Sastra Caksusa

seeing through the eyes of scriptures

Sri Caitanya-carita
The Pastimes of Lord Caitanya
Chapter One
1 Glor y t o Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who has come to the town of
Navadvipa. His form is eternal and full of knowledge and bliss. He is dark Krsna,
who danced with the fair gopis in Vrndavana forest. How have His limbs now
become fair by tightly embracing them7
2 I offe r m y r e spectful obeisances to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who with
showers of sweet nectar golden splendour of His limbs, showers that stop all
sufferings, and with streams of honey from His lotus feet, again and again washes
this world.
3 W e w or s h i p Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, whose long arms reach His knees,
whose limbs are decorated by a great circle of light, whose playful glance almost
touches His ears, whose cheeks are splendid, and who plays like a hundred lions.
4 Ever yo n e should serve Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who with the glorious
nectar splendour of His jewel toenails washes away the sleepy ignorance of the
three worlds, and with the flooding waves of His love cools the three worlds.
5 W ith t h e s p l endid nectar of His dancing feet Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu fills
the three worlds. I think that nectar is His eternally new mercy. Everyone should
worship that mercy again and again.
6 H is s p l e n d our is supremely glorious and sweet. His great mercy is
supremely perfect. His intelligence is glorious and perfect. Please bow down
before Lord Gauranga's feet.
7 W hat w i s e ph i losopher is able to describe even a tiny fragment of the
wonder that is the ocean of Lord Gauranga's transcendental qualities, the
splendour of His handsomeness, and His intelligence and other virtues7 Doubling
His own powers again and again, even Lord Gaurangacandra Himself cannot
describe these things.
8 Only a p e r son whose heart trembles with love and who has heard them
from the mouths of they who are like bumblebees at the Lord's lotus feet can
describe the pastimes of Lord Krsna, who is the life's Lord of Vraja's beautiful
girls, pastimes that are sweet with youthfulness and rich with handsomeness and
charming playfulness.
cj Who is Lord Caitanya7 He is the Supreme Person whose feet are
worshipped by the jewels on the crowns of Brahma and other great demigods, who
are themselves the crest jewels of the heavenly cities. Who am 17 I am a restless
fool. They who are pious and wise never turn from the great mercy Lord Caitanya
offers.
10 A lth o u g h I am bewildered at heart, I have somehow seen or heard of many
of Lord Caitanya s pastimes. How can an insignificant person like myself hope to
describe them7 I can describe them only if I am filled with Lord Caitanya's mercy.
11 W h a t d oes it matter that I cannot glorify all the Lord's pastimes7 By
glorifying the Lord's pastimes as far as one is able, a person becomes very
fortunate. A person who glorifies the Lord s pastimes as far as he is able is never to
be mocked or derided. No one has the power to describe all the pastimes of the
Supreme Lord.
12 E v e n if my book is full faults, the wise, who become intoxicated by hearing
songs about the Lord's lotus feet, will still accept it. I have not a moment's worry
that they will not like it.
13 T h e m a s ter of the lives of the beautiful women in beautiful Vrndavana
flooded the world with the nectar waves of His pastimes. Again and again He
tasted the nectar of His pastimes. Unwilling to stay away from these pastimes, He
has again come to this world.
14 T hu s , on the pretext of mercifully teaching the worlds, again and again the
Lord tasted the nectar of these pastimes. When the Lord finally left this world, the
devotees, now the most unhappy of persons, feel to the ground.
15 A g a i n and again they pitifully cried,"0 Gauranga! 0 beloved! 0 Lord! 0
friend of the fallen! 0 life of the devotees! 0 treasure of the devotees!" Hearing
their words breaks one's heart into a hundred pieces.
16 T h e d e v o tees were tormented by the fires of the Lord's absence. They saw
the entire universe empty, as if it had been completely destroyed. Tears tore their
hearts with a hundred wounds. Again and again they screamed "Alas! Alas!"
17 0 Lo r d m o r e dear than life, the touch of Your feet made the earth most
happy and fortunate. Now that You are gone, the earth is drowning in flames of
sufferings.
18 A h , w h a t long austerities did the earth perform so the nectar from Your feet
filled her with nectar. Alas! Alas! Now that You have gone the earth explains the
meaning of her name "she is bears all burdens."
19 0 Lor d , 0 b e l o ved, 0 Lord of the heart, 0 ocean of mercy, 0 limitless one,
0 forgiver of sins, 0 dear one, 0 dear one, alas, alas, now we are all dead! In the
absence of Your feet everyone has become poor and wretched. Everyone sighs
pitifully, like a host of tortured sinners.
20 T h e y wh o l ove the Lord's feet are most fortunate. Alas, alas, they who
attained the Lord's association and are now separated from Him are most unhappy
and unfortunate. They are like walking corpses.
21 A la s , what is the identity of they who, once smelling the sweet fragrance of
the Lord's glorious lotus feet, do not at once renounce everything in this world7
Are these persons all animals7 Are they all trees and vines7 Alas, alas, are they all
22 T h e y wh o f ind their happiness in drinking the nectar found at the Lord's
lotus feet leave behind their homes, wealth, and relatives. They are the greatest of
saints, saints who act like poor beggars wandering in the forests and mountains.
23 A la s , alas, alas, alas, who, having once drunk with his eyes the nectar of His
lotus feet, smelled the sweetness of His love, drunk from the ocean of His love, and
tasted the sweetness of His words, can bear to be separated from Lord Caitanya7
24 Into x i c a ted by the fragrance of His lotus feet, even today everyone has left
behind all material bonds and become rapt in singing the holy names and dancing.
Who can tolerate the flames of separation from Him7
25 D i d s o m e one see His sublimely merciful feet7 Are the people hard like
unconscious stones~
thunderbolts7 Is love for Him standing among us7 Alas, alas, our fate is that we
must suffer in separation from Him.
26 I thi n k th e world has become a bottomless abyss where all the people have
fallen into a great fire of sufferings and no one remains alive. Alas, alas, crooked
fate is very strange.
27 B y h e a r ing only briefly of the Lord's dear virtues how many people have
become free, even now, from death7 They who again and again gaze upon the
Lord and hear about Him experience happiness at every moment. Alas, alas, we
live without seeing and hearing of Him. How sinful we must be.
28 F il l e d w ith the nectar of the Lord s feet, with His holy name, and with the
great glory of His many virtues, the earth was once very fortunate, but now the
same earth is burning in the fires of the Lord s separation. We will never be able to
understand the cruel pastimes of fate.
29 B r e a t h ing long and hot sighs, loudly lamenting, their bodies emaciated, and
tears streaming from their eyes as they weep pitifully, the devotees faint again and
again as they remember the virtues of their dear Lord. This is all very astonishing. 

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