20211008 Encounter with Pāṭhāna Soldiers

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on October 8th, 2021 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Hare Kṛṣṇa! Dear Devotees! Today we will continue with the compilation of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya book. Today's chapter is entitled as:

Encounter With Pāṭhāna soldiers
Under the section: Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s Visit to Śrī Vṛndāvana

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.158

rājaputa kṛṣṇadāsa o māthura sānoḍiyā ubhayai pathajña:—

premī kṛṣṇadāsa, āra seita brāhmaṇa
gaṅgā-tīra-pathe yāibāra vijña dui-jana

Translation: Both Rājaputa Kṛṣṇadāsa and the Sanoḍiyā brāhmaṇa knew the path along the Ganges bank very well.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.159

pathe eka vṛkṣatale sakalera viśrāmārtha upaveśana:—

yāite eka vṛkṣa-tale prabhu sabā lañā
vasilā, sabāra patha-śrānti dekhiyā

Translation: While walking, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, understanding that the others were fatigued, took them all beneath a tree and sat down.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya was always conscious of His devotees

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.160

gābhīvicaraṇa-darśane vraja-līlā-smṛti:—

sei vṛkṣa-nikaṭe care bahu gābhī-gaṇa
tāhā dekhi’ mahāprabhura ullasita mana

Translation: There were many cows grazing near that tree, and the Lord was very pleased to see them.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, seeing the cows Lord Caitanya became reminded of Vṛndāvana and again became ecstatic.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.161

haṭhāt ekaṭī vaṁśī-dhvani-śravaṇe prabhura prema-mūrcchā:—

ācambite eka gopa vaṁśī bājāila
śuni’ mahāprabhura mahā-premāveśa haila

Translation: Suddenly a cowherd boy blew on his flute, and immediately the Lord was struck with ecstatic love.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu became ecstatic hearing a cowherd boy, playing on his flute. He was remined of Kṛṣṇa.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.162

acetana hañā prabhu bhūmite paḍilā
mukhe phenā paḍe, nāsāya śvāsa ruddha hailā

Translation: Filled with ecstatic love, the Lord fell to the ground unconscious. He foamed about the mouth, and His breathing stopped.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, this was something that frequently happened to the Lord, He became ecstatic sometimes He became unconscious and foam would come from His mouth and various ecstatic symptoms would manifest.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.163

emana samaya tathāya daśajana aśvārohī pāṭhānera āgamana –

hena-kāle tāhāṅ āśoyāra daśa āilā
mleccha-pāṭhāna ghoḍā haite uttarilā

Translation: While the Lord was unconscious, ten cavalry soldiers belonging to the Muslim Pāṭhāna military order rode up and dismounted.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.164

prabhura saṅgī cārijanakei ‘prabhura hatyākārī dasyu’-jñāne dalapatira nidhanodyoga:—

prabhure dekhiyā mleccha karaye vicāra
ei yati-pāśa chila suvarṇa apāra

Translation: Seeing the Lord unconscious, the soldiers thought, “This sannyāsī must have possessed a large quantity of gold.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the Pāṭhāna soilders thought that to steal Lord Caitanya’s gold, His associates had somehow made him unconscious with some form of poison.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.165

ei cāri bāṭoyāra dhuturā khāoyāñā
māri’ ḍāriyāche, yatira saba dhana lañā

Translation: “These four rogues here must have taken away that sannyāsī’s riches after killing Him by making Him take the poison dhuturā.”

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.166

tabe sei pāṭhāna cāri-janere bāṅdhila
kāṭite cāhe, gauḍiyā saba kāṅpite lāgila

Translation: Thinking this, the Pāṭhāna soldiers arrested the four persons and decided to kill them. Because of this, the two Bengalis began to tremble.

Purport: The four persons were Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya, his assistant brāhmaṇa, Rājaputa Kṛṣṇadāsa and the Sanoḍiyā brāhmaṇa devotee of Mādhavendra Purī.

