Sastra Caksusa

seeing through the eyes of scriptures

Lord Caitanya at the Alarnatha temple and other pastimes in Jagannatha Puri

 

 
something I wrote in 2009 
 
Dear honored Vaisnavas and vaisnavis
Please accept my humble obaisences
All glories to Srila Prabhupada

Sri Krsna mantrena saudhausadhena
kaler yuga loka vimoha rogam,
bhitte tu vaidyah karunena dakso
Namami tam sri Prabhupadadevam

“I offer my respectfull obaisences to HDG. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. he became the expert transcendental physician administering the nectar medicin of the Hare Krsna mantra and curing the people of Kali yuga from the disease of material bewilderment.
(written by Kusakrata Prabhu)

Today is the holy Gundica Marjana. We can read these wonderful pastimes of Lord Gauranga in CC Madhya lila of Chapter 12 and the Ratha Yatra festival in Madhya lila chapter 13.
I was reading a letter recently by Srila Prabhupada about cleaning the temple.
“Yes, I am glad to learn that the brahmacarinis are engaged in assisting work and cleaning. These are the most important duties for the brahmacarinis—namely cleansing. Caitanya Mahaprabhu personally used to inspect temple cleaning and if He would see a little particle of dust He would remark, “O, you have not done very nice.'’ So try to follow His footsteps in the matter of cleansing. By nicely cleansing one can get promotion in the spiritual kingdom in some of the Vaikuntha planets—it is so nice.”
Letter to Yamuna July 26 1970
I looked up the vedabase and found this letter too to Gurudasa:
Stop this fighting. Have a European preaching center and try to enlist all the hippies and tourists who come to Vrndavana. Give them nice prasadam, engage them in chanting, cleaning the temple, reading our books, and give them all facilities for becoming devotees.
Your ever well-wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
I have heard when I was in LA how Srila Prabhuapada praised devotees cleaning the Deity paraphernalia , they they where cleaning his heart.
Daily we sing :
sri-vigraharadhana-nitya-nana-
srngara-tan-mandira-marjanadau
yuktasya bhaktams ca niyunjato pi
vande guroh sri-caranaravindam
The spiritual master is always engaged in the temple worship of Sri Sri Radha and Krsna. He also engages his disciples in such worship. They dress the Deities in beautiful clothes and ornaments, clean Their temple, and perform other similar worship of the Lord. I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of such a spiritual master.
Cleaning the temple is also an important aspect of Deity worship.Lod Caitanya himself det the example of cleaning the temple , great vaisnavas such as Ambarish Maharaja would also clean the temple ,tough he could have had many others do it and never personally do so.
Srila Prabhupada also did a lot of cleaning at 26th2h Avenue until the devotees finally realized they should be doing it.
These days there is so many beautiful pictures from Jaganantha Puri ,Snana y atra etc on the inernet.Tomorrow is Ratha Yatra.It makes you think of these verses from Caitanya candramrta :
139 When golden Lord Hari appeared in this world, His glory flooded the world with the nectar of pure love of Krsna, and there was tumultuous chanting of the holy names of Lord Hari. Oh, will that sweet time ever come again?
140 The fortunate town of Navadvipa remains on the earth. The seashore remains. The city of Jagannatha Puri remains. The holy names of Lord Krsna remain. Alas! Alas! I do not see anywhere the same kind of festival of pure love for Lord Hari. O Lord Caitanya, O ocean of mercy, will I ever see Your transcendental glory again?
Narotama das Thakura has sung:
eka-kâle kothâ gelâ gorâ nata-râj
Where did Lord Gaurânga, the great dancer, suddenly go?
Yestersday was the holy disappearance day of Sri Gadadhara Pandit .It reminded us how Lord Caitanya uncovered the Tota Gopinath Deity from Cataka Parvata in Jaganantha Puri for Sri Gadadhara Pandit to worship .(Sometimes when Lord Caitanya was in ecstacy He would see this hill as Govardhana Hill and the ocean as Yamuna.)
