In this devotional lecture, Srila Gopal Krishna Goswami recounts the episode when Caitanya Mahāprabhu, regarded as the incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, traveled to Jagannātha Puri after taking sannyāsa. Upon seeing the deity Lord Jagannātha, Caitanya fainted from overwhelming ecstasy (adirūda‑bhāva). A powerful yet spiritually aware Māyāvādī scholar, Sarvabhauma Bhattachārya, discovered the unconscious saint, performed an Ayurvedic test with cotton in the nose to confirm life, and cared for him. Nityānanda Prabhu, Mukunda Datta, and other close associates arrived, recognized the situation, and began chanting kīrtan. The sound of devotional chanting restored Caitanya to consciousness, after which he rose and joined the chant, proclaiming “Hari, Hari, Hari‑bō.” The narrative emphasizes Caitanya’s divine identity, the role of compassionate care, and the transformative power of congregational chanting (kīrtan) in Gaudiya Vaishnavism.
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Caitanya Mahāprabhu, as we know, was the incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead who appeared in the role of a devotee. And after taking sannyāsa, Caitanya Mahāprabhu went to Jagannātha Puri to have darshan of Lord Jagannātha. So Lord Jagannātha means Lord of the universe. So when, when Caitanya Mahāprabhu Caitanya Mahāprabhu, as I said, was playing the role of a devotee. So when he saw the form of Lord Jagannātha in the Jagannātha Puri Temple, he just fainted, unconscious. One thing is the other people in the Jagannātha Puri Temple did not know that Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the Supreme Lord Himself. By the yoga-māyā potency of the Lord, everyone doesn't recognize the true identity of the Lord when He appears on the planet. So there resided in Jagannādh-puri a very powerful Māyāvādī preacher whose name was Sarvabhomā Bhattachārya. His house was near the Jagannādh-puri temple. So when Caitanya Mahāprabhu was lying unconscious, Sarvabhomā Bhattachārya came and he, with the help of the watchmen and few other people, lifted him and took Caitanya Mahāprabhu to his house. Even though Sarvapramana Bhattacharya was a māyāvādī, he had some understanding. He had a good understanding of spiritual life. So he could understand that this devotee has fainted because of some ecstatic symptoms due to development of love of God after he saw Lord Jagannātha. This is known as adirūda-bhāva. So Sarvapramana Bhattacharya knew that this Caitanya Mahāprabhu is manifesting adirūda-bhāva, ecstatic symptoms of ecstasy. And he should be taken care of properly. So Sarvabhaumana Bharacarya was trying to determine if Caitanya Mahāprabhu, after he was brought to his house, he was, he was still alive or not. So he started testing his heart, different parts of the body. Nothing was working. So he thought maybe Caitanya Mahāprabhu is dead. Then he put a little bit of cotton next to the nose and he saw that the cotton was moving. In Ayurvedic process, they put the cotton in the nose and if the cotton is moving, then they know that the man is alive. And so he recognized that Lord Caitanya was alive. He was unconscious, deeply unconscious, but alive. In the meantime, Nityānanda Prabhu with all his devotees came to the Jagannātha Puri temple looking for Lord Caitanya.
And when they came to the Jagannātha Puri temple, they were told, "One sannyāsi came here and he became unconscious after seeing Lord Jagannātha." So Nityānanda Prabhu and everyone at once recognized this must be Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
So they asked everyone, "Where is, where has the sannyāsi gone who became unconscious?" Everybody said, "Oh, he's been taken to the house of Sarvabhauma Bhattācarya." So they all went over there. Sarvabhauma Bhattācarya was in great anxiety how to bring Caitanya Mahāprabhu back to life. But Lord Nityānanda and the associates of Caitanya Mahāprabhu knew the process.
Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya did not know. So when Nityānanda, Mukunda Datta and all came to Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya's house, they saw that Lord Caitanya was lying unconscious.
So they all started doing kīrtan. And as soon as Lord Caitanya heard kīrtan, He came back to consciousness.
And He at once got up from His unconscious state and started chanting with the others and said, "Hari, Hari, Hari-bō, Hari-bō." Gomabhattacarya was very happy.
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Hare Hare.
