The pastimes of Lord Caitanya at this place are described in the Prema Vivarta of Jagadananda Pandita.
Unfortunately, the true place of Gaura-daha-lila is unknown, but it took place somewhere in these places, so they chose a grove between Suvarna-vihar and Svananda-sukhada-kunja to visit, where this story is told.
Once Lord Gauranga, along with Nityananda Prabhu, Gadadhara Pandita, Jagadananda Pandita and other His associates, was walking with the singing of the holy name near this place.
Entering the village of Gadigach, they headed to that part of it where the shepherds and milkmen lived. Lord Gauranga suggested:
- Dear devotees, let's take a rest here on the shore of the pond, and take a little nap under a tree. See how cows graze happily! Let's join the shepherds resting under that banyan tree.
Seeing the Lord surrounded by devotees, the shepherds went out to meet him and offered yogurt, cottage cheese, butter and other dairy products.
The devotees arranged a kirtan, and the villagers left their homes to join him.
One shepherdess, a boy named Bhima, approached Lord Gauranga and said:
- My mother Shyama is a very pious and respected woman in our community. She is the daughter of Sadhu, a shepherd from Ganganagar. In her heart, she tirelessly serves mother Saci and calls her her mother. Therefore, you are my maternal uncle. Dear uncle, let me invite you and all your companions to our home. May they continue to happily chant the holy name of Lord Krishna. I want to give all the yogurt and milk, how many there are in my house to the devotees, and then serve you by massaging your lotus feet.
The determination with which Bhima invited everyone to his home pleased the Lord, and He agreed. Shyama, the mother of Bhima, greeted every devotee and offered everyone a place to sit.
Syama asked Lord Gauranga:
- My dear older brother Nimai Pandit, how is Shachi's mom doing?
- "Very good," the Lord answered.
Shyama distributed each devotee a plate of leaves and filled them with condensed milk, which Nimai and His associates tasted with great pleasure.
After the meal, the Lord, accompanied by his companions, returned to the shore of the pond and began to sing the glories of the Supreme Lord Hari in a quiet, gentle voice.
A shepherd named Ramadasa told the Lord that cows never drink water from this lake. He said that a huge terrible crocodile lives in its waters, and when he sees him, the cows refuse to drink and moan and roar in fear.
Hearing this, Lord Gauranga began to chant the holy name louder, and the crocodile was immediately attracted by sweet, melodic sounds.
The monster crawled ashore and let out a loud roar. The companions of Lord Caitanya ran back, and the crocodile resolutely went to Lord Gauranga. The devotees did not believe their eyes. The monster came very close and ... touched the lotus feet of the Lord. At that very moment, it turned into a beautiful little boy. Crying, he told the sad story of his past life and offered the Lord prayers:
- My dear Lord! I received this terrible body at the curse of the sage Durvasa, and since then, wherever I went, I have sown only horror around me ... Once this great sage fell asleep in the forest of Kamyavana. I, a mischievous boy, cut off a strand of tangled hair from him. He woke up and furiously cursed me to become a crocodile in the next four yugas.
I bitterly regretted my deed and asked him to forgive me. Mitigating, the sage answered with compassion: “O beautiful boy! When Lord Krishna, the son of Nanda Maharaja, appears in Navadvipa as the dear son of mother Saci, you will hear Him chanting the holy name of the Lord loudly. He will free you from the curse, you will again receive your beautiful body and rise above the three worlds. "
Glory, glory to the son of mother Saci! You purify the fallen conditioned souls, generously giving shelter to the hopeless, all despised and poor! Your amazing deeds are glorified by the whole universe. You have saved even such a disgusting creature like me, therefore there is no limit to Your mercy!
Navadvipa is the most exalted dhama, the essence of all other places of pilgrimage, and here, in this age of Kali, the Lord appeared in His most gracious incarnation!
You have come to save the conditioned souls of Kali-yuga by teaching them to chant the holy name of God. I offer my humble obeisances to You, the Supreme Divine Person!
I spent four yugas in the vile body of a crocodile, and now You have come and freed me from this suffering. You are infinitely merciful, You are Lord Hari Himself. The sounds of the holy name from Your mouth are so sweet that millions of living entities are liberated from the material world through Your nectar singing.
My dear Lord, please let me go home to my parents. There will be no limit to their happiness when they see me again!
After offering these wonderful prayers, the boy, with the permission of the Lord, returned to his home, and the devotees, seeing that the sun was approaching the zenith, began to gather back to Mayapur.
Anyone who listens with faith and devotion to the story of this game of Lord Gauranga will be freed from any, even the most terrible curse.
After this incident, the pond began to be called Gaura-daha - "Gauranga's lila lake." The Prema Vivarta of Jagadananda Pandita says that by seeing this pond and touching its water, one is freed from all sins and gradually rises to the level of pure devotional service to the Lord.
The meaning of the story with a crocodile
“Usually a crocodile symbolizes mortal danger. Gajendra was the king of elephants. He was obeyed by lions, tigers, leopards - all were submissive to his extraordinary power. But, falling into the mouth of a crocodile, Gadzhendra became helpless. Who are we? There are so many “crocodiles” in the material world: lust, envy, anger, pride, greed, illusion. At the most unexpected moment, they attack and devour us.
Since we are all victims of the “crocodile” of material energy, the “crocodiles” of greed, envy and desire to enjoy God's property, we must put these monsters in the dust at the lotus feet of the Lord and His devotees. And then the “crocodiles” will leave us alone.
When we sing kirtan in this place, our bodies must be covered with dust. All the dust here is dust from the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Filled with humility and transcendental madness, we must ride in this dust, begging Him for the mercy that we need so much. What kind of grace are we asking here? About unalloyed devotional service. ” (Radhanath Swami)
Translated from dhama.dayalnitay.ru