Chapter 5: Boyhood Mischief

Subject. The account of Śrī Viśvarūpa; the grief of Śrīvāsa and the other devotees on seeing the faithless mock the Vaiṣṇavas, and on seeing the world's lack of devotion and its outward-turned nature; their joy at Viśvarūpa's exposition of scripture; the supreme bliss and self-forgetful state of Advaita and the others on beholding the beauty of the child Caitanya's form; Viśvarūpa's acceptance of sannyāsa; the grief this brings to Śacī and Jagannātha; Śrī Caitanya's swoon in separation from His brother; the weeping of Advaita and the other devotees; the consoling of Miśra Ṭhākura by his kinsmen and friends; the weeping of the devotees; Advaita's consoling of them; the devotees' rejoicing at Advaita's vow; the cessation of Śrī Caitanya's restlessness and His taking up of study; Śacī-devī's joy at hearing everyone praise Nimāi's learning, and yet Miśra Ṭhākura's sorrow at the same; Jagannātha Miśra's fear that the pursuit of learning might let Nimāi, too, come to understand the impermanence of worldly life and turn away from the world as Viśvarūpa had done, and, out of this apprehension, his order that Nimāi's studies be stopped; Nimāi's renewed display of wilfulness; His sitting atop a discarded pot and, in that very state, instructing Mother Śacī in essential truth in the mood of Dattātreya; and the resumption of Nimāi's studies.

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জয় জয় মহামহেশ্বর গৌরচন্দ্র। জয় জয় বিশ্বম্ভর-প্রিয়-ভক্তবৃন্দ॥ ১

Translation. All glory, all glory to the great Lord Gauracandra! All glory, all glory to Viśvambhara's dear devotees!

Explanation. Mahā-maheśvara — see the commentary on payar 1.21 [of Chapter 1]. Viśvambhara — Gaura. Priya-bhaktavṛnda — the devotees dear to Viśvambhara; or, taking the compound the other way, Viśvambhara Himself may be described as "he to whom the devotees are dear."

জয় জগন্নাথ-শচীপুত্র সর্ব-প্রাণ। কৃপাদৃষ্ট্যে কর প্রভু সর্ব জীবে ত্রাণ॥ ২

Translation. All glory to the son of Jagannātha and Śacī, who is the very life of all! O Lord, with Your merciful glance deliver every living being.

হেনমতে নবদ্বীপে শ্রীগৌরসুন্দর। বাল্য-লীলা-ছলে করে প্রকাশ বিস্তর॥ ৩

Translation. In this manner, at Navadvīpa, Śrī Gaurasundara, under the guise of childhood pastimes, manifested His glory in many ways.

Explanation. Bālya-līlā-chale — under the pretext (chala) of childhood pastimes, that is, by behaving outwardly like an ordinary human child, He revealed (prakāśa) His own divine opulence in manifold ways (vistara). See the conduct described in the preceding chapter.

নিরন্তর চপলতা করে সভা' সনে। মায়ে শিখালেও প্রবোধ নাহি মানে॥ ৪

Translation. Ceaselessly He displayed restlessness with everyone; even when His mother instructed Him, He would pay no heed to her counsel.

Explanation. In place of sabhā' sane ["with everyone"] the variant reading śiśu sane ["with the children"] is also found; sane means "together with." Māye śikhāile — even though Mother Śacī gave Him instruction so that He would give up His restlessness [He would not listen].

শিখাইলে আরো হয় দ্বিগুণ চঞ্চল। গৃহে যাহা পায় তাহা ভাঙ্গয়ে সকল॥ ৫

Translation. The more He was taught, the more doubly restless He became; whatever He found about the house, He broke it all.

ভয়ে আর কিছু না বলয়ে বাপ-মায়। স্বচ্ছন্দে পরমানন্দে খেলায় লীলায়॥ ৬

Translation. Out of fear [of provoking Him further], His father and mother would say nothing more to Him; and He sported freely, in supreme bliss, in His play.

Explanation. In place of svacchande paramānande khelāya the variant readings svacchande khelāya prabhu e-bālya and svacchanda paramānanda khelāya are also found.

আদিখণ্ড-কথা যেন অমৃত-শ্রবণ। যাহি শিশুরূপে ক্রীড়া করে নারায়ণ॥ ৭

Translation. The narrative of the Ādi-khaṇḍa is nectar itself to hear — the account of how Nārāyaṇa Himself sports in the form of a child.

পিতা মাতা কাহারে না করে প্রভু ভয়। বিশ্বরূপ অগ্রজ দেখিলে না হয়॥ ৮

Translation. The Lord feared neither father nor mother [in His mischief]; only when He caught sight of His elder brother, Viśvarūpa, would He restrain Himself.

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প্রভুর অগ্রজ বিশ্বরূপ ভগবান। আজন্ম বিরক্ত সর্বগুণের নিধান॥ ৯

Translation. The Lord's elder brother was the divine Viśvarūpa — detached from worldly life since His very birth, a repository of every virtue.

Explanation. Ājanma virakta — indifferent to worldly happiness from the moment of birth onward.

সর্বশাস্ত্রে সবে বাখানেন বিষ্ণুভক্তি। খণ্ডিতে তাহার ব্যাখ্যা নাহি কারো শক্তি॥ ১০

Translation. In expounding every scripture He spoke of nothing but devotion to Viṣṇu; no one had the power to refute His exposition.

Explanation. Sarva-śāstre — in expounding (bākhānena, "explains," "proclaims") every scripture whatsoever, Viśvarūpa proclaimed nothing but devotion to Viṣṇu. Sane here means "only, exclusively." In place of byākhyā the variant reading bākya is also found.

শ্রবণে, বদনে, মনে, সর্বেন্দ্রিয়গণে। কৃষ্ণভক্তি বিনে আর না বোলে না শুনে॥ ১১

Translation. In His hearing, His speech, His mind, in all His senses, He engaged in nothing, spoke of nothing, and heard nothing but devotion to Kṛṣṇa.

অনুজের দেখি অতি-বিলক্ষণ-রীত। বিশ্বরূপ মনে গণে' হইয়া বিস্মিত॥ ১২

Translation. Seeing His younger brother's utterly extraordinary conduct, Viśvarūpa, filled with wonder, reflected within his mind:

Explanation. Anujera — of His younger brother, Nimāi's. Ati-vilakṣaṇa-rīta — conduct wholly uncommon; vilakṣaṇa means possessing marks (lakṣaṇa) unlike those of ordinary children.

"এ বালক কভু নহে প্রাকৃত ছাওয়াল। রূপে আচরণে যেন শ্রীবালগোপাল॥ ১৩

Translation. "This child is surely no ordinary child of this world — in form and in conduct He is just like Śrī Bāla-Gopāla [the child Kṛṣṇa]!"

Explanation. Prākṛta chāoyāla — an ordinary, mundane child, one of the category of conditioned souls.

যত অমানুষি-কর্ম নিরবধি করে। এ বুঝি, খেলেন কৃষ্ণ এ-শিশু-শরীরে॥" ১৪

Translation. "All the superhuman deeds He ceaselessly performs — surely Kṛṣṇa Himself is at play within this child's body!"

Explanation. Amānuṣi karma — deeds beyond ordinary human capacity.

এইমতে চিন্তে বিশ্বরূপ-মহাশয়। কাহারে না ভাঙ্গে তত্ত্ব, স্বধর্ম করয়॥ ১৫

Translation. Thus did the great soul Viśvarūpa reflect; yet he disclosed this truth to no one, and continued in his own practice [of devotion and renunciation].

নিরবধি থাকে সর্ব-বৈষ্ণবের সঙ্গে। কৃষ্ণপূজা কৃষ্ণভক্তি কৃষ্ণকথা রঙ্গে॥ ১৬

Translation. He remained ceaselessly in the company of Vaiṣṇavas, joyfully absorbed in the worship of Kṛṣṇa, devotion to Kṛṣṇa, and discourse on Kṛṣṇa.

জগত প্রমত্ত ধন-পুত্র-মিথ্যারসে। দেখিলে বৈষ্ণব মাত্র সভে উপহাসে॥ ১৭

Translation. The world lies utterly intoxicated by the illusory delight of wealth and progeny; the moment they catch sight of a Vaiṣṇava, they all mock him.

Explanation. Jagat — the souls pervading the world. Pramatta — thoroughly maddened, intoxicated. Rasa — a wondrous, captivating relish ("camatkāritvaṁ rasaḥ," Alaṅkāra-kaustubha 5.14.8), and therefore something supremely covetable. Dhana-putra-rase — in the relish (the supremely covetable pleasure) derived from wealth and from sons and the like (their company, their service, their good conduct, one's affection for them). The soul, beginninglessly turned away from Kṛṣṇa and toward the world, remains intoxicated by exactly this kind of happiness, holds it to be life's highest good, and knows of no happiness beyond it. But the author here calls this happiness — this "relish" — a false relish: "the world is intoxicated by the false relish of wealth and sons." The reason it is called false is that it is not, in reality, happiness at all; to call it happiness is itself a falsehood, exactly as it would be a falsehood to call a fainting-fit a sweetmeat. The reasoning behind this statement is now given.

It is first necessary to know what real happiness actually is; only then will it be clear what is not real happiness. Śruti has declared: "That which is bhūmā [the unlimited, the full] — that alone is happiness; in the small, the limited, there is no happiness; bhūmā alone is happiness; hence it is bhūmā alone that one should seek to know" (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 7.23.1). The word bhūmā means the boundless, the full. Parabrahman alone is that boundless, full reality — and hence the word bhūmā refers to nothing other than Parabrahman. Parabrahman is Himself of the nature of bliss, of the nature of happiness — bliss, happiness itself: "Brahman is truth, knowledge, bliss" (Taittirīya Upaniṣad, Brahmavallī 1); "He realized that bliss is Brahman" (ibid., 6). Hence Parabrahman alone is bliss or happiness; nothing apart from Parabrahman is real happiness. This is why śruti says, "bhūmaiva sukham — bhūmā alone is happiness." From this discussion it becomes clear what real happiness is.

The same śruti-passage quoted above also says, "nālpe sukham asti — in the small there is no happiness." That which is not bhūmā, not boundless, is "small" — small or limited in space (that is, in extent, in length and breadth), small in time (that is, having an origin and a dissolution, so that its existence is confined within the span from its arising to its passing away), and small or limited also in its glory (its glory, too, being confined to that same span between arising and passing away). Such a thing is a small or limited object, a "non-bhūmā," a finite thing. Happiness cannot reside in it, for happiness is, by nature, unlimited, and an unlimited thing cannot reside within a limited one. The entire material universe is itself a small, limited thing, for every universe has its measure, its extent — one universe is a hundred million yojanas, another a hundred billion yojanas, and so on; hence the universes are limited in space. Again, the universes arise and are dissolved; hence they are limited also in time and in glory. Therefore happiness, which is by nature unlimited, cannot reside within the universe. What we take to be happiness within the universe is, in reality, nothing but the mental serenity born of the material mode of goodness (sattva-guṇa) under the sway of māyā; and this mode of goodness does possess a pleasure-producing, mind-gladdening potency of its own. "O Lord, that single essential potency of Yours, possessed of the three functions of hlādinī, sandhinī, and saṁvit, is the substratum of all things; but the gladdening potency [of the mode of goodness], the tormenting potency [of the mode of ignorance], and the mixed potency [of pleasure-and-pain, belonging to the mode of passion] are not in You, since You are devoid of these material modes" (Viṣṇu Purāṇa 1.12.69). From this testimony of the Viṣṇu Purāṇa it is known that the material mode of goodness does possess a gladdening, mind-pleasing potency of its own. It is precisely this mental serenity, born of the material mode of goodness, that we take, in worldly life, to be happiness — but we all know this happiness to be limited ("small"); hence it is not real happiness. Far from being happiness, it is in fact the very opposite of happiness — it is suffering. The reasoning for this last claim is now given.

It has already been said that Parabrahman alone is real happiness. He is of the nature of sac-cid-ānanda — a spiritual reality (cid-vastu); hence real happiness, too, is a spiritual reality. But māyā, composed of the three material modes, is a material reality; hence the material mode of goodness, and the mental serenity born of it, are likewise material. Matter is by nature opposed to spirit, and spirit is by nature opposed to matter; the relation between spirit and matter is exactly like the relation between light and darkness. Since the happiness that consists in the mental serenity born of the mode of goodness is a material thing, while real happiness is a spiritual thing, it is easily understood that the two are mutually opposed. Whatever is opposed to real happiness is, in objective terms, suffering.

Hence worldly happiness is, in objective terms, suffering. Śrīman Mahāprabhu Himself has called even the happiness of heaven "the suffering of worldly existence": "That soul, beginninglessly turned away from Kṛṣṇa, forgetting Kṛṣṇa — māyā therefore gives him the suffering of material existence. Sometimes she raises him up to heaven, sometimes plunges him into hell — just as a king dunks a criminal, again and again, into the river [as punishment]" (Caitanya-caritāmṛta 2.20.104–105). Thus it is understood that worldly happiness, the happiness derived from wealth, sons, and the like, is not, in objective terms, happiness at all — objectively considered, it is suffering. To call what is, in truth, suffering by the name of happiness is simply to speak falsely. This is why it has been said: "the false relish of wealth and sons." The happiness derived from wealth, sons, and the like — worldly happiness — being "small" in time, is also impermanent, short-lived; hence the word "false" here also carries the sense of "impermanent."

One might ask: if worldly happiness is in truth suffering, why does it not seem like suffering? Why does it seem, and taste, like happiness? The answer is this: not everything that seems, in the tasting, like happiness is, objectively, happiness. That which tastes sweet like sugar is not, in every case, actually sugar — this can be observed even in ordinary worldly experience. Scientists have manufactured a substance from coal-tar called saccharin. Coal-tar is black, yet this substance is white; it is sold in the market in the form of tiny discs. Mixed with water, it makes the water intensely sweet, exactly as though sugar had been dissolved in it — yet it is not, in reality, sugar, but coal-tar. Unmixed with water or with curd, milk, and the like, its taste is in fact bitter; and if too much saccharin is mixed even with water or curd or milk, the mixture again turns bitter. It is by this very fact that its difference from real sugar is known.

Dekhile vaiṣṇava-mātra ityādi — the moment these outward-turned people catch sight of any Vaiṣṇava at all, they mock him; upahāsa means ridicule, mockery, derision. How they mock him is described in the payars that follow.

আর্যাতর্জা পঢ়ে সব বৈষ্ণব দেখিয়া। যতি, সতী, তপস্বীও যাইব মরিয়া॥ ১৮

Translation. Seeing any Vaiṣṇava, they all recite mocking rhymes and riddles: "Ascetics, chaste wives, and penitents too — all of them will die in the end!"

তারে বলি সুকৃতি, যে দোলা ঘোড়া চড়ে। দশ বিশ জন যার আগে-পাছে রড়ে॥ ১৯

Translation. "The man truly blessed with merit is the one who rides in a palanquin or on horseback, with ten or twenty men running before and behind him!"

Explanation. Āryā and tarjā are both the names of metres; the Āryā metre is found in Sanskrit, and the tarjā metre in Śrī Locana Dāsa's Caitanya-maṅgala. But the elders say that in the vernacular "āryā-tarjā" simply means doggerel — jingles and riddles (Anubhāṣya-prakāśa 8). Whenever they saw a Vaiṣṇava, these outward-turned people would recite such jingles and riddles to mock him. They would say: even ascetics (yati), chaste women (satī), and penitents (tapasvī) practice religion — yet they too die; they cannot become immortal. So what is the use of practicing religion? They would further say: the truly meritorious man is the one who need not walk from one place to another, who travels instead by palanquin or on horseback, and for whose pleasure ten or twenty men go running before him and behind him. That is, whoever possesses great wealth, and can therefore freely enjoy bodily comfort and luxury, and has many people in his service — such a man, in the view of these outward-turned people, is the truly meritorious one. Raḍe — runs, dashes about; the variant naḍe is also found, meaning the same.

