Sri Caitanya Caritamrita

Madhya-lila
Chapter 7: The Lord Begins His Tour of South India

Text* 1: Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu, being very compassionate toward a brÄhmaṇa named VÄsudeva, cured him of leprosy. He transformed him into a beautiful man satisfied with devotional service. I offer my respectful obeisances unto the glorious Lord ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu.
Text* 2: All glories to Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu! All glories to Lord NityÄnanda Prabhu! All glories to Advaita Ä€cÄrya! And all glories to all the devotees of Lord Caitanya!
Text* 3: After delivering SÄrvabhauma Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya, the Lord desired to go to South India to preach.
Text* 4: ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu accepted the renounced order during the waxing fortnight of the month of MÄgha. During the following month, PhÄlguna, He went to JagannÄtha PurÄ« and resided there.
Text* 5: At the end of the month of PhÄlguna, He witnessed the Dola-yÄtrÄ ceremony, and in His usual ecstatic love of God, He chanted and danced in various ways on the occasion.
Text* 6: During the month of Caitra, while living at JagannÄtha PurÄ«, the Lord delivered SÄrvabhauma Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya, and at the beginning of the next month (VaiÅ›Äkha), He decided to go to South India.
Text* 7-8: ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu called all His devotees together and, holding them by the hand, humbly informed them, “You are all more dear to Me than My life. I can give up My life, but to give you up is difficult for Me.
Text* 9: “You are all My friends, and you have properly executed the duties of friends by bringing Me here to JagannÄtha PurÄ« and giving Me the chance to see Lord JagannÄtha in the temple.
Text* 10: “I now beg all of you for one bit of charity. Please give Me permission to leave for a tour of South India.
Text* 11: “I shall go to search out Viśvarūpa. Please forgive Me, but I want to go alone; I do not wish to take anyone with Me.
Text* 12: “Until I return from Setubandha, all of you dear friends should remain at JagannÄtha PurÄ«.â€
Text* 13: Knowing everything, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu was aware that ViÅ›varÅ«pa had already passed away. A pretense of ignorance was necessary, however, so that He could go to South India and liberate the people there.
Text* 14: Upon hearing this message from ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu, all the devotees became very unhappy and remained silent with sullen faces.
Text* 15: NityÄnanda Prabhu then said, “How is it possible for You to go alone? Who can tolerate this?
Text* 16: “Let one or two of us go with You; otherwise You may fall into the clutches of thieves and rogues along the way. They may be whomever You like, but two persons should go with You.
Text* 17: “Indeed, I know all the paths to the different places of pilgrimage in South India. Just order Me, and I shall go with You.â€
Text* 18: The Lord replied, “I am simply a dancer, and You are the wire-puller. However You pull the wires to make Me dance, I shall dance in that way.
Text* 19: “After accepting the sannyÄsa order, I decided to go to Vá¹›ndÄvana, but You took Me instead to the house of Advaita Prabhu.
Text* 20: “While on the way to JagannÄtha PurÄ«, You broke My sannyÄsa staff. I know that all of you have great affection for Me, but such things disturb My activities.
Text* 21: “JagadÄnanda wants Me to enjoy bodily sense gratification, and out of fear I do whatever he tells Me.
Text* 22: “If I sometimes do something against his desire, out of anger he will not talk to Me for three days.
Text* 23: “Being a sannyÄsÄ«, I have a duty to lie down on the ground and to take a bath three times a day, even during the winter. But Mukunda becomes very unhappy when he sees My severe austerities.
Text* 24: “Of course, Mukunda does not say anything, but I know that he is very unhappy within, and upon seeing him unhappy, I become twice as unhappy.
Text* 25: “Although I am in the renounced order of life and DÄmodara is a brahmacÄrÄ«, he still keeps a stick in his hand just to educate Me.
Text* 26: “According to DÄmodara, I am still a neophyte as far as social etiquette is concerned; therefore he does not like My independent nature.
