Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmrita Ādi 1.57

cintāmanir jayati somagirir gurur me

śikshā-guruś ca bhagavān śikhi-piñcha-maulih

yat-pāda-kalpataru-pallava-śekhareshu

līlā-svayamvara-rasam labhate jayaśrīh

SYNONYMS

cintāmanih jayati — all glory to Cintāmani; soma-girih — Somagiri (the initiating guru); guruh — spiritual master; me — my; śikshā-guruh — instructing spiritual master; ca — and; bhagavān — the Supreme Personality of Godhead; śikhi-piñcha — with peacock feathers; maulih — whose head; yat — whose; pāda — of the lotus feet; kalpa-taru — like desire trees; pallava — like new leaves; śekhareshu — at the toe nails; līlā-svayam-vara — of conjugal pastimes; rasam — the mellow; labhate — obtains; jaya-śrīh — Śrīmatī Rādhārānī.

TRANSLATION

"All glories to Cintāmani and my initiating spiritual master, Somagiri. All glories to my instructing spiritual master, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who wears peacock feathers in His crown. Under the shade of His lotus feet, which are like desire trees, Jayaśrī [Rādhārānī] enjoys the transcendental mellow of an eternal consort."

PURPORT

This verse is from the Krishna-karnāmrita, which was written by a great Vaishnava sannyāsī named Bilvamańgala Thākura, who is also known as Līlāśuka. He intensely desired to enter into the eternal pastimes of the Lord, and he lived at Vrindāvana for seven hundred years in the vicinity of Brahma-kunda, a still-existing bathing tank in Vrindāvana. The history of Bilvamańgala Thākura is given in a book called Śrī-vallabha-digvijaya. He appeared in the eighth century of the Śaka Era in the province of Dravida and was the chief disciple of Vishnu Svāmī. In a list of temples and monasteries kept in Śańkarācārya's monastery in Dvārakā, Bilvamańgala is mentioned as the founder of the Dvārakādhīśa temple there. He entrusted the service of his Deity to Hari Brahmacārī, a disciple of Vallabha Bhatta.

Bilvamańgala Thākura actually entered into the transcendental pastimes of Lord Krishna. He has recorded his transcendental experiences and appreciation in the book known as Krishna-karnāmrita. In the beginning of that book he has offered his obeisances to his different gurus, and it is to be noted that he has adored them all equally. The first spiritual master mentioned is Cintāmani, who was one of his instructing spiritual masters because she first showed him the spiritual path. Cintāmani was a prostitute with whom Bilvamańgala was intimate earlier in his life. She gave him the inspiration to begin on the path of devotional service, and because she convinced him to give up material existence to try for perfection by loving Krishna, he has first offered his respects to her. Next he offers his respects to his initiating spiritual master, Somagiri, and then to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who was also his instructing spiritual master. He explicitly mentions Bhagavān, who has peacock feathers on His crown, because the Lord of Vrindāvana, Krishna the cowherd boy, used to come to Bilvamańgala to talk with him and supply him with milk. In his adoration of Śrī Krishna, the Personality of Godhead, he states that Jayaśrī, the goddess of fortune, Śrīmatī Rādhārānī, takes shelter in the shade of His lotus feet to enjoy the transcendental rasa of nuptial love. The complete treatise Krishna-karnāmrita is dedicated to the transcendental pastimes of Śrī Krishna and Śrīmatī Rādhārānī. It is a book to be read and understood by the most elevated devotees of Śrī Krishna.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness