Śrī Kṛṣṇa continued: “All the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana- dhāma—My mother, father, cowherd boyfriends and everything else— are like My life and soul. And among all the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, the gopīs are My very life and soul. And among the gopīs, You, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, are the chief. Therefore You are the very life of My life. (150) “My dear Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, I am always subservient to the loving affairs of all of you. I am under your control only. My separation from you and residence in distant places have occurred due to My strong misfortune. (151) “When a woman is separated from the man she loves or a man is separated from his beloved woman, neither of them can live. It is a fact that they live only for each other, for if one dies and the other hears of it, he or she will die also. (152)
“Such a loving, chaste wife and loving husband desire all welfare for each other in separation and do not care for personal happiness. Desiring only each other’s well- being, such a pair certainly meet again without delay. (153) “You are My most dear, and I know that in My absence You cannot live for a moment. Just to keep You living, I worship Lord Nārāyaṇa. By His merciful potency, I come to Vṛndāvana every day to enjoy pastimes with You. I then return to Dvārakā- dhāma. Thus You can always feel My presence there in Vṛndāvana. (154) “Our love affair is more powerful because of My good fortune in receiving Nārāyaṇa’s grace. This allows Me to come there unseen by others. I hope that very soon I will be visible to everyone. (155)
“I have already killed all the mischievous demons who are enemies of the Yadu dynasty, and I have also killed Kaṁsa and his allies. But there are two or four demons still living. I want to kill them, and after doing so I shall very soon return to Vṛndāvana. Please know this for certain. (156) “I wish to protect the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana from the attacks of My enemies. That is why I remain in My kingdom; otherwise I am indifferent to My royal position. Whatever wives, sons and wealth I maintain in the kingdom are only for the satisfaction of the Yadus. (157) “Your loving qualities always attract Me to Vṛndāvana. Indeed, they will bring Me back within ten or twenty days, and when I return I shall enjoy both day and night with You and all the damsels of Vrajabhūmi.” (158)
While speaking to Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, Kṛṣṇa became very anxious to return to Vṛndāvana. He made Her listen to a verse which banished all Her difficulties and which assured Her that She would again attain Kṛṣṇa. (159) Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa said: “Devotional service unto Me is the only way to attain Me. My dear gopīs, whatever love and affection you have attained for Me by good fortune is the only reason for My returning to you.” (160) Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu would sit in His room with Svarūpa Dāmodara and taste the topics of these verses day and night. (161) Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu danced completely absorbed in ecstatic emotion. While looking at the face of Lord Jagannātha, He danced and recited these verses. (162) No one can describe the good fortune of Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, for he is always absorbed in the service of the Lord with his body, mind and words. (163)
The senses of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu were identical with the senses of Svarūpa. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu used to become fully absorbed in tasting the singing of Svarūpa Dāmodara. (164) In emotional ecstasy, Caitanya Mahāprabhu would sometimes sit on the ground and, looking down, would write on the ground with His finger. (165) Fearing that the Lord would injure His finger by writing in this way, Svarūpa Dāmodara checked Him with his own hand. (166) Svarūpa Dāmodara used to sing exactly according to the ecstatic emotion of the Lord. Whenever a particular mellow was being tasted by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Svarūpa Dāmodara would personify it by singing. (167) Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu looked upon the beautiful lotuslike face and eyes of Lord Jagannātha. (168)
Lord Jagannātha was garlanded, dressed with nice garments and adorned with beautiful ornaments. His face was glittering from the rays of sunshine, and the entire atmosphere was fragrant. (169) An ocean of transcendental bliss expanded in the heart of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and symptoms of madness immediately intensified like a hurricane. (170) The madness of transcendental bliss created waves of various emotions. The emotions appeared like opposing soldiers staging a fight. (171) There was an increase in all the natural emotional symptoms. Thus there were awakening emotions, peacefulness, joined, mixed, transcendental and prevalent emotions, and impetuses for emotion. (172) Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s body appeared like a transcendental Himalayan mountain bearing ecstatic emotional flower trees, all of them blooming. (173) The sight of all these symptoms attracted everyone’s mind and consciousness. Indeed, the Lord sprinkled everyone’s mind with the nectar of transcendental love of Godhead. (174)
He sprinkled the minds of the servants of Lord Jagannātha, the government officers, the pilgrim visitors, the general populace and all the residents of Jagannātha Purī. (175) Upon seeing the dancing and ecstatic love of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, everyone became astonished. In their hearts they became infatuated with love of Kṛṣṇa. (176) Everyone danced and chanted in ecstatic love, and a great noise resounded. Everyone was overwhelmed with transcendental bliss just to see the dancing of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. (177) Apart from the others, even Lord Jagannātha and Lord Balarāma, with great happiness, began to move very slowly upon seeing the dancing of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. (178) Lord Jagannātha and Lord Balarāma sometimes stopped the car and happily observed Lord Caitanya’s dancing. Anyone who was able to see Them stop and watch the dancing bore witness to Their pastimes. (179)
When Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was dancing and wandering in this way, He fell down in front of Mahārāja Pratāparudra. (180) Mahārāja Pratāparudra picked the Lord up with great respect, but upon seeing the King, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu came to His external senses. (181) After seeing the King, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu condemned Himself, saying, “Oh, how pitiful it is that I have touched a person who is interested in mundane affairs!” (182) Not even Lord Nityānanda Prabhu, Kāśīśvara or Govinda took care of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu when He fell down. Nityānanda was in great ecstasy, and Kāśīśvara and Govinda were elsewhere. (183) Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu had already been satisfied by the King’s behavior, for the King had accepted the service of a sweeper for Lord Jagannātha. Therefore Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu actually desired to see the King. (184) However, just to warn His personal associates, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, externally expressed feelings of anger. (185)
King Pratāparudra became frightened when Lord Caitanya showed external anger, but Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya told the King, “Don’t worry.” (186) Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya informed the King, “The Lord is very satisfied with you. By pointing you out, He was teaching His personal associates how to behave with mundane people.” (187) Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya continued, “I shall submit your petition when there is an opportune moment. It will then be easy for you to come and meet the Lord.” (188) After circumambulating Jagannātha, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu went behind the car and began pushing it with His head. (189) As soon as He pushed, the car immediately started to move, making a rattling noise. The people all around began to chant the holy name of the Lord, “Hari! Hari!” (190) As the car began to move, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu took His personal associates in front of the cars occupied by Lord Balarāma and Subhadrā, the goddess of fortune. Greatly inspired, He then began to dance in front of them. (191)
After finishing the dance before Lord Baladeva and Subhadrā, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu came before Lord Jagannātha’s car. Upon seeing Lord Jagannātha, He began to dance again. (192) When they reached the place called Balagaṇḍi, Lord Jagannātha stopped His car and began to look left and right. (193) On the left side, Lord Jagannātha saw a neighborhood of brāhmaṇas and a coconut- tree grove. On the right side, He saw nice flower gardens resembling those in the holy place Vṛndāvana. (194) Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His devotees were dancing in front of the car, and Lord Jagannātha, having stopped the car, watched the dancing. (195) It was customary that food be offered to the Lord at vipra- śāsana. Indeed, innumerable dishes of food were offered, and Lord Jagannātha tasted each one of them. (196) All kinds of devotees of Lord Jagannātha— from neophytes to the most advanced— offered their best cooked food to the Lord. (197)
These devotees included the King, his queens, his ministers and friends and all other big and small residents of Jagannātha Purī. (198) All the visitors who had come from different countries to Jagannātha Purī, as well as the local devotees, offered their personally cooked food to the Lord. (199) The devotees offered their food everywhere—in front of the car and behind it, on the two sides and within the flower garden. Wherever possible, they made their offering to the Lord, for there were no hard and fast rules. (200) While the food was being offered, a large crowd of people gathered. At that time Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu stopped His dancing and went to a nearby garden. (201) Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu entered the garden and, immersed in great ecstatic emotion, fell flat on a raised platform there. (202) The Lord was very much fatigued from the hard labor of dancing, and there was perspiration all over His body. He therefore enjoyed the fragrant, cool breeze of the garden. (203) All the devotees who had been performing saṅkīrtana came there and took rest under each and every tree. (204)
Thus I have described the great performance of congregational chanting by Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu as He danced in front of Lord Jagannātha. (205) In his prayer known as the Caitanyāṣṭaka, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has given a vivid description of the Lord’s dancing before the car of Jagannātha. (206) “Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu danced down the main road in great ecstasy before Lord Jagannātha, the master of Nīlācala, who was sitting on His car. Overwhelmed by the transcendental bliss of dancing and surrounded by Vaiṣṇavas who sang the holy names, He manifested waves of ecstatic love of Godhead. When will Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu again be visible to my vision?” (207) Anyone who hears this description of the car festival will attain Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He will also attain the elevated state by which he will have firm conviction in devotional service and love of Godhead. (208) Praying at the lotus feet of Śrī Rūpa and Śrī Raghunātha, always desiring their mercy, I, Kṛṣṇadāsa, narrate Śrī Caitanya- caritāmṛta, following in their footsteps. (209)
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