Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Sri Caitanya Caritamrta

CC Antya 19 Summary

CC Antya 19.1: Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the most exalted of all devotees of mothers, spoke like a madman and rubbed His face against the walls. Overwhelmed by emotions of ecstatic love, He would sometimes enter the Jagannatha-vallabha garden to perform His pastimes. I offer my respectful obeisances unto Him.

CC Antya 19.2: All glories to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu! All glories to Lord Nityananda! All glories to Advaita Acarya! And all glories to all the devotees of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu!

CC Antya 19.3: In the ecstasy of love of Krsna, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu thus behaved like a madman, talking insanely all day and night.

CC Antya 19.4: Jagadananda Pandita was a very dear devotee of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The Lord derived great pleasure from his activities.

CC Antya 19.5: Knowing His mother to be greatly afflicted by separation from Him, the Lord would send Jagadananda Pandita to Navadvipa every year to console her.

CC Antya 19.6: Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu told Jagadananda Pandita, "Go to Nadia and offer My obeisances to My mother. Touch her lotus feet in My name.

CC Antya 19.7: "Tell her for Me, 'Please remember that I come here every day and offer My respects to your lotus feet.

CC Antya 19.8: "'Any day you desire to feed Me, I certainly come and accept what you offer.

CC Antya 19.9: "'I have given up service to you and have accepted the vow of sannyasa. I have thus become mad and have destroyed the principles of religion.

CC Antya 19.10: "'Mother, please do not take this as an offense, for I, your son, am completely dependent upon you.

CC Antya 19.11: "'I am staying here at Nilacala, Jagannatha Puri, according to your order. As long as I live, I shall not leave this place.'"

CC Antya 19.12: Following the order of Paramananda Puri, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu sent His mother the prasada clothing left by Lord Jagannatha after His pastimes as a cowherd boy.

CC Antya 19.13: Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu very carefully brought first-class prasadam from Lord Jagannatha and sent it in separate packages to His mother and the devotees at Nadia.

CC Antya 19.14: Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the topmost gem of all devotees of mothers. He rendered service to His mother even after He had accepted the vow of sannyasa.

CC Antya 19.15: Jagadananda Pandita thus went to Nadia, and when he met Sacimata, he conveyed to her all the Lord's salutations.

CC Antya 19.16: He then met all the other devotees, headed by Advaita Acarya, and gave them the prasadam of Jagannatha. After staying for one month, he took permission from mother Saci to leave.

CC Antya 19.17: When he went to Advaita Acarya and also asked His permission to return, Advaita Prabhu gave him a message to deliver to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

CC Antya 19.18: Advaita Acarya had written a sonnet in equivocal language with an import that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu could understand but others could not.

CC Antya 19.19: In His sonnet, Advaita Prabhu first offered His obeisances hundreds and thousands of times unto the lotus feet of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He then submitted the following statement at His lotus feet.

CC Antya 19.20: "Please inform Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is acting like a madman, that everyone here has become mad like Him. Inform Him also that in the marketplace rice is no longer in demand.

CC Antya 19.21: "Further tell Him that those now mad in ecstatic love are no longer interested in the material world. Also tell Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu that one who has also become a madman in ecstatic love [Advaita Prabhu] has spoken these words."

CC Antya 19.22: When he heard Advaita Acarya's statement, Jagadananda Pandita began to laugh, and when he returned to Jagannatha Puri, Nilacala, he informed Caitanya Mahaprabhu of everything.

CC Antya 19.23: After hearing the equivocal sonnet by Advaita Acarya, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu quietly smiled. "That is His order," He said. Then He fell silent.

CC Antya 19.24: Although he knew the secret, Svarupa Damodara Gosvami inquired from the Lord, "What is the meaning of this sonnet? I could not understand it."

CC Antya 19.25: Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu replied, "Advaita Acarya is a great worshiper of the Lord and is very expert in the regulative principles enjoined in the Vedic literatures.

