Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Ādi 13.100

dekhi' uparāga hāsi', śīghra gańgā-ghāṭe āsi'

ānande karila gańgā-snāna

pāñā uparāga-chale, āpanāra mano-bale,

brāhmaṇere dila nānā dāna

SYNONYMS

dekhi' — seeing; uparāga — the eclipse; hāsi' — laughing; śīghra — very soon; gańga-ghāṭe — on the bank of the Ganges; āsi' — coming; ānande — in jubilation; karila — took; gańgā-snāna — bath in the Ganges; pāñā — taking advantage of; uparāga-chale — on the event of the lunar eclipse; āpanāra — His own; manaḥ-bale — by the strength of mind; brāhmaṇere — unto the brāhmaṇas; dila — gave; nānā — various; dāna — charities.

TRANSLATION

Seeing the lunar eclipse and laughing, Advaita Ācārya and Haridāsa Ṭhākura immediately went to the bank of the Ganges and bathed in the river in great jubilation. Taking advantage of the occasion of the lunar eclipse, Advaita Ācārya, by His mental strength, distributed various types of charity to the brāhmaṇas.

PURPORT

It is the custom of Hindus to give in charity to the poor as much as possible during the time of a lunar or solar eclipse. Advaita Ācārya, therefore, taking advantage of this eclipse, distributed many varieties of charity to the brāhmaṇas. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.3.11) there is a statement that when Kṛṣṇa took His birth, Vasudeva immediately took advantage of this moment and distributed ten thousand cows to the brāhmaṇas. It is customary among Hindus that at the time a child is born, especially a male child, the parents distribute great charity in jubilation. Advaita Ācārya was actually interested in distributing charity because of Lord Caitanya's birth at the time of the lunar eclipse. People could not understand, however, why Advaita Ācārya was giving such a great variety of things in charity. He did so not because of the lunar eclipse but because of the Lord's taking birth at that moment. He distributed charity exactly as Vasudeva did at the time of Lord Kṛṣṇa's appearance.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness