Chapter 8: The Scholar of Navadvīpa

The chapter opens with an account of Mahāprabhu's delight, together with Mukunda and Gadādhara, in scholarly discussion (śāstrālocanā). Intoxicated with the relish of learning, the Lord as yet showed no outward sign of interest in Kṛṣṇa, and the Vaiṣṇavas grieved to see it; they prayed at Śrī Kṛṣṇa's feet that His mind be turned to His worship. The Lord's reverence for Śrīvāsa and the other devotees is described, and how He would bow His head to receive their blessing. Then, under the pretext of a "wind-disease," the Lord displayed the transformations of prema-bhakti, and briefly revealed His own true nature (tattva). After this display of love-transformation and self-revelation, He resumed teaching as before at Mukunda Sañjaya's caṇḍī-maṇḍapa. His daily routine is described: touring the city with His students, and, in that connection, visiting the homes of weavers, cowherds, perfume-sellers, garland-makers, betel-sellers, and conch-shell workers, joking with them and receiving from them the articles He desired; visiting the house of a man called "Sarvajña" ("the Omniscient") and questioning him, in jest, about His own past births; visiting the house of Śrīdhara, the seller of banana-leaf plates, and His loving quarrel with him; Mother Śacī's vision of Gaura's divine opulence; Śrī Gaurāṅga's playful conduct, as though an arrogant young man; Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita's counsel to Gaura to take up the worship of Kṛṣṇa; the Lord seated by the Gaṅgā, surrounded by His students, showing that nothing in the created world affords a fit comparison to His beauty; His wondrous exposition of the śānta-rasa on the bank of the Gaṅgā, and His display of pride regarding that exposition; and the steady increase, chapter by chapter, in the number of His students.

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জয় জয় মহাপ্রভু গৌরসুন্দর। প্রবোধিতে শক্তি কোনজনে নাহি ধরে॥ ১॥ জয় হউ প্রভুর যতেক অনুচর॥ হেনমত নবদ্বীপে শ্রীগৌরসুন্দর। পুস্তক লইয়া ক্রীড়া করে নিরন্তর॥ ২॥ যত অধ্যাপক প্রভু চালেন সভারে। ব্যাকরণশাস্ত্রে সবে বিদ্যার আদান॥ ৩–৪॥ ভট্টাচার্য্যপ্রতিও নাহিক তৃণ-জ্ঞান। স্বানুভাবানন্দে করে নগর-ভ্রমণ॥ সংহতি পরম-ভাগ্যবন্ত শিষ্যগণ॥ ৫॥

Translation. All glory, all glory to Mahāprabhu Gaurasundara! No one has the power to instruct Him. All glory to the Lord's many followers! Thus, in Navadvīpa, Śrī Gaurasundara, taking up His books, sported ceaselessly [in scholarly debate]. Every teacher (adhyāpaka) there, the Lord defeated in argument; He alone was the source from which all others drew their learning in the science of grammar, and He held no one — not even the most eminent professors (bhaṭṭācāryas) — in the least esteem. Absorbed in the bliss of His own self-experience, He wandered about the city, accompanied always by His most fortunate students.

Explanation. Cālena — see the note on payar 1.6.37 [i.e., the commentary's earlier discussion of how the Lord would answer every question put to Him and thereby satisfy His opponents]. Vidyāra ādāna — the attainment of learning. The verse means that the Lord practiced, taught, and pursued only the science of grammar exclusively — and yet He held not the slightest regard even for scholars deeply versed in other branches of learning such as Nyāya (logic) and Mīmāṁsā (exegesis); to Him such scholars, however accomplished, were as nothing. Svānubhāvānande — see the notes on payars 1.6.119 and 1.6.150. Saṅhati — those who remained ever in the Lord's company.

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দৈবে পথে মুকুন্দের সঙ্গে দরশন। হস্তে ধরি প্রভু তানে বোলেন বচন॥ ৬॥ "আমারে দেখিয়া তুমি কি কার্যে পলাও। আজি আমা' প্রবোধিয়া বিনা দেখি যাও?" ৭॥ মনে ভাবে মুকুন্দ "আজ জিনিব কেমনে? ইঁহার অভ্যাস সবে মাত্র ব্যাকরণে॥ ৮॥ ঠেকাইমু আজি জিজ্ঞাসিয়া অলঙ্কার। মোর সনে যেন গর্ব্ব না করেন আর॥" ৯॥ লাগিল জিজ্ঞাসা মুকুন্দের প্রভু-সনে। প্রভু খণ্ডে যত অর্থ মুকুন্দ বাখানে॥ ১০॥ মুকুন্দ বোলেন "ব্যাকরণ শিশুশাস্ত্র। বালকে সে ইহার বিচার করে মাত্র॥ ১১॥ অলঙ্কার বিচার করিব তোমা' সনে।" প্রভু কহে "বুঝ তোর যথা লয় মনে॥" ১২॥ বিষম বিষম যত কবিত্ব-প্রচার। পঢ়িয়া মুকুন্দ জিজ্ঞাসয়ে অলঙ্কার॥ ১৩॥ সর্ববশক্তিময় গৌরচন্দ্র অবতার। খণ্ড খণ্ড করি দোষে' সব অলঙ্কার॥ ১৪॥ মুকুন্দ স্থাপিতে নারে প্রভুর খণ্ডন। হাসিয়া হাসিয়া প্রভু বোলেন বচন॥ ১৫॥ "আজি ঘরে গিয়া ভালমতে পুথি চাহ। কালি বুঝিবাঙ ঝাট আসিবারে চাহ॥" ১৬॥ চলিলা মুকুন্দ লই চরণের ধূলি। মনে মনে চিন্তয়ে মুকুন্দ কুতূহলী॥ ১৭॥ "মনুষ্যের এমত পাণ্ডিত্য আছে কোথা? হেন শাস্ত্র নাহিক, অভ্যাস নাহি যথা॥ ১৮॥ এমত সুবুদ্ধি — কৃষ্ণভক্ত হয় যবে। তিলেকো ইঁহার সঙ্গ না ছাড়িয়ে তবে॥" ১৯॥

Translation. By chance, along the road, the Lord happened to meet Mukunda; taking hold of his hand, the Lord spoke to him: "Seeing me, why do you flee? Today you shall not get away without satisfying me [in debate]!" Mukunda thought to himself, "How am I to win against Him today? His only real practice is in grammar — I shall corner Him today by questioning Him on rhetoric (alaṅkāra-śāstra), so that He will no longer feel such pride toward me." So Mukunda began to question the Lord; but whatever meaning Mukunda proposed, the Lord refuted it. Mukunda then said, "Grammar is a child's subject — only boys trouble themselves over it. Let me test you on rhetoric instead." The Lord replied, "Explain it as you understand it." Mukunda then recited, one after another, the most difficult and abstruse pieces of poetry, and questioned the Lord on their ornaments (alaṅkāras). But Gauracandra, the incarnation possessed of all potencies, took each ornament apart piece by piece and exposed its faults; Mukunda could not sustain his own position against the Lord's refutation. Smiling again and again, the Lord said, "Go home today, examine your texts carefully, and come back quickly tomorrow." Mukunda departed, taking the dust of the Lord's feet, and, filled with wonder, reflected to himself: "Where else is such learning to be found among men? There exists no branch of learning, no discipline, that He has not mastered. If such supreme intelligence as this should ever become devoted to Kṛṣṇa, one ought never to abandon His company, even for a moment."

Explanation. Prabodhiyā vinā dekhi yāo — "You shall not leave this place without satisfying [answering] me." Jinibo kemane — a variant reading is "jinimu kena-mane," meaning "by what means shall I win?" Ṭhekāimu — "I shall silence him, corner him." Alaṅkāra — matters pertaining to the science of poetic ornamentation. Śiśu-śāstra — a discipline suited to the study of children. To study any Sanskrit text one must first study grammar, since without grammatical knowledge no other Sanskrit work — poetry and the rest — can properly be approached; hence grammar is called the "child's discipline," just as the earliest stage of life is called childhood. Yathā — a variant reads "ye vā." Viṣama viṣama — extremely difficult, hard to fathom. Paḍiyā — having recited. Mukunda would recite some especially difficult passage of a poetic work and ask the Lord what particular ornaments (alaṅkāras) were present in it and what their significance was. Sarvaśaktimaya ityādi — this Gauracandra, descended into the universe, is possessed of every potency in its fullest manifestation; He is omniscient and all-knowing. Hence, even though in His human pastime He appeared to cultivate only the "child's discipline" of grammar, the deep secrets of every other branch of learning were nonetheless known to Him. Khaṇḍa khaṇḍa kari — He examined, item by item, each of the ornaments Mukunda had raised, and exposed their faults. Mukunda sthāpite nāre — Mukunda could not, by refuting the Lord's argument [showing it to be unsound], establish his own position.

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এইমত বিদ্যারসে বৈকুণ্ঠ-ঈশ্বর। ভ্রমিতে দেখেন এক দিন গদাধর॥ ২০॥ হাসি দুই হাথে প্রভু রাখিল ধরিয়া। "ন্যায় পঢ় তুমি, আমা' যাও প্রবোধিয়া॥" ২১॥ "জিজ্ঞাসহ" গদাধর বোলয়ে বচন। প্রভু বোলে "কহ দেখি মুক্তির লক্ষণ?" ২২॥ শাস্ত্র-অর্থ যেন গদাধর বাখানিলা। প্রভু বোলে "ব্যাখ্যান করিতে না জানিলা॥" ২৩॥ গদাধর বোলে "আত্যন্তিক-দুঃখ-নাশ। ইহারেই শাস্ত্রে কহে মুক্তির প্রকাশ॥" ২৪॥ নানারূপে দোষে' প্রভু সরস্বতীপতি। হেন নাহি তার্কিক যে করিবেক স্থিতি॥ ২৫॥ হেন জন নাহিক যে প্রভু-সনে বোলে। গদাধর ভাবে "আজি বাঁচি পলাইলে॥" ২৬॥ প্রভু বোলে "গদাধর! আজি যাহ ঘর। কালি বুঝিবাঙ তুমি আসিহ সত্বর॥" ২৭॥

Translation. In this way, absorbed in the relish of learning, the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha [Mahāprabhu] one day happened to see Gadādhara passing by; smiling, He caught hold of him with both hands: "You study Nyāya (logic) — come, satisfy me in debate before you go!" "Ask, then," said Gadādhara. The Lord said, "Tell me — what is the defining characteristic of liberation (mukti)?" Gadādhara explained the matter as the scriptures describe it, but the Lord said, "You have not understood how to explain it properly." Gadādhara said, "The scriptures declare that the absolute cessation of all suffering — such that it can never return — is itself the very manifestation of liberation." But the master of Sarasvatī [Mahāprabhu, lord of eloquence and learning] found fault with this explanation in manifold ways, until there was no logician who could hold his ground before Him; no one existed who could out-argue the Lord. Gadādhara thought, "I shall count myself fortunate if I can only get away alive today!" The Lord said, "Gadādhara, go home for today; come back quickly tomorrow, and we shall settle the matter."

Explanation. These two payars refer to Śrī Gadādhara Paṇḍita Gosvāmī, the Lord's own intimate associate. One should not, from the phrase "you study Nyāya," imagine that this is the celebrated Naiyāyika scholar Gadādhara Bhaṭṭācārya of Navadvīpa — for that Bhaṭṭācārya was not a contemporary of the Lord; the Lord's era is the fifteenth century of the Christian calendar, whereas the Naiyāyika Gadādhara Bhaṭṭācārya lived in the seventeenth century. Śāstra-artha yena — Gadādhara explained the defining mark of liberation exactly as stated in the scriptures. Ātyantika duḥkha-nāśa — the absolute destruction of the suffering of material existence — that destruction after which suffering can never again return is called ātyantika-nāśa (absolute cessation); release from the bondage of māyā alone brings about such an absolute cessation of worldly suffering, and this absolute cessation of suffering is itself called mukti, liberation — release from the bonds of māyā. Nānārūpe doṣe — the Lord exposed the faults of Gadādhara's explanation in various ways. Tārkika — one skilled in logic. Karibeka sthiti — one who could refute the Lord's statement and establish his own conclusion in its place. Prabhu-sane bole — able to converse [i.e., debate] with the Lord. Bhāve — a variant reads "bole" (says) in place of "bhāve" (thinks). Bāñci — to survive; a variant reading has "nā āise" ("would that he not come again") in place of "palāile" ("if I escape"); the sense is, "I would count myself fortunate simply not to have to come here today." Bujhibāṅ — "I shall understand/settle [it]."

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পরম-পণ্ডিত-জ্ঞান হইল সভার। সভেই করেন দেখি সম্ভ্রম অপার॥ ২৯॥ বিকালে ঠাকুর সর্ব-পঢ়ুয়ার সঙ্গে। গঙ্গাতীরে আসিয়া বৈসেন মহা-রঙ্গে॥ ৩০॥ সিদ্ধুসুতা-সেবিত প্রভুর কলেবর। ত্রিভুবনে অদ্বিতীয় মদনসুন্দর॥ ৩১॥ চতুর্দ্দিকে বেড়িয়া বৈসেন শিষ্যগণ। মধ্যে শাস্ত্র বাখানেন শ্রীশচীনন্দন॥ ৩২॥ বৈষ্ণবসকলো তবে সন্ধ্যাকাল হৈলে। আসিয়া বৈসেন গঙ্গাতীরে কুতূহলে॥ ৩৩॥ দূরে থাকি প্রভুর ব্যাখ্যান সভে শুনে। হরিষ-বিষাদ সভে ভাবে মনে মনে॥ ৩৪॥ কেহো বলে "হেন রূপ হেন বিদ্যা যার। না ভজিলে কৃষ্ণ, নহে কিছু উপকার॥" ৩৫॥ সভেই বোলেন "ভাই, উহানে দেখিয়া। ফাঁকি জিজ্ঞাসার ভয়ে যাই পলাইয়া॥" ৩৬॥ কেহো বোলে "দেখা হৈলে না দেন এড়িয়া। মহা-দানী-প্রায় যেন রাখেন ধরিয়া॥" ৩৭॥ কেহো বোলে "ব্রাহ্মণের শক্তি অমানুষী। কোনো মহাপুরুষ বা হয় হেন বাসি॥" ৩৮॥ "যদ্যপিহ নিরন্তর বাখানেন ফাঁকি। তথাপি সন্তোষ বড় পাঙ উহা দেখি॥" ৩৯॥ "মনুষ্যের এমন পাণ্ডিত্য দেখি নাঞি। কৃষ্ণ না ভজেন — সবে এই দুঃখ পাই॥" ৪০॥ অন্যোন্যে সভেই সাধেন সভা' প্রতি। "সভে বোল, 'ইঁহার হউক কৃষ্ণে রতি'॥" ৪১॥ দণ্ডবৎ হই সভে পড়িলা গঙ্গারে। সর্বভাগবত মেলি আশীর্বাদ করে॥ ৪২॥ "হেন কর, কৃষ্ণ! জগন্নাথের নন্দন। তোর রসে মত্ত হউ ছাড়ি অন্য-মন॥ ৪৩॥ নিরবধি প্রেমভাবে ভজুক তোমারে। হেন সঙ্গ কৃষ্ণ! দেহ' আমা'-সভাকারে॥" ৪৪॥ অন্তর্যামী প্রভু চিত্ত জানেন সভার। শ্রীবাসাদি দেখিলেই করেন নমস্কার॥ ৪৫॥ ভক্ত-আশীর্বাদ প্রভু শিরে করি লয়। ভক্ত-আশীর্বাদে সে কৃষ্ণেতে ভক্তি হয়॥ ৪৬॥ কেহো কেহো সাক্ষাতেই প্রভু দেখি বোলে। "কি কার্যে গোঙাও কাল তুমি বিদ্যাভোলে?" ৪৭॥ কেহো বোলে "হের দেখ নিমাঞি পণ্ডিত। বিদ্যায় কি লাভ? কৃষ্ণ ভজহ ত্বরিত॥ ৪৮॥ পঢ়ে কেনে লোক? — কৃষ্ণভক্তি জানিবারে। সে যদি নহিল, তবে বিদ্যায় কি করে?" ৪৯॥ হাসি বোলে প্রভু "বড় ভাগ্য সে আমার। তোমরা শিখাও মোরে কৃষ্ণভক্তি-সার॥ ৫০॥ তুমি সব যাঁর কর শুভানুসন্ধান। মোর চিত্তে হেন লয়, সেই ভাগ্যবান্॥ ৫১॥ কতো দিন পঢ়াইয়া, মোর চিত্তে আছে। চলিমু বুঝিয়া ভাল বৈষ্ণবের কাছে॥" ৫২॥