Text 27: “DÄmodara Paṇá¸ita and others are more advanced in receiving the mercy of Lord Kṛṣṇa; therefore they are independent of public opinion. As such, they want Me to enjoy sense gratification, even though it be unethical. But since I am a poor sannyÄsÄ«, I cannot abandon the duties of the renounced order, and therefore I follow them strictly.
Text* 28: “You should all therefore remain here in NÄ«lÄcala for some days while I tour the sacred places of pilgrimage alone.â€
Text 29: Actually the Lord was controlled by the good qualities of all His devotees. On the pretense of attributing faults, He tasted all these qualities.
Text* 30: No one can properly describe Lord ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu’s affection for His devotees. He always tolerated all kinds of personal unhappiness resulting from His acceptance of the renounced order of life.
Text* 31: The regulative principles observed by Caitanya MahÄprabhu were sometimes intolerable, and all the devotees became greatly affected by them. Although strictly observing the regulative principles, Caitanya MahÄprabhu could not tolerate the unhappiness felt by His devotees.
Text 32: Therefore, to prevent them from accompanying Him and becoming unhappy, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu declared their good qualities to be faults.
Text* 33: Four devotees then humbly insisted that they go with the Lord, but ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu, being the independent Supreme Personality of Godhead, did not accept their request.
Text* 34: Thereupon Lord NityÄnanda said, “Whatever You order is My duty, regardless of whether it results in happiness or unhappiness.
Text* 35: “Yet I still submit one petition to You. Please consider it, and if You think it proper, please accept it.
Text* 36: “You must take with You a loincloth, external clothes and a waterpot. You should take nothing more than this.
Text 37: “Since Your two hands will always be engaged in chanting and counting the holy names, how will You be able to carry the waterpot and external garments?
Text* 38: “When, along the way, You fall unconscious in ecstatic love of Godhead, who will protect Your belongings — the waterpot, garments and so forth?â€
Text 39: ÅšrÄ« NityÄnanda Prabhu continued, “Here is a simple brÄhmaṇa named KṛṣṇadÄsa. Please accept him and take him with You. That is My request.
Text* 40: “He will carry Your waterpot and garments. You may do whatever You like; he will not say a word.â€
Text* 41: Accepting the request of Lord NityÄnanda Prabhu, Lord Caitanya took all His devotees and went to the house of SÄrvabhauma Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya.
Text* 42: As soon as they entered his house, SÄrvabhauma Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya offered the Lord obeisances and a place to sit. After seating all the others, the Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya took his seat.
Text* 43: After they had discussed various topics about Lord Kṛṣṇa, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu informed SÄrvabhauma Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya, “I have come to your place just to receive your order.
Text* 44: “My elder brother, ViÅ›varÅ«pa, has taken sannyÄsa and gone to South India. Now I must go search for Him.
Text* 45: “Please permit Me to go, for I must tour South India. With your permission, I shall soon return very happily.â€
Text* 46: Upon hearing this, SÄrvabhauma Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya became very much agitated. Catching hold of the lotus feet of Caitanya MahÄprabhu, he gave this sorrowful reply.
Text* 47: “After many births, due to some pious activity I got Your association. Now providence is breaking this invaluable association.
Text* 48: “If a thunderbolt falls on my head or if my son dies, I can tolerate it. But I cannot endure the unhappiness of separation from You.
Text* 49: “My dear Lord, You are the independent Supreme Personality of Godhead. Certainly You will depart. I know that. Still, I ask You to stay here a few days more so that I can see Your lotus feet.â€
Text* 50: Upon hearing SÄrvabhauma Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya’s request, Caitanya MahÄprabhu relented. He stayed a few days longer and did not depart.
Text* 51: The Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya eagerly invited Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu to his home and fed Him very nicely.
