Ecstasy (CC Adi-lila)

Expressions researched:
"ecstacies" |"ecstacy" |"ecstasies" |"ecstasy"

CC Preface and Introduction

CC Foreword:

The Antya-līlā concerns the last eighteen years of Śrī Caitanya's presence, spent in semiseclusion near the famous Jagannātha temple in Purī. During these final years, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya drifted deeper and deeper into trances of spiritual ecstasy unparalleled in all of religious and literary history, Eastern or Western. His perpetual and ever-increasing religious beatitude, graphically described in the eyewitness accounts of Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, His constant companion during this period, clearly defy the investigative and descriptive abilities of modern psychologists and phenomenologists of religious experience.

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 3.19, Translation:

“I shall personally inaugurate the religion of the age—nāma-saṅkīrtana, the congregational chanting of the holy name. I shall make the world dance in ecstasy, realizing the four mellows of loving devotional service."

CC Adi 4.21-22, Purport:

Those who are spontaneously devoted to the Lord and have no aims for material gain are called attracted devotees. They are spontaneously attracted to the service of the Lord, and they follow in the footsteps of self-realized souls. Their pure devotion (śuddha-bhakti), manifested from pure love of Godhead, surpasses the regulative principles of the authoritative scriptures. Sometimes loving ecstasy transcends regulative principles; such ecstasy, however, is completely on the spiritual platform and cannot be imitated. The regulative principles help ordinary devotees rise to the stage of perfect love of Godhead. Pure love for Kṛṣṇa is the perfection of pure devotion, and pure devotional service is identical with spontaneous devotional service.

CC Adi 4.30, Purport:

The acts of yogamāyā make it possible for the Lord and the gopīs, in loving ecstasy, to sometimes meet and sometimes separate. These transcendental loving affairs of the Lord are unimaginable to empiricists involved in the impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth. Therefore the Lord Himself appears before the mundaners to bestow upon them the highest form of spiritual realization and also personally relish its essence. The Lord is so merciful that He Himself descends to take the fallen souls back home to the kingdom of Godhead, where the erotic principles of Godhead are eternally relished in their real form, distinct from the perverted sexual love so much adored and indulged in by the fallen souls in their diseased condition.

CC Adi 4.50, Purport:

Expert analysts have decided that the transcendental ecstasy of the parakīya mellow is better because it is more enthusiastic. This phase of conjugal love is found in those who have surrendered to the Lord in intense love, knowing well that such illicit love with a paramour is not morally approved in society. The risks involved in such love of Godhead make this emotion superior to the relationship in which such risk is not involved. The validity of such risk, however, is possible only in the transcendental realm. Svakīya and parakīya conjugal love of Godhead have no existence in the material world, and parakīya is not exhibited anywhere in Vaikuṇṭha, but only in the portion of Goloka Vṛndāvana known as Vraja.

CC Adi 4.50, Purport:

In the Third Chapter of this epic, Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī has explicitly accepted the fact that Kṛṣṇa appears in this material world at the end of the Dvāpara age of the twenty-eighth catur-yuga of Vaivasvata Manu and brings with Him His Vrajadhāma, which is the eternal abode of His highest pastimes. As the Lord appears by His own internal potency, so He also brings all His paraphernalia by the same internal potency, without extraneous help. It is further stated here in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta that the parakīya sentiment exists only in that transcendental realm and nowhere else. This highest form of ecstasy can exist only in the most confidential part of the transcendental world, but by the causeless mercy of the Lord we can have a peep into that invisible Vraja.

CC Adi 4.50, Purport:

The transcendental mellow relished by the gopīs in Vraja is superexcellently featured in Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. Mature assimilation of the transcendental humor of conjugal love is represented by Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, whose feelings are incomprehensible even to the Lord Himself. The intensity of Her loving service is the highest form of ecstasy. No one can surpass Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī in relishing the qualities of the Lord through this supreme transcendental mellow. Therefore the Lord Himself agreed to assume the position of Rādhārāṇī in the form of Lord Śrī Gaurāṅga. He then relished the highest position of parakīya-rasa, as exhibited in the transcendental abode of Vraja.