এতে যে গোসাঞি ভাবে করহ ক্রন্দন। তবু ত দারিদ্র্য দুঃখ না হয় খণ্ডন॥ ২০

Translation. "Even if you weep here in devotion (bhāva) for the Lord (gosāñi), your poverty's suffering will still not be removed."

ঘন ঘন 'হরি হরি' বলি ছাড় ডাক। ক্রুদ্ধ হয় গোসাঞি শুনিলে বড় ডাক॥ ২১

Translation. "Shouting 'Hari! Hari!' again and again, again and again — the Lord (gosāñi), on hearing such a loud clamor, will only grow angry!"

Explanation. Gosāñi is a corrupted form of gosvāmī, meaning the Lord of the universe, the Supreme. Bhāve — in loving devotion (preme). Gosāñi-bhāve — in love for the Lord. This payar, too, is the speech of these outward-turned people directed at the Vaiṣṇavas. In place of the second half of verse 21 the variant "kruddha haba gosāñi se paḍiba bipāka" ["the Lord will become angry, and then calamity will befall you"] is also found; the purport being that if the Lord hears such loud shouting He will be displeased, and calamity will follow.

এইমত বোলে কৃষ্ণভক্তিশূন্য জনে। শুনি মহাদুঃখ পায় ভাগবতগণে॥ ২২

Translation. Thus spoke those devoid of devotion to Kṛṣṇa; hearing it, the Lord's devotees felt the greatest sorrow.

কোথাও না শুনে কেহো কৃষ্ণের কীর্তন। দগ্ধ দেখে সকল সংসার অনুক্ষণ॥ ২৩

Translation. Nowhere could they hear anyone chanting the kīrtana of Kṛṣṇa's name; they saw the whole world ceaselessly ablaze [with the fire of irreligion].

না শুনে অভীষ্ট কৃষ্ণচন্দ্রের আখ্যান। গীতা ভাগবত যে যে জনে বা পঢ়ায়॥ ২৪

Translation. [Viśvarūpa] could not hear, anywhere, the discourse on Kṛṣṇacandra that his heart longed for; and whoever taught the Gītā or the Bhāgavata —

Explanation. Seeing the conduct of these outward-turned people described above, Śrī Viśvarūpa's heart filled with the deepest sorrow. Nā śune abhīṣṭa ityādi — to hear discourse on Kṛṣṇa was Śrī Viśvarūpa's own heart's desire, but nowhere could he find it; this was one sorrow for him. And everywhere, from the mouths of these outward-turned people, all he heard was the vilification of Vaiṣṇavas; this too caused him particular grief.

কৃষ্ণভক্তিব্যাখ্যা কারো না আইসে জিহ্বায়॥ ২৫

Translation. — no explanation of devotion to Kṛṣṇa would ever come to his tongue.

Explanation. Those who taught Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam — these two supremely sacred texts — would, even while expounding these very scriptures that establish devotion to Kṛṣṇa, never once speak of devotion to Kṛṣṇa itself.

কুতর্ক ঘুষিয়া সব-অধ্যাপক মরে। "ভক্তি" হেন নাম নাহি জানয়ে সংসারে॥ ২৬

Translation. All the learned teachers perished, proclaiming nothing but false, scripture-defying logic; the very name "bhakti" was unknown in the world.

Explanation. Kutarka — reasoning contrary to scripture; the advancing of arguments that defy the scriptures. Ghuṣiyā — proclaiming, broadcasting. Nāhi jānaye saṁsāre — hearing the scriptural expositions of all these teachers, the people of the world could learn nothing at all about devotion; or, the people of the world simply did not know what devotion was.

অদ্বৈত-আচার্য আদি যত ভক্তগণ। জীবের কুমতি দেখি করয়ে ক্রন্দন॥ ২৭

Translation. Advaita Ācārya and all the other devotees, seeing the perverse understanding of the souls, wept.

দুঃখে বিশ্বরূপ প্রভু মনে মনে গণে', "না দেখিব লোকমুখ, চলিবাঙ বনে॥" ২৮

Translation. In sorrow, Lord Viśvarūpa reflected within himself: "I shall look upon the face of the world no more — I shall go away to the forest."

Explanation. Calibāṅ vane — I shall leave human habitation and go to the forest. In place of calibāṅ vane the variants cali yāba vane and calilā maraṇe ["went to his death"] are also found.

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উষঃকালে বিশ্বরূপ করি-গঙ্গাস্নান। অদ্বৈত-সভায় আসি হয় উপস্থান॥ ২৯

Translation. At dawn, Viśvarūpa, having bathed in the Gaṅgā, would come and present himself in Advaita's assembly.

Explanation. Upasthāna — being present.

সর্বশাস্ত্রে বাখানেন কৃষ্ণভক্তি সার। শুনিঞা অদ্বৈত সুখে করেন হুঙ্কার॥ ৩০

Translation. He would expound, out of every scripture, its essence — devotion to Kṛṣṇa; and hearing it, Advaita would roar aloud in joy.

পূজা ছাড়ি বিশ্বরূপে ধরি করে কোলে। আনন্দে বৈষ্ণব সব "হরিহরি" বোলে॥ ৩১

Translation. Leaving off his worship, he would seize Viśvarūpa and embrace him; and in bliss, all the Vaiṣṇavas would cry out, "Hari! Hari!"

কৃষ্ণানন্দে ভক্তগণ করে সিংহনাদ। কারো চিত্তে আর নাহি স্ফুরয়ে বিষাদ॥ ৩২

Translation. In the bliss of Kṛṣṇa, the devotees roared like lions; in no one's heart did any trace of sorrow arise any longer.

Explanation. In place of sphuraye the variant phure se is found. Biṣāda means sorrow.

বিশ্বরূপ ছাড়ি কেহো নাহি যায় ঘরে। বিশ্বরূপ না আইসেন আপন-মন্দিরে॥ ৩৩

Translation. No one would leave Viśvarūpa's company to go home; and Viśvarūpa himself would not return to his own house.

Explanation. On hearing Viśvarūpa's exposition of the scriptures, the devotees felt such joy that they could not bear to leave him and go to their own homes — the thought of going home did not even arise in their minds. And Viśvarūpa, in their company, felt such joy in turn that he too forgot all thought of going home. Even when it was time to eat he would remain with the devotees rather than go home; hence, when mealtime came, Mother Śacī would send Nimāi to go and call him (see the following payar).

রন্ধন করিয়া শচী বোলে বিশ্বম্ভরে। "তোমার অগ্রজে গিয়া আনহ সত্বরে॥" ৩৪

Translation. Having finished cooking, Śacī would say to Viśvambhara [Nimāi]: "Go quickly and bring your elder brother."

মায়ের আদেশে প্রভু অদ্বৈত সভায়। আইসেন অগ্রজেরে ল'বার ছলায়॥ ৩৫

Translation. At His mother's command, the Lord would come to Advaita's assembly, under the pretext of fetching His elder brother.

Explanation. La'bāra — of taking, of bringing home. Chalāya — under a pretext. Āisena ityādi — the Lord would come to Advaita's assembly [ostensibly] to fetch His elder brother. In place of agrajere la'bāra the variant agraja-nibāra is found.

আসিয়া দেখেন প্রভু বৈষ্ণবমণ্ডল। অন্যোহন্যে করেন কৃষ্ণ-কথন-মঙ্গল॥ ৩৬

Translation. Arriving there, the Lord would see the assembly of Vaiṣṇavas engaged with one another in the auspicious discourse of Kṛṣṇa.

Explanation. Vaiṣṇava-maṇḍala — the assembly of Vaiṣṇavas. Anyonye — with one another. Karena kṛṣṇa-kathana-maṅgala — the Vaiṣṇavas would be conversing among themselves about Kṛṣṇa, whose every mention brings blessing to the universe; this is what the Lord, upon arriving, would behold.

আপন-প্রস্তাব শুনি শ্রীগৌরসুন্দর। সভারে করেন শুভদৃষ্টি মনোহর॥ ৩৭

Translation. Hearing this discourse about Himself, Śrī Gaurasundara would cast His enchanting, auspicious glance upon them all.

Explanation. Āpana prastāva — discourse concerning Himself; for in truth, discourse on Kṛṣṇa is itself discourse concerning the Lord [since He is Kṛṣṇa Himself].

প্রতি-অঙ্গে নিরুপম-লাবণ্যের সীমা। কোটি চন্দ্র নহে এক নখের উপমা॥ ৩৮

Translation. In every limb was the very limit of incomparable beauty — even ten million moons together could not match a single one of His nails.

Explanation. In place of lāvaṇyera sīmā the variant lāvaṇya-mahimā is found.

দিগম্বর সর্ব-অঙ্গ ধুলায় ধূসর। হাসিয়া অগ্রজ-প্রতি করেন উত্তর॥ ৩৯

Translation. Naked, His whole body grey with dust, He would smilingly reply to His elder brother.

Explanation. Digambara — unclothed.

"ভোজনে আইস ভাই! ডাকয়ে জননী।" অগ্রজ-বসন ধরি চলয়ে আপনি॥ ৪০

Translation. "Come and eat, brother! Mother is calling you" — and, taking hold of His elder brother's garment, He Himself would lead him along.

দেখি সে মোহন রূপ সর্ব-ভক্তগণ। স্থগিত হইয়া সভে করে নিরীক্ষণ॥ ৪১

Translation. Seeing that enchanting form, all the devotees would fall utterly still, gazing upon it.

Explanation. Sthagita — stunned, bereft of external awareness; or, having ceased their discourse on Kṛṣṇa. Nirīkṣaṇa — beholding.

সমাধির প্রায় হইয়াছে ভক্তগণে। কৃষ্ণের কথন কারু না আইসে বদনে॥ ৪২

Translation. The devotees had entered a state well nigh trance (samādhi); discourse of Kṛṣṇa no longer rose to anyone's lips.

Explanation. Bhaktagaṇa samādhira prāya — they had attained the very state attained by a meditator absorbed in samādhi: that state in which the mind achieves perfect one-pointedness, in which only the object of meditation manifests, and in which there is no seeking after any other object whatsoever. Such was the state that overtook the devotees at the sight of the Lord — their minds attained one-pointed absorption in the Lord alone, who is bliss itself; they sought nothing else, their minds turned to nothing else, no other thought so much as arose in their hearts. Hence, in Advaita's assembly, before the Lord's arrival they had been immersed in discourse on Kṛṣṇa — but once He arrived, that same discourse on Kṛṣṇa no longer sprang to anyone's tongue. With single-pointed minds they simply gazed upon the Lord, lost in the relishing of the sweetness of His form. In place of hoiyāche the variant hoi cāhe is found, meaning: absorbed as if in samādhi, they remained gazing at the Lord.

প্রভু দেখি ভক্তমোহ স্বভাবেই হয়। বিনু অনুভবেও দাসের চিত্ত লয়॥ ৪৩

Translation. At the sight of the Lord, such enchantment overtakes the devotee quite naturally; even without conscious realization [of who He is], the servant's mind becomes wholly absorbed in Him.

Explanation. This payar states the reason for the condition described in the previous one. Prabhu dekhi — upon obtaining His darśana. Bhakta-moha — the devotees' enchantment, their bliss-struck rapture and consequent indifference to everything else. Svabhāveī haya — this occurs quite naturally, spontaneously, by virtue of the devotees' own essential nature.

The devotees present in Śrī Advaita's assembly were, in truth, the Lord's own eternal associates. Devotion (bhakti) was unshakably established in their hearts, and at the sight of the blissful Lord, that very devotion, manifesting its own essential nature, produced in them this blissful absorption in the Lord and this indifference to everything else. It is by the power of devotion, working in this way, that — as the payar says — binu anubhaveo, "even without [conscious] realization" — that is, even without cognizing His essential nature as God — dāsera citta laya, the devotee's mind becomes absorbed, dissolved, one-pointedly centered in the Lord. This too is an effect of devotion.

But a question may be raised. The Māṭhara-śruti says, "bhaktir eva enaṁ nayati, bhaktir eva enaṁ darśayati" — "devotion alone leads one to the Lord; devotion alone grants the vision of the Lord" — from which it is known that devotion grants the devotee the realization, the direct cognition, of the Lord. But here it has been said that the devotees' minds became absorbed in the Lord "even without [such] realization." Why, then, did devotion not grant them that realization on this occasion? The answer, it seems, is this. Devotion is a function of the Lord's own spiritual, essential potency (cic-śakti or svarūpa-śakti); its very nature, therefore, is to serve the Lord by acting exactly as He wishes — devotion cannot be inclined toward any act contrary to the Lord's wish. At the time being described in Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata, it was not the Lord's own wish to reveal Himself — to make anyone know His true identity. For this reason, although the devotees present in Śrī Advaita's assembly were the Lord's own eternal associates, the goddess Bhakti did not, on this occasion, grant even them the realization of His true nature. And yet — how could the devotees' minds become absorbed in bliss at the Lord's sight without their knowing that He is bliss itself, the Supreme Lord in person? The answer is that this is simply the objective nature of the Lord's own essential bliss — an objective quality that does not depend on intellectual cognition. Even without knowing, "this is a sweetmeat," one who puts a sweet in the mouth experiences its sweetness all the same. But then another question may arise: others too, apart from devotees, obtained the Lord's darśana — why did their minds not attain this same blissful absorption in Him? The answer is that these other, devotionless people had no devotion in their hearts; who, then, was to produce in them this blissful absorption? It has already been said that, at the time of beholding the Lord, it is devotion alone that can, by its own essential power, produce this blissful absorption. In place of citta laya, the variants citte balaya, cittera laya, and citte laya are also found.

প্রভুও সে আপন ভক্তের চিত্ত হরে। এ কথা বুঝিতে অন্য জনে নাহি পারে॥ ৪৪

Translation. The Lord too, in turn, steals away the heart of His own devotee; this truth no outsider can ever grasp.

Explanation. Āpana bhaktera — of His own eternal associate-devotee. Hare — steals, takes away. In place of āpana bhaktera the variant āpana bhaktirase is found, meaning: "by the power of the innate devotional relish present in His associate's heart." In place of anya jane the variant alpa jane is found, meaning "a person devoid of devotion" — for devotion is vast, unlimited; hence one devoid of devotion may fittingly be called a "small," a "lesser" person.

এ রহস্য বিদিত কৈলেন ভাগবতে। পরীক্ষিত শুনিলেন শুকদেব হৈতে॥ ৪৫

Translation. This mystery was made known in the Bhāgavata; King Parīkṣit heard it from Śukadeva.

Explanation. In the Bhāgavata — in the sequence of verses beginning "brahman parodbhave kṛṣṇe iyān premā kathaṁ bhavet" and continuing through "tasyāpi bhagavān kṛṣṇaḥ kim atadvastu rūpyatām" (Bhāgavata 10.14.49–57). The following payars, 46–56, give the essence of these verses of the Bhāgavata.

প্রসঙ্গে শুনহ ভাগবতের আখ্যান। শুক-পরীক্ষিতের সংবাদ অনুপম॥ ৪৬

Translation. In this connection, hear the account from the Bhāgavata — the matchless dialogue between Śukadeva and Parīkṣit.

Explanation. Śuka-parīkṣitera saṁvāda — the record of Parīkṣit's question and Śukadeva's answer. Anupama — without compare.

