20210429 Lord Jagannātha’s Car Moves by Dint of the Uncommon Strength of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on April 29th,2021 in Śrī Dhāma 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!

Hare Kṛṣṇa! Today we will continue with the compilation of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book. Today's chapter is entitled as:

Lord Jagannātha’s Car Moves by Dint of the Uncommon Strength of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.47

ratha-sañcālane gauḍagaṇera asāmarthya

ihāṅ jagannāthera ratha-calana-samaya
gauḍa saba ratha ṭāne, āge nāhi yāya

Translation: Outside the garden, when it was time to pull Jagannātha’s car, all the workers called gauḍas tried to pull it, but it would not move forward.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, we told somehow for sometime the Ratha car would move sometimes it would stop, so at this time the Ratha got stopped. No matter how strong the gauḍas, the men tried pulling the Ratha , the ratha did not move.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.48

saparikara rājāra vyastabhāve upasthiti

ṭānite nā pāre gauḍa, ratha chāḍi’ dila
pātra-mitra lañā rājā vyagra hañā āila

Translation: When the gauḍas saw that they could not budge the car, they abandoned the attempt. Then the King arrived in great anxiety, and he was accompanied by his officers and friends.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the King was distressed to see that the Ratha was not moving.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.49

mahāmahā-mallagaṇera ratha-sañcālane asāmarthya:—

mahā-malla-gaṇe dila ratha cālāite
āpane lāgilā ratha, nā pāre ṭānite

Translation: The King then arranged for big wrestlers to try to pull the car, and even the King himself joined in, but the car could not be moved.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.50

vyagra hañā āne rājā matta-hātī-gaṇa
ratha cālāite rathe karila yojana

Translation: Becoming even more anxious to move the car, the King had very strong elephants brought forth and harnessed to it.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the King was anxious to see the Ratha cart move, and he was trying everything, even he brought big elephants to pull the car but they were not able to move it.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.51

matta-hasti-gaṇa ṭāne yāra yata bala
eka pada nā cale ratha, ha-ila acala

Translation: The strong elephants pulled with all their strength, but still the car remained at a standstill, not budging an inch.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.52

sagaṇa prabhura ratha-sañcālana-ceṣṭā-darśana

śuni’ mahāprabhu āilā nija-gaṇa lañā
matta-hastī ratha ṭāne,—dekhe dāṇḍāñā

Translation: As soon as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu heard this news, He went there with all His personal associates. They then stood there and watched the elephants try to pull the car.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.53

hastidvārāo ratha-sañcālana nā dekhiyā sakalera hāhākāra:—

aṅkuśera ghāya hastī karaye citkāra
ratha nāhi cale, loke kare hāhākāra

Translation: The elephants, being beaten by the elephant-goad, were crying, but still the car would not move. The assembled people cried out, “Alas!”

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.54

nijagaṇake ratha-cālane niyoga:—

tabe mahāprabhu saba hastī ghucāila
nija-gaṇe ratha-kāchi ṭānibāre dila

Translation: At that time, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu let all the elephants go free and placed the car’s ropes in the hands of His own men.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.55

prabhura rathasaha mastaka-sparśa-mātra rathera-calana:—

āpane rathera pāche ṭhele māthā diyā
haḍ haḍ kari, ratha calila dhāiyā

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu then went to the back of the car and began to push with His head. It was then that the car began to move and roll along, making a rattling sound.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya simply by putting His head on the back of the Ratha car, immediately the Ratha car,chariot began to move. So when the Ratha car moved, it moved so fast that it created a rattling sound.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.56

anāyāse rathera gamana:—

bhakta-gaṇa kāchi hāte kari’ mātra dhāya
āpane calila ratha, ṭānite nā pāya

Translation: Indeed, the car began to move automatically, and the devotees simply carried the ropes in their hands. Since it was moving effortlessly, they did not need to pull it.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, this was a miracle performed by Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu that simply by His applying Himself in pushing the Ratha, the Ratha effortlessly began to moved forward.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.57

harṣavaśataḥ sakalera jayadhvani:—

ānande karaye loka ‘jaya’ ‘jaya’-dhvani
‘jaya jagannātha’ ba-i āra nāhi śuni

Translation: When the car moved forward, everyone began to chant with great pleasure, “All glories! All glories!” and “All glories to Lord Jagannātha!” No one could hear anything else.

