श्रीचैतन्याष्टकम्
Śrī Caitanyāṣṭakam
Eight verses in praise of Śrī Caitanya
By Śrīmad Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmīpāda
श्रीश्रीकृष्णचैतन्यचन्द्राय नमः ।
śrī-śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanyacandrāya namaḥ |
Obeisance unto Śrī Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanyacandra
हरिर्दृष्ट्वा गोष्ठे मुकुरगतमात्मानमतुलं
स्वमाधुर्य्यं राधाप्रियतरसखीवाप्तुमभितः ।
अहो गौड़े जातः प्रभुरपरगौरैकतनुभाक्
शचीसूनुः किं मे नयनशरणीं यास्यति पुनः ॥१॥
harir dṛṣṭvā goṣṭhe mukura-gatam ātmānam atulaṁ
sva-mādhuryaṁ rādhā-priyatara-sakhīvāptum abhitaḥ |
aho gauḍe jātaḥ prabhur apara-gauraika-tanu-bhāk
śacī-sūnuḥ kiṁ me nayana-śaraṇīṁ yāsyati punaḥ ||1||
To experience his own sweetness in full
Like his dearmost sakhī Rādhā
After closely beholding
His own incomparable form
Within a mirror,
Aho!
Hari,
Prabhu,
Manifested in Gauḍa,
Assuming a pre-eminent figure
With the golden luster
Of none other [than Rādhā herself].
Will the Son of Śacī ever appear
On the path of my eyes again?
पुरीदेवस्यान्तःप्रणयमधुना स्नानमधुरो
मुहुर्गोविन्दोद्यद्विशदपरिचर्य्यर्च्चितपदः ।
स्वरूपस्य प्राणार्ब्बुदकमलनीराजितमुखः
शचीसूनुः किं मे नयनशरणीं यास्यति पुनः ॥२॥
purī-devasyāntaḥ praṇaya-madhunā snāna-madhuro
muhur govindodyad-viśada-paricaryārcita-padaḥ |
svarūpasya prāṇārbuda-kamala-nīrājita-mukhaḥ
śacī-sūnuḥ kiṁ me nayana-śaraṇīṁ yāsyati punaḥ ||2||
He who has been bathed
In the nectar of the love
Within the heart of Purīdeva [i.e., Īśvara Purī]
And thus become so sweet to him,
He whose feet are worshipped
By the continuous pure service
Emanating from Govinda,
He whose face is worshiped
By the hundreds of millions of lotuses
From the heart of Svarūpa—
Will the Son of Śacī ever appear
On the path of my eyes again?
दधानः कौपीनं तदुपरि बहिर्वस्त्रमरुणं
प्रकाण्डो हेमाद्रिद्युतिभिरभितः सेविततनुः ।
मुदा गायन्नुच्चैर्निजमधुरनामावलिमसौ
शचीसूनुः किं मे नयनशरणीं यास्यति पुनः ॥३॥
dadhānaḥ kaupīnaṁ tad-upari bahir-vastram aruṇaṁ
prakāṇḍo hemādri-dyutibhir abhitaḥ sevita-tanuḥ |
mudā gāyann ucchair nija-madhura-nāmāvalim asau
śacī-sūnuḥ kiṁ me nayana-śaraṇīṁ yāsyati punaḥ ||3||
Having donned the kaupīna
And over it a saffron outer cloth,
His magnificent figure is worshipped in full
By the radiance of Mount Sumeru
As he joyously and sonorously sings
His own sweet names—
Will the Son of Śacī ever appear
On the path of my eyes again?
अनावेद्यां पूर्व्वैरपि मुनिगणैर्भक्तिनिपुणैः
श्रुतेर्गूढां प्रेमोज्ज्वलरसफलां भक्तिलतिकाम् ।
कृपालुस्तां गौड़े प्रभुरतिकृपाभिः प्रकटयन्
शचीसूनुः किं मे नयनशरणीं यास्यति पुनः ॥४॥
anāvedyāṁ pūrvair api muni-gaṇair bhakti-nipuṇaiḥ
śruter gūḍhāṁ premojjvala-rasa-phalāṁ bhakti-latikām |
kṛpālus tāṁ gauḍe prabhur ati-kṛpābhiḥ prakaṭayan
śacī-sūnuḥ kiṁ me nayana-śaraṇīṁ yāsyati punaḥ ||4||
Gracious Prabhu,
Out of his profound grace,
Manifested in Gauḍa the creeper of bhakti,
Which was not fully known
Even by the ancient sages
Who were expert in bhakti,
Which was hidden within Śruti,
And which bears the fruit
Of the brilliant rasa of prema
[alt., Of madhura-rasa prema]—
Will the Son of Śacī ever appear
On the path of my eyes again?
