Tridandiswami Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja
Mahaprabhu was so absorbed that He could not utter Jagannatha’s name. He could only chant, “Jaja gaga! Jaja gaga!” Tears fell from His eyes, and His heart melted. One can realize this state only if he is a devotee of the highest standard. What was the cause of Mahaprabhu’s bitter weeping? What was the reason behind it? Mahaprabhu told Svarupa Damodara to sing a song that suited His mood, and Svarupa Damodara began to sing:
sei ta parana-natha painu yaha lagi’ madana-dahane jhuri’ genu Sri Caitanya-caritamrta (Madhya-lila 13.113) “Now I have gained the Lord of My life, in whose absence I was being burned by Cupid and was withering away.”You will have to consult Srimad-Bhagavatam to understand the meaning of this verse, because the history of Ratha-yatra has been indicated there. Krsna left Vraja at the age of eleven [Krsna is exactly ten years and eight months old when He leaves for Mathura,but His transcendental body is like that of a full-grown kaisora of fourteen or fifteen years] and went first to Mathura, and then after some time He went to Dvaraka. While He was in Mathura, He sent Uddhava to console the gopis, and later He also sent Baladeva Prabhu from Dvaraka to console them. The gopis had now been feeling separation for a long time. Everyone in Vrndavana was feeling separation from Him, and even the cows and calves were upset. The gopas and gopis were weeping continuously, and everyone, including the entire forest of Vrndavana, was drying up. When Krsna was sending Uddhava from Mathura, He told him : “Uddhava, go to Vrndavana and pacify My father and mother, Nanda and Yasoda, and especially pacify the gopis who have given Me their life and soul and everything they possess. The gopis always remember Me, and they do nothing else. They never decorate themselves and they have even given up taking their meals. They don’t bathe and they don’t even sleep.”
mac-citta mad-gata-prana bodhayantah parasparam kathayantas ca mam nityam tusyanti ca ramanti ca Bhagavad-gita (10.9) “The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are fully devoted to serving Me, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss from always enlightening one another and conversing about Me.”The gopis’ only relief from their feelings of separation came when they sometimes fainted and sometimes slept. However, even these two friends – fainting and sleeping – abandoned the gopis when Krsna took them with Him to Mathura. In this way Krsna sent Uddhava to Vraja, and there Uddhava related His message, word by word, letter by letter. However, this only made the gopis more unhappy. Previously they had thought, “Krsna has promised that He will come;” but after hearing the message, they thought, “Krsna will never come,” and they felt even more separation. Srimati Radharani began to weep:
he natha he rama-natha vraja-natharti-nasana magnam uddhara govinda gokulam vrjinarnavat Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.47.52) “O master of My life, O master of the goddess of fortune, O master of Vraja! O destroyer of all suffering, Govinda, please lift Your Gokula out of the ocean of distress in which it is drowning!”
Excerpted from "The Origin of Ratha-yatra"