Gaurangera Duti Pada

Savarana-sri-gaura-mahima

The Glories of Sri Gauranga

(from Prarthana)


(1)

gaurangera duti pada, jar dhana sampada,
se jane bhakati-rasa-sar
gaurangera madhura-lila, jar karne pravesila,
hridoya nirmala bhelo tar

(2)

je gaurangera nama loy, tara hoy premodoy,
tare mui jai bolihari
gauranga-gunete jhure, nitya-lila tare sphure,
se jana bhakati-adhikari

(3)

gaurangera sangi-gane, nitya-siddha kori’ mane,
se jay brajendra-suta-pas
sri-gauda-mandala-bhumi, jeba jane cintamani,
tara hoy braja-bhume bas

(4)

gaura-prema-rasarnave, se tarange jeba dube,
se radha-madhava-antaranga
grihe ba vanete thake, ‘ha gauranga’ bo’le dake,
narottama mage tara sanga

Translation:


(1)
Anyone who has accepted the two lotus feet of Lord Caitanya as their only asset knows the true essence
of devotional service. If anyone gives submissive aural reception to the pleasing and sweet pastimes of
Lord Caitanya, then immediately his heart becomes cleansed of all material contamination.

(2)
Anyone who simply chants the name of Sri Krishna Caitanya will immediately develop love of Godhead. I
offer him all congratulations by saying, 'Bravo!' If anyone feels ecstasy and cries by simply hearing
the transcendental qualities of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he at once understands the eternal loving affairs
between Radha and Krishna.

(3)
Anyone who has understood that the associates of Lord Caitanya are eternally liberated souls
immediately becomes eligible to enter into the abode of Krishna, the son of Nanda Maharaja in Vrindavana, in
his next birth. If anyone understands that there is no difference between Gau;da-man;dala, the place in
West Bengal wherein Lord Caitanya had His pastimes, and the transcendental abode of Sri Vrindavana-dhama,
then he actually lives in Vrindavana
.

(4)
Anyone who takes pleasure sporting within the waves of the ocean of Lord Caitanya's distribution of love
of God immediately becomes a confidential devotee of Sri Sri Radha-Madhava. It doesn't matter whether such
a devotee is in the renounced order of life or whether he is a householder. If he is actually taking part in
Lord Caitanya's sankirtana activities and actually understanding what it is, then such a person is always
liberated. Narottama dasa aspires for his association.

