19920731 Childhood Pastimes of Lord Caitanya

The following is a talk given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Maharāja on July 31^st, 1992 in Mathurādeśa. The class was about the Childhood Pastimes of Lord Caitanya.

Devotee: “For the remaining eighteen years, He continuously stayed in Jagannātha Purī. Chanting the nectarean Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, He inundated everyone there in a flood of love of Kṛṣṇa. The pastimes of His household life are known as the ādi-līlā, or the original pastimes. His later pastimes are known as the madhya-līlā and antya-līlā, or the middle and final pastimes. All the pastimes enacted by Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in His ādi-līlā were recorded in summary form by Murāri Gupta. His later pastimes [the madhya-līlā and antya-līlā] were recorded in the form of notes by His secretary, Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, and thus kept within a book. By seeing and hearing the notes recorded by these two great personalities, a Vaiṣṇava, a devotee of the Lord, can know these pastimes one after another. In His original pastimes there are four divisions: bālya, paugaṇḍa, kaiśora and yauvana [childhood, early boyhood, later boyhood and youth]. I offer my respectful obeisances unto the full-moon evening in the month of Phālguna, an auspicious time full of auspicious symptoms, when Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu advented Himself with the chanting of the holy name, Hare Kṛṣṇa.” [Cc. Ādi 13.13–19]

Jayapatākā Swami: “On the full-moon evening of the month of Phālguna when the Lord took birth, coincidentally there was also a lunar eclipse.” [Cc. Ādi 13.20]

So, you heard how Lord Śrī Caitanya was in this world for forty-eight years – twenty-four years in the household life and twenty-four years in the renounced order of life. Of the twenty-four, in the renounced order, He was travelling all over South India for six years and eighteen years He was in Jagannātha Purī.

So, “In jubilation when Lord Caitanya appeared, everyone was chanting, “Hari! Hari!”—and Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared, after first causing the appearance of the holy name.” [Cc. Ādi 13.21]

So, normally in those days people would not chant the names of Kṛṣṇa. The brāhmaṇas said, “The names of Kṛṣṇa and Rāma should not be chanted out loud because they are too holy. So, you will commit offences to the name and only the brāhmaṇas can chant, and they will also only chant when they are bathing in the Ganges.” Because at that time they thought they were pure because they were in the Ganges. So, this way hardly anybody was chanting. So, at that time when there was this lunar eclipse, during the lunar eclipse the custom is everyone goes and bathes in the Ganges, and at that time when they are bathing in the Ganges they chant, “Haribol! Haribol! Haribol! Hare Kṛṣṇa! Jaya Govinda!” So, in this way the entire town of Navadvīpa, everyone was chanting.

In fact, the Vaiṣṇavas, they saw how happy everybody was and everyone was chanting the names of Hari. They said, “What is this? A lunar eclipse is supposed to be inauspicious, but everyone is chanting the names of Hari, so it will be very auspicious. Should be lunar eclipse more often. (laughter) All the time let there be lunar eclipse. (laughter) Let everyone chant the names of Hari.” So, that was also very auspicious that when the Lord appears and everyone was chanting the holy name. That also foretells the purpose of His coming is to spread the chanting of the holy name all over.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta Ādi 13.22

janma-bālya-paugaṇḍa-kaiśora-yuvā-kāle
hari-nāma laoyāilā prabhu nānā chale

Translation: “At His birth, in His childhood and in His early and later boyhood, as well as in His youth, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, under different pleas, induced people to chant the holy name of Hari [the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra].”

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta Ādi 13.23

bālya-bhāva chale prabhu karena krandana
‘kṛṣṇa’ ‘hari’ nāma śuni’ rahaye rodana

Translation: “In His childhood, when the Lord was crying, He would stop immediately upon hearing the holy names Kṛṣṇa and Hari.”

Jayapatākā Swami: When He was just a baby He would go on crying, and they brought doctors, everything, but they could not find the cause. There was no illness. Then, finally one of the ladies started chanting, “Haribol! Haribol! Haribol! Haribol!” and then He started smiling, and then they said, “Kṛṣṇa!  Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa!” He would go on smiling, and they thought, “Oh, now He is better.” Then they stopped chanting and go away. Then as soon as they would stop chanting, again He would start crying.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta Ādi 13.24

ataeva ‘hari’ ‘hari’ bale nārīgaṇa
dekhite āise yebā sarva bandhu jana

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

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta Ādi 13.25

‘gaurahari’ bali’ tāre hāse sarva nārī
ataeva haila tāṅra nāma ‘gaurahari’

Translation: “When all the ladies saw this fun, they enjoyed laughing and called the Lord “Gaurahari.” Since then, Gaurahari became another of His names.”

Jayapatākā Swami: As soon as they would stop chanting, He would cry, as soon as they would start chanting then He would laugh. So, He was golden in colour and He would always laugh when He heard the name of Hari. So, then they called Him Gaurahari, even from His childhood.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta Ādi 13.26

bālya vayasa — yāvat hāte khaḍi dila
paugaṇḍa vayasa — yāvat vivāha nā kaila

Translation: “His childhood lasted until the date of hāte khaḍi, the beginning of His education, and His age from the end of His childhood until He married is called paugaṇḍa.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, when He was around five years old, or so, that time they started His formal education. The system was called hāte khaḍi. This hāte khaḍi is where the parents bring their child who is ready to start education to the guru, and the guru takes on like a chalkboard, takes the hand of the child, and with the hand he writes the names of Kṛṣṇa and Rāma. So, the first writing that the child does is the name of Kṛṣṇa. That is called hāte khaḍi.

So, when Lord Caitanya, after that then they are taught the A-U-I, all the different alphabets in Sanskrit and everything. So, that was also followed in Lord Caitanya’s pastimes. And from that point He started His youth – paugaṇḍa, going to school and the various school-time activities were there, pastimes. Up to that point there were just very small child proclivities that were going on. So, those small child pastimes are also very attractive. The youthful pastimes are very attractive.

Then Lord Caitanya, because His father suddenly passed away when He was quite young and His mother was insisting that, “You should get married”, so, He got married at quite a young age just after the passing away of His father. Because He was maintaining the family then, He had to maintain the mother. So, He said, “Since I am doing gṛhastha-dharma, I should get a wife.”

Actually, He completed His formal education by around the age of eleven. He became Himself a teacher. By the age of fourteen He had many students. He was what I would call a child prodigy by material evaluation. He had already got a Ph.D by fourteen –  today’s terminology. So, when He was a child, just a small child, He saw that His mother was going and worshipping ṣaṣṭī-pūjā, [Aside: Ṣaṣṭhī? Ṣāṣṭhī? Ṣaṣṭhī.] and He was not very happy about it. Why His mother was… she was daily worshipping Kṛṣṇa in the house, but one day she was going out to worship Ṣaṣṭhī. So, then He played different tricks and insisted that all those things should be offered to Kṛṣṇa. So, even from His childhood, He was teaching the importance of actually worshipping directly Kṛṣṇa, not diverting our devotion and our worship to others.

There are many different pastimes. At the childhood there was a pastime of the devas coming and performing abhiṣeka for Lord Caitanya. There was the pastime of Lord Caitanya being kidnapped by some thieves and miraculously returned. There was a pastime of Lord Caitanya knowing that there was a special festival going on in some brāhmaṇa’s house, an Ekādaśī, and insisting on going there even though nobody—there is no way that He could know it otherwise. There was a pastime of Lord Caitanya interrupting the meal of Murāri Gupta after he preached Māyāvādī philosophy or yoga philosophy. There was also the pastime of Lord Caitanya and His pet – a small puppy dog, who He gave liberation to.

There are different pastimes of the Lord going and swimming in the Ganges, even at a very young age, before five. Then there was a pastime of the Lord dancing in ecstasy, at a very small age. There were also pastimes of the Lord taking the offering from a brāhmaṇa mendicant who was trying to offer his bhoga to Lord Gopāla, his Deity that he carried with him. Three times Lord Caitanya took the offering and finally in the middle of the night revealed that He was Gopāla Himself. Like this, there are actually hundreds of unlimited pastimes, of which possibly fifty or one hundred pastimes have been recorded in quite great detail even before He reaches this five-year point. Many wonderful transcendental activities have occurred.

Any questions so far? Ṣaṣṭhī is a Devī, no? It is a form of a demigoddess. ṣaṣṭī-pūjā, I think it is for some minor demigoddess that the village ladies worship for different things, maybe Śītalā or something, Ṣaṣṭhī or Śītalā, you do not get bit by a snake or Ṣaṣṭhī, one of those. Whatever She went to offer, she came with the offering and then Lord Caitanya—no, I think He took the offering or He offered to Kṛṣṇa forcibly. Spoiled the whole thing. Mother Śacī was angry, and then He was preaching to her as just a four-year-old boy. Any other questions? If there are any of those pastimes you want to hear in detail, then you can say so in a question, otherwise we will go on.

