Madhya 14: Performance of the Vṛndāvana Pastimes

Dressing himself as a Vaisnava, Maharaja Prataparudra entered a garden alone and began reciting verses from Srimad-Bhagavatam. He then took the opportunity to massage the lotus feet of the Lord. The Lord, in His ecstatic love for Krsna, immediately embraced the King and thus bestowed mercy upon him. When there was an offering of prasada in the garden, Lord Caitanya also partook of it. After this, when Lord Jagannatha's Ratha car stopped moving, King Prataparudra called for many elephants to pull it, but they were unsuccessful. Seeing this, Lord Caitanya began to push the car from behind with His head, and the chariot began moving. Then the devotees began pulling the chariot with ropes. Near the Gundica temple is a place known as Aitota. This place was fixed up for Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to rest in. When Lord Jagannatha was seated at Sundaracala, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu saw it as Vrndavana. He performed sporting pastimes in the water of the lake known as Indradyumna. For nine continuous days during Ratha-yatra, the Lord remained at Jagannatha Puri, and on the fifth day He and Svarupa Damodara observed the pastimes of Laksmi, the goddess of fortune. During that time, there was much talk about the pastimes of the gopis. When the ratha was again being drawn and the chanting resumed, Ramananda Vasu of Kulina-grama and Satyaraja Khan were requested to bring silk ropes every year for the Ratha-yatra ceremony.