20230717 Rubbing of His Moonlike Face Against the Walls, and Flowing of Blood from the Injuries

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on July 17th,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:

Rubbing of His Moonlike Face Against the Walls, and Flowing of Blood from the Injuries
Under the Section: The Inconceivable Behavior of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 19.57

nāma-kīrtane rātriyāpana :—

premāveśe mahāprabhura gara-gara mana
nāma-saṅkīrtana kari’ karena jāgaraṇa

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu stayed awake all night, chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, His mind overwhelmed by spiritual ecstasy.

Jayapatākā Swami: So Lord Caitanya, He was experiencing constant ecstasy all night.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 19.58

prabhura mukhasaṅgharṣarṇarūpa divyonmāda (udghūrṇā) :—

virahe vyākula prabhu udvege uṭhilā
gambhīrāra bhittye mukha ghaṣite lāgilā

Translation: Feeling separation from Kṛṣṇa, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was so distraught that in great anxiety He stood up and began rubbing His face against the walls of the Gambhīrā.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya was feeling intense separation from Lord Kṛṣṇa. As a result, He started rubbing His face against the walls of Gambhīrā. Lord Caitanya’s separation was so intense that He was oblivious of the injury He was causing His body.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 19.59

mukhe, gaṇḍe, nāke kṣata ha-ila apāra
bhāvāveśe nā jānena prabhu, paḍe rakta-dhāra

Translation: Blood oozed from the many injuries on His mouth, nose and cheeks, but due to His ecstatic emotions, the Lord did not know it.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Rādhārāṇī would experience the highest ecstasy of prema, so Lord Caitanya was also experiencing the same emotions of māha-bhāva. He didn’t realize that He was causing injuries to His body.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 19.60

sarva-rātri karena bhāve mukha saṅgharṣaṇa
goṅ-goṅ-śabda karena,—svarūpa śunilā takhana

Translation: In ecstasy, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu rubbed His face against the walls all night long, making a peculiar sound, “goṅ-goṅ,” which Svarūpa Dāmodara could hear through the door.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya, He was experiencing a kind of intense love that Rādhārāṇī would experience for Kṛṣṇa, in Her separation ecstasy for Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 19.61

prabhuke svarūpera gṛhe ānayana :—

dīpa jvāli’ ghare gelā, dekhi’ prabhura mukha
svarūpa, govinda duṅhāra haila baḍa duḥkha

Translation: Lighting a lamp, Svarūpa Dāmodara and Govinda entered the room. When they saw the Lord’s face, they were filled with sorrow.

Jayapatākā Swami: Seeing Lord Caitanya’s face all bloody by having rubbed it against the wall, they were naturally very sorry to see that the Lord had made Himself so injured.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 19.62

svarūpakarttṛka prabhura avasthā-jijñāsā, prabhura uttara :—

prabhure śayyāte āni’ susthira karāilā
‘kāṅhe kailā ei tumi?’—svarūpa puchilā

Translation: They brought the Lord to His bed, calmed Him and then asked, “Why have You done this to Yourself?”

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 19.63

prabhu kahena,—“udvege ghare nā pāri rahite
dvāra cāhi’ buli’ śīghra bāhira ha-ite

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu replied, “I was in such anxiety that I could not stay in the room. I wanted to go out, and therefore I wandered about the room, looking for the door.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya, He was overwhelmed in the anxiety of emotional separation and He couldn’t leave the room, He couldn’t find His way and He was rubbing His face against the wall.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 19.64

dvāra nāhi’ pāñā mukha lāge cāri-bhite
kṣata haya, rakta paḍe, nā pāi yāite”

Translation: “Unable to find the door, I kept hitting the four walls with My face. My face was injured, and it bled, but I still could not get out.”

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 19.65

prabhura divyonmāda-lakṣaṇa :—

unmāda-daśāya prabhura sthira nahe mana
yei kare, yei bole saba,—unmāda-lakṣaṇa

Translation: In this state of madness, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s mind was unsteady. Whatever He said or did was all symptomatic of madness.

Jayapatākā Swami: He was feeling so much ecstatic separation from Lord Kṛṣṇa, in the mood of Rādhārāṇī, that He was not actually making sense. In this way, He was spending the night, very overwhelmed in intense emotion.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 19.66

bhaktagaṇasaha yuktira para svarūpera bhupādopādhānarūpe śaṅkara-paṇḍitake nirvācana :—

svarūpa-gosāñi tabe cintā pāilā mane
bhakta-gaṇa lañā vicāra kailā āra dine

Translation: Svarūpa Dāmodara was very anxious, but then he had an idea. The following day, he and the other devotees considered it together.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 19.67

saba bhakta meli’ tabe prabhure sādhila
śaṅkara-paṇḍite prabhura saṅge śoyāila

Translation: After consulting with one another, they entreated Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to allow Śaṅkara Paṇḍita to lie down in the same room with Him.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, their plan was to have Śaṅkara Paṇḍita to protect the Lord.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 19.68

prabhu-pāda-tale śaṅkara karena śayana
prabhu tāṅra upara karena pāda-prasāraṇa

Translation: Thus Śaṅkara Paṇḍita lay at the feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and the Lord placed His legs upon Śaṅkara’s body.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 19.69

dvāparayuge vidurera sadṛśa śaṅkarera bhagavatsevā :—

‘prabhu-pādopādhāna’ bali’ tāṅra nāma ha-ila
pūrve vidure yena śrī-śuka varṇila

Translation: Śaṅkara became celebrated by the name Prabhu-pādopādhāna [“the pillow of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu”]. He was like Vidura, as Śukadeva Gosvāmī previously described him.

