Simultaneously in Goloka

This poem is the poetic rendition of a pastime of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu as narrated in Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya Lila 229-235 (See page n. for the whole story). It belongs to the category of poems related to my personal search for the continuity and simultaneous vision of the pastimes of the Lord as both Krishna and Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

CC Madhya Lila 11.221-224 "In His own pastimes in Vrindavana, when Krishna used to eat on the bank of the Yamuna, every gopa would perceive that Krishna was looking at him.

In the same way, when Caitanya Mahaprabhu observed the dancing, everyone saw that Caitanya Mahaprabhu was facing him.

When someone came nearby while dancing, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu would tightly embrace him." 

"Upon seeing the great dancing, great love and great sankirtana, all the people of Jagannatha Puri floated in an ecstatic ocean of love."

Jaiva Dharma Ch.17   "Then there are devotees who in their period of sadhana worship both Sri Krishna and Sri Gauranga. After obtaining liberation they acquire two transcendental forms and serve Sri Krishna in Krsna-pitha and Sri Gauranga in Gaura-pitha simultaneously.  This is the divine and confidential mystery of the inconceivable, simultaneous oneness and difference of Sri Krishna and Sri Gauranga." 

Radiant like the air

at dusk,

the sweetest Lord,

with as much rice

as His hand could hold,

filled each plate.

In a row everyone sat 

and after Him, they ate,

then amidst them

He started to dance

and any shadows were dispelled;

From the blue town

people flocked

and crowded around,

as the sweeping waves of love

crashed Him to the ground,

while an ocean of tears

washed upon and drowned

the shore-like eyes

of all who came nearby.

Anyone close to the Lord,

within the reach

of His limbs,

was embraced by Him,

and all the dancers

in all directions,

and the singers

 on all sides, near and far,

everyone who was present,

met his eyes

in the same moment,

and each one,

at the same time,

felt to be the only one

beheld by that glance. 

O reader, now please

see this same scene,

the same youth,

but with blue skin

 as He sat on a rock,   ⁽¹⁾

in the blossoming of spring,

yogurt and rice in His hand

  and dates to share  ⁽²⁾

with His friends.

While they ate

He gazed at them

one on one,

facing each friend,

eye to eye

in the same moment,

and each one felt

at the same time

to be the only one

beheld by His glance.

And so, in the way

only the soul can

walk into Vraja and Navadvip

at the same time,

because in the spiritual realm

the two sacred places

simultaneously exist,

here it is difficult to conceive,

there just one chord weeps

 in separation and in union ~

this is the secret gift

of the Golden Lord appearing in Navadvip.

________________________________

(1) Gopala Campu “In the monsoon, Krishna with his friends takes shelter under a tree to avoid the rain and eats dates grown in beautiful valleys.  He sits on a stone slab near the water eating rice mixed with yogurt and calls the cows that are far away.  These activities attract our [Gopi's] hearts.”

(2) SBB 5.30 Comm. "Holding in His hand a very nice preparation of yogurt and rice, with pieces of suitable fruit between His fingers, He sat like a the whorl of a lotus, looking forward toward all His friends ..."

Sri Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya Lila 11. 229-235 

.... in the middle of them the Lord Himself, known as the son of mother Saci, began to dance.(215)

When the tumultuous vibration of sankirtana resounded, all good fortune immediately  awakened ...(217)

When the congregational chanting began, ecstatic love immediately overflooded everything, and all the residents of Jagannatha Puri came running.(218)

(229-235):

When Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu fell down to the ground, Sri Nityananda Raya Prabhu lifted Him up.

The tears from the eyes of the Lord came out with great force, like water from a syringe. Indeed, all the people who surrounded Him were moistened by His tears.

While kirtana was going on, there was a transformation of ecstatic love and much tears, jubilation, trembling, perspiration and deep resounding in the body of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Upon seeing this transformation, all the people present became very much astonished.

While this dancing was going on, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu watched them and performed a miracle. 

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu stood in the middle of the dancers, and all the dancers in all directions perceived that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was looking at them.

Wanting to see the dancing of the four great personalities, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu exhibited this miracle of seeing everyone simultaneously.

Everyone who saw Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu could understand that He was performing a miracle, but they did not know how it was that He could see on all four sides.