Text 37-38
Aichhana lokera dukha dekhi mahamuni
Antare chintita haiya mone mone guni
Ghor kalikaale lokera na dekhi nistara
Bhromite bhromite gela Dwarkara daar
Translation –
Seeing the miserable condition of the people in general in this age of Kali, the great sage Narada, became thoughtful and began considering. Finding no way to rescue the people, Narada came wandering to the gates of Dwarka.
Text 39-40
Dwarka-r Thakura deva, deva shiramani
Satyabhama grihe sukhe banchiya rajani
Prabhate uthiya kaila ye bidhi uchit
Rukmini-r ghar jaba karila ingit
Translation –
The Lord of Dwarka (Sri Krishna) is the crest jewel of the masters of all demigods. Spending the last night happily at the palace of queen Satyabhama, the Lord performed His morning duties. Thereafter He hinted that He would be visiting the palace of Queen Rukmini.
Purport –
Srila Vasudeva Ghosh writes in one of his songs –
‘yei Gaura sei Krishna sei Jagannatha’
The same supreme Lord had manifested Himself in the forms of Gauranga,Krishna or Lord Jagannatha.
So one should not think that Lord Gauranga and Lord Krishna are different personalities.
Gauranga dasa bali sarva deve jana
Krishna haite Gaurake kabhu na janibe ana
(Prema Vivarta)
All demigods are servants of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. One should never think that Lord Krishna and Lord Gauranga are separate personalities.
However though Lord Krishna and Lord Gauranga are one and the same person, there is quite a stark difference in their mood.Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the most magnanimous incarnation of the Supreme Lord. He freely distributes His causeless mercy without judging any qualifications of the person whom He is showering His blessings upon.
At the same time ,Lord Chaitanya’s mercy is very unique. One who receives His mercy, can experience the highest ecstasy of love of God. The realization of this pure ecstatic love of the Supreme is extremely rare. This is something which the people of the previous yugas (Satya, Treta, Dvapara) could not receive even by means of performing severe austerities for thousands of years, performing grand sacrifices or even elaborate deity worship. This is rare even for the great demigods like Brahma, Shiva and Indra, who forever hanker to receive it.
The supreme Lord in His form as Sri Krishna rarely ever bestows this kind of special mercy. He gives it to His intimate associates like the gopis of Vrindavana. But Sri Chaitanya bestows this rare treasure of love of God, to one and all, freely, without any consideration. Hence Sri Chaitanya is the essence of all the incarnations of the supreme – ‘Avatara sar Gaura avatara’. One who gets this special mercy receives the pure love of God, receiving which there remains nothing else to be achieved. Obtaining the pure ecstatic love of God is the highest perfection of human life.
Text 41-42
Bujhiya Rukmini-devi apana mangala
Dharite na pare anga kare talamala
Griha sammarjana kare angera subesh
Nanavidha badya baje ananda ashesha
Translation –
As soon as She learnt of Her good fortune (Krishna’s imminent arrival), Rukmini devi could not hold Herself still. Her limbs began trembling in anticipation. She began cleaning Her palace and decorated Herself very nicely. A band of different musical instruments began playing. There was unlimited bliss all around.
Purport –
A devotee of the Lord always hankers to associate with Him. There is nothing more dear to a devotee than being in presence of his/her beloved Lord or His representatives. In the age of kali, we can associate with the Supreme Lord by chanting His holy names and by reading,contemplating,preaching His pastimes.
Text 43-44
Sumangala purna-ghot ghrita bati jvale
Prabhu subho agamama haila heno kaale
Mitrabrinda nagnajita sushila subala
Prabhu nirmanchhan kare anande bihavla
Translation –
Auspicious water filled pots were kept and ghee lamps were lit. The auspicious arrival of the Lord happened just at that moment. Overcome with bliss, Mitravrinda, Nagnajita, Sushila and Subala welcomed the Lord joyfully.
Text 45-46
Subashito gandha jal prabhu kachhe ani
Padaprakshalana kare devi Sri-Rukmini
Apana sampat pada dhari nija buke
Anurage nehari – kshane dei buke
Translation –
Bringing scented water before the Lord, devi Rukmini carefully washed His lotus feet. Holding the treasure of Sri Krishna’s lotus feet close to Her heart, for one moment She lovingly gazed at it and at the other moment She held it to Her heart.
