CHAPTER 18

Rescuing the Lord from the Sea

A summary of the Eighteenth Chapter is given by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura in his
Amrta-pravaha-bhasya. On an autumn evening when the moon was full, Sri
Caitanya Mahaprabhu walked along the seashore near the Aitota temple.
Mistaking the sea for the Yamuna River, He jumped into it, hoping to see the
water pastimes of Krsna and Srimati Radharani and the other gopis. As He floated
in the sea, however, He was washed away to the Konarka temple, where a fisher-
man, thinking that the Lord’s body was a big fish, caught Him in his net and
brought Him ashore. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was unconscious, and His body
had become unusually transformed. As soon as the fisherman touched the Lord's
body, he became mad in ecstatic love of Krsna. His own madness frightened him,
however, because he thought that he was being haunted by a ghost. As he was
about to seek a ghost charmer, he met Svaripa Damodara Gosvami and the other
devotees on the beach, who had been looking everywhere for the Lord. After
some inquiries, SvarGpa Damodara could understand that the fisherman had
caught Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in his net. Since the fisherman was afraid of
being haunted by a ghost, SvarGpa Damodara gave him a slap and chanted Hare
Krsna, which immediately pacified him. Thereafter, when the devotees chanted
the Hare Krsna maha-mantra loudly, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to His exter-
nal consciousness. Then they brought Him back to His own residence.

TEXT 1

ACCC TACHI AAT ON SIATAI-
BAR cata efafasesirtiela Sa |
farce apeiaz antH fare arfwafeatie
ASICS Cites CUTAG, a PRT AE HSH
saraj-jyotsna-sindhor avakalanaya jata-yamunda-
bhramad dhavan yo ’smin hari-viraha-taparnava iva

nimagno murcchalah payasi nivasan ratrim akhilam
prabhate praptah svair avatu sa saci-sGnur iha nah

119
