Chaitanya Mangala

100,055 words

This page relates Song 14 of the Pauganda-lila of the Adi-khanda of the Chaitanya Mangala by Locana Dasa Thakura (1520 A.D.) translated into English. This book contains songs narrating the activities (pastimes) of Lord Chaitanya and represents a Sanskrit biography written as a narrative poem which can be sung in various ragas.

(Dhanaśī rāga)

457. On another day Jagannātha Miśra saw Lord Viśvambhara and thought about Him in his heart:

458. On an auspicious day, during an auspicious tithi, when an auspicious star was prominent, at an auspicious moment Jagannātha Miśra first placed a writing chalk in his son’s hand. That was a wonderful moment.

459. Day by day Lord Gaura, the guru of all the words, pursued His studies. Seeing this, Śacī and Jagannātha Miśra forget themselves in bliss.

460. Śacī and Jagannātha Miśra decided: "Now His days of only playing are gone."

461. They decided to perform the Lord’s hair-cutting ceremony. They assembled their kinsmen.

462. They decided on an auspicious day and an auspicious moment for the hair-cutting ceremony.

463. In house after house in Nadīyā everyone was filled with bliss. At the ceremony the brāhmaṇas and saintly persons were duly worshiped.

464. The brāhmaṇas recited the Vedas, and the singers sang songs. The yajña was rightly done.

465. The ladies chanted, "Jaya! Jaya!" They gave gifts of fragrances, sandal, and betelnuts to the guests.

466-467. Many kinds of musical instruments were sounded. The bliss everyone felt was like an ocean that had no shore. conchshells, dundubhī drums, bherī drums, kāhāla flutes, mṛdaṅgas, paṭāhas, kāṃsyas, karatālas, and sānāis were all sounded. The music was very sweet.

468. Sounds of "Hari!" reverberated in the sky in the four directions. In this way Lord Gaura’s cūḍā-karaṇa (hair-cutting) and karṇa-vedha (piercing ear lobes for earrings) ceremonies were performed.

469. Everyone in Nadīyā’s villages became filled with bliss. Gazing at Lord Viśvambhara’s face, they forgot themselves.

470. In the marketplaces, pathways, river ghāṭas, and wherever they went, two by two the people gathered and described Lord Gauracandra’s glories.

471. They said: "Śacī and Jagannātha Miśra are very fortunate to have such a son. When we see Him, our hearts are overcome with bliss.

472. "Navadvīpa is fortunate. The earth planet is fortunate. Every eye that sees Lord Gaura’s form is fortunate and glorious."

473. On another day Lord Gaura played with the boys on a ghāṭa by the sandy banks of the Gaṅgā.

474. "Let Us play a game of following the birds footprints in the sand."

475. These owrds Lord Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu spoke. All the boys played that game with great enthusiasm.

476. Anyone who skipped a bird’s footprint was at once defeated.

477. The boys who ran first to the riverbank were the winners. The winners were carried about on the losers shoulders.

478. As they rode on the losers backs, the winners hit them with sticks. In this way they ran to meeting ghāṭa.

479. In this way the boys became exhausted by playing in the sand. Streams of perspiration flowed down their limbs.

480. At that moment Jagannātha Miśra went to the Gaṅgā’s bank for his bath.

481. When he saw his son, anger took birth within him. Seeing his son exhausted from playing, Jagannātha Miśra felt his heart burn with anger.

482. Lord Gaura’s perspiration-filled face was like a golden lotus flower, a lotus flower simultaneously dripping nectar and wilting in the hot sunshine.

483. Shouting and shouting, Jagannātha Miśra ran after his son. Seeing His father, Lord Viśvambhara became very embarrassed.

484. Embarrassed, the Lord did not lift His face. In His heart was fear. The pandita Jagannātha Miśra went to Lord Gauracandra’s side.

485. Taking his son by the hand, he departed. All the boys went to their homes.

486. Jagannātha Miśra bathed in the Gaṅgā and then returned home. Once home, he severely rebuked Lord Gauracandra.

487. He said: "Like a low person You’re cheating on Your studies. Why do You foolishly spend every moment wandering about?

488. "You don’t act like a brāhmaṇa’s son. Now I will give You the proper fruit of Your actions."

489. Speaking these words, Jagannātha Miśra moved to hit the Lord with a stick in his hand. Rebuking him, Śacī grabbed Jagannātha Miśra’s hand.

490. She said: "Don’t hit my son. He won’t play any more. He will stay with you and study always."

491. Lord Viśvambhara ran to His mother’s embrace. "I won’t play. I won’t play.", He softly. softly said.

492. Jagannātha Miśra became like a bolted door preventing his son’s exit. "Don’t hit my child. He’s dying in fear of you."

493. Speaking these words, Śacī sheltered her son in her arms. With the edge of her garment she wiped the tears from her son’s eyes and limbs.

494. "Let my son not study. Let Him become a fool. Let Him be a fool and live a hundred years."

495. Hearing these words of Śacī-devī, Jagannātha Miśra angrily said:

496. "If our son becomes a fool, how will He earn a living? Why would any brāhmaṇa give hīs daughter to Him?"

497. Then Jagannātha Miśra looked at his son’s face. With frightened eyes the son Lord Gaura looked at His father.

498. In his heart Jagannātha Miśra was burning. But on the outside he was hard. Now he was filled with love. The hand raised to hit his son now he put down.

499. Tears in his eyes, he hugged his son. To his son he sweetly said:

500. "Dear son, if You listen and study the people will praise You. And I will give You a banana."

501. In this way the remainder of that day passed happily. After sunset Jagannātha Miśra went to bed.

502. In the ninth hour of the night he had a dream. In the dream Jagannātha Miśra saw that he was now in trouble.

503. At sunrise he rose and called for everyone. "I saw a dream.", he told everyone.

504. "In the dream I saw a great brāhmaṇa. He was effulgent like the sun.

505. "His splendid body was decorated with jewel ornaments. I had no power to look at Him. He was the abode of great effulgence.

506. "With a voice like a thundering cloud He said to me: ‘I am your son Viśvambhara. Why do you not honor Me?

507. "‘I am the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That you do not know. Why do you think I am only your son?

508. "‘An animal does not know what comes from a sparśamaṇī jewel’s touch. You think that I am your son. That is very bold of you.

509. "‘I know all the scriptures. I am the guru of all the demigods. Why, to force Me to study, will you strike Me with a stick in your hand?’

510. "This dream I saw last night. My heart does not know its meaning."

511. With happy hearts Śacī and everyone else gazed at Lord Viśvambhara’s face.

512. Their hearts filled with bliss, Śacī and Jagannātha Miśra hugged their son. They said: "This is our son Viśvambhara Gaura-Hari.

513. "His glories have no end. Even the Vedas do not know where they end. In their meditations even Lord Śiva, Sanaka-kumāra, and all the demigods and sages have no power to know where they end.

514. "Who knows His great, great glories? This fair divine person took birth as our son."

515. Speaking and speaking in this way, Śacī and Jagannātha Miśra felt their love, the love of parents for their son, grow more and more strong. As that love grew, their awareness that their son is the Supreme Personality of Godhead fled far away.

516. When they heard of this dream, everyone became filled with joy. Locana dāsa joyfully sings this song glorifying Lord Gaura.

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