এই গৌরচন্দ্র যবে জন্মিলা গোকুলে। শিশুসঙ্গে গৃহে গৃহে ক্রীড়া করি বুলে॥ ৪৭

Translation. This very Gauracandra, when He took birth in Gokula [as Kṛṣṇa in the age of Dvāpara], wandered from house to house, sporting among the children.

Explanation. This payar states that it was this same Śrī Gaurachandra who, in His pastime of the Dvāpara age, manifested His birth-pastime in Gokula as Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the son of Nanda and Yaśodā. Kṛṣṇa, the son of Vraja's king, and Gaura, the son of Jagannātha, are in truth one and the same. Bule — wanders about.

জন্ম হৈতে প্রভুরে সকল গোপীগণে। নিজ পুত্র হইতেও করেন স্নেহ মনে॥ ৪৮

Translation. From His very birth, all the gopīs bore in their hearts an affection for the Lord even greater than for their own sons.

Explanation. Janma haite prabhure — from the time of the Lord's birth-pastime in Gokula, continuously thereafter. Sakala gopīgaṇe — here "gopīs" refers to those gopīs who bore parental affection toward Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the companions of Mother Yaśodā. Nija putra haiteo ityādi — these gopīs, too, had their own sons, for whom they naturally felt affection; but the affection they bore for these sons of their own was, in every case, many times exceeded by the affection they bore for Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

যদ্যপি ঈশ্বরবুদ্ধ্যে না জানে কৃষ্ণেরে। স্বভাবেই পুত্র হৈতে বড় স্নেহ করে॥ ৪৯

Translation. Although they did not know Kṛṣṇa with the understanding "He is God," still, quite naturally, they loved Him even more than their own sons.

Explanation. Yadyapi īśvara-buddhye ityādi — these gopīs had no cognition or understanding that Śrī Kṛṣṇa was God, the Supreme Lord. Under the sway of their deep, pure love, they took Śrī Kṛṣṇa simply to be Yaśodā's son, not the Supreme Lord. Yet the reason they nevertheless cherished for Him an affection exceeding even that for their own sons is given in the words svabhāveī putra haite ityādi — it was by their very nature that they cherished this surpassing affection for Him. Here "nature" (svabhāva) means their own innate, eternally-established essential disposition. See the note to payar 56 below.

শুনিঞা বিস্মিত বড় রাজা পরীক্ষিত। শুকস্থানে জিজ্ঞাসেন হই পুলকিত॥ ৫০

Translation. Hearing this, King Parīkṣit was greatly astonished; his hair standing on end [in wonder], he questioned Śukadeva:

Explanation. Śuniñā bismita ityādi — when Mahārāja Parīkṣit heard from Śrī Śukadeva's own mouth that these gopīs cherished for Śrī Kṛṣṇa an affection greater than for their own sons, he was astonished, his body horripilated with wonder, and he questioned Śukadeva as to the reason. The following two payars, 51–52, are Parīkṣit's question to Śukadeva.

"পরম অদ্ভুত কথা কহিলা গোসাঞি! ত্রিভুবনে এমত কোথাও শুনি নাঞি॥ ৫১

Translation. "You have spoken a supremely wondrous thing, O venerable one! Nowhere in the three worlds have I heard the like of this.

নিজ-পুত্র হৈতে পর-তনয়-কৃষ্ণেরে। কহ দেখি স্নেহ হৈল কেমন প্রকারে?" ৫২

Translation. "Tell me, pray — how did such affection arise for Kṛṣṇa, another woman's son, exceeding even that for their own sons?"

Explanation. Para-tanaya-kṛṣṇere — for Kṛṣṇa, the son of another (Yaśodā). The matter is this. At the time of the pastime here referred to, Śrī Kṛṣṇa had only just entered His fourth year. Seeing the older gopas taking the cows out to pasture, He too conceived the desire to go out with the herd, and day after day pressed His parents with this wish. But since Kṛṣṇa was still so very young, Mahārāja Nanda would not consent. Still Kṛṣṇa's insistence continued, until at last, unable to bear the thought of his beloved Kānāi's distress, Nanda Bābā gave permission for Him to herd the calves, though not yet the cows. It was settled that Kānāi would go, along with the other cowherd boys of His own age, and that Nanda Bābā's calves would go with Kānāi, and the calves of the other boys would go with them too. In the greatest joy, Kānāi began going into the forest with His age-mate companions, taking all the calves; Baladeva too would go along. On the day of the killing of Aghāsura, having witnessed Kṛṣṇa's glory displayed in the slaying of that demon, Brahmā grew covetous to behold yet more of His enchanting glory. Brahmā therefore stole away the calf-tending cowherd boys who were Kṛṣṇa's companions, together with all the calves, and hid them away in a secluded place. Then Śrī Kṛṣṇa's own omniscient power made known to Him that it was Brahmā who had stolen the calf-boys and the calves. That same omniscient power also made known to Him that the mothers of all these cowherd boys, and the mother-cows of the calves, cherished a powerful longing to have Him as their own son. Then, by the power of His pastime-potency, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself manifested as every one of the cowherd boys and calves stolen by Brahmā — manifesting Himself in exactly the same form as each boy and each calf had been. Taking all these calves and calf-boys, He returned home; and, as on every other day, the boys and calves went each to his own mother. On that day, however, Balarāma happened to have stayed at home and had not gone to the pasture. The mothers of the boys and of the calves took it that these were simply their own children, returned home as on any other day, after having gone to the pasture with Kānāi. From that day the mothers' affection for their own children steadily increased until it came to equal the affection they had earlier felt for Kānāi alone — and their affection for Kānāi, too, increased in a wondrous way beyond all previous measure (even before this they had cherished more affection for Kānāi than for their own children, and had praised Yaśodā's good fortune). At this time, though each mother took the son she now had to be her very own, he was, in fact, Yaśodā's son — not her own son at all, but, for her, truly another's son. This is exactly why Mahārāja Parīkṣit asked, "for Kṛṣṇa, another's son..." and so on. One might also ask why, even before this event, these gopīs cherished more affection for Śrī Kṛṣṇa than for their own sons. Every mother has, with the son born of her own womb, a certain natural bodily connection, which gives rise to a natural maternal affection for her own child. The gopīs had no such connection with Śrī Kṛṣṇa; even in the pastime just described, though they took Kṛṣṇa to be their own child, He was, in reality, Yaśodā's child. It seems to be for just this reason — that, lacking any bodily connection with Him, there was no natural cause for them to hold Him dearer than their own sons — that Parīkṣit put the question he did. In the following payars, 53–56, Śrī Śukadeva answers Parīkṣit's question.

শ্রীশুক কহেন "শুন রাজা পরীক্ষিত! পরমাত্মা সর্ব-দেহে বল্লভ বিদিত॥ ৫৩

Translation. Śrī Śuka said: "Hear, O King Parīkṣit! It is well known that the Paramātmā [the Self within] is dear to every embodied being.

Explanation. In payars 53–56 the author has given the essence of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.14.50–55; hence the purport of these payars must be determined in keeping with the original Bhāgavata verses, or the author's intent cannot be understood. A brief discussion of the original verses is therefore given here.

Śrī Śukadeva first said: "sarveṣām api bhūtānāṁ nṛpa ātmaiva vallabhaḥ; itare 'py apatya-vittādyās tad-vallabhatayaiva hi" (Bhāgavata 10.14.50) — "O King, for every living being it is the self (ātmā) alone that is dear; other things, such as one's offspring and one's wealth, are dear only because of their connection with what is dear to the self." In his commentary on this verse, Śrīpāda Viśvanātha Cakravartī glosses the word vallabhaḥ: "vallabhaḥ loka-dṛṣṭyā ātyantika-prīti-viṣayaḥ — vallabha means: in the eyes of the world, the object of one's most intense affection." Cakravartī-pāda is here speaking of souls who identify themselves with the body. Fallen, from beginningless time, into the grip of māyā through their outward-turned nature, such souls take their own body to be the self — "I" — and hold this body to be supremely dear; they hold their wife, children, wealth, and the like dear as well, but only because these serve the body's comfort — they are not dear in their own right. The proof of this is that when a house catches fire, a man will leave his wife and children inside and save only himself. Hence the saying: "One should always protect one's own self, even at the cost of one's wealth and even one's wife." This is why Cakravartī-pāda says that, in the eyes of the world, it is the self (the body that people take to be "I") that is the object of ultimate affection, supremely dear; and it is because this self is dear that one's children and wealth become dear.

Śukadeva says the same thing: "tad rājendra yathā snehaḥ sva-sva-tmani dehinām; na tathā mamatālambi-putra-vitta-gṛhādiṣu" (Bhāgavata 10.14.51) — "O best of kings, this is why one finds that embodied souls do not feel for the objects of their attachment — sons, wealth, home, and the rest — the same affection they feel for their own bodies." After this Śukadeva says further: "dehātma-vādinaṁ puṁsām api rājanya-sattama; yathā dehaḥ priyatamas tathā na hy anya kiñcana" (Bhāgavata 10.14.52) — "O best of princes, even for those who identify the self with the body, no offspring born after the body is held as dear as the body itself." After this Śukadeva says: "deho 'pi mamatā-bhāk cet taṛhy asau nātmavat priyaḥ; yaj jīryaty api dehe 'smin jīvitāśā balīyasī" (Bhāgavata 10.14.53) — "Though the body is indeed dear to one who identifies with it, even the body is not as dear as the self, for even when this body has grown decrepit, the will to live remains strong." So long as the soul remains within the body, one is said to be alive; the departure of the soul from the body is called death. Even when the body has become utterly decrepit and death draws near, the soul's desire to live — that is, to remain within the body — still remains strong; even in that decrepit state, one still wishes to go on living. From this it is understood that the soul is dearer than the body: it is well enough if the body remains healthy, but even if it does not, the soul's overriding wish is simply to remain within it. Hence it is understood that the body is not as dear to people as the soul itself is. After this Śukadeva says: "tasmāt priyatamaḥ svātmā sarveṣām api dehinām; tad-artham eva sakalaṁ jagad etac carācaram" (Bhāgavata 10.14.54) — "Therefore one's own self is the dearest thing of all to every embodied being; it is for the sake of the self alone that this entire moving and unmoving universe becomes dear." And finally Śukadeva says: "kṛṣṇam enam avehi tvam ātmānam akhilātmanām; jagad-dhitāya so 'py atra dehīvābhāti māyayā" (Bhāgavata 10.14.55) — "O King, know this Kṛṣṇa to be the Self of every self; for the welfare of the world He, too, appears here, by the power of His yogamāyā, as though embodied, like an ordinary embodied being."

The reason Kṛṣṇa is here called the Self of every self is this. From the Gītā we know that Kṛṣṇa has told Arjuna that the soul, the jīvātmā, is, in essential nature, His own spiritual jīva-potency: "This is My other, higher nature, O mighty-armed one, the very life-force by which this universe is sustained" (Gītā 7.5). And again, speaking so as to convey the non-difference between potency and its possessor, He has called the soul His own eternal fragment: "It is an eternal fragment of Myself alone that becomes the living soul in this world of life" (Gītā 15.7). From Kṛṣṇa's own words, then, it is known that the soul is, in its essential nature, Kṛṣṇa's own potency, and His own fragmental part. The soul is the potency, Kṛṣṇa its possessor; the soul is Kṛṣṇa's part, Kṛṣṇa its whole. The sole root and shelter of a potency is its possessor; the sole shelter of a part is its whole. Because the soul is Kṛṣṇa's potency and part, because the soul's very existence depends, in every respect, upon Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa is therefore called the Self of every self. In Bhāgavata 10.14.53–54 it has been said that the soul is dearer to a person than everything else; and if the soul, which is itself but Kṛṣṇa's own part, is thus the dearest thing to a person, what doubt can remain that Kṛṣṇa Himself — of whom the soul is a part — must be dearer still, dearer even than the soul? The Bṛhadāraṇyaka-śruti has declared that Parabrahman, the Supreme Self, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself, is the soul's one true dear one (Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 1.4.8 and 2.4.5). His relation with the soul is, by its very essential nature, a relation of dearness. And this relation of dearness is not His alone with the soul — it is His essential relation with everyone, including His own eternal associates, since they too are His potency, His own essential potency. Wherever there is a potency, there the possessor of that potency is dear to it. Hence He alone is the one true dear one of all — dearer than everything else: "This self is dearer than a son, dearer than wealth, dearer than everything else, dearer than all" (Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 1.4.8). Thus it is understood that the soul's sense that Kṛṣṇa is dear, and His associates' sense that He is dear, are essential and natural — this is their own inherent disposition, their very nature. And, since dearness is by its essential nature reciprocal, Kṛṣṇa's own sense that the soul, and His associates, are dear to Him is likewise natural — this sense of dearness is Kṛṣṇa's own essential disposition, His own nature, as much as it is theirs. It is this very Śrī Kṛṣṇa who appeared as the son of Yaśodā; and because He was Yaśodā's son, He was, for the other gopīs, another's son. Yet, since their essential relation of dearness with Him remained ever present, they cherished for Śrī Kṛṣṇa an affection exceeding even that for their own sons. In this way has Śrī Śukadeva answered Mahārāja Parīkṣit's question. The meaning of the proposed payar 53 is now discussed.

Paramātmā sarva-dehe vallabha vidita — it is well known that the Paramātmā dwelling within every body is dear to all — the object of everyone's ultimate affection. What this purports is now considered. The word paramātmā, though it conventionally refers to the indwelling witness of the soul, in its primary sense refers to none other than Parabrahman, the Supreme Self, Śrī Kṛṣṇa — He who is "the Self of every self." But Parabrahman, the Supreme Self Śrī Kṛṣṇa, does not dwell within the soul in His own essential form; rather, His expansion dwells within the soul as the indwelling Paramātmā, and the fragment of His spiritual jīva-potency dwells within the soul as the jīvātmā. Although the indwelling Paramātmā resides in the body of the soul, a soul who identifies with the body cannot perceive this; nor can such a soul know that the jīvātmā itself resides in the body — yet it is known, as Śukadeva has said (in the previously quoted Bhāgavata 10.14.53), that even in an aged, decrepit body the soul's overriding desire to live betrays its intense affection for the jīvātmā. Hence, in the statement "paramātmā sarva-dehe vallabha vidita," it appears that by "paramātmā" the author intends the jīvātmā. This is also confirmed by the word "ātmā" in the following payar, 54 (see the note there). And in particular, in the original Bhāgavata verse discussed above, Śukadeva has spoken precisely of the soul's affection for the jīvātmā residing within its own body. Hence here, by "paramātmā," it seems the author intends the paramātmā that resides as the jīvātmā — that is, Parabrahman Śrī Kṛṣṇa's own potency and fragment, the jīvātmā itself.

আত্মা বিনে পুত্র বা কলত্র বন্ধুগণ। গৃহ হৈতে বাহির করয়ে ততক্ষণ॥ ৫৪

Translation. Bereft of the self [the soul], one's sons, wife, and friends carry the body out of the house that very instant.

Explanation. Ātmā vine ityādi — if the body is without the soul (that is, once the soul has departed from the body, once the soul no longer resides within it), then that person's wife, sons, and friends carry the body out of the house without delay. It is the dead body that a man's wife, sons, and the rest carry out of the house; a body is called "dead" precisely once the jīvātmā has departed from it. Hence it is easily seen that here the word "ātmā" means the jīvātmā. The purport of this payar is this: so long as the jīvātmā remains in a person's body — that is, so long as the person is alive — his wife, sons, friends, and relations show him affection; but once the jīvātmā has departed from his body, no one holds that soulless body dear any longer. The implication is that a person's wife and sons, in truth, feel affection for his jīvātmā, and not merely for his body — for if their affection were for the body alone, they would not carry the soulless body out of the house, nor cremate it.

