Chanting Cc Ādi-līlā 13th Chapter Verses 1–124 – July 13, 1974, Los Angeles

I wish the grace of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, by whose mercy even one who is fallen can describe the pastimes of the Lord.

All glories to Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu! All glories to Advaitacandra! All glories to Lord Nityananda Prabhu!

All glories to Gadadhara Prabhu! All glories to Srivasa Thakura! All glories to Mukunda Prabhu and Vasudeva Prabhu! All glories to Haridasa Thakura!

All glories to Svarūpa Damodara and Murari Gupta! All these brilliant moons have together dissipated the darkness of this material world.

All glories to the moons who are devotees of the principal moon, Lord Caitanyacandra! Their bright moonshine illuminates the entire universe.

Thus I have spoken the preface of the Caitanya-caritamrta. Now I shall describe Caitanya Mahaprabhu's pastimes in chronological order.

First let me give a synopsis of the Lord's pastimes. Then I shall describe them in detail.

Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, adventing Himself in Navadvipa, was visible for forty-eight years, enjoying His pastimes.

In the year 1407 of the Saka Era (A.D. 1486), Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared, and in the year 1455 (A.D. 1534) He disappeared from this world.

For twenty-four years Lord Caitanya lived in the grhastha-asrama [household life], always engaging in the pastimes of the Hare Krsna movement.

After twenty-four years He accepted the renounced order of life, sannyasa, and He resided for twenty-four years more at Jagannatha Puri.

Of these last twenty-four years, He spent the first six continually touring India, sometimes in South India, sometimes in Bengal and sometimes in Vrndavana.

For the remaining eighteen years He continuously stayed in Jagannatha Puri. Chanting the nectarean Hare Krsna maha-mantra, He inundated everyone there in a flood of love of Krsna.

The pastimes of His household life are known as the adi-lila, or the original pastimes. His later pastimes are known as the madhya-lila and antya-lila, or the middle and final pastimes.

All the pastimes enacted by Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in His adi-lila were recorded in summary form by Murari Gupta.

His later pastimes [the madhya-lila and antya-lila] were recorded in the form of notes by His secretary, Svarūpa Damodara Gosvami, and thus kept within a book.

By seeing and hearing the notes recorded by these two great personalities, a Vaisnava, a devotee of the Lord, can know these pastimes one after another.

In His original pastimes there are four divisions: balya, pauganḍa, kaisora and yauvana [childhood, early boyhood, later boyhood and youth].

I offer my respectful obeisances unto the full-moon evening in the month of Phalguna, an auspicious time full of auspicious symptoms, when Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu advented Himself with the chanting of the holy name, Hare Krsna.

On the full-moon evening of the month of Phalguna when the Lord took birth, coincidentally there was also a lunar eclipse.

In jubilation everyone was chanting the holy name of the Lord-"Hari! Hari!"-and Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu then appeared, after first causing the appearance of the holy name.

At His birth, in His childhood and in His early and later boyhood, as well as in His youth, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, under different pleas, induced people to chant the holy name of Hari [the Hare Krsna maha-mantra].

In His childhood, when the Lord was crying He would stop immediately upon hearing the holy names Krsna and Hari.

All the friendly ladies who came to see the child would chant the holy names, "Hari, Hari!" as soon as the child would cry.

When all the ladies saw this fun, they enjoyed laughing and called the Lord "Gaurahari." From then on, Gaurahari became another of His names.

His childhood lasted until the date of hate khaḍi, the beginning of His education, and His age from the end of His childhood until He married is called pauganḍa.

After His marriage His youth began, and in His youth He induced everyone to chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra anywhere and everywhere.

During His pauganḍa age He became a serious student and also taught disciples. In this way He used to explain the holy name of Krsna everywhere.

When teaching a course in grammar [vyakarana] and explaining it with notes, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu taught His disciples about the glories of Lord Krsna. All explanations culminated in Krsna, and His disciples would understand them very easily. Thus His influence was wonderful.

When Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu was a student, He asked whomever He met to chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra. In this way He inundated the whole town of Navadvipa with the chanting of Hare Krsna.

