20221230 Seeing the Car Festival, Vallabha Bhaṭṭa Was Completely Astonished

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on December 30th,2022 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 as:

Seeing the Car Festival, Vallabha Bhaṭṭa Was Completely Astonished
Under the section: The Meeting of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Vallabha Bhaṭṭa

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 7.56

prabhumukhaśruta gaura-bhakta vaiṣṇavagaṇake darśanecchā : —

prabhura mukhe vaiṣṇavatā śuniyā sabāra
bhaṭṭera icchā haila tāṅ-sabāre dekhibāra

Translation: When Vallabha Bhaṭṭa heard from the mouth of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu about the pure Vaiṣṇavism of all these devotees, he immediately desired to see them.

Jayapatākā Swami: Desiring to see the pure Vaiṣṇavas is a very good quality, Vallabha Ācārya or Vallabha Bhaṭṭa wanting to see these devotees, was a very good symptom. We should all desire to want to see and associate with the very advanced devotees of the Lord.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 7.57

bhaṭṭa kahe,—“e saba vaiṣṇava rahe kon sthāne?
kon prakāre pāimu ihāṅ-sabāra darśane?

Translation: Vallabha Bhaṭṭa said, “Where do all these Vaiṣṇavas live, and how can I see them?”

Jayapatākā Swami: Just desiring to see pure Vaiṣṇavas is a very auspicious symptom.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 7.58

prabhukarttṛka tāṅhādera avasthāna-varṇana:—

prabhu kahe,—“keha gauḍe, keha deśāntare
saba āsiyāche ratha-yātrā dekhibāre

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu replied, “Although some of them live in Bengal and some in other states, they have all come here to see the Ratha-yātrā festival.

Jayapatākā Swami: Ratha-yātrā festival is something that all the devotees come to see Lord Caitanya dancing.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 7.59

bhaṭṭake bhakta-darśana-pratīkṣārtha āśvāsa-dāna :—

ihāṅi rahena sabe, vāsā—nānā-sthāne
ihāṅi pāibā tumi sabāra darśane

Translation: “At present they are all living here. Their residences are in various quarters. Here you will get the audience of them all.”

Jayapatākā Swami: All these great devotees were present at that time and therefore Vallabha Bhaṭṭa can have their audience, this is what is called as sat-saṅga

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 7.60

bhaṭṭakarttṛka prabhuke nimantraṇa : —

tabe bhaṭṭa kahe bahu vinaya vacana
bahu dainya kari’ prabhure kaila nimantraṇa

Translation: Thereafter, with great submission and humility, Vallabha Bhaṭṭa invited Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to dine at his home.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu would take His prasāda at the house of different devotees. so Vallabha Bhaṭṭa took this advantage, with great devotion invited the Lord to dine at his house. Actually ,this shows that there was a very nice relationship between Vallabha Bhaṭṭa and Lord Caitanya.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 7.61

prabhusamīpe bhaktagaṇera āgamana o bhaṭṭasaha milana:—

āra dina saba vaiṣṇava prabhu-sthāne āilā
sabā-sane mahāprabhu bhaṭṭe milāilā

Translation: The next day, when all the Vaiṣṇavas came to the abode of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the Lord introduced Vallabha Bhaṭṭa to them all.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, after Lord Caitanya had glorified the different Vaiṣṇavas, then Vallabha Bhaṭṭa had the desire to meet them. And then this happened that they all came to see Lord Caitanya and He introduced them all to Vallabha Bhaṭṭa. In this way Vallabha Bhaṭṭa was getting very nice association with all the Vaiṣṇavas and all the Vaiṣṇavas met Vallabha Bhaṭṭa.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 7.62

bhāsvara bhāskarāgre niṣprabha khadyotavat gaurabhakta-samīpe vallabhabhaṭṭa :—

‘vaiṣṇave’ra teja dekhi’ bhaṭṭera camatkāra
tāṅ-sabāra āge bhaṭṭa—khadyota-ākāra

Translation: He was surprised to see the brilliance of their faces. Indeed, among them Vallabha Bhaṭṭa seemed just like a glowworm.

Jayapatākā Swami: In his humility Vallabha Bhaṭṭa felt very overwhelmed by the wonderful effulgence of all the Vaiṣṇavas.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 7.63

sagaṇa prabhuke bhaṭṭera bhikṣā-pradāna :—

tabe bhaṭṭa bahu mahā-prasāda ānāila
gaṇa-saha mahāprabhure bhojana karāila

Translation: Then Vallabha Bhaṭṭa brought in a great quantity of Lord Jagannātha’s mahā-prasādam and sumptuously fed Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His associates.