অতএব পরমাত্মা সভার জীবন। সেই পরমাত্ম-এই শ্রীনন্দনন্দন॥ ৫৫

Translation. Therefore the Paramātmā is the very life of all; and that same Paramātmā is none other than this very son of Nanda.

Explanation. Here too, by "paramātmā," is meant the "ātmā" or jīvātmā spoken of in the previous payar. That this jīvātmā is what is dearest to a person, Śukadeva has likewise said (see the previously quoted Bhāgavata 10.14.54). Sabhāra jīvana — dear to every living being; or, so long as this jīvātmā remains in the body, that long alone is a person said to be alive. Sei paramātma ei ityādi — that dearest jīvātmā is none other than this very son of Nanda; that is, it is the son of Nanda, in the form of the jīva-potency, who resides within every soul. This is stated with a view to the non-difference between potency and possessor.

অতএব পরমাত্মা-স্বভাব-কারণে। কৃষ্ণেতে অধিক স্নেহ করে গোপীগণে॥" ৫৬

Translation. "Therefore, by reason of the Paramātmā's very nature, the gopīs cherished still greater affection for Kṛṣṇa [than for their own sons]."

Explanation. Paramātmā-svabhāva-kāraṇe ityādi — by reason of the Paramātmā's own nature, His own essential quality. Between Parabrahman, the Supreme Self Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and the gopīs who bear parental love for Him, His eternal associates, the essential relation is one of dearness. It is by the natural quality of that very relation of dearness that the gopīs cherish still greater affection for Śrī Kṛṣṇa than for their own sons — for although their sons are dear to them, Śrī Kṛṣṇa is dearer to them still than their own sons (see the discussion of the Bhāgavata verses in the note to payar 53 above).

এহো কথা ভক্ত প্রতি, অন্য প্রতি নহে। অন্যথা জগতে কেহো স্নেহ না করয়ে॥ ৫৭

Translation. This truth applies to the devotee alone, not to another; otherwise, no one in this world would feel affection [for Kṛṣṇa] at all.

Explanation. Eho kathā bhakta prati — what has been said in the preceding payar applies only to the devotee, not to others — that is, it does not apply to those who are not devotees. As shown in the discussion of the Bhāgavata verses in the note to payar 53, Kṛṣṇa's essential relation with His associate-devotees, and indeed with every soul, is one of dearness; Kṛṣṇa alone is everyone's one true dear one, dearest to all, and all are dear to Kṛṣṇa. Among these, those who, by rightly practicing pure devotional discipline, have attained devotion — and have thus become devotees — are, by the power of that devotion, established in this relation of dearness with Kṛṣṇa; their surpassing affection for Kṛṣṇa is therefore natural to them. And those who are Kṛṣṇa's eternal associate-devotees have, from beginningless time, been eternally established in that relation of dearness; naturally, then, they too bear surpassing affection for Kṛṣṇa. But those who are beginninglessly outward-turned worldly souls, fallen into the grip of māyā, identify the self with the body and hold the body and bodily things dearest of all. Although they too have, in essential truth, a relation of dearness with Kṛṣṇa, being utterly absorbed in the body and bodily things they are not established in that relation with Him; hence they can bear no affection or love for Kṛṣṇa whatsoever. This is exactly why the author says: "This truth applies to the devotee alone, not to another." Anyathā — otherwise, that is, in a manner different from that of the devotees, that is, [true] of those who are not devotees. Anyathā jagate keho ityādi — none of those in this world who are not devotees bear any affection or love for Śrī Kṛṣṇa at all.

কংসাদিরো, আত্মা কৃষ্ণ, তবে হিংসে কেনে? পূর্ব-অপরাধ আছে তাহার কারণে॥ ৫৮

Translation. Even for Kaṁsa and the rest, Kṛṣṇa is their very self — why, then, do they hate Him? It is because of some prior offense.

Explanation. Kaṁsādiro ātmā ityādi — even with Kaṁsa and the rest, Kṛṣṇa's relation is, in essential truth, one of dearness; why then, instead of cherishing love for Kṛṣṇa, do they hate and persecute Him? Pūrva aparādha ityādi — it is only because of offenses accumulated in the past that they hate Kṛṣṇa instead of loving Him.

সহজে শর্করা মিষ্ট সব্বজনে জানে। কেহো তিক্ত বাসে, জিহ্বা-দোষের কারণে॥ ৫৯

Translation. Everyone knows that sugar is, by nature, sweet; yet some taste it as bitter, owing to a defect in the tongue.

জিহ্বার সে দোষ, শর্করার দোষ নাঞি। এইমত সর্ব্বমিষ্ট চৈতন্যগোসাঞি॥ ৬০

Translation. That is the tongue's fault, not sugar's; and in just the same way, Śrī Caitanya Gosāñi is sweet to everyone [by His own nature, whatever any individual may taste].

Explanation. The illustration of sugar is used to make the point above still clearer. Keho tikta bāse — some take even sugar to taste bitter. Why? Jihvā-doṣera kāraṇe — because of a defect in the tongue: to those whose tongues are coated with bitter bile, even naturally sweet sugar tastes bitter. Jihvāra se doṣa ityādi — it is the tongue's fault that sugar seems bitter, not any fault in the sugar; sugar has no bitterness in it — if it did, it would taste bitter even to a healthy tongue, but this does not happen. Eimata sarva-miṣṭa ityādi — just as sugar is by nature sweet, so Śrī Caitanya, too, is by nature sweet — supremely sweet — and hence, in His essential nature, an object of everyone's affection and love. Just as sugar tastes bitter — and hence seems undesirable — to a tongue afflicted with bile, so too, to a soul whose heart is sullied by māyā, Śrī Caitanya, who is the one true dear one of all (sarva-miṣṭa), does not seem dear. This is exactly the purport already stated in the note to payar 44 above.

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এই নবদ্বীপেতে দেখিল সর্বজনে। তথাপিহ কেহো না জানিল ভক্ত বিনে॥ ৬১

Translation. Everyone in Navadvīpa beheld Him, yet none but a devotee could know [who He truly was].

Explanation. In place of ei nabadvīpete the variant jei nabadvīpe ta is found.

ভক্তের সে চিত্ত প্রভু হরে সর্বথায়। বিহরয়ে নবদ্বীপে বৈকুণ্ঠের রায়॥ ৬২

Translation. In every way, the Lord steals away the devotee's heart; thus does the King of Vaikuṇṭha sport in Navadvīpa.

মোহিয়া সভার চিত্ত প্রভু বিশ্বম্ভর। অগ্রজ লইয়া চলিলেন নিজ-ঘর॥ ৬৩

Translation. Enchanting the hearts of all, Lord Viśvambhara led His elder brother away to His own home.

Explanation. Mohiyā — enchanting everyone's heart by His own essential, innate nature. Agraja loiyā — taking His elder brother, Śrī Viśvarūpa, along with Him. It has been said earlier, in payar 40, that at mealtimes Mother Śacī would send Nimāi to Advaita's assembly to fetch Viśvarūpa home.

মনে মনে চিন্তয়ে অদ্বৈত-মহাশয়। "প্রাকৃত মানুষ কভু এ বালক নয়॥" ৬৪

Translation. The great soul Advaita reflected within himself: "This child is surely never an ordinary human being."

Explanation. Having beheld the incomparable sweetness of Nimāi described in payar 38 above, Śrī Advaita began to reflect within himself. What did he reflect? Prākṛta mānuṣa ityādi — this child [Nimāi] is never an ordinary human being, an ordinary conditioned soul.

সর্বববৈষ্ণবের প্রতি বলিলা অদ্বৈত। "কোনো বস্তু এ বালক জানিহ নিশ্চিতে॥" ৬৫

Translation. Advaita then said to all the Vaiṣṇavas: "Know for certain that this child is some extraordinary being."

Explanation. Having reflected thus within himself, Śrī Advaita spoke to all the devotees, saying, in effect: this child is no ordinary human being — no mere soul — but of a certain wondrous nature. Know this for certain; harbor no doubt about it. Śrī Advaita had understood that Śrī Nimāi was no mere soul, but a manifestation of Godhead itself. The variant reading "kon vastu e bālak nā jāni" ["what this child is, I do not know"] is also found, with the purport: this child is certainly a manifestation of Godhead — though which particular form of Godhead, I have not yet been able to discern.

প্রশংসিতে লাগিলেন সর্ব্বভক্তগণ। অপূর্ব্ব শিশুর রূপ-লাবণ্য-কথন॥ ৬৬

Translation. All the devotees began praising the child, speaking again and again of His wondrous beauty.

নাম-মাত্র বিশ্বরূপ চলিলেন ঘরে। গুন সেই আইলেন অদ্বৈত-মন্দিরে॥ ৬৭

Translation. Viśvarūpa went home in name only, [for] straightway he returned to Advaita's house.

Explanation. Nāma-mātra ityādi — Viśvarūpa went home only in the barest formal sense, but did not remain there long; immediately after eating he would come back again to Advaita's house. In place of sei āilena the variant āilena śīghra ["quickly returned"] is found.

না ভায় সংসারসুখ বিশ্বরূপ-মনে। নিরবধি থাকে কৃষ্ণ-আনন্দ-কীর্তনে॥ ৬৮

Translation. Worldly happiness held no appeal for Viśvarūpa's mind; he remained constantly absorbed in the blissful kīrtana of Kṛṣṇa.

Explanation. Nā bhāya — does not appeal, is not pleasing.

গৃহে আইলেও গৃহব্যাভার না করে। নিরবধি থাকে বিষ্ণুগৃহের ভিতরে॥ ৬৯

Translation. Even when he came home, he took up none of a householder's duties; he remained constantly within the house-temple of Viṣṇu.

Explanation. Gṛha-byābhāra — the conduct and business of a householder; worldly affairs.

বিবাহের উদ্যোগ করয়ে পিতামাতা। শুনি বিশ্বরূপ বড় মনে পায় ব্যথা॥ ৭০

Translation. His father and mother began making arrangements for his marriage; hearing this, Viśvarūpa's heart was struck with great anguish.

"চাড়িব সংসার" বিশ্বরূপ মনে ভাবে। "চলিবাঙ বনে" — নিত্য এই মনে জাগে॥ ৭১

Translation. "I shall abandon worldly life," Viśvarūpa resolved within his mind; "I shall go away to the forest" — this thought alone rose ceaselessly in his heart.

Explanation. Nitya — always, without interruption. In place of nitya the variant mātra is found; the sense being that this single thought — of leaving the world and going to the forest — filled his mind continually, to the exclusion of every other thought.

ঈশ্বরের চিত্তবৃত্তি ঈশ্বর সে জানে। বিশ্বরূপ সন্ন্যাস করিলা কতো-দিনে॥ ৭২

Translation. The Lord's own inner intention is known to the Lord alone; and after some days, Viśvarūpa took sannyāsa.

জগতে বিদিত নাম শ্রীশঙ্করারণ্য। চলিলা অনন্ত-পথে বৈষ্ণবাগ্রগণ্য॥ ৭৩

Translation. Renowned throughout the world under the name Śrī Śaṅkarāraṇya, that foremost of Vaiṣṇavas set out upon the path to the Infinite.

Explanation. Ananta-pathe — upon the path of the Infinite [Ananta] — that is, upon the path leading to the attainment of the boundless Parabrahman, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself; the path of spiritual practice conducive to attaining Him.

চলিলেন যদি বিশ্বরূপ মহাশয়। শচী-জগন্নাথ দগ্ধ হইলা হৃদয়॥ ৭৪

Translation. When the great soul Viśvarūpa thus departed, the hearts of Śacī and Jagannātha were consumed as if by fire.

Explanation. Dagdha hoilo hṛdaya — just as fire consumes and burns whatever it touches, so did the burning pain of separation from Viśvarūpa consume and burn the hearts of Śacī and Jagannātha. For the sake of the metre, "dagdha-hṛdaya hoilā" has been written as "dagdha hoilo hṛdaya."

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গোষ্ঠী-সহে ক্রন্দন করয়ে উর্দ্ধ-রা'য়। ভাইর বিরহে মূর্ছা গেলা গৌররায়॥ ৭৫

Translation. With their kinsmen, they wailed aloud; and Gaurarāya [the child Nimāi], in separation from His brother, fell into a swoon.

Explanation. Ūrdhva-rā'ẏa — with a loud cry. Rā'ẏa means voice, sound; as when it is said "such-and-such a person does not utter a 'rā'," meaning he says nothing, makes no sound.

সে বিরহ বর্ণিতে বদনে নাহি পারি। হইল ক্রন্দনময় জগন্নাথপুরী॥ ৭৬

Translation. I have no words with which to describe that separation; the house of Jagannātha [Miśra] became filled with weeping.

Explanation. Jagannāthapurī — the house (purī) of Jagannātha Miśra.

বিশ্বরূপ সন্ন্যাস দেখিয়া ভক্তগণ। অদ্বৈতাদি সভে বহু করিলা ক্রন্দন॥ ৭৭

Translation. Seeing Viśvarūpa's sannyāsa, the devotees — Advaita and all the rest — wept profusely.

Explanation. In place of dekhiyā the variant śuniñā ["hearing"] is found — that is, on hearing the news of his sannyāsa. In place of sabhe bahu the variants ghare baḍa and sabhe meli ["all together"] are found.

উত্তম মধ্যম যে শুনিল নদীয়ায়। হেন নাহি যে শুনিঞা দুখে নাহি পায়॥ ৭৮

Translation. Whoever heard of it in Nadīyā, high or humble alike, there was no one who did not feel sorrow on hearing it.

জগন্নাথ-শচীর বিদীর্ণ হয় বুক। নিরন্তর ডাকে "বিশ্বরূপ! বিশ্বরূপ!"॥ ৭৯

Translation. The hearts of Jagannātha and Śacī were rent asunder; ceaselessly they cried out, "Viśvarūpa! Viśvarūpa!"

পুত্রশোকে মিশ্রচন্দ্র হইলা বিহ্বল। প্রবোধয়ে যত বন্ধুবান্ধব সকল॥ ৮০

Translation. Miśracandra was overwhelmed with grief for his son; all his kinsmen and friends set about consoling him.

Explanation. In place of dyuta the variant baḍa is found; baḍa means "greatly, again and again" [they consoled him].

"স্থির হও মিশ্র! কেনে দুঃখ ভাব মনে? সর্বগোষ্ঠী উদ্ধারিল সেই মহাজনে॥ ৮১

Translation. "Be composed, Miśra! Why do you grieve so? That great soul has delivered your entire family line!

গোষ্ঠীয়ে পুরুষ যার করয়ে সন্ন্যাস। ত্রিকোটি-কুলের হয় শ্রীবৈকুণ্ঠে বাস॥ ৮২

Translation. "When a man of a family takes sannyāsa, thirty million of his ancestors and descendants attain residence in Śrī Vaikuṇṭha.

হেন কর্ম করিলেন নন্দন তোমার। সফল হইল বিদ্যা-সম্বন্ধ তাহার॥ ৮৩

Translation. "Such a deed has your son accomplished; the purpose of all his learning has now been fulfilled.

Explanation. Vidyā-sambandha — his connection with, his acquisition of, learning. If the pursuit of learning gives rise to devotion to the Lord, only then does that learning find its true fulfillment.

আনন্দ বিশেষে আরে করিতে জুয়ায়।" এত বলি সকলে ধরয়ে হাথে-পা'য়॥ ৮৪

Translation. "There is every reason, then, for you to rejoice all the more." Saying this, they all took hold of his hands and feet [in entreaty].

"এই কুলে ভূষণ তোমার বিশ্বম্ভর। এই পুত্র হইব তোমার বংশধর॥ ৮৫

Translation. "Your Viśvambhara [Nimāi] is the ornament of this family; this [younger] son will be your heir and continue your line.