Just prior to His youthful life, He began the sahkirtana movement. Day and night He used to dance in ecstasy with His devotees.

The sahkirtana movement went on from one part of the town to another, as the Lord wandered everywhere performing kirtana. In this way He inundated the whole world by distributing love of Godhead.

Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu lived in the Navadvipa area for twenty-four years, and He induced every person to chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra and thus merge in love of Krsna.

For His remaining twenty-four years, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, after accepting the renounced order of life, stayed at Jagannatha Puri with His devotees.

For six of these twenty-four years in Nilacala [Jagannatha Puri], He distributed love of Godhead by always chanting and dancing.

Beginning from Cape Comorin and extending through Bengal to Vrndavana, during these six years He toured all of India, chanting, dancing and distributing love of Krsna.

The activities of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu in His travels after He accepted sannyasa are His principal pastimes. His activities during His remaining eighteen years are called the antya-lila, or the final portion of His pastimes.

For six of the eighteen years He continuously stayed in Jagannatha Puri, He regularly performed kirtana, inducing all the devotees to love Krsna simply by chanting and dancing.

For the remaining twelve years He stayed in Jagannatha Puri, He taught everyone how to taste the transcendental mellow ecstasy of love of Krsna by tasting it Himself.

Day and night Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu felt separation from Krsna. Manifesting symptoms of this separation, He cried and talked very inconsistently, like a madman.

As Srimati Radharani talked inconsistently when She met Uddhava, so also Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu relished, both day and night, such ecstatic talk in the mood of Srimati Radharani.

The Lord used to read the books of Vidyapati, Jayadeva and Canḍidasa, relishing their songs with His confidential associates like Sri Ramananda Raya and Svarūpa Damodara Gosvami.

In separation from Krsna, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu relished all these ecstatic activities, and thus He fulfilled His own desires.

The pastimes of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu are unlimited. How much can a small living entity elaborate about those transcendental pastimes?

If Sesa Naga Ananta personally were to make the pastimes of Lord Caitanya into sūtras, even with His thousands of mouths there is no possibility that He could find their limit.

Devotees like Sri Svarūpa Damodara and Murari Gupta have recorded all the principal pastimes of Lord Caitanya in the form of notes, after deliberate consideration.

The notes kept by Sri Svarūpa Damodara and Murari Gupta are the basis of this book. Following those notes, I write of all the pastimes of the Lord. The notes have been described elaborately by Vrndavana dasa Thakura.

Srila Vrndavana dasa Thakura, the authorized writer of the pastimes of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, is as good as Srila Vyasadeva. He has described the pastimes in such a way as to make them sweeter and sweeter.

Being afraid of his book's becoming too voluminous, he left some places without vivid descriptions. I shall try to fill those places as far as possible.

The transcendental pastimes of Lord Caitanya have actually been relished by Srila Vrndavana dasa Thakura. I am simply trying to chew the remnants of food left by him.

My dear devotees of Lord Caitanya, let me now write a synopsis of the adi-lila; I write of these pastimes in brief because it is not possible to describe them in full.

To fulfill a particular desire within His mind, Lord Krsna, Vrajendra-kumara, decided to descend to this planet after mature contemplation.

Lord Krsna therefore first allowed His family of superiors to descend to the earth. I shall try to describe them in brief because it is not possible to describe them fully.

Lord Sri Krsna, before appearing as Lord Caitanya, requested these devotees to precede Him: Sri Sacidevi, Jagannatha Misra, Madhavendra Puri, Kesava Bharati, Īsvara Puri, Advaita Acarya, Srivasa Panḍita, Acaryaratna, Vidyanidhi and Thakura Haridasa.

There was also Sri Upendra Misra, a resident of the district of Srihatta. He was a great devotee of Lord Visnu, a learned scholar, a rich man and a reservoir of all good qualities.

Upendra Misra had seven sons, who were all saintly and most influential: (1) Kamsari, (2) Paramananda, (3) Padmanabha, (4) Sarvesvara, (5) Jagannatha, (6) Janardana and (7) Trailokyanatha. Jagannatha Misra, the fifth son, decided to reside on the bank of the Ganges at Nadia.

