Once the child, Caitanya Mahāprabhu, chastised His mother with His soft hand, and His mother pretended to faint. Seeing this, the Lord began to cry.The neighbouring ladies told Him, "Dear child, please bring a coconut from somewhere, and then Your mother will be cured."He then went outside the house and immediately brought two coconuts. All the ladies were astonished to see such wonderful activities.Sometimes the Lord would go with other children to bathe in the Ganges, and the neighboring girls would also come there to worship various demigods.When the girls engaged in worshiping the different demigods after bathing in the Ganges, the young Lord would come there and sit down among them.Addressing the girls, the Lord would say, "Worship Me, and I shall give you good husbands or good benedictions. The Ganges and goddess Durgā are My maidservants. What to speak of other demigods, even Lord Śiva is My servant."Without the permission of the girls, the Lord would take the sandalwood pulp and smear it on His own body, put the flower garlands on His neck, and snatch and eat all the offerings of sweetmeats, rice and bananas.All the girls became very angry at the Lord for this behavior. "Dear Nimāi," they told Him, "You are just like our brother in our village relationship."Therefore it does not behoove You to act like this. Don't take our paraphernalia for worship of the demigods. Don't create a disturbance in this way."The Lord replied, "My dear sisters, I give you the benediction that your husbands will be very handsome."They will be learned, clever and young and possess abundant wealth and rice. Not only that, but you will each have seven sons, who will all live long lives and be very intelligent."Hearing this benediction from Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, all the girls were inwardly very happy, but externally, as is natural for girls, they rebuked the Lord under the pretense of anger.When some of the girls fled, the Lord called them in anger and advised them as follows:"If you are miserly and do not give Me the offerings, every one of you will have an old husband with at least four co-wives."Hearing this supposed curse by Lord Caitanya, the girls, considering that He might know something uncommon or be empowered by demigods, were afraid that His curse might be effective.The girls then brought the offerings before the Lord, who ate them all and blessed the girls to their satisfaction.When this cunning behavior of the Lord with the girls became known to the people in general, it did not create misunderstandings among them. Rather, they enjoyed happiness in these dealings.One day a girl of the name Lakṣmī, the daughter of Vallabhācārya, came to the bank of the Ganges to take a bath in the river and worship the demigods.Seeing Lakṣmī devī, the Lord became attached to her, and Lakṣmī, upon seeing the Lord, felt great satisfaction within her mind.Their natural love for each other awakened, and although it was covered by childhood emotions, it became apparent that they were mutually attracted.They both enjoyed natural pleasure in seeing each other, and under the pretext of demigod worship they manifested their feelings.The Lord told Lakṣmī, "Just worship Me, for I am the Supreme Lord. If you worship Me, certainly you will get the benediction you desire."On hearing the order of the Supreme Lord, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Lakṣmī immediately worshiped Him, offering sandalwood pulp and flowers for His body, garlanding Him with mallikā flowers, and offering prayers.Being worshiped by Lakṣmī, the Lord began to smile. He recited a verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and thus accepted the emotion she expressed."My dear gopīs, I accept your desire to have Me as your husband and thus worship Me. I wish your desire to be fulfilled because it deserves to be so."After thus expressing their feelings to each other, Lord Caitanya and Lakṣmī returned home. Who can understand the grave pastimes of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu?When the neighboring people saw the naughty behavior of Lord Caitanya, out of love for Him they lodged complaints with Śacīmātā and Jagannātha Miśra.One day mother Śacī went to catch her son, wanting to rebuke Him, but He fled from the spot.Although He is the maintainer of the entire universe, once the Lord sat upon some rejected pots in the pit where the remnants of food were thrown, after the pots had been used for cooking.When mother Śacī saw her boy sitting on the rejected pots, she protested, "Why have You touched these untouchable pots? You have now become impure. Go and bathe in the Ganges."Hearing this, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu taught His mother about absolute knowledge. Although amazed by this, His mother forced Him to take a bath.Sometimes, taking her son with her, mother