Translation. Everyone came to regard Him as the supreme scholar, and beheld Him with boundless awe. In the afternoon the Master, together with all His students, would come to the bank of the Gaṅgā and sit there in great merriment. His body — served, as it were, by Lakṣmī, the daughter of the ocean [i.e., of an unearthly beauty and radiance] — was without equal in the three worlds, more entrancing than Cupid himself. His students would sit encircling Him on every side, and, in their midst, Śrī Śacīnandana would expound the scriptures. Then, when evening fell, all the Vaiṣṇavas too would come, out of eagerness, and sit on the Gaṅgā's bank. Remaining at some distance, they would all listen to the Lord's exposition, and, in their hearts, feel a mixture of joy and sorrow all at once. Some would say: "One who has such beauty and such learning as this — if he does not worship Kṛṣṇa, all of it is of no benefit whatsoever." All of them would say to one another, "Brother, seeing Him, let us slip away for fear He will corner us with some tricky question!" Someone else would say, "Once He has seen you, He will not let you go — He holds on to you the way a great tax-collector holds on to his debtor!" Another would say, "The power of this brāhmaṇa is more than human — he must be some great soul." "Even though He is forever posing His tricky questions, still I feel the greatest satisfaction just in seeing Him." "Never have I seen such scholarship in a human being — our only grief is that He does not worship Kṛṣṇa." Then, urging one another on, they would all say together, "Let each of us pray: 'May he come to feel devotion for Kṛṣṇa!'" So saying, they all fell prostrate upon the bank of the Gaṅgā, and, all the Vaiṣṇavas gathered together, offered this blessing: "O Kṛṣṇa! Grant that this son of Jagannātha become intoxicated with love for You, forsaking every other thought! May he worship You ceaselessly, in the mood of prema; grant us, O Kṛṣṇa, the company of such a one!" The Lord, who as the indwelling witness (antaryāmī) knew the hearts of them all, would, the moment He saw Śrīvāsa and the other devotees, offer them His obeisances. He would take the devotees' blessing upon His own head — for it is precisely through the blessing of the devotees that devotion to Kṛṣṇa is attained. Some, even to His very face, would say to Him, "What is the use of wasting your days lost in the intoxication of learning?" Others would say, "Look here, Nimāñi Paṇḍita — what is the good of all this learning? Worship Kṛṣṇa without delay! Why does anyone study at all, if not to come to know devotion to Kṛṣṇa? If that is not gained, then what has learning accomplished?" The Lord, smiling, would reply: "It is my great good fortune that you should teach me the essence of devotion to Kṛṣṇa! Whoever it is you all wish well for — that very person, on whom your minds are so set, is indeed most fortunate. I have been teaching now for some time; it is in my mind that I shall soon go and settle among good Vaiṣṇavas, once I have properly understood [the matter]."

Explanation. Sindhu-sutā — "the daughter of the ocean," Lakṣmī (Atulakṛṣṇa Prabhupāda). Tabe — a variant reads "yathā" (in that very place, the Gaṅgā bank) with the sense of "meli" — gathered/assembled together. Payar 36 is spoken among the Vaiṣṇavas themselves. Phāṅki — see the note on payar 1.6.120 [the Lord's habit of posing riddling, tricky questions in debate]. Eḍiyā — having released, let go. Mahā-dānī — a very high-ranking royal revenue-officer [who never lets a debtor escape without paying]. Brāhmaṇera — of Nimāi Paṇḍita. Amānuṣī — superhuman, not found among ordinary men. Sādhena — they speak persuading and encouraging one another. Payar 43: a variant reads "adhyayana" in place of "anya-mana." Vidyābhole — in the intoxication of scholarly pursuits. Payar 49's purport is this: the true value of study lies in coming to know devotion to Kṛṣṇa; if study does not give rise to any such awareness, then that study has, in truth, accomplished nothing. Through study one may become a great scholar, gain honor and standing in society, and live in comfort — but one does not thereby cross beyond the ocean of material existence, nor gain release from the bonds of māyā, nor attain that service, intrinsic to the soul's own nature, whose sole purport is Kṛṣṇa's pleasure; and the human birth itself is thereby rendered fruitless. For the human body alone is the very foundation of devotional practice (see the note on payar 1.6.199), and if, having obtained this human body, one still does not worship Kṛṣṇa, what value can the attainment of this body have? The conditioned soul has, from time without beginning, forgotten Parabrahman Svayaṁ Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and as a consequence has fallen into the grip of māyā and suffers the pains of repeated birth and death. Only by knowing Him can one gain release from birth and death and from the grip of māyā — there is no other way: "Knowing Him alone, one crosses beyond death; there is no other path to that final goal" (Śruti). And the means of knowing Him is bhakti itself: Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself has said, "bhaktyā mām abhijānāti" — "only through devotion does one come to know Me" (Gītā 18.55). The devotion by which He is known is attained only through the practice of sādhana-bhakti; and no being other than a human being is capable of undertaking sādhana-bhakti. If, taking shelter of the feet of one's own guru, one begins sādhana-bhajana in the manner prescribed by scripture, then Parabrahman Svayaṁ Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself bestows His grace, by which the soul crosses the ocean of material existence and attains proximity to His feet. Śrī Kṛṣṇa has said that, despite having every such opportunity, a soul in human form who fails to cross the ocean of material existence is a "self-slayer": "The human body is a rare and difficult vessel to obtain, yet easily fashioned into a most excellent boat, with the guru as helmsman and Myself as the favorable wind; the man who, having such a boat, does not cross the ocean of material existence, is a killer of his own soul" (Bhāgavata 11.20.17). It is for this reason that it is said: "Why does anyone study at all, if not to come to know devotion to Kṛṣṇa? If that is not gained, then what has learning accomplished?"

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এত বলি হাসে প্রভু সেবকের সনে। প্রভুর মায়ায় কেহো প্রভুরে না চিনে॥ ৫৩॥ এইমত ঠাকুর সভার চিত্ত হরে। হেন নাহি, যে জনে অপেক্ষা নাহি করে॥ ৫৪॥ এইমত ক্ষণে প্রভু বৈসে গঙ্গাতীরে। কখন ভ্রমেন প্রতি নগরে নগরে॥ ৫৫॥ প্রভু দেখিলেই মাত্র নগরিয়াগণ। পরম আদর করি বন্দেন চরণ॥ ৫৬॥ নারীগণ দেখি বোলে "এই ত মদন। স্ত্রীলোকে পাউক জন্মে জন্মে হেন ধন॥" ৫৭॥ পণ্ডিত দেখয়ে বৃহস্পতির সমান। বৃক্ষ আদি পাদ্মপদ্মে করয়ে প্রণাম॥ ৫৮॥ যোগিগণে দেখে যেন সিদ্ধ-কলেবর। দুষ্টগণ দেখে যেন মহা-ভয়ঙ্কর॥ ৫৯॥ দিবসেকো যারে প্রভু করেন সম্ভাষ। বন্দিপ্রায় হয় যেন, পরে প্রেমফাঁস॥ ৬০॥ বিদ্যারসে যত প্রভু করে অহঙ্কার। শুনেন তথাপি প্রীত প্রভুরে সভার॥ ৬১॥ যবনেও প্রভু দেখি করে বড় প্রীত। সর্বভূত-কৃপালুতা প্রভুর চরিত॥ ৬২॥ পঢ়ায় বৈকুণ্ঠনাথ নবদ্বীপ-পুরে। মুকুন্দ-সঞ্জয় ভাগ্যবন্তের মন্দিরে॥ ৬৩॥ পক্ষ-প্রতিপক্ষ সূত্র-খণ্ডন স্থাপন। বাখানে অশেষরূপে শ্রীশচীনন্দন॥ ৬৪॥ গোষ্ঠীসহ মুকুন্দ-সঞ্জয় ভাগ্যবান্। ভাসয়ে আনন্দে, মর্ম না জানয়ে তান॥ ৬৫॥ বিদ্যা জয় করিয়া ঠাকুর চলে ঘরে। বিদ্যারসে বৈকুণ্ঠের নায়ক বিহরে॥ ৬৬–৬৭॥

Translation. Speaking thus, the Lord laughed together with His attendants — for by the Lord's own illusory potency (māyā), no one there could yet recognize who He truly was. In this way the Master captivated the hearts of everyone; there was no one at all whom He did not treat with the same gracious regard [or: who did not show Him deference]. Sometimes He would sit for a while by the Gaṅgā, and sometimes He would wander through every quarter of the city. The moment the townspeople caught sight of Him, they would bow with the deepest reverence at His feet. Seeing Him, the women would say, "Here indeed is Cupid himself! May women, birth after birth, attain such a treasure as this for a husband!" The scholars regarded Him as the very equal of Bṛhaspati [guru of the gods] and offered praṇāma to Him as they would to the wish-fulfilling tree itself. The yogīs looked upon Him as one whose very body was perfected (siddha-kalevara); the wicked looked upon Him as a figure of the greatest terror. Whomever the Lord spoke to, even for a single day, became as it were His captive — bound thereafter by the snare of prema. Though the Lord displayed such pride over His scholarship, still everyone who heard Him remained devoted to Him. He showed great affection even toward the Muslims [yavanas] He met — for compassion toward every living being was the very character of the Lord. Thus did the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha teach in the town of Navadvīpa, at the temple-hall [caṇḍī-maṇḍapa] of the most fortunate Mukunda Sañjaya, expounding without limit, in every manner — proposition and counter-proposition, refutation and establishment of doctrine (pakṣa-pratipakṣa, sūtra-khaṇḍana-sthāpana) — was Śrī Śacīnandana's way. Mukunda Sañjaya and his whole household, most fortunate indeed, floated in bliss, though they did not know the inner truth of who He was. Having thus conquered all in the arena of learning, the Master would return home each day — the very Lord of Vaikuṇṭha sporting Himself in the relish of scholarship.

Explanation. Apekṣā nāhi kare — He showed no partiality, no special regard for anyone above another; or, alternatively, He did not require anyone to wait upon Him or stand before Him to be received. Ādi — a variant reads "āsi" for "ādi." Pare prema-phāṅs — "afterward [they] wear the noose of prema" — that is, they came to cherish special affection for the Lord. A variant reads "pāśa" (snare) for "phāṅs." Śunena — even though they heard His words of pride. Baikuṇṭha-nātha — the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha, or of the transcendental abodes beyond māyā; Bhagavān Himself (see the note on payar 1.1.179). A variant reads "duyāre" (at the doorway) for "mandire" (at the temple-hall). Pakṣa-pratipakṣa — see the note on payar 1.68. Sūtra — see the note on payar 1.6.56.

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একদিন বায়ু-দেহ-মান্দ্য করি ছল। প্রকাশেন প্রেমভক্তি-বিকার সকল॥ ৬৭॥ আচম্বিতে প্রভু অলৌকিক শব্দ বোলে। গড়াগড়ি যায়, হাসে, ঘর ভাঙ্গি ফেলে॥ ৬৮॥ হুঙ্কার গর্জ্জন করে, মালসাট পুরে। সম্মুখে দেখয়ে যারে তাহারেই মারে॥ ৬৯॥ ক্ষণে ক্ষণে স্ব-অঙ্গ স্তম্ভাকৃতি হয়। হেন মূর্চ্ছা হয়, লোক দেখি পায় ভয়॥ ৭০॥

Translation. One day, under the pretext of a bodily indisposition brought on by "wind" [vāyu-roga, a disorder of the bodily airs], the Lord displayed the entire array of the transformations of prema-bhakti. All at once He would utter some otherworldly sound, roll upon the ground, laugh, and smash the room to pieces. He would roar and bellow, slap His arms like a wrestler preparing for combat, and strike whomever He saw standing before Him. Again and again His limbs would stiffen and grow rigid as pillars; He would fall into such swoons that everyone who saw Him grew afraid.

Explanation. Vāyu-deha-māndya kari chala — the "wind-disease" (vāyuroga) manifest in the Lord is here called a mere "pretext" (chala) because, in truth, the Lord never suffered any actual disorder of the bodily airs at all — it was only a semblance, a disguise. The reason for saying so is this: bodily disorders of wind, bile, and phlegm arise only in the material body composed of the five gross elements, belonging to a soul bound by māyā, and such disease appears in the material body only as the fruit of some sin or misdeed. But Mahāprabhu is no ordinary conditioned soul; He is, in absolute truth, Parabrahman Svayaṁ Bhagavān Himself (see the explanation of śloka 1.2.5–6); His body, too, is not made of the five gross elements, but is a solid mass of sac-cid-ānanda. He can have no sin whatsoever. Śruti calls Parabrahman "apahata-pāpmā" — free from sin (Chāndogya 8.1.5, 8.7.1) — and hence no sin-born disease can exist in Him either. Śruti plainly declares Parabrahman to be "anāmaya" — free from disease (Śvetāśvatara 3.10). At the time this payar speaks of, the Lord had not yet revealed Himself; hence no one yet knew His true essential nature. "By the Lord's own māyā, no one recognized the Lord" (payar 1.8.53). Seeing His extraordinary power, some took Him merely for a person endowed with some superhuman power, but the general populace could not recognize Him as the Lord Himself. For this reason, seeing the transformations of prema manifest in His body, people took it that the Lord had fallen prey to a wind-disorder and become deranged. Certain symptoms of actual madness do resemble certain transformations of prema. Since the Lord, being the combined form of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, is essentially devotee-natured (see the note on payar 1.7.177), an undivided treasury of prema is eternally present within Him, and from time to time the transformations of that prema would manifest outwardly. Ordinary people, not knowing the true nature of these transformations of prema, took certain of these displays, upon seeing them, to mean that the Lord had become deranged owing to an aggravation of the wind-humor.

Alaukika-śabda — a sound of the kind not ordinarily heard in this mundane world. Absorbed in the mood of Rādhā, the Lord, in that state of prema-absorption, would consider Himself to be Śrī Rādhā. It seems to have been in just such an absorption of mood that the Lord uttered some otherworldly sound addressed to His life's beloved, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, which others too overheard. Again, it seems, absorbed in the mood of separation from Kṛṣṇa (viraha), He would, in the deepest sorrow, roll upon the ground exactly as Śrī Rādhā does; and in separation there sometimes arises the hiccup [kṛṣṇa-kṣuti, taken as an auspicious sign of Kṛṣṇa's remembrance] — it seems it was in the joy of this that the Lord laughed. Ghara bhāṅgi phele — it seems that in the combined moods of anger toward Kṛṣṇa and the sharp grief of separation from Him — both moods of Śrī Rādhā — the Lord, taking some room to be a pleasure-bower (kuñja), behaved in just this way. [When Kṛṣṇa went to Mathurā with Akrūra, Rādhā, in the anguish of separation, would sometimes think that had Kṛṣṇa Himself been unwilling to go, Akrūra could never have taken Him away — that it was by His own wish that Kṛṣṇa went to Mathurā; thinking thus, She would sometimes hold Kṛṣṇa Himself responsible for Her sorrow, and grow angry with Him. And again, seeing the very bower in Vraja where She used to meet Kṛṣṇa, the memory of their past union would awaken in Her heart, and at once, remembering that it was by His own will that Kṛṣṇa had gone to Mathurā and was thus now absent from Vraja, Her anguish of separation would surge up afresh — the sight of that Kṛṣṇa-less bower, as it were, pouring ghee upon the fire of Her separation; and, thinking again of Kṛṣṇa's own willing departure, Her anger toward Him would also blaze up anew. Under the sway of both these moods together, the desire would arise in Her heart to destroy the very bower that stood as a token of union with so heartless and loveless a Kṛṣṇa, and that fed the fire of Her separation. It seems to have been in just such an absorption in Rādhā's mood that Mahāprabhu, taking some room to be a bower, would smash it to pieces.]

Mālasāṭa pure — He slapped His arms like a wrestler preparing to fight. When Kṛṣṇa was in Vraja, Rādhā once, dressed as a wrestler, engaged Him in a wrestling match; it seems to have been in the absorption of that same mood of Rādhā's that the Lord roared and slapped His arms like a wrestler — this roaring and bellowing being an "unmādi" (turbulent/overt) anubhāva of prema. Māre — He would strike out with His hands and the like. Sammukhe dekhaye yāre — whomever He saw standing before Him, that very person He would strike — this appears to be the effect of the absorption of Rādhā's mood of "durjaya-māna" (unyielding jealous anger). Sometimes, angered with Kṛṣṇa over some matter and unable to overcome her jealous displeasure, Rādhā would say to Her own companions: "Never again let that deceitful, cunning Kṛṣṇa be brought to my bower; let no messenger or go-between of His ever come near me — see to it; do not even let me hear his name spoken." In this state, if anyone spoke of reunion with Kṛṣṇa, or said anything favorable to Him, Rādhā would rebuke and strike out at that person too. It seems to have been in the absorption of just this mood of Rādhā's that the Lord, whomever He saw before Him, took to be one of Kṛṣṇa's party and struck at them.