During the period Jagannatha ,Baladeva and Subhadra gets sick after the bathing at Snana Yatra.Lord Caitanya would go to Alarnatha temple. 
This Alarnath temple is very ancient and Brahma did Tapasya on this hill therfore later known as Brahma Giri.Lord Visnu told Lord Brahma to install His Deity form there.
When Lord Caitanya came here during the time of anavasara, the time when Lord Jagannatha, Subhadra and Balarama gets sick (after the Snana Yatra), He woul feel great seperation from Krsna.Seeing the 4 armed form of Visnu, Sriman Mahaprabhu rememberd how Krsna during the Rasa Lila transformed Himself into Visnu with 4 arms to test the love of Radharani and the gopis .See CC Madhy lila 9.147 to 9.150
Srimati Radhara made Krsna diguised as Visnu give up the extra arms due the intensty of Her Prema
CC madhya lila 11.62 describes this:
Upon seeing the bathing ceremony of Lord Jagannätha, Sri Caitanya Mahäprabhu became very happy. But when Lord Jagannätha retired after the ceremony, Lord Caitanya became very unhappy because He could not see Him.
PURPORT
After the bathing ceremony of Sri Jagannätha, which takes place just a fortnight before the Ratha-yäträ ceremony, the body of the Lord Jagannätha Deity is repainted, and this takes just about a fortnight to complete. This period is called Anavasara. There are many who visit the temple to see Lord Jagannätha regularly every day, and for them His retirement after the bathing ceremony is unbearable. Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu felt Lord Jagannätha’s absence from the temple very much.
Madhya 11.63
Due to separation from Lord Jagannätha, Sri Caitanya Mahäprabhu felt the same great anxiety the gopés feel in separation from Krsña. In this condition He gave up all association and went to Älälanätha.
See Also CC Adi lila 280 to 294:
Just see!” the gopīs said, seeing Kṛṣṇa from a distant place. “Here within a bush is Kṛṣṇa, the son of Nanda Mahārāja.”
As soon as Kṛṣṇa saw all the gopīs, He was struck with emotion. Thus He could not hide Himself, and out of fear He became motionless.
Kṛṣṇa assumed His four-armed Nārāyaṇa form and sat there. When all the gopīs came, they looked at Him and spoke as follows.
“He is not Kṛṣṇa! He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa.” After saying this, they offered obeisance’s and the following respectful prayers.
O Lord Nārāyaṇa, we offer our respectful obeisances unto You. Kindly be merciful to us. Give us the association of Kṛṣṇa and thus vanquish our lamentation
After saying this and offering obeisances, all the gopīs dispersed. Then Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī came and appeared before Lord Kṛṣṇa.
When Lord Kṛṣṇa saw Rādhārāṇī, He wanted to maintain the four-armed form to joke with Her.
In front of Śrīmatī Rādh=C 4rāṇī, Śrī Kṛṣṇa had to hide the two extra arms. He tried His best to keep four arms before Her, but He was completely unable to do so.
So in this mood Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu saw the Alarnath form. And there He fainted on the rock where Lord Brahma in ancient times performed austerites in front of Lord Visnu,Alarnatha.Mahaprabhu lef an imprint in the rock from His transcendental body It can still be seen to this day
May Sri Caitanya and Lord Alarnatha kindly bless us all with pure devotional service.
  
 
  
 
 
  » Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu at the Alarnath temple, and other pastimes




 
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CC Madhya 12.1
śrī-guṇḍicā-mandiram ātma-vṛndaiḥ
sammārjayan kṣālanataḥ sa gauraḥ
sva-citta-vac chītalam ujjvalaḿ ca
kṛṣṇopaveśaupayikaḿ cakāra
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu washed and cleansed the Guṇḍicā temple with His devotees and associates. In this way He made it as cool and bright as His own heart, and thus He made the temple a befitting place for Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa to sit.

