The Lord Begins His Tour of South India

Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, being very compassionate toward a brāhmaṇa named Vāsudeva, cured him of leprosy. He transformed him into a beautiful man satisfied with devotional service. I offer my respectful obeisances unto the glorious Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

All glories to Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu! All glories to Lord Nityānanda Prabhu! All glories to Advaita Ācārya! And all glories to all the devotees of Lord Caitanya!

After delivering Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, the Lord desired to go to South India to preach.

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted the renounced order during the waxing fortnight of the month of Māgha. During the following month, Phālguna, He went to Jagannātha Purī and resided there.

At the end of the month of Phālguna, He witnessed the Dola-yātrā ceremony, and in His usual ecstatic love of God, He chanted and danced in various ways on the occasion.

During the month of Caitra, while living at Jagannātha Purī, the Lord delivered Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, and at the beginning of the next month (Vaiśākha), He decided to go to South India.

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu called all His devotees together and, holding them by the hand, humbly informed them, “You are all more dear to Me than My life. I can give up My life, but to give you up is difficult for Me.

“You are all My friends, and you have properly executed the duties of friends by bringing Me here to Jagannātha Purī and giving Me the chance to see Lord Jagannātha in the temple.

“I now beg all of you for one bit of charity. Please give Me permission to leave for a tour of South India.

“I shall go to search out Viśvarūpa. Please forgive Me, but I want to go alone; I do not wish to take anyone with Me.

“Until I return from Setubandha, all of you dear friends should remain at Jagannātha Purī.”

Knowing everything, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was aware that Viśvarūpa had already passed away. A pretense of ignorance was necessary, however, so that He could go to South India and liberate the people there.

Upon hearing this message from Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, all the devotees became very unhappy and remained silent with sullen faces.

Nityānanda Prabhu then said, “How is it possible for You to go alone? Who can tolerate this?

“Let one or two of us go with You; otherwise You may fall into the clutches of thieves and rogues along the way. They may be whomever You like, but two persons should go with You.

“Indeed, I know all the paths to the different places of pilgrimage in South India. Just order Me, and I shall go with You.”

The Lord replied, “I am simply a dancer, and You are the wire-puller. However You pull the wires to make Me dance, I shall dance in that way.

“After accepting the sannyāsa order, I decided to go to Vṛndāvana, but You took Me instead to the house of Advaita Prabhu.

“While on the way to Jagannātha Purī, You broke My sannyāsa staff. I know that all of you have great affection for Me, but such things disturb My activities.

“Jagadānanda wants Me to enjoy bodily sense gratification, and out of fear I do whatever he tells Me.

“If I sometimes do something against his desire, out of anger he will not talk to Me for three days.

“Being a sannyāsī, I have a duty to lie down on the ground and to take a bath three times a day, even during the winter. But Mukunda becomes very unhappy when he sees My severe austerities.

“Of course, Mukunda does not say anything, but I know that he is very unhappy within, and upon seeing him unhappy, I become twice as unhappy.

“Although I am in the renounced order of life and Dāmodara is a brahmacārī, he still keeps a stick in his hand just to educate Me.

“According to Dāmodara, I am still a neophyte as far as social etiquette is concerned; therefore he does not like My independent nature.

“Dāmodara Paṇḍita and others are more advanced in receiving the mercy of Lord Kṛṣṇa; therefore they are independent of public opinion. As such, they want Me to enjoy sense gratification, even though it be unethical. But since I am a poor sannyāsī, I cannot abandon the duties of the renounced order, and therefore I follow them strictly.

“You should all therefore remain here in Nīlācala for some days while I tour the sacred places of pilgrimage alone.”

Actually the Lord was controlled by the good qualities of all His devotees. On the pretense of attributing faults, He tasted all these qualities.

No one can properly describe Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s affection for His devotees. He always tolerated all kinds of personal unhappiness resulting from His acceptance of the renounced order of life.

The regulative principles observed by Caitanya Mahāprabhu were sometimes intolerable, and all the devotees became greatly affected by them. Although strictly observing the regulative principles, Caitanya Mahāprabhu could not tolerate the unhappiness felt by His devotees.

Therefore, to prevent them from accompanying Him and becoming unhappy, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu declared their good qualities to be faults.

Four devotees then humbly insisted that they go with the Lord, but Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, being the independent Supreme Personality of Godhead, did not accept their request.

Thereupon Lord Nityānanda said, “Whatever You order is My duty, regardless of whether it results in happiness or unhappiness.

“Yet I still submit one petition to You. Please consider it, and if You think it proper, please accept it.

“You must take with You a loincloth, external clothes and a waterpot. You should take nothing more than this.

“Since Your two hands will always be engaged in chanting and counting the holy names, how will You be able to carry the waterpot and external garments?

“When, along the way, You fall unconscious in ecstatic love of Godhead, who will protect Your belongings — the waterpot, garments and so forth?”

Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu continued, “Here is a simple brāhmaṇa named Kṛṣṇadāsa. Please accept him and take him with You. That is My request.

“He will carry Your waterpot and garments. You may do whatever You like; he will not say a word.”

Accepting the request of Lord Nityānanda Prabhu, Lord Caitanya took all His devotees and went to the house of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya.

As soon as they entered his house, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya offered the Lord obeisances and a place to sit. After seating all the others, the Bhaṭṭācārya took his seat.

After they had discussed various topics about Lord Kṛṣṇa, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu informed Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, “I have come to your place just to receive your order.

“My elder brother, Viśvarūpa, has taken sannyāsa and gone to South India. Now I must go search for Him.

“Please permit Me to go, for I must tour South India. With your permission, I shall soon return very happily.”

Upon hearing this, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya became very much agitated. Catching hold of the lotus feet of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he gave this sorrowful reply.

“After many births, due to some pious activity I got Your association. Now providence is breaking this invaluable association.

“If a thunderbolt falls on my head or if my son dies, I can tolerate it. But I cannot endure the unhappiness of separation from You.

“My dear Lord, You are the independent Supreme Personality of Godhead. Certainly You will depart. I know that. Still, I ask You to stay here a few days more so that I can see Your lotus feet.”

Upon hearing Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya’s request, Caitanya Mahāprabhu relented. He stayed a few days longer and did not depart.

The Bhaṭṭācārya eagerly invited Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu to his home and fed Him very nicely.

The Bhaṭṭācārya’s wife, whose name was Ṣāṭhīmātā (the mother of Ṣāṭhī), did the cooking. The narrations of these pastimes are very wonderful.

Later I shall tell about this in elaborate detail, but at present I wish to describe Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s South Indian tour.

After staying five days at the home of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu personally asked his permission to depart for South India.

After receiving the Bhaṭṭācārya’s permission, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu went to see Lord Jagannātha in the temple. He took the Bhaṭṭācārya with Him.

Seeing Lord Jagannātha, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu also begged His permission. The priest then immediately delivered prasādam and a garland to Lord Caitanya.

Thus receiving Lord Jagannātha’s permission in the form of a garland, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu offered obeisances, and then in great jubilation He prepared to depart for South India.

Accompanied by His personal associates and Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu circumambulated the altar of Jagannātha. The Lord then departed on His South Indian tour.

While the Lord was going along the path to Ālālanātha, which was located on the seashore, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya gave the following orders to Gopīnātha Ācārya.

“Bring the four sets of loincloths and outer garments I keep at home, and also some prasādam of Lord Jagannātha. You may carry these things with the help of some brāhmaṇa.”

While Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was departing, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya submitted the following at His lotus feet: “My Lord, I have one final request that I hope You will kindly fulfill.

“In the town of Vidyānagara, on the bank of the Godāvarī, there is a responsible government officer named Rāmānanda Rāya.

“Please do not neglect him, thinking he belongs to a śūdra family engaged in material activities. It is my request that You meet him without fail.”

Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya continued, “Rāmānanda Rāya is a fit person to associate with You; no other devotee can compare with him in knowledge of the transcendental mellows.

“He is a most learned scholar as well as an expert in devotional mellows. Actually he is most exalted, and if You talk with him, You will see how glorious he is.

“I could not realize when I first spoke with Rāmānanda Rāya that his topics and endeavors were all transcendentally uncommon. I made fun of him simply because he was a Vaiṣṇava.”

The Bhaṭṭācārya said, “By Your mercy I can now understand the truth about Rāmānanda Rāya. In talking with him, You also will acknowledge his greatness.”

Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya’s request that He meet Rāmānanda Rāya. Bidding Sārvabhauma farewell, the Lord embraced him.

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu asked the Bhaṭṭācārya to bless Him while he engaged in the devotional service of Lord Kṛṣṇa at home, so that by Sārvabhauma’s mercy the Lord could return to Jagannātha Purī.

Saying this, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu departed on His tour, and Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya immediately fainted and fell to the ground.

Although Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya fainted, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not take notice of him. Rather, He left quickly. Who can understand the mind and intention of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu?

This is the nature of the mind of an uncommon personality. Sometimes it is soft like a flower, but sometimes it is as hard as a thunderbolt.

“The hearts of those above common behavior are sometimes harder than a thunderbolt and sometimes softer than a flower. How can one accommodate such contradictions in great personalities?”

Lord Nityānanda Prabhu raised Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya and with the help of His men saw him to his home.

Immediately all the devotees came and partook of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s company. Afterwards, Gopīnātha Ācārya came with the garments and prasādam.

All the devotees followed Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to a place known as Ālālanātha. There they all offered respects and various prayers.