Jagannatha Misra was designated as Purandara. Exactly like Nanda Maharaja and Vasudeva, he was an ocean of all good qualities.

His wife, Srimati Sacidevi, was a chaste woman highly devoted to her husband. Sacidevi's father's name was Nilambara, and his surname was Cakravarti.

In Raḍhadesa, the part of Bengal where the Ganges is not visible, Nityananda Prabhu, Gahgadasa Panḍita, Murari Gupta and Mukunda took birth.

Lord Krsna, Vrajendra-kumara, first caused countless devotees to appear, and at last He appeared Himself.

Before the appearance of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, all the devotees of Navadvipa used to gather in the house of Advaita Acarya.

In these meetings of the Vaisnavas, Advaita Acarya used to recite the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam, decrying the paths of philosophical speculation and fruitive activity and establishing the superexcellence of devotional service.

In all the revealed scriptures of Vedic culture, devotional service to Lord Krsna is explained throughout. Therefore devotees of Lord Krsna do not recognize the processes of philosophical speculation, mystic yoga, unnecessary austerity and so-called religious rituals. They do not accept any process but devotional service.

In the house of Advaita Acarya, all the Vaisnavas took pleasure in always talking of Krsna, always worshiping Krsna and always chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra.

But Sri Advaita Acarya Prabhu felt pained to see all the people without Krsna consciousness simply merging in material sense enjoyment.

Seeing the condition of the world, He began to think seriously of how all these people could be delivered from the clutches of maya.

Srila Advaita Acarya Prabhu thought, "If Krsna Himself appears in order to distribute the cult of devotional service, then only will liberation be possible for all people."

With this consideration, Advaita Acarya Prabhu, promising to cause Lord Krsna to descend, began to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, with tulasi leaves and water of the Ganges.

By loud cries He invited Krsna to appear, and this repeated invitation attracted Lord Krsna to descend.

Before the birth of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, eight daughters took birth one after another from the womb of Sacimata, the wife of Jagannatha Misra. But just after their birth, they all died.

Jagannatha Misra was very unhappy at the death of his children one after another. Therefore, desiring a son, he worshiped the lotus feet of Lord Visnu.

After this, Jagannatha Misra got a son of the name Visvarūpa, who was most powerful and highly qualified because He was an incarnation of Baladeva.

The expansion of Baladeva known as Sahkarsana in the spiritual world is the ingredient and immediate cause of this material cosmic manifestation.

The gigantic universal form is called the Visvarūpa incarnation of Maha-sahkarsana. Thus we do not find anything within this cosmic manifestation except the Lord Himself.

"As the threads in a cloth spread both lengthwise and breadthwise, so the Supreme Personality of Godhead exists directly and indirectly within everything we see in this cosmic manifestation. This is not very wonderful for Him."

Because Maha-sahkarsana is the ingredient and efficient cause of the cosmic manifestation, He is present in every detail of it. Lord Caitanya therefore called Him His elder brother. The two brothers are known as Krsna and Balarama in the spiritual world, but at the present moment they are Caitanya and Nitai. Therefore the conclusion is that Nityananda Prabhu is the original Sahkarsana, Baladeva.

The husband and wife [Jagannatha Misra and Sacimata], having gotten Visvarūpa as their son, were very pleased within their minds. Because of their pleasure, they specifically began to serve the lotus feet of Govinda.

In the month of January in the year 1406 of the Saka Era (A.D. 1485), Lord Krsna entered the bodies of both Jagannatha Misra and Saci.

Jagannatha Misra said to Sacimata, "I see wonderful things! Your body is effulgent, and it appears as if the goddess of fortune were now staying personally in my home.

"Anywhere and everywhere I go, all people offer me respect. Even without my asking, they voluntarily give me riches, clothing and paddy."

Sacimata told her husband, "I see wonderfully brilliant human beings appearing in outer space, as if offering prayers."

Jagannatha Misra then replied, "In a dream I saw the effulgent abode of the Lord enter my heart.

"From my heart it entered your heart. I therefore understand that a great personality will soon take birth."

After this conversation, both husband and wife were very jubilant, and together they rendered service to the household salagrama-sila.

In this way the pregnancy approached its thirteenth month, but still there was no sign of the delivery of the child. Thus Jagannatha Misra became greatly apprehensive.

Nilambara Cakravarti [the grandfather of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu] then did an astrological calculation and said that in that very month, taking advantage of an auspicious moment, the child would take birth.

Thus in the year 1407 of the Saka Era [A.D. 1486], in the month of Phalguna [February-March], in the evening of the full-moon day, the desired auspicious moment arrived.

[According to the Jyotir-veda, or Vedic astrology, the auspicious birth moment is described as follows:] The moon was in Leo [the figure of the lion in the zodiac], Leo was the ascendant, several planets were strongly positioned, and the saḍ-varga and asta-varga showed all-auspicious influences.

When the spotless moon of Caitanya Mahaprabhu became visible, what would be the need for a moon full of black marks on its body?

Considering this, Rahu, the black planet, covered the full moon, and immediately vibrations of "Krsna! Krsna! Hari!" inundated the three worlds.

All people thus chanted the Hare Krsna maha-mantra during the lunar eclipse, and their minds were struck with wonder.

When the whole world was thus chanting the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna in the form of Gaurahari advented Himself on the earth.

The whole world was pleased. While the Hindus chanted the holy name of the Lord, the non-Hindus, especially the Muslims, jokingly imitated the words.

In this atmosphere, all the ten directions became jubilant, as did the waves of the rivers. Moreover, all beings, moving and nonmoving, were overwhelmed with transcendental bliss.

Thus by His causeless mercy the full moon, Gaurahari, rose in the district of Nadia, which is compared to Udayagiri, where the sun first becomes visible. His rising in the sky dissipated the darkness of sinful life, and thus the three worlds became joyful and chanted the holy name of the Lord.

At that time Sri Advaita Acarya Prabhu, in His own house at Santipura, was dancing in a pleasing mood. Taking Haridasa Thakura with Him, He danced and loudly chanted Hare Krsna. But why they were dancing, no one could understand.

Seeing the lunar eclipse and laughing, Advaita Acarya and Haridasa Thakura immediately went to the bank of the Ganges and bathed in the river in great jubilation. Taking advantage of the occasion of the lunar eclipse, Advaita Acarya, by His mental strength, distributed various types of charity to the brahmanas.

When he saw that the whole world was jubilant, Haridasa Thakura, his mind astonished, directly and indirectly expressed himself to Advaita Acarya: "Your dancing and distributing charity are very pleasing to me. I can understand that there is some special purpose in these actions."

Acaryaratna [Candrasekhara] and Srivasa Thakura were overwhelmed with joy, and immediately they went to the bank of the Ganges to bathe in her waters. Their minds full of happiness, they chanted the Hare Krsna mantra and gave charity by mental strength.

All sorts of respectable brahmana gentlemen and ladies, carrying plates filled with various gifts, came with their presentations. Seeing the newborn child, whose form resembled natural glaring gold, all of them happily offered their blessings.

Dressing themselves as the wives of brahmanas, all the celestial ladies, including the wives of Lord Brahma, Lord Siva, Lord Nrsimhadeva, King Indra and Vasistha Rsi, along with Rambha, a dancing girl of heaven, came there with varieties of gifts.

In outer space all the demigods, including the inhabitants of Gandharvaloka, Siddhaloka and Caranaloka, offered their prayers and danced to the accompaniment of music, songs and the beating of drums. Similarly, in Navadvipa city all the professional dancers, musicians and blessers gathered together, dancing in great jubilation.

No one could understand who was coming and who was going, who was dancing and who was singing. Nor could they understand one another's language. Yet all unhappiness and lamentation were immediately dissipated, and people became all-jubilant. Thus Jagannatha Misra was also overwhelmed with joy.

