Fifteenth Sarga
The Meeting of Śrī Gaura Hari with Śrīmad Īśvara Purī
1
Thereafter, having been congratulated by the residents of Navadvīpa, Śrī Hari dwelt at home. He thereby compassionately accepted a wonderful and fitting means to give instruction to the brāhmaṇa community, the physicians and other respectable people, on the standard of pure life for humanity.
2
When that Lord of the suras thus descended to earth, by the Lord's exquisitely articulated speech He deprived Bṛhaspati, the celestial master of eloquence, of his glory. By His poetry, He dwarfed Śukra, the master of poets, and by His lustre He deprived the moon of its splendour. But furthermore, what did such persons genuinely give from the heart (as did Gaurāṅga)?
3
Those whom He taught were the greatest among learned scholars, who in previous births had earned the position of becoming His student by accumulating heaps of pious deeds. We must proclaim of those fortunate persons, "Oh! What great qualities they had that the guru of all the worlds could personally become their guru!"
4
The radiant and lovely Golden Lord, whose lotus feet were gently massaged by Viṣṇu-priyā Devī, shone with bewildering pastimes of beauty and sweetness. He is the complete embodiment of all rasa, and therefore is the crest-jewel of all rasikas.
5
During His pastimes of scholarship, He would walk on the path swinging His arms, surrounded by a crowd of His students. Arriving back in His home in the His mother's presence, He always was concerned equally for her and Viṣṇu-priyā's happiness.
6
To teach mankind, the infallible Lord, who is naturally well-versed in vidhi, determined fulfil His last duty to His father, following the previous authorities. Having performed His father's śraddhā ceremony according to such vidhi, He set forth for Gayā accompanied by brāhmaṇas.
7
Travelling on the forest path, He brought happiness to the hearts of those men as He laughed and spoke with jolly words in the manner of ordinary folk. While observing the various curious animals in the tablelands, He delighted in the many groups of deer.
8
Once He bathed joyfully in the lake named Corāndhaka, He offered oblations to satisfy the devatās and His forefathers in accordance with the injunctions of śāstra. Suddenly after performing His daily duties, He climbed a mountain together with His dear friends and saw the devatās.
9
Then He descended with great swiftness to the earth, and stayed in a brāhmaṇa's home. There He taught a lesson to humanity from the scriptures. He was stricken with a fever, and His body became very hot.
10
Lord Gaura became disturbed by these profound thoughts: "While traveling by Divine arrangement, My body is out of control. If it continues in this way, how can My duty to My father in Gayā be accomplished? This is an impediment for his ultimate welfare."
11
Then after exhaustively pondering on the matter, the means to relieve the fever occurred to Him. He should take service from the feet of the brāhmaṇas! Having begged and obtained that boon from the brāhmaṇas, Bhagavān Gaura drank their footwash.
12
All realized brāhmaṇas accept Śrī Madhusūdana as their exclusive shelter. Therefore incessantly they contemplate His feet. For this reason, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself drank their supremely potent footwash, desiring to thereby glorify His devotees.
13
Thus the Lord's fever was cured. Having thus demonstrated the power of devotion to the feet of the twice-born, He departed for the sacred river Punaḥ Punā. There He offered worship to the twice-born and the devatās.
14
After crossing that river, He travelled to the great and holy tīrtha named Brahma- kuṇḍa, near the chief city of Bihar named Rājagṛha. There He performed worship of His fore-fathers and the devatās, in order to encourage people to follow Vedic injunctions. ...
15
...Thus for the sake of His father, the Lord with the company of brāhmaṇas gradually arrived at Gayā. Śrī Gaurāṅga was eager to behold the footprint of Lord Viṣṇu, the wielder of the club.
16
There He saw an exalted and virtuous renunciate of the name Īśvara Purī, who was devoted to the feet of Śrī Hari. Śrī Śacīnandana, master of the transcendental realm, prostrated Himself with rapt devotion before that great soul, who became pleased with Him. The Lord then addressed him as follows:
17
"He Bhagavan! By the blessings of Providence, I have seen your lotus feet today! O my master! Ocean of mercy! Mercifully tell me, if your heart approves, how I may traverse this ocean of saṃsāra and drink the immortal ambrosia of Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet."
18
Hearing the nectarine words of Gaura Hari, Īśvara Purī could understand His pure mentality, and gladly he awarded Him a sublime mantra of ten syllables. Experiencing a spontaneous awakening of pure devotion, Śrī Gaura Candra offered some words of praise to His gurudeva.
19
The son of Śacī said, "O merciful renunciate, today by the touch of your feet I have achieved an extremely rare gift, by which every desire of Mine is now fulfilled. That gift is the intoxicating honey of Śrī Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet. By tasting that honey I shall surmount the otherwise insurmountable ocean of birth and death."
Thus ends the Fifteenth Sarga entitled "The Meeting of Śrī Gaura Hari with Śrīmad Īśvara Purī," in the First Prakrama of the great poem Śrī Caitanya Carita.