20210828 Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Visits Prayāga and Mathurā Part 2

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on August 28th, 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! 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 2
Under the Section: The Lord Travels to Vṛndāvana

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca, 4.2.4

Translation: In that forest was the town of Reṇukā. In that very spot the great soul Paraśurāma, the son of Jāmadagni, and Reṇukā and master of all warriors, took his birth. The Lord visited that sacred tract of land.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya visited the place of Renukā and Jāmadagni and Paraśurāma.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 2.40

dekhilā adbhuta se renukā nāme grāma
avatāra kailā sei sthāne paraśurāma

Translation: Lord Caitanya also saw Renuka-grama which was named after Jamadagni's wife, the birthplace of Paraśurāma.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, these are holy places in India, Lord Paruśurama is one of the empowered incarnations of the Lord, so His birthplace is a holy place.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca, 4.2.5

Translation: After seeing the Yamunā river, which forever flows through the forest of Vṛndāraṇya. Advancing further to Rājagrāma, He became overwhelmed with feelings of ecstacy as He looked upon the realm of Gokula.

Jayapatākā Swami: Because the sacred dhāma of Gokula is an extension of the spiritual world, Lord Caitanya upon seeing it experienced great spiritual ecstasy.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 2.41

tathā vṛndāvana mukhe yamunā vimukhī
dekhiyā vihavala prabhu premasukhe sukhī

Translation: After taking darśana of the river Yamunā, who always flows towards Vṛndāvana, Lord Caitanya being overwhelmed by bliss love was happy.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Yamunā flows into Vṛndāvana or from Vṛndāvana, and it is considered a hundred times more sacred than the Ganges. So naturally when Lord Caitanya saw the Yamunā He was thinking about Vṛndāvana.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 2.42

rājagrāme giyā pāre dekhaye gokula
samvarite nāre’ hiyā bhaigela ākula

Translation: Mahāprabhu went to Rāja-grāma and saw Gokula. Being completely mad in love of God, He could not control Himself.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya became totally ecstatic when He entered into the Gokula region of Vṛndāvana and natural love for Kṛṣṇa manifested.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca, 4.2.6

Translation: After looking over the forest of Mahāvana, Gaura saw Mathurā, the capital, which was endowed with great opulence and designed with exquisite craftmanship.

Jayapatākā Swami: Mathurā is the place of Kṛṣṇa’s appearance and after being born He was taken to Gokula and all these places reminded Lord Caitanya of Kṛṣṇa and His pastimes. Later Kṛṣṇa went to Mathurā and liberate the demon king Kaṁsā and He lived for some time in Mathurā.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca, 4.2.7

Translation: Throughout this earth, Śrī Mathurā is the most worshipable spot. Indeed, it is the most worshippable of all the abodes of the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha, for it is there that svayam bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa the original Personality of Godhead manifested Himself in this world. Undoubtedly Mathurā Dhāma is itself able to award prema-bhakti.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, living in the holy dhāma or visiting the dhāma gives one special mercy of prema-bhakti and Lord Caitanya He was anyway ecstatic in love of Kṛṣṇa and then He when he reached Mathurā His ecstasy increased manifold

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca, 4.2.8

Translation: Simply by glancing over that place, the Golden Lord experienced all the transformations of kṛṣṇa-prema. While laughing, dancing, weeping and rolling about upon the earth, His body became covered by large thrill bumps which appeared like kadamba flowers.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lords hair was standing on end and He was experiencing unparalled ecstasy being in the birthplace of Kṛṣṇa .

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 2.43

hiyā sambarila prabhu aneka yatane
ānande vihavala pāre dekhe mahāvane

Translation: With great endeavor He checked His feelings. In ecstasy, Lord Caitanya saw the forest of Mahāvana.

Jayapatākā Swami: There are twelve forest in Vṛndāvana area Mahāvana is one of those forests, this is the forest where Dhruva Mahārāja performed his austerities and many pastimes of Kṛṣṇa happened here.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 2.44

yāite yāite āra giyā kathodūra
sunikaṭa haila yei dekhe madhupura

Translation: Thus travelling gradually, after some distance city of Mathurā-puri became visible nearby.

Jayapatākā Swami: Some how we are seeing, we are reading from different books so they have to be combined together that when Kṛṣṇa Caitanya walks, He sees Mathurā city.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 2.45

madhupura dekhi’ prabhu unamatacita
premāya vihavala-yena nāhika samvita

Translation: Beholding Mathurā, Lord Caitanya almost fell unconscious, due to the intensity of His rapture.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, in Murāri Gupta Kaḍacā, it states that the Lord was feeling different ecstasies, and so here in Caitanya-maṅgala that is also described, that He almost fell unconscious.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 2.46

akrura! akrura! bali’ bhūmite paḍila
māthura virahabhāve murcchita haila

Translation: Crying out, “Akrura! Akrura!” Lord Caitanya fell down on the ground consciousness, overwhelmed in separation from Mathura.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Akrura had brought Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma from Vṛndāvana to Mathurā.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 2.47

divāniśi nāhi jāne—āche sei khāne
samvedana nāhi prabhu-āche tina dine

Translation: He did not know day or night, and stayed there for three days. Lord Caitanya lay stayed there unconscious for days.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya when He reached Mathurā, He became so ecstatic that He didn’t know if it was day or night, sometimes unconscious, He was so ecstatic remembering the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa in Mathurā.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 17.155

mathurā-darśane premāveśa:—

mathurā-nikaṭe āilā—mathurā dekhiyā
daṇḍavat hañā paḍe premāviṣṭa hañā

Translation: When He approached Mathurā and saw the city, He immediately fell to the ground and offered obeisances with great ecstatic love.

