Chapter 12: The Journey to Gayā

Seeing the world's aversion to Kṛṣṇa-bhakti, and the devotees' consequent sorrow at it, and hearing outward-turned people slander the devotees, the Lord — though He desired to reveal Himself — resolved not to do so just then, but instead to go to Gayā, intending to reveal Himself only after His return. This chapter narrates: the Lord's journey to Gayā with a number of His disciples; His beholding the Deity of Madhusūdana at Mandāra-parvata along the way; His manifesting fever in His own body to instruct the world, and the fever's cessation upon His drinking the foot-water of a brāhmaṇa devoted in mind to Kṛṣṇa. The Lord's entry into Gayā, His beholding the Viṣṇu-pāda-padma (the lotus feet of Viṣṇu), and His providential meeting there with Īśvara Purī. The tīrtha-śrāddha. Īśvara Purī's providential arrival while the Lord was cooking His meal; Īśvara Purī's dining; the Lord's affection for Purī Gosvāmī; the Lord's receiving initiation from Purī, near Gayā, into the ten-syllable Gopāla-mantra. The Lord's vision of Śrī Kṛṣṇa while meditating in solitude on His worshipable mantra, and Śrī Kṛṣṇa's subsequent disappearance; the Lord's agitation and loss of composure in separation from Kṛṣṇa, and His disciples' restoring His composure. The Lord's setting out alone, at the end of night, telling no one, toward Mathurā in longing to see Kṛṣṇa; His hearing a voice from heaven along the way and returning to His lodging; and His subsequent return to Navadvīpa. The author's own closing verses (upasaṃhāra-śloka) concluding the Ādi-khaṇḍa.

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জয় জয় শ্রীগৌরসুন্দর মহেশ্বর। জয় নিত্যানন্দপ্রিয় নিত্য-কলেবর ॥ ১ জয় সর্ব্ব-বৈষ্ণবের ধন মন প্রাণ। কৃপাদৃষ্টে কর প্রভু সর্ব্বজীবে ত্রাণ ॥ ২ আদিখণ্ড-কথা ভাই শুন সাবধানে। শ্রীগৌরসুন্দর গয়া চলিলা যেমনে ॥ ৩

Translation. All glory, all glory to Śrī Gaurasundara, the Supreme Lord! All glory to Him who is dear to Nityānanda, whose form is eternal! All glory to Him who is the wealth, the mind, and the very life of all Vaiṣṇavas! O Lord, with Your merciful glance deliver all souls! Listen carefully, O brother, to the story of the Ādi-khaṇḍa — how Śrī Gaurasundara went to Gayā.

Explanation. Maheśvara — Parabrahman, Svayaṁ Bhagavān (see the commentary on payar 1.2.1). Nityānanda-priya — one to whom Nityānanda is dear, or, taken the other way, one for whom Nityānanda is dear — either way an epithet of Śrī Gaurasundara. Nitya-kalevara — one whose body, being of the nature of sac-cid-ānanda, is eternal, true across all three times; this too describes Gaurasundara.

The venerable author, having in the earlier chapters of the Ādi-khaṇḍa narrated Mahāprabhu's birth, childhood, boyhood, student years, marriage, and His early pastimes of teaching at Navadvīpa, here opens the final chapter with a fresh outburst of jaya-dhvani, glory-cries, before turning to narrate the culminating pastime of this khaṇḍa: the journey to Gayā that transforms the grave young paṇḍita of Navadvīpa into the God-intoxicated preacher of prema who will fill the whole of Bengal with saṅkīrtana. Gayā itself is the celebrated pitṛ-tīrtha (place of pilgrimage for ancestor-worship) on the bank of the river Phalgu, where, upon the head of the demon Gayāsura, the lotus feet of Śrī Gadādhara Viṣṇu are enshrined — the head of Gayāsura being said to extend over a whole krośa ("krośaikasya gayā-śiraḥ"). The scriptures speak at length of the glory of offering piṇḍa to one's forefathers at the Viṣṇu-pādapadma on Gayāśiras; and at Gayā there are said to be forty-five sacred sites (vedīs) in all — Gayāśiras, Akṣayavaṭa, Rāmaśilā, Pretaśilā, Brahmakuṇḍa, Dhenuka-tīrtha, Yonidvāra, Phalgu-tīrtha, and many more — whose glory is recounted in the Vāyu Purāṇa, in the sixty-fourth chapter of the Droṇa-parva of the Mahābhārata, and in the tenth chapter of the Hari-vaṃśa.

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V.4. Thus in Navadvīpa, Śrī Vaikuṇṭhanātha (Golokanātha Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself — see the commentary on payar 1.1.109) dwelt in the guise of the foremost among teachers (adhyāpaka-śiromaṇi).

V.5. On every side irreligion (pāṣaṇḍa) was growing ever greater, so much so that the very name of bhakti-yoga had become a thing hard even to hear spoken.

V.6. People took great delight in the false rasa [of transient worldly pleasure]; the devotees, seeing this, grieved deeply within.

V.7. The Lord, absorbed in His role of teaching, would nonetheless Himself observe the devotees' sorrow.

V.8. Wicked people wandered about ceaselessly slandering the assembly of Vaiṣṇavas, and the Lord Himself would hear it.

V.9. Seeing the world's aversion, the devotees' sorrow, and hearing the slander of the wicked, the wish arose in the Lord's heart to reveal Himself. Thus He thought: "I shall go to Gayā first, and [reveal Myself] after I return."

V.10. The all-willing Lord, Bhagavān Śrī Gaurasundara, felt within Himself the wish to behold the land of Gayā.

V.11. Having performed the śrāddha rites according to scriptural injunction [at home, seeking the ancestors' blessing before the pilgrimage], He set out on the journey, taking many disciples with Him.

V.12. Taking His mother's permission, with a heart full of great joy, Mahāprabhu set out to see Gayā.

V.13. Turning every land and village He passed through into a place of holy pilgrimage by the mere touch of His feet, His lotus feet proceeded triumphantly toward the sight of Gayā.

V.14. Amid discourses on dharma, ordinary conversation, and playful jest, the Lord arrived after some days at Mandāra — the mountain in the Bhāgalpur district where the four-armed Deity of Śrī Madhusūdana is enshrined.

The author's commentator, Śrīla Ātulakṛṣṇa Gosvāmī Prabhupāda, records here Murāri Gupta's own account (from his Kaḍacā, or Caitanya-carita) of this journey: that on the way to Gayā, Śrī Caitanyadeva, having duly performed the tarpaṇa rites for His forefathers at the lake called Corāddhyaka, ascended Mandāra-parvata together with His beloved companions.

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V.15. Seeing there the Deity of Madhusūdana at Mandāra, He offered obeisance to the entire mountain, absorbed in His own sportive mood (sva-līlā).

V.16. Thus, coming along the road for some further distance, on another day He manifested fever in His own body.

V.17. Like an ordinary mortal, the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha — merely to instruct the world — assumed a fever.

V.18. Midway on the road the Lord manifested this fever; His disciples became anxious at heart.

V.19. Remaining there on the road, they applied many remedies; still the fever would not leave — for such, in truth, was His own will.

Explanation. Murāri Gupta's account, continued from the commentary above, fills out this episode vividly: descending swiftly from Mandāra-parvata, the Lord came to the house of a brāhmaṇa at the foot of the mountain. There, for the instruction of the world, His body burned with fever. "Alas!" He seemed to lament, "by some turn of fate my body has become disabled on the road — how, then, shall the rites for my forefathers at Gayā be accomplished?" Thinking that an obstacle had arisen in the midst of an auspicious undertaking, the Lord appeared overcome with anxiety. Then, reflecting within Himself, He resolved that the remedy for the fever's cure was service at a brāhmaṇa's feet. Knowing this, Bhagavān rendered service at a brāhmaṇa's feet and drank the water that had washed them.

V.20. Then the Lord Himself prescribed the remedy: "All sorrow is dispelled by drinking a brāhmaṇa's foot-water."

V.21. To demonstrate the glory of a brāhmaṇa's foot-water, the Lord Himself drank it before their very eyes.

V.22. Having drunk the brāhmaṇa's foot-water, the Lord instantly became well — the fever was gone.

Murāri Gupta's Kaḍacā (1.15.9–13) specifies precisely whose foot-water this was: "Whatever brāhmaṇas were devoted to Madhusūdana, ceaselessly absorbed in thought of Kṛṣṇa's feet — of these, the Lord Himself, in the self-conception of a devotee of Kṛṣṇa (kṛṣṇa-jana-abhimānī), drank the supreme foot-water. Thereupon the fever subsided; and having shown them devotion to a brāhmaṇa's feet, He went once more to the holy place named Punaḥpunā, and there worshipped the deities of the twice-born." This makes it clear: the Lord drank the foot-water specifically of brāhmaṇas who were themselves surrendered to Kṛṣṇa and constantly absorbed in thought of His feet — not of brāhmaṇas indiscriminately. (Elsewhere, at 1.11.4–5, this same work speaks of a different class of brāhmaṇa altogether — those whose very company and touch are, through some fault, to be shunned — so it cannot be the author's intention here to glorify the foot-water of any brāhmaṇa whatsoever; the purport of the Gītā verse quoted below confirms this.)

V.23. That the Lord drinks a brāhmaṇa's foot-water is His own very nature (svabhāva) — this is attested by the Vedas and Purāṇas.

Śloka (Bhagavad-gītā 4.11), quoted in support: "যে যথা মাং প্রপদ্যন্তে তাংস্তথৈব ভজাম্যহম্। মম বর্ত্মানুবর্তন্তে মনুষ্যাঃ পার্থ সর্বশঃ॥"

Translation. (Śrī Kṛṣṇa says to Arjuna:) "As all surrender unto Me, I reciprocate with them accordingly — granting them their desired fruit and thereby gratifying them. O Pārtha, in every way, human beings follow My path."

Explanation. Śrīdhara Svāmī glosses this verse to mean: whether people worship with desire for some fruit, or without such desire, in whatever manner each, according to his own inclination, chooses to worship Him, the Lord grants that person the fruit he desires and shows him favor accordingly; even those who, out of desire, worship Indra and the other gods rather than Kṛṣṇa directly are not, on that account, neglected by Him — because human beings, in every way, even as servants of Indra and the rest, are in truth only following the path of worship of Kṛṣṇa Himself, since it is Kṛṣṇa who, in the very forms of Indra and the other gods, is their true object of worship (cf. Gītā 9.23–24). Śrīpāda Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa's commentary gives the same purport differently: Parabrahman Svayaṁ Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa has, from beginningless time, manifested Himself in infinite forms; whoever, according to his own taste, worships whichever of these forms in whatever mood, Kṛṣṇa reciprocates with him in that same form and mood — for across the many paths of worship, people are, whether they know it or not, only following the path of worship of Kṛṣṇa Himself, who appears, like a many-faceted jewel, in countless forms.

The author cites this verse in support of the preceding couplet (v.23) — that the Lord's drinking a brāhmaṇa's foot-water is His very nature. How does the verse support this? Here, "the Lord" is Śrī Gaurachandra, who drank the foot-water specifically of a brāhmaṇa absorbed in thought of Kṛṣṇa; and this act of drinking a devotee-brāhmaṇa's foot-water stands, by extension, for devotee-like conduct in general. That Īśvara Gaurachandra behaved thus toward a Kṛṣṇa-devotee brāhmaṇa is His very nature — and why is it His nature? Because Svayaṁ Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa, in descending as Gaurachandra, has accepted the very mood of a devotee, with precisely this resolve: "I shall Myself adopt the mood of a devotee; I shall Myself practice devotion and thereby teach it to everyone — for unless I Myself practice it, no one will learn dharma from mere precept" (Cc. 1.3.18–19). Kṛṣṇa, united in one form with Śrī Rādhā, has descended as Gaurachandra; and it is precisely because Śrī Rādhā's own mood predominates in that combined form that He is, in truth, "kṛṣṇa-jana-abhimānī" — one who considers Himself Kṛṣṇa's own devotee. It is entirely natural, then, that He should behave as a devotee behaves; that is His svarūpa-gata bhāva, His very own essential disposition — and out of that very disposition He drank the foot-water of Kṛṣṇa-devotee brāhmaṇas.

