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Chapter Summary

Purport
A summary of the eighteenth chapter is given by ÅšrÄ«la Bhaktivinoda ṬhÄkura in his Amá¹›ta-pravÄha-bhÄá¹£ya. On an autumn evening when the moon was full, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu walked along the seashore near the Ä€iá¹­oá¹­Ä temple. Mistaking the sea for the YamunÄ River, He jumped into it, hoping to see the water pastimes Kṛṣṇa enjoyed with ÅšrÄ«matÄ« RÄdhÄrÄṇī and the other gopÄ«s. As He floated in the sea, however, He was washed away to the KoṇÄrka temple, where a fisherman, thinking that the Lord’s body was a big fish, caught Him in his net and brought Him ashore. ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu was unconscious, and His body had become unusually transformed. As soon as the fisherman touched the Lord’s body, he became mad in ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa. His own madness frightened him, however, because he thought that he was being haunted by a ghost. As he was about to seek a ghost charmer, he met SvarÅ«pa DÄmodara GosvÄmÄ« and the other devotees on the beach, who had been looking everywhere for the Lord. After some inquiries, SvarÅ«pa DÄmodara could understand that the fisherman had caught Lord ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu in his net. Since the fisherman was afraid of being haunted by a ghost, SvarÅ«pa DÄmodara gave him a slap and chanted Hare Kṛṣṇa, which immediately pacified him. Thereafter, when the devotees chanted the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahÄ-mantra loudly, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu came to His external consciousness. Then they brought Him back to His own residence.