20210414 Lord Caitanya Organizes the Devotees in Seven Saṅkīrtana Parties

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on April 14th, 2021 in Sri Dhama Mayapur, 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

Hare Kṛṣṇa! Today we are Continuing with the Compilation of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book, the chapter, entitled :

Lord Caitanya Organizes the Devotees in Seven Saṅkīrtana Parties

 Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 13.29

bhakta-gaṇake prabhura svahaste mālya-candana dāna:—
tabe mahāprabhu saba lañā bhakta-gaṇa
svahaste parāila sabe mālya-candana

Translation: As the car stood still, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu gathered all His devotees and, with His own hand, decorated them with flower garlands and sandalwood pulp.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, this shows how much love and affection Lord Caitanya had for His devotees. By personally giving them flower garlands around their neck and by spreading sandalwood pulp on their bodies, He showed His great love and affection for His devotees.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 13.30

ādau guru-vargera sammāna:—
paramānanda purī, āra bhāratī brahmānanda
śrī-haste candana pāñā bāḍila ānanda

Translation: Paramānanda Purī and Brahmānanda Bhāratī were both personally given garlands and sandalwood pulp from the very hands of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. This increased their transcendental pleasure.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, receiving garlands and sandalwood pulp from the very hands of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu naturally increased the transcendental pleasure of His guru-varga, those who are His spiritual uncles.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 13.31

advaita-ācārya, āra prabhu-nityānanda
śrī-hasta-sparśe duṅhāra ha-ila ānanda

Translation: Similarly, when Advaita Ācārya and Nityānanda Prabhu felt the touch of the transcendental hand of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, They were very pleased.

Jayapatākā Swami: Feeling that touch of Lord Caitanya’s hands on their body gave great transcdental ecstasy to Advaita Ācārya and Nityānanda Prabhu.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 13.32

pradhāna kīrtanīyā śrī-svarūpa o śrīvāsera samādara:—
kīrtanīyā-gaṇe dila mālya-candana
svarūpa, śrīvāsa,—yāhāṅ mukhya dui-jana

Translation: The Lord also gave garlands and sandalwood pulp to the performers of saṅkīrtana. The two chief performers were Svarūpa Dāmodara and Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, He also gave the mahā garlands and sandalwood pulp to all the performer of the saṅkīrtana and the chief participants were Svarūpa Dāmodara and Śrīvāsa Thākura.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 13.33

vāina o dohāra saha 4ṭī kīrtana-sampradāya:—
cāri sampradāye haila cabbiśa gāyana
dui dui mārdaṅgika haila aṣṭa jana

Translation: There were altogether four parties of kīrtana performers, comprising twenty-four chanters. In each party there were also two mṛdaṅga players, making an additional eight persons.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 13.34

mahāprabhukarttṛka kīrtana-sampradāya vibhāga:—
tabe mahāprabhu mane vicāra kariyā
cāri sampradāya dila gāyana bāṅṭiyā

Translation: When the four parties were formed, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, after some consideration, divided the chanters.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya was personally forming the parties and He was thinking how to do this most effectively. Since there were no loud speakers at that time, they had like six kīrtana singers who would sing in unison and that would be like a loud speaker. After considering this Lord Caitanya divided the singers.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 13.35

4 sampradāye 4 jana narttaka:—
nityānanda, advaita, haridāsa, vakreśvare
cāri jane ājñā dila nṛtya karibāre

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu ordered Nityānanda Prabhu, Advaita Ācārya, Haridāsa Ṭhākura and Vakreśvara Paṇḍita to dance in each of the four respective parties.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, this was considered as important by Lord Caitanya, to have a lead dancer in each party, and His service was to simply dance. By His dancing He would inspire the general devotees to also dance.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 13.36

1ma dale śrī-svarūpai mūlagāyaka:—
prathama sampradāye kaila svarūpa—pradhāna
āra pañca-jana dila tāṅra pāligāna

Translation: Svarūpa Dāmodara was chosen as the leader of the first party and was given five assistants to respond to his chanting.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, this chanting would be responded by five, making it so loud and that would be the large chanting and all the public would respond to thoe six.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 13.37

tāṅhāra 5 jana dohāra:—
dāmodara, nārāyaṇa, datta govinda
rāghava paṇḍita, āra śrī-govindānanda

Translation: The five who responded to the singing of Svarūpa Dāmodara were Dāmodara Paṇḍita, Nārāyaṇa, Govinda Datta, Rāghava Paṇḍita and Śrī Govindānanda.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya personally designed each party and each singer assistant singer, dancer, mṛdaṅga players and kartāla players.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 13.38

āra advaitai narttaka; 2ya dale śrīvāsai mūlagāyaka:—
advaitere nṛtya karibāre ājñā dila
śrīvāsa—pradhāna āra sampradāya kaila

Translation: Advaita Ācārya Prabhu was ordered to dance in the first group. The Lord then formed another group with Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura as the chief man.

Purport: In the first group, Dāmodara Svarūpa was appointed chief singer, and the responding singers were Dāmodara Paṇḍita, Nārāyaṇa, Govinda Datta, Rāghava Paṇḍita and Govindānanda. Śrī Advaita Ācārya was appointed as a dancer. The next group was formed, and the chief singer was Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 13.39

5 jana dohāra, nitāi narttaka:—
gaṅgādāsa, haridāsa, śrīmān, śubhānanda
śrī-rāma paṇḍita, tāhāṅ nāce nityānanda

Translation: The five singers who responded to the singing of Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura were Gaṅgādāsa, Haridāsa, Śrīmān, Śubhānanda and Śrī Rāma Paṇḍita. Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu was appointed as a dancer.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 13.40

3ya dale mukundai mūlagāyaka, 5 jana dohāra, haridāsa ṭhākurai narttaka:—
vāsudeva, gopīnātha, murāri yāhāṅ gāya
mukunda—pradhāna kaila āra sampradāya

Translation: Another group was formed consisting of Vāsudeva, Gopīnātha and Murāri. All these were responsive singers, and Mukunda was the chief singer.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 13.41

śrīkānta, vallabha-sena āra dui jana
haridāsa-ṭhākura tāhāṅ karena nartana

Translation: Another two persons, Śrīkānta and Vallabha Sena, joined as responsive singers. In this group, the senior Haridāsa [Haridāsa Ṭhākura] was the dancer.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya was designing each group

Purport: In the third group, Mukunda was appointed the chief singer. This party was composed of Vāsudeva, Gopīnātha, Murāri, Śrīkānta and Vallabha Sena. The senior Haridāsa (Haridāsa Ṭhākura) was the dancer.

Jayapatākā Swami: Although Haridāsa Ṭhākura was not entering into the temple, being born in non-Hindu family but in the Ratha-yātrā, he was the chief dancer of in his group.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 13.42

4rtha dale govinda ghoṣai mūlagāyaka, 5 jana dohāra, vakreśvarai narttaka:—
govinda-ghoṣa—pradhāna kaila āra sampradāya haridāsa, viṣṇudāsa, rāghava, yāhāṅ gāya

Translation: The Lord formed another group, appointing Govinda Ghoṣa as leader. In this group the younger Haridāsa, Viṣṇudāsa and Rāghava were the responding singers.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 13.43

mādhava, vāsudeva-ghoṣa,—dui sahodara
nṛtya karena tāhāṅ paṇḍita-vakreśvara

Translation: Two brothers named Mādhava Ghoṣa and Vāsudeva Ghoṣa also joined this group as responsive singers. Vakreśvara Paṇḍita was the dancer.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, each group was designed and especially empowered by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, whether they are lead singers, responsive singers, mṛdaṅga players and chief dancers and also the kartāla players.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 13.44

rathera ekapārśve kulīnagrāma-vāsīra kīrtana-dala:—
kulīna-grāmera eka kīrtanīyā-samāja
tāhāṅ nṛtya karena rāmānanda, satyarāja

Translation: There was a saṅkīrtana party from the village known as Kulīna-grāma, and Rāmānanda and Satyarāja were appointed the dancers in this group.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Kulīna-grāma was famous, there everyone, even the pig herders chanted Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 13.45

aparapārśve advaitānugatagaṇa:—
śāntipurera ācāryera eka sampradāya
acyutānanda nāce tathā, āra saba gāya

Translation: There was another party that came from Śāntipura and was formed by Advaita Ācārya. Acyutānanda was the dancer, and the rest of the men were singers.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 13.46

paścāt khaṇḍa-vāsīra kīrtanadale narahari o raghunandanai narttaka:—
khaṇḍera sampradāya kare anyatra kīrtana
narahari nāce tāhāṅ śrī-raghunandana

Translation: Another party was formed by the people of Khaṇḍa. These people were singing in a different place. In that group, Narahari Prabhu and Raghunandana were dancing.

Jayapatākā Swami: Narahari is one of the associates of Lord Caitanya who lived the longest time and he used to know all the pastimes of the Lord. Raghunandana was also from Śrī khaṇḍa, he had a deity of ladoo Gopāla eating from His hands and he could dance very ecstatically and he was very young compared to Narahari.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 13.47

sāta-sampradāyera avasthānera punarālocana:—
jagannāthera āge cāri sampradāya gāya
dui pāśe dui, pāche eka sampradāya

Translation: Four parties chanted and danced in front of Lord Jagannātha, and on either side was another party. Yet another was at the rear.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the seven parties are described above, four parties made by Lord Caitanya, a group from Śāntipura, a group from Kulīna-grāma and a group from Śrī khaṇḍa and total of seven groups.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 13.48

sāta sampradāye bāje caudda mādala
yāra dhvani śuni’ vaiṣṇava haila pāgala

Translation: There were altogether seven parties of saṅkīrtana, and in each party two men were beating drums. Thus fourteen drums were being played at once. The sound was tumultuous, and all the devotees became mad.

Jayapatākā Swami: Hari Bol! Hari Bol!

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 13.49

mahā-saṅkīrtana-varṇana:—
vaiṣṇavera megha-ghaṭāya ha-ila bādala
kīrtanānande saba varṣe netra-jala

Translation: All the Vaiṣṇavas came together like an assembly of clouds. As the devotees chanted the holy names in great ecstasy, tears fell from their eyes like rain.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, here a simile is created that the devotees were like rain clouds and from their tear drops were falling like rain. So, everybody was in extreme ecstasy.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 13.50

tri-bhuvana bhari’ uṭhe kīrtanera dhvani
anya vādyādira dhvani kichui nā śuni

Translation: When the saṅkīrtana resounded, it filled the three worlds. Indeed, no one could hear any sounds or musical instruments other than the saṅkīrtana.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, how the kīrtana filled the whole area with the transcendental sound is explained here and these fourteen mṛdaṅga players, 14 devotees who were singers, and the seven dancers or more, and the whole kīrtana manifestation was out of this world. Lord Caitanya had displayed how to make a beautiful kīrtana performance. So, this type of saṅkīrtana can be done all over the world in different locations. This explains the ecstatic participation that Lord Caitanya did at the Jagannātha Ratha-yātrā

Thus ends the chapter entitled, Lord Caitanya Organizes the Devotees in Seven Saṅkīrtana Parties.