20230711 In His Half-External Consciousness Lord Caitanya Describes Seeing the Sporting Pastimes in the Water, Part 2

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on July 11th, 2023 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:

In His Half-External Consciousness Lord Caitanya Describes Seeing the Sporting Pastimes in the Water, Part 2
Under the section: Rescuing the Lord from the Sea

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 18.87

prathame yuddha ‘jalājali’, tabe yuddha ‘karākari’,
tāra pāche yuddha ‘mukhāmukhi’

tabe yuddha ‘hṛdāhṛdi’, tabe haila ‘radāradi’,
tabe haila yuddha ‘nakhānakhi’

Translation: “As the fight began, they splashed water on one another. Then they fought hand to hand, then face to face, then chest to chest, teeth to teeth and finally nail to nail.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs were having intense water battle and They were expressing Their spontaneous loving ecstasy in this way.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 18.88

sahasra-kare jala seke, sahasra netre gopī dekhe,
sahasra-pade nikaṭa gamane

sahasra-mukha-cumbane, sahasra-vapu-saṅgame,
gopī-narma śune sahasra-kāṇe

Translation: “Thousands of hands splashed water, and the gopīs saw Kṛṣṇa with thousands of eyes. With thousands of legs they came near Him, and they kissed Him with thousands of faces. Thousands of bodies embraced Him. The gopīs heard His joking words with thousands of ears.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, this is the essence of conjugal love. The gopīs were expressing their spontaneous attraction to Kṛṣṇa while performing the water sports and Kṛṣṇa was reciprocating and splashing water on them.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 18.89

kṛṣṇa rādhā lañā bale, gelā kaṇṭha-daghna jale,
chāḍilā tāhāṅ, yāhāṅ agādha pānī

teṅho kṛṣṇa-kaṇṭha dhari’, bhāse jalera upari,
gajotkhāte yaiche kamalinī

Translation: “Kṛṣṇa forcibly swept Rādhārāṇī away and took Her into water up to Her neck. Then He released Her where the water was very deep. She grasped Kṛṣṇa’s neck, however, and floated on the water like a lotus flower plucked by the trunk of an elephant.

Jayapatākā Swami: Kṛṣṇa was enjoying transcendental pastimes with Rādhārāṇī, taking Her to the deep water and then She held on His neck to avoid sinking in the water. In this way Kṛṣṇa was enjoying these transcendental pastimes.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 18.90

yata gopa-sundarī, kṛṣṇa tata rūpa dhari’,
sabāra vastra karilā haraṇe

yamunā-jala nirmala, aṅga kare jhalamala,
sukhe kṛṣṇa kare daraśane

Translation: “Kṛṣṇa expanded Himself into as many forms as there were gopīs and then took away all the garments that covered them. The water of the river Yamunā was crystal clear, and Kṛṣṇa saw the glittering bodies of the gopīs in great happiness.

Jayapatākā Swami: In the Vedic system one girl should only appear naked before her husband. Actually all the gopīs had prayed to have Kṛṣṇa as their husband and therefore He was fulfilling their desire. Also, when Lord Brahmā stole all the cowherd boys, then Kṛṣṇa expanded Himself as the very forms of the cowherd boys. And at that time, He advised Nārada Muni to tell the parents that they should marry all their children. Because in those days there was child marriage. But actually Kṛṣṇa was all the cowherd boys and then He had married all the gopīs. So, all these secrets were happening while Lord Brahmā took the cowherd boys away.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 18.91

padminī-latā—sakhī-caya, kaila kāro sahāya,
taraṅga-haste patra samarpila

keha mukta-keśa-pāśa, āge kaila adhovāsa,
haste keha kañculi dharila

Translation: “The lotus stems were friends of the gopīs and therefore helped them by offering them lotus leaves. The lotuses pushed their large, round leaves over the surface of the water with their hands, the waves of the Yamunā, to cover the gopīs’ bodies. Some gopīs undid their hair and kept it in front of them as dresses to cover the lower portions of their bodies and used their hands as bodices to cover their breasts.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya was half-conscious. He is expressing all the water pastimes of Vṛndāvana that He had seen and the gopīs were naturally very shy and now they kept their bodies hidden as much as possible. So all these things were seen by Lord Caitanya in that transcendental ecstasy.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 18.92

