20230502 Lord Caitanya’s Daily Routine of Seeing Jagannātha from Behind the Garuḍa Column

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on May 2nd,2023 in Dallas, Texas, USA.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Today we are continuing with the compilation of the Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book. So today's chapter entitled is:

Lord Caitanya’s Daily Routine of Seeing Jagannātha from Behind the Garuḍa Column
Under the Section: Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s Feelings of Separation from Kṛṣṇa

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 14.1

prabhura vipralambharase adhirūḍha mahābhāva-vaśe divyonmāda (udghūrṇā o citrajalpādi) varṇana —

Translation: I shall now describe a very small portion of the activities performed by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu with His mind, intelligence and body when He was bewildered by strong feelings of separation from Kṛṣṇa.

Jayapatākā Swami: So Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja is going to embark on explaining some of the pastimes of Lord Caitanya, when he was feeling great separation from Kṛṣṇa. We know that Lord Kṛṣṇa He was told by Rukmiṇī that Kṛṣṇa didn’t know everything, that Rukmiṇī and Rādhā knew something that Kṛṣṇa did not know. So Kṛṣṇa asked, “What was that?” And She said, “How much Your devotees love You and in what way we love You. I know, Rādhārāṇī knows, You don’t know.” Then He said He would come as His devotee. So, this part, is a gesture, He is putting Himself into the shoes, so to speak of Rādhārāṇī, and Rādhārāṇī was feeling great separation from Kṛṣṇa, so Lord Caitanya was experiencing that.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 14.4

gaurabhakta-samīpe caitanyacarita-varṇane kṛpā-yājñā

jaya svarūpa, śrīvāsādi prabhu-bhakta-gaṇa
śakti deha’,—kari yena caitanya-varṇana

Translation: All glories to Svarūpa Dāmodara and all the other devotees, headed by Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura! Please give me the strength to describe the character of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Jayapatākā Swami: So Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja is begging for blessings. This is an important aspect of writing Vaiṣṇava literature. You need to get the blessings of guru and Gaurāṅga. From the sādhus, the devotees of the Lord.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 14.5

gaurakṛpā vyatīta mahāvidvān vyaktirao prabhura aprākṛta divyonmāda-bodhe asāmarthya:—

prabhura virahonmāda-bhāva gambhīra
bujhite nā pāre keha, yadyapi haya ‘dhīra’

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s emotion of transcendental madness in separation from Kṛṣṇa is very deep and mysterious. Even though one is very advanced and learned, he cannot understand it.

Jayapatākā Swami: This highest ecstasy of loving Kṛṣṇa is not possible for people to understand. They need a special mercy to understand this.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 14.6

prabhukṛpā-balei prabhura aprākṛta-līlopalabdhi:—

bujhite nā pāri yāhā, varṇite ke pāre
sei bujhe, varṇe, caitanya śakti dena yāṅre

Translation: How can one describe unfathomable subject matters? It is possible only if Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu gives him the capability.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja is explaining his situation. It is difficult for people to even understand Lord Caitanya’s pastimes. What to speak of explaining it? So, he is requesting the mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, only by His benediction will it be possible.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 14.7

svarūpa o raghunāthaprabhudvayera kaḍacāi gaura-līlā varṇane ākara-grantha:—

svarūpa-gosāñi āra raghunātha-dāsa
ei duira kaḍacāte e-līlā prakāśa

Translation: Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī and Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī recorded all these transcendental activities of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in their notebooks.

Purport by Śrīla Prabhupāda: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s transcendental feelings of separation from Kṛṣṇa and His consequent madness are not at all understandable by a person on the material platform. Nonetheless, a so-called party of devotees named nadīyā-nāgarī has sprung up and introduced the worship of Viṣṇupriyā. This certainly indicates their ignorance concerning Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s pastimes. In the opinion of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, such worship is a product of the imagination. Many other methods of worshiping Caitanya Mahāprabhu have also been introduced, but they have all been rejected by stalwart devotees like Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura.