CC Adi 4.200-201, Translation:

Whenever there is unselfish love, that is its style. The reservoir of love derives pleasure when the lovable object is pleased. When the pleasure of love interferes with the service of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the devotee becomes angry toward such ecstasy.

CC Adi 5.166, Translation:

Sometimes there were eruptions of ecstasy like kadamba flowers on some parts of his body, and sometimes one limb would be stunned while another would be trembling.

CC Adi 5.189, Translation:

His body moved to and fro, right and left, for He was absorbed in ecstasy. He chanted "Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa" in a deep voice.

CC Adi 5.194, Translation:

I was overwhelmed with transcendental ecstasy, not knowing anything else. Then Lord Nityānanda smiled and spoke to me as follows.

CC Adi 6.42, Purport:

"I do not want any one of the four desirable stations. I simply want to engage as a servant of the lotus feet of the Lord." King Kulaśekhara, in his very famous book Mukunda-mālā-stotra, prays:

nāhaṁ vande tava caraṇayor dvandvam advandva-hetoḥ

kumbhī-pākaṁ gurum api hare nārakaṁ nāpanetum

ramyā-rāmā-mṛdu-tanu-latā-nandane nābhirantuṁ

bhāve bhāve hṛdaya-bhavane bhāvayeyaṁ bhavantam

"My Lord, I do not worship You to be liberated from this material entanglement, nor do I wish to save myself from the hellish condition of material existence, nor do I ever pray for a beautiful wife to enjoy in a nice garden. I wish only that I may always be in full ecstasy with the pleasure of serving Your Lordship." (MM 4) In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also there are many instances in the Third and Fourth cantos in which devotees pray to the Lord simply to be engaged in His service, and nothing else (SB 3.4.15, 3.25.34, 3.25.36, 4.8.22, 4.9.10 and 4.20.24).

CC Adi 6.48, Translation:

Śrī Nityānanda, the wandering mendicant, is the foremost of all the associates of Lord Caitanya. He became mad in the ecstasy of service to Lord Caitanya.

CC Adi 6.49-50, Translation:

Śrīvāsa, Haridāsa, Rāmadāsa, Gadādhara, Murāri, Mukunda, Candraśekhara and Vakreśvara are all glorious and are all learned scholars, but the sentiment of servitude to Lord Caitanya makes them mad in ecstasy.

CC Adi 6.88, Translation:

The source of the sentiment of servitude is indeed Lord Balarāma. The plenary expansions who follow Him are all influenced by that ecstasy.

CC Adi 6.110, Purport:

Lord Caitanya, who is known as Śrī Gaurahari, is complete in relishing all the different mellows, namely neutrality, servitorship, fraternity, parental affection and conjugal love. By accepting the ecstasy of different grades of devotees, He is complete in relishing all the mellows of these relationships.

CC Adi 7.6, Purport:

Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu is the immediate expansion of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu as His brother. He is the personified spiritual bliss of sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha (Bs. 5.1). His body is transcendental and full of ecstasy in devotional service. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is therefore called bhakta-rūpa (the form of a devotee), and Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu is called bhakta-svarūpa (the expansion of a devotee). Śrī Advaita Prabhu, the incarnation of a devotee, is viṣṇu-tattva and belongs to the same category. There are also different types of bhaktas, or devotees, on the platforms of neutrality, servitude, friendship, parenthood and conjugal love. Devotees like Śrī Dāmodara, Śrī Gadādhara and Śrī Rāmānanda are different energies. This confirms the Vedic sūtra parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport). All these bhakta subjects taken together constitute Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is Kṛṣṇa Himself.