Text 47-48
Hridaye sripada dhari kandoye Rukmini
Bismita haiya kichu puchhe chakrapani
Kandanar hetu kichhu na bujhi tomara
Ki lagi kandoho devi kaho samachar
Translation –
Holding Lord Krishna’s lotus feet to Her heart, Rukmini devi cried piteously. Seeing this, Lord Krishna, the wielder of the disc, asked Her something. (Krishna asked) ‘I do not understand the reason for your tears. Why do you cry, please let Me know.’
Text 49-50
Tumi pranadhika mor – jagajane jani
Tomara adhik keba – kahata apani
Kiba abagyay tor agya na palila
Swarupe kaha na devi ki dosh karila
Translation –
(Krishna continued) ‘You are dearer than My very life. The whole world knows of this. Is there anyone who is more dearer to me than You ? Did i ignore any of Your orders? Please tell me Yourself what wrongs i have done’
Purport –
The Lord being the supersoul in everyone’s heart, is already aware of everything. Yet , He sometimes acts like an ordinary human being , to enhance the loving mood of His devotees, or relish His own pastimes even more.
For example Sri Chaitanya very well knew Lord Nityananda’s heart and why Lord Nitai had broken His sannyasa danda (rod).Nityananda prabhu could not bear seeing Lord Gauranga , the Lord of the universe, taking the pain to carry the sannyasa stick in His hands, which impeded the Lord’s ecstatic dancing pastimes. Thus He broke it and threw it away. Now, No action can ever be performed without the approval of the Supreme Lord. Hence this act of Nityananda prabhu must have also been approved by lord Chaitanya.
Yet when Mahaprabhu apparently came to know about His sannyasa rod being broken, He seemed to get very morose and disheartened. He lamented that His only last possession was now also taken away.The fact is that the Lord , out of His own sweet will, broke the danda, and then appeared to become angry. Such are His mysterious pastimes.Only one who is blessed by the Lord can truly understand the confidential reasons behind His actions.
Text 51-52
Ekmatra purabe ye parihash kaila
Ajiha antare tor se dukha achhila
Kata ba minati kaila katara haiya
Tabhu na ghhuchila tora e kathin hiya
Translation –
‘Previously in the past I had joked with You once. It seems You are carrying that sad memory in your heart till this day. How many times have I anxiously begged forgiveness from You, yet Your hard heart had never softened’.
Text 53-54
Aichhana nithura vani prabhu mukhe shuni
Sarasa sambhase kichu kahaye Rukmini
Antara kathin mora – kabhu nahe aan
Ek mahabhagya sabe tumi mora prana
Translation –
Hearing these harsh statements from the mouth of Her Lord, Rukmini devi replied in a flattering voice – ‘My heart is hard . It is never ever soft. But still my greatest fortune is that You are my life and soul’.
Text 55-56
Tomara padaravinda , toma haite adhika
Ajiha nachoye shiva, piboi madhabik
Jagate jateka saba tor sugochor
Sabe na janoho padapremar uttor
Translation –
(Rukmini continued) ‘Your lotus like feet are more dear to Me than even You Yourself. Even today, Lord Shiva continuously dances tasting the madhavika nectar of your divine lotus feet. There is nothing in this world which is unknown to You. Yet You are unaware of the heart of one who loves Your feet.’
Purport –
A devotee always considers himself/herself subservient to the Lord and thus he/she treasures the Lord’s feet upon his head. The vaishnavas adorn tilak upon their foreheads.This tilak represents the lotus feet of Lord Vishnu. In one of his bhajans, Srila Vasudeva Ghosh sings-
Gauranga tumi more daya na chadio
Apana kariya ranga charane rakhiho
Tomara Charana lagi sab tyaginu
Shitala charana paiya shrana lainu
e kule o kule mui dilu tilanjali
rakhiho carane more apanara bali
vasudeva ghosh bale carane dhariya
kripa kari rakha more pada-chaya diya
Oh Lord Gauranga! Please do not neglect to show me Your mercy! Making me Your very own property, please keep me by the reddish soles of Your feet.
With the desire of attaining Your lotus feet, I have given up everything. Finding Your cool lotus feet, I have taken its shelter.
I have abandoned all my family lineages as well my other lineages. I beg you to mercifully keep my sacrifice by Your feet.
Vasudeva Ghosh sings clasping onto your lotus feet – please keep me here always, by bestowing their soothing shade
This is how dearly the vaishnavas treasure the lotus feet of their beloved Lord.
