vedānta āgama āra veda-śāstra ādi sāra
sakali to’ durgamya haiyā |
tava pādapadme raya ha’ye parānanda-maya
gauḍe āra kṣetre tomā’ pāñā ||

Even the essence of the Vedānta, the Āgamas, the Vedas, and their corollaries,
Finds it difficult to approach the topic of You.
But it dwells at Your lotus feet, becoming saturated with bliss there,
Finding You in Gauḍa (Navadvīpa) and in Śrī Kṣetra (Puri).

nanda-kiśorera jata nṛtya-keli manomata
tāhāra taraṅga pravāhiyā |
punaḥ phuṭāiyā dhari’ āhā kibā mari mari
anukampā tumi prakāśiyā ||

All the playful, enchanting dancing of Nanda’s youthful son—
Issuing forth waves of them,
You make them unfold once again. Ah, such a wonder that it kills me—
The great favor You manifest.

sei-saba līlā-khelā mane kara jata belā
takhani ta’ mane jora dhari’ |
premāmbudhi vistāriyā bhakta-gaṇa dhari’ hiyā
rākho tumi sabe matta kari’ |

Whenever You recall all those playful pastimes (as Kṛṣṇa),
Right then, a great power seizes hold of Your mind.
You expand the ocean of divine love and embrace the devotees to Your heart.
There You keep them, intoxicating them all.

dharāte-i jata saba sumaṅgala jā’ sambhava
se-saba maṅgala vistāriyā |
he Śacīnandana! ebe laiyā-i bhakta sabe
vijaya karicha sukhe ra’yā || 3 ||

All the greatest auspicious there could possibly be on Earth,
You expand all that auspiciousness.
O son of Śacī! Now, accompanied by all Your devotees,
You have marched victorious, situated most joyously.

moha o unmāde bharā āra pūrṇa-rase dharā
vraja-gopa vanitā-digake |
siñcana kariyā ghana mājhe ei vṛndāvana
raha tumi dhari’ sabe buke ||

The cowherd damsels of Vraja
Filled with infatuation and loving madness, holding fast to the fullness of rasa,
You drench them intensely in the midst of this forest of Vṛndā,
There You remain, clutching them all to Your chest.

purākāle dekhā diyā vraja-mājhe vihariyā
e-jagate sumaṅgala āni |
ghanaśyāma rūpa dhari sundara mūrati kari’
alaṅkṛta ka’rechile māni ||

In a previous age, You showed Yourself as You revelled in Vraja,
Bringing prime auspiciousness to this world.
Assuming a beautiful form with a dark blue complexion,
You adorned the Earth—this I know.

sei tumi gaurahari samasta jagate dhari
tāhe ebe prema bitariyā |
ullāse-i matta kari’ bhakta-prāṇa sabe dhari’
thāko la’ye ānandita hiyā ||

You, Gaurahari, are that same person, embracing the whole world,
Distributing divine love now throughout it.
Intoxicating everyone with jubilation and holding fast the devotees’ life-forces,
You abide thus, blissful at heart.

kāruṇyaika-niketana haiyā-i dhari’ mana
se-rūpe vijaya punaḥ kara |
gauḍa-maṇḍalake dhari’ preme āloḍita kari’
rao ha’ye bhakta-mana-hara || 4 ||

You have set Your mind on becoming the sole abode of compassion,
Once again victorious in that form (as You once were as Kṛṣṇa)
Gripping Gauḍa-maṇḍala (Bengal) and churning it with love,
You remain the thief of the devotees’ minds.

nṛtyāveśe rase thāki’ āmode ānande jhuki
madhurera bhāve matta hao |
kandarpera veśa dhari’ ujjvala varaṇa kari’
tumi sukhe sadā maji’ rao ||

Absorbed in the rasa of dancing, swaying in delight, in bliss,
You are intoxicated by the divine conjugal mood.
With Your golden complexion, You have donned the appearance of Cupid.
Thus You remain forever immersed in happiness.

śrīkhaṇḍa aguru-sāthe kuṅkumādi dhari’ tā’te
nija dehe śobhāiyā tāhā |
bṛhat bakṣa dhari’ rao sāthe ānandake lao
tāhe virājita hao āhā !!