CC Adi 7.10, Purport:

As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, when the Supreme Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa comes to this planet exactly like a human being, some rascals consider Him to be one of the ordinary humans. One who thinks in that mistaken way is described as mūḍha, or foolish. Therefore one should not foolishly consider Caitanya Mahāprabhu to be an ordinary human being. He has accepted the ecstasy of a devotee, but He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Since the time of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, there have been many imitation incarnations of Kṛṣṇa who cannot understand that Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Kṛṣṇa Himself and not an ordinary human being. Less intelligent men create their own "Gods" by advertising a human being as God. This is their mistake. Therefore here the words tāṅra śuddha kalevara warn that Caitanya Mahāprabhu's body is not material but purely spiritual. One should not, therefore, accept Caitanya Mahāprabhu as an ordinary devotee, although He has assumed the form of a devotee. Yet one must certainly know that although Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, because He accepted the ecstasy of a devotee one should not misunderstand His pastimes and place Him in exactly the same position as Kṛṣṇa.

CC Adi 7.78, Translation:

“While chanting the holy name of the Lord in pure ecstasy, I lose Myself, and thus I laugh, cry, dance and sing just like a madman."

CC Adi 7.80, Purport:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, as an ideal teacher, shows us how a disciple should deal with his spiritual master. Whenever there is doubt regarding any point, he should refer the matter to his spiritual master for clarification. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that while chanting and dancing He had developed the kind of mad ecstasy that is possible only for a liberated soul. Yet even in His liberated position, He referred everything to His spiritual master whenever there were doubts. Thus in any condition, even when liberated, we should never think ourselves independent of the spiritual master, but must refer to him as soon as there is some doubt regarding our progressive spiritual life.

CC Adi 7.81, Purport:

It is the aspiration of a devotee that while he chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra his eyes will fill with tears, his voice falter and his heart throb. These are good signs in chanting the holy name of the Lord. In ecstasy, one should feel the entire world to be vacant without the presence of Govinda. This is a sign of separation from Govinda. In material life we are all separated from Govinda and are absorbed in material sense gratification. Therefore, when one comes to his senses on the spiritual platform he becomes so eager to meet Govinda that without Govinda the entire world becomes a vacant place.

CC Adi 7.82, Translation:

“"Chanting the holy name in ecstasy causes Me to dance, laugh and cry." When My spiritual master heard all this, he smiled and then began to speak."

CC Adi 7.82, Purport:

When a disciple very perfectly makes progress in spiritual life, this gladdens the spiritual master, who then also smiles in ecstasy, thinking, "How successful my disciple has become!" He feels so glad that he smiles as he enjoys the progress of the disciple, just as a smiling parent enjoys the activities of a child who is trying to stand up or crawl perfectly.

CC Adi 7.83, Translation:

“‘It is the nature of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra that anyone who chants it immediately develops his loving ecstasy for Kṛṣṇa.'"

CC Adi 7.83, Purport:

In this verse it is explained that one who chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra develops bhāva, ecstasy, which is the point at which revelation begins. It is the preliminary stage in developing one's original love for God. Lord Kṛṣṇa mentions this bhāva stage in the Bhagavad-gītā (10.8):

ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate

iti matvā bhajante māṁ budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ

"I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who know this perfectly engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts." A neophyte disciple begins by hearing and chanting, associating with devotees and practicing the regulative principles, and thus he vanquishes all of his unwanted bad habits. In this way he develops attachment for Kṛṣṇa and cannot forget Kṛṣṇa even for a moment. Bhāva is the almost successful stage of spiritual life.

CC Adi 7.89-90, Purport:

Since the Supreme Lord is also under the influence of transcendental bliss, when one comes in touch with such bliss in love of Godhead, one's heart melts, and the symptoms of this are standing of the hairs on end, etc. Sometimes a person thus melts and manifests these transcendental symptoms yet at the same time is not well behaved in his personal transactions. This indicates that he has not yet reached complete perfection in devotional life. In other words, a devotee who dances in ecstasy but after dancing and crying appears to be attracted to material affairs has not yet reached the perfection of devotional service, which is called āśaya-śuddhi, or the perfection of existence.

