PASTIMES OF LORD CHAITANYA

MAHAPRABHU
Lord Chaitanya Is Welcomed In Vrndavana

When Lord Chaitanya passed through Vrndavana, herds of grazing cows

saw Him and immediately surrounded Him. They began to moo very loudly
and lick His body with great affection. When the Lord chanted, the deer
heard His sweet voice and approached Him, and they also began to lick
His body. Bumblebees and birds began to sing and the peacocks danced
in front of Him. Even the trees and creepers shed tears of ecstasy in the
form of honey.

Sarvabhauma and Lord Chaitanya

Lord Chaitanya heard Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya's explanation of

Vedanta philosophy for seven days, never saying a word to indicate
whether He thought it was right or wrong.

Lord Chaitanya And Vasudeva The Leper

"When the leper Vasudeva came to Kurma's house to see Chaitanya

Mahaprabhu, he was informed that the Lord had already left. The leper
then fell to the ground unconscious. When Vasudeva, the leper brahmana,
was lamenting due to not being able to see Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the
Lord immediately returned to that spot and embraced him. When Sri
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu touched him, both the leprosy and his distress
went to a distant place. Indeed, Vasudeva's body became very beautiful,
to his great happiness." -Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila 7.139-141

Chaitanya Embraces Seven Palm Trees

"Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu then visited a place within the forest called
Saptatala. All the trees there were very old, very bulky and very high.
After seeing the seven palm trees, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu embraced
them. As a result, they all returned to Vaikunthaloka, the spiritual world.
After the seven palm trees departed for the Vaikunthas, everyone was
astonished to see them gone. The people then began to say, 'This
sannyasi called Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu must be an incarnation of Lord
Ramachandra. Only Lord Ramachandra has the power to send seven palm
trees to the spiritual Vaikuntha planets.' "
- Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila 9.312-315

Lord Chaitanya and Chand Kazi

After discussing philosophy, the Kazi (city magistrate) accepted many of
the Lord's points. Lord Chaitanya said to the Kazi, "The chanting of the
holy name of Krishna from your mouth has performed a wonder - it has
nullified the reactions of all your sinful activities. Now you have become
supremely pure. Because you have chanted three holy names of the Lord
- Hari, Krishna and Narayana - you are undoubtedly the most fortunate
and pious."

Chaitanya Dancing in Sankirtana

The congregational chanting made such a tumultuous roar that all the
inhabitants of Jagannatha Puri came to see the kirtan. After some time
the Lord desired to dance. As the seven kirtan groups were chanting and
beating their drums in seven directions, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu danced
in the center in great ecstatic love.
-Summarized from Chaitanya-charitamrita, Antya-lila, 10.62-66

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Pushes Rathayatra Cart With His Head

All the workers had tried to pull the rathayatra cart, but it would not move.
The king brought wrestlers to try to move it, and when they could do
nothing he had elephants brought forward and harnessed to it. Still the
cart would not budge. When Lord Chaitanya then approached the
rathayatra cart, He began to push it from the back with His head. Only
then did the cart begin to move automatically, and from then on it moved
along so effortlessly that the devotees did not even need to pull, they
simply held the ropes in their hands.
- Summarized from Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila 14.47-56

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Feeds Shivananda's Dog

"One day while Shivananda was detained by a tollman, his servant forgot
to give the dog its cooked rice. At night, when Shivananda Sena returned
and was taking his meal, he inquired from the servant whether the dog
had gotten its meals. When he learned that the dog had not been supplied
food in his absence, he was very unhappy. He then immediately sent ten
men to find the dog. When the men returned without success, Shivananda
Sena became very unhappy and fasted for the night. In the morning they
looked for the dog, but it could not be found anywhere. All the Vaishnavas
were astonished. Thus in great anxiety they all walked to Jagannatha Puri,
where Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu met them as usual. Sri Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu went with them to see the Lord in the temple, and on that
day He also took lunch in the company of all those devotees. As
previously, the Lord provided them all with residential quarters. And the
next morning all the devotees came to see the Lord. When all the
devotees came to the place of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, they saw that
the same dog was sitting a little apart from the Lord. Furthermore, Sri
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was throwing remnants of green coconut pulp to
the dog. Smiling in His own way, He was saying to the dog, "Chant the
holy names Rama Krishna, and Hari." Seeing the dog eating the green
coconut pulp and chanting "Krishna, Krishna" again and again, all the
devotees present were very much surprised. When he saw the dog sitting
in that way and chanting the name of Krishna, Shivananda, because of
his natural humility, immediately offered his obeisances to the dog just to
counteract his offenses to it."

Mother Sachi Sees Foodstuffs Had Been Eaten By Chaitanya

Mahaprabhu
When Lord Chaitanya left home, his mother, Sachimata, continued to offer
Him foodstuffs at home. She would make an offering to the Lord and
when she opened her eyes, she would see that the food had actually been
eaten by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, even though he was far away, in
Jagannatha Puri.

