Eighth Sarga
Darśana of Mahādeva
1
The powerful king of the twice-born again set forth and gradually He came to the place named Ekāmraka. There on the summit of the best of mountains resides Śiva, the master of mountains, accompanied by Pārvatī, the daughter of Mount Himālaya, with all the demigods.
2
There He saw a great temple of Śiva, brilliant with all kinds of exquisite craftmanship and finely sculpted arches. Crowning its lofty pinnacle flew a flag which flapped in the breeze. That temple was anointed by celestial nectar, and appeared like a snow-capped Himālayan mountain.
3
Falling to the earth, the Lord offered obeisances to that abode of Śiva and to the astonishing trident cresting its dome. The curved and waving flag which fluttered in the vault of heaven above it appeared to be a frolicking wave of the celestial Gaṅgā.
4
Then with great elation He entered the city of Lord Purāri desiring to see the vision of that great Īśvara. There many tīrthas reside, presided over by millions of Śiva- liṅgams headed by the liṅgam named Viśveśvara.
5
Great numbers of brilliant palaces shone, enriched with beautiful archways and crested by bright waving flags, wherein men adorned with pearls and enhanced with pleasing scents endeavour to attain the post of Indra.
6
In that region are also countless tīrthas, headed by Maṇi-karṇikā, where throughout the four ages persons liberated from bodily identification attain to the highest transcendental benefit of Lord Viṇu's lotus feet by practicing severe yogic disciplines.
7
There was also the vast lake Bindu-sarovar, so named because the best among the gods had placed within it bindus, drops of water gathered from all the tīrthas. Simply by bathing in that lake, one also obtains the transcendentally pure destination of the Lord's lotus feet.
8
Suddenly giving up His residence in the city of Kāśī, the venerable Maheśa, whose power is fully free of mundane inebriety, has taken residence in that excellent place of Ekāmraka, where He has summoned and established all the holy places.
9
That very lord, dressed in tiger-skin, who expands in the form of his liṅgam, enjoys limitless divine delights in the company of goddess Īśvarī. Yet he is earnestly offered praise by the best of renunciates who are fully detached from the pleasures of the senses.
10
His body was completely decorated with fragrant flower garlands, and he was surrounded by rows of luminous moon-like lamps. The atmosphere was enhanced by the sounds of mṛdaṅga and conch, and goddesses danced superbly with great devotion.
11
Surrounded by His servants, the Supreme Lord Gaura Hari entered the house of Purāri, whose form emanated white rays of nectar like the moon, in the same way that Lord Brahmā, who resembles a bee at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, once entered the festival-enlivened abode of mighty Indra-deva.
12
Gaurāṅga bowed His head low and fell like a rod to the earth in front of that tiger- skin-dressed ascetic, whose only residence was his body. Then Lord Hari, who wields a chariot-wheel as His weapon, with a faltering voice and His entire body thrilled by ecstasy, offered the following prayers of praise to the lord of the mountains:
13
"I perpetually offer obeisances unto you, the lord of the thirty primal devas, who are the original father of created beings, whose character is gracious, upon whose head, which is crested by the sickle moon, the Gaṅgā springs, and who are a festival for the eyes of Gaurī, the fair goddess.
14
"I offer my obeisances to you who resemble a moon of molten gold, who are dressed in garments colored like a group of budding blue lotuses or lustrous rainclouds, who bestow the most desirable boon to your devotees by your delightful dancing, who offer shelter to those who seek to become one with the transcendental effulgence of Godhead, and whose flag bears the image of the bull.
15
"I offer my obeisances to you who dispel darkness with your three eyes - the moon, the sun, and fire - and thus cause auspiciousness for all the living entities of the universe, and whose potency easily defeats thousands of moons and suns.
16
"I offer my obeisances to you, whose form is brilliantly illuminated by the jewels of Ananta-deva, the king of snakes, who possess divine potencies and are clothed in a tiger-skin, who stands in the midst of a thousand-petalled lotus, and whose two arms are adorned by lustrous bangles.
17
"I offer my obeisances to you who bestow happiness to your servitors as you pour upon them the liquid nectar flowing from your reddish lotus feet, upon which charming anklebells ring. Obeisances unto you who are adorned by an abundance of gems. Please endow Me today with pure love for Śrī Hari.
18
"`O Śrī Rāma! O Govinda! O Mukuṇḍa! O Śauri! O Śrī Kṛṣṇa! O Nārāyaṇa! O Vāsudeva!' I offer my obeisances unto you, Śrī Śiva, who are the monarch ruling over all the bee-like devotees who are mad to drink the nectar of these and other innumerable names of Hari, and who thus destroys all grief.
19
"I offer my respectful obeisances to you, Śrī Śiva, who are forever inquired of confidentially by Śrī Nārada and other great sages, who very easily bestow boons on them, who bestow the happiness of Hari-bhakti to those who seek boons of you, who thereby create auspiciousness and are thus the guru of everyone.
20
"I offer my obeisances to you who are a festival of auspiciousness for the eyes of Gaurī, who are the lord of her life-energy, who bestow rasa and are expert in forever singing songs with eagerness of the pastimes of Govinda."
* * *
21
A person who lovingly hears with rapt attention this wonderful eightfold prayer to Śrī Śiva, can quickly gain Śrī Hari-prema as well as transcendental knowledge, the realization of that knowledge, and unprecedented devotional potency.
* * * * *
22
After Lord Gaura thus praised Maheśvara, the servants of Śrī Śiva very enthusiastically ornamented Gaurāṅga's unparalled form with sublimely fragrant flower-garlands, and the Lord then became settled nearby in some apartments.
[* words lost from original manuscript.]
23
There Mahāprabhu ate some food offered by the bhaktas and passed the night in that place, resting happily. Rising early in the morning, His heart again began overflowing with delight as He sang songs describing the līlās of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
24
If one recites with devotion this glorification of the transcendental personality, Lord Purāri, as composed by the lotus-eyed Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, one can obtain here and now the eternally relishable pure love for Kṛṣṇa, which is very rarely achieved even by the hosts of sages and gods.
Thus ends the Eighth Sarga entitled "Darśana of Mahādeva," in the Third Prakrama of the great poem Śrī Caitanya Carita.