Devotee: Bengal is more known for Lord Caitanya, in the East, in South, very much so…?

Jayapatākā Swami: Bengal, Orissa, Bangladesh and West Bengal, Lord Caitanya is more known. Of course, detailed pastimes they might not know. The detailed pastimes everyone may not know. They would know the main pastimes like Jagāi-Mādhāi, Chand Kazi. They would not know all the detailed pastimes. If the rest of India does not know, that is also unfortunate that was not spread by the devotees, followers of Lord Caitanya. Otherwise, everyone should know. So, Prabhupāda has brought a message to the Western countries. So, now other devotees, if there is any other place that has not known about Caitanya Mahāprabhu, then they should also spread that message there.

Devotee: Is it true that people who worship Kṛṣṇa and Caitanya Mahāprabhu, though both are same, but Caitanya Mahāprabhu is more dearer because He came as Kṛṣṇa and Rādhārāṇī together? So, people start loving more Caitanya Mahāprabhu than Kṛṣṇa?

Jayapatākā Swami: Not exactly.

Devotee: (inaudible)

Jayapatākā Swami: No, that is no doubt. Lord Caitanya is more merciful. Although He is Kṛṣṇa, He is more merciful than Kṛṣṇa. His pastime is simply of giving out mercy. That is called audārya. Just like, say, there is some rich man, he just wants to give out charity to everyone. One day he wants to just give everyone charity, let everyone come and get some charity. That type of mood is what Lord Caitanya is representing. When Lord Kṛṣṇa decided, ‘Let us see the fun, let us give everybody love for Kṛṣṇa.’ But as Kṛṣṇa Himself, He cannot do that. But as a devotee of Kṛṣṇa, He can do that. So, Kṛṣṇa came as a devotee in order to give out love for Kṛṣṇa.

So, He took the mood of Rādhārāṇī – personally to taste the love, to be a devotee, He has to also experience devotion. So, His greatest devotee is Rādhā. So, He took Her attitude, combined with Her, in order to understand what is the highest devotion. That I explained, I think, before how in Dvāpara-yuga, Kṛṣṇa and Rukmiṇī had a discussion?

At that time Rukmiṇī was saying that, “You do not know.” When He arrived at her house and then she was washing His feet and crying and saying that, “You do not know.” He is asking, “Why are you crying?” and then she said, challenged Him that, “You know everything that is going on in all the three worlds, but You do not know what is going on in the heart of Your devotee. Is this the only thing that is not known to You – is what Your devotee feels for You? Being the Lord, You are not able to enter into this perspective on life, that what is the devotee feeling to You? But I know that the other devotees, especially Rādhārāṇī in Vṛndāvana, she knows what I am feeling.” So, Kṛṣṇa was challenged in this way that He did not know what His devotee felt. So, He took it as a personal thing.

And also, then Nārada Muni had come and he also was saying that, “What is going to happen in the Age of Kali when You leave?” Then all these people are going to become so irreligious. All the good effects of Your being here will be wiped out very soon. So, what is going to happen?” And then Lord Kṛṣṇa, when He heard the two devotees like that with such anxiety, then He said, “Okay, in Kali-yuga I am going to come. I will come as My own devotee. I will personally experience as a devotee what is love for Kṛṣṇa, what is devotion for Kṛṣṇa. And as a devotee, I will also give out, as an ācārya, I will give out love for Kṛṣṇa to everyone.”

So, this way both Nārada Muni’s desire that people should get love of Kṛṣṇa and Rukmiṇī’s desire that Kṛṣṇa should one time know what they are feeling. Also, during rāma-līlā, Lord Rāmacandra had put Sītā in the forest where Lava and Kuśa were born. And there, but Rāma was feeling great separation from Sītā and was worshipping a golden form of Sītā in His house, in His palace. Sītā was remembering the pastimes of Rāma and her together in the forest and was thinking how it was much nicer when they were together in the fourteen years of exile. They could have so many intimate pastimes in the forest. So, she was very happy remembering all these things even though she was away from Ayodhyā.