Jayapatākā Swami: Just like wherever the King goes, he has his general, ministers and various aide-de-camps, wherever Lord Caitanya would go He had His associates and Vallabha Bhaṭṭa fed all of them sumptuously Jagannātha prasāda.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 7.64

paramānanda-purīra saṅge bhakta-sannyāsigaṇera eka paṅktite upaveśana:—

paramānanda purī-saṅge sannyāsīra gaṇa
eka-dike vaise saba karite bhojana

Translation: All the sannyāsī associates of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, headed by Paramānanda Purī, sat on one side and thus partook of the prasādam.

Jayapatākā Swami: Since the sannyāsīs are the head of the varṇāśrama they all were seated on one side and the other devotees were given prasāda the other side.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 7.65

mahāprabhura duipārśve duiprabhu:—

advaita, nityānanda-rāya—pārśve dui-jana
madhye mahāprabhu vasilā, āge-pāche bhakta-gaṇa

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu sat in the midst of the devotees. Advaita Ācārya and Lord Nityānanda each sat on one side of the Lord. The other devotees sat in front of the Lord and behind Him.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya He sat in the midst of all of His devotees, it doesn’t say that He sat with the sannyāsīs. Advaita Gosāñi and Nityānanda Prabhu sat on His two sides and all other other devotees sat in front, behind etc. in that way Lord Caitanya was showing how He liked to associate with His different devotees.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 7.66

gauḍīya bhaktagaṇera śreṇībaddhabhāve upaveśana:—

gauḍera bhakta yata kahite nā pāri
aṅgane vasilā saba hañā sāri sāri

Translation: The devotees from Bengal, whom I am unable to count, all sat down in lines in the courtyard.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, here Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja is describing how the devotees from Bengal were sitting line after line and Vallabha Ācārya fed all of them.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 7.67

gaura-bhaktagaṇake darśanapūrvaka bhaṭṭera praṇāma:—

prabhura bhakta-gaṇa dekhi’ bhaṭṭera camatkāra
pratyeke sabāra pade kaila namaskāra

Translation: When Vallabha Bhaṭṭa saw all the devotees of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he was greatly surprised, and in devotion he offered his obeisances at the lotus feet of each and every one of them.

Jayapatākā Swami: Vallabha Bhaṭṭa, he was a very wonderful devotee and when he saw the devotees from Bengal, he became so impressed that he offered each and everyone obeisances. This is the proper etiquette when you see a devotee to offer obeisances.

Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 7.68

chayajanera pariveśana :—

svarūpa, jagadānanda, kāśīśvara, śaṅkara
pariveśana kare, āra rāghava, dāmodara

Translation: Svarūpa Dāmodara, Jagadānanda, Kāśīśvara and Śaṅkara, along with Rāghava and Dāmodara Paṇḍita, took charge of distributing the prasādam.

Jayapatākā Swami: It wasn’t that so many devotees just left the distribution to Vallabha Bhaṭṭa, spontaneously these six devotees helped to distribute the prasāda. This is also a good example how these six devotees were very eager to do some sevā. Even though they were very advanced, they took up the service of distributing prasāda.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 7.69

vallabhabhaṭṭera bhaktasaha prabhuke prasādadvārā santarpaṇa:—

mahā-prasāda vallabha-bhaṭṭa bahu ānāila
prabhu-saha sannyāsi-gaṇa bhojane vasila

Translation: Vallabha Bhaṭṭa had brought a large quantity of mahā-prasādam offered to Lord Jagannātha. Thus all the sannyāsīs sat down to eat with Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Jayapatākā Swami: Actually, inviting Lord Caitanya to take prasāda was a very big thing, They had to feed hundred devotees, ? are you ready for that?? ? But Vallabha Bhaṭṭa had fed the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His associates, who can imagine!

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 7.70

samaveta-kaṇṭhe haridhvani:—

prasāda pāya vaiṣṇava-gaṇa bale, ‘hari’ ‘hari’
hari hari dhvani uṭhe saba brahmāṇḍa bhari’

Translation: Accepting the prasādam, all the Vaiṣṇavas chanted the holy names “Hari! Hari!” The rising vibration of the holy name of Hari filled the entire universe.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the devotees of Lord Caitanya they spontaneously engaged in harināma-saṅkīrtana and they were all chanting Hari Hari!

