that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He has come down and He is engaging in this sacrifice of chanting the holy name. That it has produced the most amazing result, and how devotees, they want to remember this universal kīrtana performed by the Lord, His immaculate dancing, the kīrtana, the chanting, the ladies auspicious sounds, everything, the whole universe lit up, the sound penetrated not only the material covering, went right to the spiritual world. Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.270

—ei saba kīrtane nācaye gauracandra
brahmādi sevaye yāṅra pāda-padma-dvandva

Jayapatākā Swami: So, in this kīrtana procession, Lord Gauracandra was dancing. His lotus feet are worshipped by all the demigods, headed by Lord Brahmā, they also participated in the midst of this chanting.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.271

brahmādi-sevyapada gaurasundarera nṛtyakālīna veśa—

(pāhiḍā rāga)
nāce viśvambhara,   jagata-īśvara,
bhāgīrathī-tīre-tīre
yāṅ'ra pada-dhūli,   hai' kutūhalī,
sabei dharila śire

Jayapatākā Swami: So this was a kind of a poetry, which could be sung. Lord Viśvambhara, He is the Lord of the universe, He was dancing by the side of the Bhāgīrathī Ganges. The dust of whose lotus feet everyone took on their heads in great jubilation.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.272

apūrva vikāra,   nayane su-dhāra,
huṅkāra garjana śuni
hāsiyā hāsiyā,   śrī-bhuja tuliyā,
bale `hari hari' vāṇī

Jayapatākā Swami: An incomparable sight! His auspicious eyes, and His loud roaring was heard all over the universe, He was laughing, smiling, He was holding His two arms high and He was chanting the holy names of Hari. Hari Hari! Haribol!

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.273

madana-sundara,   gaura-kalevara,
divya vāsa paridhāna
cāṣcara-cikure,  mālā manohare,
yena dekhi paṣca bāṇa

Jayapatākā Swami: More beautiful than Cupid, His golden body, He wore divine cloth. His hair was tied on the top, He wore a beautiful and attractive garland, to see Him was like being shot by the five arrows of Cupid.

Purport by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura: The five arrows of Cupid are sammohana (illusion), unmādana (intoxication), śoṣaṇa (evaporation), tāpana (affliction), and stambhana (detention).

It is also stated: “The five arrows are dravaṇa (liquefaction), śoṣaṇa, tāpana, mohanā (bewilderment), and unmādana.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.274

candana-carcita,   śrī-aṅga śobhita,
gale dole vanamālāḍhuliyā
paḍaye,   preme thira nahe,
ānande śacīra bālā

Jayapatākā Swami: His body was beautifully decorated with sandalwood pulp. A garland of forest flowers was swinging from His neck. Unstable with loving ecstasy, He was stumbling or tottering from side to side. Such was the son of mother Śacī, in His extreme transcendental happiness.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.275

kāma-śarāsana,   bhrū-yuga-pattana,
bhāle malayaja-bindu
mukutā-daśana,   śrīyuta vadana,
prakṛti karuṇā-sindhu

Jayapatākā Swami: His two eyebrows were like bows of Cupid, and His forehead was decorated with sandalwood dots. His teeth were like rows of white pearls, His face was very attractive and auspicious, His nature was being an ocean of transcendental mercy.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.276

kṣaṇe śata śata,   vikāra adbhuta,
kata kariba niścaya
aśru, kampa, gharma,   pulaka vaivarṇya,
nā jāni kateka haya

Jayapatākā Swami: Every moment, hundreds and hundreds of wonderful changes happened in His body, the transformations happened in His body! how many can I describe? Tears, quivering, perspiring, hairs standing on end, it is beyond description, how many can be described?

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.277

tribhaṅga haiyā,   kabhu dāṇḍāiyā,
aṅgule muralī vā'ya
jini' matta gaja,   calai sahaja,
dekhi' nayana juḍāya

Jayapatākā Swami: Sometimes He stood in a three-fold bending form, and with His fingers, He imitated playing of a flute. Thus, presenting the form of Lord Kṛṣṇa. His walking like a maddened elephant, gave pleasure to all who watched, the people who watched, they became pleased.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.278

ati-manohara,   yajña-sūtra-vara,
sadaya hṛdaye śobhe
e bujhi ananta,   hai' guṇavanta,
rahilā paraśa-lobhe

Jayapatākā Swami: Extremely enchanting, He was wearing a sacrificial thread on His chest, which was beautiful and filled with compassion. It seemed that Ananta, the snake incarnation, was present there to touch the Lord.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.279

nityānanda-cāṅda,   mādhava-nandana,
śobhā kare dui-pāśe
yata priya-gaṇa,   karaye kīrtana,
sabā' cāhi' cāhi' hāse

Jayapatākā Swami: So, on the two sides of Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu, were situated on one side, Nityānanda Prabhu and on the other side, Gadādhara Prabhu. So, they were most beautifully dancing with the Lord on the two sides. All the dear associates of the Lord were also doing kīrtana, and they were also laughing, and they were also smiling in great bliss.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.280

yāṅhāra kīrtana,   kari' anukṣaṇa,
śiva `digambara bholā'
se prabhu vihare,   nagare nagare,
kariyā kīrtana-khelā

Jayapatākā Swami: By performing His kīrtana, sometimes Lord Śiva becomes absorbed in His ecstasy, and He forgets to wear His clothes. That, Lord was enjoying going throughout Navadvīpa in the different neighborhoods, He was having the pastime of saṅkīrtana.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.281

ye karaye veśa,   ye aṅga, ye keśa,
kamalā lālasā kare
se prabhu dhūlāya,   gaḍāgaḍi' yāya,
prati nagare nagare

