Shri Krishna Chaitanya-carita Mahakavya
BY: SUN STAFF
Jan 31, CANADA (SUN) — A serial presentation of Shri Krishna Chaitanya-carita Mahakavya, written by Shrila Murari Gupta (1513 A.D.). Translation into English by Bhaktivedanta Bhagavata Swami.
Third Prakrama - Seventeenth Sarga
devananda-anugrahah
The Lord Shows Mercy to Devananda Panita
ekada bhagavan kno / bhakta-varga-samanvitah
provaca mathura yami / bhavadbhir anumoditah 1
ekada - once; bhagavan - the all-opulent Lord; kna - the all-attractive; bhakta-varga - the assembly of devotees; samanvitah - together with; provaca - He said; mathuram - to the birth-place of Krishna; yami - I am going; bhavadbhi - by your honors; anumoditah - approved.
One day, when the all-opulent Lord Shri Krishna was in the presence of His bhaktas, He said, "If you gentlemen agree, I shall now depart for Mathura."
ucus te duhkha-santapta / baddhanjalim avasthitah
katha ke tyaktum icchanti / pada te 'mburuhekana 2
ucu - they said; te - they; duhkha-santapta - burning with grief; baddha-anjalim - with folded hands; avasthitah - stood; katham - how?; ke - who?; tyaktum - to give up; icchanti - desire; padam - feet; te - Your; ambu-ruha-ikana - O lotus-eyed one.
Burning by distress, the bhaktas stood near Him with folded hands and said, "O lotus-eyed one, how could anyone desire to give up the shelter of Your feet?
yatas tva tatra tirtha / cakhila vndavana madhu
asin murti-dhara parshve / tava seva-parayanam 3
yata - where; tvam - You; tatra - that place; tirtham - the holy places; ca - and; akhilam - all; vndavanam - the forest of tulasi; madhu - Madhupuri; asit - there was; murti-dharam - personified; parshve - at the side; tava - Your; seva-parayanam - eager to do service.
"Besides, wherever Your Lordship is, there Vrindavana, Madhupuri, and all the personified holy places certainly stand by Your side, eager to render service.
lila-sukha-vinodaya / yasyasi mathura prabho
tathapi tan samuddharttu / tratum arhasi duhkhitan 4
lila-sukha-vinodaya - to enjoy pleasure-pastimes; yasyasi - You shall go; mathuram - to Krishna's eternal birth-place; prabho - O Master; tathapi - still; tan - those; samuddhartum - to uplift; tratum - to protect; arhasi - You ought; duhkhitan - the unhappy.
"O Prabhu, You are journeying to Mathura to enjoy pleasure-pastimes. However, You should also protect and uplift Your servants, who are now afflicted by grief."
ayasye shighram eveti / tan santvayya daya-nidhih
gacchan ganga-darshanaya / vacaspati-gha prati 5
ayasye - I shall return; shighram - soon; eva - certainly; iti - thus; tan - them; santvaya - conciliating; daya-nidhih - the ocean of mercy; gacchan - going; ganga-darshanaya - to see the Ganga; vacaspati-gham - the house of Vacaspati; prati - towards.
The ocean of compassion consoled them, "Before long I shall surely return." Then He departed for the house of Vacaspati in order to take darshana of Ganga.
nsihanandas tat shrutva / manasi paricintayan
janghalan datum arabdhah / ketran madhupuravadhi 6
svarna-raupya-pravaladyair / mani-ratna-ganadibhih
sukma-sukma-cina-vastrair / nirvntaih pupa-rajibhih 7
nsihananda - Nrisihananda Brahmacari; tat - that; shrutva - hearing; manasi - in his mind; paricintayan - meditating; janghalan - a path; datum - to give; arabdhah - began; ketrat - from Puri; madhupura - Mathura; avadhi - as far as; svarna - gold; raupya - silver; pravala - coral; adyai - and so on; mani - pearls; ratna-gana - jewels; adibhih - and so on; sukma-sukma - very fine; cina-vastrai - with silk cloths; nirvntaih - without stems; pupa-rajibhih - with festoons of flowers.