CC Adi 8 Summary:

One should seriously and sincerely continue to chant the Pañca-tattva names śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda. All these ācāryas will bestow their causeless mercy upon a devotee and gradually purify his heart. When he is actually purified, automatically he will experience ecstasy in chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. Previous to the composition of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Śrīla Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura wrote a book called Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata. Only those subjects which were not discussed by Śrīla Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura in his Caitanya-bhāgavata have been taken up by Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī to be depicted in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. In his very old age, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī went to Vṛndāvana, and by the order of Śrī Madana-mohanajī he wrote Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Thus we are now able to relish its transcendental bliss.

CC Adi 8.22, Translation:

Whether he is offensive or inoffensive, anyone who even now chants śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda is immediately overwhelmed with ecstasy, and tears fill his eyes.

CC Adi 8.22, Purport:

The prākṛta-sahajiyās who chant nitāi-gaura rādhe śyāma have very little knowledge of the Bhāgavata conclusion, and they hardly follow the Vaiṣṇava rules and regulations, and yet because they chant bhaja nitāi-gaura, their chanting immediately evokes tears and other signs of ecstasy. Although they do not know the principles of Vaiṣṇava philosophy and are not very much advanced in education, by these symptoms they attract many men to become their followers. Their ecstatic tears will of course help them in the long run, for as soon as they come in contact with a pure devotee their lives will become successful. Even in the beginning, however, because they are chanting the holy names of nitāi-gaura, their swift advancement on the path of love of Godhead is very prominently visible.

CC Adi 8.23, Translation:

Simply by talking of Nityānanda Prabhu one awakens his love for Kṛṣṇa. Thus all his bodily limbs are agitated by ecstasy, and tears flow from his eyes like the waters of the Ganges.

CC Adi 8.27, Purport:

These bodily transformations are automatically manifested when one is actually situated in love of Godhead. One should not artificially imitate them. Our disease is desire for that which is material; even while advancing in spiritual life, we want material acclaim. One must be freed from this disease. Pure devotion must be anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11), without desire for anything material. Advanced devotees manifest many bodily transformations, which are symptoms of ecstasy, but one should not imitate them to achieve cheap adoration from the public. When one actually attains the advanced stage, the ecstatic symptoms will appear automatically; one does not need to imitate them.

CC Adi 8.31, Translation:

But if one only chants, with some slight faith, the holy names of Lord Caitanya and Nityānanda, very quickly he is cleansed of all offenses. Thus as soon as he chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, he feels the ecstasy of love for God.

CC Adi 8.39, Purport:

Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī confirms that what Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura wrote was actually spoken by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and he simply repeated it. The same holds true for Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī wrote Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta in his old age, in an invalid condition, but it is such a sublime literature that Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Mahārāja used to say, "The time will come when the people of the world will learn Bengali to read Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta." We are trying to present Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta in English and do not know how successful it will be, but if one reads the original Caitanya-caritāmṛta in Bengali he will relish increasing ecstasy in devotional service.

CC Adi 9.51, Purport:

"O Govinda! Feeling Your separation, I am considering a moment to be like twelve years or more. Tears are flowing from My eyes like torrents of rain, and I am feeling all vacant in the world in Your absence." This is the perfectional stage of chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra and eating the fruit of love of Godhead, as exhibited by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. One should not artificially imitate this stage, but if one is serious and sincerely follows the regulative principles and chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, the time will come when these symptoms will appear. Tears will fill his eyes, he will be unable to chant the mahā-mantra distinctly, and his heart will throb in ecstasy. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that one should not imitate this, but a devotee should long for the day to come when such symptoms of trance will automatically appear in his body.

CC Adi 10.17, Translation:

Vakreśvara Paṇḍita, the fifth branch of the tree, was a very dear servant of Lord Caitanya's. He could dance with constant ecstasy for seventy-two hours.

CC Adi 10.46, Translation:

After the passing away of Haridāsa Ṭhākura, the Lord Himself took his body on His lap and danced with it in great ecstasy.