It should not be thought that all these transformations of prema described above appeared simultaneously; rather, whatever mood possessed Him at a given moment, the Lord behaved accordingly at that time.

Stambhākṛti — motionless as a pillar; this is the sāttvika-bhāva called stambha (paralysis/rigidity). Mūrcchā — the sāttvika-bhāva called pralaya (fainting). Dekhi pāya bhaya — seeing this, people grew afraid, thinking His very life-breath had left His body.

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শুনিলেন বন্ধুগণ বায়ুর বিকার। ধাইয়া আসিয়া সভে করে প্রতিকার॥ ৭১॥ বুদ্ধিমন্ত-খাঁন আর মুকুন্দ-সঞ্জয়। গোষ্ঠীসহ আইলেন প্রভুর আলয়॥ ৭২॥ বিষ্ণুতৈল নারায়ণতৈল দেন শিরে। সভে করে প্রতিকার, যার যেন স্ফুরে॥ ৭৩॥ আপন-ইচ্ছায় প্রভু নানা কর্ম করে। সে কেমনে সুস্থ হইবেক প্রতিকারে॥ ৭৪॥ সর্ব অঙ্গে কম্প, প্রভু করে আক্ফালন। হুঙ্কার শুনিয়ে ভয় পায় সর্বজন॥ ৭৫॥ প্রভু বোলে "মুঞি সর্ব-লোকের ঈশ্বর। মুঞি বিশ্ব ধরো, মোর নাম 'বিশ্বম্ভর'॥ ৭৬॥ মুঞি সেই, মোরে ত না চিনে কোন জনে।" এত বলি লড় দেই ধরে সর্বগণে॥ ৭৭॥ আপনা-প্রকাশ প্রভু করে বায়ু-ছলে। তথাপি না বুঝে কেহো তান মায়াবলে॥ ৭৮॥ কেহো বোলে "হইল দানব-অধিষ্ঠান।" কেহো বোলে "হেন বুঝি ডাকিনীর কাম॥" ৭৯॥ কেহো বোলে "সদাই করেন বাক্য-ব্যয়। অতএব হৈল বায়ু, জানিহ নিশ্চয়॥" ৮০॥ এইমত সর্বজনে করেন বিচার। বিষ্ণুর-মায়া-মোহে তত্ব না জানিঞা তার॥ ৮১॥ বহুবিধ পাকতৈল সভে দেই শিরে। তৈলদ্রোণে থুই তৈল দেন কলেবরে॥ ৮২॥ তৈলদ্রোণে ভাসে প্রভু হাসে খলখল। সত্য যেন মহাবায়ু করিয়াছে বল॥ ৮৩॥ এইমত আপন-ইচ্ছায় লীলা করি। স্বাভাবিক হৈল প্রভু বায়ু পরিহরি॥ ৮৪॥ সর্বগণে উঠিল আনন্দ-হরিধ্বনি। কেবা কারে বস্ত্র দেই, হেন নাহি জানি॥ ৮৫॥ সর্বলোক শুনিয়া হইল হরষিত। সভে বোলে "জীউ জীউ এহেন পণ্ডিত॥" ৮৬॥

Translation. When His friends heard of this "wind-disorder," they came running to find some remedy. Buddhimanta Khāṅ and Mukunda Sañjaya, together with their whole household, came to the Lord's residence. They applied Viṣṇu-oil and Nārāyaṇa-oil to His head, each one suggesting whatever remedy occurred to him. But the Lord, of His own free will, performed all manner of activities — how, then, could any such remedy possibly restore Him to "health"? Trembling seized every limb of His body, and He slapped His arms; hearing His roar, everyone present grew afraid. The Lord declared, "I am the Lord of all beings! I sustain the universe — My name is Viśvambhara! I am He — yet no one here recognizes Me!" So saying, He would break into a run, and everyone there would have to hold Him back. Thus, under the pretext of a wind-disorder, the Lord revealed something of His own true identity — yet still, by the power of His own māyā, no one understood it. Someone said, "He has become possessed by a demon." Another said, "I think it must be the work of some witch (ḍākinī)." Yet another said, "He is forever talking wildly like this — it must certainly be the wind-disorder, be assured of that." Thus did everyone form their own theories, deluded by the power of Viṣṇu's own māyā, not knowing the truth about Him. They applied many kinds of medicated oil to His head, and, placing Him in a great trough of oil, poured oil over His whole body. The Lord floated in the trough of oil, laughing uproariously, as though the "great wind-disorder" had truly overpowered Him. Having thus sported entirely according to His own will, the Lord, setting aside the appearance of the wind-disorder, returned to His ordinary demeanor. Everyone there raised up a joyous cry of "Hari! Hari!" — and, in their overflowing delight, gave away garments to one another, not even keeping track of who gave what to whom. Everyone who heard of it rejoiced, saying, "Long live, long live such a scholar as this!"

Explanation. Vāyura vikāra — people, being ignorant of the Lord's true essential nature and of the transformations of prema, took the behaviors described above to be symptoms of a wind-disorder. Kare pratikāra — they deliberated and consulted over some remedy for the supposed wind-disease. Buddhimanta Khāṅ — a prominent and well-established resident of Navadvīpa, deeply devoted to the Lord. Mukunda Sañjaya — it was at his caṇḍī-maṇḍapa that the Lord taught, and his own son also studied under the Lord. Goṣṭhī-saha — together with the whole household. Ālaya — the residence [i.e., the Lord's home]. Viṣṇu-taila and Nārāyaṇa-taila are medicated oils prescribed in Āyurvedic medicine for the treatment of wind-disorders. Āpana icchāya prabhu ityādi — whatever desire His own eternally-perfected love for Kṛṣṇa awakened within His heart at a given moment, in submission to that very desire the Lord performed the various activities — the various transformations of prema described above. All of this was the Lord's own transformation of prema, not any bodily or mental illness; hence no treatment for a wind-disorder could possibly dispel His prema-vikāra. Huṅkāra — the roar of prema, a particular "unmādi" (turbulent) anubhāva; a variant reads "huṅkāra karile" or "huṅkāra śunite" in place of "huṅkāra śuniye." In this payar, by the power of His pastime-potency, the Lord revealed something of His own essential truth (svarūpa-tattva). Sarva-lokera īśvara — the Lord of all beings, that is, of the infinite millions of universes and of all the transcendental abodes of Godhead beyond māyā, such as Vaikuṇṭha — Svayaṁ Bhagavān Himself. Viśva dharo — "I sustain the universe"; hence "My name is Viśvambhara" — one who sustains and nourishes the universe is Viśvambhara; here "universe" refers to the infinite millions of material universes together with the transcendental abodes of Godhead. Muñi sei — "I am that very 'Lord of all beings,' Svayaṁ Bhagavān, and that very Viśvambhara" (see payar 1.2.86). Nā cine — no one knows My true essential nature. Laḍa dei — He would break into a run; then His own associates would hold Him back. Māyā-bale — by the power of His own Yogamāyā potency (see the note on payar 1.3.140).

Dānaba-adhiṣṭhāna — some thought He had become possessed by a demon; others thought it the doing of a ḍākinī (witch). All this was the deluded speculation of ordinary people, confounded by the power of Viṣṇu's own Yogamāyā (see the note on payar 1.3.140). Taila-droṇa — a very large wooden vessel for holding oil. Bhāse — He floated amid the oil in the great vessel; or, alternatively, "bhāse" may carry the sense of "shone with an extraordinary radiance," from the root bhās, "to shine, to be resplendent" (Śabda-kalpadruma). Thus "taila-droṇe bhāse prabhu" would mean that, seated in the oil-trough, the Lord shone forth with an unearthly radiance and beauty. And He laughed uproariously — a laughter of playful merriment, or of bliss, or both together. Those seeking to cure Him had taken His transformation of prema for a symptom of wind-disorder, and it was for this reason that they had Him bathed in the oil-trough; both their understanding of His behavior and their chosen remedy were mistaken. Perceiving their mistake, the Lord found it a source of great amusement, and it was in that spirit of playful delight that He laughed so heartily. He felt no anger toward those seeking to cure Him — for it was out of their intense love for Him that they adopted the remedy that matched their own (mistaken) understanding; seeing their love, the Lord felt joy, and it was in the overflow of that joy that He laughed. As it is said: "Janārdana takes note of the intention (bhāva), not merely the outward act." Svābhāvika hailā — He returned to His former, ordinary state, having withdrawn or made unmanifest all the transformations of prema that people had mistaken for symptoms of wind-disorder. Jīu jīu — "may he live, may he live!" — "long may he live!"

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এইমত রঙ্গ করে ত্রিদশের রায়। কে তানে জানিতে পারে যদি না জানায়॥ ৮৭॥ প্রভুরে দেখিয়া সর্ব বৈষ্ণবের গণ। সভে বোলে "ভজ বাপ! কৃষ্ণের চরণ॥ ৮৮॥ ক্ষণেকে নাহিক বাপ! অনিত্য শরীর। তোমারে কে শিখাইব, তুমি মহাধীর!" ৮৯॥ হাসি প্রভু তারে করিয়া নমস্কার। পঢ়াইতে চলে শিষ্য-সংহতি অপার॥ ৯০॥ মুকুন্দ-সঞ্জয় পুণ্যবন্তের মন্দিরে। পঢ়ায়েন প্রভু চণ্ডীমণ্ডপ-ভিতরে॥ ৯১॥ পরম-সুগন্ধি পাকতৈল প্রভু-শিরে। কোন পুণ্যবন্ত দেই, প্রভু ব্যাখ্যা করে॥ ৯২॥ চতুর্দিগে মহা পুণ্যবন্ত-শিষ্যগণ। মাঝে প্রভু ব্যাখ্যা করে জগত-জীবন॥ ৯৩॥ সে শোভার মহিমা ত কহিতে না পারি। উপমা কি দিব কোন না দেখি বিচারি॥ ৯৪॥ হেন বুঝি যেন সনকাদি-শিষ্যগণে। নারায়ণ বেঢ়ি বৈসে বদরিকাশ্রমে॥ ৯৫॥ তাহা সভা' লৈয়া যেন সে প্রভু পঢ়ায়। হেন বুঝি সেই লীলা করে গৌররায়॥ ৯৬॥ সেই বদরিকাশ্রমবাসী নারায়ণ। নিশ্চয় জানিহ এই শ্রীশচীনন্দন॥ ৯৭॥

Translation. Thus did the King of the immortals [Mahāprabhu] sport — who indeed could know Him, unless He Himself should reveal it? Seeing the Lord, all the assembled Vaiṣṇavas said, "Worship, dear child, the feet of Kṛṣṇa! This body, dear child, is impermanent — it may perish at any moment. Who could possibly teach you anything, when you yourself are so profoundly wise?" The Lord smiled, offered them His obeisances, and went off to teach, accompanied by His vast company of students. At the temple-hall of the pious Mukunda Sañjaya, the Lord taught within the caṇḍī-maṇḍapa; some fortunate soul among them would apply a most fragrant medicated oil to the Lord's head as He expounded the scriptures. All around Him sat His students, each one of great merit, and in their midst the Lord expounded — He, the very life of the universe. The splendor of that scene I cannot possibly describe; search as I may, I can find no fitting comparison anywhere. It seemed, one might imagine, just as Nārāyaṇa sits at Badarikāśrama, encircled by the Kumāras — Sanaka and his brother-sages — as His students; it seemed that this very same Lord, Gaurarāya, was enacting that selfsame pastime, teaching those gathered around Him exactly as Nārāyaṇa does. Know for certain: that very Nārāyaṇa who resides at Badarikāśrama is none other than this Śrī Śacīnandana.

Explanation. Tridaśera rāya — a variant reads "Vaikuṇṭhera rāya" — Svayaṁ Bhagavān Himself (see the notes on payars 1.4.40 and 1.1.109). Payar 93: a variant reads "śobhe" ("shines with beauty") for "mahā." Mahā-puṇyavanta — most fortunate indeed — the students are called "greatly meritorious" because they had the good fortune both to study under the Lord and to render Him the service of massaging oil into His head. Kona nā dekhi bicāri — however much I search or reflect, I can find no fitting comparison. Badarikāśrama — see the note on payar 1.6.341. Nārāyaṇa — Nara and Nārāyaṇa are two forms of Godhead, partial incarnations (aṁśa-avatāras), who descended into the world as the sons of Dharmadeva and dwelt at Badarikāśrama; the sage-Kumāras, Sanaka and the rest, would hear discourse on the Lord from Śrī Nārāyaṇa there. A variant reads "yena" and "sabhe" for "baise" and "sabhā."

Śrī Śacīnandana Gaurahari is Svayaṁ Bhagavān Himself. When Svayaṁ Bhagavān descends into a universe, every other form of Godhead is also present within Him: "When the complete Lord descends, all the other incarnations come and merge into Him — Nārāyaṇa, the four-armed forms, the Matsya and other avatāras, all the incarnations of the yugas and manvantaras — all come and become manifest within Kṛṣṇa's body; thus does the complete Lord Kṛṣṇa descend" (Cc. 1.4.9–11). Hence every form of Godhead — including the Nārāyaṇa who resides at Badarikāśrama — is present within Mahāprabhu as well. Śrī Nārāyaṇa is Śrī Gaura's own expansion (aṁśa), and Śrī Gaura is the source (aṁśī) of that expansion; and since expansion and source are, in the highest sense, non-different, Śacīnandana is here called the Nārāyaṇa of Badarikāśrama. Alternatively, the author, perceiving that the very pastime of the Badarikāśrama-dwelling Nārāyaṇa was being manifest in the Lord's own teaching-pastime, may for that reason have called Śacīnandana that same Nārāyaṇa. But it cannot be the author's intent here that Śacīnandana is, in the primary sense, literally the Nārāyaṇa of Badarikāśrama — for in many other places he explicitly identifies Gaura as Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself (see, e.g., payars 1.1.72–74, 1.1.106, 1.1.125, 1.2.79, 1.2.173, 1.5.47, and others). In payars 1.2.175, 1.2.181, 1.2.183, and elsewhere, and in śloka 1.2.5–6, the author also indicates, in his own manner, that Gauracandra is that same golden-complexioned Svayaṁ Bhagavān spoken of in the Muṇḍaka-śruti.

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অতএব শিষ্যসঙ্গে সেই লীলা করে। বিদ্যারসে বৈকুণ্ঠের নায়ক বিহরে॥ ৯৮॥ পঢ়াইয়া প্রভু দুই-প্রহর হইলে। তবে শিষ্যগণ লৈয়া গঙ্গা-স্নানে চলে॥ ৯৯॥ গঙ্গাজলে বিহার করিয়া কথোক্ষণ। গৃহে আসি করে প্রভু শ্রীবিষ্ণু-পূজন॥ ১০০॥ তুলসীরে জল দিয়া প্রদক্ষিণ করি। ভোজনে বসেন গিয়া বলি "হরি হরি"॥ ১০১॥ লক্ষ্মী দেই অন্ন, খাএ বৈকুণ্ঠের পতি। নয়ন ভরিয়া দেখে আই পুণ্যবতী॥ ১০২॥ ভোজন-অন্তরে করি তাম্বুল-ভক্ষণ। শয়ন করেন, লক্ষ্মী সেবেন চরণ॥ ১০৩॥ কথোক্ষণ যোগনিদ্রা প্রতি দৃষ্টি দিয়া। পুন প্রভু চলিলেন পুস্তক লইয়া॥ ১০৪॥ নগরে উঠিয়া করে অশেষ বিলাস। সভার সহিত করে হাসিয়া সম্ভাষ॥ ১০৫॥ যদ্যপি প্রভুর কেহো তত্ব নাহি জানে। তথাপি সাধ্বস করে দেখি সর্বজনে॥ ১০৬॥ নগর-ভ্রমণ করে শ্রীশচীনন্দন। দেবের দুর্লভ বস্তু দেখে সর্বজন॥ ১০৭॥ উঠিলেন প্রভু তন্তুবায়ের দুয়ারে। দেখিয়া সম্ভ্রমে তন্তুবায় নমস্করে॥ ১০৮॥

Translation. Thus, together with His students, the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha would sport, taking His pleasure in the relish of learning. When the teaching was done, at midday, the Lord would take His students and go to bathe in the Gaṅgā. After sporting for a while in the waters of the Gaṅgā, He would return home and perform the worship of Śrī Viṣṇu — offering water to the Tulasī plant and circumambulating her — and then go to sit for His meal, uttering "Hari! Hari!" Lakṣmī [Viṣṇupriyā] served Him His food, and the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha ate, while the blessed mother Śacī [āi] feasted her eyes upon Him to her heart's content. After eating He would chew betel-nut, then lie down to rest, while Lakṣmī attended His feet. For a while He would rest His gaze in yoga-nidrā [the mystic sleep of the Lord], and then, book in hand, the Lord would set out again. Going up into the town, He engaged in endless play, greeting and conversing laughingly with everyone. Although no one yet knew the Lord's true nature, still, seeing Him, everyone felt a certain awe. As Śrī Śacīnandana toured the city, everyone beheld in Him something rare even for the gods to attain. The Lord went up to the door of a weaver's house; seeing Him, the weaver offered his reverent obeisance.