Purport

by His Divine Grace
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada


This is a song by Narottama dasa Thakura in praise of the glories of Lord Caitanya. Gauranga refers to
Lord Caitanya, who has a fair complexion. One who has a fair complexion is called gaura, and since Lord
Caitanya was very fair, just like molten gold, He was also named Gaurasundara. Narottama dasa Thakura
says, gaurangera duti pada, jar dhana-sampada, se jane bhakati-rasa-sar. Anyone who has accepted the two
lotus feet of Lord Caitanya can understand the true essence of devotional service. Devotional service is
very difficult. It cannot be understood by any ordinary man. As it is stated in the Bhagavad-gita, out of
many thousands of persons who are trying to achieve the perfection of human life, only some actually
become perfect and realize the self. And out of many thousands of such self-realized persons, only one
can understand Krishna. Without understanding Krishna, how can one engage himself in the service of
Krishna? Therefore, the devotional service of Krishna is not an ordinary thing. But fortunately, if one follows in
the footsteps of Lord Caitanya (gaurangera duti pada) by following the path shown by Lord Caitanya—the
process of simply chanting Hare Krishna—he can very easily understand what devotional service is.
Therefore, Narottama dasa Thakura prays that one take shelter of Lord Caitanya and follow in His footsteps,
for then one can understand the essence of devotional service.
Lord Caitanya’s pastimes are very pleasing, because the basic principles of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s
movement are chanting, dancing, and eating krishna-prasada. He made His headquarters in Jagannatha Puri
and would dance, chant, and then immediately call for prasada to be distributed to the devotees. They were
so pleased that every day hundreds of men would come to chant and dance with Lord Caitanya. The
temple proprietor, the King of Orissa, Maharaja Prataparudra, had an open order to the workers in the temple
to supply as much prasada to Lord Caitanya’s devotees as they wanted. Therefore, His pastimes are very
pleasing: chant, dance, and take prasada. If one is captivated by the pastimes of Lord Caitanya, simply by
chanting and dancing and eating prasada the dirty things in his heart will all become cleansed. The heart
of anyone who takes to this movement of chanting, dancing, and eating krishna-prasada will surely be cleansed of
all dirty material contamination. Narottama dasa Thakura says, very rightly, gaurangera madhura-lila, jar
karne pravesila, hridoya nirmala bhelo tar: if one wants to cleanse his heart, he must take to the movement of
Lord Caitanya—Krishna consciousness.
Lord Caitanya is so nice that one who simply takes the holy name of Gaurasundara, Sri Krishna Caitanya,
will immediately develop love of God. Generally, devotees first chant sri-krishna-caitanya prabhu nityananda, for
the preliminary process of cleansing the heart is to invoke the mercy of Lord Caitanya, Lord Nityananda,
and Their associates. Lila means "pastimes." Without associates there cannot be pastimes, so
Caitanya Mahaprabhu is always accompanied by associates—Nityananda, Advaita, Gadadhara, Srivasa, and
many other devotees. Tar means "his," hoy means "it is effected," and premodoy refers to development of love
of God. Simply by chanting sri-krishna-caitanya prabhu nityananda one immediately develops love of God. To
such a person Narottama dasa Thakura says, "Bravo!" to encourage him in chanting Lord Caitanya’s name
and dancing. Just as we clap and say, "Bravo!" similarly he says, jai bolihari: "Very nice. Excellent!"
Then he says, gauranga-gunete jhure, nitya-lila tare sphure: if one appreciates the merciful pastimes of
Lord Caitanya and feels ecstasy and sometimes cries, this process will immediately help him to understand
the pastimes of Radha-Krishna, which are called nitya-lila. The loving affairs between Radha-Krishna are not
a temporary thing. Here in this material world we can see loving affairs between boys and girls, but that
is temporary. That is simply for a few months, a few years, or maybe a little more. But then all that so-called
love will go to hell. They are not permanent affairs. But if one really wants permanent love affairs, he must
enter into the pastimes of Radha-Krishna. Simply by appreciating Lord Caitanya’s movement one can
immediately enter into or understand Radha-Krishna’s eternal pastimes. One who can understand
the transcendental, eternal pastimes of Radha-Krishna reaches the highest perfectional stage of devotional service.
The next line is, gaurangera sangi-gane. Sangi-gane means "associates." Lord Caitanya is always associated: He
is not alone. We never see a picture of Lord Caitanya alone. At least there must be Lord Nityananda or
Gadadhara Pandita. Actually, wherever Lord Caitanya was present, many thousands of devotees would
assemble. Such devotees, especially those who were His nearest intimate associates, were nitya-siddha. In
the devotional line there are three kinds of perfect devotees. One is called sadhana-siddha. This refers to a
person who has very rigidly performed the regulative prescriptions and thereby reached the perfectional
stage. Reaching the perfectional stage by executing the regulative principles is called sadhana-siddha. There
is another kind of devotee, who is called kripa-siddha. He may not have executed the regulative principles
very rigidly, but by his service mood he is specifically blessed by the spiritual master or Krishna. He is
immediately promoted to the perfectional stage. This is called kripa-siddha. Nitya-siddha is one who was
never contaminated by the material nature. The sadhana-siddhas and the kripa-siddhas were supposed to
have once been in the contamination of material nature, but nitya-siddhas never came into contact with
the material nature. All the associates of Caitanya Mahaprabhu are nitya-siddhas, or eternally perfect.
Nityananda Prabhu is Balarama, the immediate expansion of Krishna; Advaita Prabhu is Maha-Vishnu (He is
also vishnu-tattva); Gadadhara Prabhu is an expansion of Radharani; and Srivasa is an incarnation of Narada.
They are nitya-siddha, or eternally perfect. They were never imperfect. They were never in contact with
material contamination. We should understand that as Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Krishna Himself,
is transcendental, similarly His personal associates are also nitya-siddha, or eternally transcendental. Se
jay brajendra-suta-pas. Brajendra-suta means Krishna. Simply by accepting that the associates of Lord Caitanya
are eternally free, one can immediately be promoted to the transcendental abode of Lord Krishna.
Sri-gauda-mandala-bhumi. Gauda means West Bengal. Lord Caitanya appeared in West Bengal, Navadvipa, and
He especially flooded that part of the country with the sankirtana movement. That part of the country has
special significance, for it is nondifferent from Vrindavana. It is as good as Vrindavana. Living in Vrindavana
and living in Navadvipa are the same. Narottama dasa Thakura says, sri-gauda-mandala-bhumi, jeba
jane cintamani. Cintamani means the transcendental abode. Tara hoy braja-bhume bas. If one simply
understands that this land of Navadvipa is not different from Vrindavana, then he actually lives in Vrindavana.
One should not think that he is living in Bengal or any material country; the places where Lord Caitanya had
His pastimes are as good as Vrindavana.
Lord Caitanya’s distribution of this love of God is compared with an ocean (rasa-arnava). What kind of ocean?
Not the salty ocean that one cannot taste. The water of this ocean is so nice that if one drinks even one drop,
he will like it more and more. It is not ordinary ocean water of which one cannot taste even a drop. Therefore it
is called rasarnava. In this ocean there are different waves; an ocean does not stand still, for it is not impersonal
or void. And as the ocean is always dancing with waves, similarly the ocean of transcendental love of Krishna
as introduced by Lord Caitanya has constant waves, constant sound. One has to dive deep into that ocean. If
one knows the secret and says, "Let me dive deep into the ocean of the transcendental loving
movement introduced by Lord Caitanya," he immediately becomes one of the confidential devotees of Radha
and Krishna.
Therefore Narottama dasa Thakura concludes this song by saying, grihe ba vanete thake, ‘ha gauranga’ bo ’le
dake. It is not necessary that one become a mendicant or give up his family life and society. One can
remain wherever he finds it suitable, whether as a householder, as a brahmacari, as a vanaprastha, or as a
sannyasi. Vanaprasthas and sannyasis are supposed to live outside of the city. Vanete means "forest."
Formerly, those who were in spiritual consciousness used to live in the forest to become free of the turmoil of
city life. But that is not possible now. In this age no one can go into the forest. That requires practice, and no
one is practiced to that line. Therefore, generally one is recommended to live with his friends, wife, and
children. That doesn’t matter, but he must take to the process of Krishna consciousness as introduced by
Lord Caitanya. It is not difficult. The real thing is that one has to accept the movement of Lord Caitanya
—chanting, dancing, and eating krishna-prasada. Even if one is in family life, there is no difficulty. He can just
sit down, chant Hare Krishna, dance nicely, and then take krishna-prasada. Everyone can do this. Those who
have renounced this world, sannyasis, also can do it; there is no difficulty. Therefore, Narottama dasa
Thakura says that it doesn’t matter whether one is a brahmacari, grihastha, or sannyasi. He says, "If you have
taken to these principles of life, I desire your company, because you are a devotee of Lord Caitanya." In this
way, Narottama dasa Thakura finishes the song.

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