Srila Krsna das Kaviraja has written this very first sloka in this chapter for our intense meditation , and consideration , thus he has composed such a beautiful sanskrit verse to glorify Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhus cleaning of the Gundica temple.
This Gundica temple represents Vrindavan.The whole mood of Lord Caitanya Ratha yatra is best understood when we read the purport to CC Madhya lila 13.119 where Srila Prabhupada quotes his Guru Maharaja :
Thus Sri Gundica Mandir represent Vrindavana, and Lord Caitanya in the mood of Sri Radha and the inhabitants of Vrindavana is bringing Krsna from Kuruksetra (the Jagannatha temple) to Vrindavana ( Gundica Mandir).Lord Caitanya is remembering Radharanis meeting with Krsna at Kuruksetra and wants to bring ,Krsna, Balarama and Subhadra devi to Vrindavana.If we recall during the manifested lilas of Krsna.Once the queens of Dvaraka became absorbed in hearing about Krsnas sweet Vrindavan lilas from Mother Rohini the
mother of Sri Balarama ( though He is unborn, and the Supreme Lord) .Krsna , Balarama and Subhadra became overwhelmed with Bhava and manifested the stunned forms of Jaganantha ,Baladeva and Subhadra and by the prayer of Narada Muni , the Supreme Lord agreed to be manifest in these Deity forms that later was revealed in Jaganantha Puri.
King Indraduymna who was a great participant of this lila, got the special mercy of Lord Jagannatha and reappeared as Prataparudra Maharaja .
In the Gaura Ganodessa Dipika it is stated:
118. Shri Paramananda Puri had formerly been Uddhava. Maharaja Prataparudra, who was as powerful as Lord Indra, had formerly been Maharaja Indradyumna, who began the worship of Lord Jagannatha.
This 12 , 13 and 14th Chapter of Madhya lila alo reveals Lord Caitanyas mercy to Prataparura.

 

 
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26. Lord Chaitanya accepted Shrimati Radharani’s golden complexion and ecstatic love for Lord Krishna, both of which had never before been seen in this world. Lord Chaitanya was actually Lord Krishna, the son of Maharaja Nanda. He appeared like a great ocean of nectar flooding the entire world.(Gaura Ganodessa Dipika)
Lord Caitanya recited this famous vers ( CCMadhya 13.121) :
“‘That very personality who stole away my heart during my youth is now again my master. These are the same moonlit nights of the month of Caitra. The same fragrance of mālatī flowers is there, and the same sweet breezes are blowing from the kadamba forest. In our intimate relationship, I am also the same lover, yet still my mind is not happy here. I am eager to go back to that place on the bank of the Revā under the Vetasī tree. That is my desire.’”

Srila Krsna das Kaviraja explains that only Svarupa Damodara understood that Lord Caitanya was in the mood of Sri Radha at Kuruksetra.Thus even we has been given insight into the sweet pastimes of the inner mood of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu .And the significance of cleaning this Gundica mandir is also to cleanse the heart fully to prepare Krsna to sit there.The heart should be complety free from all anarthas and in the mood of the Vrijabasis, the inhabitants of Vrindavana we should place Krsna there.
See Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Madhya 12.135 purport.
When Amogha was commiting some offences to Lord Caitanya and got serious reactions, Lord Caitanya placed His lotushands on Amoghas chest and told him:
CC Madhya 15.273: As soon as Caitanya Mahāprabhu heard that Amogha was going to die, He immediately ran to him in great haste. Placing His hand on Amogha’s chest, He spoke as follows.

CC Madhya 15.274: “The heart of a brāhmaṇa is by nature very clean; therefore it is a proper place for Kṛṣṇa to sit.
CC Madhya 15.275: “Why have you allowed the caṇḍāla of jealousy to sit here also? In this way you have contaminated a most purified place, your heart.
CC Madhya 15.276: “However, due to the association of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, all your contamination is now vanquished. When a person’s heart is cleansed of all contamination, he is able to chant the mahā-mantra, Hare Kṛṣṇa.
CC Madhya 15.277: “Therefore, Amogha, get up and chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra! If you do so, Kṛṣṇa will unfailingly bestow mercy upon you.”


 
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One mataj wrote me how she had visited the Alarnatha temple and was not allowed inside to take darshan.However when her indian bodied comapanion finished darshan the pujari came and asked for a donation to eat.This enfuriated this mataji .And she remembered the pastime of Madhu and Ketana.
Long ago a pujari Ketana had to leave the service of Lord Alarnatha for a few days, and gave that worship to his small son Madhu.He was asked to also offer the bhoga to the Lord, but being a simple boy he could not understand the Lord eats simply with His Divine glance. But Madhu starting to cry, and with great devotion asked Lord Alarnatha to accept the bhoga offeed to Him.Understanding Madhu’s simple and sweet devotion , the Supreme Lord ate the offering in front of Madhu to please him. Thus mother and son fasted for 3 days.When Ketana retured he asked for some prasadam and the wife todl him they where fasting and why.Ketana being materialistic did not belive Madhu. Finally he insisted to see how Lord Alarnatha hd been personally accepting this offering from the hands of Madhu. So he hid while the offering was made. Lord Alarnatha again started to take the offering . Ketana jumped out from hidding and grapped Lord Alarnathas one hand that held one large cup of sweet rice , this caused the very hot sweet rice to spill and burn the Lord’s transcendental body.By His grace ,Lord Visnu manifested some burnt marks that can even be seen to this day.( during the battle at Kuruksetra Krsna also manifested such human like activites when Bhisma shot arrows at the Lords body, and appeared to bleed and be wounded ).Ketana said, how will we eat if you eat all the offerings?We have never heard of a Deity that eats, you are supposed to be made of stone?How can you eat and talk?


 
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And Lord Visnu chastised Ketana or being a materialistic person in the guise of a brahmana and devotee.Lord Visnu was very pleased with Madhu. So this mataji took this brahmana to be a like Ketana. However she got dashan of Lord Alanatha in the near by Gaudiya math.

When Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada came here in 1918 few months after taking sannyasa.
At this place Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada felt great seperation from Radha Krsna - and told his disciples this place is non different from Sri Vrindavan. He established Brahma Gaudiya matha there close by and a self manifested Deity that was found near the temple ,was established there.


 
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The pandas in Jagannatha Puri (and area) have been influenced by the philosophy of Sankacarya for many generations and thus they do not allow those not born Hindus to enter the temples of for example Lord Alarnatha, Lord Jagannatha, Gundica, Lord Santi Narasimha etc.
I recall once many years ago going with one sannyasi from Brazil to travel to Jagannatha Puri (1986-87) and we went with HH Hridayananda Maharaja to various places in Jagannatha
Puri. We had all hoped to at least be allowed to see Gundica Mandir.Where Lord Jagannatha stays for some days after Ratha Yatra.But this was also not allowed.
Hrdayananda Maharaja was chastising the Pandas there:”, Do you think Lord Jagannatha is only Purinatha or Oriyanatha” ?. His chastisement of the Pandas was really befitting and beautiful.
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura also had his bad experiences with the Pandas as described in his essay : “The Temple of Jagannatha at Puri ”  


 
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How ever we should not disrespect the Pandas in Puri : Pundarik Vidyanidhi who is non different from Vrsabhanu Maharaja in Krsna lila found faults with the Pandas for offering Lord Jagannatha some blankets that where not washed
it is explained in CC:
CC Madhya 16.79: When Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi saw that Lord Jagannātha was given a starched garment, he became a little hateful. In this way his mind was polluted.

