Chaitanya Charitamrta | Madhya Lila | Chapter 14 | Section 105

Accompanied by His personal devotees, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu went to the festival known as Lakṣmī- vijayotsava. There He discussed the superexcellent love of the gopīs. Just by hearing about them, He became very pleased and danced in great ecstatic love for the Lord. (1) All glories to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, known as Gauracandra! All glories to Lord Nityānanda Prabhu! All glories to Advaita Ācārya, who is so exalted! (2) All glories to all the devotees, headed by Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura! All glories to the readers who have taken Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu as their life and soul! (3) While Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was resting in ecstatic love, Mahārāja Pratāparudra entered the garden. (4)

Following Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya’s instructions, the King had given up his royal dress. He now entered the garden in the dress of a Vaiṣṇava. (5) Mahārāja Pratāparudra was so humble that with folded hands he first took permission from all the devotees. Then, with great courage, he fell down and touched the lotus feet of the Lord. (6) As Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu lay on the raised platform with His eyes closed in ecstatic love and emotion, the King very expertly began to massage His legs. (7) The King began to recite verses about the rāsa- līlā from Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam. He recited the chapter beginning with the words “jayati te ’dhikam.” (8) When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu heard these verses, He was pleased beyond limits, and He said again and again, “Go on reciting, go on reciting.” (9) As soon as the King recited the verse beginning with the words “tava kathāmṛtam,” the Lord arose in ecstatic love and embraced him. (10)

Upon hearing the verse recited by the King, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “You have given Me invaluable gems, but I have nothing to give you in return. Therefore I am simply embracing you.” (11) After saying this, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu began to recite the same verse again and again. Both the King and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu were trembling, and tears were flowing from their eyes. (12) “‘My Lord, the nectar of Your words and the descriptions of Your activities are the life and soul of those who are always aggrieved in this material world. These narrations are transmitted by exalted personalities, and they eradicate all sinful reactions. Whoever hears these narrations attains all good fortune. These narrations are broadcast all over the world and are filled with spiritual power. Those who spread the message of Godhead are certainly the most munificent welfare workers.’” (13)

After reciting this verse, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu immediately embraced the King and cried, “You are the most munificent! You are the most munificent!” At this point Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not know who the King was. (14) Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s mercy was aroused because of the King’s previous service. Therefore, without even asking who he was, the Lord immediately bestowed His mercy upon him. (15) How powerful is the mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu! Without even inquiring about the King, the Lord made everything successful. (16) Finally Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “Who are you? You have done so much for Me. All of a sudden you have come here and made Me drink the nectar of the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa.” (17) The King replied, “My Lord, I am the most obedient servant of Your servants. It is my ambition that You will accept me as the servant of Your servants.” (18) At that time, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu displayed some of His divine opulences to the King, and He forbade him to disclose this to anyone. (19)

Although within His heart Caitanya Mahāprabhu knew everything that was happening, externally He did not disclose it. Nor did He disclose that He knew He was talking with King Pratāparudra. (20) Seeing the Lord’s special mercy upon King Pratāparudra, the devotees praised the King’s good fortune, and their minds became open and blissful. (21) Submissively offering prayers to the devotees with folded hands and offering obeisances to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the King went outside. (22) After this, Vāṇīnātha Rāya brought all kinds of prasādam, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted lunch with the devotees. (23) The King also sent a large quantity of prasādam through Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, Rāmānanda Rāya and Vāṇīnātha Rāya. (24) The prasādam sent by the King had been offered at the Balagaṇḍi festival and included uncooked milk products and fruits. It was all of the finest quality, and there was no end to the variety. (25) There were curd, fruit juice, coconut, mango, dried coconut, jackfruit, various kinds of bananas and palm- fruit seeds. (26)

There were also oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, almonds, dried fruit, raisins and dates. (27) There were hundreds of different types of sweetmeats like manoharā- lāḍu, sweets like amṛta- guṭikā and various types of condensed milk. (28) There were also papayas and saravatī, a type of orange, and also crushed squash. There were also regular cream, fried cream and a type of purī made with cream. (29) There were also the sweets known as hari- vallabha and sweets made of seṅoti flowers, karpūra flowers and mālatī flowers. There were pomegranates, sweets made with black pepper, sweets made with fused sugar, and amṛti- jilipi. (30)

There were lotus- flower sugar, a kind of bread made from urad dhal, crispy sweetmeats, sugar candy, fried- rice sweets, sesame- seed sweets and cookies made from sesame seeds. (31) There were sugar- candy sweetmeats formed into the shape of orange, lemon and mango trees and arranged with fruits, flowers and leaves. (32) There were yogurt, milk, butter, buttermilk, fruit juice, a preparation made of fried yogurt and sugar candy, and salty mung- dhal sprouts with shredded ginger. (33) There were also various types of pickles—lemon pickle, berry pickle and so on. Indeed, I am not able to describe the variety of food offered to Lord Jagannātha. (34) When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu saw half the garden filled with a variety of prasādam, He was very satisfied. (35) Indeed, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was fully satisfied just to see how Lord Jagannātha accepted all the food. (36)

