Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmrita Madhya 9.1

nānā-mata-grāha-grastān

dākshinātya-jana-dvipān

kripārinā vimucyaitān

gauraś cakre sa vaishnavān

SYNONYMS

nānā-mata — by various philosophies; grāha — like crocodiles; grastān — captured; dākshinātya-jana — the inhabitants of South India; dvipān — like elephants; kripā-arinā — by His disc of mercy; vimucya — liberating; etān — all these; gaurah — Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu; cakre — converted; sah — He; vaishnavān — to the Vaishnava cult.

TRANSLATION

Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu converted the inhabitants of South India. These people were as strong as elephants, but they were in the clutches of the crocodiles of various philosophies, such as the Buddhist, Jain and Māyāvāda philosophies. With His disc of mercy the Lord delivered them all by converting them into Vaishnavas, devotees of the Lord.

PURPORT

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's converting the people of South India into Vaishnavas is compared herein to Lord Vishnu's delivering Gajendra the elephant from the attack of a crocodile. When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu visited southern India, almost all the residents were within the jaws of the crocodiles of Buddhist, Jain and Māyāvāda philosophy. Here Kavirāja Gosvāmī states that although these people were as strong as elephants, they were almost in the clutches of death because they were being attacked by the crocodiles of various philosophies. However, just as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in the form of Vishnu saved the elephant Gajendra from the clutches of a crocodile, so He saved all the people of South India from the clutches of various philosophies by converting them into Vaishnavas.

<<< >>>

Copyright ©r The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness