82 Sri Caitanya-caritamrta [Madhya-lila, Ch. 17

TRANSLATION

Feeling separation from the Lord, the three used to meet and glorify the
holy qualities of the Lord. Thus they were absorbed in ecstatic love.

TEXT 149

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‘atu’ cafe G2ICT CHA ASIN tl 80 1

‘prayage’ asiya prabhu kaila veni-snana
‘madhava’ dekhiya preme kaila nrtya-gana

SYNONYMS
prayége—to Prayaga; dsiya—coming; prabhu—Sri Caitanya’ Mahaprabhu;
kaila—did; veni-snana—bathing in the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna;
madhava—the predominating Deity there, Veni Madhava; dekhiyd—seeing;
preme—in ecstatic love; kaila—performed; nrtya-gana—dancing and chanting.

TRANSLATION

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu then went to Prayaga, where He bathed at the
confluence of the Ganges and the Yamuna. He then visited the temple of Veni
Madhava and chanted and danced there in ecstatic love.

PURPORT

The city of Prayaga is situated a few miles from the city of Allahabad. The name
Prayaga is given due to successful sacrifices performed there. It is said: prakrstah
yagah yaga-phalari yasmat. If one performs sacrifices at Prayaga, he certainly gets
immediate results without difficulty. Prayaga is also called Tirtharaja, the king of all
places of pilgrimage. This holy place is situated on the confluence of the Rivers
Ganges and Yamuna. Every year a fair takes place there known as Magha-mela,
and every twelve years a Kumbha-mela is also held. In any case, many people
come to bathe there every year. During Magha-mela, people from the local dis-
trict generally come, and during Kumbha-mela people come from all over India to
live there and bathe in the Ganges and Yamuna. Whoever goes there immediately
feels the place's spiritual influence. A fort located there was constructed by the
Emperor Akbar about five hundred years ago, and near the fort is a place called
Triveni. On the other side of Prayaga is an old place known as Pratisthana-pura. It
is also well known as Jhunsi. Many saintly people live there, and consequently it is
very attractive from the spiritual point of view.