An alternative sense is also possible, drawn from the verse's second half: "mama vartmānuvartante manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ" — human beings, in every way, follow the path I Myself walk; that is, whatever conduct I Myself display, people follow that very conduct. Why is this so? Because, as Kṛṣṇa elsewhere tells Arjuna, "Whatever the best of men does, other men do likewise; whatever standard he sets, the world follows" (Gītā 3.21) — and, "There is nothing in the three worlds I need do, nothing I have yet to obtain; and yet I engage in action — for if I did not, all people would follow My example and abandon their own prescribed duties, and the world would fall into ruin" (Gītā 3.22–24). It was for the world's benefit, then, that Kṛṣṇa Himself — and, as Gaurachandra, Kṛṣṇa again — performed beneficial acts and thereby set a standard, teaching by example. As Gaurachandra, for the benefit of the aspirants of pure sādhana-bhakti, He displayed the conduct of a devotee — drinking a Kṛṣṇa-devotee's foot-water — and thereby taught what fruit such conduct bears: through pure sādhana-bhakti one obtains, in one or another of the four Vraja-rasas (dāsya, sakhya, vātsalya, mādhurya), direct service to Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself, each according to the mood in which he follows this same conduct. As proof that the author himself intends this second sense, one need only look to the very next verse.

V.24. Whoever ceaselessly holds himself in the position of the Lord's servant — that person's servant the Lord Himself, in turn, inevitably becomes.

V.25. Therefore His name is Sevaka-vatsala, "affectionate to His servant" — accepting defeat Himself, He upholds and magnifies the strength (glory) of His servant.

V.26. The Lord's feet are thus, in every respect, the protector — tell me, then, how could His devotees ever forsake them?

V.27. Thus, having destroyed the fever, the Lord went on and made Himself manifest at the holy place called Puṇaḥpuṇā (Punpun) — the river near Patna, so called because its waters, though once visible on the surface, now flow hidden beneath the sand, still to be reached by digging; the offering of piṇḍa in sand at this Phalgu-like tīrtha is enjoined in the scriptures.

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V.28. Having bathed and worshipped the ancestral deities [at Puṇaḥpuṇā], Śrī Śacīnandana entered Gayā.

V.29. Entering Gayā, the very king of holy places, the Lord folded His lotus hands and offered obeisance.

V.30. Coming to Brahmakuṇḍa (a sacred tīrtha within Gayā), the Lord bathed, and duly honored the ancestral deities.

V.31. Then He came within Cakravaṭa — where the Viṣṇu-pāda-padma, the lotus footprint of Viṣṇu, is enshrined — proceeding eagerly to behold those lotus feet.

V.32. Brāhmaṇas thronged around the place of the holy feet; the garlands offered there rose, heaped up, to the very height of a temple spire.

V.33. On every side stood brāhmaṇas of resplendent form, prostrating themselves in numbers beyond count or reckoning,

V.34. offering fragrance, flowers, incense, lamps, cloth, and ornaments, while reciting the glory of the lotus feet.

The brāhmaṇas' own recitation of that glory is then given, verses 35–38:

V.35. "These are the feet which Kāśīnātha [Viśveśvara Śiva, lord of Kāśī] holds forever in his heart; the feet which are, without cease, the very life of Lakṣmī."

V.36. "These are the feet which once appeared upon the head of King Bali [when the Lord, as Vāmanadeva, placed His foot there] — behold them here, O you who are blessed with such fortune!"

V.37. "These are the feet on which if one but meditates for half the space of a moment, Yamarāja no longer has any authority over him."

V.38. "These are the feet difficult of attainment even for the masters of yoga — behold them here, O you who are blessed with such fortune!"

Explanation. Kāśīnātha is Viśveśvara Śiva, the presiding deity of Kāśī (see payar 3.2.313–90 and the Bhūmikā, paragraph 59, for the scriptural evidence on this point). "Yama has no authority over him" means that meditation, even briefly, on these feet places the soul altogether beyond Yama's jurisdiction. "Yogeśvara" refers to those who have attained the highest stage in the practice of the Veda-enjoined yoga path — either those who have reached the highest plane of aṣṭāṅga-yoga sādhana, or those who have obtained the yogic siddhis such as aṇimā and laghimā. Such masters of yoga, as the following verses explain, do not themselves seek this very refuge — for the practice of yoga aims at union of the individual soul with the indwelling Paramātmā, not at loving service to the Lord's feet; hence, per the Gītā verse already quoted ("ye yathā māṁ prapadyante..."), these feet remain, in that specific sense, difficult of attainment even for them — as difficult as for those intoxicated purely with yogic power.

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V.39. "These are the feet from which the Bhāgīrathī, the sacred Ganges, became manifest — the feet which the devotees never let go from their hearts, holding them fast forever."

V.40. "These are the feet supremely dear even to the Lord Himself as He reclines upon the couch of Ananta — behold them here, O you who are blessed with such fortune!"

V.41. Hearing this glory of the holy feet from the very mouths of the brāhmaṇas, the Lord became overwhelmed with the bliss of prema.

V.42. Streams of tears flowed from His two lotus eyes; the hairs of His body stood on end and His whole frame trembled at the sight of those feet.

V.43. By the good fortune of the entire world, Lord Gaurachandra now began to manifest tears of love.

V.44. An unbroken stream, like the very Gaṅgā, flowed from the Lord's eyes; the brāhmaṇas stood transfixed, watching this supremely wondrous sight — for nowhere else is such a flood of tears ever seen.

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V.45. By providence, at that very moment, Īśvara Purī too — by the Lord's own will — arrived at that same place.