CC Antya 19.26: "Advaita Acarya invites the Lord to come and be worshiped, and to perform the worship He keeps the Deity for some time.

CC Antya 19.27: "After the worship is completed, He sends the Deity somewhere else. I do not know the meaning of this sonnet, nor do I know what is in Advaita Prabhu's mind.

CC Antya 19.28: "Advaita Acarya is a great mystic. No one can understand Him. He is expert in writing sonnets that even I Myself cannot understand."

CC Antya 19.29: Hearing this, all the devotees were astonished, especially Svarupa Damodara, who became somewhat morose.

CC Antya 19.30: From that day on, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's emotional state changed markedly; His feelings of separation from Krsna doubled in intensity.

CC Antya 19.31: As His feelings of separation in the ecstasy of Srimati Radharani increased at every moment, the Lord's activities, both day and night, were now wild, insane performances.

CC Antya 19.32: Suddenly there awoke within Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu the scene of Lord Krsna's departure to Mathura, and He began exhibiting the symptom of ecstatic madness known as udghurna.

CC Antya 19.33: Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu spoke like a madman, holding Ramananda Raya by the neck, and He questioned Svarupa Damodara, thinking him to be His gopi friend.

CC Antya 19.34: Just as Srimati Radharani inquired from Her personal friend Visakha, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, reciting that very verse, began speaking like a madman.

CC Antya 19.35: "'My dear friend, where is Krsna, who is like the moon rising from the ocean of Maharaja Nanda's dynasty? Where is Krsna, His head decorated with a peacock feather? Where is He? Where is Krsna, whose flute produces such a deep sound? Oh, where is Krsna, whose bodily luster is like the luster of the blue indranila jewel? Where is Krsna, who is so expert in rasa dancing? Oh, where is He, who can save My life? Kindly tell Me where to find Krsna, the treasure of My life and best of My friends. Feeling separation from Him, I hereby condemn Providence, the shaper of My destiny.'

CC Antya 19.36: "The family of Maharaja Nanda is just like an ocean of milk, wherein Lord Krsna has arisen like the full moon to illuminate the entire universe. The eyes of the residents of Vraja are like cakora birds that continuously drink the nectar of His bodily luster and thus live peacefully.

CC Antya 19.37: "My dear friend, where is Krsna? Kindly let Me see Him. My heart breaks at not seeing His face even for a moment. Kindly show Him to Me immediately; otherwise I cannot live.

CC Antya 19.38: "The women of Vrndavana are just like lilies growing hot in the sun of lusty desires. But moonlike Krsna makes them all jubilant by bestowing upon them the nectar of His hands. O My dear friend, where is My moon now? Save My life by showing Him to Me!

CC Antya 19.39: "My dear friend, where is that beautiful helmet with a peacock feather upon it like a rainbow upon a new cloud? Where are those yellow garments, shining like lightning? And where is that necklace of pearls that resemble flocks of ducks flying in the sky? The blackish body of Krsna triumphs over the new blackish rain cloud.

CC Antya 19.40: "If a person's eyes even once capture that beautiful body of Krsna, it remains always prominent within his heart. Krsna's body resembles the sap of the mango tree, for when it enters the minds of women, it will not come out, despite great endeavor. Thus Krsna's extraordinary body is like a thorn of the seya berry tree.

CC Antya 19.41: "Krsna's bodily luster shines like the indranila gem and surpasses the luster of the tamala tree. The luster of His body drives the entire world mad because Providence has made it transparent by refining the essence of the mellow of conjugal love and mixing it with moonshine.

CC Antya 19.42: "The deep vibration of Krsna's flute surpasses the thundering of new clouds and attracts the aural reception of the entire world. Thus the inhabitants of Vrndavana rise and pursue that sound, drinking the showering nectar of Krsna's bodily luster like thirsty cataka birds.

CC Antya 19.43: "Krsna is the reservoir of art and culture, and He is the panacea that saves My life. O My dear friend, since I live without Him, who is the best among My friends, I condemn the duration of My life. I think that Providence has cheated Me in many ways.