Candrasekhara Acarya and Srivasa Thakura both came to Jagannatha Misra and drew his attention in various ways. They performed the ritualistic ceremonies prescribed at the time of birth according to religious principles. Jagannatha Misra also gave varieties of charity.

Whatever riches Jagannatha Misra collected in the form of gifts and presentations, and whatever he had in his house, he distributed among the brahmanas, professional singers, dancers, bhatas and the poor. He honored them all by giving them riches in charity.

The wife of Srivasa Thakura, whose name was Malini, accompanied by the wife of Candrasekhara [Acaryaratna] and other ladies, came there in great happiness to worship the baby with paraphernalia such as vermilion, turmeric, oil, fused rice, bananas and coconuts.

One day shortly after Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu was born, Advaita Acarya's wife, Sitadevi, who is worshipable by the whole world, took her husband's permission and went to see that topmost child with all kinds of gifts and presentations.

She brought different kinds of golden ornaments, including armlets, necklaces, anklets and bangles for the hands.

There were also tiger nails set in gold, waist decorations of silk and lace, ornaments for the hands and legs, nicely printed silken saris, and a child's garment, also made of silk. Many other riches, including gold and silver coins, were also presented to the child.

Riding in a palanquin covered with cloth and accompanied by maidservants, Sita Thakurani came to the house of Jagannatha Misra, bringing with her many auspicious articles such as fresh grass, paddy, gorocana, turmeric, kuhkuma and sandalwood. All these presentations filled a large basket.

When Sita Thakurani came to the house of Sacidevi, bringing with her many kinds of eatables, dresses and other gifts, she was astonished to see the newborn child, for she appreciated that except for a difference in color, the child was directly Krsna of Gokula Himself.

Seeing the transcendental bodily effulgence of the child, each of His nicely constructed limbs full of auspicious signs and resembling a form of gold, Sita Thakurani was very pleased, and because of her maternal affection, she felt as if her heart were melting.

She blessed the newborn child by placing fresh grass and paddy on His head and saying, "May You be blessed with a long duration of life." But being afraid of ghosts and witches, she gave the child the name Nimai.

On the day the mother and son bathed and left the maternity home, Sita Thakurani gave them all kinds of ornaments and garments and then also honored Jagannatha Misra. Then Sita Thakurani, being honored by mother Sacidevi and Jagannatha Misra, was greatly happy within her mind, and thus she returned home.

In this way mother Sacidevi and Jagannatha Misra, having obtained a son who was the husband of the goddess of fortune, had all their desires fulfilled. Their house was always filled with riches and grains. As they saw the beloved body of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, day after day their pleasure increased.

Jagannatha Misra was an ideal Vaisnava. He was peaceful, restrained in sense gratification, pure and controlled. Therefore he had no desire to enjoy material opulence. Whatever money came because of the influence of his transcendental son, he gave it in charity to the brahmanas for the satisfaction of Visnu.

After calculating the birth moment of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Nilambara Cakravarti privately said to Jagannatha Misra that he saw all the different symptoms of a great personality in both the body and birth moment of the child. Thus he understood that in the future this child would deliver all the three worlds.

In this way Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, out of His causeless mercy, made His advent in the house of Sacidevi. Lord Caitanya is very merciful to anyone who hears this narration of His birth, and thus such a person attains the lotus feet of the Lord.

Anyone who attains a human body but does not take to the cult of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is baffled in his opportunity. Amrtadhuni is a flowing river of the nectar of devotional service. If after getting a human body one drinks the water in a poison pit of material happiness instead of the water of such a river, it would be better for him not to have lived, but to have died long ago.

Taking on my head as my own property the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Nityananda Prabhu, Acarya Advaitacandra, Svarūpa Damodara, Rūpa Gosvami and Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, I, Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami, have thus described the advent of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Things that are very difficult to do become easy to execute if one somehow or other simply remembers Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. But if one does not remember Him, even easy things become very difficult. To this Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu I offer my respectful obeisances.

All glories to Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Nityananda Prabhu, Advaita Prabhu and all the devotees of Lord Caitanya!

I have thus described in brief the advent of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who appeared as the son of Mother Saci exactly as Krsna appeared as the son of Mother Yasoda.

