This poem celebrates the dancing of Lord Caitanya amidst His devotees. It is to celebrate the Gour Purnima festival when the Sankirtan Movement manifests the vision of Lord Nityananda. It celebrates the descent of the Holy Names in this degraded age, the unique dancing and tears of this incarnation of the Lord of matchless glories. It celebrates this special land of Gaudadesh, Mayapur, where Lord Caitanya, the Golden Avatar, has attracted crowds, in millions, in billions to chant and dance in ecstatic love which flows uninterrupted from His munificent personality. It celebrates the gold of this appearance of the Lord, the golden of His complexion, the golden love of Radha and celebrates all the devotees that come to this land as pilgrims of this love, even if just only in their heart, casket of this treasure.
So, inspired by a chronicle (Caitanya Bhagavata AnKI 3.381-439) of the time describing one of the many occurrences when myriads of people moved across this land to meet the Golden Lord, this poem draws a parallel into modern days through a true prophecy of the time –in the poem foretold by an imaginary character “the pilgrim of Kuliya” (Kuliya = the present Navadvipa) - that people from all over the world will gather to this place to get this inestimable gift of devotion.
Bards and Poets!
Give up tales
of golden cities
and magic lands
and magic lands
and sing instead of
Gaudadesh!
As the pilgrim
of Kuliya has told,
at one time there
arose the Sun and the Moon, 1
arose the Sun and the Moon, 1
predicting a
golden age.
Hear of the
Golden Lord
the pilgrim of
Kuliya saw,
who once was in that
land
when He walked upon this Earth.
People in
millions set forth,
crossing meadows, forests and waters,
to search for the gold
crossing meadows, forests and waters,
to search for the gold
of that Divine Love,
and to see for themselves the golden hue of His limbs
that no one had seen before!
As hundreds of thousands of choruses,
and multitudes of voices echoed prayers and cheers,
and multitudes of voices echoed prayers and cheers,
the pilgrim of
Kuliya recalled an ocean formed,
no doubt filled by love's tears;
no doubt filled by love's tears;
Because myriads chanted the Name of Hari
the jewel of refulgent love,
Goura Avatari came
Goura Avatari came
amidst that
delirious crowd,
and soft as a
saffron cloud,
danced hardly
touching the ground,
chanting
Krishna’s names
pure love
abounded in all parts,
flowing from His person,
to everybody's hearts.
to everybody's hearts.
For thousands of years to come,
the pilgrim of
Kuliya foretold,
many will gather together
to partake eagerly of that gold,
to partake eagerly of that gold,
more people than you can imagine
from all
countries and all races,
will come to this land
will come to this land
in festive crowds, to a festival of raised hands,
and in a feast
of cheers shouting “Hari Hari”
for a drop of
that aurous mercy,
in raptures during the chant
He will appear to
dance,
pouring out love as
fluid gold
on the iron cage of the soul.
These words I
repeat as I heard them
from the pilgrim
of Kuliya,
my heart sings
and dances
like a pilgrim of love
like a pilgrim of love
returning again in the midst of that crowd,
calling to the Golden Lord
calling to the Golden Lord
for a spark of that gold,
I beg
for His love
and all at once - as if by a spell,
I’m there in Gaudadesh.
1)
SB 12.2.24 “When the moon the sun and Brhaspati are together in
the constellation Karkata and all three enter simultaneously into the lunar
mansion Pusya- at that exact moment the age of Satya or Krta will begin”.
The land of Gaudadesh is the cone of light
irradiating the night when all around is enveloped by deep darkness. In this night of the soul the Golden Lord of
Love appeared in this holy land causing this cone of light by the chanting of
the Holy Names and hundreds of thousands of hearts were submerged by the
resplendence of His Divine Love.
This
land is forever trampled by the whirling steps of the ecstatic dances of Lord
Gouransundara, and millions ever since come to this land to
receive a drop of that love. The
kirtans, the cheers, the acclamations,
the chanting, the name of Hari always resound on this land filling the hearts
with devotion because the Golden Lord never leaves this place and dances among
His devotees bestowing Bhakti. So
compare to the gold of the form of Lord Caitanya, the mundane gold and wealth
has no value and loses its attractiveness.
Love and devotion is the gold of the soul, the liquid to quench its
thirst for Divine Love.
So inspired by a chronicle of the time
describing one of the many occurrences when myriads of people moved across this
land to meet the Golden Lord, this poem draws a parallel into modern days
through a true prophecy of the time –in
the poem foretold by an imaginary character “the pilgrim of Kuliya” ( Kuliya = the
present Navadvip) - that people from all over the world will gather to this
place to get this inestimable gift of devotion.
So my heart becomes a pilgrim of love
wandering in remembrance of this special land and the magic spiritual stories of
when the Munificent Lord walked on this land.