But that time, in Rāma’s pastime, Rāma had promised Sītā that, “You will… I will also be banished to the forest and you will be worshipping a golden form of Me.” So, it is also Viṣṇupriyā, the last wife of Lord Caitanya, had two wives. First wife passed away, then He married again. This wife is also incarnation of Sītā and when Lord Caitanya took sannyāsa—sannyāsa means vanavāsa, living in the forest—but He was remembering always Vṛndāvana. Lord Caitanya went and was remembering always Vṛndāvana. He was quite happy. But Viṣṇupriyā, she is always feeling separation from Lord Caitanya and she had a golden form of Lord Caitanya, a Deity made and she worshipped Lord Caitanya. Anyway, Lord Caitanya is golden in color.

So, the various pastimes were left uncomplete. Lord Kṛṣṇa always says, “I will reciprocate with My devotees.” So, He had not reciprocated. He banished Sītā, He said, He should also be banished. So, He also left household life, the comforts of household life, to go wandering around as a mendicant. But because He was in the mood of Vṛndāvana, so, He was very happy, even though there was no material comforts. So, like this, Kṛṣṇa came for various—with one pastime He fulfilled many purposes. Advaita Ācārya had been praying that Lord Kṛṣṇa should come, that the people had become too materialistic and nobody was worshipping Kṛṣṇa purely. He saw that the people, they are doing so many types of worship.

They are doing devī’s pūjā, they are doing kārtikeya-pūjā and śiva-pūjā. They are doing all these different pūjās, just asking for material benefit, “Give me this, give me that.” They are not actually having the real devotion to please the Lord. Real devotion means you give to the Lord without asking anything in return. But that was not going on. Everyone is worshipping the devas and asking something in return. There was also not selfless pūjā to the devas visible. Only the selfless pūjā is offered to Kṛṣṇa, because Kṛṣṇa Himself is the source of our existence. So, if we worship Kṛṣṇa, it is like watering the root. We also feel satisfied by that. If you worship anyone else selflessly, still one does not feel so satisfied. But if you worship Kṛṣṇa selflessly, you actually feel satisfied.

So, Advaita was seeing that these things were going on, and people were doing so much show, spending a lot of money on weddings for their daughters, putting on a big, renting a big place and putting on big ceremonies. But actually, it was more just to promote their own image as a very big wealthy person, a big religious person. It was not for any higher purpose of really pleasing God, pleasing Kṛṣṇa and so, this got to such a point that at that time in Navadvīpa, people were also putting on wedding ceremonies for trees, cats, dogs, or marrying Śiva and Devī – what we call earthen Deities in big ceremonies. Apparently, all really religious things, but it was just a farce to show off that, “I am so rich and I am putting on a big festival, feed many people.” In the name of religion, they are promoting their own image.

So, he saw all these things are going on, and people are becoming more and more absorbed in sense gratification. Whatever religion is there is just superficial, not really religion for the purpose of spiritual upliftment. So, therefore he saw that it is very difficult for me to preach to these people. Only Kṛṣṇa Himself has to come, and He can change the minds of these people back to the real path. So, Lord Caitanya came, His weapon was love. All these superficial things He could cut through because He was so attractive, He was so beautiful. And people saw Him, they just forgot everything, and they wanted to follow. So, His weapons were His personal beauty, His ecstatic chanting, His transcendental knowledge. He did not use the weapons of cakra and gadā. He was not killing anyone. He was killing their demoniac attitude by giving them love for Kṛṣṇa.

Devotee: Can you tell us about the pastime of Lord Caitanya and the thieves?

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya was very active, hyperactive. He would run in and out of His house as a small tot, just like a two-year-old. He did be running in and out all the time, just barely able to walk, but He did be running. And being a well-to-do brāhmaṇa family, they had put some gold earrings with diamonds on His ears, and they had some gahanas, some, there was a  necklace, a golden necklace. So, He did be running in and out of the house. Sometimes He did run down the street. And Navadvīpa was a very big city. There were so many people moving on the street. And He had run back in the house and go out, you know, just like this, be very active. Soon as He could walk, toddle around, He would just be toddling here and there.