Explanation. Baikuṇṭhera nāyaka — Svayaṁ Bhagavān Himself; see the note on payar 1.1.109. In place of "Śrī Viṣṇu" a variant reads "Śrī Kṛṣṇa." Lakṣmī — Lakṣmīpriyā Devī. Āi — a corruption of the word "āryā" (revered lady), i.e., mother Śacī. Baikuṇṭhera pati — Svayaṁ Bhagavān; see the note on payar 1.1.109. Sebena — a variant reads "layena." Yoganidrā — the sleep fashioned by Yogamāyā, the potency that assists in the Lord's pastimes. The sleep of an ordinary conditioned soul is a product of māyā's influence; but māyā cannot even touch the Lord or His eternal associates, and so their sleep, too, is not born of māyā's influence — it too is a pastime (līlā), and it is Yogamāyā, the potency that assists in His pastimes, who extends this "sleep-pastime" for Him (see the note on payar 1.3.140). Nagare uṭhiyā kare aśeṣa — a variant reads "āsiyā kare bibidha." Tantra — one meaning of the word "tantra" is cloth or garment ("tantra [tan + ṭran]: paricchada" — Śabda-kalpadruma); tantuvāya ("one who weaves tantra with thread [tantu]") is thus a weaver — a "tāti."

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"ভাল বস্ত্র আন" প্রভু বোলয়ে বচন। তন্তুবায় বস্ত্র আনিলেন সেইক্ষণ॥ ১০৯॥ প্রভু বোলে "এ বস্ত্রের কি মূল্য লইবা?" তন্তুবায় বোলে "তুমি আপনে যে দিবা॥" ১১০॥ মূল্য করি বোলে প্রভু "এবে কড়ি নাঞি।" তাতি বোলে "দশে-পক্ষে দিবা বা গোসাঞি॥ ১১১॥ পাছে তুমি কড়ি মোর দিও সমাবেশে॥" তন্তুবায়-প্রতি প্রভু শুভ-দৃষ্টি করি। উঠিলেন গিয়া প্রভু গোয়ালের পুরী॥ ১১২–১১৩॥ বসিলেন মহাপ্রভু গোপের দুয়ারে। ব্রাহ্মণ-সম্বন্ধে প্রভু পরিহাস করে॥ ১১৪॥ প্রভু বোলে "আরে বেটা! দধি দুগ্ধ আন। আজি তোর ঘরের লইব মহাদান॥" ১১৫॥ গোপবৃন্দ দেখে যেন সাক্ষাৎ মদন। সম্ভ্রমে দিলেন আনি সুন্দর আসন॥ ১১৬॥ প্রভু-সঙ্গে গোপগণ করে পরিহাস। "মামা মামা" বলি সভে করেন সম্ভাষ॥ ১১৭॥ কেহো বোলে "চল মামী! ভাত খাই গিয়া।" কোন গোপ কান্ধে করি যায় ঘরে লৈয়া॥ ১১৮॥ কেহো বলে "আমার ঘরের যত ভাত। পূর্বে যে খাইলা মনে নাহিক তোমা'ত?" ১১৯॥ সরস্বতী সত্য কহে, গোপ নাহি জানে। হাসে মহাপ্রভু গোপগণের বচনে॥ ১২০॥ দুগ্ধ, ঘৃত, দধি, সর, সুন্দর নবনী। সন্তোষে প্রভুরে সর্ব গোপ দেয় আনি॥ ১২১॥ গোয়ালাকুলেরে প্রভু প্রসন্ন হইয়া। গন্ধবণিকের ঘরে উঠিলেন গিয়া॥ ১২২॥ সম্ভ্রমে বণিক করে চরণে প্রণাম। প্রভু বোলে "আরে ভাই! ভাল গন্ধ আন।" ১২৩॥ দিব্য-গন্ধ বণিক আনিল ততক্ষণ। "কি মূল্য লইব?" বোলে শ্রীশচীনন্দন॥ ১২৪॥ বণিক বোলয়ে "তুমি জান, মহাশয়। তোমা'-স্থানে মূল্য কি বলিতে যুক্ত হয়?" ১২৫॥ "আজি গন্ধ পরি ঘরে যাহ ত ঠাকুর। কালি যদি গায়ে গন্ধ থাকয়ে প্রচুর॥ ১২৬॥ ধুইলেও যদি গায়ে গন্ধ নাহি ছাড়ে। তবে কড়ি দিহ মোরে যেই চিন্তে পড়ে॥" ১২৭॥ এত বলি আপনে প্রভুর সর্ব-অঙ্গে। গন্ধ দেই বণিক, না জানি কোন রঙ্গে॥ ১২৮॥ সর্ব-ভূত-হৃদয় আকর্ষে সর্ব-মন। সে রূপ দেখিয়া মুগ্ধ নহে কোন জন? ১২৯॥ বণিকেরে অনুগ্রহ করি বিশ্বম্ভর। উঠিলেন গিয়া প্রভু মালাকারের ঘর॥ ১৩০॥ পরম অদ্ভুত রূপ দেখি মালাকার। সাদরে আসন দিয়া করে নমস্কার॥ ১৩১॥

Translation. "Bring some good cloth," said the Lord; the weaver at once brought some cloth. The Lord asked, "What price will you take for this cloth?" The weaver said, "Whatever you yourself choose to give." Naming a price, the Lord said, "I have no money on me just now." The weaver said, "Give it within ten days or a fortnight, sir — whenever it is convenient for you to gather the coins." Casting an auspicious glance upon the weaver, the Lord then went on to the milkmen's quarter. Mahāprabhu seated Himself at the door of a cowherd's house, and, invoking His relation to the brāhmaṇa community, began to tease them. The Lord said, "Hey there, fellow! Bring curd and milk — today I shall take a great gift (mahādāna) from your house!" The cowherds, beholding Him, thought they were seeing Cupid in person; with great deference they brought out a fine seat for Him. The cowherds joked with the Lord, addressing Him affectionately as "Uncle, Uncle!" One of them said, "Come, Auntie, let's go eat some rice!" and one cowherd even lifted Him onto his shoulder and carried Him off to his own house. Another said, "Have you forgotten all the rice you used to eat at my house, in the old days?" It was Sarasvatī herself speaking the truth through his mouth, though the cowherd himself had no idea what he was saying; Mahāprabhu laughed at the cowherds' words. Milk, ghee, curd, cream, and fine fresh butter — all the cowherds, delighted, brought and gave to the Lord. Having thus shown His favor to the community of milkmen, the Lord went on to the house of a perfume-seller. The merchant, with great deference, offered praṇāma at His feet. The Lord said, "Hey, brother! Bring some good perfume." The merchant at once brought a divine fragrance. "What price shall I pay?" asked Śrī Śacīnandana. The merchant said, "You know best, sir — how could it be fitting for me to name a price to you? Only wear the scent today, my lord, and go home; if tomorrow the fragrance still lingers richly upon your body — if, even after bathing, the scent does not leave your skin — then pay me whatever price occurs to you." So saying, the merchant himself applied the fragrance to every limb of the Lord's body, in some mood of delight he himself could not have explained. That form of His, which draws every heart and every mind of every being — who could behold such beauty and not be enchanted? Having thus shown grace to the perfume-merchant, Viśvambhara went on to the house of a garland-maker. Beholding His supremely wondrous form, the garland-maker offered Him a seat with great reverence and made his obeisance.

Explanation. Ebe kaḍi nāñi — "I have no cash with me right now." Daśe-pakṣe dibā — "if you cannot pay now, it will do even if you pay after ten days or a fortnight" (a pakṣa being fifteen days). Samābeśe — having gathered [the money] at a convenient time. In place of "Mahāprabhu gopera duyāre" a variant reads "giyā prabhu goyālera ghare." Brāhmaṇa-sambandha — the Lord had appeared within the brāhmaṇa community, and so had a natural "relation" to it; invoking this relation to His own brāhmaṇa lineage, He began to tease the milkmen in a spirit of playful jest. Dāna — when something is given to someone freely and lovingly, without taking payment — even when payment is offered — that giving is called dāna, "gift," and the thing so given is likewise called dāna; mahādāna here means an abundance of such gifts, or many different kinds of them. The purport of the Lord's teasing words seems to be this: "Hey there! You know very well what great merit accrues from giving something in charity to a brāhmaṇa. I am a brāhmaṇa; giving something to me will bring you great merit. So that you may gain abundant merit, I shall take a great gift from your house today — bring out whatever curd, milk, and the like you have in your home." That this was the Lord's playful, teasing speech the cowherd himself understood — as is evident from the following verses.

Māmā — the reason the cowherds addressed Him as "Uncle" seems to be this: in Hindu society the brāhmaṇa caste is honored above all others, and so people of other castes do not ordinarily address a brāhmaṇa by his given name. High-caste non-brāhmaṇas generally address an elder brāhmaṇa by his title — "Miśra Mahāśaya," "Cakravartī Mahāśaya," "Vidyāvācaspati Mahāśaya," and so on; those of lower social standing generally address any brāhmaṇa as "dādā-ṭhākura" or "bābā-ṭhākura" (respected elder/father), and even a very young brāhmaṇa boy is addressed the same way. Since the mothers of these cowherds had, from Nimāi's own infancy, called Him "dādā-ṭhākura," the cowherds here address the Lord as "māmā, māmā" ("uncle, uncle") in a spirit of affectionate jest — this address is playful precisely because the Lord was not, in fact, their actual maternal uncle. The following two payars record still more of the cowherds' teasing speech.

Pūrbe — "in the previous Dvāpara-yuga." In the previous Dvāpara age, the Lord had taken birth in Gokula as the son of Nanda Gopa in the form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa ("this same Gauracandra, when He took birth in Gokula" — payar 1.4.87); at that time He Himself was a cowherd, and ate the food of the cowherds of Gokula. It was Sarasvatī, the pastime-potency herself, who made the cowherds of Navadvīpa speak this very truth through their own mouths, though they themselves did not know it — hence, "Gopa nāhi jāne" ("the cowherd himself did not know" what he was saying); "Hāse Mahāprabhu" — hearing the cowherd's words, the Lord too laughed with delight. In place of "sara" (cream) a variant reads "rasa," but "sara" (milk-cream) is judged the more fitting reading here and has been retained.

One distinctive feature is noticeable in the Lord's dealings with the cowherds here, as compared with everyone else visited in this chapter. From the surrounding payars it is clear that, in the course of His touring of the city, the Lord went to the homes of many people and, in various ways, accepted many articles from them; all of them were the Lord's own eternally-perfected associates and devotees, and the Lord, ever affectionate to His devotees and ever eager for the offerings of His devotees, accepted their gifts in various ways and thereby made them feel fulfilled, while Himself also feeling great joy. But nowhere else, apart from the cowherds' homes, did the Lord express any wish to receive goods free of charge — rather He said, "I have no money just now," but He never said "give me this for nothing." At the cowherds' homes, however, no question of price ever arose at all; there He simply said outright, "Today I shall take a great gift from your house" — and the cowherds, too, joked and played with Him in a spirit of pure affection: "Milk, ghee, curd, cream, and fine fresh butter — all the cowherds, delighted, brought and gave to the Lord." Thus it is seen that the affection between the Lord and the cowherds, on both sides, was of a wholly different, deeper intimacy than anywhere else He visited. Is the reason for this, perhaps, an absorption in the mood of His Dvāpara-yuga pastimes [as Kṛṣṇa among the cowherds of Vraja]?

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প্রভু বোলে "ভাল মাল! দেহো মালাকার। কড়ি-পাতি লগে কিছু নাহিক আমার॥" ১৩২॥ সিদ্ধপুরুষের-প্রায় দেখে মালাকার। মালী বোলে "কিছু দায় নাহিক তোমার॥" ১৩৩॥ এত বলি মালা দিল প্রভুর শ্রীঅঙ্গে। হাসে মহাপ্রভু সর্ব-পঢ়ুয়ার সঙ্গে॥ ১৩৪॥ মালাকার-প্রতি প্রভু শুভদৃষ্টি করি। উঠিলা তাম্বুলী-ঘরে গৌরাঙ্গ শ্রীহরি॥ ১৩৫॥ তাম্বুলী দেখয়ে রূপ মদন-মোহন। চরণের ধুলি লই দিলেন আসন॥ ১৩৬॥ তাম্বুলী বোলয়ে "বড় ভাগ্য সে আমার। কোন্ ভাগ্যে তুমি আমা-ছারের দুয়ার॥" ১৩৭॥ এত বলি আপনেই পরম-সন্তোষে। দিলেন তাম্বুল আনি, প্রভু দেখি হাসে॥ ১৩৮॥ প্রভু বোলে "কড়ি-বিনা কেনে গুয়া দিলা?" তাম্বুলী বোলয়ে "চিত্তে হেনই লইলা।" ১৩৯॥ হাসে প্রভু তাম্বুলীর শুনিঞা বচন। পরম সন্তোষে করে তাম্বুল-ভক্ষণ॥ ১৪০॥ দিব্য পর্ণ, কর্পূরাদি যত অনুকূল। শ্রদ্ধা করি দিলা, তার নাহি নিল মূল॥ ১৪১॥ তাম্বুলীরে অনুগ্রহ করি গৌর-রায়। হাসিয়া হাসিয়া সর্বনগরে বেড়ায়॥ ১৪২॥ মধুপুরী-প্রায় যেন নবদ্বীপ-পুরী। একো জাতি লক্ষ লক্ষ কহিতে না পারি॥ ১৪৩॥ প্রভুর বিহার লাগি পূর্বেই বিধাতা। সকল সম্পূর্ণ করি থুইয়াছে তথা॥ ১৪৪॥ পূর্বের যেন মধুপুরী করিলা ভ্রমণ। সেই লীলা করে এবে শ্রীশচীনন্দন॥ ১৪৫॥ তবে গৌর গেলা শঙ্খবণিকের ঘরে। দেখি শঙ্খবণিক সম্ভ্রমে নমস্করে॥ ১৪৬॥ প্রভু বোলে "দিব্য-শঙ্খ আন দেখি ভাই। কেমনে বা নিব শঙ্খ, কড়ি-পাতি নাঞি॥" ১৪৭॥ দিব্য-শঙ্খ শঙ্খারি আনিঞা সেইক্ষণে। প্রভুর শ্রীহস্তে দিয়া করিল প্রণামে॥ ১৪৮॥ "শঙ্খ লই ঘরে তুমি চলহ গোসাঞি! পাছে কড়ি দিহ, না দিলেও দায় নাঞি॥" ১৪৯॥ তুষ্ট হৈলা প্রভু শঙ্খবণিক-বচনে। চলিলেন হাসি শুভদৃষ্টি করি তানে॥ ১৫০॥

Translation. The Lord said, "What fine garlands! Give me one, garland-maker — but I have no money with me." The garland-maker, beholding Him as though he were looking upon a perfected sage, said, "You owe me nothing at all!" — and with this he placed a garland upon the Lord's own beautiful body; Mahāprabhu laughed, together with all His assembled students. Casting an auspicious glance upon the garland-maker, Gaurāṅga Śrī Hari went on to the house of a betel-leaf seller. The betel-seller, beholding a form that bewilders even Cupid, took the dust of His feet and offered Him a seat. The betel-seller said, "How fortunate I am — by what merit does your door grace even a wretch like me?" So saying, with the greatest satisfaction, he himself brought and offered betel; the Lord, seeing this, smiled. The Lord said, "Why did you give me the areca-nut without taking any payment?" The betel-seller replied, "It was simply what my heart wished to do." Hearing the betel-seller's words, the Lord laughed, and with great relish chewed the betel. Fine betel-leaf, camphor, and all the other ingredients that go well with it — all this the man gave with devotion, and took no price for it. Having thus shown His favor to the betel-seller, Gaurarāya wandered smiling through the whole town. Navadvīpa-purī seemed just like Madhupurī [Mathurā] itself — its people of a single caste [caste after caste] were beyond counting. It was as though Providence had, long beforehand, arranged and made ready everything there, precisely for the Lord's own sport. Just as, in the age before, He had once wandered through Madhupurī [as Kṛṣṇa, after Akrūra brought Him to Mathurā], so does Śrī Śacīnandana now enact that very same pastime. Then Gaura went to the house of a conch-shell worker; seeing him, the conch-worker offered his reverent obeisance. The Lord said, "Bring out a fine conch-shell, brother — though how am I to take it, since I have no money with me?" The conch-worker at once brought a beautiful conch and, placing it in the Lord's own hand, made his praṇāma: "Take the conch home with you, my lord! Pay me later if you wish — and if you never pay, that is no matter at all." The Lord, pleased at the conch-worker's words, went off smiling, casting an auspicious glance upon him.

Explanation. Mālākāra — one who makes and sells garlands of flowers. Lage — with [him/it]. Payar 134's phrase "with all His students" shows that the Lord did not go about the city alone, but was accompanied by His young students throughout. Tāmbūlī — one who cultivates and sells betel-leaf (pān); a variant reads "nayana-mohana" ("captivating to the eye") for "madana-mohana." Āmā-chārera — "of a wretch like me." Guẏā — areca-nut. Parṇa — a variant reads "cūrṇa," meaning the powdered spice-mixture used with betel; "anukūla" refers to whatever spices enhance betel's flavor. Mūla — price; a variant for "tāra nāhi laẏa mūla" reads "sei tāmbūlī tāmbūla." Pūrbe — in the past Dvāpara-līlā, when Śrī Kṛṣṇa went with Akrūra to Madhupurī (Mathurā) in the previous age, He wandered through many quarters of the city of Mathurā and accepted cloth, garlands, and fragrances from various people there. Kaḍi pāti — money, coin; a variant reads "kapardaka" (cowrie-shell currency).

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এইমত নবদ্বীপে যত নগরিয়া। সভার মন্দিরে প্রভু বুলেন ভ্রমিয়া॥ ১৫১॥ সেই ভাগ্যে অদ্যাপিহ নাগরিকগণ। পায় শ্রীচৈতন্য-নিত্যানন্দের চরণ॥ ১৫২॥ তবে ইচ্ছাময় গৌরচন্দ্র ভগবান্। সর্বজ্ঞের ঘরে প্রভু করিলা পয়ান॥ ১৫৩॥ দেখিয়া প্রভুর তেজ সেই সর্বজান। বিনয় সম্ভ্রম করি করিলা প্রণাম॥ ১৫৪॥ প্রভু বোলে "তুমি সর্বজান ভাল শুনি। বোল দেখি, অন্য-জন্মে কি আছিলাঙ আমি?" ১৫৫॥ "ভাল" বলি সর্বজ্ঞ সুকৃতি চিন্তে মনে। জপিতে গোপালমন্ত্র দেখে সেইক্ষণে॥ ১৫৬॥ শঙ্খ, চক্র, গদা, পদ্ম, চতুর্ভুজ শ্যাম। শ্রীবৎস কৌস্তুভ বক্ষে মহাজ্যোতির্ধাম॥ ১৫৭॥ নিশাভাগে প্রভুরে দেখেন বন্দিঘরে। পিতা-মাতা দেখয়ে সম্মুখে স্তুতি করে॥ ১৫৮॥ সেইক্ষণে দেখে পিতা পুত্র লই কোলে। সেই রাত্রে থুইলেন আনিঞা গোকুলে॥ ১৫৯॥

Translation. Thus, throughout Navadvīpa, the Lord wandered, visiting the homes of every townsperson — and it is by that very good fortune that the people of that city still today attain the feet of Śrī Caitanya-Nityānanda. Then the ever-willing Lord, Gaurachandra Bhagavān, set out for the house of Sarvajña ["the Omniscient," a local astrologer]. Seeing the Lord's own radiant power, that Sarvajña bowed to Him with the utmost humility and deference. The Lord said, "I hear you know everything — tell me, then, what was I in a former birth?" Thinking, "Very well," Sarvajña, a man of great merit, called to mind the Gopāla-mantra he worshipped, and at that very moment beheld: conch, disc, mace, and lotus, a four-armed form of dark-blue hue, Śrīvatsa and Kaustubha upon His chest — a very abode of dazzling effulgence. Then, at the hour of midnight, he saw the Lord within a prison-house, with His father and mother before Him, offering their prayers of praise. In that same moment he saw the father take the son upon his lap and, that very night, carry Him away to Gokula.

Explanation. Sei bhāgye — it is by that very good fortune [that the Lord personally visited every home in Navadvīpa] that the people of that city, even to this day, attain the feet of Śrī Caitanya-Nityānanda. Sarvajñera ghare — "Sarvajña" (all-knowing) was the name, or title, of a certain astrologer of Navadvīpa. Sarba-jāna — one who knows everything, omniscient [in a mundane, astrological sense]. Here Sarvajña was a worshipper of Bāla-Gopāla — this becomes clear from the payars that follow (see especially payar 161 below). Thinking of the Gopāla-mantra he worshipped, Sarvajña beheld the Lord as the four-armed, effulgent form bearing conch, disc, mace, and lotus, Śrīvatsa and Kaustubha upon His chest — that very form, adorned with those emblems, four-armed and conch-bearing, in which Śrī Kṛṣṇa had appeared within Kaṁsa's prison — the same form is now shown to Sarvajña, still chanting his Gopāla-mantra, by the Lord Himself. Niśābhāge — at midnight; bandighare — in the prison, that is, Kaṁsa's prison. Pitā-mātā — Vasudeva and Devakī, who, when Śrī Kṛṣṇa appeared before them in Kaṁsa's prison bearing conch, disc, mace, and lotus, wearing yellow garments, offered Him their prayers of praise.

Though Devakī and Vasudeva praised Kṛṣṇa knowing Him to be the Lord, even in the midst of their praise Devakī, from time to time, under the sway of parental affection (vātsalya), grew fearful for Kṛṣṇa's safety at Kaṁsa's hands. Knowing this, Kṛṣṇa said: "Take Me and leave Me in Nanda's house in Gokula; there you will find a baby girl asleep in Yaśodā's bed — leave Me there and bring that girl back here instead." It was for this reason that Śrī Kṛṣṇa assumed the two-armed, unclothed (digambara) form, and Vasudeva carried this two-armed infant to Gokula and left Him in Nanda's house. In truth, at the very moment Kṛṣṇa appeared in His four-armed form in Kaṁsa's prison, He also simultaneously appeared, from Yaśodā's own womb in Gokula, as the unclothed two-armed infant (as related in the Śrī Hari-vaṁśa). Immediately after Kṛṣṇa's birth, Yaśodā fell under the spell of yoga-nidrā, and in that very state a girl — Māyādevī herself — was born from her womb as well (Hari-vaṁśa). Because Yaśodā was under the sway of yoga-nidrā, she knew nothing of this. By the power of Yogamāyā, the four-armed form that had appeared in Kaṁsa's prison then vanished, and in its place the two-armed, unclothed Kṛṣṇa who had appeared from Yaśodā at once revealed Himself. Hence the child Vasudeva carried to Gokula was, in truth, none other than Yaśodā's own son — though Vasudeva himself did not know this. Leaving this two-armed Kṛṣṇa in Yaśodā's own bed in Gokula, Vasudeva took away Yaśodā's daughter, Māyādevī, in His place.

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গুন দেখে মোহন দ্বিভুজ দিগম্বরে। কটিতে কিঙ্কিণী, নবনীত দুই করে॥ ১৬০॥ নিজ-ইষ্টমূর্তি যাহা চিন্তে অনুক্ষণ। সর্বজ্ঞ দেখয়ে সেই সকল লক্ষণ॥ ১৬১॥ পুন দেখে ত্রিভঙ্গিম মুরলীবদন। চতুর্দিগে যন্ত্রগীত গায় গোপীগণ॥ ১৬২॥ দেখিয়া অদ্ভুত, চক্ষু মেলে সর্বজান। গৌরাঙ্গে চাহিয়া পুনঃপুন করে ধ্যান॥ ১৬৩॥ সর্বজ্ঞ কহয়ে "শুন শ্রীবালগোপাল। কে আছিলা দ্বিজ এই, দেখাহ সকাল॥" ১৬৪॥ তবে দেখে, ধনুর্ধর দূর্বাদল-শ্যাম। বীরাসনে প্রভুরে দেখয়ে সর্বজান॥ ১৬৫॥ পুন দেখে প্রভুরে প্রলয়জল-মাঝে। অদ্ভুত বরাহ-মূর্তি দন্তে পৃথ্বী সাজে॥ ১৬৬॥ পুন দেখে প্রভুরে নৃসিংহ-অবতার। মহা-উগ্র-রূপ ভক্তবৎসল অপার॥ ১৬৭॥ পুন দেখে প্রভুরে বামন-রূপ ধরি। বলি-যজ্ঞ ছলিতে আছেন মায়া করি॥ ১৬৮॥ পুন দেখে মৎস্য-রূপে প্রলয়ের জলে। বরিতে আছেন জলক্রীড়া কুতূহলে॥ ১৬৯॥ সুকৃতি সর্বজ্ঞ পুন দেখয়ে প্রভুরে। মত্ত হলধর-রূপ শ্রীমুষল করে॥ ১৭০॥ পুন দেখে জগন্নাথ-মূর্তি সর্বজান। মধ্যে শোভে সুভদ্রা, দক্ষিণে বলরাম॥ ১৭১॥ এইমত ঈশ্বর-তত্ব দেখে সর্বজান। তথাপি না বুঝে কিছু হেন মায়া তান॥ ১৭২॥ চিন্তয়ে সর্বজ্ঞ মনে হইয়া বিস্মিত। হেন বুঝি "এ ব্রাহ্মণ মহামন্ত্রবিত॥ ১৭৩॥ অথবা দেবতা কোন আসিয়া কৌতুকে। পরীক্ষিতে আমারে বা ছলে বিপ্ররূপে॥ ১৭৪॥ অমানুষি-তেজ দেখি বিপ্রের শরীরে। 'সর্বজ্ঞ' করিয়া কিবা কদর্থে আমারে?" ১৭৫॥ এতেক চিন্তিতে প্রভু বলিলা হাসিয়া। "কে আমি, কি দেখ, কেনে না কহ ভাঙ্গিয়া॥" ১৭৬॥ সর্বজ্ঞ বোলয়ে "তুমি চলহ এখনে। বিকালে বলিব মন্ত্র জপি ভাল-মনে॥" ১৭৭॥ "ভাল ভাল" বলি প্রভু হাসিয়া চলিলা। তবে প্রিয়-শ্রীধরের মন্দিরে আইলা॥ ১৭৮॥

Translation. Again he beheld the enchanting two-armed, unclothed form, tiny bells about His waist, fresh butter held in both hands — the very form of his own worshipped Deity, upon which he meditated constantly; Sarvajña saw all these exact features. Once more he saw Him in the threefold-bending form, flute at His lips, the gopīs all around Him singing to the accompaniment of instruments. Seeing this wondrous sight, Sarvajña opened his eyes, and, gazing again at Gaurāṅga, entered again and again into meditation. Sarvajña said, "Listen, dear Bāla-Gopāla — who was this brāhmaṇa in his former birth? Show me quickly." Then he saw Him as a bow-bearer, of the hue of fresh green grass, seated in the heroic vīrāsana pose [Rāma]. Again he saw Him amid the deluge-waters, in the wondrous form of the Boar, bearing the earth upon His tusks. Again he saw Him as the Nṛsiṁha incarnation, of a most terrible form, yet boundlessly affectionate to His devotees. Again he saw Him take the form of a dwarf, deceiving Bali's sacrifice by His illusory power. Again he saw Him in the form of the Fish, amid the deluge-waters, sporting joyfully in play upon them. That meritorious Sarvajña again beheld the Lord — this time as the ecstatic form of Haladhara [Balarāma], mace in hand. Again he saw the form of Jagannātha, with Subhadrā gracing the middle and Balarāma to the right. Thus did Sarvajña behold the very truth of Godhead — and yet, by the Lord's own māyā, he understood nothing of it. Astonished, Sarvajña thought to himself, "It seems this brāhmaṇa must be a knower of some very great mantra — or perhaps some deity has come, playfully, to test me in the guise of a brāhmaṇa. Seeing such superhuman power in this brāhmaṇa's body — has he come to embarrass me, who am known as 'Sarvajña,' the all-knowing?" As he was thinking all this, the Lord said with a smile, "Who am I? What do you see? Why don't you tell me plainly?" Sarvajña said, "Go now — I will tell you this evening, once I have properly chanted my mantra and reflected." "Very well, very well," said the Lord, and went off smiling; He then came to the house of His beloved Śrīdhara.

Explanation. Having beheld the Bāla-Gopāla form, Sarvajña then also beheld the Lord as the youthful (kiśora) Gopāla; though the kiśora-Gopāla form was not the object of Sarvajña's own meditation, this vision too was necessary for his full recognition of the Lord, and so his worshipful Deity (or the Lord's own pastime-potency) showed him this adolescent form as well. Yantra-gīta — song accompanied by musical instruments; a variant reads "yantre gīta kare" for "yantra-gīta gāya." In place of "śuna" a variant reads "prabhu," an epithet of "Śrī Bāla-Gopāla." Sakāla — quickly; a variant reads "sakala" (entirely).

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শ্রীধরেরে বড় প্রভু সন্তুষ্ট অন্তরে। নানা ছলে আইসেন প্রভু তান ঘরে॥ ১৭৯॥ বাকোবাক্য পরিহাস শ্রীধরের সঙ্গে। দুই চারি দণ্ড করি চলে প্রভু রঙ্গে॥ ১৮০॥ প্রভু দেখি শ্রীধর করিয়া নমস্কার। শ্রদ্ধা করি আসন দিলেন বসিবার॥ ১৮১॥ পরম সুশান্ত শ্রীধরের ব্যবসায়। প্রভু বিহরেন যেন উদ্ধতের প্রায়॥ ১৮২॥ প্রভু বোলে "শ্রীধর! তুমি যে অনুক্ষণ। 'হরি হরি' বোল, তবে দুঃখ কি কারণ? ১৮৩॥ লক্ষ্মীকান্ত সেবন করিয়া কেনে তুমি। অন্ন-বস্ত্রে দুঃখ পাও, কহ দেখি শুনি?" ১৮৪॥ শ্রীধর বোলেন "উপবাস ত না করি। ছোট হউ বড় হউ বস্ত্র দেখ পরি॥" ১৮৫॥ প্রভু বোলে "দেখিলাঙ গাঁঠি দশ ঠাঞি। ঘরে বোল, এই দেখিতেছি নাঞি॥ ১৮৬॥ দেখ এই চণ্ডী-বিষহরিরে পূজিয়া। কে না ঘরে খায় পরে সব নগরিয়া॥" ১৮৭॥ শ্রীধর বোলেন "বিপ্র! বলিলা উত্তম। তথাপি সভার কাল যায় এক-সম॥" ১৮৮॥

Translation. The Lord was, deep within, very fond of Śrīdhara, and would come to his house on one pretext or another. Bantering and joking with Śrīdhara, the Lord would spend an hour or two in playful exchange before moving on. Seeing the Lord, Śrīdhara would offer his praṇāma and, with great respect, give Him a seat. Śrīdhara's own manner and way of life was one of the utmost gentleness and quiet contentment; yet the Lord, in sporting with him, behaved as though He were an arrogant, overbearing young man. The Lord said, "Śrīdhara! You are forever chanting 'Hari! Hari!' — what reason, then, could you have for any sorrow? Serving Lakṣmīkānta [the husband of Lakṣmī, the goddess of fortune] as you do, why should you suffer such want of food and clothing? Tell me, let me hear it." Śrīdhara said, "I do not go without food, you know — whether the piece be small or large, I do wear some cloth, as you can see." The Lord said, "I see ten knots and patches in it — you say you have a house, but I see no such thing here." "Just look," the Lord went on, "at those who worship Caṇḍī or Viṣahari [Manasā, the snake-goddess] — is there anyone among all the townsfolk who lacks a home to live in or clothes to wear?" Śrīdhara replied, "Well spoken indeed, brāhmaṇa! And yet, for all of us, our time here passes the same, regardless."

Explanation. The Lord said to Śrīdhara: "Śrīdhara! It is known from scripture that the holy name of Hari bestows every good thing. You chant the name of Hari unceasingly, without a break — why, then, this poverty and misery of yours?" Lakṣmī — Lakṣmīdevī, the presiding goddess of all opulence; Lakṣmīkānta — the husband of Lakṣmī. Since He is the husband of Lakṣmīdevī, the mistress of all opulence, every opulence lies within Lakṣmīkānta's own command, and He could, at will, grant His servant possession of unlimited wealth; the Lord asks Śrīdhara why, despite serving such a Lakṣmīkānta, he should still suffer for want of food and clothing. Hearing the Lord's words, Śrīdhara replied: "Where is my want of food or clothing? I do not go hungry, nor do I go naked. Whether it be a small piece or a large one, I do wear a cloth — you can see for yourself that I have clothing on." Dekhilāṅ gāṅṭhi daśa ṭhāñi — a variant reads "dekhi bastu" and "dekhitechi khaḍagāchi." Gāṅṭhi — a knot, a patch: when cloth grows old it tears in places, and poor people tie a knot or sew a patch at the torn spot and continue to use the cloth; Śrīdhara's own garment had ten such patched places (i.e., many). Ghare bola ityādi — "You have a house too, you might say, and you don't sleep out under the open sky" — to which I reply: you do have a house, yes, but I see it doesn't even have a single straw left on its roof; lying inside it, you can see the stars in the sky right through it. The Lord went on to Śrīdhara: "Look, Śrīdhara — does anyone in Navadvīpa who worships Caṇḍī or Viṣahari [Manasā] lack for a house, or for food and clothing? They all live in fine houses, wear fine clothes, and eat fine food too — no one lives in a roofless house like yours, or wears a garment patched all over like yours." The playful, teasing implication of the Lord's words is this: "Śrīdhara! Look what your worship of Lakṣmīkānta has brought you to! Give up worshipping Lakṣmīkānta, and take up the worship of Caṇḍī and Viṣahari instead — then you will have no want or misery at all." Nagara — the residents of the city of Navadvīpa. Śrīdhara answers the Lord's words in payars 188–90 below.

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রত্নঘরে থাকে রাজা, দিব্য খায় পরে। পক্ষিগণ থাকে দেখ বৃক্ষের উপরে॥ ১৮৯॥ কাল পুন সভার সমান হই যায়। সভে নিজ কর্ম ভুঞ্জে ঈশ্বর-ইচ্ছায়।" ১৯০॥ প্রভু বোলে "তোমার বিস্তর আছে ধন। তাহা তুমি লুকাইয়া করহ ভোজন॥ ১৯১॥ তাহা মুঞি বিদিত করিম কথো-দিনে। তবে দেখি, তুমি লোক ভাণ্ডিবা কেমনে।" ১৯২॥ শ্রীধর বোলেন "ঘরে চলহ পণ্ডিত! তোমায় আমায় দ্বন্দ্ব না হয় উচিত।" ১৯৩॥ প্রভু বোলে "আমি তোমা' না ছাড়ি এমনে। কি আমারে দিবা, তাহা বোল এইক্ষণে॥" ১৯৪॥ শ্রীধর বোলেন "আমি খোলা বেচি খাই। ইহাতে কি দিব, তাহা বলহ গোসাঞি?" ১৯৫॥ প্রভু বোলে "যে তোমার পৌতা ধন আছে। সে থাকুক এখনে, পাইব তাহা পাছে॥ ১৯৬॥ এবে কলা মূলা থোড় দেহো কড়ি-বিনে। দিলে আমি কন্দল না করি তোমা'সনে॥" ১৯৭॥ মনে গণে শ্রীধর "উদ্ধত বিপ্র বড়। কোন দিন আমারে কিলায় পাছে দঢ়॥ ১৯৮॥ মারিলেও ব্রাহ্মণের কি করিতে পারি। কড়ি-বিনি প্রতি-দিন দিবারেও নারি॥ ১৯৯॥ তথাপিহ বলে ছলে যে লয় ব্রাহ্মণে। সে আমার ভাগ্য, সে দিবাঙ প্রতি-দিনে।" ২০০॥ চিন্তিয়া শ্রীধর বোলে "শুনহ গোসাঞি। কড়ি-পাতি তোমার কিছুই দায় নাঞি॥ ২০১॥ থোড় কলা মূলা খোলা দিব এই মনে। সবে আর কন্দল না কর' আমা'সনে॥" ২০২॥ প্রভু বোলে "ভালভাল, আর দ্বন্দ্ব নাঞি। সবে থোড় কলা মূলা ভাল যেন পাই॥ ২০৩॥ যাহার খোলায় নিত্য করেন ভোজন। যার থোড় কলা মূলা হয় শ্রীঅঙ্গ॥ ২০৪॥ শ্রীধরের গাছে যেই লাউ ধরে চালে। তাহা খায় প্রভু দুগ্ধ-মরিচের ঝালে॥ ২০৫॥ প্রভু বোলে "আমারে কি বাসহ শ্রীধর? তাহা কহিলেই আমি চলি যাই ঘর।" ২০৬॥ শ্রীধর বোলেন "তুমি বিপ্র-বিষ্ণু-অংশ।" প্রভু বোলে "না জানিলা, আমি গোপ-বংশ॥ ২০৭॥ তুমি আমা দেখ যেন ব্রাহ্মণ-ছাওয়াল। আমি আপনারে বাসি যেহেন গোয়াল॥" ২০৮॥ হাসেন শ্রীধর শুনি প্রভুর বচন। না চিনিল নিজ-প্রভু মায়ার কারণ॥ ২০৯॥ প্রভু বোলে "শ্রীধর! তোমারে কহি তত্ব। আমা' হৈতে তোর সব গঙ্গার মহত্ব।" ২১০॥ শ্রীধর বোলেন "ওহে পণ্ডিত নিমাঞি! গঙ্গা করিয়াও কি তোমার ভয় নাঞি॥ ২১১॥ বয়স বাঢ়িলে লোক কোথা স্থির হয়ে। তোমার চাপল্য আরো দ্বিগুণ বাঢ়য়ে।" ২১২॥ এইমত শ্রীধরের সঙ্গে রঙ্গ করি। আইলেন নিজ-গৃহে গৌরাঙ্গ-শ্রীহরি॥ ২১৩॥

Translation. "The king lives in a jeweled palace and eats and dresses in fine style; the bird, look, lives up in a tree. Yet, in time, all come to the same end — everyone simply enjoys the fruits of his own past deeds, by the Lord's own will." The Lord said, "You have great wealth, and you eat it all in secret, hiding it away!" [Śrīdhara said nothing.] "I shall find you out, one of these days — then let us see how you'll manage to fool people!" Śrīdhara said, "Go on home, Paṇḍita! It isn't fitting for the two of us to quarrel like this." The Lord said, "I won't let you off so easily — tell me right now, what will you give me?" Śrīdhara said, "I earn my living selling banana-leaf plates — what could I possibly give you from that, tell me, my lord?" The Lord said, "As for that buried treasure of yours — let it stay where it is for now, I'll get that later. For now, just give me some plantains, radishes, and banana-flower, without charge — if you give me that, I won't quarrel with you any further." Śrīdhara thought to himself, "This brāhmaṇa is terribly overbearing — one of these days he's liable to actually strike me! Even if he did strike me, what could I do about it, being a brāhmaṇa? I can't even manage to give him something free every single day. And yet — whoever manages, by whatever trick or excuse, to get something out of a brāhmaṇa, counts himself fortunate; so I suppose I'll just give it to him every day." Reflecting thus, Śrīdhara said, "Listen, my lord — you need not worry about payment at all. I'll give you plantains, radishes, and banana-leaf plates gladly — only, please, no more quarreling with me." The Lord said, "Very well, very well, no more disputes then — only let me always get good plantains and radishes! [Aside, the poet adds:] It is upon whose leaf-plates the Lord dines daily, whose plantains and radishes become part of His own body; whatever pumpkin grows on Śrīdhara's own vine, trailing over his roof, that the Lord eats, cooked with milk and the spice of pepper." The Lord said, "Śrīdhara, what do you take me for? Just tell me, and I'll go straight home." Śrīdhara said, "You are a brāhmaṇa, an expansion of Viṣṇu." The Lord said, "You don't know at all — I am of the cowherd lineage! You look at me and see a brāhmaṇa's boy; but I consider myself a cowherd." Hearing the Lord's words, Śrīdhara laughed — he did not recognize, through the veil of the Lord's own māyā, his own true Master. The Lord said, "Śrīdhara, let me tell you a truth: all the greatness of the Gaṅgā comes from me." Śrīdhara said, "Oh, Nimāñi Paṇḍita! Aren't you the least bit afraid, even taking the Gaṅgā's own name in vain like that? People generally grow more settled as they age — but your restlessness only seems to double!" Thus, having sported playfully with Śrīdhara, Gaurāṅga Śrī Hari returned to His own home.

Explanation. Emana — "in one and the same way." How everyone's time passes in just the same way is explained in the two payars that follow. Ghare — in a jewel-studded palace; dibya — the very finest things; khāya — eats; pare — wears. In place of "vṛkṣera upare" a variant reads "vṛkṣera kuṭire" — "in a straw nest up in a tree." Kāla puna ityādi — a king lives in a jeweled palace, eats the most delectable food, wears the costliest garments, and has countless servants ever attending him — a king lives in the greatest ease and comfort. A bird has no servants at all, and must gather its own food itself; up in a tree, it must live in a nest it has built for itself, with great effort, from straw and twigs. And yet, on reflection, one finds that the king's time passes in exactly the same manner as the bird's — for whatever the king, by his own judgment, considers the very best, that is what the king enjoys; and whatever the bird eats is, by the bird's own judgment, likewise the very best for it. The satisfaction that comes from enjoying what one's own judgment deems excellent is the same for both. Whatever the object of enjoyment, the satisfaction of having one's hunger appeased is identical for both. Whether one sleeps upon a jewel-studded royal bed with the softest of coverings, or in a straw nest, the satisfaction that comes from sleep itself is exactly the same for the king and for the bird. The king, too, has his diseases, his sorrows; so does the bird. Hence the passage of time and the living out of life proceeds, in essence, in one and the same way for both. Sabhe nija karma bhuñje īśvara-icchāya — king, commoner, pauper, animal, bird, insect, or worm — all alike enjoy only the fruits of their own past deeds, by the Lord's will. By the fruit of one's own accumulated karma one is born a king or a pauper, a human being, a demigod, a Gandharva, or an animal, bird, insect, or worm; and the objects of one's enjoyment, too, correspond exactly to one's karma. No one has the power to alter the body or the objects of enjoyment that a soul attains according to its karma — but the essential nature of the satisfaction derived from enjoying whatever comes, and the essential nature of the joy and sorrow that come from experiencing the fruits of one's karma, are the same for everyone. Karma bhuñje īśvara-icchāya — everyone enjoys the fruits of his own karma by the will and ordinance of the Lord; the Lord alone is the dispenser of the fruits of everyone's karma.

Through this playful pastime with Śrīdhara, the Lord has taught the souls of the world several lessons. First: the soul takes birth in various species strictly according to the fruit of its own karma, and even within human birth, one becomes poor or wealthy according to karma alone. Second: whatever object does not correspond to one's own karma cannot be obtained, however hard one strives for it — hence one ought to remain content with whatever comes as the fruit of one's destiny (prārabdha). Third: the essential nature of the happiness or sorrow derived from whatever prārabdha-karma brings is the same for everyone; it is only those bound by māyā and averse to the Lord who, failing to understand this, suffer the torment of envy and hatred. Fourth: those who, by good fortune, are absorbed in the Lord's worship remain content in whatever state their karma has placed them, considering that state alone their due; they make no effort of their own to remedy an unfavorable worldly condition or to improve their worldly circumstances, and remain indifferent even when others urge them to do so. Fifth: the steadfast devotion that a sādhaka like Śrīdhara holds toward his own worshipable Deity and toward the highest transcendental reality is never shaken, however powerful the worldly temptation.

Bistara āche dhana — here the Lord speaks of Śrīdhara's own wealth of devotion. Tumi tāhā lukāiyā ityādi — "you keep your devotional wealth hidden away and enjoy it secretly." Śrīdhara kept his own devotion most carefully concealed; no one else knew that he possessed such devotion, that he was a worshipper of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Bhāṇḍibā — "you will be exposed, found out." Pautā dhana — treasure buried in the ground; here too the Lord speaks of Śrīdhara's own secret wealth of devotion. Kilāya — strikes with the fist; daḍha — firmly, resolutely.

Payars 207–208: here, through the Lord's own words, His essential truth is disclosed — He is the son of Nanda, the king of the cowherds, and hence of the cowherd lineage. Mahatva — a variant reads "māhātmya." Āmā haite ityādi — the Gaṅgā's own greatness derives from Me — that is, from My own feet; for the Gaṅgā is born from the feet of Viṣṇu (Viṣṇu-pādodbhavā).

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বিষ্ণুদ্বারে বসিলেন গৌরাঙ্গ সুন্দর। চলিলা পঢ়ুয়াবর্গ যার যথা ঘর॥ ২১৪॥ দেখি প্রভু পৌর্ণমাসী-চন্দ্রের উদয়। বৃন্দাবনচন্দ্র-ভাব হইল হৃদয়॥ ২১৫॥ অপূর্ব-মুরলী-ধ্বনি লাগিলা করিতে। আই বই আর কেহো না পায় শুনিতে॥ ২১৬॥ ত্রিভুবনমোহন মুরলী শুনি আই। প্রথমে আনন্দে মূর্ছা গেলা সেই ঠাঞি॥ ২১৭॥ ক্ষণেকে চৈতন্য পাই স্থির করি মন। অপূর্ব মুরলীধ্বনি করেন শ্রবণ॥ ২১৮॥ যেখানে বসিয়া আছেন গৌরাঙ্গ সুন্দর। সেই দিগে শুনেন মুরলী মনোহর॥ ২১৯॥ অদ্ভুত শুনিঞা আই আইলা বাহিরে। দেখে পুত্র বসি আছে বিষ্ণুঘর-দ্বারে॥ ২২০॥ আর নাহি পায়েন শুনিতে বংশীনাদ। পুত্রের হৃদয়ে দেখে আকাশের চাঁদ॥ ২২১॥ পুত্র-বক্ষে দেখে চন্দ্রমণ্ডল সাক্ষাতে। বিস্মিত হইয়া আই চাহে চারিভিতে॥ ২২২॥ গৃহে আই বসি গিয়া লাগিলা চিন্তিতে। কি হেতু নিশ্চয় কিছু না পারে করিতে॥ ২২৩॥ এইমত কত ভাগ্যবতী শচী আই। যত দেখে প্রকাশ, তাহার অন্ত নাঞি॥ ২২৪॥ কোনদিন নিশাভাগে শচী আই শুনে। গীত বাদ্যযন্ত্র বায় কত শত জনে॥ ২২৫॥ বহুবিধ মুখবাদ্য, নৃত্য, পদতাল। তেন মহা-রাসক্রীড়া শুনেন বিশাল॥ ২২৬॥ কোনদিন দেখে সর্ব বাড়ী ঘর দ্বার। জ্যোতির্ময় বই কিছু না দেখেন আর॥ ২২৭॥ কোনদিন দেখে অতি-দিব্য-নারীগণ। লক্ষ্মী-প্রায় সভে, হস্তে পদ্ম-বিভূষণ॥ ২২৮॥ কোনদিন দেখে জ্যোতির্ময় দেবগণ। দেখি পুন আর নাহি পায় দরশন॥ ২২৯॥ আইর এসব দৃষ্টি কিছু চিত্র নহে। বিষ্ণুভক্তি-স্বরূপিণী বেদে যারে কহে॥ ২৩০॥ আই যারে সকৃৎ করেন দৃষ্টিপাতে। সেই হয়ে অধিকারী এ সব দেখিতে॥ ২৩১॥ হেনমতে শ্রীগৌরসুন্দর বনমালী। আছে গূঢ়রূপে নিজানন্দে কুতূহলী॥ ২৩২॥ যদ্যপি এতেক প্রভু আপনা' প্রকাশে। তথাপিহ চিনিতে না পারে কোন দাসে॥ ২৩৩॥ হেন সে ঔদ্ধত্য প্রভু করেন কৌতুকে। তেমত উদ্ধত আর নাহি নবদ্বীপে॥ ২৩৪॥ যখন যেরূপ লীলা করেন ঈশ্বর। সেই সর্ব-শ্রেষ্ঠ, তার নাহিক সোসর॥ ২৩৫॥

Translation. Beautiful Gaurāṅga sat down at the door of the Viṣṇu-temple room, and His students went off, each to his own home. Beholding the rising of the full-moon that night, the mood of Vṛndāvana-candra [Kṛṣṇa as the moon of Vṛndāvana] arose within His heart. He began to play upon an unearthly flute — a sound that no one but Mother Śacī [āi] could hear. Hearing that flute-song, enchanting to all three worlds, Mother Śacī, overwhelmed with bliss, at once fainted away on the very spot. After a moment she regained her senses, steadied her mind, and again heard that wondrous flute-sound; from the direction where beautiful Gaurāṅga sat, that captivating flute-music seemed to come. Astonished at what she heard, Mother Śacī came outside, and saw her son sitting there at the door of the Viṣṇu-room — but she could no longer hear any flute-sound at all. Instead, she saw, within her son's very heart, the moon of the sky itself; upon her son's chest she saw, before her very eyes, the orb of the moon. Astonished, Mother Śacī looked all around her, then went inside and sat down, lost in thought — but could arrive at no certain explanation for what she had seen. In just this way, how fortunate was mother Śacī! — the visions of the Lord's opulence that she witnessed were beyond counting. On one occasion, at night, Mother Śacī heard singing and the playing of instruments by hundreds upon hundreds of people; many kinds of instrumental music, dancing, and rhythmic footsteps — she heard, as it were, a vast and mighty rāsa-dance in progress. On another day she saw the entire house, every room and doorway, filled with nothing but radiant light — nothing else was visible at all. On another day she saw the most divinely beautiful women, each one resembling Lakṣmī herself, lotus-ornaments in their hands. On another day she saw radiant, effulgent demigods — but on looking again, could no longer see them at all. These visions of Mother Śacī's were, in truth, no mere illusions or hallucinations — they were, as the Vedas themselves declare, the very embodiment of devotion to Viṣṇu made manifest. Whomever Mother Śacī casts even a single glance upon becomes qualified to behold such visions as these. In this way Śrī Gaurasundara, the wearer of the forest garland [an epithet of Kṛṣṇa], remained hidden, sporting playfully in His own bliss. Though the Lord revealed so much of Himself in these ways, still not one of His servants could recognize Him. Such was the arrogance the Lord displayed, purely for His own amusement — no one so "arrogant" as this was to be found anywhere else in Navadvīpa! Whatever pastime the Lord performs, at whatever moment, that very pastime is supreme above all others — nothing else can compare to it.

Explanation. Pūrṇamāsī-candra — the moon of the full-moon night; vṛndāvana-candra-bhāva — the mood of Kṛṣṇa, the wandering deity of Vṛndāvana, arose in the Lord's heart. A variant reads "udidaẏa" for "udaẏa." Āi — see the earlier note (payar 102 above): mother Śacī. This entire episode illustrates that Mother Śacī alone, among all the residents of Navadvīpa, was granted these direct visions of the Lord's transcendental opulence, and that these visions were no illusion but the very form of pure devotion to Viṣṇu. Sakṛt — even a single [glance]. Adhikārī — one who is qualified. Gauḍasundara banamālī — Gauracandra, in the form of the garland-wearing Kṛṣṇa (banamālī). Nijānande — in His own bliss, the bliss of His own self-experience (see the note on payar 1.6.119). The "arrogance" spoken of in payar 234 is likewise not real arrogance, but arrogance assumed purely for the Lord's own playful sport. Sosara — equal, comparable; likely a corruption of the word "sodara" or "sahodara" (of the same womb, i.e., comparable/akin).

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যুদ্ধ-লীলা প্রতি ইচ্ছা উপজে যখন। অস্ত্র-শিক্ষা-বীর আর না থাকে তেমন॥ ২৩৬॥ কাম-লীলা করিতে যখন ইচ্ছা হয়। লক্ষার্বুদ বনিতা সে করেন বিজয়॥ ২৩৭॥

Translation. Whenever the desire for a mock battle-pastime arose in Him, no warrior trained in arms could be found to compare with Him. And whenever He desired to sport in amorous pastime, He would conquer countless millions upon millions of women.

Explanation. Astra-śikṣā-bīra — a hero trained in the use of weapons, or one qualified to teach the use of weapons; "no one else remains His equal" — no warrior comparable to the Lord was to be found anywhere else. Kṛṣṇa, the son of the king of Vraja, would sometimes, in sport, engage in mock combat with His cowherd friends; absorbed in that very mood, Gaura, who is that same son of the king of Vraja, would sometimes display gestures expressive of that mood. Seeing Him at such moments, one would think there was no warrior anywhere to equal Him; it seems the Lord, at such times, would boast like an arrogant, overweening man: "Who among you has the courage to fight with me? Come, then — fight with me!"

Lakṣārbuda — countless, innumerable. Banitā — women. Karena bijaya — He conquers, subdues, and makes submissive countless women. It was in absorption in the very mood of Kṛṣṇa, the son of the king of Vraja, that the Lord performed this "amorous pastime" (kāma-līlā). What is the purport of the term kāma-līlā? The word kāma means desire, craving — the desire for the attainment of one's own cherished object. For the soul bound by māyā, averse to the Lord from time without beginning, the cherished object is the gratification of one's own senses; this alone is what is properly called kāma. "The desire for one's own sense-gratification is called kāma" (Caitanya-caritāmṛta 1.4.[trans. note: as cited]). This kāma arises from the mode of passion (rajo-guṇa): "It is this kāma, this krodha, born of the mode of passion" (Gītā 3.37). Since rajas is one of the three constituent qualities of material, insentient māyā, it is by the influence of māyā alone that kāma — the craving for one's own sense-gratification — arises. But this māyā envelops and holds sway only over the external, material world; it cannot even touch Parabrahman Svayaṁ Bhagavān, of the nature of sac-cid-ānanda (nor any of the sac-cid-ānanda forms in which He has, from beginningless time, manifested and remained eternally present) — this is declared by śruti itself: "Māyā envelops all this; māyā cannot touch the Self; hence māyā is said to envelop only from without" (Bṛhad-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī, citing śruti, 5.1). Since māyā cannot even touch any sac-cid-ānanda form of Godhead, it follows readily that māyā can exert no influence whatsoever upon any such form. The one and only potency that is the Lord's own essential, intrinsic potency (svarūpa-śakti) is the cit-śakti, the spiritual potency (Śvetāśvatara 6.8); and because this cit-śakti is intrinsic to Parabrahman's own nature, it is also called svarūpa-śakti. Because He is svarāṭ, self-luminous, He depends upon this svarūpa-śakti alone (svenaiva sva-svarūpa-śaktyā rājate yaḥ sa svarāṭ). Whatever desire arises in His heart is likewise a function of this svarūpa-śakti alone. The svarūpa-śakti never gives rise to the desire for self-gratification; hence, in Svayaṁ Bhagavān Parabrahman — and hence in any other sac-cid-ānanda form of Godhead that is His own manifestation — there can be no kāma in the sense of a craving for self-gratification. The svarūpa-śakti gives rise only to the desire to please one's beloved. And the Lord's own beloveds are His pure devotees (sādhu-bhaktas). Just as He is as dear to His pure devotees as their own hearts, and His pure devotees know nothing whatsoever apart from Him, so too are His pure devotees as dear to Him as His own heart, and He too knows nothing whatsoever apart from His pure devotees. The Lord Himself has said as much: "The sādhus are My very heart, and I am the very heart of the sādhus; they know nothing besides Me, and I know nothing whatsoever besides them" (Bhāgavata 9.4.68). For this reason, He has no other task at all besides the delighting of the hearts of His pure devotees, who are as dear to Him as His own heart: "For the pleasure of My devotees, I perform various activities" (Padma Purāṇa, spoken by the Lord); "He has no other task but the fulfillment of the desires of His servants" (Cc. 2.15.166). The Lord never does anything for His own sake, for His own purpose; whatever He does, He does purely for the pleasure of His devotee. This desire of the Lord's, arising from His svarūpa-śakti, to please His devotee, is nothing other than His own prema for His devotees. Hence even the Lord's "kāma" or desire is, in its essential nature, prema. Svayaṁ Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa's own eternally-perfected associates, too, are themselves embodiments of the svarūpa-śakti, and whatever desire or craving arises in their hearts is likewise a function of that same svarūpa-śakti; hence their own nature, too, consists in pleasing their beloved Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The desire or "kāma" that arises in them for the sake of Śrī Kṛṣṇa's pleasure is itself their own prema for Kṛṣṇa; and the desire or "kāma" that arises in Śrī Kṛṣṇa for the sake of pleasing them is His own prema for His devotees. Apart from the desire to please Śrī Kṛṣṇa, His associate-devotees have no other kāma or desire whatsoever — and it is for this reason that even their "kāma" is called prema. Of Śrī Kṛṣṇa's own eternal beloveds, the gopīs of Vraja, it has been said: "It is prema alone that has come to be known, in the world, as the 'kāma' of the cowherd women; and this same [prema-as-kāma] is what Uddhava and other devotees dear to the Lord themselves aspire to attain" (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Pūrva-vibhāga 2.143) — "the prema of the cowherd women has come to be renowned as 'kāma' [though it is not, in its essential nature, kāma at all]; for this very reason Uddhava and the other devotees of the Lord long to attain it."

Śrī Gaura is, in His essential nature, none other than Kṛṣṇa, the son of the king of Vraja. Just as Śrī Kṛṣṇa's "kāma-līlā" with the gopīs of Vraja is, in truth, nothing but a prema-līlā, so too is Śrī Gaura's kāma-līlā, performed in absorption in the mood of the son of Vraja's king, likewise in truth nothing but a prema-līlā. Since māyā cannot even touch Him, the kāma that arises from māyā's own guṇa of rajas — the desire for the gratification of one's own senses — cannot exist within Him either.

The purport of the payar under discussion is this. When Kṛṣṇa, the son of the king of Vraja, sported in amorous play with the gopīs of Vraja, His beauty and sweetness blossomed forth without equal; that beauty and sweetness drew every heart to itself, and the women of Vraja, captivated by His beauty, abandoned Vedic duty, family duty, the ties of kinsmen, and every other consideration, and gave themselves over, as unpaid maidservants, entirely to the loving service of His pleasure. When Gaurasundara became absorbed in the mood of that same Kṛṣṇa who sports with the women of Vraja, that same unequaled beauty and sweetness blossomed forth within Him as well; and such was its power that anyone who beheld Him at such a time could indeed have felt his heart captivated, "millions upon millions" strong. It should not be thought that Śacīnandana Gaura, in truth, drew the hearts of other women to Himself and actually sported with them — for there is no evidence whatsoever of this. Elsewhere Śrī Vṛndāvana Dāsa Ṭhākura himself writes that the Lord never once, at any time, cast even a sidelong glance at another woman; if He learned that another woman was present, He would bow His head and step aside (see payars 1.10.208 and 2.10.197).

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ধন বিলসিতে যখন ইচ্ছা হয়। প্রজার ঘরেতে হয় নিধি কোটিময়॥ ২৩৮॥ এমত উদ্ধত গৌরসুন্দর এখানে। এই প্রভু বিরক্তি আশ্রয়িবেন যখনে॥ ২৩৯॥ সে বিরক্তি-ভক্তি-কণা নাহি ত্রিভুবনে। অন্তে কি সম্ভবে তাহা ব্যক্ত সর্বজনে॥ ২৪০॥ এইমত ঈশ্বরের সর্বশ্রেষ্ঠ কর্ম। সবে সেবকেরে হারে, সে তাহান ধর্ম॥ ২৪১॥

Translation. Whenever He desired to sport in the bestowal of wealth, His subjects' homes would fill with treasures beyond counting. Such was Gaurasundara's "arrogance" here [i.e., His unmatched excellence in every pastime]. And when, in time to come, this same Lord shall take up renunciation [sannyāsa] — that renunciation, and that devotion, not one particle of which is to be found anywhere else in the three worlds — how could it possibly be, that anyone else should manifest the like? This is the Lord's own supreme activity: that He alone, of all, submits in defeat to His own servant — that is His very own essential nature (dharma).

Explanation. A variant reads "likṣa" for "nidhi." The Lord is Svayaṁ Bhagavān Himself, within whom the six divine opulences are manifest in their fullest perfection; whenever He became absorbed in the mood of that opulence, whomever He cast a favorable glance upon would become the possessor of the most coveted riches. Prajāra — of the people. [Note: the pastimes of mock combat, amorous sport, and the bestowal of wealth described here are, however, not to be found in the works of Murāri Gupta, Kavikarṇapūra, or the later Kavirāja Gosvāmī.]

Birakti — renunciation, sannyāsa; āśrayibena — will take shelter of. A variant reads "vipra virakti āśrayilā" for "prabhu virakti āśrayibena," the sense remaining the same. Se birakti-bhakti-kaṇā — not even a single particle of the renunciation and the devotion that the Lord would display, in time to come, when He accepted the sannyāsa order, is to be found anywhere else in the three worlds. A variant reads "bhakti-kalā nāhi" ("no fragment of devotion") or "bhakti kothāya" ("where is such devotion?"). Byakta sarba-jane — everyone knows this.

Sabe sebakere hāre — He alone submits in defeat before His own servant (devotee), acknowledging His own loss. Though He Himself is the subduer of everyone, He is nevertheless subdued by His own pure devotees; He is subordinate to His devotee — though an independent Lord, before His devotee He is as one wholly dependent. The Lord Himself has declared this: "I am subordinate to My devotee, O brāhmaṇa, as though I had no independence of My own. The sādhus, whose hearts are bound to Me, who see all with equal vision, subdue Me by their devotion, just as a chaste wife subdues her husband" (Bhāgavata 9.4.63, 66). Why should this be so? Se tāhāna dharma — this is the Lord's own essential nature, His own intrinsic quality. It has been said: "bhakti-vaśaḥ puruṣaḥ" — "that Supreme Person is subdued by devotion." In whosesoever heart devotion resides, it is devotion itself that renders the Lord subject to that devotee.

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একদিন প্রভু আইসেন রাজপথে। সাত পাঁচ পঢ়ুয়া প্রভুর চারিভিতে॥ ২৪২॥ ব্যবহারযোগ্য বস্তু মাত্র পরিধান। অঙ্গে পানীতোলা গীত-পট্টের সমান॥ ২৪৩॥ অধরে তাম্বুল, কোটি-চন্দ্র শ্রীবদন। লোকে বোলে "মূর্তিমন্ত এই কি মদন?" ২৪৪॥ ললাটে তিলক-ঊর্ধ্ব পুস্তক-শ্রীকরে। দৃষ্টিমাত্রে পদ্মনেত্রে সর্ব-তাপ হরে॥ ২৪৫॥ স্বভাবে চঞ্চল পঢ়ুয়ার বর্গ সঙ্গে। বাহু দোলাইয়া প্রভু আইসেন রঙ্গে॥ ২৪৬॥ দৈবে পথে আইসেন পণ্ডিত শ্রীবাস। প্রভু দেখি মাত্র তান হৈল মহা-হাস॥ ২৪৭॥ তানে দেখি প্রভু করিলেন নমস্কার। "চিরজীবী হও" বোলে শ্রীবাস উদার॥ ২৪৮॥

Translation. One day the Lord came walking along the highway, five or seven of His students around Him on every side. He wore only the plainest, everyday sort of garment upon His body, [a shoulder-cloth] the color of a fine yellow silken cloth; betel-leaf in His mouth, His face like a million moons — people would say, "Is this not Cupid himself, come in bodily form?" A tilaka mark rose upon His forehead; the mere sight of His lotus-eyes dispelled every affliction. Surrounded by His naturally restless band of students, swinging His arms, the Lord came along in playful gait. By chance Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita came along that same road; the moment he saw the Lord, he burst into the greatest laughter. Seeing him, the Lord offered him His obeisance; the magnanimous Śrīvāsa said, "May you live long!"

Explanation. Byabahārayogya — ordinary, everyday clothing suitable for common use (Atulakṛṣṇa Prabhupāda). Pānītolā — a small towel or shoulder-cloth (Atulakṛṣṇa Prabhupāda), here the color of fine yellow silk — the towel itself was apparently yellow in hue. A variant for this payar reads: "In everyday use, He wore garments fit for royalty; upon His body a yellow cloth shone, like unto Kṛṣṇa's own." Rāja-yogya bastra — costly garments suitable for the wear of kings. Mūrtimanta ei ki madana — "is this Cupid himself, in bodily form?" A variant reads "āise" or "eita" for "ei ki."