Explanation. Īśvara Purī, disciple of Śrīpāda Mādhavendra Purī Gosvāmī, was a soul filled, by his guru's grace, with kṛṣṇa-prema.

V.46. Seeing Īśvara Purī, Śrī Gaurasundara offered him obeisance with the greatest reverence.

V.47. Īśvara Purī too, seeing Gaurachandra, embraced Him in the greatest joy.

V.48. Each one's form was bathed in the other's tears of love, drenched in the eager wonder of that blissful embrace.

V.49. The Lord said: "My journey to Gayā has now truly borne fruit, in this very moment that I have beheld your feet.

V.50. for while offering piṇḍa at a holy place delivers one's forefathers, you — to whom I now offer myself — you are one who delivers whomever you touch.

V.51. The very instant one but beholds you, ten million forefathers, in that same instant, are released from every bondage.

V.52. Therefore no holy place is your equal — you are the very crown and essence of all auspiciousness, greater than any tīrtha.

V.53. Deliver me from the ocean of material existence — this very body of mine I now offer unto you.

V.54. Grant me to drink the nectarean rasa of Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet — that alone is the gift I beg of you."

Explanation. Dāsya — service. The Lord here, in the mood of a devotee, addresses Īśvara Purī exactly as a surrendered soul addresses a spiritual master, offering his very body and begging only the gift of kṛṣṇa-prema-sevā.

V.55. Īśvara Purī replied: "Listen, O paṇḍita! That you are a portion (aṁśa) of Godhead — or, taking the word differently, that you are He of whom all other forms of Godhead are but portions — this much, at least, is altogether certain to me.

V.56. For such learning as yours, such character as yours — could these possibly belong to anyone but a portion of the Supreme?

V.57. It is as though I saw, this very day, some auspicious dream — and now, before my own eyes, I obtain its fruit.

V.58. Truly I tell you, paṇḍita: at the mere sight of you I feel, at every moment, a joy beyond all other joy.

V.59. From the very hour I first saw you in Nadīyā [see chapter 7 of this khaṇḍa for that first meeting], nothing else has since appealed to my mind.

V.60. This I say in all truth, nothing else is in it: in seeing you, I obtain the very joy of beholding Kṛṣṇa Himself."

V.61. Hearing his beloved Īśvara Purī's sincere words, the Lord smiled and said, "How great, then, is my own good fortune!"

V.62. In this manner many more such joyful exchanges took place between them — let Vedavyāsa himself undertake to describe them all.

Explanation. On the word "aṁśa" in verse 55 — Śrī Rādhāgovinda Nātha notes that a subsequent verse (v.60) makes clear which sense Īśvara Purī intended: not that Gaurachandra is a portion of Godhead among many, but that He is Aṁśī, the very source of whom all other Godhead-forms are portions — Svayaṁ Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself, since it is precisely the sight of Him that grants Purī the joy of beholding Kṛṣṇa.

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V.63. Then the Lord, taking leave of Purī, came and sat down to perform the tīrtha-śrāddha, the rites for His forefathers due at this holy place.

V.64. Having offered piṇḍa of sand at the Phalgu-tīrtha (the river whose waters flow hidden beneath its sands, and where the offering of sand-piṇḍa to the forefathers is scripturally enjoined), He then went up to the mountain-peak site called Pretagayā — also known as Pretaśilā.

V.65. Having performed the śrāddha at Pretagayā, Śrī Śacīnandana gratified the assembled brāhmaṇas with generous dakṣiṇā and sweet words.

Explanation. By this act, the world-teaching Mahāprabhu, through His own conduct, instructed all souls that for a householder — and equally for a Vaiṣṇava householder — it is a duty to perform proper piṇḍa-dāna at the Viṣṇu-pādapadma in Gayā, for the satisfaction of one's forefathers and gurus.

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V.66. Thus, having delivered and duly gratified His forefathers, He went on joyfully to Dakṣiṇa-mānasa — a tīrtha near a lake called Maunārka, close by the Viṣṇu-pāda temple, where bathing, worship of the sun-god Maunārka, and śrāddha are performed.

V.67. Then the Lord went on to Śrī Rāmagayā — the very site where, in His incarnation as Śrī Rāmacandra, He had once performed the śrāddha.

V.68. Performing the śrāddha at that same site in this incarnation as well [as Gaura, in Kali-yuga], Gaurahari then proceeded to Yudhiṣṭhira-gayā.

V.69. There, at the very place where Yudhiṣṭhira had once offered piṇḍa, out of that same devotion Gaurarāya performed the śrāddha.

V.70. Brāhmaṇas surrounded the Lord on every side, conducting the rites and reciting the mantras for Him.

V.71. No sooner had the Lord, having completed the śrāddha, cast the piṇḍa into the water than the local Gayā brāhmaṇas seized and swallowed it, one after another.

V.72. Seeing this, Śrī Śacīnandana smiled — and by that very smile, every bond of saṃsāra binding those brāhmaṇas was instantly severed.

V.73. Having offered piṇḍa at Uttara-mānasa, Śrī Hari Gaurāṅga went on to Bhīmagayā.

V.74. Śivagayā, Brahmagayā, and all the other holy sites there — performing the rites at each in turn, He went on at last to Ṣoḍaśagayā.

V.75. At Ṣoḍaśagayā, reciting the ṣoḍaśī mantras [or, alternatively, offering sixteen gifts], the Lord, filled with reverence, offered piṇḍa to them all.

V.76. Then Mahāprabhu, having bathed at Brahmakuṇḍa, came again to Gayāśiras and offered piṇḍa there.

V.77. Taking divine garlands and sandalwood paste in His own hands, He joyfully worshipped the very mark of Viṣṇu's foot.

V.78. Thus, having performed the śrāddha and its accompanying rites at every one of these sites, He returned to His lodging, having gratified the brāhmaṇas everywhere.

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V.79. Then Mahāprabhu, after some time, feeling refreshed, sat down to cook.

V.80. Just as the cooking was completed, the venerable Śrī Īśvara Purī arrived.

V.81. Chanting Kṛṣṇa's name again and again in the mood of prema, swaying as though intoxicated, he came.

V.82. The Lord at once left off His cooking and, with the utmost reverence, offered him obeisance and seated him.

V.83. Purī said with a smile, "Listen, paṇḍita — I have indeed arrived at a very good time!"

V.84. The Lord said: "Since my good fortune has thus dawned, please, O venerable one, accept this food as alms today!"

V.85. Purī asked with a smile, "And what, then, will you yourself eat?" The Lord replied, "I shall cook rice again for myself."

V.86. Purī said, "What need is there to cook anew? Simply divide the food already prepared into two portions."

V.87. The Lord answered with a smile, "If you truly wish well for me, then eat up all of the food that has already been cooked.

V.88. In but half a moment I shall cook more for myself — feel no hesitation whatever, please accept your meal."

V.89. So the Lord gave Purī His own already-cooked food, and joyfully set about cooking a fresh portion for Himself.

V.90. Such was the Lord's grace toward Īśvara Purī; and Purī, for his part, had no thought in his mind apart from Kṛṣṇa.

V.91. With His own hand the Lord Himself served the food, while Purī ate in the bliss of supreme joy.

V.92. At that very moment, unseen by anyone, the goddess Ramā [Lakṣmī] herself swiftly cooked food for the Lord.

V.93. Then the Lord, having first served Purī his meal, joyfully partook of His own meal as well.

V.94. The Lord's dining together with Īśvara Purī — merely by hearing of it, one obtains the treasure of kṛṣṇa-prema.

V.95. Then the Lord, with His own hand, anointed every limb of Īśvara Purī with divine fragrance.

V.96. Who indeed has the power to describe the full measure of the Lord's affection for Īśvara Purī?

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V.97. The Lord Himself, Bhagavān Śrī Caitanya, went and beheld the birthplace of Īśvara Purī.

V.98. The Lord said: "Obeisance to Kumārahaṭṭa — the very village where Śrī Īśvara Purī took His appearance!"

V.99. Caitanya wept profusely there at that place; no word but "Īśvara Purī!" came from His lips.

V.100. Taking up the very soil of that place with His own hand, He tied it in a bundle within His outer cloth.

V.101. The Lord said: "This is the birthplace of Īśvara Purī — this soil is my very life, my wealth, my breath."

V.102. Such is the Lord's affection for Īśvara Purī — for the Lord holds all His power in reserve simply to exalt His devotees.

Explanation. Kumārahaṭṭa is the modern Hālisahar, in the 24 Parganas district — the birthplace of Śrī Īśvara Purī, whose father was named Śrī Śyāmasundara Ācārya. That the Lord took the soil of this place and tied it in His outer cloth suggests, per Ātulakṛṣṇa Prabhupāda's note, that this visit occurred after Mahāprabhu's own sannyāsa, when He passed through Gauḍa-deśa on His way toward Vṛndāvana and, on that occasion, also visited Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita's house at Kumārahaṭṭa; it was then, presumably, that He took soil from Īśvara Purī's own birth-site and bound it to His own body — a spot still known, four hundred years later, as Caitanya-ḍobā, where pilgrims to this day take the earth in devotion.

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V.103. The Lord said: "My coming here to perform the rites of Gayā has truly borne fruit — for I have beheld Īśvara Purī."

Explanation. A natural question arises: had the Lord not already met Īśvara Purī once before, in Navadvīpa itself (see chapter 7 of this khaṇḍa), even inviting him to His own home and taking alms there, and keeping his company for many days? Why, then, should meeting him again at Gayā be called the fruit of His pilgrimage? The purport, as the following verses make clear, seems to be this: it is at Gayā that the Lord will receive dīkṣā from Purī's own hands; and the Lord's own intention appears to be that His forefathers, gratified by the rites He performed for them at Gayā, bestowed upon Him the blessing of this meeting with the very guru from whom He would take initiation. It is for this reason that His pilgrimage is here called truly fruitful — for the real, spiritual fruit (pāramārthika kalyāṇa) of any rite lies precisely in such an outcome.

V.104. On another day, in solitude, He went to Īśvara Purī and, in sweet and gentle words, asked for mantra-dīkṣā.

V.105. Purī said: "What is a mantra, that you should even ask? I would give even my very life to you, in every way."

V.106. Then, from him, [Mahāprabhu, who is] Nārāyaṇa Himself — accepting the role of śikṣā-disciple — received the ten-syllable [Gopāla] mantra.

Explanation. Nārāyaṇa here means mūla-Nārāyaṇa, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself (see the commentary on payar 1.1.109). The ten-syllable mantra is the mantra for worshipping, in the mood of a lover (kāntā-bhāva), Vrajendra-nandana Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The Lord is Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa, mūla-Nārāyaṇa Svayaṁ Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself; He has no object of worship, nor could He have one — so there was, strictly, no need at all for Him to accept dīkṣā, still less to seek an object of worship through it. Why, then, did He accept initiation? The author himself has already answered this, in calling Īśvara Purī His "śikṣā-guru": it is with exactly the same resolve already quoted above — "I shall Myself practice devotion and thereby teach it to the world" — that Svayaṁ Bhagavān mūla-Nārāyaṇa Śrī Kṛṣṇa, accepting the mood of a devotee, descended as Gaurachandra. His taking of initiation is itself a pastime performed wholly in that devotional mood; and through this pastime He taught the world that the first and indispensable act in the practice of sādhana-bhakti is to take shelter of a qualified guru's feet and receive initiation from him.

V.107. Then the Lord, circumambulating Purī, said: "I have given you this very body of mine.

V.108. Bestow upon me such an auspicious glance that I may float forever in the ocean of kṛṣṇa-prema."

V.109. Hearing the Lord's words, Śrī Īśvara Purī embraced Him, pressing Him close to his own chest.

V.110. Each one's body was drenched with the other's tears; overwhelmed by that love, neither of them could remain steady.