Jayapatākā Swami: Jagannātha Swami ki Jaya! Jaya Jagannātha! Jaya Jagannātha! filled the air and everyone was blissfully chanting.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.58

prabhura prabhāve rathera guṇḍicā-gamana

nimeṣe ta’ gela ratha guṇḍicāra dvāra
caitanya-pratāpa dekhi’ loke camatkāra

Translation: In a moment the car reached the door of the Guṇḍicā temple. Upon seeing the uncommon strength of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, all the people were struck with wonder.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, actually with a fraction of His potency He holds up all the planets in the universe. In fact, all the unlimited millions of universes are held up by a fraction of His potency. So moving the Ratha car was not a big endeavor for the Lord. But all the people were amazed to see this and everyone was glorifying.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.59

lokera prabhu-jayadhvani:—

‘jaya gauracandra’, ‘jaya śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya’
ei-mata kolāhala loke dhanya dhanya

Translation: The crowd made a tumultuous vibration, chanting “Jaya Gauracandra! Jaya Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya!” Then the people began to chant, “Wonderful! Wonderful!”

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.60

prabhu-māhātmya-darśane rājāra premāveśa

dekhiyā pratāparudra pātra-mitra-saṅge
prabhura mahimā dekhi’ preme phule aṅge

Translation: Seeing the greatness of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Pratāparudra Mahārāja and his ministers and friends were so moved by ecstatic love that the hair on their bodies stood on end.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, by seeing the transcendental opulence of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the king, his ministers and his friends they all began to feel ecstatic love and ecstatic symptoms like standing of the hair on end of their body appeared amongst the royal assembly.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.61

jagannāthera pāhāṇḍi:—

pāṇḍu-vijaya tabe kare sevaka-gaṇe
jagannātha vasilā giyā nija-siṁhāsane

Translation: All the servants of Lord Jagannātha then took Him down from the car, and the Lord went to sit on His throne.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, in Guṇḍicā, which is non-different from Vṛndāvana, the Lord has His own throne, so He went there and He was situated on His throne .

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.62

subhadrā balarāmera pāhāṇḍi, jagannāthera snānabhoga:—

subhadrā-balarāma nija-siṁhāsane āilā
jagannāthera snāna-bhoga ha-ite lāgilā

Translation: Subhadrā and Balarāma also sat on their respective thrones. There followed the bathing of Lord Jagannātha and finally the offering of food.

Jayapatākā Swami: Here the rituals which are being performed upon His arrival in Guṇḍicā are explained.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.63

aṅgane prabhura bhaktagaṇasaha kīrtana:—

āṅgināte mahāprabhu lañā bhakta-gaṇa
ānande ārambha kaila nartana-kīrtana

Translation: While Lord Jagannātha, Lord Balarāma and Subhadrā sat on their respective thrones, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His devotees began to perform saṅkīrtana with great pleasure, chanting and dancing in the yard of the temple.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.64

prabhura preme sakalei pāgala:—

ānande mahāprabhura prema uthalila
dekhi’ saba loka prema-sāgare bhāsila

Translation: While Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was chanting and dancing, He was overwhelmed with ecstatic love, and all the people who saw Him were also flooded in the ocean of love of Godhead.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya while performing kīrtana and dancing, He was being filled with ecstatic love and those who saw were also filled with an ocean of love of Godhead.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 14.65

sandhyārati-darśana o āiṭoṭāya viśrāma

nṛtya kari’ sandhyā-kāle ārati dekhila
āiṭoṭā āsi’ prabhu viśrāma karila

Translation: In the evening, after finishing His dancing in the yard of the Guṇḍicā temple, the Lord observed the ārati ceremony. Thereafter He went to a place called Āiṭoṭā and took rest for the night.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, there is a garden, sometimes called as Jagannātha Vallabha garden very near to the Guṇḍicā temple. So, Lord Caitanya went to the Āiṭoṭā gardeṇ and took His rest there.

So, we see how the Supreme Personality of Godhead He came as a devotee and sometimes would show His unlimited strength and unlimited prowess. So, this was a great līlā or pastimes of Lord Caitanya.

Thus ends the chapter entitled, Lord Jagannātha’s Car Moves by Dint of the Uncommon Strength of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.