20210827 Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Visits Prayāga and Mathurā Part 1

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on August 27th, 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! Dear Devotees! Today we will continue with the compilation of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book. Today's chapter is entitled :

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Visits Prayāga and Mathurā, Part 1
Under the Section: The Lord Travels to Vṛndāvana

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 17.146

viprake kṛpānantara prabhura mathurāya yātrā:—

eta bali’ sei vipre ātmasātha kari’
prāte uṭhi mathurā calilā gaurahari

Translation: After saying this, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted that brāhmaṇa as His devotee. The next morning, rising very early, the Lord started for Mathurā.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya didn’t visit the Māyāvādī sannyāsī, He left directly for Mathurā via Prayāga to finish His visit to Vṛndāvana first.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 17.147

tinajanera prabhura anugamana o prabhura āgrahe pratyāvarttana:—

sei tina saṅge cale, prabhu niṣedhila
dūra haite tina-jane ghare pāṭhāila

Translation: When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu started for Mathurā, all three devotees started to go with Him. But the Lord forbade them to accompany Him, and from a distance He asked them to return home.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Candraśekhara and Tapan Miśra and the vipra from Maharashtra were asked to return. Lord Caitanya continued on with Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya and His assistant.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 17.148

tinajanera ekatra prabhuguṇa-gāna:—

prabhura virahe tine ekatra miliyā
prabhu-guṇa gāna kare preme matta hañā

Translation: Feeling separation from the Lord, the three used to meet and glorify the holy qualities of the Lord. Thus, they were absorbed in ecstatic love.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the associates of The Lord were feeling great separation and were glorifying the Lord and in this way they had become mad in ecstasy.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca, 4.2.1

Translation: Then Gaura Prabhu travelled to Prayāga. There as Mahāprabhu beheld the Deity of Bindu-Mādhava He became overwhelmed by premānanda-sudhā as He danced in the company of His people.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, in Prayāga there is also a deity of Bindu-Mādhava, this was the place where Lord Caitanya taught Rūpa Gosvāmī. It is known as Daśāśvamedha ghāṭa.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 2.37

viśveśvara namaskavara’ cavi’ yāya pathe
prayāge mādhava dekhi’ haraṣita cite

Jayapatākā Swami: After paying respects to Viśveśvara Śiva, Lord Caitanya walked on to Prayāga, where Lord Caitanya blissfully took darśana of Bindu Mādhava. As I mentioned earlier in Prayāga there is also the deity of Bindu-Mādhava, Viśveśvara Śiva is the deity in Kāśī.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 2.38

rūpa-sanātana gosāñi prabhūre mililā
anugraha kari tāre śakti sañcārilā

Jayapatākā Swami: At Prayāga, the compassionate Lord Caitanya met Rūpa and Sanātana Gosvāmīs, and empowered them to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is a general topic actually details are given later.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 17.149

prayāge āsiyā snānānte bindu-mādhava-darśane-prabhura narttana-kīrtana:—

‘prayāge’ āsiyā prabhu kaila veṇī-snāna
‘mādhava’ dekhiyā preme kaila nṛtya-gāna

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu then went to Prayāga, where He bathed at the confluence of the Ganges and the Yamunā. He then visited the temple of Veṇī Mādhava and chanted and danced there in ecstatic love.

Purport: The city of Prayāga is situated a few miles from the city of Allahabad. The name Prayāga is given due to successful sacrifices performed there. It is said, prakṛṣṭo yāgo yāgaphalaṁ yasmāt. If one performs sacrifices at Prayāga, he certainly gets immediate results without difficulty. Prayāga is also called Tīrtharāja, the king of all places of pilgrimage. This holy place is situated on the confluence of the rivers Ganges and Yamunā. Every year a fair takes place there known as Māgha-melā, and every twelve years a Kumbha-melā is also held. In any case, many people come to bathe there every year. During Māgha-melā, people from the local district generally come, and during Kumbha-melā people come from all over India to live there and bathe in the Ganges and Yamunā. Whoever goes there immediately feels the place’s spiritual influence. A fort located there was constructed by the emperor Akbar about five hundred years ago, and near the fort is a place called Triveṇī. On the other side of Prayāga is an old place known as Pratiṣṭhāna-pura. It is also well known as Jhuṅsi. Many saintly people live there, and consequently it is very attractive from the spiritual point of view.

Jayapatākā Swami: The Ganges and Yamunā are visible, the Sarasvatī river also combines there, therefore the place is known as triveṇī saṅgam but the Sarasavatī river is not visible, it comes from beneath the earth

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 17.150

yamunā-darśane vraja-līlāra uddīpana-hetu jhampa-pradāna, bhaṭṭa-karttṛrka uttolana:—

yamunā dekhiyā preme paḍe jhāṅpa diyā
āste-vyaste bhaṭṭācārya uṭhāya dhariyā

Translation: As soon as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu saw the river Yamunā, He threw Himself into it. Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya hastily caught the Lord and very carefully raised Him up again.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya was very ecstatic to see the Yamunā, He immediately jumped into the waters without considering anything, and His servants had to somehow or other grab Him and bring Him back to the shore.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 17.151

prayāge tina-dina lokoddhāra:—

ei-mata tina-dina prayāge rahilā
kṛṣṇa-nāma-prema diyā loka nistārilā

Translation: The Lord stayed at Prayāga for three days. He delivered the holy name of Kṛṣṇa and ecstatic love. Thus He delivered many people.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya, wherever He went He was chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and thus He was inspiring people to take the shelter of the holy name, in this way many people were uplifted by His merciful presence.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 17.152

mathurāra pathe lokoddhāra:—

‘mathurā’ calite pathe yathā rahi’ yāya
kṛṣṇa-nāma-prema diyā lokere nācāya

Translation: Wherever the Lord stopped to rest on the way to Mathurā, He delivered the holy name of Kṛṣṇa and ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa. Thus He made the people dance.

Jayapatākā Swami: Wherever Lord Caitanya went He inspired people to chant and dance the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 17.153

dakṣiṇa-deśera nyāya yukta-pradeśakeo uddhāra:—

pūrve yena ’dakṣiṇa’ yāite loka nistārilā
‘paścima’-deśe taiche saba ‘vaiṣṇava’ karilā

Translation: When the Lord toured South India, He delivered many people, and when He traveled in the western sector, He similarly converted many people to Vaiṣṇavism.

Purport: Formerly Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu converted people when He toured southern and western India. Similarly, the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement is now delivering the people of the Western world wherever devotees are chanting the holy names. This is all being done by the Lord’s mercy. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu predicted that He would deliver people in every city and village of the world by giving them a chance to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda he wanted to fulfill this prediction of Lord Caitanya, so he spread the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement all over the world. Now His followers need to take the preaching to the next stage, to get the people to chant in every town and village.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 17.154

yamunā-darśanamātra jhampa-pradāna:—

pathe yāhāṅ yāhāṅ haya yamunā-darśana
tāhāṅ jhāṅpa diyā paḍe preme acetana

Translation: While the Lord was going to Mathurā, He came across the river Yamunā several times, and as soon as He saw the river Yamunā, He would immediately jump in, falling unconscious in the water in the ecstasy of love of Kṛṣṇa.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya had so much of love for Kṛṣṇa that when He saw the Yamunā, He was reminded of Vṛndāvana and Kṛṣṇa and He would immediately jump into the Yamunā water.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca, 4.2.2

Translation: Then He saw the imperishable banyan tree named Akṣayavaṭa, and bathed in the Triveṇī, thus teaching the standard for humanity. After Lord Gaurāṅga had bathed in the Yamunā, He began to dance like a playful lion.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, this is the kind of transcendental pastimes of the Lord in Prayāga, where He was bathing in the confluence of the three rivers, Yamunā, Sarasvatī and Gaṅgā.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 2.39

tathā veṇī-snāna kari’ dekhi akṣaya baṭa
yamunāte pāra hailā āgarā nikaṭa

Translation: After taking bath in Veṇī and seeing the Akṣaya-vaṭa, Lord Caitanya crossed Yamunā and reached Āgra (Agravana).

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca, 4.2.3

Translation: Crying out with deep thundering roars, all the hairs of His body thrilled with rapture, and He became bathed by His own love-tears. After some time Lord Caitanya crossed the river and saw the forest of Agra.

Jayapatākā Swami: This same thing that is said in the Caitanya-bhāgavata is also detailed here, but it mentions some details like His hairs was standing on end and that His tears of love soaked His body.