ইহা হৈতে সর্ব-দুঃখ ঘুচিব তোমার। কোটি পুত্রে কি করিব, এ পুত্র যাহার?" ৮৬

Translation. "Through him all your sorrows will be dispelled — what need has a man of a million sons, who has a son like this?"

এইমত সভে বুঝায়েন বন্ধুগণ। তথাপি মিশ্রের দুঃখ না হয় খণ্ডন॥ ৮৭

Translation. Thus did all his friends and kinsmen try to console him; yet Miśra's sorrow would not be dispelled.

যে-তে-মতে ধৈর্য্য করে মিশ্র মহাশয়। বিশ্বরূপ-গুণ স্মরি ধৈর্য্য পাসরয়॥ ৮৮

Translation. However he strove to compose himself, the great soul Miśra would, on remembering Viśvarūpa's virtues, lose all patience again.

Explanation. In place of ye-te-mate the variant yata mate is found.

মিশ্র বোলে "এই পুত্র রহিবেক ঘরে। ইহাতে প্রমাণ মোর না লয় অন্তরে॥" ৮৯

Translation. Miśra said: "That this son [Nimāi] will remain at home — of this my heart cannot yet be made certain."

Explanation. Ei putra — Nimāi. Ihāte — on this matter, namely, whether Nimāi will stay at home rather than take sannyāsa like Viśvarūpa. Pramāṇa mora ityādi — no conviction takes root in my heart; I cannot summon the same firm certainty that all of you feel. In place of pramāṇa the variant pravodha is found. The purport is: Miśra Ṭhākura tells his friends and relations, "You say Nimāi will stay at home and become my heir — but your words bring no consolation to my heart."

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দিলেন কৃষ্ণ সে পুত্র, নিলেন কৃষ্ণ সে। যে কৃষ্ণচন্দ্রের ইচ্ছা, হইল সে-ই সে॥ ৯০

Translation. "Kṛṣṇa gave that son, and Kṛṣṇa has taken him back; whatever is Kṛṣṇacandra's will, that alone has come to pass.

স্বতন্ত্র জীবের তিলার্দ্দেকো শক্তি নাঞি। দেহেন্দ্রিয় কৃষ্ণ! সমপিলু তোমা' ঠাঞি॥" ৯১

Translation. "The soul has not a fraction of independent power. O Kṛṣṇa! I offer my body and my senses at Your feet."

Explanation. In this payar the word "svatantra" is to be construed with "śakti." The first half of the payar reads: "the soul has not even the slightest independent power." The soul is not independent — not free to act as it pleases — but wholly dependent upon the Lord; hence there is no room for any independence in the soul's power. Kṛṣṇa alone is the independent Reality; whatever He wills, that alone He is able to do. Reflecting thus upon this truth, Miśra Ṭhākura surrendered himself completely at Śrī Kṛṣṇa's feet. Dehendriya kṛṣṇa samapilu tomā' ṭhāñi — "O Śrī Kṛṣṇa, I offer my body and all my senses at Your feet; whatever You wish to do with me, that You shall do." In place of tomā the variant tāra is found. Alternatively, this statement may also be understood to mean: those who, under māyā's influence, consider themselves independent, and so imagine they can do whatever they wish by their own power, in fact possess not the slightest fraction of such power — everything comes to pass solely by the will of the independent Kṛṣṇa. Reflecting on all this, Miśra Ṭhākura surrendered himself at Śrī Kṛṣṇa's feet.

এইরূপ জ্ঞানযোগে মিশ্র মহা-ধীর। অল্পে অল্পে চিত্তবৃত্তি করিলেন স্থির॥ ৯২

Translation. Through this very path of knowledge, the deeply steadfast Miśra gradually brought his mind to peace.

হেনমতে বিশ্বরূপ হইলা বাহির। নিত্যানন্দস্বরূপের অভেদ-শরীর॥ ৯৩

Translation. Thus did Viśvarūpa go forth — he whose body is non-different from the form of Nityānanda Svarūpa.

Explanation. Nityānanda-svarūpera ityādi — it is Vraja's own Balarāma who has descended as Śrī Nityānanda. Śrī Viśvarūpa is one manifestation of the Saṅkarṣaṇa of the spiritual sky, Paravyoma (see the note to payar 1.38), and that Saṅkarṣaṇa is Himself one expansion of Balarāma — and hence of Nityānanda as well. It is with a view to the non-difference between a part and its whole that Viśvarūpa is here called "of one body, non-different" from Nityānanda Svarūpa.

যে শুনয়ে বিশ্বরূপ-প্রভুর সন্ন্যাস। কৃষ্ণভক্তি হয় তার ছিণ্ডে কর্মফাঁস॥ ৯৪

Translation. Whoever hears of Lord Viśvarūpa's sannyāsa attains devotion to Kṛṣṇa, and the noose of his karma is severed.

Explanation. Karma-phāsa — the bondage of karma born of māyā. In place of phāsa the variant pāsa is found; pāsa means bondage.

বিশ্বরূপ-সন্ন্যাস শুনিঞা ভক্তগণ। হরিষ-বিষাদ সভে করে অনুক্ষণ॥ ৯৫

Translation. On hearing of Viśvarūpa's sannyāsa, the devotees felt, without cease, both joy and sorrow together.

Explanation. Hariṣa-biṣāda — joy and sorrow. Joy, in the thought that Viśvarūpa had accepted sannyāsa for the sake of worshipping Kṛṣṇa; sorrow, in the thought that they would no longer have the good fortune of hearing discourse on Kṛṣṇa from Viśvarūpa's own lips.

"যে বা ছিল স্থান কৃষ্ণকথা কহিবার। তাহা কৃষ্ণ হরিলেন আমা' সভাকার॥ ৯৬

Translation. "That very place where discourse on Kṛṣṇa used to be spoken — Kṛṣṇa has taken that away from all of us.

আমরাও না রহিব চলিবাঙ বনে। এ পাপিষ্ঠ-লোক-মুখ না দেখি যেখানে॥ ৯৭

Translation. "We too shall not remain here — we shall go away to the forest, to some place where we need not see the faces of these sinful people.

পাষণ্ডীর বাক্যজ্বালা সহিব বা কত। নিরন্তর অপথে সর্ব-লোক রত॥ ৯৮

Translation. "How much longer can we bear the burning taunts of the faithless? Ceaselessly the whole world is engrossed in the wrong path.

'কৃষ্ণ' হেন নাম নাহি শুনি কারো মুখে। সকল সংসার ডুবি মরে মিথ্যা-সুখে॥" ৯৯

Translation. "The very name 'Kṛṣṇa' is heard from no one's lips; the whole of worldly society drowns and dies in false happiness."

Explanation. In place of e nāma the variant bola ["word"] is found. Mithyā-sukha — worldly happiness (see the note to payar 17 above).

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বুঝাইলে কেহো কৃষ্ণ-পথ নাহি লয়। উলটিয়া আরো উপহাস সে করয়॥ ১০০

Translation. "However one tries to instruct them, no one takes to the path of Kṛṣṇa; instead they turn around and mock it all the more.

'কৃষ্ণ ভজি তোমার হইল কোন্‌ সুখ? মাগিয়া সে খাও, আরো বাড়ে যত দুঃখ॥' ১০১

Translation. "'What happiness have you gained from worshipping Kṛṣṇa? You live on begging, and your suffering only grows!'

যোগ্য নহে এ সব লোকের সনে বাস। 'বনে চলিবাঙ' বলি সভে ছাড়ে শ্বাস॥ ১০২

Translation. "It is not fitting to dwell among such people any longer" — saying "let us go to the forest," they all heaved deep sighs.

প্রবোধেন সভারে অদ্বৈত মহাশয়। "পাইবা পরমানন্দ সভেই নিশ্চয়॥ ১০৩

Translation. The great soul Advaita then consoled them all: "You shall all, without doubt, attain the highest bliss.

এবে বড় বাসে মুঞি হৃদয়ে উল্লাস। হেন বুঝি 'কৃষ্ণচন্দ্র করিলা প্রকাশ'॥ ১০৪

Translation. "Even now I feel within my heart a great surge of joy; it seems to me that Kṛṣṇacandra has already made Himself manifest.

Explanation. Ebe baḍa vāse ityādi — even now I feel within my heart an intense joy, and from this I sense — hena bujhi ityādi — that the blissful Śrī Kṛṣṇa seems to have already descended somewhere. See the note to payar 1.64–65. The playful Gaurasundara sports only with His confidential devotees; hence He did not, even to so exalted a devotee as Śrī Advaita, reveal the full disclosure of His own identity all at once — this, it seems, is the very manner in which such relish is savored. Or else it was for the sake of deepening Śrī Advaita's own eagerness that the Lord adopted this playful reticence.

সভে 'কৃষ্ণ' গাওসিয়া পরম-হরিষে। এথাই দেখিবা কৃষ্ণ কথোক দিবসে॥ ১০৫

Translation. "Let everyone sing 'Kṛṣṇa' in the greatest joy; in a few days' time, you shall behold Kṛṣṇa right here.

Explanation. Gāosiyā — sing. The variant gāo giyā ["go and sing"] is found. Kathoka divase — after some time. Had the thought perhaps already awakened in Śrī Advaita's heart that this child Nimāi — whom he had already declared to be "no ordinary human being" (payar 64) — was none other than Kṛṣṇacandra Himself? Why else would he have said, "in a few days' time, you shall behold Kṛṣṇa right here"?

তোমা' সভা লই হইব কৃষ্ণের বিলাস। তবে সে অদ্বৈত হউ শুদ্ধ কৃষ্ণদাস॥ ১০৬

Translation. "Kṛṣṇa's own pastimes shall unfold here, together with all of you; only then may this Advaita call himself a pure servant of Kṛṣṇa.

কদাচিত যাহা পায়ে শুক বা প্রহ্লাদ। তোমা' সভার ভৃত্যেও সে পাইব প্রসাদ॥" ১০৭

Translation. "That grace which even a Śuka or a Prahlāda but rarely attains — even the servants among you shall receive that very grace."

Explanation. In the previous payar (105), Advaita has told the devotees: "in a few days' time you shall behold Kṛṣṇa right here" — that is, in this very Navadvīpa, after some days, all of you shall behold Kṛṣṇa. In the present payar he says: tomā sabhā loi ityādi — here in this very Navadvīpa, together with all of you, that same Kṛṣṇa's pastime (vilāsa) shall unfold. Tabe se advaita ityādi — only then (that is, only once Kṛṣṇa's pastime has unfolded here with all of you, and I have come into their company) will I, Advaita, be able to become a pure servant of Kṛṣṇa. Or: if I, Advaita, become a pure servant of Kṛṣṇa, then what I have said shall indeed prove true. It does not seem that Śrī Advaita intends, by this statement, to suggest any pride in the status of "pure servant of Kṛṣṇa" on his own part; see the note to payar 1.288. Se pāiba prasāda — shall receive that very grace. Here Śrī Advaita Ācārya is speaking of the mellow of Vraja-prema.

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শুনি অদ্বৈতের অতি-অমৃত-বচন। পরমানন্দে 'হরি' বোলে সর্ব্বভক্তগণ॥ ১০৮

Translation. Hearing Advaita's supremely nectarean words, all the devotees, in the highest bliss, cried out "Hari!"

'হরি' বলি ভক্তগণ করয়ে হুঙ্কার। সুখময় চিত্তবৃত্তি হইল সভার॥ ১০৯

Translation. Crying "Hari!" the devotees roared aloud; every heart among them turned to happiness.

শিশু-সঙ্গে ক্রীড়া করে শ্রীগৌরসুন্দর। হরিধ্বনি শুনি যায় বাড়ীর ভিতর॥ ১১০

Translation. Śrī Gaurasundara was playing with the children when He heard that cry of "Hari!" and went inside the house.

Explanation. Bāḍīra bhitare — inside Śrī Advaita's house.

"কি কার্য্যে আইলা বাপ!" বোলে ভক্তগণে। প্রভু বোলে "তোমরা ডাকিলে মোরে কেনে?" ১১১

Translation. "Why have you come, child?" the devotees asked. The Lord replied: "Why did you call Me?"

Explanation. Tomarā more ḍākile kene — the Lord was referring to the devotees' having cried "Hari, Hari"; or else the pastime-potency made Him utter these words (see the note to payar 1.458), the pastime-potency thereby making it known that He Himself was their "Hari."

এত বলি প্রভু শিশু-সঙ্গে ধাই যায়। তথাপি না জানে কেহো প্রভুর মায়ায়॥ ১১২

Translation. So saying, the Lord ran off again to join the children; yet, by the Lord's own māyā, no one there understood [who He was].

Explanation. Tathāpi — even though they had just heard from the Lord's own mouth that He Himself was their "Hari." Māyāya — by the power of His yogamāyā, His pastime-potency. This māyā is not the material māyā, for material māyā can exert no influence whatsoever over the Lord's own devotees. In place of nā jāne the variant nā cine ["did not recognize"] is found.

যে অবধি বিশ্বরূপ হইলা বাহির। তদবধি প্রভু কিছু হইলা সুস্থির॥ ১১৩

Translation. From the moment Viśvarūpa went forth [into sannyāsa], the Lord became, from that time, somewhat more composed.

Explanation. Kichu hoilo susthira — His restlessness diminished considerably. In place of kichu the variant chitta is found; the sense being: after Viśvarūpa's sannyāsa, the Lord's mind became composed — His restlessness was entirely dispelled.

নিরবধি থাকে পিতা-মাতার সমীপে। দুঃখ পাসরয়ে যেন জননী-জনকে॥ ১১৪

Translation. He remained constantly near His father and mother, so that His parents might forget their grief.

Explanation. So that Śacī and Jagannātha might be able to forget their sorrow at separation from Viśvarūpa, the Lord stayed always near His parents. In place of yena the variant sadā ["always"] is found.

খেলা সম্বরিয়া প্রভু যত করি পঢ়ে। তিলার্দ্দেকো পুস্তক ছাড়িয়া নাহি নড়ে॥ ১১৫

Translation. Setting aside play, the Lord threw Himself into study; not for a moment would He set down His book or stir from it.

একবার যে সুত্র পঢ়িয়া প্রভু যায়। আরবার উলটিয়া সভারে ঠেকায়॥ ১১৬

Translation. A rule of grammar that the Lord read through but once, He would, turning back to it again, use to confound all His fellow students.

Explanation. Whatever grammatical rule the Lord's eye fell upon even once, He grasped its full purport at a single glance. Immediately after that glance, He would turn at once to the students nearby and pose them a subtle question about that very rule — a question they could not answer; in this way the Lord would defeat them all. In truth, of course, the Lord is omniscient; His studying is but one gesture within His human-like pastime. Ulaṭiyā — turning back. Ṭhekāya — defeats, confounds. Sūtra — a terse, pithy, meaning-laden statement (see the note to payar 1.6.56); here "sūtra" refers to a grammatical rule.

দেখিয়া অপূর্ব বুদ্ধি সভেই প্রশংসে। সভে বোলে "ধন্য পিতা-মাতা হেন বংশে॥" ১১৭

Translation. Beholding His extraordinary intelligence, everyone praised Him; all said, "Blessed indeed are the parents of such a lineage!"

সন্তোষে কহেন সভে জগন্নাথ-স্থানে। "তুমি ত কৃতার্থ মিশ্র! এহেন নন্দনে॥ ১১৮

Translation. In delight, they all said to Jagannātha: "Truly blessed are you, Miśra, in having such a son!

এমত সুবুদ্ধি শিশু নাহি ত্রিভুবনে। বৃহস্পতি জিনিঞা হইব অধ্যয়নে॥ ১১৯

Translation. "Nowhere in the three worlds is there so gifted a child; in learning he shall surpass even Bṛhaspati himself!"