kṛṣṇera kalaha rādhā-sane, gopī-gaṇa sei-kṣaṇe,
hemābja-vane gelā lukāite

ākaṇṭha-vapu jale paiśe, mukha-mātra jale bhāse,
padme-mukhe nā pāri cinite

Translation: “Then Kṛṣṇa quarreled with Rādhārāṇī, and all the gopīs hid themselves in a cluster of white lotus flowers. They submerged their bodies up to their necks in the water. Only their faces floated above the surface, and the faces were indistinguishable from the lotuses.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Kṛṣṇa, He would enjoy having different kinds of exchanges with Rādhārāṇī. Sometimes He quarreled with Rādhārāṇī just to see Her expressions in anger. So, at this time the gopīs, they all hid in the lotus flowers.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 18.93

ethā kṛṣṇa rādhā-sane, kailā ye āchila mane,
gopī-gaṇa anveṣite gelā

tabe rādhā sūkṣma-mati, jāniyā sakhīra sthiti,
sakhī-madhye āsiyā mililā

Translation: “In the absence of the other gopīs, Lord Kṛṣṇa behaved with Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī as freely as He desired. When the gopīs began searching for Kṛṣṇa, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, being of very fine intelligence and thus knowing the situation of Her friends, immediately mingled in their midst.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya was observing all these confidential pastimes and He was fully absorbed in love of Kṛṣṇa. But sometimes in the ocean waters, He would make sounds like glug! glug! glug! glug! because sometimes He would be silent. So, the fisherman was afraid, he thought that this was a talking corpse and Lord Caitanya was so intensely absorbed in Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes and Rādhārāṇī, She took advantage of the situation having fine intelligence and She hid in the midst of all the gopīs.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 18.94

yata hemābja jale bhāse, tata nīlābja tāra pāśe,
āsi’ āsi’ karaye milana

nīlābje hemābje ṭheke, yuddha haya pratyeke,
kautuke dekhe tīre sakhī-gaṇa

Translation: “Many white lotus flowers were floating in the water, and as many bluish lotus flowers came nearby. As they came close together, the white and blue lotuses collided and began fighting with one another. The gopīs on the bank of the Yamunā watched with great amusement.

Jayapatākā Swami: Kṛṣṇa, is like the blue lotus and the gopīs are like white lotuses. Blue and white lotuses are fighting with each other. So, all these things are poetically presented by Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 18.95

cakravāka-maṇḍala, pṛthak pṛthak yugala,
jala haite karila udgama

uṭhila padma-maṇḍala, pṛthak pṛthak yugala,
cakravāke kaila ācchādana

Translation: “When the raised breasts of the gopīs, which resembled the globelike bodies of cakravāka birds, emerged from the water in separate couples, the bluish lotuses of Kṛṣṇa’s hands rose to cover them.

Jayapatākā Swami: These are very confidential, transcendental pastimes and the gopīs are expressing their love for Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa is reciprocating His love for them. But actually, this has nothing to do with the material world.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 18.96

uṭhila bahu raktotpala, pṛthak pṛthak yugala,
padma-gaṇera kaila nivāraṇa

‘padma’ cāhe luṭi’ nite, ‘utpala’ cāhe rākhite’,
‘cakravāka’ lāgi’ duṅhāra raṇa

Translation: “The hands of the gopīs, which resembled red lotus flowers, arose from the water in pairs to obstruct the bluish flowers. The blue lotuses tried to plunder the white cakravāka birds, and the red lotuses tried to protect them. Thus there was a fight between the two.