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Asntya-līlā, 7.71

ācamanānte sakalake abhinandana:—

mālā, candana, guvāka, pāna aneka ānila
sabā’ pūjā kari’ bhaṭṭa ānandita haila

Translation: When all the Vaiṣṇavas had finished eating, Vallabha Bhaṭṭa brought a large quantity of garlands, sandalwood pulp, spices and betel. He worshiped the devotees very respectfully and became extremely happy.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, respecting devotees is also a very loving way to extend devotion to them. In the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu it states how there are six ways of exchanging loving relations with devotees, and two of those ways are by giving prasāda and receiving prasāda, and two other ways are by giving gifts and receiving gifts. So, he was giving gifts like sandalwood pulp and other things and the Vaiṣṇavas were accepting, and it says that Vallabha Bhaṭṭa was very feeling happy. Actually when you serve the Vaiṣṇavas this exchange of love makes it very satisfying.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 7.72

ratha-yātrākāle sapta-sampradāyera kīrtana-varṇana:—

ratha-yātrā-dine prabhu kīrtana ārambhilā
pūrvavat sāta sampradāya pṛthak karilā

Translation: On the day of the car festival, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu began the congregational chanting. As He had done previously, He divided all the devotees into seven groups.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, there were seven groups who did kīrtana, in front of the car, behind the car and side of the car.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 5.73-74

sapta-sampradāye sapta-kīrtanakārī:—

advaita, nityānanda, haridāsa, vakreśvara
śrīvāsa, rāghava, paṇḍita-gadādhara

alātacakraprāya prabhura kīrtana-madhye bhramaṇa:—

sāta jana sāta-ṭhāñi karena nartana
‘hari-bola’ bali’ prabhu karena bhramaṇa

Translation: Seven devotees — Advaita, Nityānanda, Haridāsa Ṭhākura, Vakreśvara, Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura, Rāghava Paṇḍita and Gadādhara Paṇḍita — formed seven groups and began dancing. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, chanting “Haribol!” wandered from one group to another.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, we can see how theses seven groups are headed by the illustrious dancers and Lord Caitanya He wandered from group to Group tasting different mellows. Now we have loudspeakers but, in those days, there were no loud speakers. So, they would have a number of devotees who would sing in unison and others would respond. In this way every kīrtana group would be chanting in their own way, seven groups would have seven tunes and moods

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 7.75

caudda mṛdaṅga : —

caudda mādala bāje ucca saṅkīrtana
eka eka nartakera preme bhāsila bhuvana

Translation: Fourteen mṛdaṅgas resounded with the loud congregational chanting, and in each group was a dancer whose dance of ecstatic love inundated the entire world.

Jayapatākā Swami: Seven groups with seven kīrtana with fourteen mṛdaṅgas, and we heard how Lord Nityānanda dances it is so wonderful that there is no way to describe it in the three worlds. So, in every group they had dancers like Lord Nityānanda, Gadadhara Pandita, Advaita Gosai, Vakreśvara Paṇḍita, and the kīrtana was literally out of this world, Hari bol!

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 7.76

vallabhera vismaya o ānandātiśayya:—

dekhi’ vallabha-bhaṭṭera haila camatkāra
ānande vihvala nāhi āpana-sāmbhāla

Translation: Seeing all this, Vallabha Bhaṭṭa was completely astonished. He was overwhelmed by transcendental bliss and lost himself.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the words in Bengali are so wonderful, it says Vallabha Bhaṭṭa was a camtakāra it means astonished, overwhelmed, wonderful and when it says like, ānande vihvala, it means overwhelmed by transcendental bliss.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 7.77

narttana kīrtanānte prabhura prema-vaibhava-darśane vallabhera vismaya:—

tabe mahāprabhu sabāra nṛtya rākhilā
pūrvavat āpane nṛtya karite lāgilā

Translation: Then Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu stopped the dancing of the others, and as He had done previously, He personally began to dance.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the others dancing was wonderful, but Lord Caitanya's dancing was super wonderful!

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 7.78

prabhura saundarya dekhi āra premodaya
‘ei ta’ sākṣāt kṛṣṇa’ bhaṭṭera ha-ila niścaya

Translation: Seeing the beauty of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and the awakening of His ecstatic love, Vallabha Bhaṭṭa concluded, “Here is Lord Kṛṣṇa, without a doubt.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Vallabha Bhaṭṭa had this transcendental realization.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 7.79

eta mata ratha-yātrā sakale dekhila
prabhura caritre bhaṭṭera camatkāra haila

Translation: Thus, Vallabha Bhaṭṭa witnessed. He was simply astonished by the characteristics of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Jayapatākā Swami: Vallabha Bhaṭṭa he had deep appreciation for Caitanya Mahāprabhu, His transcendental characteristics and His ecstatic loving symptoms.

Thus ends the chapter entitled,

Seeing the Car Festival, Vallabha Bhaṭṭa Was Completely Astonished
Under the section: The Meeting of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Vallabha Bhaṭṭa