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V.111. Thus, showing His grace to Īśvara Purī, Gaurahari remained some further days at Gayā.

V.112. The time for His self-revelation was now drawing near; day by day, the triumphant advance of prema-bhakti increased within Him.

V.113. One day Mahāprabhu, sitting in solitude, began to meditate upon His own worshipable mantra — the mantra received at initiation, the ten-syllable Gopāla-mantra, the mantra for worship of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, gopī-jana-vallabha, the beloved of the gopīs.

V.114. In the bliss of that meditation, the Lord — manifesting it outwardly, so that others too could hear — began to weep and cry out loudly.

Explanation. The following verse (116) makes clear that during this meditation the Lord actually beheld Śrī Kṛṣṇa — "I had found my Lord" — and that this vision then vanished. Bāhya prakāśiyā here does not mean that He "came to external consciousness" but rather that He made His inner state audible to those outside — as anyone crying aloud, without any trace of trance, is naturally heard by all around. It was this that the following verses (117–20) describe as His having no external awareness at all — He remained wholly immersed in prema-bhakti-rasa, adrift, as the text says, "on the ocean of His own bhakti-viraha," the ocean of separation born of His own loving devotion.

V.115. "O Kṛṣṇa! O Father! O Śrī Hari, my very life! Where have You gone, stealing away my very soul?"

V.116. "I had found my Lord — where has He gone?" Reciting such verses again and again, the Lord went on weeping.

Explanation. The verses He recited were, per the commentary, exactly those most poignant lines spoken by Śrī Rādhā when forsaken by Kṛṣṇa: "O Lord, O lover, O dearest, where, where have You gone, O mighty-armed one? Show yourself, my friend, to this wretched one who longs so for You" (Bhāgavata 10.30.39), and similar verses.

V.117. The Lord became wholly immersed in the mellow of separation-suffused prema; His entire body turned grey, covered with dust [from rolling on the ground].

V.118. Crying out in anguish, the Lord called aloud: "Where have You gone, O Father Kṛṣṇa, forsaking me?"

V.119. He who had always, at Gayā, remained supremely grave — even more so than in His playful moments as a teacher at Navadvīpa — that same Lord now, through this love, became utterly without composure.

V.120. He rolled upon the ground, weeping aloud, adrift upon the very ocean of separation born of His own devotion.

Explanation. On why the Lord, in this anguish, calls Kṛṣṇa "bāp re" — "O Father!" — the commentary devotes considerable attention. It cannot mean that Kṛṣṇa is literally His father, or He Kṛṣṇa's son or parent, in any worldly sense; nor, since the Lord at this very moment was meditating on Kṛṣṇa as gopī-jana-vallabha in the ten-syllable mantra — a meditation in which even ordinary sādhakas never conceive of their worshipable Lord as father, son, or world-creator, since any such conception would import a sense of Kṛṣṇa's aiśvarya (majesty) wholly foreign to this intimate, mādhurya-suffused worship — can it be meant in that ordinary sense either. The Lord is not a conditioned soul; He is the combined form of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, in whom Śrī Rādhā's own mood predominates above all else; in this absorbed state He considers Himself Rādhā, and Kṛṣṇa His own beloved (prāṇavallabha) — and for Rādhā to call her own beloved Kṛṣṇa "father," in either a filial or parental sense, would plainly contradict her very mood. The resolution lies in the true root-sense of the word: pitā (father) derives from the root pā, "to protect, to nourish" — so that the primary meaning of "father" is not "begetter" but "protector, sustainer" (as the Bhāgavata itself declares: one who cannot deliver a soul from the fear of death is, in the deepest sense, no true guru, no true father, no true husband — Bhāgavata 5.5.18). And "bāp," in colloquial usage, is simply the vernacular form of "pitā" in this very sense of protector. So when the Lord, believing Kṛṣṇa to have vanished from His sight, cried out in Rādhā's own viraha-stricken mood, "Kṛṣṇa re! Bāp re!" — He meant: "O Kṛṣṇa, who draw my whole heart to Yourself! O my Protector, my Refuge! Having once shown Yourself and stolen my heart with Your beauty and sweetness, why have You now vanished — how shall I live without seeing You again? You alone are, in every respect, my sustainer, my protector — show Yourself once more, and save me." That He calls Kṛṣṇa, in the very next breath, His "prāṇanātha" — Lord of His life, her own beloved — confirms that "bāp" here cannot carry any parental or filial sense at all, for no one calls their father or their child their "prāṇanātha."

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V.121. After some time, all His disciples came running and, with the utmost care, restored the Lord to His composure.

Explanation. The Lord had been meditating alone, in solitude; none of His disciples were present at first. Only after hearing His loud weeping did they come running — hence "after some time."

V.122. The Lord said: "All of you, go back home; I shall never again return to household life.

V.123. I shall go, at all costs, to see Mathurā — to the place where I may find my very Lord of life, Kṛṣṇacandra."

V.124. In many ways they consoled Him, and, joining together, at last managed to keep Him settled.

V.125. Immersed in the mellow of devotion, the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha found no peace of mind at all — how, then, could He remain still?

V.126. Telling no one, near the very end of night, the Lord set out for Mathurā, overwhelmed with love.

V.127. "O Kṛṣṇa, my Father! Where shall I find You?" — saying this again and again, Gaurarāya went on His way.

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V.128. Having gone some distance, He heard a divine voice (dibya-bāṇī, an āśa-vāṇī): "Do not go to Mathurā just now, O jewel among the twice-born!

V.129. There is a time appointed for that journey — you shall go then. For now, return to your own house in Navadvīpa.

V.130. You are indeed the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha, who has descended, together with all Your own associates, to deliver the fallen souls.

V.131. You are to spread saṅkīrtana throughout the endless universes, and give to the world the very treasure of prema-bhakti —

V.132. that same treasure by which Brahmā, Śiva, and Sanaka and his brothers are overwhelmed, that same auspicious glory which even the mighty Lord Ananta sings without cease —

V.133. it is to give precisely that to the world that You have descended; know this well Yourself.