CC Madhya 16.80: That night the brothers Lord Jagannātha and Balarāma came to Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi and, smiling, began to slap him.

CC Madhya 16.81: Although his cheeks were swollen from the slapping, Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi was very happy within. This incident has been elaborately described by Ṭhākura Vṛndāvana dāsa.

Also it is said Ramanujacarya came once to Puri and also saw there was so much Seva Apradha in the worship , but Lord Jagannatha kicked him to Kurma ksetra ( where the Lord had some service for him to reestablish the seva there).Srila Prabhupada ha stated in the Nectar of devotion that the denizens of heaven, see all the inhabitants of Puri with 4 arms just like Lord Visnu .(Svarupya mukti).Inthe 2 chapter of Antya lila (or Sesa Khanda) of Caitanya Bhagavad , Srila Vrindavan das Thakura has revealed Sri Krsna’s glorification of Jagannatha Puri to Lord Siva:
“On the shores of the ocean, covering a very large area is the place known as Nilacala. This is also known as Purusottama ksetra or the abode of the Supreme Person. It has a most pleasing and peaceful atmosphere. Even at the time of the cosmic annihilation, this place remains intact, unscathed. I reside eternally here, and daily receive opulent offerings of foodstuffs. Its area is spread over eighty square miles. All living entities living within this area are, by the influence of this place, possessing four handed forms, though visible only to the demigods and their equals. The demigods glorify this place as the most auspicious of all places of pilgrimage. The act of sleeping here is equivalent to deep meditation or samadhi.

Similarly, lying postures accrue the pious result of offering obeisances to the Deity. Simply walking around here is the same as circumambulating, pradiksina, and all speeches are glorification.These are all enumerated in the Vedas. Such is the potency of this ksetra that even if one eats fish here it is the same as eating sacred vegetarian food or havisya. This place is very dear to Me, hence it is known by My name.


 
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I believe many devotee are familiar with the pastime of King Indradumna , Vidyapati, Visvasu his daughter Lalita and how Jagannatha ,Baladeva and Subhadra manifested? If not I can try to give a summary here, if any devotee desires this.
.However I like to mention a part that is not so much known.
After Jaganantha ,Baladeva and Subhadra manifested their transcendental form from the transcendental log being carved by Visvakara himself in the guise of an ordinary carpenter.
Lord Jagannatha spoke these transcendental instructions:( this is mentioned in Skanda Purana and
Padma Purana)
, “Don’t worry. There is a mystery behind this. I desired to manifest like this, and there is a very deep reason for it. Keep Me in the temple and begin to worship Me in the form of these deities.” Jagannatha continued, “Please carry out My orders. Visvavasu and his son-in-law Vidyapati will worship Me, along with Vidyapati’s two wives. The sons of Vidyapati’s brahmana wife will take turns to worship, and the sons of his sabara wife will cook many varieties of preparations. Many dayitas in the dynasty of Visvavasu will serve Me for ten days during a Ratha-yatra Festival. Only they will worship Me at that time; no one else will perform the worship. They alone will take Baladeva, Subhadra, and Me on chariots, and they will bring us to Gundica Mandira. Make a festival for ten days beginning from today, and take these chariots to the Gundica Mandira and bring us back to the Jaganannatha Mandir .”
The Gundica temple is named after one of the queens of king Indradyumna who was a great devotee .
So obviouly these pandas are not ordinary they are descendants of the children of Vidyapati from his two wives.And this is the order of Lord Jagannatha Himself, so should we not have love and affection for these Pandas coming in this line? Of course we know that transcendental knowledge is not dependent on birth, and sastra says everyone is born a sudra, then one becomes a vipra by learning
sastra etc, and really a brahmana by living sastra .
It is interesting how Visvasu was even willing to disobey the instructions of Nila Madhava so he could continue his worship,when the Supreme Lord wanted to have him hand over this worship and the Nila Madhava deity to king Indradyumna .So these descendants of Visvasu , the Pandas I see in this light
personally, and treat them with great respect as if I am meeting Visvasu himself and thus I have only had sweet dealings wit the Pandas in Puri