So, these two thieves, they saw, “Here is this boy with all this valuable jewellery on Him. He just – nobody is watching Him. He is just walking here and there, running in and out of His house.” So, they thought, they made a plan, “Let us steal His jewellery.” So, if they just picked Him up and He started crying, then He did make a noise, all the relatives would come out, and they would get caught. So, they went to the child and said, “Listen, we are Your uncles. We want to give You some sweetmeats. Do You like sandeśa and rasagullā? You come with us, we will give You. Actually, we are Your uncles.” And they picked up Lord Caitanya and put Him on their shoulders, and they were moving with Him. Meanwhile, Śacīmātā and Jagannātha Miśra, they looked, “Where did He go? Where did Nimāi go?” They looked all over and they could not see Him. Then they got worried, you know. He is going in and out, but this time He was not coming in. So, they started looking everywhere, telling their neighbors. Then this thing happened so fast no one could see. So, then they became more and more worried. They became actually very hysterical, looking everywhere.

Meanwhile, Lord Caitanya is going on a tour of Navadvīpa. People are seeing this little child being taken, riding on the shoulder of these people. He is smiling and looking around, taking a good look at Navadvīpa. And then He told them, “Where is the sweetmeats you promised Me?” So, then they stopped at a sweet shop and He took some sandeśa. Then they kept going on and they are going to their house, which is in some secluded place. And then they are going to take off all His jewellery. But Lord Caitanya, being the Lord of Māyā Devī, He put His mystic power over them. The mahāmāyā went over them. And actually what they did is they thought that they are going right to their house. But actually, what they did is they did a big circle of Navadvīpa, and they end up right back at the house of Jagannātha Miśra. But up to the point, they actually visibly thought that “I am going into my own house.” And they thought that now “I am in my house.”

And then they put down Lord Caitanya. As soon as they put Him down, then the illusion was broken. And they looked and they saw that they were right back where they started from. And there Jagannātha Miśra and Śacīmātā, these two people, came and just put the child down in front of them. So, they thought, “What nice people! They found our child and brought back.” Because they were hysterical, looking everywhere.

And immediately Lord Caitanya ran to Mother Śacī. And Mother Śacī picked Him up and was like, “Oh!” And Jagannātha Miśra wanted to thank these people for being so kind to bring back their child. But they saw what happened. Suddenly they are at the same place. And they are feeling guilty because their intention was stealing. So, they thought, “Now these people have caught us.” And they saw Jagannātha Miśra coming to them but they did not have the time to think. They thought maybe he is coming to catch us, and they just ran.

And Jagannātha Miśra is like, “What is wrong with these people? They are running, looking back, falling over. They are so hurriedly running.” Somehow, they ran away. And Jagannātha Miśra, “What is wrong with these people? I just want to thank them and they are running away like that, falling over each other.” So, finally those people, those two thieves, they get off in a distance in some woods. And they look around, “Phew! No one is chasing us.” Then they started to embrace each other. They said, “Are! Caṇḍī saved us today. So, we thought we are going to fool that child who fooled us.” They went to cheat Kṛṣṇa. “We are Your uncle, we are going to take You…” So, cheat You, actually for cheating. So, then the Lord said, “Okay, you want to cheat Me, I will cheat you. Kṛṣṇa can cheat anyone better than anyone.”

But somehow they came, “We are Your uncle, we want to feed You.” So, “Okay,” just like Pūtanā came, “I am Your mother, I want to feed You.” So, they came in, “Okay, we are Your uncle.” So, Kṛṣṇa Caitanya accepted, “All right, you are My uncle. You want to feed Me, all right. But you want to cheat Me and take Me to your house and kill Me, all right. Well, I will cheat you and take you back to My house.” Nitāi Gaura Premānande Hari Haribol! So, simultaneously Lord Caitanya is having all these pastimes, and He is maintaining all this. His parents are just thinking He is a little child, but simultaneously He is doing all these amazing things.

One time He was just crawling in His house before He could walk. He was in the courtyard and one big white snake came. So, He went and He grabbed that snake. And, the snake coiled up and He laid down right on the snake. And the snake – it is a cobra – just put the head, fanned out, over Lord Caitanya, giving shade. Mother Śacī is cooking some milk or something in the kitchen, comes out. She sees the child is lying doing śeṣa-śayana on this snake. But she said, “Oh my goodness, this cobra is going to kill my child, going to bite Him.” But she cannot go. How can you in that position—you cannot go nearby. It looks as if the snake wants to bite, what can anybody do? So, she could not go there at the same time. She could not restrain herself. She was becoming so hysterical. She said, “Oh no, what is going to happen to me? Nimāi! O Kṛṣṇa, save my child!” And she is fainting and she is crying and calling her husband. What to do, nobody can do anything.

