Verse 1.17.65

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 1.17.65:

ফল্গু-তীর্থে করি’ বালকার পিণ্ড দান তবে গেলা গিরিশৃঙ্গে প্রেত-গযা-স্থান ॥ ৬৫ ॥

फल्गु-तीर्थे करि’ बालकार पिण्ड दान तबे गेला गिरिशृङ्गे प्रेत-गया-स्थान ॥ ६५ ॥

phalgu-tīrthe kari’ bālakāra piṇḍa dāna tabe gelā giriśṛṅge preta-gayā-sthāna || 65 ||

phalgu-tirthe kari’ balakara pinda dana tabe gela girisrnge preta-gaya-sthana (65)

English translation:

(65) The Lord went to the Phalgu River and offered oblations to the forefathers with sand. Then the Lord went to Preta-gayā on top of the hill.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

The Phalgu River flows under a bed of sand at Gayā. There is a system

for offering oblations with sand at this place. In order to bewilder and deceive fruitive workers, Gaurahari enacted the pastimes of offering oblations to His forefathers with sand. Thereafter He went to Preta-gayā on top of the hill. There are 395 steps leading to Preta-gayā that where built in 1775. The steps were built by Madana Mohana Datta Mahāśaya, who was known among people as Kuvera, who was a renowned “black merchant,” and who was born in the famous Datta family of Hāṭa-kholā, Calcutta. On the wall of the temple there is an inscription reading: “Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇāya namaḥ. Śrī Caitanya-candrāya namaḥ. Śrī Śiva-Durgā śaraṇam. Jaya Rāmaḥ. O Lord Madana-mohana, I beg at Your lotus feet for the benediction of good fortune for me and my entire family. Seeing the difficulty people took to climb this high hill to reach Preta-gayā, a person named Madana Mohana has built a beautiful wide staircase for the benefit of the pilgrims and the pleasure of Lord Nārāyaṇa, the husband of Lakṣmī.” Construction on the 395 steps was begun and completed in the year 1775.