Aparasya premojjvala-rasa-rahasyamrita nidhher
Nidhanam brahmesarchita iha hi Chaitanya charanah
Atas tam dhyayantu pranaya bharato yantu sharanam
Tam eva pronmattas tam iha kila gayantu kritinah
(Chaitanya Chandramrita,
Text 89)
Within the lotus feet of Lord Chaitanya, which is worshipped by Brahma and Shiva, rests the shoreless nectarean ocean of confidential loving mellows for the Lord.The saintly devotees should always meditate upon these feet, take its exclusive shelter, become intensely attached and intoxicated with love for them and chant their glories.
Text 57-58
Yadi Radhabhava hride kara aropana
Tabe se janibe nija Premar lakshana
E bol shuniya prabhura hiya chamatkara
Ki boile ki boile devi ! kaha arbar
Translation –
If you cultivate the mood of Radharani in Your Heart, then You will be able to understand the intense love a devotee feels for You.Hearing these words, the Lord became astonished and said to Rukmini devi – ‘What did You say, What did You just say Goddess, Please repeat it one more time’.
Purport –
Srimati Radharani is the personification of the Lord’s internal energy (hladini shakti). She is the mistress of Vrindavana and the greatest devotee of Lord Krishna. Though Lord Krishna is supremely independent, yet He becomes voluntarily controlled by the selfless love of the gopis of Vrindavana. The Gopis of Vrindavana are neither experts of astanga yoga nor learned scholars of the Vedic scriptures. Instead their qualification is simply an intense desire to serve the Lord and His beloved associates. Their desire is so intense that they can completely overlook their own pleasures or even sacrifice their very existence to serve Sri Krishna. Such is the stature of their devotion, that it bewilders even the Supreme Lord, and makes Him wonder ,as to how one can love Him so much. Srimati Radharani is the foremost of the gopis of Vrindavana, and Her love for Sri Krishna is unparalleled.
Apart from propagating the holy names of the Supreme Lord (Krishna) and the science of unconditional devotional service, there was another confidential reason why Lord Chaitanya had descended in this world 500 years ago.The Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna possesses an intense desire to relish the supreme transcendental bliss that Srimati Radharani experiences by serving Him, just as Rukmini devi had suggested in this verse. Krishna is the Supreme Enjoyer, however, Srimati Radhika, the Supreme enjoyed, experiences a higher degree of ecstasy by serving Sri Krishna.This is something that bewilders even the Supreme Lord and He wanted to experience this feeling first hand, in order to properly appreciate Radharani’s position. He also wanted to understand the transcendental mellow of Himself and how He was a reservoir of all sweetness that drove His devotees crazy.Hence taking up the mood (bhava) and the golden bodily complexion (kanti) of Srimati Radharani, Sri Krishna descended as Lord Chaitanya in this holy land of Navadvipa.Navadvipa was perceived and created by Srimati Radharani Herself to provide pleasure to Her worshipable master. Sri Chaitanya’s heart was an image of Srimati Radhika’s emotions – greatly turbulent with the feelings of union (sambhoga) and separation (vipralambha) with Krishna. Hence, it is stated that there is no difference between Lord Chaitanya and the combination of Sri Krishna and Srimati Radharani (Sri Krishna Chaitanya ,Radha Krishna Nahe anya). Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura exclaims that Sri Chaitanya is not simply Krishna or simply Radhika. Instead, He is the intense embrace of Sri Radha and Krishna. Such is the intensity of their embrace that that the divine couple becomes inseparable and merges into one form. Sri Krishna is then ornamented with the deep mood of Radharani and gets completely covered by Her bodily effulgence.Such is the Supreme position of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
Text 59-60
Bhalomate na shunilo – ye bolila tumi
Aichhana ki ache jaha nahi jani ami
E heno durlabha katha shuni mora hiya
baroye arati kichu bismaya paiya
Translation –
I did not hear very well what You just now said. What is there that remains unknown to Me ? Hearing these rare words of Yours, my heart is getting captivated, it’s getting filled with wonder.
Text 61-63
Heno ki achhoye e durlabh trijagate
Ascharya maniye jaha dekhite shunite
Tor mukhe shuni – mor agochor achhe
Anande amar hiya ki jani korichhe
Kaha kaha kaha devi ! eheno biswas
Charana mahima kahe e Locana das
Translation –
What is that rare valuable thing that exists in these three worlds ? My heart gets filled with wonder and amazement just to see it or even hear about it. Though that which I Hear from You, is unknown to Me, yet my heart gets filled with bliss by its mention. (Krishna requested) ‘Please say, please say more O goddess’.
In this way, having complete faith, Locana das Thakura describes the glories of Lord Krishna’s lotus feet.