Jayapatākā Swami: Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya and His assistant began to tremble, they were very afraid.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.167

kṛṣṇadāsa o māthura brāhmaṇera nirbhaye pāṭhānake paricayādi-pradāna

kṛṣṇadāsa—rājaputa, nirbhaya se baḍa
sei vipra—nirbhaya, se—mukhe baḍa daḍa

Translation: The devotee Kṛṣṇadāsa, who belonged to the rājaputa race, was very fearless. The Sanoḍiyā brāhmaṇa was also fearless, and he spoke very bravely.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the two residents from Mathurā, they knew how to speak to the Pāṭhāna soilders and they were not afraid.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.168

vipra kahe,—pāṭhāna, tomāra pātsāra dohāi
cala tumi āmi sikdāra-pāśa yāi

Translation: The brāhmaṇa said, “You Pāṭhāna soldiers are all under the protection of your king.

Let us go to your commander and get his decision.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.169

ei yati—āmāra guru, āmi—māthura brāhmaṇa
pātsāra āge āche mora ‘śata jana’

Translation: “This sannyāsī is my spiritual master, and I am from Mathurā. I am a brāhmaṇa, and I know many people who are in the service of the Muslim king.

Jayapatākā Swami: The Sanoḍiyā brāhmaṇa he was explaining that he knew hundred people who were working for the Muslim King and that they did no wrong.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.170

ei yati vyādhite kabhu hayena mūrcchita
abaṅhi cetana pāibe, ha-ibe samvita

Translation: “This sannyāsī sometimes falls unconscious due to the influence of a disease. Please sit down here, and you will see that He will very soon regain consciousness and His normal condition.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, they explained Lord Caitanya’s ecstasy as a kind of periodic disease and that He will soon regain His normal consciousness.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.171

kṣaṇeka ihāṅ vaisa, bāndhi’ rākhaha sabāre
iṅhāke puchiyā, tabe māriha sabāre

Translation: “Sit down here for a while and keep us all under arrest. When the sannyāsī regains his senses, you can question Him. Then, if you like, you can kill us all.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the brāhmaṇa from Mathurā gave this logic to the Pāṭhāna soldiers.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.172

pāṭhānera krodhabhare sakalakei ‘dasyu’ baliyā ukti:—

pāṭhāna kahe,—tumi paścimā māthura dui-jana
‘gauḍiyā’ ṭhak ei kāṅpe dui-jana

Translation: The Pāṭhāna soldiers said, “You are all rogues. One of you belongs to the western lands, one to the district of Mathurā, and the other two, who are trembling, belong to Bengal.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the Pāṭhāna soldiers analyzed and knew the origin of each person.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.173

pratyuttare kṛṣṇadāsera pāṭhānake bhaya pradarśana o kaṭuvākya:

kṛṣṇadāsa kahe,—āmāra ghara ei grāme
dui-śata turkī āche, śateka kāmāne

Translation: Rājaputa Kṛṣṇadāsa said, “I have my home here, and I also have about two hundred Turkish soldiers and about one hundred cannons.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the Rājaputa he was threatening them and was telling them how he had so many soldiers behind him.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.174

ekhani āsibe saba, āmi yadi phukāri
ghoḍā-piḍā luṭi’ labe tomā-sabā māri’

Translation: “If I call loudly, they will come immediately to kill you and plunder your horses and saddles.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the Rājaputa in this way threatened the soldiers.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.175

gauḍiyā—‘bāṭapāḍa’ nahe, tumi—‘bāṭapāḍa’
tīrtha-vāsī luṭha’, āra cāha’ māribāra

Translation: “The Bengali pilgrims are not rogues. You are rogues, for you want to kill the pilgrims and plunder them.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the Rājaputa is returning the threat that they are actually rogues and they want to plunder the Bengali pilgrims.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.176

pāṭhānera bhaya:—

śuniyā pāṭhāna mane saṅkoca ha-ila
hena-kāle mahāprabhu ‘caitanya’ pāila

Translation: Upon hearing this challenge, the Pāṭhāna soldiers became hesitant. Then suddenly Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu regained consciousness.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, when the Rājaputa Kṛṣṇa dāsa spoke so heavily the Pāṭhāna soldiers got hesitant, they felt fear that what if it is true and Lord Caitanya became conscious.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.177

prabhura vāhyadaśā o nṛtya-kīrtana:—

huṅkāra kariyā uṭhe, bale ‘hari’ ‘hari’
premāveśe nṛtya kare ūrdhva-bāhu kari’