Jayapatākā Swami: This shows what we should do, when we are approaching the holy dhāma, may be the ordinary people cannot understand this, they are living on the crust of the dhāma. But for those who appreciate the sacredness of the holy dhāma, they can immediately offer obeisances to the dhāma, So on the Absolute platform, there is no difference between the name, rūpa, guṇa or abode, dhāma of the Lord

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 17.156

viśrāma-ghāṭe snāna o yogapīṭhe keśava-darśana:—

mathurā āsiyā kailā ‘viśrānti-tīrthe’ snāna
‘janma-sthāne’ ‘keśava’ dekhi’ karilā praṇāma

Translation: When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu entered the city of Mathurā, He took His bath at Viśrāma-ghāṭa. He then visited the birthplace of Kṛṣṇa and saw the Deity named Keśavajī.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, these are the special places for the devotees of Lord Caitanya and they should make a point visiting when they go to Mathurā.

He offered His respectful obeisances to this Deity.

Purport: At the present moment, the temple of Keśavajī is very much improved. At one time, Keśavajī-mandira was attacked by the emperor Aurangzeb, who constructed such a big mosque there that the temple of Keśavajī was insignificant in comparison. But with the help of many rich Marwaris, the temple has been improved, and a very large temple is now being constructed so that the mosque is now appearing diminished in comparison. Many archeological discoveries have been made there, and many people from foreign countries are beginning to appreciate Kṛṣṇa’s birthplace.

This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is attracting many foreigners to the Keśavajī temple, and now they will also be attracted by the Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma temple in Vṛndāvana.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, this is a great contribution of His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda attracting people from all over the world to Vṛndāvana and Mathurā, its unparalleled and it fulfills the prediction of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 17.157

prabhura premāveśa-darśane lokera vismaya:—

premānande nāce, gāya, saghana huṅkāra
prabhura premāveśa dekhi’ loke camatkāra

Translation: When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu chanted, danced and made loud vibrations, all the people were astonished to see His ecstatic love.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya’s pure ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa was something that moved all the people. They became astonished and inspired to see Lord Caitanya’s spontaneous devotion.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 17.158

eka-viprera prabhura ānugatye premāveśe nṛtyagāna:—

eka-vipra paḍe prabhura caraṇa dhariyā
prabhu-saṅge nṛtya kare premāviṣṭa hañā

Translation: One brāhmaṇa fell at the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and then began to dance with Him in ecstatic love.

Jayapatākā Swami: Just by the influence of Lord Caitanya, people were inspired to take up chanting and dancing with the Lord.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 17.159

ubhayera nartana-kīrtana:—

duṅhe preme nṛtya kari’ kare kolākuli
Hare Kṛṣṇa ! kaha duṅhe bale bāhu tuli’

Translation: The two of them danced in ecstatic love and embraced each other. Raising their arms, they said, “Chant the holy names of Haribol! Hari and Kṛṣṇa!”

Jayapatākā Swami: Now people from all over the world can chant the holy name and in this way they can get the mercy of Lord Caitanya.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 17.160

lokera kolāhala, pūjārīra prabhugale mālā-pradāna:—

loka ‘hari’ ‘hari’ bale, kolāhala haila
‘keśava’-sevaka prabhuke mālā parāila

Translation: All the people then began to chant, “Hari! Hari!” and there was a great uproar. The priest in Lord Keśava’s service offered Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu a garland.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, we can see how Lord Caitanya touched the heart of all the people and how they were inspired to chant Hari! Hari! and how the temple priest gave the prasāda garland to the Lord.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 17.161

prabhura premake ‘alaukika’ baliyā lokera pratīti:—

loke kahe prabhu dekhi’ hañā vismaya
aiche hena prema ‘laukika’ kabhu naya

Translation: When the people saw Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s dancing and chanting, they were struck with wonder, and they all said, “Such transcendental love is never an ordinary thing.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya’s ecstatic love is something that inspired all the people, it cannot be imitated. But Lord Caitanya impressed all the people.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 17.162

alaukikatvera kāraṇa-nirdeśa:—

yāṅhāra darśane loke preme matta hañā
hāse, kānde, nāce, gāya, kṛṣṇa-nāma lañā

Translation: The people said, “Simply by seeing Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, everyone is maddened with love of Kṛṣṇa. Indeed, everyone is laughing, crying, dancing, chanting and taking the holy name of Kṛṣṇa.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, by Lord Caitanya’s transcendental influence, people are chanting the holy names and experiencing all kinds of ecstatic symptoms as mentioned above. Lord Caitanya’s love is contagious.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 17.163

niścaya siddhānta:—

sarvathā-niścita—iṅho kṛṣṇa-avatāra
mathurā āilā lokera karite nistāra

Translation: “Certainly Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is in all respects the incarnation of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Now He has come to Mathurā to deliver everyone.”

Jayapatākā Swami: After 4500 years, after Kṛṣṇa left the world, Lord Caitanya appeared and by His presence He rekindled the dormant love for Kṛṣṇa and Śrīla Prabhupāda had brought that around the world, so that everyone in the whole world would be rekindled by the love of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Thus ends the chapter entitled, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Visits Prayāga and Mathurā, Part 2

Under the Section: The Lord Travels to Vṛndāvana