CC Antya 19.44: "Why does Providence continue the life of one who does not wish to live?" This thought aroused anger and lamentation in Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who then recited a verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam that chastises Providence and makes an accusation against Krsna.

CC Antya 19.45: "'O Providence, you have no mercy! You bring embodied souls together through friendship and affection, but before their desires are fulfilled, you separate them. Your activities are like the foolish pranks of children.'

CC Antya 19.46: "Providence, you do not know the purport of loving affairs, and therefore you baffle all Our endeavors. This is very childish of you. If We could catch you, We would give you such a lesson that you would never again make such arrangements.

CC Antya 19.47: "Oh, cruel Providence! You are very unkind, for you bring together in love people who are rarely in touch with each other. Then, after you have made Them meet but before They are fulfilled, you again spread Them far apart.

CC Antya 19.48: "O Providence, you are so unkind! You reveal the beautiful face of Krsna and make the mind and eyes greedy, but after they have drunk that nectar for only a moment, you whisk Krsna away to another place. This is a great sin because you thus take away what you have given as charity.

CC Antya 19.49: "O misbehaved Providence! If you reply to Us, 'Akrura is actually at fault; why are You angry with me?' then I say to you, 'Providence, you have taken the form of Akrura and have stolen Krsna away. No one else would behave like this.'

CC Antya 19.50: "But this is the fault of My own destiny. Why should I needlessly accuse you? There is no intimate relationship between you and Me. Krsna, however, is My life and soul. It is We who live together, and it is He who has become so cruel.

CC Antya 19.51: "He for whom I have left everything is personally killing Me with His own hands. Krsna has no fear of killing women. Indeed, I am dying for Him, but He doesn't even turn back to look at Me. Within a moment, He has broken off Our loving affairs.

CC Antya 19.52: "Yet why should I be angry with Krsna? It is the fault of My own misfortune. The fruit of My sinful activities has ripened, and therefore Krsna, who has always been dependent on My love, is now indifferent. This means that My misfortune is very strong."

CC Antya 19.53: In this way, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu lamented in the mood of separation, "Alas, alas! O Krsna, where have You gone?" Feeling in His heart the ecstatic emotions of the gopis, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu agonized in their words, saying, "O Govinda! O Damodara! O Madhava!"

CC Antya 19.54: Svarupa Damodara and Ramananda Raya then devised various means to pacify the Lord. They sang songs of meeting that transformed His heart and made His mind peaceful.

CC Antya 19.55: As Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu lamented in this way, half the night passed. Then Svarupa Damodara made the Lord lie down in the room known as the Gambhira.

CC Antya 19.56: After the Lord was made to lie down, Ramananda Raya returned home, and Svarupa Damodara and Govinda lay down at the door of the Gambhira.

CC Antya 19.57: Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu stayed awake all night, chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, His mind overwhelmed by spiritual ecstasy.

CC Antya 19.58: Feeling separation from Krsna, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was so distraught that in great anxiety He stood up and began rubbing His face against the walls of the Gambhira.

CC Antya 19.59: Blood oozed from the many injuries on His mouth, nose and cheeks, but due to His ecstatic emotions, the Lord did not know it.

CC Antya 19.60: In ecstasy, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu rubbed His face against the walls all night long, making a peculiar sound, "gon-gon," which Svarupa Damodara could hear through the door.

CC Antya 19.61: Lighting a lamp, Svarupa Damodara and Govinda entered the room. When they saw the Lord's face, they were filled with sorrow.

CC Antya 19.62: They brought the Lord to His bed, calmed Him and then asked, "Why have You done this to Yourself?"

CC Antya 19.63: Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu 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.

CC Antya 19.64: "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."

CC Antya 19.65: In this state of madness, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mind was unsteady. Whatever He said or did was all symptomatic of madness.

CC Antya 19.66: Svarupa Damodara was very anxious, but then he had an idea. The following day, he and the other devotees considered it together.