I have already briefly spoken about the pastimes of His birth in chronological order. Now I shall give a synopsis of His childhood pastimes.

Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the childhood pastimes of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is Lord Krsna Himself. Although such pastimes appear exactly like those of an ordinary child, they should be understood as various pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

In His first childhood pastimes the Lord turned upside down while lying on His bed, and thus He showed His parents the marks of His lotus feet.

When the Lord tried to walk, in His small footprints the specific marks of Lord Visnu were visible, namely the flag, thunderbolt, conchshell, disc and fish.

Seeing all these marks, neither His father nor His mother could understand whose footprints they were. Thus struck with wonder, they could not understand how those marks could be possible in their home.

Jagannatha Misra said, "Certainly child Krsna is with the salagrama-sila. Taking His childhood form, He is playing within the room."

While Mother Saci and Jagannatha Misra were talking, child Nimai woke up and began to cry, and Mother Saci took Him on her lap and allowed Him to suck her breast.

While Mother Saci was feeding the child from her breast, she saw on His lotus feet all the marks that were visible on the floor of the room, and she called for Jagannatha Misra.

When Jagannatha Misra saw the wonderful marks on the sole of his son, he became very joyful and privately called for Nilambara Cakravarti.

When Nilambara Cakravarti saw those marks, he smilingly said, "Formerly I ascertained all this by astrological calculation and noted it in writing.

"There are thirty-two bodily marks that symptomize a great personality, and I see all those marks on the body of this child.

"'There are thirty-two bodily symptoms of a great personality: five of his bodily parts are large, five fine, seven reddish, sixraised, three small, three broad and three grave.'

"This baby has all the symptoms of Lord Narayana on His palms and soles. He will be able to deliver all the three worlds.

"This child will preach the Vaisnava cult and deliver both His maternal and paternal families.

"I propose to perform a name-giving ceremony. We should observe a festival and call for the brahmanas because today is very auspicious.

"In the future this child will protect and maintain all the world. For this reason He is to be called Visvambhara."

After hearing Nilambara Cakravarti's prediction, Sacimata and Jagannatha Misra observed the name-giving festival in great joy, inviting all the brahmanas and their wives.

After some days the Lord began to crawl on His knees, and He caused various wonderful things to be seen.

The Lord caused all the ladies to chant the holy names of the Hare Krsna maha-mantra on the plea of His crying, and while they chanted the Lord would smile.

After some days the Lord began to move His legs and walk. He mixed with other children and exhibited various sports.

One day while the Lord was enjoying His playful sports with the other little children, Mother Saci brought a dish filled with fused rice and sweetmeats and asked the child to sit down and eat them.

But when she returned to her household duties, the child hid from His mother and began to eat dirt.

Seeing this, Mother Saci hastily returned and exclaimed, "What is this! What is this!" She snatched the dirt from the hands of the Lord and inquired why He was eating it.

Crying, the child inquired from His mother, "Why are you angry? You have already given Me dirt to eat. What is My fault?

"Fused rice, sweetmeats and all other eatables are but transformations of dirt. This is dirt, that is dirt. Please consider. What is the difference between them?

"This body is a transformation of dirt, and the eatables are also a transformation of dirt. Please reflect upon this. You are blaming Me without consideration. What can I say?"

Astonished that the child was speaking Mayavada philosophy, Mother Saci replied, "Who has taught You this philosophical speculation that justifies eating dirt?"

Replying to the Mayavada idea of the child philosopher, Mother Saci said, "My dear boy, if we eat earth transformed into grain, our body is nourished, and it becomes strong. But if we eat dirt in its crude state, the body becomes diseased instead of nourished, and thus it is destroyed.

"In a waterpot, which is a transformation of dirt, I can bring water very easily. But if I poured water on a lump of dirt, the lump would soak up the water, and my labor would be useless."

The Lord replied to His mother, "Why did you conceal self-realization by not teaching Me this practical philosophy in the beginning?

"Now that I can understand this philosophy, no more shall I eat dirt. Whenever I am hungry I shall suck your breast and drink your breast milk."

