আপন ভজন পথ, তাতে হব অনুরত,
ইষ্টদেব-স্থানে লীলাগান ।
নৈষ্ঠিক ভজন এই, তোমারে কহিল ভাই,
হনুমান তাহাতে প্রমাণ ॥ ২৮ ॥
āpana bhajana patha, tāte haba anurata,
iṣṭadeba-sthāne līlā-gāna |
naiṣṭhika bhajana ei, tomāre kahila bhāi,
hanumān tāhāte pramāṇa || 28 ||
Become devoted or ceaselessly faithful to your own bhajana path. Sing of līlā in the place of your iṣṭadeva. Oh brother, I say to you, this is firm bhajana, of which the exemplar is Śrī Hanumān.
Naiṣṭhika-Bhajana
Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya is now discussing naiṣṭhika-bhajana, firm and steady worship. In this verse, both the bhakta’s niṣṭhā (firm faith or trust) in his own bhajana and his niṣṭhā in his worshipable Śrī Bhagavān have been demonstrated. He first mentions bhajana-niṣṭhā: āpana bhajana patha, tāte haba anurata, iṣṭadeba-sthāne līlā-gāna. “Become devoted or ceaselessly faithful to your own bhajana path.” Niṣṭhā means steadiness; at the appearance of niṣṭhā, one remains constantly and steadily engaged in bhajana. As a result of continuously hearing śrī-hari-kathā from the mouths of sādhus, one’s anarthas go away and steadiness in bhajana appears. This is described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.2.17-18:
śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ |
hṛdy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrāṇi vidhunoti suhṛt satām ||
naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā |
bhagavaty uttama-śloke bhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī ||
“Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the friend of the sādhus. Hearing or chanting about him bestows virtue. When he enters the hearts of those who hear his stories, all inauspicious things there, meaning anarthas, are destroyed. After continuously serving the devotees (or the Bhāgavatam), when one’s anarthas and so on are nearly destroyed, firm devotion to the illustrious Śrī Bhagavān then appears.” Because of the presence of these five kinds of obstacles in the anartha state––laya, vikṣepa, apratipatti, kaṣāya and rasāsvāda––niṣṭhā is not seen to appear in bhajana. The gradual increase of sleepiness at the time of kīrtana, śravaṇa and smaraṇa is called laya (mental inactivity, rest). Being concerned with news about worldly affairs while performing kīrtana and so on is called vikṣepa (distraction). The inability to perform kīrtana and so on even though laya and vikṣepa are not present is called apratipatti (lack of power). Saṁskāras or mental impressions of anger, greed, pride and so on are called kaṣāya (impurities). The lack of absorption of the mind in kīrtana and so on at the appearance of happiness related to some sense object is called rasāsvāda (perception of pleasure). The absence of these obstacles during bhajana is a symptom of the birth of niṣṭhā. At the appearance of niṣṭhā, though engaged constantly in śravaṇa, kīrtana and other forms of bhajana, the sādhaka feels no fatigue. Therefore, devotion or constant attachment to one’s own bhajana path has been called naiṣṭhika-bhajana.
Within naiṣṭhika-bhajana, one of the limbs is singing of līlā in the presence of one’s iṣṭadeva. Iṣṭadeva means one’s beloved arcā-vigraha (deity form) or alternatively, because Śrī Guru and other great Vaiṣṇavas are to be worshipped like Śrī Hari, they are also iṣṭadevas. Singing of one’s favorite bhagavad-līlās in their presence is an unfailing method for getting prema. Śrī Bhagavān feels great joy when he hears his own pastimes. When Śrī Kṛṣṇa heard the praise of his own qualities from the mouth of Śrī Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura, he was overjoyed and personally gave the name Śrī Kṛṣṇa-Karṇāmṛtam to his poem. Arranging for Śrī Gurudeva and other highly realized bhaktas to hear the singing of śrī-kṛṣṇa-līlā is also an excellent sevā. If the sādhaka gets the mercy of Śrī Guru, the Vaiṣṇavas and Śrī Bhagavān through this limb of bhajana, nothing remains unattainable for him.
Or, iṣṭadeba-sthāne could also mean that residing in the places of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes such as Śrī Vṛndāvana or some other holy place and singing Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s līlās is one principal limb of bhajana. Śrī Vṛndāvana Dhāma is the place of great stimulation for śrī-kṛṣṇa-līlā. Here among the speakers of hari-kathā, for example, śrī-kṛṣṇa-līlā-rasa is revealed; this is not possible elsewhere. Moreover, by singing of śrī-kṛṣṇa-līlā in Vraja Dhāma, sevā of the great souls residing there is perfectly accomplished. As a result of this, the sādhaka succeeds in obtaining an indescribable object of human pursuit. One day my most honorable Śrī Śrīla Guru Mahārāja said, “By serving the Vaiṣṇavas living in Śrī Vṛndāvana with śrī-hari-kathā, you get a treasure higher even than the attainment of Śrī Bhagavān.” It is not that just by finding Śrī Bhagavān, one has the ability to relish him; the asuras during the time of Śrī Bhagavān’s manifest līlā are evidence of that. But by hearing and chanting śrī-hari-kathā in the association of the highly advanced bhaktas living in Śrī Vṛndāvana, one gets a delightful taste of bhagavad-rasa. Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya therefore said, iṣṭadeba-sthāne līlā-gāna.
After that, he said, naiṣṭhika bhajana ei, tomāre kahila bhāi, hanumān tāhāte pramāṇa. After discussing niṣṭhā in bhajana, he now mentions niṣṭhā in one’s cherished deity form with the example of Śrī Hanumān. Śrīmat Sanātana Gosvāmipāda has written about Śrī Hanumān’s niṣṭhā for his Lord in his commentary on Śrī Bṛhad-Bhāgavatāmṛtam 1.4.107, the purport of which goes like this: “One day, in the city of Dvārakā, as a joke to remove Śrī Garuḍa’s pride and to celebrate single-minded devotion at Śrī Bhagavān’s lotus feet, Śrī Dvārakānātha gave him an order: ‘O Garuḍa! Go to Kimpuruṣa-Varṣa, tell Hanumān I want to see him and then bring him here.’ After Śrī Garuḍa arrived in Kimpuruṣa-Varṣa, he said to Śrī Hanumān, ‘O Hanumān! Bhagavān Dvārakānātha Śrī Yādavendra has summoned you. Please go there quickly.’ Śrī Hanumān is solely devoted to Śrī Raghunātha’s lotus feet and was busily engaged in his sevā. Therefore, dismayed at the thought of having to interrupt his devotion to Śrī Raghunātha, he didn’t honor Garuḍa’s words. Because of that, Śrī Garuḍa became angry. When he was about to capture Śrī Hanumān to take him by force to Dvārakā, Śrī Hanumān instead effortlessly flung him with the tip of his tail and Garuḍa landed in faraway Dvārakā. Seeing Garuḍa bewildered, Śrī Bhagavān smiled and said, ‘O Garuḍa! Go there again and tell Hanumān that Śrī Raghunātha has called him.’ Then Śrī Kṛṣṇa became Śrī Rāmacandra and Śrī Balarāma became Lakṣmaṇa. Kṛṣṇa asked Śrī Satyabhāmā to become Sītā, but when she was unable to assume the form of Sītā, Śrī Bhagavān teased her and asked Śrī Rukmiṇī Devī to do so instead.* When Śrī Rukmiṇī Devī assumed the form of Sītā, Śrī Bhagavān, with her on his left side, sat upon the lion-throne in Dvārakā. Meanwhile, Śrī Garuḍa once again came before Śrī Hanumān and informed him of Śrī Bhagavān’s words. Though overwhelmed with joy by simply by hearing those words, Śrī Hanumān immediately took a mighty leap and landed in Dvārakā. Seeing Śrī Bhagavān in the form of his beloved Raghuvara, he propitiated him with sevā. When Śrī Bhagavān saw his devotion to his beloved Rāma, he became most delighted and gave him his desired blessing.” After that, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya quotes one verse from the lotus mouth of Śrī Hanumān.
*Here, Śrī Satyabhāmā’s inability to assume the form of Śrī Sītā does not indicate any inferiority in her power, but rather its superiority. Rukmiṇī Devī’s bhāva is similar to that of Śrī Sītā Devī, but Satyabhāmā Devī’s bhāva is such that she has sometimes been huffy toward Śrī Kṛṣṇa, which is completely impossible for Sītā Devī.
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