Tilaka ūrdhva — the ūrdhva-puṇḍra tilaka; this vertical tilaka is the mark prescribed by the Vedas for the head. As it is said (from the Hiraṇyakeśīya branch of the Yajur-veda, cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 4.87): "He who bears upon his body the mark of Hari's feet becomes dear to the Supreme Lord Hari, and he is a man of merit; he who wears the ūrdhva-puṇḍra tilaka with a gap in its middle is fit for liberation." And (Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 4.69, citing the Padmottara): "The ūrdhva-puṇḍra upon the forehead is enjoined, first of all, for everyone." And (Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 4.74, citing the same): "A learned brāhmaṇa should apply the ūrdhva-puṇḍra joyfully, with white earth, according to Vedic rule; the wise should never wear the tilaka horizontally (tiryak), even in adversity." And (Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 4.75, citing the Skanda): "One should not apply a horizontal tilaka even at the moment of death." And (Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 4.76): "If a brāhmaṇa is seen with the tripuṇḍra mark [of Śiva] upon his forehead but not the ūrdhva-puṇḍra, one should bathe with one's clothes on, whether one has touched or merely seen him. Vaiṣṇavas should never wear the tripuṇḍra in place of the ūrdhva-puṇḍra; no act performed by one wearing the tripuṇḍra is pleasing to Śrī Hari." A variant reads "sarba-pāpa" ("all sin") for "sarba-tāpa" ("all affliction").

In place of "mahā-hāsa" a variant reads "haila ullāsa" ("became joyful"). In place of "cirajīvī" a variant reads "cirañjība," the meaning being the same.

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হাসিয়া শ্রীবাস বোলে "কহ দেখি শুনি। কতি চলিয়াছ উদ্ধতের চূড়ামণি॥ ২৪৯॥ কৃষ্ণ না ভজিয়ে কাল কি কার্যে গোঙাও? রাত্রিদিন নিরবধি কেনে বা পঢ়াও? ২৫০॥ পঢ়ে লোক কেনে? কৃষ্ণভক্তি জানিবারে। সে যদি নহিল, তবে বিদ্যায় কি করে? ২৫১॥ এতেকে সর্বথা ব্যর্থ না গোঙাও কাল। পঢ়িলা ত, এবে কৃষ্ণ ভজহ সকাল॥" ২৫২॥ হাসি বোলে মহাপ্রভু "শুনহ পণ্ডিত! তোমার কৃপায় সেহো হইব নিশ্চিত॥ ২৫৩॥

Translation. Śrīvāsa said, laughing, "Tell me, let me hear it — where are you off to, O crest-jewel of the arrogant? Without worshipping Kṛṣṇa, on what do you waste your days? Why do you teach, ceaselessly, day and night? Why does anyone study at all, if not to come to know devotion to Kṛṣṇa? If that is not attained, then what has learning accomplished? So do not waste your time so entirely in vain — you have studied enough; now worship Kṛṣṇa without delay." Mahāprabhu, smiling, replied, "Listen, Paṇḍita — by your mercy, that too will surely come to pass."

Explanation. Kati — where. See the note on payar 1.8.49 [above] for the full purport of the teaching that the true fruit of study is the knowledge of devotion to Kṛṣṇa.

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এত বলি মহাপ্রভু হাসিয়া চলিলা। গঙ্গাতীরে আসি শিষ্য-সহিতে বসিলা॥ ২৫৪॥ গঙ্গাতীরে বসিলেন শ্রীশচীনন্দন। চতুর্দিগে বেঢ়িয়া বসিলা শিষ্যগণ॥ ২৫৫॥ কোটিসুখে সেই শোভা না পারি কহিতে। উপমাও তার নাহি দেখি ত্রিজগতে॥ ২৫৬॥ চন্দ্র-তারাগণ বা বলিব, সেহো নহে। সকলঙ্ক, তার কলা-ক্ষয়-বৃদ্ধি হয়ে॥ ২৫৭॥ সর্ব-কাল-পরিপূর্ণ এ প্রভুর কলা। নিলঙ্ক, তেঞি সে উপমা দূরে গেলা॥ ২৫৮॥ বৃহস্পতি-উপমাও দিতে না জুয়ায়। তেঁহো একপক্ষে দেবগণের সহায়॥ ২৫৯॥ এ প্রভু সভার পক্ষ, সহায় সভার। অতএব সে দৃষ্টান্ত না হয় ইহার॥ ২৬০॥ কামদেব-উপম বা দিব, সেহো নহে। তিঁহো চিত্তে জাগিলে, চিত্তের ক্ষোভ হয়ে॥ ২৬১॥

Translation. So saying, Mahāprabhu smiled and went on His way; He came to the bank of the Gaṅgā and sat down there with His students. Śrī Śacīnandana sat upon the Gaṅgā's bank, and His students sat encircling Him on every side. That splendor I cannot describe, not even with a million mouths — nor can I find any fitting comparison for it anywhere in the three worlds. Shall I say it was like the moon and the stars? No, that will not do — for the moon bears a blemish, and its digits wax and wane. But this Lord's own radiance is, at every moment, perpetually full, and utterly without blemish; hence that comparison, too, falls short. Nor is a comparison to Bṛhaspati [the guru of the gods] fitting — for he is partial, the ally of the demigods alone; whereas this Lord is the ally and helper of all, without exception — hence that comparison, too, does not apply to Him. Nor shall I compare Him to Kāmadeva, the god of love — for when Kāmadeva awakens in the heart, he brings only turbulence and agitation to the mind.

Explanation. Sakalaṅka, tāra kalā-kṣaẏa-bṛddhi haẏe — neither the moon nor the stars can serve as a fit comparison for Gaura's beauty. For though the moon is full with sixteen digits, that fullness does not remain always — its digits wane; but Gaura's beauty is ever perpetually full, and never suffers any waning. Moreover the moon bears a blemish (kalaṅka), while Gaura's beauty bears no blemish whatsoever — it is supremely radiant, always and everywhere. The stars' own brilliance, moreover, is exceedingly faint; it cannot illumine the world. Even the full moon, though it illumines the outer world, cannot illumine the cave of the heart — but Gaura's splendor illumines even the very cave of the hearts of the world's inhabitants, banishing forever and entirely the darkness of sin that dwells there. Nilaṅka — the Lord's beauty is without blemish. Having shown that the Lord's beauty admits no comparison, the following several payars go on to show that other things concerning the Lord likewise admit no comparison.

Nā juẏāẏa — is not fitting; for Bṛhaspati is the guru only of the demigods, the adversary of the demons, and hence guilty of the fault of partiality.

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এ প্রভু জাগিলে চিত্তে, সর্ব-বন্ধ-ক্ষয়। পরম-নির্মল সুপ্রসন্ন চিত্ত হয়॥ ২৬২॥ এইমত সকল দৃষ্টান্ত যোগ্য নহে। সবে এক উপমা দেখিয়ে চিত্তে লয়ে॥ ২৬৩॥ কালিন্দীর তীরে যেন শ্রীনন্দকুমার। গোপবৃন্দ-মধ্যে বসি করেন বিহার॥ ২৬৪॥ সেই-গোপবৃন্দ লই, সেই কৃষ্ণচন্দ্র। বুঝি দ্বিজরূপে গঙ্গাতীরে করে রঙ্গ॥ ২৬৫॥ গঙ্গাতীরে যে যে জনে দেখে প্রভুর মুখ। সেই পায়ে অতি-অনির্বচনীয় সুখ॥ ২৬৬॥

Translation. But when this Lord awakens within the heart, all bondage is destroyed, and the heart becomes utterly pure and joyfully serene. Thus no comparison at all is truly fitting; only a single likeness comes readily to mind and settles there: it is as though Śrī Nandakumāra [Kṛṣṇa, son of Nanda] Himself, upon the bank of the Kālindī [Yamunā], sat sporting in the midst of His cowherd companions — as though that very Kṛṣṇacandra, taking those same cowherd companions with Him, now sports on the bank of the Gaṅgā in the guise of a brāhmaṇa. Whoever, on the bank of the Gaṅgā, beheld the Lord's face attained a joy utterly beyond the power of words to describe.

Explanation. Sarba-bandha-kṣaẏa — every bond of māyā is destroyed [when this Lord awakens in the heart], and as a result the heart becomes supremely pure and serene. This Gauracandra has one, and only one, true comparison — namely Śrī Kṛṣṇacandra Himself (see payars 264–65 below). A variant reads "ekamātra upamāna sabe (mohara) citte lahe" for "sabe eka upamā dekhiẏe citte laẏe." Upamāna — that to which something is compared; upameya — that which is being compared. For example, in "this face is beautiful as the moon," "moon" is the upamāna and "face" the upameya.

Kālindī — the Yamunā.

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দেখিয়া প্রভুর তেজ অতি-বিলক্ষণ। গঙ্গাতীরে কাণাকাণি করে সর্বজন॥ ২৬৭॥ কেহো বোলে "এত তেজ মানুষের নহে।" কেহো বোলে "এ ব্রাহ্মণ বিষ্ণু-অংশ হয়ে॥" ২৬৮॥ কেহো বোলে "বিপ্র রাজা হইবেক গৌড়ে। সেই এই, হেন বুঝি, কখনো না নড়ে॥" ২৬৯॥

Translation. Beholding the Lord's extraordinary, unearthly radiance, everyone on the bank of the Gaṅgā fell to whispering among themselves. Some said, "Such radiance cannot belong to any ordinary man." Others said, "This brāhmaṇa must be an expansion of Viṣṇu." Still others said, "There is a prophecy that a brāhmaṇa shall become king in Gauḍa-deśa — this must surely be that very one; I feel certain of it, without a doubt."

Explanation. Kāṇākāṇi kare — they spoke into one another's ears; a variant reads "nānā bāṇī kahe" ("spoke various words"). Bipra rājā haibeka gauḍe — there was, at that time, a popular saying current, that a brāhmaṇa would one day become king in the land of Gauḍa (Bengal); it was in recollection of this saying that some spoke thus. Sei ei — "this is that very brāhmaṇa who is destined to become king of Gauḍa." Kakhano nā naḍe — "this will not turn out otherwise; it is certain that he will become the king of Gauḍa."

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"রাজচক্রবর্তি-চিহ্ন দেখিয়ে সকল।" এইমত বোলে যার যত বুদ্ধিবল॥ ২৭০॥ অধ্যাপক-প্রতি সব কটাক্ষ করিয়া। ব্যাখ্যা করে প্রভু গলা-সমীপে বসিয়া॥ ২৭১॥ 'হয়' ব্যাখ্যা 'নয়' করে, 'নয়' করে 'হয়'। সকল খণ্ডিয়া, শেষে সকল স্থাপয়॥ ২৭২॥ প্রভু বোলে "তারে আমি বলিয়ে পণ্ডিত। একবার ব্যাখ্যা করে আমার সহিত॥ ২৭৩॥ সেই বাক্য যদি বাখানিয়ে আর-বার। আমা' প্রবোধিব, হেন দেখি শক্তি কার?" ২৭৪॥ এইমত ঈশ্বর ব্যঞ্জেন অহঙ্কার। সর্ব-গর্ব চূর্ণ হয় শুনিঞা সভার॥ ২৭৫॥ কত বা প্রভুর শিষ্য, তার অন্ত নাঞি। কত বা মণ্ডলী হই পঢ়ে ঠাঞি ঠাঞি॥ ২৭৬॥ প্রতিদিন দশ বিশ ব্রাহ্মণকুমার। আসিয়া প্রভুর পায় করে নমস্কার॥ ২৭৭॥ "পণ্ডিত! আমরা পঢ়িবাঙ তোমা' স্থানে। কিছু জানি, হেন কৃপা করিবা আপনে॥" ২৭৮॥ 'ভাল ভাল' হাসি প্রভু বোলেন বচন। এইমত প্রতিদিন বাঢ়ে শিষ্যগণ॥ ২৭৯॥

Translation. "I can see in him all the marks of a universal emperor" — thus would each person speak, according to the measure of his own understanding. Casting a sidelong glance over all the assembled scholars, the Lord, seated close beside them, would expound the scriptures — turning "is" into "is not," and "is not" into "is," refuting every position in turn, and then, at the last, establishing them all anew. The Lord would say, "I call him a true paṇḍita who can hold his own with me even once in debate — for if he could argue that same position a second time and satisfy me, who could be found with such power as that?" Thus did the Lord display His "pride" — and everyone who heard Him found their own pride utterly crushed to dust. His students were now beyond all counting; in place after place, groups had formed to study under Him. Every single day, ten or twenty young brāhmaṇa boys would come and offer their praṇāma at the Lord's feet, saying, "Paṇḍita! We wish to study under you — grant us, of your own grace, that we might learn something." "Very well, very well," the Lord would say, smiling — and in this way His students increased, day after day.

Explanation. Rāja-cakrabarti-cihna — the marks of a universal emperor (cakravartī, the greatest of kings); a variant reads "rāja-śrī" or "rāja-cihna," and another "rāja-grībā rāja-cihna" ("a neck like a king's, the mark of royalty"). Buddhi-bala — the capacity of one's own understanding.

Adhyāpaka-prati saba — toward all the [other] teachers/professors [present].

Byañjena — displays, manifests. This "pride" the Lord displayed was, of course, not pride in any real sense, but a semblance of pride assumed purely for playful sport.

Pāẏa — at [His] feet; a variant reads "haẏa" for "kare." Every single day, ten or twenty new students would come to the Lord seeking instruction.

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গঙ্গাতীরে শিষ্য-সঙ্গে মণ্ডলী করিয়া। বৈকুণ্ঠের চূড়ামণি আছেন বসিয়া॥ ২৮০॥ চতুর্দিগে দেখে সব ভাগ্যবন্ত লোক। সর্ব-নবদ্বীপ প্রভু-প্রভাবে অশোক॥ ২৮১॥ সেই আনন্দ যে যে ভাগ্যবন্ত দেখিলেক। কোন্ জন আছে তার ভাগ্য বলিবেক? ২৮২॥ সে আনন্দ দেখিলেক যে সুকৃতি জন। তানে দেখিলেও খণ্ডে সংসারবন্ধন॥ ২৮৩॥ হইল পাপিষ্ঠ, জন্ম নহিল তখনে। হইলাঙ বঞ্চিত সে সুখ-দরশনে॥ ২৮৪॥

Translation. There, on the Gaṅgā's bank, gathered together in a circle with His students, sat the very crest-jewel of Vaikuṇṭha. All around Him sat the most fortunate of people, gazing upon Him; by the Lord's own influence, the whole of Navadvīpa was free from sorrow. Whoever, by great fortune, beheld that bliss — who could possibly describe the full measure of his good fortune? Whatever meritorious soul beheld that bliss, for him, merely by that sight, the very bondage of material existence was broken. [The author laments:] I must indeed have been a great sinner — for I was not born in that time, and so was deprived of the joy of that very vision!

Explanation. [No further gloss is given for these payars in the source.]

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তথাপিহ এই কৃপা কর' গৌরচন্দ্র! সে লীলা মোহর স্মৃতি হউ জন্মজন্ম॥ ২৮৫॥ স-পার্ষদে তুমি নিত্যানন্দ যথা-যথা। লীলা কর, মুঞি যেন ভৃত্য হঙ তথা॥ ২৮৬॥ শ্রীকৃষ্ণচৈতন্য-নিত্যানন্দচাঁদ জান। বৃন্দাবনদাস তদু পদযুগে গান॥ ২৮৭॥

Translation. "Even so, grant me this mercy, O Gauracandra: may the memory of this very pastime remain with me, birth after birth. Wherever You, together with Nityānanda and Your associates, perform Your pastimes, there let me be Your servant." Know Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya and Nityānanda-candra [to be one and the same Truth] — Vṛndāvana Dāsa sings at the pair of Their feet.

Explanation. In place of "bhṛtya haṅa tathā" a variant reads "bhṛtya haṅa tathā tathā," the sense being the same. See the note on payar 1.2.285 [for the closing formula "know Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya and Nityānanda to be one and the same Truth; Vṛndāvana Dāsa sings at the pair of Their feet," repeated at the end of each chapter].

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Thus ends the eighth chapter of the Ādi-khaṇḍa of Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata, entitled "The Description of Śrī Gaurāṅga's Touring of the City," together with the Nitāi-karuṇā-kallolinī commentary.

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