When Nrisihananda Brahmacari heard news of the Lord's departure, he meditated on the route of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Thus he mentally decorated the pathway from Jagannatha Puri all the way to Madhupuri with gold, silver, coral, pearls, jewels, very fine silken cloth, and festoons of choice flowers without stems.
jalashayeu jala-jaih / padma-nilotpaladibhih
shobhita ratna-ghattaish ca / hasa-jai jala-kukkutaih 8
jala-ashayeu - in ponds of water; jala-jaih - with fish; padma - lotuses; nila-utpala-adibhih - headed by the blue lotus; shobhitam - beautified; ratna-ghattai - with jeweled steps; ca - and; hasa-jai - with cygnets; jala-kukkutaih - with waterfowl.
He also constructed ponds of clear water, by the pathway, wherein multicolored fish swam, and which were beautified by many kinds of lotus flowers headed by the blue lotus, and also by young swans and variegated waterfowl. Jewelled steps gave access to the water of these ponds.
eva kramena sanniya / natya-sthalam api dvijah
alekhya vana-lila ta / smaran knasya vikramam 9
evam - thus; kramena - gradually; sanniya - bringing; natya-sthalam - to the town Kanai Natashala; api - indeed; dvijah - the brahmana; alekhya - designed; vana-lilam - forest pastimes; tam - that; smaran - remembering; knasya - of Krishna; vikramam - prowess.
Thus, that brahmana gradually constructed the road in his mind up to the town of Kanai Natashala. There he created scenes for Shri Krishna's forest pastimes while remembering the heroic qualities of the Lord.
prabhor api sva-bhaktana / paka-patitvam eva ca
sukhi-bhutva hasan ntyan / praha bhakta-janagratah 10
prabho - of the Master; api - verily; sva-bhaktanam - of His devotees; paka-patitvam - favoring the side; eva - indeed; ca - and; sukhi-bhutva - becoming happy; hasan - laughing; ntyan - dancing; praha - he said; bhakta-jana-agratah - in the presence of the devotees.
Nrisihananda became happy while thinking of Mahaprabhu's special kindness to those who accept His shelter. Then laughing and dancing, he declared in the presence of all the devotees:
adhuna na gamiyati / mathura bhagavan prati
ayasyatiti janantu / kna-natya-sthalad api 11
adhuna - presently; na - not; gamiyati - He will go; mathuram - to the birth-place of Krishna; bhagavan - the illustrious Lord; prati - to; ayasyati - He will return; iti - thus; janantu - you should know; kna-natya-sthalat - from Krishna's dancing pavilion; api - just.
"For the present Bhagavan Shri Chaitanya will not reach Mathura. Your graces should know that He will return here just after reaching a certain dancing pavilion prepared for Shri Krishna (at the town of Kanai Natashala)."
shrutva bhakta-ganah sarvve / tad-vakyam amta shubham
pibantas ta parikramya / dandavat patita bhuvi 12
shrutva - hearing; bhakta-ganah - the group of devotees; sarve - all; tat-vakyam - his words; amtam - immortal; shubham - auspicious; pibanta - drinking; tam - him; parikramya - circumambulating; danda-vat - like rods; patita - falling; bhuvi - on the earth.
All the bhaktas drank these welcome words through their ears like nectar. Then they circumambulated Nrisihananda and fell before him like rods on the earth.
so 'namat prema-purnatma / samalingya parasparam
praptas tad-darshana-sukha / babhuvur ati-haritah 13
sa - he; anamat - bowed down; prema-purna-atma - a soul filled with love; samalingya - embracing; parasparam - one another; prapta - having obtained; tat-darshana-sukham - the happiness of His association; babhuvu - they were; ati-haritah - very jubilant.
Nrisihananda, his heart completely overflowing with Gaura-prema, also prostrated himself before them. All of them embraced one another, and at that moment they felt the happiness of seeing Gauranga and became profoundly jubilant.
tato jagan-mangalam acyutah svaya / shri-kna-sankirttanam eva ktva
vacaspater brahmana-sattamasya / grha samiyat sva-janaih paritah 14
tata - at that time; jagat-mangalam - auspicious for the worlds; acyutah - the infallible Lord; svayam - Himself; shri-kna-sankirtanam - congregational chanting of Shri Krishna's names; eva - indeed; ktva - having done; vacaspate - of Vacaspati; brahmana-sattamasya - of the purest of brahmanas; grham - home; samiyat - He went; sva-janaih - by His men; paritah - surrounded.