The groups practicing such unauthorized worship have been listed by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura:

āula, bāula, kartābhajā, neḍā, daraveśa, sāṅi, sahajiyā, sakhībhekī, smārta, jāta-gosāñi, ativāḍī, cūḍādhārī, gaurāṅga-nāgarī Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī and Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī witnessed Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s activities firsthand and recorded them in two notebooks. Therefore, without reference to these notebooks one cannot understand the activities of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Anyone inventing some new method for worshiping Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is certainly unable to understand the Lord’s pastimes, for he is bereft of the real process of approaching the Lord.

Jayapatākā Swami: Svarūpa Dāmodara dāsa and Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī had kept notebooks of the transcendental pastimes of Lord Caitanya, and Kṛṣṇadasa Kavirāja referred to these notebooks and wrote down the essence in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. So like this, he is following the guru-paramparā system.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 14.8

svarūpa o raghunāthaprabhudvayera prāmāṇyera kāraṇa:—

se-kāle e-dui rahena mahāprabhura pāśe
āra saba kaḍacā-kartā rahena dūra-deśe

Translation: In those days, Svarūpa Dāmodara and Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī lived with Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, whereas all other commentators lived far away from Him.

Purport by Śrīla Prabhupāda: Besides Svarūpa Dāmodara and Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, there were many others who also recorded Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s activities. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura believes that the people of the world would benefit greatly if such notes were available. It is a most unfortunate situation for human society that none of these notebooks is still extant.

Jayapatākā Swami: My attempt in compilng the Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book with the blessings of previous ācāryas to get all the notebooks and books and combine them. But these notebooks of Svarūpa Dāmodara dāsa and Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī are not available. We got notebooks from Murāri Gupta and others, but these two books are not available. But the essence is given in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, so we have that.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 14.9

kṣaṇe kṣaṇe anubhavi’ ei dui-jana
saṅkṣepe bāhulye karena kaḍacā-granthana

Translation: These two great personalities [Svarūpa Dāmodara and Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī] recorded the activities of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu moment by moment. They described these activities briefly as well as elaborately in their notebooks.

Purport: For future reference, we should remember that Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī recorded the pastimes briefly, whereas Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī recorded them elaborately. These two great personalities simply recorded the facts; they did not create any descriptive literary embellishments.

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīla Prabhupāda was asked to recommend a Bhagavad-gītā. But although there maybe 400 or so Bhagavad-gītās, in English language, but he could not recommend any. Some were better than the others; but all had some personal commentary which was different from what Kṛṣṇa was explaining. So Śrīla Prabhupāda wrote the Bhagavad-gītā As It Is and gave the instructions of Kṛṣṇa without his personal commentary.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 14.10

svarūpa—‘sūtra-kartā’, raghunātha—‘vṛttikāra’
tāra bāhulya varṇi—pāṅji-ṭīkā-vyavahāra

Translation: Svarūpa Dāmodara wrote short notes, whereas Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī wrote elaborate descriptions. I shall now describe Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s activities more elaborately, as if fluffing out compressed cotton.

Purport: Pāṅji-ṭīkā means further explanations of a subject. Writing such explanations is likened to the process of fluffing out cotton.

Jayapatākā Swami: In India, it is quite common that cotton mattresses, after some time they become flat. So periodically, there are these people who would fluff up the cotton mattresses. They have a tool which looks like a string instrument. They would take the cotton and ding, ding! And put air in it. So, like that they are comparing this pāṅji-ṭīkā to fluffing the cotton. So, we can try to get more nectar out of it. Haribol!

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 14.11

aprākṛta śraddhāra sahita aprākṛta vipralambha-bhāva-śravaṇe tadanusaraṇei premalābha:—

tāte viśvāsa kari’ śuna bhāvera varṇana
ha-ibe bhāvera jñāna, pāibā prema-dhana

Translation: Please hear faithfully this description of Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s ecstatic emotions. Thus you will come to know of His ecstatic love, and ultimately you will achieve love of Godhead.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, hearing these pastimes of Lord Caitanya, allows you to appreciate the ecstasies He went through, and ultimately you will achieve love of Kṛṣṇa.

Haribol! Haribol! Gaurāṅga!

