Sri Caitanya’s pastimes in Jagannatha Purī | Amarendra Dasa

Jagannatha Swami nayana pata gami bhavatu me!
"O Jagannatha, Lord of the Universe, please be visible before my eyes."

"Now please hear about Lord Jagannatha's going to the Gundica temple while Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu danced before the Ratha car. The Lord performed kirtana for some time and, through His own endeavor, inspired all the devotees to dance. When the Lord Himself wanted to dance, all seven groups combined together. The Lord's devotees--including Srivasa, Ramai, Raghu, Govinda, Mukunda, Haridasa, Govindananda, Madhava and Govinda--all combined together. When Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu desired to jump high while dancing, He placed these nine people in the charge of Svarupa Damodara. These devotees [Svarupa Damodara and the devotees in his charge] sang along with the Lord, and they also ran beside Him. All the other groups of men also sang.

Having recited all these verses from scripture, the Lord again offered His obeisances, and all the devotees, with folded hands, also offered prayers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

When Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu danced and jumped high, roaring like thunder and moving in a circle like a wheel, He appeared like a circling firebrand. Wherever Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu stepped while dancing, the whole earth, with its hills and seas, appeared to tilt.

When Caitanya Mahaprabhu danced, He displayed various blissful transcendental changes in His body. Sometimes He appeared as though stunned. Sometimes the hairs of His body stood on end. Sometimes He perspired, cried, trembled and changed color, and sometimes He exhibited symptoms of helplessness, pride, exuberance and humility.

When Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu fell down with a crash while dancing, He would roll on the ground. At such times it appeared that a golden mountain was rolling on the ground. Nityananda Prabhu would stretch out His two hands and try to catch the Lord when He was running here and there. Advaita Acarya would walk behind the Lord and loudly chant "Hari bol! Hari bol!" again and again.

Everyone was astonished by the dancing of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and even Lord Jagannatha became extremely happy to see Him. The car came to a complete standstill and remained immobile while Lord Jagannatha, with unblinking eyes, watched the dancing of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The goddess of fortune, Subhadra, and Lord Balarama both felt great happiness and ecstasy within Their hearts. Indeed, They were seen smiling at the dancing.

When Caitanya Mahaprabhu danced and jumped high, eight wonderful transformations indicative of divine ecstasy were seen in His body. All these symptoms were visible simultaneously. His skin erupted with goose pimples, and the hairs of His body stood on end. His body resembled the simuli [silk cotton tree], all covered with thorns. Indeed, the people became afraid just to see His teeth chatter, and they even thought that His teeth would fall out.

Sometimes He appeared stunned, and sometimes He rolled on the ground. Indeed, sometimes His legs and hands became as hard as dry wood, and He did not move. When the Lord fell on the ground, sometimes His breathing almost stopped. When the devotees saw this, their lives also became very feeble. Water flowed from His eyes and sometimes through His nostrils, and foam fell from His mouth. These flowings appeared to be torrents of nectar descending from the moon.

The foam which fell from the mouth of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was taken and drunk by Subhananda because he was very fortunate and expert in relishing the mellow of ecstatic love of Krsna. After performing His devastating dance for some time, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mind entered into a mood of ecstatic love.

After abandoning the dancing, the Lord ordered Svarupa Damodara to sing. Understanding His mind, Svarupa Damodara began to sing as follows. "Now I have gained the Lord of My life, in the absence of whom I was being burned by Cupid and was withering away." When this refrain was loudly sung by Svarupa Damodara, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu again began rhythmically dancing in transcendental bliss.

The car of Lord Jagannatha began to move slowly while the son of mother Saci went ahead and danced in front. While dancing and singing, all the devotees in front of Lord Jagannatha kept their eyes on Him. Caitanya Mahaprabhu then went to the end of the procession with the sankirtana performers.

His eyes and mind fully absorbed in Lord Jagannatha, Caitanya Mahaprabhu began to play the drama of the song with His two arms. When Caitanya Mahaprabhu was dramatically enacting the song, He would sometimes fall behind in the procession. At such times, Lord Jagannatha would come to a standstill. When Caitanya Mahaprabhu again went forward, Lord Jagannatha's car would slowly start again.

Thus there was a sort of competition between Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Lord Jagannatha in seeing who would lead, but Caitanya Mahaprabhu was so strong that He made Lord Jagannatha wait in His car