The first year after Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted the renounced order of life, all the devotees, headed by Śrī Advaita Prabhu, went to see the Lord at Jagannātha Purī. (46) After attending the Ratha- yātrā ceremony at Jagannātha Purī, all the devotees remained there for four months, greatly enjoying the company of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu by performing kīrtana [chanting and dancing]. (47) At the time of departure, the Lord requested all the devotees, “Please come here every year to see the Ratha- yātrā festival of Lord Jagannātha’s journey to the Guṇḍicā temple.” (48) Following the order of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, all the devotees used to visit Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu every year. They would see the Guṇḍicā festival at Jagannātha Purī and then return home after four months. (49)
For twenty consecutive years this meeting took place, and the situation became so intense that the Lord and the devotees could not be happy without meeting one another. (50) The last twelve years were simply devoted to relishing the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa in separation within the heart of the Lord. (51) In the attitude of separation, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared mad both day and night. Sometimes He laughed, and sometimes He cried; sometimes He danced, and sometimes He chanted in great sorrow. (52) At those times, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu would visit Lord Jagannātha. Then His feelings exactly corresponded to those of the gopīs when they saw Kṛṣṇa at Kurukṣetra after long separation. Kṛṣṇa had come to Kurukṣetra with His brother and sister to visit. (53) When Caitanya Mahāprabhu used to dance before the car during the festival, He always sang the following two lines. (54)
“I have gotten that Lord of My life, for whom I was burning in the fire of lusty desires.” (55) Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu used to sing this song [seita parāṇa- nātha] especially during the latter part of the day, and He would think, “Let Me take Kṛṣṇa and go back to Vṛndāvana.” This ecstasy was always filling His heart. (56) In that ecstasy, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu recited a verse when dancing in front of Lord Jagannātha. Almost no one could understand the meaning of that verse. (57) “That very personality who stole away my heart during my youth is now again my master. These are the same moonlit nights of the month of Caitra. The same fragrance of mālatī flowers is there, and the same sweet breezes are blowing from the kadamba forest. In our intimate relationship, I am also the same lover, yet still my mind is not happy here. I am eager to go back to that place on the bank of the Revā under the Vetasī tree. That is my desire.” (58)
This verse appears to be the hankering between some ordinary boy and girl, but its actual deep meaning was known only to Svarūpa Dāmodara. By chance, one year Rūpa Gosvāmī was also present there. (59) Although the meaning of the verse was known only to Svarūpa Dāmodara, Rūpa Gosvāmī, after hearing it from Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, immediately composed another verse that described the meaning of the original verse. (60) After composing this verse, Rūpa Gosvāmī wrote it on a palm leaf and put it on the roof of the thatched house in which he was living. (61) After composing this verse and putting it on the roof of his house, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī went to bathe in the sea. In the meantime, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu went to his hut to meet him. (62) To avoid turmoil, three great personalities—Haridāsa Ṭhākura, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī—did not enter the temple of Jagannātha. (63)
Every day Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu used to see the upala- bhoga ceremony at the temple of Jagannātha, and after seeing this He used to go visit these three great personalities on His way to His own residence. (64) If one of these three was not present, He would meet the others. That was His regular practice. (65) When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu went to the residence of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, He accidentally saw the palm leaf on the roof, and thus He read the verse composed by him. (66) After reading the verse, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu went into an ecstatic mood. While He was in that state, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī came and immediately fell down on the floor like a rod. (67) When Rūpa Gosvāmī fell down like a rod, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu got up and gave him a slap. Then, taking him on His lap, He began to speak to him. (68) “No one knows the purport of My verse,” Caitanya Mahāprabhu said. “How could you understand My intention?” (69)
Saying this, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu bestowed various benedictions upon Rūpa Gosvāmī, and taking the verse, He later showed it to Svarūpa Gosvāmī. (70) Having shown the verse to Svarūpa Dāmodara with great wonder, Caitanya Mahāprabhu asked him how Rūpa Gosvāmī could understand the intentions of His mind. (71) Śrīla Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī replied to Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, “If Rūpa Gosvāmī can understand Your mind and intentions, he must have Your Lordship’s special benediction.” (72) The Lord said, “I was so pleased with Rūpa Gosvāmī that I embraced him and bestowed upon him all necessary potencies for preaching the bhakti cult. (73) “I accept Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī as quite fit to understand the confidential mellows of devotional service, and I recommend that you explain devotional service to him further.” (74) I shall describe all these incidents elaborately later on. Now I have given only a brief reference. (75)
[This is a verse spoken by Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.] “My dear friend, now I have met My very old and dear friend Kṛṣṇa on this field of Kurukṣetra. I am the same Rādhārāṇī, and now We are meeting together. It is very pleasant, but still I would like to go to the bank of the Yamunā beneath the trees of the forest there. I wish to hear the vibration of His sweet flute playing the fifth note within that forest of Vṛndāvana.” (76) Now, O devotees, please hear a brief explanation of this verse. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu was thinking in this way after having seen the Jagannātha Deity. (77) The subject of His thoughts was Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, who met Kṛṣṇa on the field of Kurukṣetra. Although She met Kṛṣṇa there, She was nonetheless thinking of Him in the following way. (78) She thought of Him in the calm and quiet atmosphere of Vṛndāvana, dressed as a cowherd boy. But at Kurukṣetra He was in a royal dress and was accompanied by elephants, horses and crowds of men. Thus the atmosphere was not congenial for Their meeting. (79)
Thus meeting with Kṛṣṇa and thinking of the Vṛndāvana atmosphere, Rādhārāṇī longed for Kṛṣṇa to take Her to Vṛndāvana again to fulfill Her desire in that calm atmosphere. (80) The gopīs spoke thus: “Dear Lord, whose navel is just like a lotus flower, Your lotus feet are the only shelter for those who have fallen into the deep well of material existence. Your feet are worshiped and meditated upon by great mystic yogīs and highly learned philosophers. We wish that these lotus feet may also be awakened within our hearts, although we are only ordinary persons engaged in household affairs.” (81) The gopīs thought, “Dear Lord, if Your lotus feet again come to our home in Vṛndāvana, our desires will be fulfilled.” (82) In one verse, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has explained the confidential meaning of the verse of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam for the understanding of the general populace. (83) The gopīs continued, “Dear Kṛṣṇa, the fragrance of the mellows of Your pastimes is spread throughout the forests of the glorious land of Vṛndāvana, which is surrounded by the sweetness of the district of Mathurā. In the congenial atmosphere of that wonderful land, You may enjoy Your pastimes, with Your flute dancing on Your lips, and surrounded by us, the gopīs, whose hearts are always enchanted by unpredictable ecstatic emotions.” (84)
In this way, when Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu saw Jagannātha, He saw that the Lord was with His sister Subhadrā and was not holding a flute in His hand. (85) Absorbed in the ecstasy of the gopīs, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu wished to see Lord Jagannātha in His original form as Kṛṣṇa, the son of Nanda Mahārāja, standing in Vṛndāvana and appearing very beautiful, His body curved in three places. His desire to see that form was always increasing. (86) Just as Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī talked inconsistently with a bumblebee in the presence of Uddhava, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in His ecstasy talked crazily and inconsistently day and night. (87) The last twelve years of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu were passed in this transcendental craziness. Thus He executed His last pastimes in three ways. (88) For the twenty- four years after Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted the renounced order, whatever pastimes He executed were unlimited and unfathomable. Who can understand the purport of such pastimes? (89) Just to indicate those pastimes, I am presenting a general survey of the chief pastimes in the form of a synopsis. (90)
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