CC Antya 19.67: After consulting with one another, they entreated Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to allow Sankara Pandita to lie down in the same room with Him.

CC Antya 19.68: Thus Sankara Pandita lay at the feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and the Lord placed His legs upon Sankara's body.

CC Antya 19.69: Sankara became celebrated by the name Prabhu-padopadhana ["the pillow of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu"]. He was like Vidura, as Sukadeva Gosvami previously described him.

CC Antya 19.70: "When submissive Vidura, the resting place of the legs of Lord Krsna, had thus spoken to Maitreya, Maitreya began speaking, his hair standing on end due to the transcendental pleasure of discussing topics concerning Lord Krsna."

CC Antya 19.71: Sankara massaged the legs of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, but while massaging he would fall asleep and thus lie down.

CC Antya 19.72: He would lie asleep without a covering on his body, and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu would get up and wrap him with His own quilt.

CC Antya 19.73: Sankara Pandita would always fall asleep, but he would quickly awaken, sit up and again begin massaging the legs of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. In this way he would stay awake the entire night.

CC Antya 19.74: Out of fear of Sankara, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu could neither leave His room nor rub His lotuslike face against the walls.

CC Antya 19.75: This pastime of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's has been described very nicely by Raghunatha dasa Gosvami in his book known as Gauranga-stava-kalpavrksa.

CC Antya 19.76: "Because of separation from His many friends in Vrndavana, who were like His own life, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu 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 Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu rise in my heart and make me mad with love."

CC Antya 19.77: In this way Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu stayed immersed day and night in an ocean of ecstatic love for Krsna. Sometimes He was submerged, and sometimes He floated.

CC Antya 19.78: One full-moon night in the month of Vaisakha [April-May], Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu went to a garden.

CC Antya 19.79: The Lord, along with His devotees, entered one of the nicest gardens, called Jagannatha-vallabha.

CC Antya 19.80: In the garden were fully blossomed trees and creepers exactly like those in Vrndavana. Bumblebees and birds like the suka, sari and pika talked with one another.

CC Antya 19.81: A mild breeze was blowing, carrying the fragrance of aromatic flowers. The breeze had become a guru and was teaching all the trees and creepers how to dance.

CC Antya 19.82: Brightly illuminated by the full moon, the trees and creepers glittered in the light.

CC Antya 19.83: The six seasons, especially spring, seemed present there. Seeing the garden, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, was very happy.

CC Antya 19.84: In this atmosphere, the Lord had His associates sing the verse from the Gita-govinda beginning with the words "lalita-lavanga-lata" as He danced and wandered about with them.

CC Antya 19.85: As He thus wandered around every tree and creeper, He came beneath an asoka tree and suddenly saw Lord Krsna.

CC Antya 19.86: When He saw Krsna, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu began running very swiftly, but Krsna smiled and disappeared.

CC Antya 19.87: Having gotten Krsna and then lost Him, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu fell to the ground unconscious.

CC Antya 19.88: The entire garden was filled with the scent of Lord Sri Krsna's transcendental body. When Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu smelled it, He fell unconscious at once.

CC Antya 19.89: But the scent of Krsna's body incessantly entered His nostrils, and the Lord became mad to relish it.

CC Antya 19.90: Srimati Radharani once spoke a verse to Her gopi friends describing how She hankers for the transcendental scent of Krsna's body. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu recited that same verse and made its meaning clear.

CC Antya 19.91: "'The scent of Krsna's transcendental body surpasses the aroma of musk and attracts the minds of all women. The eight lotuslike parts of His body distribute the fragrance of lotuses mixed with that of camphor. His body is anointed with aromatic substances like musk, camphor, sandalwood and aguru. O My dear friend, that Personality of Godhead, also known as the enchanter of Cupid, always increases the desire of My nostrils.'

CC Antya 19.92: "The scent of Krsna's body surpasses the fragrances of musk and the bluish lotus flower. Spreading throughout the fourteen worlds, it attracts everyone and makes the eyes of all women blind.