CC Adi 10.49, Purport:

When Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared in the house of Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura in His Caturbhuja mūrti, Murāri Gupta became His carrier in the form of Garuḍa, and in these pastimes of ecstasy the Lord then got up on his back. It was the desire of Murāri Gupta to leave his body before the disappearance of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, but the Lord forbade him to do so. This is described in the Caitanya-bhāgavata, Madhya-khaṇḍa, Chapter Twenty. When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu one day appeared in ecstasy as the Varāha mūrti, Murāri Gupta offered Him prayers. He was a great devotee of Lord Rāmacandra, and his staunch devotion is vividly described in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, Fifteenth Chapter, verses 137 through 157.

CC Adi 10.53, Purport:

Once while Śrīla Gadādhara dāsa Prabhu was returning to Bengal from Jagannātha Purī with Nityānanda Prabhu, he forgot himself and began talking very loudly as if he were a girl of Vrajabhūmi selling yogurt, and Śrīla Nityānanda Prabhu noted this. Another time, while absorbed in the ecstasy of the gopīs, he carried a jug filled with Ganges water on his head as if he were selling milk. When Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared in the house of Rāghava Paṇḍita while going to Vṛndāvana, Gadādhara dāsa went to see Him, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was so glad that He put His foot on his head. When Gadādhara dāsa Prabhu was present in Eṅḍiyādaha, he established a Bāla Gopāla mūrti for worship there. Śrī Mādhava Ghoṣa performed a drama known as Dāna-khaṇḍa with the help of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu and Śrī Gadādhara dāsa. This is explained in the Caitanya-bhāgavata (Antya 5.318–94).

CC Adi 10.71, Translation and Purport:

In their two houses Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu begged food on the Ekādaśī day and personally ate it.

The injunction to fast on Ekādaśī is especially meant for devotees; on Ekādaśī there are no restrictions regarding food that may be offered to the Lord. Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu took the food of Lord Viṣṇu in His ecstasy as viṣṇu-tattva.

CC Adi 10.73, Translation and Purport:

Vanamālī Paṇḍita, the thirty-fifth branch of the tree, was very much celebrated in this world. He saw a golden club and plow in the hands of the Lord.

Vanamālī Paṇḍita saw Lord Caitanya in the ecstasy of Balarāma. This is described vividly in the Caitanya-bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa, Chapter Nine.

CC Adi 10.113, Purport:

When Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu visited Varāhanagara, now a suburb of Calcutta, He stayed in the house of a most fortunate brāhmaṇa who was a very learned scholar in Bhāgavata literature. As soon as this brāhmaṇa saw Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he began to read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. When Mahāprabhu heard his explanation, which expounded bhakti-yoga, He immediately became unconscious in ecstasy. Lord Caitanya later said, "I have never heard such a nice explanation of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. I therefore designate you Bhāgavata Ācārya. Your only duty is to recite Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. That is My injunction." His real name was Raghunātha. His monastery, which is situated in Varāhanagara, about three and a half miles north of Calcutta on the bank of the Ganges, still exists, and it is managed by the initiated disciples of the late Śrī Rāmadāsa Bābājī. Presently, however, it is not as well managed as in the presence of Bābājī Mahārāja.

CC Adi 10.115, Purport:

The three brothers Govinda, Mādhava and Vāsudeva Ghoṣa all belonged to a kāyastha family. Govinda established the Gopīnātha temple in Agradvīpa, where he resided. Mādhava Ghoṣa was expert in performing kīrtana. No one within this world could compete with him. He was known as the singer of Vṛndāvana and was very dear to Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu. It is said that when the three brothers performed saṅkīrtana, immediately Lord Caitanya and Nityānanda would dance in ecstasy. According to the Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā (188), the three brothers were formerly Kalāvatī, Rasollāsā and Guṇatuṅgā, who recited the songs composed by Śrī Viśākhā-gopī. The three brothers were among one of the seven parties that performed kīrtana when Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu attended the Ratha-yātrā festival at Jagannātha Purī. Vakreśvara Paṇḍita was the chief dancer in their party. This is vividly described in the Madhya-līlā, Chapter Thirteen, verses 42 and 43.