Śacī would lie down on her bed, and she would see that denizens of the celestial world had come there, filling the entire house.Once mother Śacī told the Lord, "Please go call Your father." Receiving this order from His mother, the Lord went out to call him.When the child was going out, there was a tinkling of ankle bells from His lotus feet. Hearing this, His father and mother were struck with wonder.Jagannātha Miśra said, "This is a very wonderful incident. Why is there a sound of ankle bells from the bare feet of my child?"Mother Śacī said, "I also saw another wonder. People were coming down from the celestial kingdom and crowding the entire courtyard."They made noisy sounds I could not understand. I guess they were offering prayers to someone."Jagannātha Miśra replied, "Never mind what it is. There is no need to worry. Let there always be good fortune for Viśvambhara. This is all I want."On another occasion, Jagannātha Miśra, seeing the mischievous acts of his son, gave Him lessons in morality after rebuking Him greatly.On that very night, Jagannātha Miśra dreamt that a brāhmaṇa had come before him speaking these words in great anger:"My dear Miśra, you do not know anything about your son. You think Him your son, and therefore you rebuke and chastise Him."Jagannātha Miśra replied, "This boy may be a demigod, a mystic yogī or a great saintly person. It doesn't matter what He is, for I think He is only my son."It is the duty of a father to educate his son in both religion and morality. If I do not give Him this education, how will He know of it?"The brāhmaṇa replied, "If your son is a transcendental mystic boy with self-effulgent perfect knowledge, what is the use of your education?"Jagannātha Miśra replied, "Even if my son is not a common man but Nārāyaṇa, still it is the duty of a father to instruct his son."In this way Jagannātha Miśra and the brāhmaṇa discussed the principles of religion in the dream, yet Jagannātha Miśra was absorbed in unalloyed parental mellow and did not want to know anything else.Being very pleased, the brāhmaṇa left after talking with Jagannātha Miśra, and when Jagannātha Miśra awakened from his dream, he was very much astonished.He related the dream to his friends and relatives, and every one of them was very much astonished to hear of it.In this way Gaurahari performed His childhood pastimes and day after day increased the pleasure of His parents.
Once the child, Caitanya Mahāprabhu, chastised His mother with His soft hand, and His mother pretended to faint. Seeing this, the Lord began to cry.The neighbouring ladies told Him, "Dear child, please bring a coconut from somewhere, and then Your mother will be cured."He then went outside the house and immediately brought two coconuts. All the ladies were astonished to see such wonderful activities.Sometimes the Lord would go with other children to bathe in the Ganges, and the neighboring girls would also come there to worship various demigods.When the girls engaged in worshiping the different demigods after bathing in the Ganges, the young Lord would come there and sit down among them.Addressing the girls, the Lord would say, "Worship Me, and I shall give you good husbands or good benedictions. The Ganges and goddess Durgā are My maidservants. What to speak of other demigods, even Lord Śiva is My servant."Without the permission of the girls, the Lord would take the sandalwood pulp and smear it on His own body, put the flower garlands on His neck, and snatch and eat all the offerings of sweetmeats, rice and bananas.All the girls became very angry at the Lord for this behavior. "Dear Nimāi," they told Him, "You are just like our brother in our village relationship."Therefore it does not behoove You to act like this. Don't take our paraphernalia for worship of the demigods. Don't create a disturbance in this way."The Lord replied, "My dear sisters, I give you the benediction that your husbands will be very handsome."They will be learned, clever and young and possess abundant wealth and rice. Not only that, but you will each have seven sons, who will all live long lives and be very intelligent."Hearing this benediction from Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, all the girls were inwardly very happy, but externally, as is natural for girls, they rebuked the Lord under the pretense of anger.When some of the girls fled, the Lord called them in anger and advised them as follows:"If you are miserly and do not give Me the offerings, every one of you will have an old husband with at least four co-wives."Hearing this supposed curse by Lord Caitanya, the girls, considering that He might know something uncommon or be empowered by demigods, were afraid that His curse might be effective.The girls then brought the offerings before the Lord, who ate them all and blessed the girls to their satisfaction.When this cunning behavior