Meanwhile, the infallible Lord Himself surrounded by His own men, was performing all auspicious Krishna-sankirtana, had just reached the house of the pure brahmana, Vacaspati.
shriman-navadvipa-nivasino ye / 'pare jana ye sura-loka-vasinah
murttya su-dtva mukha-pankaja prabhor / vanchanti te netra-shata hi sarvvatah 15
shrimat-navadvipa - glorious Navadvipa; nivasina - the residents; ye - who; apare - other; jana - people; ye - who; sura-loka-vasinah - residents of the heavenly planets; murtya - by the form; su-dtva - nicely seen; mukha-pankajam - the lotus face; prabho - of the Master; vanchanti - they desire; te - they; netra-shatam - hundreds of eyes; hi - indeed; sarvatah - on all sides.
When the Navadvipa-vasis along with others, who were actually residents of the heavenly planets, received the refreshing glimpse of Gaura Prabhu's lotus face, they then desired to have hundreds of eyes on all sides of their bodies with which to behold Him.
dina katipaya kna / uitva dvija-mandire
uddadhara jana sarvva / jadandha-badiradikam 16
dinam - days; katipaya - a few; kna - Krishna Chaitanya; uitva - residing; dvija-mandire - in the home of that brahmana; uddadhara - He delivered; janam - people; sarvam - all; jada - dull; andha - blind; badira - deaf; adikam - and so on.
While Shri Krishna dwelt for a few days in the home of that brahmana, He delivered all of the people there, including the foolish, the blind, the deaf and so on.
vakreshvara-kpa-patro / devanandah su-panditah
agatya prabhu-pade ca / nivedya purvva-durmmitam 17
vakreshvara - of Vakreshvara; kpa - of the mercy; patra - the recipient; devanandah - the associate of Gauranga; su-panditah - the excellent scholar; agatya - coming; prabhu-pade - at the feet of Prabhu; ca - and; nivedya - offering; purva-durmitam - former envy.
The excellent scholar Devananda, who had become a recipient of Vakreshvara Panita's mercy, approached Gaura Prabhu's feet and confessed his former envy.
papraccha nija-hita ca / tasmai praha kripa-nidhih
shrimad-bhagavata sakat / sac-cid-ananda-vigraham 18
shri-krishnam eva janihi / matsaryadi-vivarjjitam
pathan bhakti-rasasvadam / praptanando bhaviyati 19
papraccha - he inquired; nija-hitam - concerning his own welfare; ca - and; tasmai - to him; praha - He said; daya-nidhih - the ocean of mercy; shrimat-bhagavatam - the spotless Purana; sakat - directly; sat-cit-ananda - of eternity, knowledge and bliss; vigraham - form; shri-krishnam - who puts an end to birth and death; eva - factually; janihi - you must understand; matsarya - envy; adi - and so on; vivarjitam - devoid; pathan - reciting; bhakti-rasa - the taste of devotional service; asvadam - relish; prapta - achieve; ananda - bliss; bhaviyati - there will be.
Then he inquired what he ought to do for his spiritual self-interest. The jewel of compassion replied, "You must understand that Shrimad Bhagavatam is directly the sac-cid-ananda form of Shri Krishna. If you recite it with this consciousness, free from envy and other base qualities, you will then become able to relish bhakti-rasa and awaken your spiritual nature of bliss."
shrutva vipro naman murddhna / tat-pada-rajasavtah
gaura-candra-rase magno / nanartta paramadbhutam 20
shrutva - hearing; vipra - the learned brahmana; naman - bowing; murdhna - with the head; tat-pada-rajasa - by the dust; avtah - covered; gaura-candra-rase - in the mellow of Gaura Candra; magna - immersed; nanarta - he danced; parama-adbhutam - extremely astonishingly.
Hearing this, the vipra bowed his head and covered it with the dust from the Lord's feet. Then immersed in the rasa of Shri Gaura Candra, he danced in a very astonishing manner.
Thus ends the Seventeenth Sarga entitled "The Lord Shows Mercy to Devananda Panita," in the Third Prakrama of the great poem Shri Chaitanya Carita.
