The Navadwipa Nāgaris in the Caitnaya Mangala.

[Jagannāth Miśra Dās]

HareKrishna. Some thoughts on the Navadwipa Nāgarīs in Locan Dās Thākura’s Caitanya Mangala. Although in his Caitanya Mangala the nāgaris are invariably there, Locan does not present Gaura as playing the nāgara with the young ladies of Navadwipa. A striking parallel is discovered in the goddesses who witnessed Krishna’s līlā,(S.B.10-35-3 and S.B.10-21-12) whilst viewing Govinda from the sky in their flower aeroplanes; their patience now destroyed by the velocity of Cupid’s flowery shafts, experience involuntary ecstatic symptoms, loose hair with flowers dropping there from, and their nivi (silken sashes which secure their undergarments) slip away, even whist seated in their spouses lap. Vishvanāth says in his commentary, that when Krishna glances up at the aristocratic ladies of Mathura as they flock to the terraces and balconies to catch a glimpse of him, the goddesses from heaven, hovering overhead in their flower aeroplanes, think that Govinda is actually looking at them; and they experience the humours of love. It’s not that the goddesses were having any physical contact with Krishna, or Krishna with them. Nothing is consummated; or even a thought of consummation entertained. Similarly, there is nothing indecorous, or contradictory, in Locan’s biography; not that Gaura was playing the nāgara with the young ladies of Navadwipa. Nothing happens. Both the nāgaris and Gaurānga come off with dignity. Gaurānga may cast a negligent, or casual inadvertent glance in their direction. The Navadwipa nāgaris are passively engaged. It gives another vista to the Nabadwipa līlā, which Vrindāvana Dās was not so keen to record in his biography. Yet whatever Vrindāvana Dās does write, does not discredit Locan’s accounts. It is confined to the realm of fantasy, and does not transform Mahāprabhu into a nāgara (amorous hero.)