And Lord Caitanya is just… He is relaxing. Actually, that snake was Anantadeva, He came... So, Anantadeva is very merciful also. “You saw His parents are going to leave their body, so much anxiety.” So, He just uncoiled and went away. And then Lord Caitanya became very angry. “What you are doing? I am relaxing on a nice cool snake.” He went crawling after the snake, trying to grab him. “You come back.” And then taking that opportunity, then Jagannātha Miśra grabbed or Śacīmātā went and picked up baby Nimāi. So, there are various types of pastimes are going on. But the parents are always thinking He is just our small child.

The Lord is simultaneously sometimes revealing Himself to different devotees and sometimes having the various pastimes. This Ādi-līlā one you have? Yes. It is also predicted that along with the Lord, He will come with His expansions. So, Advaita Ācārya came first. Brahmā came first. Advaita is the Mahā-Viṣṇu. And Balarāma came as Nityānanda Prabhu. Rādhārāṇī wanted to also come, but she came as an assistant to Lord Caitanya. She came as Gadādhara Paṇḍita. And Nārada Muni, he also was asked to come. So, he came as Śrīvāsa. So, we are very… Kṛṣṇa conscious, it does not accept that anybody claims to be avatāra unless that—they are not a cheap thing. But then someone says, “Well, how do you…” Some sampradāyas, they are not understanding Lord Caitanya’s actual position. So, the ācāryas, they have shown from various śāstras that actually the Lord was predicted, and He is in the śāstra. Therefore He is accepted. So, there is different quotations, especially page one hundred eight of Ādi-līlā. It starts giving different predictions. Of course, previously, it is also quoted from the Bhāgavatam, it says,

kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ
sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam
yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair
yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ
[ŚB 11.5.32]

That, “The Lord will come in Age of Kali. But He will not be black-colored. Kṛṣṇa will come Himself, but He will not be black-colored. He will come, and He will be glorifying the holy names of the Lord Kṛṣṇa, His own name. And He will be, sa-aṅga means, He will have His expansions; upa-aṅga means He will have His energies and pārṣadas. He will also have His weapons. And those who are intelligent… He will spread the saṅkīrtana-yajña – those who are intelligent will follow Him.” So, this is also predicted in Bhāgavatam.

But then in various śāstras, there are predictions. In the Caitanya Upaniṣad, there is a verse, gauraḥ sarvātmā mahā-puruṣo mahātmā mahā-yogī tri-guṇātītaḥ sattva-rūpo bhaktiṁ loke kāśyati, “Lord Gaura, who is the all-pervading Supersoul, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appears as a great saint and powerful mystic, who is above the three modes of nature and is the emblem of transcendental activity. He disseminates the cult of devotion throughout the world.”

From the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad, it states:

tam īśvarāṇāṁ paramaṁ maheśvaraṁ
taṁ devatānāṁ paramaṁ ca daivatam
patiṁ patīnāṁ paramaṁ parastād
vidāma devaṁ bhuvaneśam īḍyam

So, this is two verses, one verse is that, “O Supreme Lord, You are the Supreme Maheśvara, the worshipable Deity of all the demigods and the Supreme Lord of all lords. You are the controller of all controllers, the Personality of Godhead, the Lord of everything worshipable.”

Then later it says in Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad:

mahān prabhur vai puruṣaḥ
sattvasyaiṣa pravartakaḥ
su-nirmalām imāṁ prāptim
īśāno jyotir avyayaḥ

“The Supreme Personality of Godhead is Mahāprabhu, who disseminates transcendental enlightenment. Just to be in touch with Him is to be in contact with the indestructible brahma-jyoti.”

So, Lord Caitanya was also known as Mahāprabhu. So, saying here, “Who is this?” This reference is to the Lord who comes as a disseminator of knowledge. He is Mahāprabhu. So, you put these together, then you get a clearer picture.

From Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad, it says:

yadā paśyaḥ paśyate rukma-varṇaṁ
kartāram īśaṁ puruṣaṁ brahma-yonim

“One who sees the golden-colored Personality of Godhead, the Supreme Lord, the Supreme Actor, who is the source of Supreme Brahman, is liberated.”

There is a reference to hemāṅga, rukma-varṇa, akṛṣṇa-varṇam, to some Personality of Godhead in the Sahasranāma. There is also hemāṅga. “Who is this form of the Lord who is golden in color?” (audio abruptly stops)