Song 16

(Śrī rāga-Diśā)

Refrain: Glory, glory to Lord Gaurāṅga! Love for Lord Gaurāṅga is for me the sweetest nectar bliss. Glory, glory to Lord Gaurāṅga!

615. One day Lord Gaura, sitting at home, was rapt in thinking within His heart.

616. His entire body was then flooded with nectar light. His body was so effulgent no one at home could bear to look at it.

617. Glancing at His mother, Lord Gaura said: "Hear My words. I see that you have committed a great offense.

618. "Do not eat grains on ekādaśī. Carefully obey what I have now told you."

619. With a voice like a thundering cloud, Lord Gaura spoke these words to His mother. Hearing them, Mother Śacī felt great awe and wonder in her heart.

620. Her body was filled with awe and love. Softly, softly she said: "I will obey Your command."

621. Hearing His mother’s words, Lord Gaura was pleased at heart. In this way the kind-hearted Lord taught the principles of religion.

622. At that moment a pure-hearted brāhmaṇa unexpectedly arrived. He gave some betelnuts to Lord Gaura.

623. Smiling, Lord Gaura began to chew those betelnuts. The next moment He called for His mother.

624. To His mother Lord Gaura said: "I will go home. Take care of this person. He is your son now."

625. Half a moment after speaking these words, Lord Gaura became motionless. Like a stick He fell to the ground.

626. He made not a sound. Śacī was terrified. Her heart beating quickly, she placed some Gaṅgā water in her son’s mouth.

627. Then next moment the Lord became conscious again. The effulgence of His body filled the room with light.

628. To His mother Lord Gaura said: "I will go home." Who has the power to understand these words?

629. Śrī Murārī Gupta is a confidential devotee of the Lord. He knows all spiritual truths. He is a very expert devotee.

630. Dāmodara Paṇḍita asked him: "O great soul, please explain those words to me.

631. "Were these words only a trick by the Lord? What is the power behind these words? Please give me your opinion."

632. Murārī Gupta replied: "Hear. Hear, O saintly one. How can I know everything in Lord Kṛṣṇa’s heart? Whatever my intelligence can understancd I will explain to you.

633. "If what I speak according to my intelligence is reasonable, then you may accept it.

634. "When a devotee hears about the Lord, gazes at Hias Deity form, meditates on Him, or chants His holy names, the Lord enters that devotee’s heart.

635. "The Lord’s body is not material. It is free from the touch of the material modes.

636. "’Thus the Supreme Lord places His own body within the body of His devotee. There the Lord enjoys pastimes as He wishes.

637. "The Lord thinks the worship of His devotees is more important than the worship of Him. In His heart He thinks of ways to worship His devotees.

638. "In this way the Lord places Himself under the dominion of His devotees. Some people say these are ordinary material activities on the part of the Lord and His devotee.

639. "‘Why does the Supreme Personality of Godhead think the devotees are more important than Him? The residents of the material world have no power to understand the answer to this question.

640. "The Lord’s form is graceful and handsome. It is made of spiritual nectar. It possesses all opulences.

641. "It is never without playful, glorious, blissful pastimes. Who is the person, a person worthless like a pile of ashes, that will insult the Lord by saying, ‘The Supreme Lord has no attributes’.?

642. "Stopped by māyā, these persons do not attain the Lord. Still, the Lord always enjoys pastimes in His devotees bodies.

643. "When the devotee eats, sleeps, relaxes, or plays, Lord Kṛṣṇa feels happiness.

644. "Lord Kṛṣṇa is equal to the devotees and the non-devotees. Still, only the devotees see Lord Kṛṣṇa within their own bodies.

645. "Even if somehow they see Lord Kṛṣṇa, the nondevotees think He is an ordinary human being. They say: ‘Who is this Kṛṣṇa? He must be an ordinary human being. After all, I can see Him with my own eyes.’

646-647. "The truth is that Lord Kṛṣṇa is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all masters of all masters. He is the Supreme Brahman, untouched by the modes of material nature. Persons who say, ‘Lord Kṛṣṇa is an ordinary human being with a material body, a human being who performs ordinary material actions.’, are the lowest of men. They do not understand the truth about Lord Kṛṣṇa. In truth Lord Kṛṣṇa manifests His own body within the bodies of His devotees.

648. "That is the understanding in my heart. Please try to understand it with your heart and become happy.

649. "Therefore I say a true Vaiṣṇava has a body within which Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself resides. This I have heard in the Vedas, Purāṇas, and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

650. "As the Gaṅgā and other holy places purify the pilgrims, so the dust of a devotee’s feet purifies everyone.

651. "The lowly people who think a devotee’s body is ordinary, like the bodies of the ordinary people, does not understand the truth. He commits an offense."

652. With happy hearts Murārī Gupta and Dāmodara Paṇḍita discussed the spiritual truth in this way.

653. The Supreme Lord does not distinguish between His body and the body of His devotee. He thinks the devotee’s body is His own.

654. Hearing the discussion of these two devotees, Locana dāsa is now filled with joy as he sings this song.