Chaitanya Cleanses The Gundicha Temple

After Lord Chaitanya and the devotees cleansed the temple for the second
time, Lord Chaitanya was very happy, seeing their work. The Lord called
for water and all the men brought a hundred filled water pots. All the
devotees threw water on the ceiling, walls, the floor and everything else
in the room.

Lord Chaitanya And The Kazi

The Kazi (city magistrate) had issued an order that no one could perform
kirtan, the chanting of the holy names of the Lord, in Navadvipa. In
protest, Lord Chaitanya formed three kirtan parties and told them all to
carry torches and together they would perform kirtan in every town and
village of Navadvipa, that very evening. The Lord said, "Let us see what
kind of Kazi comes to stop our kirtan." There were thousands assembled
and the kirtan made a tumultuous sound as they approached the home
of Chand Kazi. Some of the men in the protest could not control their
minds, and they began wrecking the house and the garden of the Kazi.
Lord Chaitanya, however, was perfectly peaceful, sober, and unagitated.
The Kazi remained hidden inside and Lord Chaitanya sent someone to call
him. When he came out, they both greeted each other with great respect.
The Lord said He had come to his home just to ask him some questions,
and the Kazi welcomed Him to speak whatever was on His mind.

The Sadbhuja Form of Lord Chaitanya

Sri Sadbhuja is the six-armed form of the Supreme Lord, revealed by Lord
Chaitanya. In two of His hands He holds a bow and arrow, the symbols of
Lord Ramachandra; in two hands He holds a flute, the symbol of Lord
Krishna; and two hands hold a danda [sannyas stick] and a waterpot, the
symbols of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. By manifesting this form, Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu conclusively proves that He is none other than the Supreme
Personality of Godhead.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Forcibly Takes Some Rice From

Raghunatha
"Lord Jagannatha's prashad is sold by shopkeepers, and that which is not
sold decomposes after two or three days. All the decomposed food is
thrown before the cows from Tailanga at the Simha-dvara gate. Because
of its rotten odor, even the cows cannot eat it. At night Raghunatha dasa
would collect that decomposed rice, bring it home and wash it with ample
water. Then he ate the hard inner portion of the rice with salt.
One day Svarupa Damodara saw the activities of Raghunatha dasa. Thus
he smiled and asked for a small portion of that food and ate it. Svarup
Damodara said, 'You eat such nectar every day, but you never offer it to
us. Where is your character?' When Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu heard
news of this from the mouth of Govinda, He went there the next day and
spoke as follows. 'What nice things are you eating? Why don't you give
anything to Me?' Saying this, He forcibly took a morsel and began to eat."
-Chaitanya-caritamrita, Antya-lila, 6.31

When Chaitanya Mahaprabhu reached the temple of Bindu Madhava, He

was so overwhelmed by the beauty of Lord Bindu Madhava, that He began
dancing ecstatically in the courtyard of the temple. The four devotees
accompanying Him began to chant along with Him, and soon hundreds
and thousands of people were chanting, creating a tumultuous, auspicious
sound. When Prakashananda Saraswati [a Mayavadi sannyasi] and his
disciples heard the sound, they came to see the Lord, and they also joined
the chanting.
-Summarized from Chaitanya-caritamrita, Madhya-lila 25.62-67

Chaitanya's Dancing Causes Boat to Almost Lose its Balance

'While crossing the river Yamunā, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu saw the glossy
black water and was immediately bewildered with ecstatic love. Indeed,
as soon as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu saw the river Yamunā, He
immediately made a great sound and jumped into the water. Everyone
was filled with fear and trembling to see this. They all hastily grabbed Śrī
Caitanya Mahāprabhu and pulled Him out of the water. Once on the boat's
platform, the Lord began to dance. Due to the Lord's heavy weight, the
boat began to tilt. It began filling up with water and was on the verge of
sinking. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu tried to restrain Himself as far as
possible before Vallabhācārya, but although He tried to keep calm, His
ecstatic love could not be checked. Seeing the circumstances, Śrī Caitanya
Mahāprabhu finally became calm so that the boat was able to reach the
shore of Āḍāila and land there.'

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Acts Like Hanuman

"On the victory day celebrating the conquest of Lanka - a day known as
Vijaya-dasami - Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu dressed up all His devotees
like monkey soldiers. Displaying the emotions of Hanuman, Sri Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu took up a large tree branch, and, mounting the walls of the
Lanka fort, began to dismantle it. In the ecstasy of Hanuman, Sri
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu angrily said, "Where is the rascal Ravana? He has
kidnapped the universal mother, Sita. Now I shall kill him and all his
family." Everyone became very astonished to see the emotional ecstasy
of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and everyone began to chant, "All glories!
All glories!" again and again.

Lord Chaitanya Dances Before the Ratha-Yatra Cart

"Everyone was astonished by the dancing of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and
even Lord Jagannatha became extremely happy to see Him. The car came
to a complete standstill and remained immobile while Lord Jagannatha,
with unblinking eyes, watched the dancing of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu."
-Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila 13.98-99