In great ecstasy, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu danced and chanted for some time. Indeed, all the neighbors came to see Him.

All around Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is also known as Gaurahari, people began to shout the holy name of Hari. Lord Caitanya, immersed in His usual ecstasy of love, danced in the midst of them.

The body of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was naturally very beautiful. It was like molten gold dressed in saffron cloth. Indeed, He was most beautiful for being ornamented with the ecstatic symptoms, which caused His bodily hair to stand on end, tears to well up in His eyes, and His body to tremble and perspire all over.

Everyone present was astonished to see Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s dancing and His bodily transformations. Whoever came did not want to return home.

Everyone — including children, old men and women — began to dance and to chant the holy names of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Gopāla. In this way they all floated in the ocean of love of Godhead.

Upon seeing the chanting and dancing of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Lord Nityānanda predicted that later there would be dancing and chanting in every village.

Seeing that it was already getting late, Lord Nityānanda Prabhu, the spiritual master, invented a means to disperse the crowd.

When Lord Nityānanda Prabhu took Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu for lunch at noon, everyone came running around Them.

After finishing Their baths, They returned at noon to the temple. Admitting His own men, Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu closed the outside door.

Gopīnātha Ācārya then brought prasādam for the two Lords to eat, and after They had eaten, the remnants of the food were distributed to all the devotees.

Hearing about this, everyone there came to the outside door and began chanting the holy name, “Hari! Hari!” Thus there was a tumultuous sound.

After lunch, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu made them open the door. In this way everyone received His audience with great pleasure.

The people came and went until evening, and all of them became Vaiṣṇava devotees and began to chant and dance.

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu then passed the night there and discussed the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa with His devotees with great pleasure.

The next morning, after taking His bath, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu started on His South Indian tour. He bade farewell to the devotees by embracing them.

Although they all fell to the ground unconscious, the Lord did not turn to see them but proceeded onward.

In separation, the Lord became very much perturbed and walked on unhappily. His servant, Kṛṣṇadāsa, who was carrying His waterpot, followed behind.

All the devotees remained there and fasted, and the next day they all unhappily returned to Jagannātha Purī.

Almost like a mad lion, Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu went on His tour filled with ecstatic love and performing saṅkīrtana, chanting Kṛṣṇa’s names as follows.

The Lord chanted:

Chanting this verse, Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, known as Gaurahari, went on His way. As soon as He saw someone, He would request him to chant “Hari! Hari!”

Whoever heard Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu chant “Hari! Hari!” also chanted the holy name of Lord Hari and Kṛṣṇa. In this way they all followed the Lord, very eager to see Him.

After some time the Lord would embrace these people and bid them return home, having invested each of them with spiritual potency.

Each of these empowered persons would return to his own village, always chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa and sometimes laughing, crying and dancing.

Such an empowered person would request everyone and anyone — whomever he saw — to chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa. In this way all the villagers would also become devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

People from different villages who came to see such an empowered individual would become like him simply by seeing him and receiving the mercy of his glance.

When each of these newly empowered individuals returned to his own village, he also converted the villagers into devotees. And when others came from different villages to see him, they were also converted.

In this way, as empowered men went from one village to another, all the people of South India became devotees.

Thus many hundreds of people became Vaiṣṇavas when they passed the Lord on the way and were embraced by Him.

In whatever village Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu stayed to accept alms, many people came to see Him.

By the mercy of the Supreme Lord, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, everyone became a first-class devotee. Later they became teachers or spiritual masters and liberated the entire world.

In this way the Lord went to the extreme southern part of India, and He converted all the provinces to Vaiṣṇavism.

Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not manifest His spiritual potencies at Navadvīpa, but He did manifest them in South India and liberated all the people there.

Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s empowering of others can be understood by one who is actually a devotee of the Lord and who has received His mercy.

If one does not believe in the uncommon transcendental pastimes of the Lord, he is vanquished both in this world and in the next.

Whatever I have stated about the beginning of the Lord’s tour should also be understood to hold for as long as the Lord toured South India.

When Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu came to the holy place known as Kūrma-kṣetra, He saw the Deity and offered prayers and obeisances.

While at this place, Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was in His usual ecstasy of love of Godhead and was laughing, crying, dancing and chanting. Everyone who saw Him was astonished.

After hearing of these wonderful occurrences, everyone came to see Him there. When they saw the beauty of the Lord and His ecstatic condition, they were all struck with wonder.

Just by seeing Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, everyone became a devotee. They began to chant “Kṛṣṇa” and “Hari” and all the holy names. They all were merged in a great ecstasy of love, and they began to dance, raising their arms.

Always hearing them chant the holy names of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the residents of all the other villages also became Vaiṣṇavas.

By hearing the holy name of Kṛṣṇa, the entire country became Vaiṣṇava. It was as if the nectar of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa overflooded the entire country.

