maheÅ›a-ÄveÅ›a hailÄ Å›acÄ«ra nandana
tÄra skandhe caá¸i ná¹›tya kaila bahu-ká¹£aṇa
maheÅ›a-ÄveÅ›a - in the mood of Lord Åšiva; hailÄ - became; Å›acÄ«ra - of mother ÅšacÄ«; nandana - son; tÄra skandhe - on his shoulder; caá¸i - getting on; ná¹›tya - dance; kaila - did; bahu-ká¹£aṇa - for a long time.
Then Lord Caitanya, adopting the mood of Lord Śiva, got on the man’s shoulders, and thus they danced together for a long time.
Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu adopted the mood of Lord Åšiva, for He is Åšiva also. According to the philosophy of acintya-bhedÄbheda-tattva, Lord Åšiva is not different from Lord Viṣṇu, but still Lord Åšiva is not Lord Viṣṇu, just as yogurt is nothing but milk and yet is not milk nevertheless. One cannot get the benefit of milk by drinking yogurt. Similarly, one cannot get salvation by worshiping Lord Åšiva. If one wants salvation, one must worship Lord Viṣṇu. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (9.4): mat-sthÄni sarva-bhÅ«tÄni na cÄhaá¹ teá¹£v avasthitaḥ. Everything is resting on the Lord, for everything is His energy, yet He is not everywhere. Lord Caitanya’s adopting the mood of Lord Åšiva is not extraordinary, but one should not therefore think that by worshiping Lord Åšiva one is worshiping Lord Caitanya. That would be a mistake.