CC Adi 10.135-136, Purport:

In the Caitanya-bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa, Chapter Five, Paramānanda Mahāpātra is described as follows: "Paramānanda Mahāpātra was among the devotees who took birth in Orissa and accepted Caitanya Mahāprabhu as their only asset. In the ecstasy of conjugal love, he always thought of Caitanya Mahāprabhu." Bhagavān Ācārya, a very learned scholar, was formerly an inhabitant of Hālisahara, but he left everything to live with Caitanya Mahāprabhu in Jagannātha Purī. His relationship with Caitanya Mahāprabhu was friendly, like that of a cowherd boy. He was always friendly to Svarūpa Gosāñi, but he was staunchly devoted to the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He sometimes invited Caitanya Mahāprabhu to his house.

CC Adi 10.135-136, Purport:

One narration concerns his seeing an ecstatic dream. Śikhi Māhiti always engaged in serving the Lord in his mind. One night, while he was rendering such service, he fell asleep, and while he was asleep his brother and sister came to awaken him. At that time he was in full ecstasy because he was having a wonderful dream that Lord Caitanya, while visiting the temple of Jagannātha, was entering and again coming out of the body of Jagannātha and looking at the Jagannātha Deity. Thus as soon as he awakened he embraced his brother and sister and informed them, “My dear brother and sister, I have had a wonderful dream that I shall now explain to you. The activities of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the son of Mother Śacī, are certainly most wonderful. I saw that Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, while visiting the temple of Jagannātha, was entering the body of Jagannātha and again coming out of His body. I am still seeing the same dream.

CC Adi 11.13, Purport:

Śrī Rāmadāsa, later known as Abhirāma Ṭhākura, was one of the twelve gopālas, or cowherd boyfriends, of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu. The Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā (126) states that Śrī Rāmadāsa was formerly Śrīdāmā. In the Bhakti-ratnākara (Fourth Wave), there is a description of Śrīla Abhirāma Ṭhākura. By the order of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, Abhirāma Ṭhākura became a great ācārya and preacher of the Caitanya cult of devotional service. He was a very influential personality, and nondevotees were very much afraid of him. Empowered by Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, he was always in ecstasy and was extremely kind to all fallen souls. It is said that if he offered obeisances to any stone other than a śālagrāma-śilā, it would immediately fracture.

CC Adi 11.17, Translation:

Śrīla Gadādhara dāsa was always fully absorbed in ecstasy as a gopī. In his house Lord Nityānanda enacted the drama Dāna-keli.

CC Adi 11.20, Translation:

There were many extraordinary activities performed by Murāri, a great devotee of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Sometimes in his ecstasy he would slap the cheek of a tiger, and sometimes he would play with a venomous snake.

CC Adi 11.29, Purport:

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura writes in his Anubhāṣya, “The Caitanya-bhāgavata states that Parameśvara dāsa, known sometimes as Parameśvarī dāsa, was the life and soul of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu. The body of Parameśvara dāsa was the place of Lord Nityānanda's pastimes. Parameśvara dāsa, who lived for some time at Khaḍadaha village, was always filled with the ecstasy of a cowherd boy. Formerly he was Arjuna, a friend of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. He was the fifth among the twelve gopālas. He accompanied Śrīmatī Jāhnavā-devī when she performed the festival at Khetari. It is stated in the Bhakti-ratnākara that by the order of Śrīmatī Jāhnavā-mātā, he installed Rādhā-Gopīnātha in the temple at Āṭapura, in the district of Hugli.

CC Adi 13.31, Translation:

Just prior to His youthful life, He began the saṅkīrtana movement. Day and night He used to dance in ecstasy with His devotees.

CC Adi 13.39, Translation:

For the remaining twelve years He stayed in Jagannātha Purī, He taught everyone how to taste the transcendental mellow ecstasy of love of Kṛṣṇa by tasting it Himself.

CC Adi 13.41, Purport:

In this connection one should refer to Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s soliloquy after meeting Uddhava in Vṛndāvana. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu presented a similar picture of such ecstatic imaginary talking. Full of jealousy and madness symptomizing neglect by Kṛṣṇa, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, criticizing a bumblebee, talked just like a madwoman. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, in the last days of His pastimes, exhibited all the symptoms of such ecstasy. In this connection one should refer to the Fourth Chapter of the Ādi-līlā, verses 107 and 108.