After some time, when Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu manifested His external consciousness, a priest of the Lord Kūrma Deity gave Him various offerings.

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s mode of preaching has already been explained, and I shall not repeat the explanation. In whichever village the Lord entered, His behavior was the same.

In one village there was a Vedic brāhmaṇa named Kūrma. He invited Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu to his home with great respect and devotion.

This brāhmaṇa brought Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu to his home, washed His lotus feet and, with his family members, drank that water.

With great affection and respect, that Kūrma brāhmaṇa made Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu eat all kinds of food. After that, the remnants were shared by all the members of the family.

The brāhmaṇa then began to pray, “O my Lord, Your lotus feet are meditated upon by Lord Brahmā, and these very lotus feet have come into my home.

“My dear Lord, there is no limit to my great fortune. It cannot be described. Today my family, birth and riches have all been glorified.”

The brāhmaṇa begged Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, “My dear Lord, kindly show me favor and let me go with You. I can no longer tolerate the waves of misery caused by materialistic life.”

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu replied, “Don’t speak like that again. Better to remain at home and chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa always.

“Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa as they are given in the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In this way become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this land.”

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu further advised the brāhmaṇa Kūrma, “If you follow this instruction, your materialistic life at home will not obstruct your spiritual advancement. Indeed, if you follow these regulative principles, we will again meet here, or, rather, you will never lose My company.”

At whosever house Śrī Caitanya accepted His alms by taking prasādam, He would convert the dwellers to His saṅkīrtana movement and advise them just as He advised the brāhmaṇa named Kūrma.

While on His tour, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu would spend the night at a temple by the road. Whenever He accepted food from a person, He would give him the same advice He gave the brāhmaṇa named Kūrma. He adopted this process until He returned to Jagannātha Purī from His South Indian tour.

Thus I have described the Lord’s behavior elaborately in the case of Kūrma. In this way, you will know Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s dealings throughout South India.

Thus Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu would remain at night in one place, and the next morning, after bathing, He would start again.

When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu left, the brāhmaṇa Kūrma followed Him a great distance, but eventually Lord Caitanya took care to send him back home.

There was also a brāhmaṇa named Vāsudeva, who was a great person but was suffering from leprosy. Indeed, his body was filled with living worms.

Although suffering from leprosy, the brāhmaṇa Vāsudeva was enlightened. As soon as one worm fell from his body, he would pick it up and place it back again in the same location.

Then one night Vāsudeva heard of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s arrival, and in the morning he came to see the Lord at the house of Kūrma.

When the leper Vāsudeva came to Kūrma’s house to see Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he was informed that the Lord had already left. The leper then fell to the ground unconscious.

When Vāsudeva, the leper brāhmaṇa, was lamenting due to not being able to see Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the Lord immediately returned to that spot and embraced him.

When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu touched him, both the leprosy and his distress went to a distant place. Indeed, Vāsudeva’s body became very beautiful, to his great happiness.

The brāhmaṇa Vāsudeva was astonished to behold the wonderful mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and he began to recite a verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, touching the Lord’s lotus feet.

He said, “ ‘Who am I? A sinful, poor friend of a brāhmaṇa. And who is Kṛṣṇa? The Supreme Personality of Godhead, full in six opulences. Nonetheless, He has embraced me with His two arms.’”

The brāhmaṇa Vāsudeva continued, “O my merciful Lord, such mercy is not possible for ordinary living entities. Such mercy can be found only in You. Upon seeing me, even a sinful person goes away due to my bad bodily odor. Yet You have touched me. Such is the independent behavior of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”

Being meek and humble, the brāhmaṇa Vāsudeva worried that he would become proud after being cured by the grace of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

To protect the brāhmaṇa, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu advised him to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra incessantly. By doing so, he would never become unnecessarily proud.

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu also advised Vāsudeva to preach about Kṛṣṇa and thus liberate living entities. As a result, Kṛṣṇa would very soon accept him as His devotee.

After instructing the brāhmaṇa Vāsudeva in that way, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu disappeared from that place. Then the two brāhmaṇas, Kūrma and Vāsudeva, embraced each other and began to cry, remembering the transcendental qualities of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Thus I have described how Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu reclaimed the leper Vāsudeva and so received the name Vāsudevāmṛta-prada.

Thus I end my description of the beginning of the tour of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, His visiting the temple of Kūrma and His liberating the leper brāhmaṇa Vāsudeva.

One who hears these pastimes of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu with great faith will surely very soon attain the lotus feet of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

I admit that I do not know the beginning or the end of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s pastimes. However, whatever I have written I have heard from the mouths of great personalities.

O devotees, please do not consider my offenses in this regard. Your lotus feet are my only shelter.

Praying at the lotus feet of Śrī Rūpa and Śrī Raghunātha, always desiring their mercy, I, Kṛṣṇadāsa, narrate Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, following in their footsteps.