nÄnÄ-mata-grÄha-grastÄn
dÄká¹£iṇÄtya-jana-dvipÄn
ká¹›pÄriá¹‡Ä vimucyaitÄn
gauraÅ› cakre sa vaiṣṇavÄn
nÄnÄ-mata - by various philosophies; grÄha - like crocodiles; grastÄn - captured; dÄká¹£iṇÄtya-jana - the inhabitants of South India; dvipÄn - like elephants; ká¹›pÄ-ariá¹‡Ä - by His disc of mercy; vimucya - liberating; etÄn - all these; gauraḥ - ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu; cakre - converted; saḥ - He; vaiṣṇavÄn - to the Vaiṣṇava cult.
Lord ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu converted the inhabitants of South India. These people were as strong as elephants, but they were in the clutches of the crocodiles of various philosophies, such as the Buddhist, Jain and MÄyÄvÄda philosophies. With His disc of mercy the Lord delivered them all by converting them into Vaiṣṇavas, devotees of the Lord.
ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu’s converting the people of South India into Vaiṣṇavas is compared herein to Lord Viṣṇu’s delivering Gajendra the elephant from the attack of a crocodile. When ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu visited southern India, almost all the residents were within the jaws of the crocodiles of Buddhist, Jain and MÄyÄvÄda philosophy. Here KavirÄja GosvÄmÄ« states that although these people were as strong as elephants, they were almost in the clutches of death because they were being attacked by the crocodiles of various philosophies. However, just as ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu in the form of Viṣṇu saved the elephant Gajendra from the clutches of a crocodile, so He saved all the people of South India from the clutches of various philosophies by converting them into Vaiṣṇavas.
