Sāvaraṇa-śrī-gaura-mahimā
The Glories of Śrī Gaurāṅga
(from Prārthanā)

(1)

gaurāṅgera duṭi pada, jār dhana sampada,
se jāne bhakati-rasa-sār
gaurāṅgera madhura-līlā, jār karṇe praveśilā,
hṛdoya nirmala bhelo tār

(2)

je gaurāṅgera nāma loy, tāra hoy premodoy,
tāre mui jāi bolihāri
gaurāṅga-guṇete jhure, nitya-līlā tāre sphure,
se jana bhakati-adhikārī

(3)

gaurāṅgera saṅgi-gaṇe, nitya-siddha kori’ māne,
se jāy brajendra-suta-pāś
śrī-gauḍa-maṇḍala-bhūmi, jebā jāne cintāmaṇi,
tāra hoy braja-bhūme bās

(4)

gaura-prema-rasārṇave, śe taraṅge jebā ḍube,
se rādhā-mādhava-antaraṅga
gṛhe bā vanete thāke, ‘hā gaurāṅga’ bo’le ḍāke,
narottama māge tāra saṅga

(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 Śrī Kṛṣṇa 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 Mahāprabhu, he at once understands the eternal loving affairs between Radha and Kṛṣṇa.

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

(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 Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava. 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 saṅkīrtana activities and actually understanding what it is, then such a person is always liberated. Narottama dāsa aspires for his association.

PURPORT
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda

This is a song by Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura in praise of the glories of Lord Caitanya. Gaurāṅga 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 dāsa Ṭhākura says, gaurāṅgera duṭi pada, jār dhana-sampada, se jāne bhakati-rasa-sār. 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-gītā, 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 Kṛṣṇa. Without understanding Kṛṣṇa, how can one engage himself in the service of Kṛṣṇa? Therefore, the devotional service of Kṛṣṇa is not an ordinary thing. But fortunately, if one follows in the footsteps of Lord Caitanya (gaurāṅgera duṭi pada) by following the path shown by Lord Caitanya—the process of simply chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa—he can very easily understand what devotional service is. Therefore, Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura 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 Mahāprabhu’s movement are chanting, dancing, and eating kṛṣṇa-prasāda. He made His headquarters in Jagannātha Purī and would dance, chant, and then immediately call for prasāda 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, Mahārāja Pratāparudra, had an open order to the workers in the temple to supply as much prasāda to Lord Caitanya’s devotees as they wanted. Therefore, His pastimes are very pleasing: chant, dance, and take prasāda. If one is captivated by the pastimes of Lord Caitanya, simply by chanting and dancing and eating prasāda the dirty things in his heart will all become cleansed. The heart of anyone who takes to this movement of chanting, dancing, and eating kṛṣṇa-prasāda will surely be cleansed of all dirty material contamination. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, very rightly, gaurāṅgera madhura-līlā, jār karṇe praveśilā, hṛdoya nirmala bhelo tār: if one wants to cleanse his heart, he must take to the movement of Lord Caitanya—Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Lord Caitanya is so nice that one who simply takes the holy name of Gaurasundara, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, will immediately develop love of God. Generally, devotees first chant śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu nityānanda, for the preliminary process of cleansing the heart is to invoke the mercy of Lord Caitanya, Lord Nityānanda, and Their associates. Līlā means “pastimes.” Without associates there cannot be pastimes, so Caitanya Mahāprabhu is always accompanied by associates—Nityānanda, Advaita, Gadādhara, Śrīvāsa, and many other devotees. Tār means “his,” hoy means “it is effected,” and premodoy refers to development of love of God. Simply by chanting śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu nityānanda one immediately develops love of God. To such a person Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, “Bravo!” to encourage him in chanting Lord Caitanya’s name and dancing. Just as we clap and say, “Bravo!” similarly he says, jāi bolihāri: “Very nice. Excellent!”

Then he says, gaurāṅga-guṇete jhure, nitya-līlā tāre 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 Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, which are called nitya-līlā. The loving affairs between Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa 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 Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. Simply by appreciating Lord Caitanya’s movement one can immediately enter into or understand Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s eternal pastimes. One who can understand the transcendental, eternal pastimes of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa reaches the highest perfectional stage of devotional service.

The next line is, gaurāṅgera saṅgi-gaṇe. Saṅgi-gaṇe 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 Nityānanda or Gadādhara Paṇḍita. 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 sādhana-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 sādhana-siddha. There is another kind of devotee, who is called kṛpā-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 Kṛṣṇa. He is immediately promoted to the perfectional stage. This is called kṛpā-siddha. Nitya-siddha is one who was never contaminated by the material nature. The sādhana-siddhas and the kṛpā-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 Mahāprabhu are nitya-siddhas, or eternally perfect. Nityānanda Prabhu is Balarāma, the immediate expansion of Kṛṣṇa; Advaita Prabhu is Mahā-Viṣṇu (He is also viṣṇu-tattva); Gadādhara Prabhu is an expansion of Rādhārāṇī; and Śrīvāsa is an incarnation of Nārada. 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 Mahāprabhu, Kṛṣṇa Himself, is transcendental, similarly His personal associates are also nitya-siddha, or eternally transcendental. Se jāy brajendra-suta-pāś. Brajendra-suta means Kṛṣṇa. Simply by accepting that the associates of Lord Caitanya are eternally free, one can immediately be promoted to the transcendental abode of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Śrī-gauḍa-maṇḍala-bhūmi. Gauḍa means West Bengal. Lord Caitanya appeared in West Bengal, Navadvīpa, and He especially flooded that part of the country with the saṅkīrtana movement. That part of the country has special significance, for it is nondifferent from Vṛndāvana. It is as good as Vṛndāvana. Living in Vṛndāvana and living in Navadvīpa are the same. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, śrī-gauḍa-maṇḍala-bhūmi, jebā jāne cintāmaṇi. Cintāmaṇi means the transcendental abode. Tāra hoy braja-bhūme bās. If one simply understands that this land of Navadvīpa is not different from Vṛndāvana, then he actually lives in Vṛndāvana. 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 Vṛndāvana.

Lord Caitanya’s distribution of this love of God is compared with an ocean (rasa-arṇava). 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 rasarṇava. 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 Kṛṣṇa 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 Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.

Therefore Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura concludes this song by saying, gṛhe bā vanete thāke, ‘hā gaurāṅga’ bo ’le ḍāke. 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 brahmacārī, as a vānaprastha, or as a sannyāsī. Vānaprasthas and sannyāsīs 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 Kṛṣṇa 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 kṛṣṇa-prasāda. Even if one is in family life, there is no difficulty. He can just sit down, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, dance nicely, and then take kṛṣṇa-prasāda. Everyone can do this. Those who have renounced this world, sannyāsīs, also can do it; there is no difficulty. Therefore, Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says that it doesn’t matter whether one is a brahmacārī, gṛhastha, or sannyāsī. 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 dāsa Ṭhākura finishes the song.