CC Antya 19.93: "My dear friend, the scent of Krsna's body enchants the entire world. It especially enters the nostrils of women and remains seated there. Thus it captures them and forcibly brings them to Krsna.

CC Antya 19.94: "Krsna's eyes, navel and face, hands and feet are like eight lotus flowers on His body. From those eight lotuses emanates a fragrance like a mixture of camphor and lotus. That is the scent associated with His body.

CC Antya 19.95: "When sandalwood pulp is mixed with aguru, kunkuma, musk and camphor and spread on Krsna's body, it combines with Krsna's own original bodily perfume and seems to cover it.

CC Antya 19.96: "The scent of Krsna's transcendental body is so attractive that it enchants the bodies and minds of all women. It bewilders their nostrils, loosens their belts and hair, and makes them madwomen. All the women of the world come under its influence, and therefore the scent of Krsna's body is like a plunderer.

CC Antya 19.97: "Falling completely under its influence, the nostrils yearn for it continuously, although sometimes they obtain it and sometimes not. When they do they drink their fill, though they still want more and more, but if they don't, out of thirst they die.

CC Antya 19.98: "The dramatic actor Madana-mohana has opened a shop of scents that attract the women of the world to be His customers. He delivers the scents freely, but they make the women all so blind they cannot find the path returning home."

CC Antya 19.99: Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, His mind thus stolen by the scent of Krsna's body, ran here and there like a bumblebee. He ran to the trees and plants, hoping that Lord Krsna would appear, but instead He found only that scent.

CC Antya 19.100: Both Svarupa Damodara and Ramananda Raya sang to the Lord, who danced and enjoyed happiness until the morning arrived. Then the Lord's two associates devised a plan to bring Him to external consciousness.

CC Antya 19.101: Thus, I, Krsnadasa, the servant of Srila Rupa Gosvami, have sung of four divisions of the Lord's pastimes in this chapter: the Lord's devotion to His mother, His words of madness, His rubbing His face against the walls at night, and His dancing at the appearance of Lord Krsna's fragrance.

CC Antya 19.102: Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu thus returned to external consciousness. He then bathed and went to see Lord Jagannatha.

CC Antya 19.103: The pastimes of Lord Krsna are uncommonly full of transcendental potency. It is a characteristic of such pastimes that they do not fall within the jurisdiction of experimental logic and arguments.

CC Antya 19.104: When transcendental love of Krsna awakens in someone's heart, even a learned scholar cannot comprehend his activities.

CC Antya 19.105: "The activities and symptoms of that exalted personality in whose heart love of Godhead has awakened cannot be understood even by the most learned scholar."

CC Antya 19.106: The activities of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu are undoubtedly uncommon, especially His talking like a madman. Therefore, one who hears of these pastimes should not put forward mundane arguments. He should simply hear the pastimes with full faith.

CC Antya 19.107: The evidence of the truth of these talks is found in Srimad-Bhagavatam. There, in the section of the Tenth Canto known as the Bhramara-gita, "The Song to the Bumblebee," Srimati Radharani speaks insanely in ecstatic love for Krsna.

CC Antya 19.108: The songs of the queens at Dvaraka, which are mentioned at the end of the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, have a very special meaning. They are not understood even by the most learned scholars.

CC Antya 19.109: If one becomes a servant of the servants of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Lord Nityananda Prabhu and is favored by Them, he can believe in all these discourses.

CC Antya 19.110: Just try to hear these topics with faith, for there is great pleasure even in hearing them. That hearing will destroy all miseries pertaining to the body, mind and other living entities, and the unhappiness of false arguments as well.

CC Antya 19.111: Sri Caitanya-caritamrta is ever-increasingly fresh. For one who hears it again and again, the heart and ear become pacified.

CC Antya 19.112: Praying at the lotus feet of Sri Rupa and Sri Raghunatha, always desiring their mercy, I, Krsnadasa, narrate Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, following in their footsteps.

Copyright (c) The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness