9.199
setubandhe asi’ kaila dhanustirthe snana
ramesvara dekhi’ tahan karila visrama
SYNONYMS
setubandhe asi’-coming to Setubandha; kaila—did; dhanuh-tirthe snana—bathing at the holy place known as Dhanustirtha; ramesvara dekhi’-visiting the holy place Ramesvara; tahan—there; karila visrama—took rest.
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu then went to Setubandha (Ramesvara), where He took His bath at the place called Dhanustirtha.
From there He visited the Ramesvara temple and then took rest.
PURPORT
The path through the ocean to the islands known as Mandndapam and Pambam consists partly of sand and partly of water.
The island of Pambam is about eleven miles long and six miles wide.
On this island, four miles north of Pambam Harbor, is Setubandha, where the temple of Ramesvara is located.
This is a temple of Lord Siva, and the name Ramesvara indicates that he is a great personality whose worshipable Deity is Lord Rama.
Thus the Lord Siva found in the temple of Ramesvara is a great devotee of Lord Ramacandra.
It is said, devi-pattanam arabhya gaccheyuh setu-bandhanam: “After visiting the temple of the goddess Durga, one should go to the temple of Ramesvara.” In this area there are twenty-four different holy places, one of which is Dhanustirtha, located about twelve miles southeast of Ramesvara.
It is near the last station of the South Indian Railway, a station called Ramnada.
It is said that here, on the request of Ravana’s younger brother Vibhisana, Lord Ramacandra destroyed the bridge to Lanka with His bow while returning to His capital.
It is also said that one who visits Dhanustirtha is liberated from the cycle of birth and death, and that one who bathes there gets all the fruitive results of performing the yajna known as agnistoma.