We are here bringing a text from Caitanya Caritamrita, Madhya lila, chapter 7, The Lord begins His South Indian Tour, because Padayatra is so much in the same spirit as Mahaprabhus travel in South India 500 years ago.

The next morning, after taking His bath, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu started on His South Indian tour. He bade farewell to the devotees by embracing them. Although they all fell to the ground unconscious, the Lord did not turn to see them but proceeded onward.
In separation, the Lord became very much perturbed and walked on unhappily. His servant, Krishna dasa, who was carrying His water pot, followed behind. All the devotees remained there and fasted, and the next day they all unhappily returned to Jagannatha Puri.

Almost like a mad lion, Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu went on His tour filled with ecstatic love and performing sankirtana, chanting Krishna’s names as follows. The Lord chanted:

Krishna ! Krishna ! Krishna ! Krishna ! Krishna ! Krishna ! Krishna ! he
Krishna ! Krishna ! Krishna ! Krishna ! Krishna ! Krishna ! Krishna ! he
Krishna ! Krishna ! Krishna ! Krishna ! Krishna ! Krishna ! raksa mam
Krishna ! Krishna ! Krishna ! Krishna ! Krishna ! Krishna ! pahi mam

That is, “O Lord Krishna, please protect Me and maintain Me.” He also chanted:
Rama! Raghava! Rama! Raghava! Rama! Raghava! raksa mam
Krishna! Kesava! Krishna! Kesava! Krishna! Kesava! pahi mamThat is, “O Lord Rama, descendant of King Raghu, please protect Me. O Krishna, O Kesava, killer of the Kesi demon, please maintain Me.”
Chanting this verse, Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, known as Gaurahari, went on His way. As soon as He saw someone, He would request him to chant “Hari! Hari!”
Whoever heard Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu chant “Hari! Hari!” also chanted the holy name of Lord Hari and Krishna. In this way they all followed the Lord, very eager to see Him.
After some time the Lord would embrace these people and bid them return home, having invested each of them with spiritual potency.

Each of these empowered persons would return to his own village, always chanting the holy name of Krishna and sometimes laughing, crying and dancing.
Such an empowered person would request everyone and anyone—whomever he saw—to chant the holy name of Krishna. In this way all the villagers would also become devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
People from different villages who came to see such an empowered individual would become like him simply by seeing him and receiving the mercy of his glance.
When each of these newly empowered individuals returned to his own village, he also converted the villagers into devotees. And when others came from different villages to see him, they were also converted.
In this way, as empowered men went from one village to another, all the people of South India became devotees. Thus many hundreds of people became Vaisnavas when they passed the Lord on the way and were embraced by Him. In whatever village Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu stayed to accept alms, many people came to see Him.
By the mercy of the Supreme Lord, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, everyone became a first-class devotee. Later they became teachers or spiritual masters and liberated the entire world.
In this way the Lord went to the extreme southern part of India, and He converted all the provinces to Vaisnavism. Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu did not manifest His spiritual potencies at Navadvipa, but He did manifest them in South India and liberated all the people there.
Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s empowering of others can be understood by one who is actually a devotee of the Lord and who has received His mercy. If one does not believe in the uncommon transcendental pastimes of the Lord, he is vanquished both in this world and in the next.
Whatever I have stated about the beginning of the Lord’s tour should also be understood to hold for as long as the Lord toured South India.
When Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to the holy place known as Kurma-ksetra, He saw the Deity and offered prayers and obeisances.
While at this place, Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was in His usual ecstasy of love of Godhead and was laughing, crying, dancing and chanting. Everyone who saw Him was astonished.
After hearing of these wonderful occurrences, everyone came to see Him there. When they saw the beauty of the Lord and His ecstatic condition, they were all struck with wonder.
Just by seeing Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, everyone became a devotee. They began to chant “Krishna” and “Hari” and all the holy names. They all were merged in a great ecstasy of love, and they began to dance, raising their arms.
Always hearing them chant the holy names of Lord Krishna, the residents of all the other villages also became Vaisnavas. By hearing the holy name of Krishna, the entire country became Vaisnavas. It was as if the nectar of the holy name of Krishna over flooded the entire country.

This is a strong encouragement for us all to follow in the footsteps of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and go to the towns and villages and chant and dance for the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada and all the conditioned souls. Padayatra is a direct extension of the empowerment of Sri Caitanya Mahraprabhu. Let us become these empowered persons that Mahaprabhu send to every town and village.

Hari Hari!

Caitanya Caritamrita Text courtesy of The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc. www.krishna.com. Used with permission.