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 14.12

antardaśāya prabhuhṛdaye kṛṣṇavirahiṇī rādhādigopībhāvodaya; śeṣa saptaparicchedei ‘gauranagaravāda’-nirāsa:—

kṛṣṇa mathurāya gele, gopīra ye daśā haila
kṛṣṇa-vicchede prabhura se daśā upajila

Translation: When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu felt separation from Kṛṣṇa, His condition exactly corresponded to that of the gopīs in Vṛndāvana after Kṛṣṇa’s departure for Mathurā.

Jayapatākā Swami: When Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma were taken away by Akrūra to Mathurā, the gopīs lost all their composure, lost their shyness, and they tried to stop Kṛṣṇa’s chariot. They were feeling so much separation. So, Lord Caitanya, His separation was like that of the gopīs, when Kṛṣṇa was leaving to Mathurā.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 14.13

uddhava-darśane yaiche rādhāra vilāpa
krame krame haila prabhura se unmāda-vilāpa

Translation: The lamentation of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī when Uddhava visited Vṛndāvana gradually became a feature of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s transcendental madness.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya, He was experiencing Rādhārāṇī’s separation and there are three things that Lord Caitanya came down for·

. His external reason was establishing the saṅkīrtana movement,

· His internal confidential reason was to experience the love that His devotees felt for Kṛṣṇa.

· There is one super-secret reason, why Rādhārāṇī She felt more happiness than Kṛṣṇa? Her ecstasy was more profound that Kṛṣṇa’s. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was relishing that extreme ecstasy.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 14.14

kṛṣṇavirahiṇī śrī-rādhā-bhāvei vibhāvita prabhu, sutarāṃ tāṅhāte kṛṣṇera sambhogākāṅakṣā-vṛttira abhāva:—

rādhikāra bhāve prabhura sadā ‘abhimāna’
sei bhāve āpanāke haya ‘rādhā’-jñāna

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s emotions exactly corresponded to those of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī when She met Uddhava. The Lord always conceived of Himself in Her position and sometimes thought that He was Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī Herself.

Purport: Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura explains that the purport of the word abhimāna, or “self-conception,” is that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu thought Himself to be in the position of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and was always ready to render Kṛṣṇa service in that way. Although Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Kṛṣṇa Himself, He assumed the complexion and emotions of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and remained in that status. He never assumed the complexion or status of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Of course, Kṛṣṇa wanted to experience the role of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī; that is the original cause of His assuming the body of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Therefore pure Vaiṣṇavas never disturb Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s conception of being Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.

Unfortunately, at the present time a group of so-called devotees maintain that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the enjoyer and that they are enjoyers as well. They have actually deviated from devotional service to the Lord. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu manifested Himself to show that cultivation of love for Kṛṣṇa in separation is the easiest way of success for all living entities. Despite this fact, there are some theosophists who declare that because Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, such cultivation is easy for Him but difficult for the living entity and that one can therefore approach Kṛṣṇa in any way he likes. To nullify this idea, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu demonstrated practically how one can achieve love of Kṛṣṇa by adopting Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s mood in separation from Kṛṣṇa.

Jayapatākā Swami: When Uddhava went to Vṛndāvana, sent by Kṛṣṇa, She was talking to a bumble bee and She thought the bumble bee was a messenger from Kṛṣṇa. But in this way, Uddhava was the messenger from Kṛṣṇa, he was overwhelmed. He prayed that he can become a grass in Vṛndāvana to get the lotus feet of the gopīs stepping on him.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 14.15

prabhura adhirūḍha-mahābhāve divyonmāda:—

divyonmāde aiche haya, ki ihā vismaya?
adhirūḍha-bhāve divyonmāda-pralāpa haya

Translation: Such is the state of transcendental madness. Why is it difficult to understand? When one is highly elevated in love of Kṛṣṇa, he becomes transcendentally mad and talks like a madman.

Jayapatākā Swami: It is said that Rādhārāṇī would experience mahā-bhāva and that, only pure devotees ever had this realization. Mādhavendra Purī, he had that realization and Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He had that realization. So, this feeling of transcendental madness in separation of Kṛṣṇa is part of the mahā-bhāva.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 14.16

divyonmādera saṁjñā o tāhāra prakārabheda o ujjvalanīlamaṇite sthāyibhāva-prakaraṇe (190)—

Translation: “When the ecstatic emotion of enchantment gradually progresses, it becomes similar to bewilderment. Then one reaches the stage of astonishment [vaicitrī], which awakens transcendental madness. Udghūrṇā and citra-jalpa are two among the many divisions of transcendental madness.”