With sandalwood paste, agarwood extract, and kuṅkuma,
You adorn Your own body.
Your chest is broad and borne with utter bliss.
Thus You preside—oho!

karpūra-miśrita ha’ye pūga-puñja vilasiye
bimbādharā rakte tumi rao |
seimata manohara rūpe rahi’ sukhakara
suvadana-dhārī tumi hao ||

As You enjoy large quantities of betel nut quids mixed with camphor,
Your lips stay red as bimba fruits.
Remaining in that enchanting and pleasing form,
You possess a most beautiful face.

lāvaṇyera sāra rūpa vapu tava aparūpa
kari’ nayanera tṛptikara |
he caitanya-mahāprabhu! haiyā-i pūrṇa vibhu
tumi hao suvijaya-dhara || 5 ||

Your body is the very essence of luster and grace, unparalleled,
Bringing total satisfaction to the eyes.
O Caitanya Mahāprabhu! Being the complete, all-powerful Lord,
You are the bearer of splendid victory.

tapta kāñcanera prabhā vistāriyā manolobhā
tumi dhara sadā sukha mana |
vimala sukhada ha’ye pūrṇa-bhāve tāte ra’ye
tumi hao sucandra vadana ||

Spreading a glow like molten gold that enchants the mind,
You always maintain a joyful heart.
Being pure and bestowing happiness, remaining fully in that state,
Your face is like a beautiful moon.

nayanera vāri ĵoto sugalita kari toto
tava vakṣe bhāsāiyā dāo |
tat-kṣaṇāt tāhāte-i abhiṣikta haiyā-i
tumi bhūmi ārdra kari rao ||

As all the tears from Your eyes flow forth,
You cast them over Your chest, drenching it.
The earth is instantly bathed in that torrent,
And You continue to drench it.

gada gada vāṇī dhari’ tāhā uccāraṇa kari
ānandera dhārā pravāhiyā |
sakalera śreṣṭha ha’ye cāru rūpe virājiye
cūḍāmaṇi-bhāva dekhāiyā ||

Speaking with a choked, ecstatic voice,
You issue forth a stream of bliss.
Superior to all, presiding in a most charming form,
You demonstrate the state of being a crest-jewel.

karuṇā-sāgara ha’ye nāgarera śire raye
navadvīpe suvilāsa yaji’ |
śrī-kṣetre lukāo tāhā sannyāsīra bhāve āhā
ohe śacī-sūnu! tomā’ bhaji || 6 ||

Having become an ocean of mercy, You remain upon the head of all lovers,
And perform beautiful pastimes in Navadvīpa.
In Śrī Kṣetra (Puri), You conceal that, in the moods of a sannyāsī, so stunningly!
O son of Śacī! I worship You.

kadamba kusumāvṛta haiyā-i ullasita
pulakera rāśi chaḍāiyā |
tumi se pulaka dhari’ nṛtya koro boli’ hari
tāhāte-i ujjvala haiyā ||

Being covered (in hairs standing on end) like a kadamba flower due to jubilation,
You manifest a wealth of horripilation.
In that state of ecstasy, You dance while chanting “Hari!”
Becoming ever so effulgent as You do so.

ā̃khi jhala jhala kari kimāścarya bhāva dhari
nayanera vāri pravāhiyā |
tāhā gaḍāiyā punaḥ hari’ sarva-jana-mana
raha sadā nirjhara haiyā ||

With Your eyes shimmering and assuming a most wondrous expression,
You issue forth tears from Your eyes.
As You do that again and again, stealing the hearts of everyone,
You remain forever like a flowing mountain spring.

āmādera buke tāte dhākkā diyā bhālomate
ānandāśru pravāhita koro |
mādhurīke phuṭāiyā tāhā hṛde utpādiyā
āmādera parānande dhara ||

With that [divine force], give our chests a good jolt,
Causing tears of bliss to flow from us as well.
Making Your sweetness bloom and manifesting it in our hearts,
Please hold us in supreme spiritual bliss.

harināma madhute-i pāgalera bhāva lai
mahā-naṭa-rūpa dhari’ rao |
tāhāte-i sukha dāo atyāścarya rūpa pāo
ohe gaura! mama nama lao || 7 ||

Taking on the mood of a madman intoxicated by the honey of the holy name,
You abide in the form of the Great Dancer.
In that state, You grant happiness and assume an utterly amazing form.
O Gaura! Please accept my obeisances.

kabhu ucce dhari’ rao kabhu lola kari’ dāo
bhuja-dvaya āloḍita kari’ |
jagatera pakṣe dhanya svarga-loka mahā-mānya
tāhe dāo mahāhlāda bhari’ ||

Sometimes You hold Your two arms up high and stay like that,
Sometimes You swing them about, churning the air.
Bringing fortune to the world and great honor to the heavenly realms,
You fill them with supreme spiritual bliss.

preme pūrṇa kari’ galā bhāve rao su-acalā
gadgada bhāva punaḥ dhara |
hari-dhyāne tribhuvana mātāiyā sarva-kṣaṇa
moha utpādana tāhe koro ||

Filling Your throat with divine love, You remain utterly resolute in Your divine emotion,
Once again assuming a choked, ecstatic voice.
By Your meditation on Lord Hari, You keep the three worlds intoxicated at all times,
Creating a divine infatuation within them.

cañcalita kari’ pada āra ha’ye susampada
tumi koro nūpurera dhvani |
āmādera mana hari’ madanera bhāva dhari’
hao tāhe parānanda-khani ||

Restlessly moving Your feet, which are the greatest of treasures,
You vibrate Your ankle-bells.
Stealing our minds and assuming the mood of Madana (Cupid),
You become a veritable mine of supreme bliss.

malla-veśa tā’te dharo ujjvala varaṇa vara
premollāse matta ha’ye rao |
he caitanya mahāprabhu! ha’ye sadā pūrṇa-vibhu
vijaya kariyā nije rao || 8 ||

Wearing the dress of a wrestler and possessing the finest, most brilliant complexion,
You remain intoxicated in the joy of divine love.
O Caitanya Mahaprabhu! Being the eternally complete and all-powerful Lord,
You remain ever-victorious.

kṛṣṇa deva nija ha’ye ei kali-yuge ra’ye
ĵini sadā sarva-jana ba’re |
asāmānya rūpe ra’ye sarva-prāṇa mātāiye
sarva-netre āpanāke dha’re ||

Being Lord Krishna Himself, residing in this Kali-yuga,
He who always blesses all people,
Manifesting in an extraordinary form, intoxicating the life-force of all,
He captures every eye.

āra pāpāsakta jane samabhāve āni’ mane
sukhe ha’na parānanda-maya |
kṛpā-sindhu-mūrti tini, prāṇe mane tā’re māni
tini-i caitanya dayāmaya ||

And extending His concern equally to all, even to sin-addicted people,
He becomes the embodiment of supreme bliss.
He is the very form of the ocean of mercy; I accept Him in my heart and soul.
He is the merciful Caitanya.

jagate ĵe-saba jana iti uti kari’ mana
kṛṣṇa-bodhe nāhi laya tā’ke |
tāhārā-i arvācīna, āra ha’ye sukhahīna
sarvadā-i rahe durvipāke ||

All the people in this world whose minds wander here and there,
Not accepting Him with the understanding that He is Kṛṣṇa—
They are foolish and devoid of happiness,
Always remaining in a state of spiritual calamity.

mṛdaṅga-o bole tabe dhik dhik sei sabe
dhik dhik gati tā’rā laya |
bādhā-prāpta ha’ye tā’rā haiyā-i ātmāhārā
viphala jīvana dhare tāya || 9 ||

Even the mṛdaṅga drum then says: “Fie, fie on them all!”
They move toward a shameful destination.
Becoming obstructed and losing their true selves,
They lead fruitlessly wasted lives.

sarakāra ṭhākura sūri khaṇḍa-vāsī narahari
caitanyera pade mati dhari’ |
e’-nava caitanyāṣṭaka kari’ ānanda-dāyaka
viracila loka-mana hari’ ||

The learned scholar Narahari Sarakāra Ṭhākura, a resident of Śrīkhaṇḍa,
Fixing his mind on Caitanya’s feet,
Composed this new and bliss-bestowing Caitanyāṣṭakam,
Stealing people’s hearts.

lalitā-prasāda mūḍha ithe mana kari’ dṛḍha
śloka-guli bāñglā bhāṣāya |
bhāva saṅgrahiyā ebe dhari’ dila dekho sabe
payāre-i ānanda-hiyāya ||

The foolish Lalitā Prasāda, fixing his mind firmly on this,
has rendered these verses into the Bengali language.
Gathering up the divine moods therein, He has now presented them—look, everyone!
—in payār form for the joy of your hearts.

teraśa chāppānna sane āśvina pañciśa dine
ihā bhakta-haste sei dhare |
bhakta-gaṇa ei stava kaṇṭhastha kariyā saba
nāca gāo ānanda-antare ||

In the year 1356 (Bengali Era), on the 25th day of Aśvina,
He places this in the hands of the devotees.
O devotees! Memorize this entire prayer,
And dance and sing with a joyful heart.

kāli-ghāṭe sūryodaye kalikātā madhye raye
bhakti-bhāve bhakti-pūrṇa mane |
lalitā prasāda āji e’-aṣṭaka padya-rāji
raciyā-i rahe matta gāne ||

At sunrise at Kalighat, while residing in Calcutta,
In a devotional mood, devotion filling his mind,
Lalitā Prasāda, having rendered this aṣṭaka into [Bengali] poem form today,
Remains intoxicated in song.