Text* 52: The Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya’s wife, whose name was á¹¢Äá¹­hÄ«mÄtÄ (the mother of á¹¢Äá¹­hÄ«), did the cooking. The narrations of these pastimes are very wonderful.
Text* 53: Later I shall tell about this in elaborate detail, but at present I wish to describe ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu’s South Indian tour.
Text* 54: After staying five days at the home of SÄrvabhauma Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu personally asked his permission to depart for South India.
Text* 55: After receiving the Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya’s permission, Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu went to see Lord JagannÄtha in the temple. He took the Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya with Him.
Text* 56: Seeing Lord JagannÄtha, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu also begged His permission. The priest then immediately delivered prasÄdam and a garland to Lord Caitanya.
Text* 57: Thus receiving Lord JagannÄtha’s permission in the form of a garland, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu offered obeisances, and then in great jubilation He prepared to depart for South India.
Text* 58: Accompanied by His personal associates and SÄrvabhauma Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu circumambulated the altar of JagannÄtha. The Lord then departed on His South Indian tour.
Text* 59: While the Lord was going along the path to Ä€lÄlanÄtha, which was located on the seashore, SÄrvabhauma Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya gave the following orders to GopÄ«nÄtha Ä€cÄrya.
Text* 60: “Bring the four sets of loincloths and outer garments I keep at home, and also some prasÄdam of Lord JagannÄtha. You may carry these things with the help of some brÄhmaṇa.â€
Text* 61: While Lord ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu was departing, SÄrvabhauma Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya submitted the following at His lotus feet: “My Lord, I have one final request that I hope You will kindly fulfill.
Text 62: “In the town of VidyÄnagara, on the bank of the GodÄvarÄ«, there is a responsible government officer named RÄmÄnanda RÄya.
Text 63: “Please do not neglect him, thinking he belongs to a śūdra family engaged in material activities. It is my request that You meet him without fail.â€
Text* 64: SÄrvabhauma Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya continued, “RÄmÄnanda RÄya is a fit person to associate with You; no other devotee can compare with him in knowledge of the transcendental mellows.
Text* 65: “He is a most learned scholar as well as an expert in devotional mellows. Actually he is most exalted, and if You talk with him, You will see how glorious he is.
Text 66: “I could not realize when I first spoke with RÄmÄnanda RÄya that his topics and endeavors were all transcendentally uncommon. I made fun of him simply because he was a Vaiṣṇava.â€
Text* 67: The Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya said, “By Your mercy I can now understand the truth about RÄmÄnanda RÄya. In talking with him, You also will acknowledge his greatness.â€
Text* 68: Lord ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu accepted SÄrvabhauma Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya’s request that He meet RÄmÄnanda RÄya. Bidding SÄrvabhauma farewell, the Lord embraced him.
Text 69: ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu asked the Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya to bless Him while he engaged in the devotional service of Lord Kṛṣṇa at home, so that by SÄrvabhauma’s mercy the Lord could return to JagannÄtha PurÄ«.
Text* 70: Saying this, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu departed on His tour, and SÄrvabhauma Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya immediately fainted and fell to the ground.
Text 71: Although SÄrvabhauma Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya fainted, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu did not take notice of him. Rather, He left quickly. Who can understand the mind and intention of ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu?
Text 72: This is the nature of the mind of an uncommon personality. Sometimes it is soft like a flower, but sometimes it is as hard as a thunderbolt.
Text* 73: “The hearts of those above common behavior are sometimes harder than a thunderbolt and sometimes softer than a flower. How can one accommodate such contradictions in great personalities?â€
Text* 74: Lord NityÄnanda Prabhu raised SÄrvabhauma Bhaá¹­á¹­ÄcÄrya and with the help of His men saw him to his home.
Text* 75: Immediately all the devotees came and partook of ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu’s company. Afterwards, GopÄ«nÄtha Ä€cÄrya came with the garments and prasÄdam.
Text* 76: All the devotees followed ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu to a place known as Ä€lÄlanÄtha. There they all offered respects and various prayers.
Text* 77: In great ecstasy, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu danced and chanted for some time. Indeed, all the neighbors came to see Him.
Text* 78: All around ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu, who is also known as Gaurahari, people began to shout the holy name of Hari. Lord Caitanya, immersed in His usual ecstasy of love, danced in the midst of them.
Text* 79: The body of ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu was naturally very beautiful. It was like molten gold dressed in saffron cloth. Indeed, He was most beautiful for being ornamented with the ecstatic symptoms, which caused His bodily hair to stand on end, tears to well up in His eyes, and His body to tremble and perspire all over.
Text* 80: Everyone present was astonished to see ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu’s dancing and His bodily transformations. Whoever came did not want to return home.
Text* 81: Everyone — including children, old men and women — began to dance and to chant the holy names of ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa and GopÄla. In this way they all floated in the ocean of love of Godhead.
Text 82: Upon seeing the chanting and dancing of Lord ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu, Lord NityÄnanda predicted that later there would be dancing and chanting in every village.
Text* 83: Seeing that it was already getting late, Lord NityÄnanda Prabhu, the spiritual master, invented a means to disperse the crowd.
Text* 84: When Lord NityÄnanda Prabhu took ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu for lunch at noon, everyone came running around Them.
Text* 85: After finishing Their baths, They returned at noon to the temple. Admitting His own men, ÅšrÄ« NityÄnanda Prabhu closed the outside door.
Text* 86: GopÄ«nÄtha Ä€cÄrya then brought prasÄdam for the two Lords to eat, and after They had eaten, the remnants of the food were distributed to all the devotees.
Text* 87: Hearing about this, everyone there came to the outside door and began chanting the holy name, “Hari! Hari!†Thus there was a tumultuous sound.
Text* 88: After lunch, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu made them open the door. In this way everyone received His audience with great pleasure.
Text* 89: The people came and went until evening, and all of them became Vaiṣṇava devotees and began to chant and dance.
Text* 90: ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu then passed the night there and discussed the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa with His devotees with great pleasure.
Text* 91: The next morning, after taking His bath, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu started on His South Indian tour. He bade farewell to the devotees by embracing them.
Text* 92: Although they all fell to the ground unconscious, the Lord did not turn to see them but proceeded onward.
Text* 93: In separation, the Lord became very much perturbed and walked on unhappily. His servant, KṛṣṇadÄsa, who was carrying His waterpot, followed behind.
Text* 94: All the devotees remained there and fasted, and the next day they all unhappily returned to JagannÄtha PurÄ«.
Text* 95: Almost like a mad lion, Lord ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu went on His tour filled with ecstatic love and performing saá¹…kÄ«rtana, chanting Kṛṣṇa’s names as follows.
Text 96: The Lord chanted:
Text* 97: Chanting this verse, Lord ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu, known as Gaurahari, went on His way. As soon as He saw someone, He would request him to chant “Hari! Hari!â€
Text* 98: Whoever heard Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu chant “Hari! Hari!†also chanted the holy name of Lord Hari and Kṛṣṇa. In this way they all followed the Lord, very eager to see Him.
Text 99: After some time the Lord would embrace these people and bid them return home, having invested each of them with spiritual potency.
Text* 100: Each of these empowered persons would return to his own village, always chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa and sometimes laughing, crying and dancing.
Text 101: Such an empowered person would request everyone and anyone — whomever he saw — to chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa. In this way all the villagers would also become devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Text* 102: People from different villages who came to see such an empowered individual would become like him simply by seeing him and receiving the mercy of his glance.
Text* 103: When each of these newly empowered individuals returned to his own village, he also converted the villagers into devotees. And when others came from different villages to see him, they were also converted.
Text* 104: In this way, as empowered men went from one village to another, all the people of South India became devotees.
Text* 105: Thus many hundreds of people became Vaiṣṇavas when they passed the Lord on the way and were embraced by Him.
Text* 106: In whatever village ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu stayed to accept alms, many people came to see Him.
Text* 107: By the mercy of the Supreme Lord, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu, everyone became a first-class devotee. Later they became teachers or spiritual masters and liberated the entire world.
Text* 108: In this way the Lord went to the extreme southern part of India, and He converted all the provinces to Vaiṣṇavism.
Text 109: Lord ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu did not manifest His spiritual potencies at NavadvÄ«pa, but He did manifest them in South India and liberated all the people there.
Text* 110: Lord ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu’s empowering of others can be understood by one who is actually a devotee of the Lord and who has received His mercy.
Text* 111: If one does not believe in the uncommon transcendental pastimes of the Lord, he is vanquished both in this world and in the next.
Text* 112: Whatever I have stated about the beginning of the Lord’s tour should also be understood to hold for as long as the Lord toured South India.
Text 113: When Lord ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu came to the holy place known as KÅ«rma-ká¹£etra, He saw the Deity and offered prayers and obeisances.
Text* 114: While at this place, Lord ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu was in His usual ecstasy of love of Godhead and was laughing, crying, dancing and chanting. Everyone who saw Him was astonished.
Text* 115: After hearing of these wonderful occurrences, everyone came to see Him there. When they saw the beauty of the Lord and His ecstatic condition, they were all struck with wonder.
Text* 116: Just by seeing Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu, everyone became a devotee. They began to chant “Kṛṣṇa†and “Hari†and all the holy names. They all were merged in a great ecstasy of love, and they began to dance, raising their arms.
Text* 117: Always hearing them chant the holy names of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the residents of all the other villages also became Vaiṣṇavas.
Text* 118: By hearing the holy name of Kṛṣṇa, the entire country became Vaiṣṇava. It was as if the nectar of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa overflooded the entire country.
Text* 119: After some time, when Lord ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu manifested His external consciousness, a priest of the Lord KÅ«rma Deity gave Him various offerings.
Text* 120: ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu’s mode of preaching has already been explained, and I shall not repeat the explanation. In whichever village the Lord entered, His behavior was the same.
Text* 121: In one village there was a Vedic brÄhmaṇa named KÅ«rma. He invited Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu to his home with great respect and devotion.
Text* 122: This brÄhmaṇa brought Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu to his home, washed His lotus feet and, with his family members, drank that water.
Text* 123: With great affection and respect, that KÅ«rma brÄhmaṇa made ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu eat all kinds of food. After that, the remnants were shared by all the members of the family.
Text* 124: The brÄhmaṇa then began to pray, “O my Lord, Your lotus feet are meditated upon by Lord BrahmÄ, and these very lotus feet have come into my home.
Text* 125: “My dear Lord, there is no limit to my great fortune. It cannot be described. Today my family, birth and riches have all been glorified.â€
Text 126: The brÄhmaṇa begged Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu, “My dear Lord, kindly show me favor and let me go with You. I can no longer tolerate the waves of misery caused by materialistic life.â€
Text 127: ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu replied, “Don’t speak like that again. Better to remain at home and chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa always.
Text 128: “Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa as they are given in the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ and ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam. In this way become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this land.â€
Text 129: ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu further advised the brÄhmaṇa KÅ«rma, “If you follow this instruction, your materialistic life at home will not obstruct your spiritual advancement. Indeed, if you follow these regulative principles, we will again meet here, or, rather, you will never lose My company.â€
Text 130: At whosever house ÅšrÄ« Caitanya accepted His alms by taking prasÄdam, He would convert the dwellers to His saá¹…kÄ«rtana movement and advise them just as He advised the brÄhmaṇa named KÅ«rma.
Text* 131-132: While on His tour, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu would spend the night at a temple by the road. Whenever He accepted food from a person, He would give him the same advice He gave the brÄhmaṇa named KÅ«rma. He adopted this process until He returned to JagannÄtha PurÄ« from His South Indian tour.
Text* 133: Thus I have described the Lord’s behavior elaborately in the case of KÅ«rma. In this way, you will know ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu’s dealings throughout South India.
Text* 134: Thus Lord ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu would remain at night in one place, and the next morning, after bathing, He would start again.
Text* 135: When ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu left, the brÄhmaṇa KÅ«rma followed Him a great distance, but eventually Lord Caitanya took care to send him back home.
Text* 136: There was also a brÄhmaṇa named VÄsudeva, who was a great person but was suffering from leprosy. Indeed, his body was filled with living worms.
Text* 137: Although suffering from leprosy, the brÄhmaṇa VÄsudeva was enlightened. As soon as one worm fell from his body, he would pick it up and place it back again in the same location.
Text* 138: Then one night VÄsudeva heard of Lord Caitanya MahÄprabhu’s arrival, and in the morning he came to see the Lord at the house of KÅ«rma.
Text* 139: When the leper VÄsudeva came to KÅ«rma’s house to see Caitanya MahÄprabhu, he was informed that the Lord had already left. The leper then fell to the ground unconscious.
Text* 140: When VÄsudeva, the leper brÄhmaṇa, was lamenting due to not being able to see Caitanya MahÄprabhu, the Lord immediately returned to that spot and embraced him.
Text* 141: When ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu touched him, both the leprosy and his distress went to a distant place. Indeed, VÄsudeva’s body became very beautiful, to his great happiness.
Text* 142: The brÄhmaṇa VÄsudeva was astonished to behold the wonderful mercy of ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu, and he began to recite a verse from ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam, touching the Lord’s lotus feet.
Text 143: He said, “ ‘Who am I? A sinful, poor friend of a brÄhmaṇa. And who is Kṛṣṇa? The Supreme Personality of Godhead, full in six opulences. Nonetheless, He has embraced me with His two arms.’ â€
Text* 144-145: The brÄhmaṇa VÄsudeva continued, “O my merciful Lord, such mercy is not possible for ordinary living entities. Such mercy can be found only in You. Upon seeing me, even a sinful person goes away due to my bad bodily odor. Yet You have touched me. Such is the independent behavior of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.â€
Text* 146: Being meek and humble, the brÄhmaṇa VÄsudeva worried that he would become proud after being cured by the grace of ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu.
Text* 147: To protect the brÄhmaṇa, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu advised him to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra incessantly. By doing so, he would never become unnecessarily proud.
Text 148: ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu also advised VÄsudeva to preach about Kṛṣṇa and thus liberate living entities. As a result, Kṛṣṇa would very soon accept him as His devotee.
Text* 149: After instructing the brÄhmaṇa VÄsudeva in that way, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu disappeared from that place. Then the two brÄhmaṇas, KÅ«rma and VÄsudeva, embraced each other and began to cry, remembering the transcendental qualities of ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu.
Text 150: Thus I have described how ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu reclaimed the leper VÄsudeva and so received the name VÄsudevÄmá¹›ta-prada.
Text* 151: Thus I end my description of the beginning of the tour of ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu, His visiting the temple of KÅ«rma and His liberating the leper brÄhmaṇa VÄsudeva.
Text 152: One who hears these pastimes of ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu with great faith will surely very soon attain the lotus feet of Lord ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu.
Text* 153: I admit that I do not know the beginning or the end of ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu’s pastimes. However, whatever I have written I have heard from the mouths of great personalities.
Text* 154: O devotees, please do not consider my offenses in this regard. Your lotus feet are my only shelter.
Text 155: Praying at the lotus feet of ÅšrÄ« RÅ«pa and ÅšrÄ« RaghunÄtha, always desiring their mercy, I, KṛṣṇadÄsa, narrate ÅšrÄ« Caitanya-caritÄmá¹›ta, following in their footsteps.
Text 0: Chapter Summary