Jayapatākā Swami: So here we see everything is compared to the lotuses. The gopīs’ hands are like red lotuses, Kṛṣṇa’s face is like a blue lotus, everything is compared to the lotus because everything is very beautiful and how Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs are exchanging loving pastimes in the Yamunā water is poetically mentioned here.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 18.97

padmotpala—acetana, cakravāka—sacetana,
cakravāke padma āsvādaya

ihāṅ duṅhāra ulṭā sthiti, dharma haila viparīti,
kṛṣṇera rājye aiche nyāya haya

Translation: “Blue and red lotus flowers are unconscious objects, whereas cakravākas are conscious and alive. Nevertheless, in ecstatic love, the blue lotuses began to taste the cakravākas. This is a reversal of their natural behavior, but in Lord Kṛṣṇa’s kingdom such reversals are a principle of His pastimes.

Purport: Generally the cakravāka bird tastes the lotus flower, but in Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes the lotus, which is usually lifeless, tastes the cakravāka bird.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Krsna in His pastimes, He is reciprocating with the gopīs in a very spontaneous way and thus everybody is completely, transcendentally inspired.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 18.98

mitrera mitra saha-vāsī, cakravāke luṭe āsi’,
kṛṣṇera rājye aiche vyavahāra

aparicita śatrura mitra, rākhe utpala,—e baḍa citra,
ei baḍa ‘virodha-alaṅkāra’

Translation: “The blue lotuses are friends of the sun-god, and though they all live together, the blue lotuses plunder the cakravākas. The red lotuses, however, blossom at night and are therefore strangers or enemies to the cakravākas. Yet in Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes the red lotuses, which are the hands of the gopīs, protect their cakravāka breasts. This is a metaphor of contradiction."

Purport: Because the blue lotus flower blossoms with the rising of the sun, the sun is the friend of the blue lotus. The cakravāka birds also appear when the sun rises, and therefore the cakravākas and blue lotuses meet. Although the blue lotus is a friend of the sun, in Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes it nevertheless plunders their mutual friend the cakravāka. Normally, cakravākas move about whereas lotuses stand still, but herein Kṛṣṇa’s hands, which are compared to blue lotuses, attack the breasts of the gopīs, which are compared to cakravākas. This is called a reverse analogy. At night the red lotus blossoms, whereas in sunlight it closes. Therefore the red lotus is an enemy of the sun and is unknown to the sun’s friend the cakravāka. The gopīs’ breasts, however, are compared to cakravākas and their hands to red lotuses protecting them. This is a wonderful instance of reverse analogy.

Jayapatākā Swami: So here in Krsna’s land everything is reverse and Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa and gopīs are having pastimes which are expressed by reverse analogy.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 18.99

atiśayokti, virodhābhāsa, dui alaṅkāra prakāśa,
kari’ kṛṣṇa prakaṭa dekhāila

yāhā kari’ āsvādana, ānandita mora mana,
netra-karṇa-yugma juḍāila

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu continued, “In His pastimes, Kṛṣṇa displayed the two ornaments of hyperbole and reverse analogy. Tasting them brought gladness to My mind and fully satisfied My ears and eyes.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, all these reverse analogies were understood by Lord Caitanya and He became very happy to see all these reverse analogies and this is what He was absorbed in the waves of the sea and in His half-external consciousness He was expressing these things to His associates.

Lord Caitanya is famous that He actually revealed the mādhurya-rasa. In the Śrī sampradāya they only see the very respectful and some formal friendship. But in the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa there is as sākhya, vātsalya and mādhurya. The pusṭi-mārgis of Gujarat they revealed the pastimes of the parents of Lord Krsna. But Lord Caitanya reveals how the conjugal pastimes are more beautiful and intense. So, He was seeing all these things in His deep meditation, in His half-external consciousness He was revealing these things to His associates.

Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Thus ends the chapter entitled, In His Half-External Consciousness Lord Caitanya Describes Seeing the Sporting Pastimes in the Water, Part 2
Under the section: Rescuing the Lord from the Sea