There then arrived five or seven loads of plates made of the leaves of the ketakī tree. Each man was supplied ten of these plates, and in this way the leaf dishes were distributed. (37) Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu understood the labor of all the kīrtana chanters; therefore He was very eager to feed them sumptuously. (38) All the devotees sat down in lines, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu personally began to distribute the prasādam. (39) But the devotees would not accept the prasādam until Caitanya Mahāprabhu took it. Svarūpa Gosvāmī informed the Lord of this. (40) Svarūpa Dāmodara said, “My Lord, please sit down. No one will eat until You do.” (41) At that time, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu sat down with His personal associates and had every one of them fed very sumptuously until they were filled to the necks. (42) After finishing, the Lord washed His mouth and sat down. There was so much extra prasādam that it was distributed to thousands. (43)

Following the orders of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Govinda, His personal servant, called for all the poor beggars, who were unhappy due to their poverty, and fed them sumptuously. (44) Observing the beggars eating prasādam, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu chanted, “Haribol!” and instructed them to chant the holy name. (45) As soon as the beggars chanted the holy name, “Haribol,” they were immediately absorbed in ecstatic love of Godhead. In this way Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu performed wonderful pastimes. (46) Outside the garden, when it was time to pull Jagannātha’s car, all the workers called gauḍas tried to pull it, but it would not move forward. (47)

When the gauḍas saw that they could not budge the car, they abandoned the attempt. Then the King arrived in great anxiety, and he was accompanied by his officers and friends. (48) The King then arranged for big wrestlers to try to pull the car, and even the King himself joined in, but the car could not be moved. (49) Becoming even more anxious to move the car, the King had very strong elephants brought forth and harnessed to it. (50) The strong elephants pulled with all their strength, but still the car remained at a standstill, not budging an inch. (51) As soon as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu heard this news, He went there with all His personal associates. They then stood there and watched the elephants try to pull the car. (52)

The elephants, being beaten by the elephant- goad, were crying, but still the car would not move. The assembled people cried out, “Alas!” (53) At that time, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu let all the elephants go free and placed the car’s ropes in the hands of His own men. (54) Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu then went to the back of the car and began to push with His head. It was then that the car began to move and roll along, making a rattling sound. (55) Indeed, the car began to move automatically, and the devotees simply carried the ropes in their hands. Since it was moving effortlessly, they did not need to pull it. (56) When the car moved forward, everyone began to chant with great pleasure, “All glories! All glories!” and “All glories to Lord Jagannātha!” No one could hear anything else. (57)

In a moment the car reached the door of the Guṇḍicā temple. Upon seeing the uncommon strength of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, all the people were struck with wonder. (58) The crowd made a tumultuous vibration, chanting “Jaya Gauracandra! Jaya Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya!” Then the people began to chant, “Wonderful! Wonderful!” (59) Seeing the greatness of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Pratāparudra Mahārāja and his ministers and friends were so moved by ecstatic love that the hair on their bodies stood on end. (60) All the servants of Lord Jagannātha then took Him down from the car, and the Lord went to sit on His throne. (61) Subhadrā and Balarāma also sat on their respective thrones. There followed the bathing of Lord Jagannātha and finally the offering of food. (62)

While Lord Jagannātha, Lord Balarāma and Subhadrā sat on their respective thrones, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His devotees began to perform saṅkīrtana with great pleasure, chanting and dancing in the yard of the temple. (63) While Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was chanting and dancing, He was overwhelmed with ecstatic love, and all the people who saw Him were also flooded in the ocean of love of Godhead. (64) In the evening, after finishing His dancing in the yard of the Guṇḍicā temple, the Lord observed the ārati ceremony. Thereafter He went to a place called Aiṭoṭā and took rest for the night. (65) For nine days, nine chief devotees, headed by Advaita Ācārya, got an opportunity to invite the Lord to their homes. (66) During the four months of the rainy season, the remaining devotees extended invitations to the Lord for one day each. In this way they shared invitations. (67)

For the four- month period, all the daily invitations were shared among the important devotees. The rest of the devotees did not get an opportunity to extend an invitation to the Lord. (68) Since they could not get one day each, two or three devotees combined to extend an invitation. These are the pastimes of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s acceptance of invitations. (69) After taking His bath early in the morning, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu would go see Lord Jagannātha in the temple. Then He would perform saṅkīrtana with His devotees. (70)

By chanting and dancing, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu induced Advaita Ācārya to dance. Sometimes He induced Nityānanda Prabhu, Haridāsa Ṭhākura and Acyutānanda to dance. (71) Sometimes Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu engaged Vakreśvara and other devotees in chanting and dancing. Three times daily—morning, noon and evening—He would perform saṅkīrtana in the yard of the Guṇḍicā temple. (72) At this time Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu felt that Lord Kṛṣṇa had returned to Vṛndāvana. Thinking this, His feelings of separation from Kṛṣṇa subsided. (73) Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was always thinking of the pastimes of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, and He remained personally merged in this consciousness. (74)