Purport by Śrīla Prabhupāda: This is a quotation from the Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi (Sthāyibhāva-prakaraṇa 174).

Jayapatākā Swami: Devotees would like to obtain kṛṣṇa-prema, but here Lord Caitanya was experiencing the highest levels of kṛṣṇa-prema, which is described in the Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 14.17

śrī-rādhāra kiṅkarī-abhimāne prabhura divyonmāda (udghūrṇā)-dṛṣṭānta:—

eka-dina mahāprabhu kariyāchena śayana
kṛṣṇa rāsa-līlā kare,—dekhilā svapana

Translation: One day while He was resting, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu dreamed He saw Kṛṣṇa performing His rāsa dance.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya, He was always thinking about Lord Kṛṣṇa. So, it was not unusual that He was dreaming of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa performing His rasa-līlā dance.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 14.18

tribhaṅga-sundara-deha, muralī-vadana
pītāmbara, vana-mālā, madana-mohana

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu saw Lord Kṛṣṇa standing with His beautiful body curved in three places, holding His flute to His lips. Wearing yellow garments and garlands of forest flowers, He was enchanting even to Cupid.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu was seeing Kṛṣṇa as Rādhārāṇī would see Him and He was completely enchanted, completely enamored in ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 14.19

maṇḍalī-bandhe gopī-gaṇa karena nartana
madhye rādhā-saha nāce vrajendra-nandana

Translation: The gopīs were dancing in a circle, and in the middle of that circle, Kṛṣṇa, the son of Mahārāja Nanda, danced with Rādhārāṇī.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 14.20

dekhi’ prabhu sei rase āviṣṭa hailā
‘vṛndāvane kṛṣṇa pāinu’—ei jñāna kailā

Translation: Seeing this, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was overwhelmed with the transcendental mellow of the rāsa dance, and He thought, “Now I am with Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu was having this ecstatic feeling and He was showing how the devotees, they can be connected with Kṛṣṇa through this vipralambha, this separation.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 14.21

jāgradavasthāya (vāhyadaśāya) prabhura kṛṣṇabicchede duḥkha

prabhura vilamba dekhi’ govinda jāgāilā
jāgile ‘svapna’-jñāna haila, prabhu duḥkhī hailā

Translation: When Govinda saw that the Lord had not yet risen, he awakened Him. Understanding that He had only been dreaming, the Lord was somewhat unhappy.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu thought that He was actually with Kṛṣṇa and then Govinda woke Him up and He realized, it was only a dream! So, He is feeling unhappy.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 14.22

abhyāse nityakṛtya-sampādana:—

dehābhyāse nitya-kṛtya kari’ samāpana
kāle yāi’ kailā jagannātha daraśana

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu performed His customary daily duties, and at the usual time He went to see Lord Jagannātha in the temple.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 14.23

garuḍastambha haite prabhura jagannātha-darśana:—

yāvat kāla darśana karena garuḍera pāche
prabhura āge darśana kare loka lākhe lākhe

Translation: As He viewed Lord Jagannātha from behind the Garuḍa column, hundreds and thousands of people in front of Him were seeing the Deity.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya, He would customarily take the position behind the Garuḍa-stambha and even to this day, there are the fingerprints of Lord Caitanya on the Garuḍa-stambha. His ecstasy was so intense that He actually melted the stone. Haribol! Gaurāṅga! Jaya Jagannātha, Baladeva, Subhadrā, Sudarśana cakra kī jaya!

Thus ends the chapter entitled, Lord Caitanya’s Daily Routine of Seeing Jagannātha from Behind the Garuḍa Column
Under the Section: Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s Feelings of Separation from Kṛṣṇa

Lord Caitanya had a daily routine that He would perform, almost mechanically and in between He was feeling great separation from Lord Caitanya.

Haribol! Thank you very much! 10:08! Gaurāṅga! So how many of you would like to have ecstasy for love of Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya is showing how to do it. By hearing these pastimes one can gradually develop love for Kṛṣṇa.