 
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I was meditating on the Pandas versus such exalted souls like Ramanujacarya, and Pundarik Vidyanidhi.There is no comparison, but still despite their imperfect worship and understanding Lord Jagannatha allows them to worship Him.I was seeing some pictures on the internet how Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra was being returned to the main temple .I was not so inspired to see that it appeared the freshly painted Lord Jagannatha and Baladeva looked like they needed a fresh paint ( during the period of anavasara).
So what to speak of such exalted souls ,even we can see the need of improvement of Seva there.Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura tried to establish a better standard of worship when he was in charge of the temple there.But when is some one like Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura again going to improve the standard there?
However we see how humble Sanatana Goswami was in dealing with the Pandas :

CC Antya 4.126: “I have no right to pass by the Siḿha-dvāra, for the servants of Jagannātha are always coming and going there.

CC Antya 4.127: “The servants are always coming and going without interval. If I touch them, I shall be ruined.”

CC Antya 4.128: Having heard all these details, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, greatly pleased, spoke as follows.

CC Antya 4.129-130: “My dear Sanātana, although you are the deliverer of the entire universe and although even the demigods and great saints are purified by touching you, it is the characteristic of a devotee to observe and protect the Vaiṣṇava etiquette. Maintenance of the Vaiṣṇava etiquette is the ornament of a devotee.

CC Antya 4.131: “If one transgresses the laws of etiquette, people make fun of him, and thus he is vanquished in both this world and the next.

CC Antya 4.132: “By observing the etiquette, you have satisfied My mind. Who else but you could show this example?”

CC Antya 4.133: After saying this, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu embraced Sanātana Gosvāmī, and the moisture oozing from the itching sores on Sanātana’s body smeared the body of the Lord.

CC Antya 4.134: Although Sanātana Gosvāmī repeatedly forbade Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to embrace him, the Lord still did so. Thus His body was smeared with the moisture from Sanātana’s body, and Sanātana became greatly distressed.

CC Antya 4.197: “Sanātana Gosvāmī is one of the associates of Kṛṣṇa. There could not be any bad odor from his body. On the first day I embraced him, I smelled the aroma of catuḥsama


 
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There is 3 other examples of the Pandas dealings with, Gopakumara, Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda that comes to mind.
In the Brhad Bhagavatamrta we read how Gopa kumara got beaten by the Pandas when trying to embrace Lord Jagannatha. Lord Caitanya fainted in his mood of Mahabhava and the Pandas tried to beat the Supreme Lord , but was stopped by Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya. Lord Nityananda Prabhu just pushed them aside and went to embrace Lord Baladeva (it is in the Caitanya Bhagavad).So the Pandas are famous for not understanding Mahabhagavats, which is a symptom of kanistha bhakta ( but still bhaktas non the less).

 
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It should be mentioned that Gopakumara was soon recognised for his exalted devotion and he was also given  the position to overlook the service of Lord Jagannatha ,Baladeva and Subhadra


 
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Srila Raghunatha das Goswami has given us a nice meditation on Mahaprabhus lilas in Jagannatha Puri ,in his Gauranga Stava kalpa vrksa:

When anyone sees His graceful motions they revile the graceful mad elephant and when they see His face they spit at the moon. He is as splendid as a gold mountain and the waves of His words are nectar. The appearance of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, awakening in my heart, maddens me.
Decorating Himself with the jewels of paleness, becoming stunned, stuttering, trembling, shedding tears, and bodily hairs erect with joy, and laughing and perspiring, as He danced for the pleasure of Lord Jagannath, may Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu rise in my heart and make me mad with love.