Explanation. Adhyayane — in study, in learning. The variant vidyāvāne ["in scholarship"] is found; the sense being that he will become more learned than Bṛhaspati [the guru of the gods] himself.

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শুনিলেই সর্ব অর্থ আপনে বাখানে। তান ফাঁকি বাখানিতে নারে কোন জনে॥ ১২০

Translation. The instant He heard anything, He would expound every possible meaning of it Himself; no one could ever explain away His clever traps.

Explanation. Śunilei ityādi — whatever Nimāi heard, whether from His textbooks or on any other subject, the instant He heard it He would, unaided, expound every possible interpretation of it Himself. Bākhāne — explains. Phāṅki — cleverly pointing out an apparent inconsistency where, in reality, no inconsistency exists in a given conclusion at all; or, playfully declaring something real to be unreal, or something unreal to be real. Tāna phāṅki bākhānite — to explain away His clever traps: when Nimāi, with playful cunning, would point out an apparent inconsistency where none truly existed, no one could ever show that the inconsistency He raised was not a real one. In place of bākhānite the variant pravodhite is found, with the same purport. Nāre — cannot.

শুনিঞা পুত্রের গুণ জননী হরিষ। মিশ্র পুন চিত্তে বড় হয় বিমরিষ॥ ১২১

Translation. Hearing of her son's excellence, the mother rejoiced; but Miśra Ṭhākura, on hearing it, grew ever more troubled at heart.

Explanation. Hearing from everyone's lips of the excellence of her son Nimāi, Mother Śacī, full of maternal affection, was overjoyed. Jananī hariṣa — the mother's joy. But hearing of Nimāi's extraordinary excellence, Miśra Ṭhākura grew deeply anxious and troubled. The reason for his anxiety and sorrow is given in payars 122–127 below. In place of puna the variant śuni is found, and in place of haya the variant kare. Bimariṣa — troubled, anxious and sorrowful.

শচী প্রতি বোলে জগন্নাথ মিশ্রবর। "এহো পুত্র না রহিব সংসার-ভিতর॥ ১২২

Translation. The excellent Jagannātha Miśra said to Śacī: "This son of ours will not remain within worldly life.

এইমত বিশ্বরূপ পঢ়ি সর্ব্বশাস্ত্র। জানিল 'সংসার সত্য নহে তিলমাত্র'॥ ১২৩

Translation. "Just so did Viśvarūpa, having studied every scripture, come to know that worldly life is not real in the slightest.

সর্ব-শাস্ত্র-মর্ম্ম জানি বিশ্বরূপ ধীর। অনিত্য সংসার হৈতে হইলা বাহির॥ ১২৪

Translation. "Having grasped the essence of every scripture, the steadfast Viśvarūpa went forth from this impermanent worldly existence.

এহে যদি সর্ব্বশাস্ত্রে হৈব জ্ঞানবান। ছাড়িয়া সংসারসুখ করিব পয়ান॥ ১২৫

Translation. "If this one too becomes learned in every scripture, he will likewise abandon worldly happiness and set out [as a renunciant].

Explanation. Payāna — departure, setting forth; leaving home to accept sannyāsa.

এই পুত্র সবে দুইজনের জীবন। ইহা না দেখিলে দুইজনের মরণ॥ ১২৬

Translation. "This son alone is the life of us both; without the sight of him, it would mean death for the two of us.

অতএব ইহার পঢ়িয়া কার্য্য নাঞি। মূর্খ হই ঘরে মোর রহু নিমাঞি॥" ১২৭

Translation. "Therefore he has no need to study; let my Nimāi remain at home, even if he stays unlettered."

শচী বোলে "মূর্খ হৈলে জীবেক কেমনে? মূর্খেরে ত কন্যাও না দিব কোন জনে॥" ১২৮

Translation. Śacī said: "If he remains unlettered, how will he make his way in life? No one will even give their daughter in marriage to an unlettered man!"

মিশ্র বোলে "তুমি ত অবুধ বিপ্রসুতা। হর্তা কর্তা পিতা কৃষ্ণ সভার রক্ষিতা॥ ১২৯

Translation. Miśra said: "You are indeed an unwise brahmin's daughter! Kṛṣṇa alone is the destroyer, the doer, the father, the protector of all.

Explanation. Abudha — unwise. Viprasutā — a brahmin's daughter. In place of pitā the variants sei and bhartā ["sustainer"] are found; bhartā means one who maintains and sustains.

জগত পোষণ করে জগতের নাথ। 'পাণ্ডিত্যে পোষয়ে' কেবা কহিল তোমাত॥ ১৩০

Translation. "The Lord of the universe sustains the universe. Who has ever told you that it is scholarship that sustains a man?

Explanation. Jagatera nātha — the Lord of the universe, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Poṣaṇa — maintenance, sustenance. Vidyā poṣaye — [the claim that] learning sustains a man. Tomāta — to you.

কিবা মূর্খ, কিবা পণ্ডিত, যাহার যেখানে। কন্যা লিখিয়াছে কৃষ্ণ সে হৈব আপনে॥ ১৩১

Translation. "Whether unlettered or learned, wherever destiny has placed him, whatever bride Kṛṣṇa has written for a man, that alone shall come to him of itself.

কুল-বিদ্যা-আদি উপলক্ষণ সকল। সভারে পোষয়ে কৃষ্ণ, কৃষ্ণ সর্ব-বল॥ ১৩২

Translation. "Lineage, learning, and all such things are mere pretexts; it is Kṛṣṇa who sustains everyone — Kṛṣṇa alone is everyone's true strength.

Explanation. Sarva-bala — possessed of all power; or, the one strength, the one refuge, of all.

সাক্ষাতেই এই কেনে না দেখ আমাত। পঢ়িয়াও আমার ঘরে কেনে নাহি ভাত?॥ ১৩৩

Translation. "Why do you not see this very truth right before you, in me? Even with all my learning, why is there not always rice in my house?

Explanation. Āmāta — in me, or, to me. In place of ghare kene nāhi the variants gharete nāhi and ghare to nāhi are found.

ভালমতে বর্ণ উচ্চারিতেও যে নারে। সহস্র পণ্ডিত গিয়া দেখ তার দ্বারে॥ ১৩৪

Translation. "Yet a man who cannot even pronounce his letters correctly — go and see, a thousand paṇḍitas throng at his door!

অতএব বিদ্যা আদি না করে পোষণ। 'কৃষ্ণ সে সভারে করে পোষণ পালন'॥ ১৩৫

Translation. "Therefore it is not learning and the like that sustains a man — it is Kṛṣṇa alone who maintains and sustains everyone.

তথাহি —

"অনায়াসেন মরণং বিনা দৈন্যেন জীবনম্। অনারাধিত-গোবিন্দ-চরণস্য কথং ভবেৎ॥" ১

Translation. "As it is said: 'For one who has not worshipped the feet of Govinda, how can there be an easeful death, or a life free from wretchedness?'"

Explanation. Anvaya (word-order): For one who does not worship Śrī Govinda's feet, how (katham) can there be an easeful death (anāyāsena maraṇam), free from the agony of dying, or a life (jīvanam) free from wretchedness (dainyena vinā)?

Translation of the verse. For one who does not worship Śrī Govinda's feet, how can there be an easeful — or a happy — death, and a life free from poverty? [That is, there cannot be.]

Explanation. No further gloss is needed. The purport of this verse is given in the payars that follow, 136–140.

"অনায়াসে মরণ, জীবন দৈন্য বিনে। কৃষ্ণ সেবিলে সে হয়, নহে বিদ্যা-ধনে॥ ১৩৬

Translation. "An easeful death, and a life free of wretchedness — these come only from serving Kṛṣṇa, not from learning or from wealth.

কৃষ্ণকৃপা বিনে নহে দুঃখের মোচন। থাকিল বা বিদ্যা, কুল, কোটি-কোটি ধন॥ ১৩৭

Translation. "Without Kṛṣṇa's grace, there is no release from suffering, though one may possess learning, lineage, and untold millions of wealth.

যার গৃহে আছয়ে সকল উপভোগ। তারে কৃষ্ণ দিয়াছেন কোন এক রোগ॥ ১৩৮

Translation. "There is many a man in whose house every comfort abounds, and yet Kṛṣṇa has given him some affliction —

Explanation. Upabhoga — the means and objects of sense-enjoyment: wealth, learning, and the like. The variants "jāra jāra gṛhete āchaye upabhoga" and "uttama upabhoga" are found.

কিছু বিলসিতে নারে, দুঃখে পুড়ি মরে। যার নাহি, তাহা হৈতে দুঃখী বলি তারে॥ ১৩৯

Translation. "— so that he can enjoy none of it, and burns and dies of grief; such a man I call more wretched even than one who has nothing at all.

Explanation. Bilasite nāre — because of illness, he cannot enjoy the objects of his own comfort; and grieving that he cannot enjoy them, he is called sorrowful. In place of duḥkha the variant dekhi ["seeing"] is found; the sense being: seeing the objects of enjoyment [before him] yet unable to partake of them, he burns with sorrow and dies. Jāra nāhi ityādi — one who has no such objects of enjoyment in his house at all also grieves at their lack, but the man whose house overflows with such objects, yet who, through illness, cannot enjoy them, suffers far more than he. In place of jāra nāhi tāhā haite the variants jāra bhakti-dhana nāhi and jāra nāhi tāhāteo are found.

এতেকে জানিহ, থাকিলেও কিছু নহে। যারে যেন কৃষ্ণ-আজ্ঞা, সে-ই সত্য হয়ে॥ ১৪০

Translation. "Know, then, that even possessing everything amounts to nothing; whatever is Kṛṣṇa's command for a person, that alone comes to pass as true.

এতেকে না কর চিন্তা পুত্রপ্রতি তুমি। 'কৃষ্ণ পুষিবেন পুত্র' কহিলাঙ আমি॥ ১৪১

Translation. "Therefore do not trouble yourself over our son; I tell you — Kṛṣṇa Himself will sustain our son.

যাবৎ শরীরে প্রাণ আছয়ে আমার। তাবৎ তিলেক দুঃখ নাহিক উহার॥ ১৪২

Translation. "As long as there is breath in my body, he shall not know the slightest sorrow.

আমার-সভারে কৃষ্ণ আছেন রক্ষিতা। কিবা চিন্তা, তুমি যার মাতা পতিব্রতা॥ ১৪৩

Translation. "Kṛṣṇa Himself is the protector of us all — what is there to fear, when you, his mother, are so devoted a wife?

Explanation. In place of āchaye the variant basaye ["dwells"] is found, and in place of duḥkha the variant cintā ["worry"]; basaye means "resides, remains." Cintā means anxiety over one's maintenance. Āmāra-sabhāre — of all of us. The variant āmāra abhāve ["in my absence"] is found, meaning: even should I not be here — even were I to die.

"পটিয়া নাহিক কার্য্য" বলিল তোমারে। মূর্খ হই পুত্র মোর রহু মাত্র ঘরে।" ১৪৪

Translation. "'There is no need for him to study' — this I have told you; let my son remain at home, even unlettered."

এত বলি পুত্রেরে ডাকিলা মিশ্রবর। মিশ্র বোলে "শুন বাপ! আমার উত্তর॥ ১৪৫

Translation. So saying, the excellent Miśra called for his son and said: "Listen, my child, to what I now say.

আজি হৈতে আর পাঠ নাহিক তোমার। ইহাতে অন্যথা কর, শপথ আমার॥ ১৪৬

Translation. "From today you shall study no more; if you act otherwise in this, it will be as though you had sworn a false oath against me.

যে তোমার ইচ্ছা বাপ! তাই দিব আমি। গৃহে বসি পরম-মঙ্গলে থাক তুমি॥" ১৪৭

Translation. "Whatever else you desire, my child, that I shall give you; only remain at home, in perfect well-being."

Explanation. Everything said from payar 122 through payar 147 above is Miśra-vara's speech to Śacī-devī, with Śacī-mātā's own reply interposed at payar 128. Reading all of this, one might think: "Since these are exactly the words that a beginninglessly outward-turned soul bound by māyā speaks out of affection for a son, Śacī and Jagannātha must themselves be such māyā-bound worldly souls." But this is not, in truth, the case; they are not beginninglessly outward-turned, māyā-bound souls, nor is the essential nature of Śacī-Jagannātha's affection for Nimāi of the same kind as a māyā-bound soul's affection for a son. That this is so is now shown from the author Śrīla Vṛndāvana Dāsa Ṭhākura's own statements.

In payar 1.5.47 above, the author has said in plain terms that it is the Lord of Gokula and the Lady of Gokula — Nanda and Yaśodā's own son, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself — who has descended as Gaurachandra. In payar 1.1.106, too, Śrī Caitanya has been called Kṛṣṇa; and the author says the same, in many other places besides. When Śrī Kṛṣṇa descends into a universe, He descends always in conjunction with His own eternal associates as father and mother — never does He take birth by making anyone else His father or mother. When He descends in His complete, full form, He does so in conjunction with Nanda and Yaśodā themselves; and when He descends in a partial (aṁśa) form, He does so by making an expansion of Nanda and Yaśodā His father and mother. As His eternally-perfected associates, His father and mother, Nanda and Yaśodā, are not of the category of conditioned souls; they are the manifest forms of His own essential potency, predominantly of the nature of sandhinī. Being themselves an expansion of Nanda and Yaśodā, the father and mother of His partial form are likewise the manifest forms of that same sandhinī-predominant essential potency, and not conditioned souls born of His jīva-potency's fragment. When the Supreme Person, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the complete and full Reality, descends in His own person as Gaurachandra through the agency of Śacī and Jagannātha, it is Nanda and Yaśodā themselves who have descended in the forms of Jagannātha Miśra and Śacī-devī; hence it is easily understood that Śacī and Jagannātha are not conditioned souls, fragments of His jīva-potency, but the very manifest forms of His sandhinī-predominant essential potency. The author has expressed this same truth in payar 1.1.72, where he calls Jagannātha Miśra "as if Vasudeva himself," and in payar 1.1.73, where he calls Śacī-devī "a second Devakī." Just as Vasudeva and Devakī are, in essential truth, the sandhinī-predominant essential potency, so too, in essential truth, are Śacī and Jagannātha. Since they are not of the category of conditioned souls, their being beginninglessly outward-turned, and their being bound by māyā, are both utterly inconceivable — for it is only through ill fortune that a soul becomes beginninglessly outward-turned, and it is only because of that outward-turned nature that a soul falls into the grip of māyā. Māyā cannot so much as touch the essential potency — that is, cannot touch Śacī-Jagannātha, the manifest forms of the sandhinī-predominant essential potency.