Jayapatākā Swami: Śaṅkara Paṇḍita was taking the sevā of acting like the pillow for Lord Caitanya’s lotus feet.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 19.70

kṛṣṇapādopādhānarūpī vidurera prati maitreyera kīrtana :—
śrīmad-bhāgavate (3/13/4)—

Translation: “When submissive Vidura, the resting place of the legs of Lord Kṛṣṇa, had thus spoken to Maitreya, Maitreya began speaking, his hair standing on end due to the transcendental pleasure of discussing topics concerning Lord Kṛṣṇa.”

Purport: This is a quotation from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.13.5).

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 19.71

śaṅkarera prabhu-sevā :—

śaṅkara karena prabhura pāda-samvāhana
ghumāñā paḍena, taiche karena śayana

Translation: Śaṅkara massaged the legs of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, but while massaging he would fall asleep and thus lie down.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 19.72

ughāḍa-aṅge paḍiyā śaṅkara nidrā yāya
prabhu uṭhi’ āpana-kāṅthā tāhāre jaḍāya

Translation: He would lie asleep without a covering on his body, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu would get up and wrap him with His own quilt.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya was so caring that He covered Śaṅkara Paṇḍita with His own blanket.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 19.73

nirantara ghumāya śaṅkara śīghra-cetana
vasi’ pāda cāpi’ kare rātri-jāgaraṇa

Translation: Śaṅkara Paṇḍita would always fall asleep, but he would quickly awaken, sit up and again begin massaging the legs of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. In this way he would stay awake the entire night.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Śaṅkara Paṇḍita was engaged in this seva of Lord Caitanya’s lotus legs the whole night.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 19.74

tadupasthiti-hetu prabhura unmāda-virāma :—

tāṅra bhaye nārena prabhu bāhire yāite
tāṅra bhaye nārena bhittye mukhābja ghaṣite

Translation: Out of fear of Śaṅkara, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu could neither leave His room nor rub His lotus like face against the walls.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Śaṅkara Paṇḍita, staying in the room with Lord Caitanya, had the effect that Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī wanted.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 19.75

śrī-raghunātha-karttṛka sva-kṛta granthe prabhura unmādadaśā varṇana

ei līlā mahāprabhura raghunātha-dāsa
gaurāṅga-stava-kalpavṛkṣe kariyāche prakāśa

Translation: This pastime of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s has been described very nicely by Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī in his book known as Gaurāṅga-stava-kalpavṛkṣa.

Jayapatākā Swami: This book is very hard to compile and so the authors of different books would respect each other and would not write what other books have, except some small excerpts.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 19.76

kṛṣṇa-virahe pralāponmādamaya prabhu :—
stavāvalīte caitanya-stava-kalpa-vṛkṣa-stave (6)—

Translation: “Because of separation from His many friends in Vṛndāvana, who were like His own life, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu spoke like a madman. His intelligence was transformed. Day and night He rubbed His moonlike face against the walls, and blood flowed from the injuries. May that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu rise in my heart and make me mad with love.”

Jayapatākā Swami: The ecstasy, the madness of Lord Caitanya, is something that the devotees hope for. They would like to be mad after Kṛṣṇa and so what Lord Caitanya was experiencing was something very attractive for the devotees.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 19.77

vipralambha-premarasāsvādaka prabhu :—

ei-mata mahāprabhu rātri-divase
prema-sindhu-magna rahe, kabhu ḍube, bhāse

Translation: In this way Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu stayed immersed day and night in an ocean of ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa. Sometimes He was submerged, and sometimes He floated.

Gaurāṅga-līlā-smaraṇa-maṅgala-stotra 92
By Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura

Translation: May Śacī’s son who, remembering the forest of Vraja, overwhelmed with feelings of separation, rubbing His face, and making it bleed, said, “Where is My beloved Kṛṣṇa? Tell me! Tell! Tell!” eternally travel on the path of my memory.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya, He manifested the unparalleled love for Lord Kṛṣṇa and so this was His special pastime, His inconceivable behavior.

Thus ends the chapter entitled, Rubbing of His Moonlike Face Against the Walls, and Flowing of Blood from the Injuries
Under the section: The Inconceivable Behavior of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu

So, this is from the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, the last pastimes of Lord Caitanya, we are reading from the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. The beginning pastimes are from different literatures. But this time now, we are reading the last pastimes of Lord Caitanya.

You can get your own set of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Caitanya-caritāmṛta, there is a book table at the back and of course the books are available in Bengali, English, Hindi, I don’t know what they have here. But you should all receive a copy of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, and you can read this nectar even at your home.

So, it’s a very great privilege to have these aspects of Lord Caitanya’s later pastimes revealed.

Haribol!