Text 23]
Lord Caitanya's Childhood Pastimes
141
TRANSLATION
After some days the Lord began to crawl on His knees, and He caused various wonderful things to be seen.
PURPORT
The  Caitanya-bhāgavata  describes that one day while the Lord was crawling upon His knees, the bells on His waist ringing very sweetly, a snake came out to crawl in the yard of the Lord, who captured the snake like a curious child. Immediately the snake coiled over Him. The Lord as a child then rested on the snake, and after some time the snake went away, leaving aside the Lord.
TEXT 22
क्रम्बनेर छले वलाईल हरिनाम ।
नारी सव 'हरि' वले,— हासे गोरमाम ॥ २२ ॥
krandanera chale balāila hari-nāma
nārī saba 'hari' bale,—hāse gaura-dhāma
SYNONYMS
krandanera —of crying;  chale —on the pretense of;  balāila —caused to speak;  hari-nāma —the holy name of the Lord;  nārī —ladies;  saba —all;  'hari' bale —chant the holy name of the Lord;  hāse —laughs;  gaura-dhāma —Lord Śrī Caitanya as a child.
TRANSLATION
The Lord caused all the ladies to chant the holy names of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra on the plea of His crying, and while they chanted the Lord would smile.
PURPORT
In the  Caitanya-bhāgavata  this pastime is described as follows: "The Lord, with His beautiful eyes, would cry, but He would stop immediately upon hearing the Hare Kṛṣṇa  mahā-mantra . When the ladies, understanding the fun of the Lord, discovered that He would cry and then stop upon hearing the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa  mantra , they all took it as a clue to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa as soon as the Lord cried. Thus it became a regular function. The Lord would cry, and the ladies would begin chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa  mahā-mantra , clapping with their hands. In this way all the ladies of the neighboring houses would assemble in the home of Śacīmātā to join in the  saṅkīrtana  movement twenty-four hours a day. As long as the ladies continued to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa  mahā-mantra , the Lord would not cry but very pleasingly smile upon them."
TEXT 23
তবে কত দিনে কৈল পদ-চংক্রমণ ।
শিশুগণে মিলি' কৈল বিবিধ খেলন ॥ ২৩ ॥