Nevertheless, since they are His eternally-perfected associates within His human-like pastime (nara-līlā), possessed of a human-like self-conception (nara-abhimāna), they too carry that same human self-conception — they too consider themselves human beings, though in reality they are not human beings, not of the category of conditioned souls, at all. From beginningless time Śacī and Jagannātha have cherished pure parental affection (vātsalya) for Śrī Kṛṣṇa in His form as Gaurachandra. Just as Nanda and Yaśodā's parental affection for Śrī Kṛṣṇa is so deep and dense that not the slightest trace of awareness of His divine opulence can ever enter into it, so too is Śacī-Jagannātha's parental affection for Gaura so deep that it admits not the least awareness of His divine majesty. For this reason, just as Nanda and Yaśodā consider Śrī Kṛṣṇa to be simply their own son, Śacī and Jagannātha likewise consider Gaura to be simply their own son. This parental affection of theirs for their son is itself a function of the essential potency, of svarūpa-śakti. The parental affection of a beginninglessly outward-turned, māyā-bound soul, by contrast, is a function of māyā-śakti — for the essential potency has no place within the soul's own constitution. The Viṣṇu Purāṇa verse quoted earlier — "hlādinī sandhinī saṁvit..." (1.12.69) — and Śrīdhara Svāmī-pāda's commentary upon it, state this in the plainest terms: "hlādinī, the delight-bestowing power; sandhinī, the power of being (existence); saṁvit, the power of knowledge — these are one, essential, primary, and unfailing, being one with His own nature. 'Sarva-saṁsthitau' means: in Him, the ground and support of all — that is, in You alone, and not in the souls." Since a māyā-bound soul's parental affection is a function of māyā-śakti, it is a cause of bondage to worldly existence; but Śacī-Jagannātha's parental affection for Gaura, and Nanda-Yaśodā's affection for Kṛṣṇa, being a function of the essential potency, produce no such bondage. Far from producing bondage, it is the essential potency alone that has the power to remove, entirely and completely, the māyā-born bondage of a māyā-bound soul's worldly existence. Thus it is seen that Śacī-Jagannātha's parental affection for Gaura is, in its essential nature, wholly unlike the parental affection of a māyā-bound soul — even though the outwardly visible or perceptible signs of the two appear, to a great extent, alike, in the way that saccharin resembles sugar (as discussed in the note to payar 17 above), or in the way that not everything of a turmeric-yellow color is actually colored with the essence of turmeric.

Whether it is māyā-śakti's particular function called parental affection, or the essential potency's particular function of the same name that belongs to the Lord's own associates — every kind of parental affection gives rise, in parents, to a sense of tender attachment toward their children, and to the wish that their children live happily and in comfort. Because a māyā-bound soul's parental affection is itself a material thing, and because māyā gives rise to desires for one's own happiness, such a soul's affection does not remain unbroken; hence in the world we even see people selling their own children to satisfy their own hunger. But because the Lord's associates' affection is a function of the essential potency, and the essential potency never gives rise to desire for one's own happiness but only ever to the desire for the happiness of the one held dear, Śacī-Jagannātha's pure affection for Nimāi — that is, an affection utterly untouched by even the faintest trace of māyā — could only ever awaken in their hearts the wish for Nimāi's happiness and comfort. This is exactly why the eager longing arose in Śacī-Jagannātha's hearts that Nimāi should always enjoy happiness and comfort, and that He should never have to undergo the suffering of sannyāsa. It is out of this that they spoke the words recorded in payars 122–147, and Miśra Ṭhākura stopped Nimāi's studies. In this connection, in order to give Nimāi the taste of the very vātsalya-rasa that had welled up so intensely in Śacī-Jagannātha's hearts for Him, and — as told in the following payars, 151–158 — in order to let Him taste the sakhya-rasa of His playmate associates who had appeared in the forms of children of His own age, the pastime-potency itself raised no obstacle to Miśra Ṭhākura's action. Wherever else in this text such conduct on the part of Miśra Ṭhākura or Śacī-devī may be observed, this same resolution should be understood to apply.

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এত বলি মিশ্র চলিলেন কার্য্যান্তরে। পঢ়িতে না পায় আর প্রভু বিশ্বম্ভরে॥ ১৪৮

Translation. So saying, Miśra went off to his other business; and Lord Viśvambhara was thus no longer permitted to study.

নিত্য ধর্ম্ম সনাতন শ্রীগৌরাঙ্গ-রায়। না লঙ্ঘে জনক-বাক্য, পঢ়িতে না যায়॥ ১৪৯

Translation. Śrī Gaurāṅga-rāya, whose very nature is the eternal, sanātana dharma itself, did not transgress His father's word, and so went to study no more.

অন্তরে দুঃখিত প্রভু বিদ্যারস-ভঙ্গে। পুন প্রভু উদ্ধত হইলা শিশু-সঙ্গে॥ ১৫০

Translation. Grieved within at the interruption of His delight in learning, the Lord once again grew unruly in the company of the children.

Explanation. Vidyā-rasa — the joy of study.

কিবা নিজগৃহে প্রভু কিবা পর-ঘরে। যাহা পায়, তাহা ভাঙ্গে, অপচয় করে॥ ১৫১

Translation. Whether in His own house or in another's, whatever He found, He broke it, laying waste to everything.

নিশা হইলেও প্রভু না আইসে ঘরে! সর্ব-রাত্রি শিশু-সঙ্গে নানা ক্রীড়া করে॥ ১৫২

Translation. Even when night fell, the Lord would not come home; the whole night through He played all manner of games with the children.

কম্বলে ঢাকিয়া অঙ্গ দুই শিশু মেলি। বৃষ-প্রায় হইয়া চলেন কুতূহলী॥ ১৫৩

Translation. Covering His body with a blanket, joined together with another child, He would go about in playful mischief in the guise of a bull.

যার বাড়ী কলাবন দেখি থাকে দিনে। রাত্রি হৈলে বৃষরূপে ভাঙ্গয়ে আপনে॥ ১৫৪

Translation. Whichever house He noted by day to have a banana grove, that house's grove, once night fell, He would go and break down Himself, in the guise of a bull.

Explanation. Yāra bāḍī — in whosesoever's house. In place of bāḍī the variant ghare is found.

"গরু-জ্ঞানে গৃহস্থ করয়ে 'হায় হায়'।" জাগিলে গৃহস্থ, শিশু-সংহতি পলায়॥ ১৫৫

Translation. Taking Him for a real cow [or bull], the householder would cry out "Alas, alas!" — and the moment the householder woke, the band of children would flee.

কারো ঘরে দ্বার দিয়া বান্ধয়ে বাহিরে। লঘু গুরুবা গৃহস্থ করিতে নাহি পারে॥ ১৫৬

Translation. At some houses they would bar the door from outside and tie it fast, so that the householder within could not even go out to relieve himself, whether for light or heavy need.

Explanation. Laghu — urination. Gurubā — defecation.

কে বান্ধিল দুয়ার করয়ে "হায় হায়"। জাগিলে গৃহস্থ, প্রভু উঠিয়া পলায়॥ ১৫৭

Translation. "Who has tied the door shut?" the householder would cry, "Alas, alas!" — and the moment he woke, the Lord would jump up and flee.

Explanation. In place of jāgile the variant ḍākile ["called out"] is found.

এইমত দিনরাত্রি ত্রিদশের রায়। শিশুগণ-সঙ্গে ক্রীড়া করে সর্ব্বদায়॥ ১৫৮

Translation. In this way, day and night, the King of the thirty gods [the Lord Himself] played constantly in the company of the children.

Explanation. Tridaśera rāya — the Supreme Lord Himself (see the note to payar 1.480). In place of sarvadāya the variant sarbathāya ["in every way"] is found. Śiśugaṇa-saṅge ityādi — these children, too, were Gaura's own eternal associates; under the guise of all this play, He relished the mellow of friendship (sakhya-rasa) with them, and gave them, too, the taste of that same sakhya-rasa.

এতেক চাপল্য করে প্রভু বিশ্বম্ভর। তথাপিহ মিশ্র কিছু না করে উত্তর॥ ১৫৯

Translation. Such was the restlessness Lord Viśvambhara displayed; yet even so, Miśra said nothing to Him in response.

Explanation. In place of saṅga the variant yateka is found. The account of the Lord's sitting upon the discarded pot is now taken up.

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একদিন মিশ্র চলিলেন কার্য্যান্তর। পড়িতে না পায় প্রভু ক্রোধিত-অন্তর॥ ১৬০

Translation. One day, when Miśra had gone off to his other business, the Lord — inwardly angered at not being allowed to study —

বিষ্ণুনৈবেদ্যের যত বর্জ্য-হাণ্ডীগণ। বলিলেন প্রভু, "হাড়ী করিয়া আসন॥ ১৬১

Translation. — took all the discarded pots that had once been used for cooking Viṣṇu's offerings, and, making them His seat, declared:

Explanation. Barjya — discarded, cast off. Hāṇḍī — a pot, an earthen vessel; here, the earthen vessels in which food had earlier been cooked for the offering to Viṣṇu.

"এ বড় নিগূঢ় কথা শুন একমনে। কৃষ্ণভক্তি-সিদ্ধি হয় ইহার শ্রবণে॥ ১৬২

Translation. "This is a very profound truth — listen to it with an undivided mind; hearing it brings perfection in devotion to Kṛṣṇa.

বর্জ্য-হাড়ীগণ সব করি সিংহাসন। তথি বসি হাসে গৌর সুন্দর-বদন॥ ১৬৩

Translation. Making all the discarded pots His royal throne, Gaura sat there upon them, His beautiful face wreathed in smiles.

Explanation. Tathi — there, upon the discarded pots. In place of gaura the variant prabhu is found.

লাগিল হাড়ীর কালী সর্ব-গৌর-অঙ্গে। কনক-পুতলি যেন লিখিয়াছে অঙ্গে॥ ১৬৪

Translation. The soot of the pots smeared His whole golden body, as though someone had painted markings upon a golden doll.

Explanation. Kanaka-putali — a golden doll. Because the Lord's body was of a brilliant golden hue, He seemed just like a golden doll. Yena likhiyāche aṅge — the soot of the discarded pots had stained His golden, fair body; to look at it, one would think someone had painted the golden doll's limbs with soot. In place of likhiyāche aṅge the variant lepiyāche gandhe ["had anointed with fragrance"] is found; gandhe meaning "with a fragrant substance." The markings on the Lord's body were, in fact, streaks of soot from the discarded pots — black or dark in hue. Black aguru-candana, too, is dark in color, and its fragrance is exceedingly pleasing; hence, seeing Him thus, one might think someone had anointed the Lord's golden, fair body with black aguru-candana.

শিশুগণ জানাইল গিয়া শচী-স্থানে। "নিমাঞি বসিয়া আছে হাড়ীর আসনে॥" ১৬৫

Translation. The children went and told Śacī: "Nimāi is sitting upon a seat of [discarded] pots!"

মা'য়ে আসি দেখিয়া করেন "হায় হায়। এ স্থানেতে বাপ! বসিবারে না জুয়ায়॥ ১৬৬

Translation. His mother came, and seeing this, cried out, "Alas, alas! My child, it is not fitting for You to sit in this place!

Explanation. Nā juẏāẏa — is not fitting.

বর্জ্য-হাড়ী ইহা সব পরশিলে স্নান। এতদিনে তোমার এ না জন্মিল জ্ঞান?" ১৬৭

Translation. "These are all discarded pots — one must bathe after touching them! Have You not yet, after all this time, learned even this much?"

Explanation. Paraśile snāna — one who touches a discarded pot becomes impure and must bathe to be purified again.

প্রভু বোলে "তোরা মোরে না দিস্‌ পড়িতে। ভদ্রাভদ্র মূর্খ বিপ্রে জানিব কেমতে?॥ ১৬৮

Translation. The Lord replied: "You will not let Me study, so how, unlettered as I am, am I to know what is proper and what is not?

Explanation. Torā more nā dis paḍite — you do not let Me learn to read and write, and so I remain unlettered. Bhadrābhadra — proper and improper, good and bad, pure and impure, clean and unclean. Mūrkha vipra — an unlettered brahmin. The Lord is saying: though I was born a brahmin's son, I remain unlettered because I am not allowed to study — so how am I to know what is pure and what is impure? These are the Lord's words of feigned reproach and pique.

মূর্খ আমি, না জানিয়ে ভাল-মন্দ-স্থান। সর্বত্র আমার হয় অদ্বিতীয়-জ্ঞান॥" ১৬৯

Translation. "Unlettered as I am, I do not know a good place from a bad one; to Me all places carry but a single, undivided knowledge."

Explanation. In place of sarvatra āmāra haẏa the variant sarvatra āmāra eka is found. Eka adbitīya jñāna — the knowledge that one alone, without a second, exists everywhere: the knowledge that Parabrahman alone pervades everything, and that nothing whatsoever exists apart from Parabrahman — the knowledge that what people call pure or clean is likewise Parabrahman, and what people call impure or unclean is likewise, in just the same way, Parabrahman. See the note to the payar that follows.

এত বলি হাসে বর্জ্য-হাড়ীর আসনে। দত্তাত্রেয়-ভাব প্রভু হইলা তখনে॥ ১৭০

Translation. So saying, He laughed, seated upon His throne of discarded pots; and in that very moment the Lord became possessed of the mood of Dattātreya.

Explanation. Purāṇic evidence concerning Dattātreya is here quoted. "ṣaṣṭham atrer apatyatvaṁ vṛtaḥ prāpto 'nasūyayā; ānvīkṣikīm alarkāya prahrādādibhya ūcivān" (Bhāgavata 1.3.11) — "In His sixth incarnation, as Dattātreya, the Lord Viṣṇu, being entreated by Anasūyā [who prayed, 'may I have a son like you'], accepted the status of Atri Muni's son, and taught spiritual science (ānvīkṣikī, self-knowledge) to Alarka, Prahlāda, and the others." "atrer apatyam abhikāṅkṣata āha tuṣṭo datto mayāham iti yad bhagavān sa dattaḥ; yat-pāda-paṅkaja-parāga-dehā yoga-ṛddhim āpuḥ kutayāṁ yad-uhaiheyādyāḥ" (Bhāgavata 2.7.4) — "When Atri Ṛṣi desired a son, the Lord, pleased by his austerities, said, 'By Myself have I been given [datta] to you [as your son]' — and so that son of Atri came to be called 'Datta.' And, being Atri's son, he was also called 'Ātreya.' 'Datta' and 'Ātreya' combined together to form the name 'Dattātreya.' Kārtavīryārjuna and the kings of the Haihaya dynasty, their bodies purified by the dust of his lotus feet, attained both kinds of yogic prosperity — worldly and other-worldly, that is, enjoyment and liberation alike."

In his Krama-sandarbha commentary on the verse quoted above, "ṣaṣṭham atrer apatyatvaṁ vṛtaḥ..." (Bhāgavata 1.3.11), Śrīpāda Jīva Gosvāmī writes: "This is Caturmukha Brahmā's own intent — that Atri prayed only for the birth of a son resembling the Lord. From Anasūyā's own words, however, it is understood that on one occasion she prayed directly for the Lord Himself, in His own Godhead, to become her son. This is recorded in the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa, in the story of the chaste wife: Anasūyā said to the gods Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva, 'If you are truly pleased with me, and if I am worthy of such a boon, then may all of you, graciously inclined toward me, come to be my sons' — and this [Dattātreya] is precisely an incarnation of Viṣṇu [answering that prayer]." The substance of this commentary is this: Atri had prayed only for a son resembling the Lord (since none could truly resemble Him, the Lord Himself accepted the status of Atri's own son), whereas Anasūyā had, on one occasion, prayed directly to the Lord Himself for the boon of His becoming her son. This account is told in the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa's story of the chaste wife. In answer to the prayers of Atri and Anasūyā, Lord Viṣṇu appeared as their son under the name Dattātreya. This Dattātreya is Himself an incarnation of Viṣṇu — hence a manifestation of Godhead in His own right.

Dattātreya-bhāva prabhu ityādi — the Lord then (that is, while seated upon the throne of discarded pots) became possessed of the mood of Dattātreya, that is, took on Dattātreya's own disposition. When the Self-manifest Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa — as dark-hued Kṛṣṇa and as golden Kṛṣṇa alike — descends into a universe, all the forms of Godhead, beginning with Śrī Nārāyaṇa, come and merge into Him (see the note to payar 1.109). Hence the divine form of Dattātreya, too, is present within Śrī Gaura. It was possessed by this very mood of Dattātreya that the Lord spoke the words recorded in the following payars, 172–178. In truth, it was in order to obtain, once again, Śacī-Jagannātha's permission for Him to resume His studies — so that the Lord might be given to taste the joy of learning, and, during His studies, the mellow of friendship with His playmate associates who had appeared as children of His own age — that the pastime-potency itself made use of the Dattātreya present within the Lord's own body to bring forth, from the Lord's own mouth, these words recorded in payars 172–178 (see the note to payar 1.458).