CC Adi 13.42, Purport:

Vidyāpati was a famous composer of songs about the pastimes of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. He was an inhabitant of Mithilā, born in a brāhmaṇa family. It is calculated that he composed his songs during the reign of King Śivasiṁha and Queen Lachimādevī, in the beginning of the fourteenth century of the Śaka Era, almost one hundred years before the appearance of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. The twelfth generation of Vidyāpati's descendants is still living. Vidyāpati's songs about the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa express intense feelings of separation from Kṛṣṇa, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu relished all those songs in His ecstasy of separation from Kṛṣṇa.

CC Adi 13.42, Purport:

Caṇḍīdāsa was born in the village of Nānnura, which is also in the Birbhum district of Bengal. He was born of a brāhmaṇa family, and it is said that he also took birth in the beginning of the fourteenth century, Śakābda Era. It has been suggested that Caṇḍīdāsa and Vidyāpati were great friends because the writings of both express the transcendental feelings of separation profusely. The feelings of ecstasy described by Caṇḍīdāsa and Vidyāpati were actually exhibited by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He relished all those feelings in the role of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, and His appropriate associates for this purpose were Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya and Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī. These intimate associates of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu helped the Lord very much in the pastimes in which He felt like Rādhārāṇī.

CC Adi 17 Summary:

The King of Vrajabhūmi is Nanda Mahārāja, and the same person in Navadvīpa is Jagannātha Miśra, the father of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Similarly, mother Yaśodā is the Queen of Vrajabhūmi, and in the pastimes of Lord Caitanya she is Śacīmātā. Therefore the son of Śacī is the son of Yaśodā. Śrī Nityānanda occupies an ecstatic position of parental love in servitude and fraternal attraction. Śrī Advaita Prabhu exhibits the ecstasy of both fraternity and servitude. All the Lord's other associates, situated in their original love, engage in the service of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

CC Adi 17 Summary:

The same Absolute Truth who enjoys as Kṛṣṇa, Śyāmasundara, who plays His flute and dances with the gopīs, sometimes takes birth in a brāhmaṇa family and plays the part of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, accepting the renounced order of life. It appears contradictory that the same Kṛṣṇa accepted the ecstasy of the gopīs, and of course this is very difficult for an ordinary person to understand. But if we accept the inconceivable energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we can understand that everything is possible. There is no need of mundane arguments in this connection, because mundane arguments are meaningless in regard to inconceivable potency.

CC Adi 17.10, Purport:

While coming to see the Lord, Advaita Ācārya was glorifying the characteristics of mother Śacīdevī, and thus upon arriving He fell down on the ground in ecstasy. Then, under the instruction of Lord Caitanya, Śacīdevī took advantage of this situation to touch Advaita Ācārya's lotus feet. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was very much pleased by His mother's action, and He said, "Now My mother's offense at the lotus feet of Advaita Ācārya has been rectified, and she may have love of Kṛṣṇa without difficulty." By this example Lord Caitanya taught everyone that although one may be very much advanced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, if one offends the lotus feet of a Vaiṣṇava his advancement will not bear fruit. We should therefore be very cautious not to offend a Vaiṣṇava.

CC Adi 17.16, Translation:

Nityānanda Prabhu then arranged to offer Vyāsa-pūjā, or worship of the spiritual master, to Lord Śrī Gaurasundara. But Lord Caitanya carried the plowlike weapon called muṣala in the ecstasy of being Nityānanda Prabhu.