V.134. We are Your servants, and it is not truly ours to counsel You — yet still we wished to say this, and so have submitted it at Your very feet.

V.135. You Yourself are the ordainer of Your own will, O Lord! Whatever You desire, that can never rightly be gainsaid —

V.136. and so, O Mahāprabhu, return home; after some further time, You shall come and see the city of Mathurā."

Explanation. This celestial voice, spoken by the assembled demigods, occupies verses 128 through 136. Brahmā, Śiva, Sanaka, and the other exalted beings say, in effect: "We are Your servants, and it is therefore no place of ours to instruct You — that would be mere impertinence on our part. And yet we wish to remind You of something. Absorbed in the mood of Your own eternal līlā — the pastime of relishing the sweetness of Your own Kṛṣṇa-svarūpa — You have, for the moment, set aside the purpose for which You descended into this world. It is only to recall that purpose to You that we, Your servants, now submit at Your feet: do not go to Mathurā now; return instead to Navadvīpa, and there begin the saṅkīrtana that will fill the universe, distributing to the world the treasure of prema-bhakti." This entire declaration — that the very form which sings "kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇam" of the Bhāgavata, and of which the Muṇḍaka-śruti speaks ("yadā paśyaḥ paśyate..."), is none other than Svayaṁ Bhagavān Himself — confirms, once again, that Gaurasundara is Kṛṣṇa Himself.

V.137. Hearing this voice from heaven, Śrī Gaurasundara turned back, His heart now filled with joy.

V.138. Returning to His lodging together with all His disciples, He then set out for His own home, to reveal there His mission of devotion.

V.139. Gaurachandra made His triumphant entry into Navadvīpa; day by day the dawning of prema-bhakti grew ever greater within Him.

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V.140. The story of the Ādi-khaṇḍa is now complete, up to this point — now listen well, [O reader,] to the story of the Madhya-khaṇḍa [that follows].

V.141. Whoever hears of the Lord's journey to Gayā — with him, Lord Gaurachandra shall unite Himself, heart to heart.

V.142. By hearing Kṛṣṇa's glories, one obtains Kṛṣṇa's very association; and once that association with the Lord is obtained, it is never again forsaken (cf. the Bṛhadāraṇyaka-śruti: such a bond, once formed, is not bound by any measure of time).

V.143. Nityānanda, the indwelling witness of all hearts (antaryāmī), spoke joyfully, bidding [the author] to set down in a book something of Caitanya's character.

V.144. By his mercy alone do I write this story of Caitanya; in this task I possess, of my own, no independent power whatsoever.

V.145. As a puppeteer makes a wooden doll dance at his will, so does Gaurachandra make me speak.

V.146. I know neither the beginning nor the end of Caitanya's story — I merely recount His glory in whatever way I am able.

V.147. As a bird can never reach the limit of the sky, but flies only so far as its own strength allows,

V.148. so too there is no end to Caitanya's glory — each of us sings of it only to the extent of the strength and grace we have each been given.

Śloka (Śrīmad-Bhāgavata, cited in support): "...পতত্রিণঃ আত্মসমং এব নভঃ পতস্তি তথা বিপশ্চিতঃ বিষ্ণুগতিং সমং [বদন্তি]।"

Translation. As birds fly through the sky each according to his own strength, so too the wise, each according to his own understanding, describe the movements — the pastimes and glories — of Viṣṇu.

Explanation. A bird can rise only as high in the sky as its own strength allows, never beyond; the sky itself is boundless, and no bird can ever reach its outer limit. In just the same way, the learned can never fully describe the pastimes, glories, and majesty of the boundlessly glorious, infinitely playful Viṣṇu — the all-pervading, unlimited Truth; each, according to whatever intelligence the Lord's own grace has caused to flash forth within him, describes only that much of His pastimes, and no one is capable of describing them in their entirety — for His pastimes, like Himself, are without end, and no one can ever arrive at their limit or their shore.

V.149. I offer my obeisance at the feet of all Vaiṣṇavas — may I incur, in this undertaking, no offense whatsoever.

V.150. Whoever, having crossed beyond this ocean of material existence, wishes to plunge into the ocean of devotion — let him take shelter of and worship Nitāicāṅd.

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V.151. [Knowing that] the Master of my own master [is Śrī Gaurachandra Himself] — this great assurance I hold, without cease, within my heart.

Explanation. "My master" here is the author's own dīkṣā-guru, Śrī Nityānanda; and his Master (sevya) is Śrī Gaurachandra. As Kavirāja Gosvāmī writes: "It is a wondrous property of Kṛṣṇa's own sweetness that Kṛṣṇa Himself, in order to relish it, assumes the mood of a devotee. In this mood, Caitanya Gosāñi holds the very nature of a devotee; his own embodiment as a devotee is his brother Nityānanda; and his devotee-incarnation is Ācārya Gosāñi [Advaita]. These three truths are all together sung by everyone as 'Prabhu' — one Mahāprabhu, and two further Prabhus; and these two Prabhus render service at Mahāprabhu's own feet" (Cc. 1.7.9–12). Thus Śrī Caitanya Gosāñi alone is "Mahāprabhu," while Śrī Nityānanda and Śrī Advaitācārya are each called "Prabhu" — and these two Prabhus themselves serve at Mahāprabhu Gaurachandra's feet; hence Gaurachandra is Himself the Prabhu (Master) of Nityānanda and of Advaita alike.

V.152. Some say, "Lord Nityānanda is Himself Balarāma"; others say, "He is Caitanya's own most cherished abode [of love]."

V.153. Some say, "He is the supremely powerful principal authority [in these pastimes]"; others say, "I cannot, in any way, fully comprehend His nature."

V.154. Whether Nityānanda be called a renunciant, a devotee, or a man of realized knowledge — let each say of Him whatever he wishes, in whatever way he pleases.

