Introduction to chapter 23

This chapter describes Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s enjoyment of nightly saṅkīrtana with His devotees, a milk-drinking brahmacārī’s request to Śrīvāsa to see the saṅkīrtana dancing, Śrīvāsa’s bringing him to his house, the Lord’s anger, the Lord’s explanation on the insignificance of useless austerity, the Lord’s mercy on the milk-drinking brahmacārī, the Lord’s instruction to the inhabitants of Navadvīpa to chant the mahā- mantra, the breaking of the mṛdaṅga by the Kazi, the Lord’s resultant anger and the procession to subdue the Kazi, the hari-kīrtana throughout the villages of Navadvīpa, the auspicious welcome at every house and the showering of flowers by the demigods, the inhabitants’ ecstatic festival, the atheists’ envy, the Lord’s instructions to subdue the Kazi, the Lord’s neglect of the Kazi on the request of the devotees, the Lord’s visit to the villages of the conchshell merchants and weavers, the Lord’s visit to the house of Śrīdhara, His drinking water from Śrīdhara’s broken iron waterpot, and narrations of the devotees’ glories.

When Śrīman Mahāprabhu engaged in enjoying saṅkīrtana pastimes every night within the closed doors of Śrīvāsa’s house, the atheists who were unable to enter would complain with harsh words from a distance. Some pious people condemned their fortune and requested the devotees to let them see the saṅkīrtana, but out of fear of the Lord no devotee dared do so.

One day a milk-drinking brahmacārī requested Śrīvāsa to allow him to secretly watch the Lord’s kīrtana pastimes. Understanding that he was a brahmacārī who subsisted on foods in the mode of goodness, Śrīvāsa brought him into his house. According to Śrīvāsa’s plan, the brāhmaṇa remained there in secret. But while performing kīrtana, the Lord, who is Supersoul of all, said, “I am not feeling any ecstasy in the kīrtana today. Perhaps a materialistic person has entered the house.”

Śrīvāsa fearfully informed the Lord that since a milk-drinking brahmacārī had requested to see the kīrtana, he had allowed him to secretly remain in the house. On hearing this, the Lord angrily said that without surrendering to Kṛṣṇa no one can achieve devotional service to Kṛṣṇa simply by undergoing useless austerity. He therefore ordered that the brāhmaṇa should leave the house. The brāhmaṇa then left the house out of fear and began to appreciate his good fortune of having received a short darśana. At that time the most merciful Śrī Gaurasundara called him back, and after placing His lotus feet on the brāhmaṇa’s head, He prohibited him from becoming proud of his austerities.

Since the Lord performed saṅkīrtana behind closed doors, the pious inhabitants were unable to see the Lord’s saṅkīrtana pastimes. They therefore condemned the atheists and declared that the Lord performed kīrtana behind closed doors because of the atheists, and as a result, pious people were also unable to enter. To see the Lord, some people stood on the road in front of Śrīvāsa’s house.

During the day the pious inhabitants went to see the Lord with various gifts. When they offered obeisances at the lotus feet of the Lord, Śrī Caitanyadeva blessed them with the words, “May you all attain devotional service to Kṛṣṇa,” and instructed them to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. Every evening the inhabitants engaged in performing saṅkīrtana with karatālas. In this way, by the mercy of the Lord, the entire city began to perform kīrtana. When the Lord, who enacted the pastime of offering all respects to others without expecting any respect for Himself, went to all the inhabitants with a straw between His teeth and after embracing them humbly requested them to chant, they cried and took shelter of the devotional service of kīrtana in response to the Lord’s heartfelt request. When they all engaged in the performance of saṅkīrtana with instruments like mṛdaṅgas and conchshells, the materialists considered their engagement equal to their own performance of tauryatrika [According to the Monier Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary, tauryatrika means “a triple symphony of song, dance, and musical instruments.”] and an untimely invocation in the worship of Mahāmāyā and so denounced them with various harsh words.

One day, by the will of providence, the infidel Kazi heard the sound of kīrtana as he was walking on the road. After beating some of the participants and breaking a mṛdaṅga, he prohibited further kīrtana and promised more severe punishment for those who again engaged in chanting. When the Kazi with his sinful associates wandered about the city and prohibited further kīrtana, the atheists became jubilant. In their jubilation they began to ridicule the devotees in various ways.

When the town residents were prevented from attaining kīrtana bliss, they informed the Lord of what had taken place and told Him of their plans to depart from there in distress. The Lord roared loudly in anger, and He ordered all the inhabitants to each bring a lamp and accompany Him for the purpose of subduing the Kazi. This order was announced everywhere. Hundreds of thousands of people with hundreds of thousands of burning lamps gathered before the Lord. The Lord then arranged separate kīrtana groups, and they all began to proceed down the road by the bank of the Ganges.

Wherever the Lord went in the course of the procession, everyone, including women, children, and elders, left their respective household duties and fell flat at the lotus feet of the Lord. On seeing everyone intoxicated with ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa, the hearts of the atheists began to burn with envy. They thought, “If the Kazi comes now, their kīrtana bliss will burn to ashes.”

Eventually Śrī Gauracandra began to proceed towards the Kazi’s house. On hearing the sound of the singing and the musical instruments, the Kazi sent his servants to investigate. When those servants heard the words, “Kill the Kazi!” they quickly returned to the Kazi and informed him. When the Kazi heard this report, he and his associates immediately left. As the procession approached the Kazi’s house and the Lord ordered that those who opposed the kīrtana should be punished, everyone began to tear apart the Kazi’s house and uproot the mango and jackfruit trees.

When the Lord then ordered them to burn the Kazi’s house, all the devotees folded their hands and requested Him to restrain His pastime of anger. Being pacified by the appeal of the devotees, the Lord went through the villages of the conchshell merchants and weavers to the house of Śrīdhara. While dancing in the house of Śrīdhara, the Lord drank water from Śrīdhara’s iron waterpot that had been repaired a hundred times. On seeing this, Śrīdhara felt great pain within his heart and fell unconscious. Thereafter the Lord narrated the glories of drinking a Vaiṣṇava’s water.