Translation: Coming to His senses, the Lord very loudly began chanting the holy name, “Hari! Hari!”Haribol! The Lord raised His arms upward and began to dance in ecstatic love.

Jayapatākā Swami: This must have been very surprising to the Pāṭhāna soilders and when Lord Caitanya jumped up and started to chant Hari bol!

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.178

pāpī snecchera harināma-śravaṇe kaṣṭa:—

premāveśe prabhu yabe karena citkāra
mlecchera hṛdaye yena lāge śeladhāra

Translation: When the Lord shouted very loudly in ecstatic love, it appeared to the Muslim soldiers that their hearts were struck by thunderbolts.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the Pāṭhāna soldiers had thought that Lord Caitanya was killed and that the four had looted His wealth. Lord Caitanya, when He jumped up and started chanting and dancing very loudly, the Pāṭhāna soldiers were stuck like thunderbolts in their heart.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.179

snecchera tatkṣaṇāt cārijanera vandhana-mocana; prabhura bhaktadroha-darśane avakāśābhāva:—

bhaya pāñā mleccha chāḍi’ dila cāri-jana
prabhu nā dekhila nija-gaṇera bandhana

Translation: Seized by fear, all the Pāṭhāna soldiers immediately released the four persons. Thus Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not see His personal associates arrested.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya who they thought was killed, was chanting and dancing and they realized they had assumed the wrong thing and immediately released the four and Lord Caitanya didn’t see that His associates were arrested.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.180

mleccha-darśane prabhura bhāva-samvaraṇa:—

bhaṭṭācārya āsi’ prabhure dhari’ vasāila
mleccha-gaṇa dekhi’ mahāprabhura ‘bāhya’ haila

Translation: At that time, Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya went to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and made Him sit down. Seeing the Muslim soldiers, the Lord regained His normal senses.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya was in ecstasy, and He was not aware of what was going on. So Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya had Him sit down, and when He saw the Muslim soldiers, He regained His external consciousness.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.181

mlecchagaṇera prabhu-vandanā o cārijanera viruddhe abhiyoga:—

mleccha-gaṇa āsi’ prabhura vandila caraṇa
prabhu-āge kahe,—ei ṭhak cāri-jana

Translation: All the Muslim soldiers then came before the Lord, worshiped His lotus feet and said, “Here are four rogues.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.182

ei cāri mili’ tomāya dhuturā khāoyāñā
tomāra dhana laila tomāya pāgala kariyā

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.183

cārijanakei ‘nijajana’ baliyā prabhura paricaya-dāna:—

prabhu kahena,—ṭhak nahe, mora ‘saṅgī’ jana
bhikṣuka sannyāsī, mora nāhi kichu dhana

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “These are not rogues. They are My associates. Being a sannyāsī beggar, I do not possess anything.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya explained to them that He was a beggar sannyāsī and He did not have any wealth, and these four persons were His personal associates.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 18.184

mṛgī-vyādhite āmi kabhu ha-i acetana
ei cāri dayā kari’ karena pālana

Translation: “Due to epilepsy, I sometimes fall unconscious. Out of their mercy, these four men maintain Me.”

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya explained His ecstasy by saying that it was epilepsy and that His, personal associates were maintaining Him.

Thus ends the chapter entitled, Encounter with Pāṭhāna Soldiers 
Under the Section: Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s Visit to Śrī Vṛndāvana