V.155. Whatever anyone may call Him, He remains, in truth, none other than Caitanya's own Nityānanda — may the treasure of His feet remain ever in my heart.

Explanation. Kavirāja Gosvāmī elsewhere calls Nityānanda "Caitanya's mahā-tejasvī aṁśa" — His own supremely radiant expansion, and the principal support (skandha) of His pastimes, foremost among those empowered to assist in them: "Nityānanda alone fulfills all of Caitanya's desire" (Cc. 1.6.134).

V.156. Yet even after all this has been so fully explained, should some heretic (pāṣaṇḍī) still slander Him — [such a one gains nothing thereby, but only compounds his own offense] (this couplet's second line is too corrupted in the source to reconstruct with confidence; see the commentary on payar 1.6.426 for the parallel teaching it evidently echoes, that offenses against Nityānanda's glory bring only ruin upon the offender).

V.157. All glory, all glory to Nityānanda, the very life of Caitanya! May Your feet, O Lord, be my only refuge.

V.158. May I, becoming wholly Yours, sing of Gaurachandra; birth after birth, may I remain ever in Your company.

Explanation. A variant reading of this couplet gives instead: "Hearing the story of Caitanya with faith bears the fruit of bhakti — birth after birth, one takes birth again in the company of Caitanya Himself." Either way, the glory of hearing Gaura-kathā is here proclaimed.

V.159. Whoever, in this Ādi-khaṇḍa, hears the story of Caitanya — with him, Śrī Gaurachandra shall unite Himself, in every possible way.

Explanation. Śrī Gaurachandra is, in truth, Nityānanda's own possession (sampatti) — without Nityānanda's mercy, none can attain Gaura's feet.

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V.160. Taking leave of Īśvara Purī, the Lord Śrī Gaurāṅga-rāya returned home.

V.161. Hearing of His return, the whole of Navadvīpa rejoiced, as though life itself had come back into their very bodies.

V.162. Knowing Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya and Nityānandacandra [as his all in all], Vṛndāvana Dāsa sings this song at the pair of Their feet.

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Śloka 3. আদিখণ্ডকথা দিব্যা যে শৃণ্বন্তি মহাত্মানঃ। সর্ব্বাপরাধনির্মুক্তাস্তে ভবন্তি সুনিশ্চিতম্‌॥

Translation. Those great souls who hear the wondrous, transcendental story of the Ādi-khaṇḍa become freed from every offense — this is altogether certain.

Śloka 4. যে পঠন্তি মহাত্মানো বিলিখন্তি পরাদরৈঃ। প্রলয়েহপি চ তেষাং বৈ তিষ্ঠত্যেব হরেঃ স্মৃতিঃ॥

Translation. Those great souls who, with the utmost reverence, read this Ādi-khaṇḍa, or set it down in writing — for them, remembrance of Hari will surely endure even at the moment of universal dissolution.

Śloka 5. জন্মারভ্য গয়াভূমিগমনে যঃ কথোদয়ঃ। তৎ কথ্যতে বিজ্ঞজনেনাদিখণ্ডস্য লক্ষণম্‌॥

Translation. Whatever narrative has arisen — from [Mahāprabhu's] birth up to His journey to the land of Gayā — that, the wise declare, constitutes the very scope and definition of the Ādi-khaṇḍa.

Śloka 6. কারুণ্যে ভক্তিদাতৃত্বে চৈতন্যগুণবর্ণনে। অমায়াকথনে নাস্তি নিত্যানন্দসমঃ প্রভুঃ॥

Translation. In compassion, in the bestowing of devotion, in describing the qualities of Caitanya, and in speaking without any guile — in none of these is there any Lord equal to Nityānanda.

Explanation. In whatever regard one considers — the bestowal of prema-bhakti, the description of Caitanya's own qualities, or the speaking of utterly sincere, unfeigned words — there is, in any of these respects, no other Lord equal to Śrī Nityānanda.

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ইতি শ্রীচৈতন্যভাগবতে আদিখণ্ডে গয়াভূমিগমনবর্ণনং নাম দ্বাদশোহধ্যায়ঃ॥ ১২॥ সমাপ্তশ্চায়ম্ আদিখণ্ডঃ॥ ॥ ওঁ শ্রীহরিঃ ওঁ॥

Translation. Thus ends the twelfth chapter, entitled "The Description of the Journey to the Land of Gayā," in the Ādi-khaṇḍa of Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata. And thus this Ādi-khaṇḍa is concluded. Oṁ Śrī Hariḥ Oṁ.

With this, Śrīla Vṛndāvana Dāsa Ṭhākura brings to a close the Ādi-khaṇḍa — the "first section" of Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata — having carried the narrative from Mahāprabhu's appearance in Navadvīpa, through His childhood, His years as a brilliant but still outwardly ordinary young paṇḍita, and now to the pivotal turning point of His life: the journey to Gayā where, through Īśvara Purī, He receives initiation into the Gopāla-mantra, tastes for the first time the anguish of separation from Kṛṣṇa, and returns to Navadvīpa an altogether transformed being — no longer merely a teacher of grammar, but the Lord who is about to unveil, through saṅkīrtana, the very treasure of kṛṣṇa-prema to the world. The Madhya-khaṇḍa, which the author explicitly signals in verse 140 above, takes up the story from precisely this point.

ইতি আদিখণ্ডে দ্বাদশ অধ্যায়ের নিতাই-করুণা-কল্লোলিনী টীকা সমাধা। সমগ্র আদিখণ্ডের নিতাই-করুণা-কল্লোলিনী টীকা সমাপ্তা। জয় শ্রীশ্রীগৌর-নিত্যানন্দ॥

Translation. Thus concludes the Nitāi-karuṇā-kallolinī commentary on the twelfth chapter of the Ādi-khaṇḍa. The Nitāi-karuṇā-kallolinī commentary on the entire Ādi-khaṇḍa is hereby concluded. All glory to Śrī Śrī Gaura-Nityānanda!

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End of Chapter 12 and of the Ādi-khaṇḍa.