of the Lord with the girls became known to the people in general, it did not create misunderstandings among them. Rather, they enjoyed happiness in these dealings.One day a girl of the name Lakṣmī, the daughter of Vallabhācārya, came to the bank of the Ganges to take a bath in the river and worship the demigods.Seeing Lakṣmī devī, the Lord became attached to her, and Lakṣmī, upon seeing the Lord, felt great satisfaction within her mind.Their natural love for each other awakened, and although it was covered by childhood emotions, it became apparent that they were mutually attracted.They both enjoyed natural pleasure in seeing each other, and under the pretext of demigod worship they manifested their feelings.The Lord told Lakṣmī, "Just worship Me, for I am the Supreme Lord. If you worship Me, certainly you will get the benediction you desire."On hearing the order of the Supreme Lord, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Lakṣmī immediately worshiped Him, offering sandalwood pulp and flowers for His body, garlanding Him with mallikā flowers, and offering prayers.Being worshiped by Lakṣmī, the Lord began to smile. He recited a verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and thus accepted the emotion she expressed."My dear gopīs, I accept your desire to have Me as your husband and thus worship Me. I wish your desire to be fulfilled because it deserves to be so."After thus expressing their feelings to each other, Lord Caitanya and Lakṣmī returned home. Who can understand the grave pastimes of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu?When the neighboring people saw the naughty behavior of Lord Caitanya, out of love for Him they lodged complaints with Śacīmātā and Jagannātha Miśra.One day mother Śacī went to catch her son, wanting to rebuke Him, but He fled from the spot.Although He is the maintainer of the entire universe, once the Lord sat upon some rejected pots in the pit where the remnants of food were thrown, after the pots had been used for cooking.When mother Śacī saw her boy sitting on the rejected pots, she protested, "Why have You touched these untouchable pots? You have now become impure. Go and bathe in the Ganges."Hearing this, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu taught His mother about absolute knowledge. Although amazed by this, His mother forced Him to take a bath.Sometimes, taking her son with her, mother Śacī would lie down on her bed, and she would see that denizens of the celestial world had come there, filling the entire house.Once mother Śacī told the Lord, "Please go call Your father." Receiving this order from His mother, the Lord went out to call him.When the child was going out, there was a tinkling of ankle bells from His lotus feet. Hearing this, His father and mother were struck with wonder.Jagannātha Miśra said, "This is a very wonderful incident. Why is there a sound of ankle bells from the bare feet of my child?"Mother Śacī said, "I also saw another wonder. People were coming down from the celestial kingdom and crowding the entire courtyard."They made noisy sounds I could not understand. I guess they were offering prayers to someone."Jagannātha Miśra replied, "Never mind what it is. There is no need to worry. Let there always be good fortune for Viśvambhara. This is all I want."On another occasion, Jagannātha Miśra, seeing the mischievous acts of his son, gave Him lessons in morality after rebuking Him greatly.On that very night, Jagannātha Miśra dreamt that a brāhmaṇa had come before him speaking these words in great anger:"My dear Miśra, you do not know anything about your son. You think Him your son, and therefore you rebuke and chastise Him."Jagannātha Miśra replied, "This boy may be a demigod, a mystic yogī or a great saintly person. It doesn't matter what He is, for I think He is only my son."It is the duty of a father to educate his son in both religion and morality. If I do not give Him this education, how will He know of it?"The brāhmaṇa replied, "If your son is a transcendental mystic boy with self-effulgent perfect knowledge, what is the use of your education?"Jagannātha Miśra replied, "Even if my son is not a common man but Nārāyaṇa, still it is the duty of a father to instruct his son."In this way Jagannātha Miśra and the brāhmaṇa discussed the principles of religion in the dream, yet Jagannātha Miśra was absorbed in unalloyed parental mellow and did not want to know anything else.Being very pleased, the brāhmaṇa left after talking with Jagannātha Miśra, and when Jagannātha Miśra awakened from his dream, he was very much astonished.He related the dream to his friends and relatives, and every one of them was very much astonished to hear of it.In this way Gaurahari performed His childhood pastimes and day after day increased the pleasure of His parents.
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