CC Madhya 2.72
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 72
- stambha, kampa, prasveda, vaivarṇya, aśru, svara-bheda,
- deha haila pulake vyāpita
- hāse, kānde, nāce, gāya, uṭhi’ iti uti dhāya,
- kṣaṇe bhūme paḍiyā mūrcchita
SYNONYMS
stambha — being stunned; kampa — trembling; prasveda — perspiration; vaivarṇya — fading away of the color; aśru — tears; svara-bheda — choking of the voice; deha — body; haila — was; pulake — in joy; vyāpita — pervaded; hāse — laughs; kānde — cries; nāce — dances; gāya — sings; uṭhi’ — getting up; iti uti — here and there; dhāya — runs; kṣaṇe — sometimes; bhūme — on the ground; paḍiyā — falling down; mūrcchita — unconscious.
TRANSLATION
There were different transformations of the body of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu: being stunned, trembling, perspiring, fading away of color, weeping, and choking of the voice. In this way His whole body was pervaded by transcendental joy. As a result, sometimes Caitanya Mahāprabhu would laugh, sometimes cry, sometimes dance and sometimes sing. Sometimes He would get up and run here and there, and sometimes fall on the ground and lose consciousness.
PURPORT
In the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, eight kinds of transcendental changes taking place in the body are described. Stambha, being stunned, refers to the mind’s becoming transcendentally absorbed. In that state, the peaceful mind is placed on the life air, and different bodily transformations are manifest. These symptoms are visible in the body of an advanced devotee. When life becomes almost inactive, it is called “stunned.” The emotions resulting from this condition are joy, fear, astonishment, moroseness and anger. In this condition, the power of speech is lost and there is no movement in the hands and legs. Otherwise, being stunned is a mental condition. Many other symptoms are visible on the entire body in the beginning. These are very subtle, but gradually they become very apparent. When one cannot speak, naturally one’s active senses are arrested, and the knowledge-acquiring senses are rendered inoperative. Kampa, trembling of the body, is mentioned in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu as a result of a special kind of fear, anger and joy. This is called vepathu, or kampa. When the body begins to perspire because of joy, fear and anger combined, this is called sveda. Vaivarṇya is described as a change in the bodily color. It is caused by a combination of moroseness, anger and fear. When these emotions are experienced, the complexion turns pale and the body becomes lean and thin. Aśru is explained in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu as a combination of joy, anger and moroseness that causes water to flow from the eyes without effort. When there is joy and there are tears in the eyes, the temperature of the tears is cold, but when there is anger, the tears are hot. In both cases, the eyes are restless, the eyeballs are red and there is itching. These are all symptoms of aśru. When there is a combination of moroseness, astonishment, anger, joy and fear, there is a choking in the voice. This choking is called gadgada. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu refers to gadgada-ruddhayā girā, or “a faltering voice.” In the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, pulaka is described as joy, encouragement and fear. When these combine, the hairs on the body stand on end, and this bodily state is called pulaka.