Jayapatākā Swami: The goddess of fortune, Kamalā devī, desires to see the Lord’s clothes, His bodily beauty, His hair, that Lord was now rolling in the dust, of the different neighborhoods of Navadvīpa.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.282

lakṣa koṭi dīpe,   cāṅdera āloke,
nā jāni ki bhela sukhe
sakala saṁsāra,   `hari' vahi āra,
nā bolai kā'ro mukhe

Jayapatākā Swami: Hundreds of thousands and millions of lamps or torches, and the moon’s effulgence, illuminated the whole world. I cannot describe how much happiness everyone was feeling. The whole creation was chanting Hari, the holy names of the Lord, that was the only thing that was chanted from the mouths of the people.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.283

prabhura nṛtya-darśane sakalera ānanda o kīrtana—

apūrva-kautuka,   dekhi' sarva loka,
ānande haila bhora
sabei sabāra,   cāhiyā vadana,
bale bhāi “hari bola”

Jayapatākā Swami: Seeing these incomparable pastimes, all the people were watching, they were filled with transcendental ecstasy. Everybody was seeing the beautiful face of the Lord and sang to each other, my brother, Haribol! Haribol! Haribol! Hari bol! Hari bol! Hari bol!

Thus, ends the chapter entitled, Mahāprabhu’s Ecstatic Dancing.

So, when the people of Navadvīpa saw the Lord’s transcendental dancing, accompanied by Nityānanda Prabhu and Gadādhara Prabhu, they became completely enchanted, overwhelmed with spiritual happiness, ecstasy of love of Kṛṣṇa. Seeing Lord Caitanya’s dancing, His ecstatic transformations, they became overwhelmed, and they also just started to chant the name of Hari. Everybody, they whole world was chanting the name of Hari, and carrying so many lamps and so many flaming torches, the whole sky became illuminated.

Any questions?

On the 4^th of June apparently, this year they are having the Pānihāṭi utsava, and I normally would be either in Pānihāṭi or in Atlanta, New Pānihāṭi dhāma, but this year due to the lockdown, I will be in Māyāpur. So, we want to observe here, the ciḍā-dahi festival. So, this is an opportunity if any devotees want to sponsor part of this feast. This is very dear to Lord Nityānanda, and He was punishing Raghunātha dāsa, He said, “Your punishment is, feed Me and My associates a flat rice, yogurt, fruits, feast.” So, the Pānihāṭi utsava is also knows as the Danḍa-mahotsava. So, who wants to share the punishment of Raghunātha dāsa? You can participate in this festival! We know that the punishment of Lord Nityānanda is simply mercy. By receiving this so called, punishment, he got the prasāda of Lord Caitanya, Lord Nityānanda, and he achieved the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya. So, we are very glad to be offering this festival to the Pañca-tattva. But we don’t know how we will do it in the lockdown. We will try to obtain the flat rice and the yogurt, and after the Amphan cyclone we don’t know if there are any mangoes on the trees. But whatever mangoes, jackfruits and lichis and bananas are there, we will try to offer. So, if anyone wants to, they can see the Mayapur.com and they can sponsor under Food for Life or Deity worship or something for the ciḍā-dadhi festival. Right now, we don’t have the option I think.

Somebody asked, what was Śrīla Prabhupāda’s role in Lord Caitanya’s pastimes?

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya has predicted in the Caitanya Maṅgala that He would preach all over India and then He would send His senāpati-bhakta, to spread the message of Lord Caitanya’s vāṇi all over the world. So, this was Śrīla Prabhupāda’s role, He is the senāpati-bhakta, the general to He spread the movement around the world, and if you help Śrīla Prabhupāda, you will be part of Lord Caitanya’s pastime. The pastimes are not over. Now they are going on. Don’t be deprived! Take advantage! Be part of the existing pastimes of Lord Caitanya! Thank you, Jayanta Kṛṣṇa dāsa from Ecuador. Haribol. From the Spanish page.

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja. Daṇḍavat praṇāma. How we as a devotee start taking spiritual life as our top most priority setting apart all other preference without duplicity. Kamalendra Singh Rathore.

Jayapatākā Swami: You see the question is who are we? If we understand, we are the eternal spirit soul, we are not the body, the deha-dharma or the bodily dharma will not be our top priority. We will not sacrifice our eternal self for our temporary, material body. We can take care of the body, since that is the vehicle we have been given, use this for Kṛṣṇa. In this way by using the material energy in the service of Kṛṣṇa, we get purified, and so we can use this material energy as part of our spiritual process, and this is no duplicity. This is very practical. Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Last question.

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja. Please accept my respectful obeisances. While chanting or reading, or hearing or speaking the pastimes of the Lord, is it okay to think that the Lord is in front of us or Guru Mahārāja, and all Gosvāmīs being in front of us? And will it truly happen to someone in the platform of sādhana-bhakti? Bhargavi Nachimuthu.

Jayapatākā Swami: While chanting, or reading or hearing or speaking the pastimes of the Lord, is it alright to think that the Lord is in front of us? If you have a nice visionary capacity, then by chanting, reading, or hearing the pastimes of the Lord or speaking them, it is natural that you visualize this pastime of the Lord, to some degree. One devotee told me that they found that they have a psychological defect, that he cannot visualize anything. So, if you cannot visualize anything, apparently it is a psychological defect! and generally, I would hope that you have a certain mental image of what’s going on. Actually, we cannot imagine what the Lord, His form, His pastimes are. That’s why the author is saying that I cannot describe everything, I am just giving, whatever I can do, but you should understand that it is much, much, much beyond any ability I have to describe! So, what can I say?

How fortunate were the people in Navadvīpa at that time see the Lord’s pastimes? People came from other planets to see, take on human forms and participated, that was such an amazing pastime! So, when I am writing about it, I just chant Gaurāṅga! I am overwhelmed! Alright! Let us stop here.