Staggering about in ecstasy, sprinkling everyone with water from the reddish syringes of His eyes, joyfully biting His charming lips with His teeth, and trembling as he dances, may Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu rise in my heart and make me mad with love.

Sometimes Sri Caitanya would go to the house of Kasi Misra. There would be greatly aggrieved, feeling separation from Krishna. The joints of His transcendental body would slacken, and His arms and legs would become elongated. Rolling on the ground, the Lord would cry out in distress in a faltering voice and weep very sorrowfully. The appearance of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, awakening in my heart, maddens me.

How wonderful it is! Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu left His residence without opening the three strongly bolted doors. Then He crossed over three high walls, and later, because of strong feelings of separation from Krishna, He fell down amidst the cows of the Tailanga district and retracted all the limbs of His body like a tortoise. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who appeared in that way, rises in my heart and maddens me.

Because of separation from His many friends in Vrindavana, 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.

“My dear friend the doorkeeper, where is Krishna, the Lord of my heart? Kindly show Him to Me quickly.” With these words Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu addressed the doorkeeper like a madman. The doorkeeper grasped His hand and replied very hastily, “Come, see Your beloved!” May that Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu rise within my heart and thus make me mad also


 
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Near Jagannath Puri was a great sand dune known as Cataka-parvata. Seeing that hill, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, “Oh, I shall go to the land of Vraja to see Govardhana Hill.” Then He began running madly to it, and all the Vaisnavas ran after Him. This scene awakens in my heart and maddens me.

Under a charming pavilion at the swing festival, with Svarupa Damodara and the other devotees He sweetly sang the holy names of Lord Krishna. May Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu rise in my heart and make me mad with love.

As Lord Narayana is kind to Garuda, He is kind to Govinda dasa. As Lord Krishna is devoted to His guru, He is devoted to Isvara Puri. As Lord Giridhari loves Subala, He loves Svarupa Damodara. May that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu rise in my heart and make me mad with love.

Although I am a fallen soul, the lowest of men, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu delivered me from the blazing forest fire of great material opulence by His mercy. He landed me over in great pleasure to Svarupa Damodara, His personal associate. The Lord also gave me the garland of small gunja berries that He wore on His chest and a stone from Govardhana Hill, although they were very dear to Him. That same Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu awakens within my heart and makes me mad after Him.

One who, with the water of careful reading mixed with the medicine of strong faith, waters this celestial tree, its charming branches the verses of this poem, and the splendor of its flowers pure love for Lord Gauranga, will reap that tree’s heavy fruit: the sight of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu


 
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 there is a beautiful descrption in the Bhakti ratnakara how Srinivas Acarya had darshan of Jaganantha ,Baladeva and Subhadra and Sudarshan Chakra:
The beauty of Jagannatha and Baladeva
The beauty of Nilacala Candra was so splendid that it could beat the beauty of a dark cloud about to pour water. His lotus eyes stretched out of his ears and the beauty of his face could defeat millions of moons. How wonderful were his hands, how beautiful and glamorous he appeared in ornaments and bright dress. Long flower garlands that touched the ground hung from his beautiful neck and a crown of flowers bedecked his attractive head.246-250

Srinivasa then looked at the deity of Sri Baladeva who was so beautiful that he defeated the brillance of the moon or the kinda flower or a sandal mountain. What a beautiful face, even a glance from his eyes could make a kandarpa senseless. His hands, eyebrows, large eyes and forehead were so beautiful that it would be impossible for anyone to describe them properly. Srinivasa felt thrilled to see the beauty of Sri Baladeva and became mesmerised by the beauty of Sri Subhadra. He also observed the illustrious Sudarshana Chakra with full satisfaction. The main priest of Prabhu Jagannatha gave Srinivasa prasadam and a flower garland use by the Lord. Srinivas avisited all the temples within the compound of the main temple and at last he and his guide returned to the house of Sri Gopinatha where he again paid his obeisances to the lotus feet of the deity.251-260
your servant
Paramananda das 

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