Twentieth Sarga
The Lord's Pastimes Within Guṇḍicā Mandira
1
One day, Gaura Kṛṣṇa inquired from Śrī Dāmodara Paṇḍita, "Tell Me truly - is My mother's devotion firmly fixed at the feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa?"
2
Hearing this, Dāmodara angrily replied, "It is by her unbounded mercy upon You that the goddess of bhakti, whose nature is full of eternal bliss, exists in You."
3
Hearing this, Mahāprabhu warmly embraced that learned vipra and mercifully said, "My friend, certainly what you said to Me is all true.
4
"Indeed, it is solely by her order that I reside in Śrī Kṣetra. Even then, the power of her love draws Me into her presence."
5
Thereafter, in the company of His devotees and His elder brother, Śrī Hari saw with great happiness the grand celebration of Lord Jagannātha's bathing festival.
6
Seeing that Their Lordships Rāma and Mādhava were absent during the period after the bathing ceremony known as anavasara, Mahāprabhu's heart burned with sorrow, and He left with His bhaktas to see Ālālanātha-deva.
7
He stayed there for seven days, gazing at the Deity of Ālālanātha, and then swiftly returned to look upon the protector of the universe and His elder brother. That sight was a great festival for His eyes.
8
Inspired by the joys of saṅkīrtana-rasa, Gaura Bhagavān, the bestower of love upon His devotees, danced in their company while holding Nityānanda's hand.
9
Returning to His own room, surrounded by His bhaktas, Śrī Hari enjoyed the mahā- prasāda brought by a devotee, and thus He shone in happiness.
10
Continuously inebriated by ānanda-rasa, Śrī Gaura Candra then went swiftly in the company of His devotees to see the splendid chariot festival of the greatly opulent Lords, Hari and Rāma.
11
When He saw the killer of Madhu and Lord Rāma seated on Their chariots and also Subhadrā accompanied by the sudarśana-cakra on Her chariot, Mahāprabhu joyously bowed down before Them along with His elder brother.
12
As the chariots went speedily to the Guṇḍicā Mandira, they appeared as high as Mount Śumeru. The moon of Gaura along with His company of bhaktas went before Jagannātha Swāmī, fully absorbed in all varieties of ecstatic moods.
13
Beholding the lotus face of Jagannātha-deva and recalling the vast magnificence of Kuru-kṣetra, Śrī Hari together with His assembly of bhaktas were submerged in an ocean of blissful saṅkīrtana.
14
Highly intoxicated by the affliction of Śrī Rādhikā's love for Kṛṣṇa, Gaurāṅga sometimes laughed and sometimes wept as He addressed Lord Jagannātha, "He Nātha! I am going to Vraja Maṇḍala. Please come with Me there, where the sweet sound of the bamboo flute is heard in the Vṛndāvana forest-bowers."
15
So saying, the elephant of Gaurāṅga mind utterly drowned within the sea of sweet dance and song, and He swiftly reached the Guṇḍicā Mandira together with the Lord of the universe, who was seated on His chariot.
16
Rāma and Janārdana entered together into the radiant temple and sat on shining altars of gems. Seeing Them happily situated, Gaurāṅga felt the mood of Rādhārāṇī and asked Kṛṣṇa, "Have You now come home?"
17
Using the tumultuous roar of the crowds as His voice, Śrī Hari replied in a very sweet tone, "Yes, I have indeed returned to Vṛndāvana." Then eager to taste the happiness of their own original rasa, He became replete with all divine ecstasies and with Śrī Rādhā entered the most charming of all the groves of Vṛndāvana.
18
Beholding the magnificent arrangements for Jagannātha-deva's enjoyment of this ādi-rasa, Gaura Hari together with His bhaktas performed a great kīrtana.
19
Śrī Gaura Hari experienced His own limitless wave of pastime dancing to be none other than the sublime Vṛndāvana rāsa-līlā performed by the enemy of Mura. Surely Śrī Gaurāṅga is none other than that same son of Nanda come to relish the super-excellence of Śrī Rādhā-rasa, but He has now appeared in the form of a rasika- bhakta in order to distribute the wealth of His sovereign realm of Goloka.
Thus ends the Twentieth Sarga entitled "The Lord's Pastimes Within Guṇḍicā Mandira," in the Fourth Prakrama of the great poem Śrī Caitanya Carita.