Lord Chaitanya Travels to South India

Level 1

In his Caitanya Caritamrita, Srila Prabhupada describes Lord Chaitanya’s

leaving Jagannatha Puri to travel to South India.

Lord Chaitanya wanted to give Krishna consciousness to the people in

South India.
Even though He is the Supreme Lord Himself, and even though He can
do whatever He wants, before setting off on His journey, Lord Chaitanya
asked His devotees for their permission to leave Jagannatha Puri.
The Lord’s devotees wanted the Lord to stay with them, but they
reluctantly gave their consent.
Lord Chaitanya wanted to travel alone, but the devotees persuaded
Him to take an assistant. He took a brahmana called Krishna das to serve
Him and to help keep Him safe.

On the day the Lord set out from

Jagannatha Puri, His devotees
walked with Him to the seaside
town of Alalanatha.

In Alalanatha, Lord Chaitanya, Lord

Nityananda and many of Their
devotees performed a wonderful
kirtan.

The local people of Alalanatha were spellbound when they saw Lord
Chaitanya’s Kirtan party.
Thousands joined in the dancing and singing. By joining the kirtan,
love for Krishna awoke in their hearts.
In Alalanatha, the Lord and His devotees performed ecstatic kirtan
until late in the evening. Then, in the morning, the Lord was ready to
continue His journey to South India.

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 Many devotees wanted to accompany Lord Chaitanya, but the Lord
was firm, and He told everyone to go home, back to Jagannatha Puri.

The devotees
could not bear
to see the Lord
leaving them.
Many of them
fainted and fell
to the ground.

The Lord also felt great pangs of separation, but He kept walking
without looking back. He knew the devotees would take care of each
other, and He was eager to move on and start His sankirtan movement.
During His journey around South India, the Lord visited hundreds of
places and met millions of people.
He chanted and danced all the way around South India. He went
from village to village, and He sang the glories of the holy name wherever
He went.
When Lord Chaitanya chanted, millions of people joined Him. They
danced enthusiastically with their hands in the air. Many felt overwhelmed
by ecstatic love. Some of them trembled and shook, others laughed, and
many cried tears of bliss.
Lord Chaitanya had never shown such dynamism. He was like a
whirlwind of energy that no one could resist.
Lord Chaitanya’s dancing and singing brought joy to the people of
South India, and it filled their hearts with ecstatic emotion.