Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Ādi 17.117

jala pāna kariyā nāce hañā vihvala

yamunākarṣaṇa-līlā dekhaye sakala

SYNONYMS

jala — water; pāna kariyā — after drinking; nāce — dances; hañā — becoming; vihvala — ecstatic; yamunā-ākarṣaṇa — attracting the river Yamunā; līlā — pastimes; dekhaye — sees; sakala — everyone.

TRANSLATION

After drinking the water, Lord Caitanya became so ecstatic that He began to dance. Thus everyone saw the pastime of attracting the river Yamunā.

PURPORT

Yamunākarṣaṇa-līlā is the pastime of attracting the Yamunā. One day, Śrī Baladeva wanted the Yamunā River to come before Him, and when the river Yamunā refused, He took His plow, wanting to dig a canal so that the Yamunā would be obliged to come there. Since Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the original form of Baladeva, in His ecstasy He asked everyone to bring honey. In this way, all the devotees standing there saw the yamunākarṣaṇa-līlā. In this līlā, Baladeva was accompanied by His girlfriends. After drinking a honey beverage called Vāruṇī, He wanted to jump into the Yamunā and swim with the girls. It is stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.65.25-30, 33) that Lord Baladeva asked the Yamunā to come near, and when the river disobeyed the order of the Lord, He became angry and thus wanted to snatch her near to Him with His plow. The Yamunā, however, very much afraid of Lord Balarāma's anger, immediately came and surrendered unto Him, praying to the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and admitting her fault. She was then excused. This is the sum and substance of the yamunākarṣaṇa-līlā. The incident is also described in the prayer of Jayadeva Gosvāmī concerning the ten incarnations:

vahasi vapuṣi viśade vasanaḿ jaladābhaḿ

halahati-bhīti-milita-yamunābham

keśava dhṛta-haladhara-rūpa jaya jagad-īśa hare

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