9-18-26 Morning Chaitanya Charitamrita reading (Madhya-lila 17.1-34)

Chapter 17 of the Madhya-lila describes how Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu traveled to Vrindaban. Mahaprabhu, accompanied by Balabhadra Bhattacharya, began by going through the jungles of Jharikhanda, where the wild animals chanted the Mahamantra and danced in ecstasy. When the Lord reached Varanashi, He met Tapan Mishra and His old friend Chandrashekhar. He also met with a Maharashtriyan brahman, who informed the Lord about the Mayavadi sannyasis who criticized Mahaprabhu. Mahaprabhu replied that they were offenders to the lotus feet of Lord Krishna, and one should avoid them. Finally, Mahaprabhu traveled through Prayag and reached Mathura. There He took His lunch at the house of a Sanodiya brahman, who was a disciple of Srila Madhavendra Puri. The Sanodiya brahman showed Mahaprabhu the forrests and bathing ghats of Vrindaban. This is a reading of Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita by Srila Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami, with translation and commentary by Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad. The following is a morning reading presented by Sripad Bhakti Pavan Janardan Maharaj at our Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Seva Ashram, in Soquel, California.