After saying this, the Lord, smiling slightly, climbed on the lap of His mother and sucked her breast.

Thus under various excuses the Lord exhibited His opulences as much as possible in His childhood, and later, after exhibiting such opulences, He hid Himself.

On one occasion the Lord ate the food of a brahmana guest three times, and later, in confidence, the Lord delivered that brahmana from material engagement.

In His childhood the Lord was taken away by two thieves outside His home. The Lord, however, got up on the shoulders of the thieves, and while they were thinking they were safely carrying the child to rob His ornaments, the Lord misled them, and thus instead of going to their own home the thieves came back to the home of Jagannatha Misra.

Pretending to be sick, the Lord asked some food from the house of Hiranya and Jagadisa on the Ekadasi day.

As usual for small children, He learned to play, and with His playmates He went to the houses of neighboring friends, stealing their eatables and eating them. Sometimes the children fought among themselves.

All the children lodged complaints with Sacimata about the Lord's fighting with them and stealing from the neighbors' houses. Therefore sometimes she used to chastise or rebuke her son.

Sacimata said, "Why do You steal others' things? Why do You beat the other children? And why do You go inside others' houses? What do You not have in Your own house?"

Thus rebuked by His mother, he Lord would go in anger to a room and break all the pots within it.

Then Sacimata would take her son on her lap and pacify Him, and the Lord would be very much ashamed, admitting His faults.

Once the child, Caitanya Mahaprabhu, chastised His mother with His soft hand, and His mother pretended to faint. Seeing this, the Lord began to cry.

The neighboring ladies told Him, "Dear child, please bring a coconut from somewhere, and then Your mother will be cured."

He then went outside the house and immediately brought two coconuts. All the ladies were astonished to see such wonderful activities.

Sometimes the Lord would go with other children to bathe in the Ganges, and the neighboring girls would also come there to worship various demigods.

When the girls engaged in worshiping the different demigods after bathing in the Ganges, the young Lord would come there and sit down among them.

Addressing the girls, the Lord would say, "Worship Me, and I shall give you good husbands or good benedictions. The Ganges and goddess Durga are My maidservants. What to speak of other demigods, even Lord Siva is My servant."

Without the permission of the girls, the Lord would take the sandalwood pulp and smear it on His own body, put the flower garlands on His neck, and snatch and eat all the offerings of sweetmeats, rice and bananas.

All the girls became very angry at the Lord for this behavior. "Dear Nimai," they told Him, "You are just like our brother in our village relationship.

"Therefore it does not behoove You to act like this. Don't take our paraphernalia for worship of the demigods. Don't create a disturbance in this way."

The Lord replied, "My dear sisters, I give you the benediction that your husbands will be very handsome.

"They will be learned, clever and young and possess abundant wealth and rice. Not only that, but you will each have seven sons, who will all live long lives and be very intelligent."

Hearing this benediction from Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, all the girls were inwardly very happy, but externally, as is natural for girls, they rebuked the Lord under the pretense of anger.

When some of the girls fled, the Lord called them in anger and advised them as follows:

"If you are miserly and do not give Me the offerings, every one of you will have an old husband with at least four co-wives."

Hearing this supposed curse by Lord Caitanya, the girls, considering that He might know something uncommon or be empowered by demigods, were afraid that His curse might be effective.

The girls then brought the offerings before the Lord, who ate them all and blessed the girls to their satisfaction.

When this cunning behavior of the Lord with the girls became known to the people in general, it did not create misunderstandings among them. Rather, they enjoyed happiness in these dealings.

One day a girl of the name Laksmi, the daughter of Vallabhacarya, came to the bank of the Ganges to take a bath in the river and worship the demigods.

Seeing Laksmidevi, the Lord became attached to her, and Laksmi, upon seeing the Lord, felt great satisfaction within her mind.

Their natural love for each other awakened, and although it was covered by childhood emotions, it became apparent that they were mutually attracted.

They both enjoyed natural pleasure in seeing each other, and under the pretext of demigod worship they manifested their feelings.

The Lord told Laksmi, "Just worship Me, for I am the Supreme Lord. If you worship Me, certainly you will get the benediction you desire."

On hearing the order of the Supreme Lord, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Laksmi immediately worshiped Him, offering sandalwood pulp and flowers for His body, garlanding Him with mallika flowers, and offering prayers.

Being worshiped by Laksmi, the Lord began to smile. He recited a verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam and thus accepted the emotion she expressed.

"'My dear gopis, I accept your desire to have Me as your husband and thus worship Me. I wish your desire to be fulfilled because it deserves to be so.'"

After thus expressing their feelings to each other, Lord Caitanya and Laksmi returned home. Who can understand the grave pastimes of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu?

When the neighboring people saw the naughty behavior of Lord Caitanya, out of love for Him they lodged complaints with Sacimata and Jagannatha Misra.

One day Mother Saci went to catch her son, wanting to rebuke Him, but He fled from the spot.

Although He is the maintainer of the entire universe, once the Lord sat upon some rejected pots in the pit where the remnants of food were thrown, after the pots had been used for cooking.

When Mother Saci saw her boy sitting on the rejected pots, she protested, "Why have You touched these untouchable pots? You have now become impure. Go and bathe in the Ganges."

Hearing this, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu taught His mother about absolute knowledge. Although amazed by this, His mother forced Him to take a bath.

Sometimes, taking her son with her, Mother Saci would lie down on her bed, and she would see that denizens of the celestial world had come there, filling the entire house.

Once Mother Saci told the Lord, "Please go call Your father." Receiving this order from His mother, the Lord went out to call him.

When the child was going out, there was a tinkling of ankle bells from His lotus feet. Hearing this, His father and mother were struck with wonder.

Jagannatha Misra said, "This is a very wonderful incident. Why is there a sound of ankle bells from the bare feet of my child?"

Mother Saci said, "I also saw another wonder. People were coming down from the celestial kingdom and crowding the entire courtyard.

"They made noisy sounds I could not understand. I guess they were offering prayers to someone."

Jagannatha Misra replied, "Never mind what it is. There is no need to worry. Let there always be good fortune for Visvambhara. This is all I want."

On another occasion, Jagannatha Misra, seeing the mischievous acts of his son, gave Him lessons in morality after rebuking Him greatly.

On that very night, Jagannatha Misra dreamt that a brahmana had come before him speaking these words in great anger:

"My dear Misra, you do not know anything about your son. You think Him your son, and therefore you rebuke and chastise Him."

Jagannatha Misra replied, "This boy may be a demigod, a mystic yogi or a great saintly person. It doesn't matter what He is, for I think He is only my son.

"It is the duty of a father to educate his son in both religion and morality. If I do not give Him this education, how will He know of it?"

The brahmana replied, "If your son is a transcendental mystic boy with self-effulgent perfect knowledge, what is the use of your education?"

Jagannatha Misra replied, "Even if my son is not a common man but Narayana, still it is the duty of a father to instruct his son."

In this way Jagannatha Misra and the brahmana discussed the principles of religion in the dream, yet Jagannatha Misra was absorbed in unalloyed parental mellow and did not want to know anything else.

Being very pleased, the brahmana left after talking with Jagannatha Misra, and when Jagannatha Misra awakened from his dream, he was very much astonished.

He related the dream to his friends and relatives, and every one of them was very much astonished to hear of it.

In this way Gaurahari performed His childhood pastimes and day after day increased the pleasure of His parents.

After some days Jagannatha Misra inaugurated the primary education of his son by performing the hate khaḍi ceremony. Within a very few days the Lord learned all the letters and combinations of letters.

This is a synopsis of the childhood pastimes of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, placed herewith in chronological order. Vrndavana dasa Thakura has already elaborately explained these pastimes in his book Caitanya-bhagavata.

I have therefore made only a brief summary. Being afraid of repetition, I have not elaborated upon this subject matter.

Praying at the lotus feet of Sri Rūpa and Sri Raghunatha, always desiring their mercy, I, Krsnadasa, narrate Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, following in their footsteps.