মায়ে বোলে "তুমি যে বসিলা মন্দ-স্থানে। এবে তুমি পবিত্র বা হইবা কেমনে?" ১৭১

Translation. His mother said: "You have seated Yourself in an unclean place — how, then, will You ever become pure again?"

Explanation. Manda sthāne — in an impure or unclean place. In place of pavitra bā hoibā kemane the variant pavitra hoibā kena-mane is found; kena-mane meaning "how, in what manner."

প্রভু বোলে "মাতা! তুমি বড় শিশুমতি। অপবিত্র স্থানে কভু মোর নহে স্থিতি॥ ১৭২

Translation. The Lord replied: "Mother, your understanding is truly childlike! I never dwell in any impure place —

Explanation. Śiśumati — one whose understanding (mati) is like that of a child. Apavitra sthāne ityādi — I never dwell in any impure place; that is, wherever I happen to dwell, even if that place was impure before, it becomes pure the very moment I am there.

যথা মোর স্থিতি, সেই সর্ব পুণ্য-স্থান। গঙ্গা-আদি সর্ব তীর্থ তহি' অধিষ্ঠান॥ ১৭৩

Translation. "— for wherever I dwell, that very place becomes a place of complete sanctity; the Gaṅgā and every other place of pilgrimage takes up its residence there.

Explanation. Puṇya-sthāna — a place that is itself pure and that confers purity. Gaṅgā-ādi ityādi — wherever I dwell, all the purity-conferring places of pilgrimage, the Gaṅgā, the Yamunā, and the rest, dwell there as well. Tahi' — in that place.

আমার সে কাল্পনিক শুচি বা অশুচি। স্রষ্টার কি দোষ আছে, মনে ভাব বুঝি॥ ১৭৪

Translation. "What is 'pure' and what is 'impure' — these are but My own imagining; think it through, and understand that the Creator is at no fault in this.

Explanation. Āmāra se kālpanika ityādi — 'pure' and 'impure' are both notions born entirely of My own imagination, My own knowledge — that is, of My own creation. The Creator — that is, Brahmā, the agent of creation — bears no fault in this at all (Anubhāṣya-prakāśa 8). Brahmā creates the bodies suited to the enjoyment of the fruits of a soul's karma, and the objects of enjoyment appropriate to that karma. Whatever he creates, he creates strictly according to each soul's karma; Brahmā creates nothing that has no connection with a soul's karma, nor does he create anything of his own private invention — hence Brahmā bears no fault whatsoever in the work of creation. Among all these created things, it is the Lord alone who determines which are pure and which impure, for the guidance of people's daily, occasional, and ultimate spiritual duties; and this determination of His He makes known through the Veda and the Veda-following Purāṇas. In place of āmāra se kālpanika the variant āmāra kalpanā se ye is found. One meaning of kalpanā is "fashioning, creation" — as in "prabandha-kalpanā kathā..." (Śabda-kalpadruma); racanā means creation.

লোক-বেদ-মতে যদি অশুদ্ধ বা হয়। আমি পরশিলেও কি অশুদ্ধতা রয়?॥ ১৭৫

Translation. "Even if, by the reckoning of common custom or of the Veda, a thing were impure — does any impurity remain in it once I have touched it?

Explanation. Loka-veda-mate — by the reckoning of the Veda, and by the reckoning of common custom. In place of mate the variant rīti ["convention"] is found; rīti means convention, ordinance — by the ordinance of the Veda, or by the convention prevailing in society. Paraśileo — even upon being touched. Aśuddhatā — impurity, uncleanness. Āmi paraśileo ityādi — even should something be impure by the ordinance of the Veda or by social convention, does it remain impure once I have touched it? [It does not] — the very instant it receives My touch, it becomes pure. The Lord is the very embodiment of purity, the sole source of all purifying power; hence whatever impure thing His touch falls upon becomes pure at once.

এ সব হাড়ীতে মূলে নাহিক দূষণ। তুমি যাতে বিষ্ণু লাগি করিলা রন্ধন॥ ১৭৬

Translation. "There is, in truth, no fault at all in these pots — for it was in them that you yourself cooked for the sake of Viṣṇu.

বিষ্ণুর রন্ধন-স্থালী কভু দুষ্ট নয়। সেই হাড়ী পরশে আর স্থান শুদ্ধ হয়॥ ১৭৭

Translation. "A vessel used for cooking Viṣṇu's offering is never impure; rather, wherever that pot is touched, that very place becomes pure.

Explanation. It was precisely the pots that had been used for cooking Viṣṇu's offering, and then set aside afterward, upon which the Lord had seated Himself. Seeing this, Mother Śacī had said, "these are all discarded pots — one must bathe after touching them" (payar 167), and "how, then, will You ever become pure again?" (payar 171). The Lord now explains to Śacī-mātā that these discarded pots are not, in fact, impure at all. Viṣṇura randhana-sthālī — a vessel used for cooking articles intended as an offering to Viṣṇu. Duṣṭa — faulty, impure. Paraśe — by its touch. The Lord says: a vessel used for cooking Viṣṇu's offering is never impure — it is supremely pure; and wherever that cooking-vessel or pot is discarded, that very place becomes pure by its touch. Here the Lord is declaring that just as the Lord Himself possesses the power to purify, so too does everything connected with the Lord possess that same purifying power. "The offered food of Viṣṇu is proclaimed as purifying even by the gods, the perfected beings, and the sages" (Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 9.134, cited as evidence). Whatever is dedicated to the Lord becomes, by the Lord's own influence, pure; and whatever is cooked for Viṣṇu's sake is likewise pure and possessed of purifying power, as is the very vessel in which it was cooked.

এতেকে আমার বাস নহে মন্দ-স্থানে। সভার শুদ্ধতা মোর পরশ-কারণে॥" ১৭৮

Translation. "Therefore My dwelling here is not in any impure place; rather, it is by My touch that everything here has become pure."

বাল্য-ভাবে সর্ব-তত্ত্ব কহি' প্রভু হাসে। তথাপি না বুঝে কেহ তা'ন মায়া-বশে॥ ১৭৯

Translation. Under the guise of childhood, having thus spoken every essential truth, the Lord laughed; yet no one understood Him, being under the sway of His own māyā.

Explanation. Tā'n māyā-vaśe — under the influence of His own māyā (see the note to payar 1.3.140). In place of kahi the variant kahe is found.

সবেই হাসেন শুনি' শিশুর বচন। 'স্নান আসি' কর'—শচী বোলেন তখন॥ ১৮০

Translation. Everyone laughed to hear the child's words; "Come and bathe," Śacī then said.

না আইসেন প্রভু সেইখানে বসি' আছে। শচী বোলে,—"ঝাট আয়, বাপ জানে পাছে"॥ ১৮১

Translation. The Lord did not come, but remained seated right there. Śacī said, "Come at once — lest your father come to know!"

Explanation. In place of āche ["remained"] the variant hāse ["laughing"] is found. Jhāṭa — quickly; āẏa — come. Bāpe jāne pāche — "lest your father should learn that You have seated Yourself in this unclean place" — the implication being, "should your father find this out, he will certainly punish You severely." In place of jāne the variant dekhe ["sees"] is found.

প্রভু বোলে,—"যদি মোরে না দেহ' পড়িতে। তবে মুঞি নাহি যাঙ,—কহিলুঙ তোমাতে"॥ ১৮২

Translation. The Lord said, "If you will not let Me study, then I will not come — I tell you this plainly."

সবেই ভর্ৎসেন ঠাকুরের জননীরে। সবে বোলে,—"কেনে নাহি দেহ' পড়িবারে?" ১৮৩

Translation. Everyone then rebuked the Lord's mother; they all said, "Why do you not let Him study?

যত্ন করি' কেহ নিজ-বালক পড়ায়। কত ভাগ্যে আপনে পড়িতে শিশু চায়॥ ১৮৪

Translation. "People take such pains to make even their own reluctant children study — yet by what great fortune does this child himself wish to study!

Explanation. In place of bālaka ["child"] the variant putra se ["that son"] is found, and in place of śiśu ["child"] the variant putra ["son"] is found.

কোন্‌ শত্রু হেন-বুদ্ধি দিল বা তোমারে? ঘরে মূর্খ করি' পুত্র রাখিবার তরে?" ১৮৫

Translation. "What enemy has put such a notion into your head, that you keep your own son unlettered at home?"

ইহাতে শিশুর দোষ তিলার্ধেক নাই" সবেই বোলেন,—"বাপ, আইস, নিমাঞি! ১৮৬

Translation. "In this there is not the slightest fault of the child's own!" Then everyone called out, "Come, dear Nimāi!

আজি হৈতে তুমি যদি না পাও পড়িতে। তবে অপচয় তুমি কর ভাল-মতে"॥ ১৮৭

Translation. "From today, if You are not to be allowed to study, then go right ahead and wreak all the mischief You please!"

না আইসে প্রভু, সেইখানে বসি' হাসে। সুকৃতি-সকল সুখ-সিন্ধু-মাঝে ভাসে॥ ১৮৮

Translation. The Lord did not come, but sat there laughing; and every pious soul who beheld it floated in an ocean of bliss.

Explanation. In place of sukha-sindhu-mājhe ["amid an ocean of bliss"] the variants dekhi sukha mājhe and dekhiẏā sukha-sindhu-mājhe are found.

আপনে ধরিয়া শিশু আনিলা জননী। হাসে গৌরচন্দ্র,—যেন ইন্দ্রনীল-মণি॥ ১৮৯

Translation. His mother herself lifted the child and brought Him away; and Gaurachandra laughed, gleaming like a sapphire.

Explanation. From the soot of the discarded pots Gaura's limbs had turned dark, and He was laughing all the while; it seemed, as it were, as though a sapphire were spreading abroad its own brilliant lustre (Anubhāṣya-prakāśa). Indranīlamaṇi — a great gem of deep blue hue, the sapphire.

'তত্ত্ব' কহিলেন প্রভু দত্তাত্রেয়-ভাবে। না বুঝিল কেহ বিষ্ণু-মায়ার প্রভাবে॥ ১৯০

Translation. The Lord had spoken this "truth" while possessed by the mood of Dattātreya; yet, under the sway of Viṣṇu's own māyā, no one understood it.

Explanation. Dattātreya-bhāve — possessed by, in the grip of, the mood of Dattātreya; see the note to payar 170 above. Viṣṇu-māyāra prabhāve — see the note to payar 1.3.140.

স্নান করাইলা লঞা শচী পুণ্যবতী। হেন কালে আইলেন মিশ্র মহামতি॥ ১৯১

Translation. The pious Śacī took Him and gave Him His bath; and just at that moment the noble-minded Miśra arrived.

Explanation. In place of putre ["to her son"] the variants lañā ["taking Him"] and nimāñi ["Nimāi"] are found.

মিশ্র-স্থানে শচী সব কহিলেন কথা। 'পড়িতে না পায় পুত্র, মনে ভাবে ব্যথা'॥ ১৯২

Translation. To Miśra, Śacī then told him everything: "Our son is not being allowed to study — my heart aches over it."

সবেই বোলেন,—"মিশ্র, তুমি ত' উদার। কা'র কথায় পুত্রে নাহি দেহ' পড়িবার? ১৯৩

Translation. Everyone said, "Miśra, you are surely a generous man — at whose word do you refuse to let your son study?

যে করিবে কৃষ্ণচন্দ্র, সেই সত্য হয়ে। চিন্তা পরিহরি' দেহ' পড়িতে নির্ভয়ে॥ ১৯৪

Translation. "Whatever Kṛṣṇacandra wills, that alone comes to pass — set your worry aside, and let him study without any fear.

Explanation. Nirbhaẏe — harboring no fear whatsoever in the mind. In place of nirbhaẏa the variant tanaẏa ["son"] is found.

ভাগ্য সে বালক চাহে আপনে পড়িতে। ভাল দিনে যজ্ঞ-সূত্র দেহ' ভাল মতে"॥ ১৯৫

Translation. "It is by great fortune that this child himself wishes to study; on an auspicious day, see to it properly that he receives the sacred thread."

Explanation. Yajña-sūtra deha' — perform for him the upanayana sacrament, the investiture with the sacred thread.

মিশ্র বোলে,—"তোমরা পরম-বন্ধু-গণ। তোমরা যে বোলে, সেই আমার বচন॥ ১৯৬

Translation. Miśra said, "You are all my dearest friends — whatever you say, that is my own word as well."

অলৌকিক দেখিয়া শিশুর সর্ব-কর্ম। বিস্ময় ভাবেন, কেহ নাহি জানে মর্ম॥ ১৯৭

Translation. Seeing all the child's deeds to be so utterly uncommon, people were filled with wonder — yet none of them knew their true purport.

Explanation. In place of nāhi jāne the variant nā jāniẏe is found.

মধ্যে মধ্যে কোন জন অতি ভাগ্যবানে। পূর্বে কহি' রাখিয়াছে জগন্নাথ-স্থানে॥ ১৯৮

Translation. Yet here and there, to some especially fortunate soul, Jagannātha had already, some time before, confided this much:

Explanation. In place of pūrve kahi rākhiẏāche jagannātha the variant kahiẏāo āche jagannātha miśra is found.

"প্রাকৃত বালক কভু এ বালক নহে। যত্ন করি' এ বালকে রাখিহ হৃদয়ে॥ ১৯৯

Translation. "This child is by no means an ordinary child — cherish this child carefully within your heart."

নিরবধি গুপ্ত-ভাবে প্রভু কেলি করে। বৈকুণ্ঠ-নায়ক দ্বিজ-অঙ্গনে বিহরে॥ ২০০

Translation. Ceaselessly, in a hidden manner, the Lord sported thus; the very Lord of Vaikuṇṭha frolicked about in the brāhmaṇa's own courtyard.

Explanation. Gupta-bhāve — in such a way that, by the power of the pastime-potency, the true identity of the Lord's own essential nature remains hidden from everyone. Vaikuṇṭha-nāẏaka — the Lord of Goloka; see the note to payar 1.109. Dvija-aṅgane — in the courtyard of the brāhmaṇa Jagannātha Miśra. In place of vaikuṇṭha-nāẏaka dvija the variants vaikuṇṭha-nāẏaka kṛṣṇa and vaikuṇṭha-nāẏaka nija ["his own courtyard"] are found.

পড়িতে পাইলা প্রভু বাপের আদেশে। হৈলেন মহাপ্রভু আনন্দ-বিশেষে॥ ২০১

Translation. By His father's own command the Lord was again permitted to study; and Mahāprabhu was filled with an especial joy.

শ্রীকৃষ্ণচৈতন্য নিত্যানন্দ-চান্দ জান। বৃন্দাবনদাস তছু পদ-যুগে গান॥ ২০২

Translation. Know Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya and Nityānanda-candra to be one and the same Truth; Vṛndāvana Dāsa sings at the pair of Their feet.

Explanation. See the note to payar 1.2.285 [for this closing formula, repeated at the end of every chapter]. In place of this payar, the variant reading is found: "At the pair of feet of Śrī Caitanya-Nityānanda, Vṛndāvana Dāsa sings, in the Caitanya-maṅgala."

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Thus ends, in the Ādi-khaṇḍa, the fifth chapter of Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata — entitled "The Description of Śrī Viśvarūpa's Renunciation and Other Events" — together with its Nitāi-karuṇā-kallolinī commentary.

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