निजत्वे गौड़ीयान्जगति परिगृह्य प्रभुरिमान्
हरेकृष्णेत्येवं गणनविधिना कीर्त्तयत भोः ।
इति प्रायां शिक्षां जनक इव तेभ्यः परिदिशन्
शचीसूनुः किं मे नयनशरणीं यास्यति पुनः ॥५॥
nijatve gauḍīyān jagati parigṛhya prabhur imān
hare-kṛṣṇety evaṁ gaṇana-vidhinā kīrtayata bhoḥ |
iti prāyāṁ śikṣāṁ janaka iva tebhyaḥ paridiśan
śacī-sūnuḥ kiṁ me nayana-śaraṇīṁ yāsyati punaḥ ||5||
Accepting the people of Gauḍa
As his own in the world,
Prabhu caused them to chant “Hare Kṛṣṇa”
According to a quota,
And bhoḥ!
Like a father
He gave them such instructions.
Will the Son of Śacī ever appear
On the path of my eyes again?
पुरः पश्यन्नीलाचलपतिमुरुप्रेमनिवहैः
क्षरन्नेत्राम्भोभिः स्नपितनिजदीर्घोज्ज्वलतनुः ।
सदा तिष्ठन्देशे प्रणयिगरुड़स्तम्भचरमे
शचीसूनुः किं मे नयनशरणीं यास्यति पुनः ॥६॥
puraḥ paśyan nīlācala-patim uru-prema-nivahaiḥ
kṣaran netrāmbhobhiḥ snapita-nija-dīrghojjvala-tanuḥ |
sadā tiṣṭhan deśe praṇayi-garuḍa-stambha-carame
śacī-sūnuḥ kiṁ me nayana-śaraṇīṁ yāsyati punaḥ ||6||
Beholding the Lord of the blue mountain [i.e., Śrī Jagannātha] before him,
His own lofty and lustrous figure is bathed
By the tears streaming from his eyes
Arising from his profusion of immense prema
As he remains always at his place
Behind the cherished Garuḍa Stambha—
Will the Son of Śacī ever appear
On the path of my eyes again?
मुदा दन्तैर्दष्ट्वा द्युतिविजितबन्धूकमधरं
करं कृत्वा वामं कटिनिहितमन्यं परिलसन् ।
समुत्थाप्य प्रेम्नागणितपुलको नृत्यकुतुकी
शचीसूनुः किं मे नयनशरणीं यास्यति पुनः ॥७॥
mudā dantair daṣṭvā dyuti-vijita-bandhūkam adharaṁ
karaṁ kṛtvā vāmaṁ kaṭi-nihitam anyaṁ parilasan |
samutthāpya premnāgaṇita-pulako nṛtya-kutukī
śacī-sūnuḥ kiṁ me nayana-śaraṇīṁ yāsyati punaḥ ||7||
Joyfully biting with his teeth his lips
Which have defeated the bandhūka with their brightness,
Placing his left hand on his hip,
And raising and playfully waving his right hand,
He is eagerly immersed in dancing
As his countless bodily hairs stand on end
As a result of his prema—
Will the Son of Śacī ever appear
On the path of my eyes again?
सरित्तीरारामे विरहविधुरो गोकुलविधो-
र्नदीमन्यां कुर्व्वन्नयनजलधाराविततिभिः ।
मुहुर्मूच्छां गच्छन्मृतकमिव विश्वं विरचयन्
शचीसूनुः किं मे नयनशरणीं यास्यति पुनः ॥८॥
sarit-tīrārāme viraha-vidhuro gokula-vidhor
nadīm anyāṁ kurvan nayana-jala-dhārā-vitatibhiḥ |
muhur mūrcchāṁ gacchan mṛtakam iva viśvaṁ viracayan
śacī-sūnuḥ kiṁ me nayana-śaraṇīṁ yāsyati punaḥ ||8||
In a grove on the bank of a river,
Overwhelmed by separation from the Moon of Gokula,
He creates another river
With the streams of tears from his eyes
As he repeatedly falls unconscious
And causes the world to become as though lifeless—
Will the Son of Śacī ever appear
On the path of my eyes again?
शचीसूनोरस्याष्टकमिदमभीष्टं विरचयत्
सदा दैन्योद्रेकादतिविशदबुद्धिः पठति यः ।
प्रकामं वैतन्यः प्रभुरतिकृपावेशविवशः
पृथु-प्रेमाम्भोधौ प्रथितरसदे मज्जयति तम् ॥९॥
śacī-sūnor asyāṣṭakam idam abhīṣṭaṁ viracayat
sadā dainyodrekād ati-viśada-buddhiḥ paṭhati yaḥ |
prakāmaṁ caitanyaḥ prabhur ati-kṛpāveśa-vivaśaḥ
pṛthu-premāmbhodhau prathita-rasade majjayati tam ||9||
One of very pure mind
Who out of a constant profusion of humility
Recites to one’s heart’s content
This poem of eight verses
About the Son of Śacī,
Who fulfills one’s desires—
He, Caitanya Prabhu,
Overcome by his absorption in his profound grace,
Immerses one in the vast ocean of prema
That gives rise to the most exalted rasa.
Meter
Śikharaṇī
Sources
Stavāvalī edition by Śrī Rāma Nārāyaṇa Vidyāratna.