CC Adi 17.18, Purport:

While bathing the Deity, all the priests and devotees must chant this Puruṣa-sūkta and offer the appropriate paraphernalia for worshiping the Deity, such as flowers, fruits, incense, ārati paraphernalia, naivedya, vastra and ornaments. All the devotees worshiped Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu in this way, and the Lord remained in ecstasy for seven praharas, or twenty-one hours. He took this opportunity to show the devotees that He is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, who is the source of all other incarnations, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (10.8): ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate. All the different forms of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, or viṣṇu-tattva, emanate from the body of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

CC Adi 17.18, Purport:

Some devotees call this exhibition of ecstasy by the Lord sāta-prahariyā bhāva, or "the ecstasy of twenty-one hours," and others call it mahābhāva-prakāśa or mahā-prakāśa. There is a description of this sāta-prahariyā bhāva in the Caitanya-bhāgavata, Madhya-khaṇḍa, Chapter Nine, which mentions that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu blessed a maidservant named Duḥkhī with the name Sukhī. He called for Kholāvecā Śrīdhara and showed him His mahā-prakāśa. Then He called for Murāri Gupta and showed him His feature as Lord Rāmacandra. He offered His blessings to Haridāsa Ṭhākura, and at this time He also asked Advaita Prabhu to explain the Bhagavad-gītā as it is (gītāra satya-pāṭha) and showed special favor to Mukunda.

CC Adi 17.19, Translation:

One day Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu felt the ecstasy of the boar incarnation and got up on the shoulders of Murāri Gupta. Thus they both danced in Murāri Gupta's courtyard.

CC Adi 17.20, Purport:

Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī resided in Navadvīpa on the bank of the Ganges. When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was dancing in ecstasy, he approached the Lord with a begging bag containing rice. The Lord was so pleased with His devotee that He immediately snatched the bag and began to eat the raw rice. No one forbade Him, and thus He finished the entire supply of rice.

CC Adi 17.93, Translation:

Seeing Him appearing very fierce in the ecstasy of Lord Nṛsiṁha, people ran from the street and fled here and there, afraid of His anger.

CC Adi 17.117, Purport:

Yamunākarṣaṇa-līlā is the pastime of attracting the Yamunā. One day, Śrī Baladeva wanted the Yamunā River to come before Him, and when the river Yamunā refused, He took His plow, wanting to dig a canal so that the Yamunā would be obliged to come there. Since Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the original form of Baladeva, in His ecstasy He asked everyone to bring honey. In this way, all the devotees standing there saw the yamunākarṣaṇa-līlā. In this līlā, Baladeva was accompanied by His girlfriends. After drinking a honey beverage called Vāruṇī, He wanted to jump into the Yamunā and swim with the girls. It is stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.65.25–30, 33) that Lord Baladeva asked the Yamunā to come near, and when the river disobeyed the order of the Lord, He became angry and thus wanted to snatch her near to Him with His plow.

CC Adi 17.118, Translation:

When the Lord, in His ecstasy of Baladeva, was moving as if intoxicated by the beverage, Advaita Ācārya, the chief of the ācāryas (ācārya śekhara), saw Him in the form of Balarāma.

CC Adi 17.119, Translation:

Vanamālī Ācārya saw a golden plow in the hand of Balarāma, and the devotees all assembled together and danced, overwhelmed by ecstasy.

CC Adi 17.233, Translation:

In ecstasy the Lord asked Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura to deliver His flute, but Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura replied, "Your flute has been stolen away by the gopīs."

CC Adi 17.234, Translation:

Hearing this reply, the Lord said in ecstasy, "Go on talking! Go on talking!" Thus Śrīvāsa described the transcendental mellows of the pastimes of Śrī Vṛndāvana.

CC Adi 17.247, Translation:

One day the Lord, in the ecstasy of the gopīs, was sitting in His house. Very morose in separation, He was calling, "Gopī! Gopī!"

CC Adi 17.292, Translation:

The influence of Rādhārāṇī’s pure ecstasy is so inconceivably great that it forced Kṛṣṇa to come to His original two-armed form.

CC Adi 17.303, Translation:

Therefore the Lord Himself, accepting the emotional ecstasy of the gopīs, now addresses the son of Nanda Mahārāja, "O master of My life! O My dear husband!"

CC Adi 17.306, Translation:

The pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu are inconceivable and wonderful. His ecstasy is wonderful, His qualities are wonderful, and His behavior is wonderful.