श्रीनाथे जानकीनाथे चाभेदः परमात्मनि ।
तथापि मम सर्वस्वं रामः कमललोचनः ॥ २९ ॥
śrī-nāthe jānakī-nāthe cābhedaḥ paramātmani |
tathāpi mama sarvasvaṁ rāmaḥ kamala-locanaḥ || 29 ||
Śrī Hanumān says, “Śrī Nārāyaṇa, the husband of Śrī Lakṣmī, and Śrī Rāmacandra, the husband of Śrī Sītā are both the same paramātmā. Therefore, there is no difference between them. Still, the lotus-eyed Śrī Rāmacandra means everything to me.”
Faith in One’s Beloved
Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: To help us understand the bhakta’s faith in his beloved, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya has quoted a statement from the mouth of Śrī Hanumān. A bhakta’s single-minded devotion to his own cherished deity-form among Śrī Bhagavān’s various svarūpas is particularly praiseworthy because in this situation, the profound affection in the bhakta’s heart for that particular form becomes fully developed. It is not that by doing this, Śrī Bhagavān’s various other forms are disrespected or ignored. With the manifestation of a deeply affectionate feeling toward one particular form, all forms are honored because ananta-rūpe eka-rūpa nāhi kona bheda (CC. Ādi 2.100). Among the unlimited forms of Śrī Bhagavān there is oneness and in the oneness there are unlimited forms. A thread of non-difference or unity has been kept. So when the bhakta has profound loving faith in one form, all of Śrī Bhagavān’s other forms also become completely satisfied. This has been firmly established in the story of Garuḍa and Hanumān from Śrī Bṛhad-Bhāgavatāmṛtam quoted in the commentary of the previous verse.
Śrī Hanumān has attained single-minded devotion to Śrī Rāghavendra. In this verse he says, “There is no difference between Śrī Nārāyaṇa, the husband of Śrī Lakṣmī, and Śrī Rāghavendra, the husband of Śrī Sītā because both are in reality the same paramātmā (supreme soul). Still, Śrī Rāghavendra is my greatest treasure.” Śrī Rāghavendra has entered his heart and there remains. While lying down, dreaming, meditating, thinking, hearing or chanting, he knows no one but Śrī Rāmacandra. Śrī Hari is especially pleased with him because of this firm devotion. Such niṣṭhā is no doubt the object of high praise. In Nīlācala, Śrīmat Sanātana Gosvāmipāda told Śrīman Mahāprabhu about his younger brother Śrī Anupama’s firm devotion to Śrī Rāmacandra:
“sei anupama bhāi bālaka-kāla haite |
raghunātha-upāsanā kare dṛḍha-citte ||
rātri-dine raghunāthera nāma āra dhyāna |
rāmāyaṇa nirabadhi śune kare gāna ||
āmi āra rūpa tāṅra jyeṣṭha-sahodara |
āmā-doṅhā saṅge sei rahe nirantara ||
āmā-sabhā-saṅge kṛṣṇa-kathā bhāgabata śune |
tāṅhāra parīkṣā kaila āmi-dui-jane ||
śunaha ballabha! kṛṣṇa parama madhura |
saundarya mādhurya prema bilāsa pracura ||
kṛṣṇa-bhajana kara tumi āmā-doṅhāra saṅge |
tina bhāi ekatra rahiba kṛṣṇa-kathā raṅge ||
ei mata bāra bāra kahi dui-jana |
āmā-doṅhāra gaurabe kichu phiri gela mana ||
‘tomā-doṅhāra ājñā āmi kemane laṅghiba |
dīkṣā-mantra deha kṛṣṇa-bhajana kariba ||’
eta kahi rātri-kāle kare bicāraṇa |
kemane chāḍiba raghunāthera caraṇa ||
saba-rātri krandana kari kaila jāgaraṇa |
prātaḥ-kāle āmā-doṅhā kaila nibedana ||
raghunāthera pade muñi beciyāchoṅ māthā |
kāḍite nā pāroṅ māthā pāṅa baḍa byathā ||
kṛpā kari more ājñā deha dui-jana |
janme janme seboṅ raghunāthera caraṇa ||
raghunāthera pāda-padma chāḍana nā yāya |
chāḍibāra mana haile prāṇa phāṭi’ yāya ||
tabe āmi-doṅhe tāre āliṅgana kaila |
‘sādhu dṛḍha-bhakti tomāra’ kahi praśaṁsila ||
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gosāñi kahena–ei mata murāri gupte |
pūrbe āmi parīkṣila, tāra ei mate ||
sei bhakta dhanya ye nā chāḍe prabhura caraṇa |
sei prabhu dhanya ye nā chāḍe nija-jana ||”
“My brother Anupama has since childhood worshiped Śrī Raghunātha (Śrī Rāma) with firm determination. Day and night he chants Raghunātha’s name and meditates upon him. He continuously hears and sings the Rāmāyaṇa. Rūpa and I are his older brothers and he always stays with us. In our company, he hears the Bhāgavatam and other kṛṣṇa-kathā. We tested him, saying, ‘Listen, dear one. Kṛṣṇa is most attractive. He is abundant in beauty, charm, love and pastimes. Perform kṛṣṇa-bhajana along with us; we three brothers shall remain together and enjoy discussing Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes.’ We spoke to him repeatedly in this way and, out of respect for us, his mind began to change somewhat. He said, ‘How shall I disobey your orders? Please give me the dīkṣā-mantras and I shall do kṛṣṇa-bhajana.’ Saying this, that night he deliberated over how he could give up the lotus feet of Śrī Raghunātha. He stayed awake all night crying and in the morning he humbly spoke to us. ‘I have sold my head at Śrī Raghunātha’s lotus feet. I am unable to snatch it away again; it would give me too much pain. You two please be merciful to me and allow me to serve Śrī Raghunātha’s lotus feet in birth after birth. I cannot abandon them; if I even think of it, it breaks my heart.’ Then we both embraced him and praised him, saying, ‘Bravo! Your devotion is firm.’ Mahāprabhu replied, ‘I also previously tested Murāri Gupta like this and his response was similar.’ That bhakta is praiseworthy who doesn’t abandon the feet of his Lord, and that Lord is praiseworthy who doesn’t abandon his own servant.” (CC. Antya 4.30-43, 45-46)
If such niṣṭhā for a particular form of Śrī Bhagavān is born in a bhakta, a corresponding type of Śrī Bhagavān’s love and compassion gradually manifests toward the faithful bhakta. Incidentally, it should also be known that even though it is exceedingly praiseworthy if a particular kind of faith in a particular form of Śrī Bhagavān manifests in such a faithful bhakta like Śrī Hanumān, still, from the angle of tasting mādhurya, which is the primary aim of bhakti-sādhana, only the worshipers of Svayaṁ Bhagavān Śrī Vrajendranandana, the condensed form of rasa, the embodiment of sweetness, the essence of essences, get to experience mādhurya. This is impossible for the worshipers of other forms of Śrī Bhagavān. Specifically, the kaiśora (adolescent) form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the highest manifestation of mādhurya, and through their incomparable treasure of love in the form of mahābhāva, the girls of Vraja taste the incomparable sweetness of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Śrī Rādhārāṇī is preeminent among all the girls of Vraja. Her eyes, ears and other senses are the enjoyers of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s form and so on and the instruments or gateways for tasting prema. Just as Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s mādhurya is uninterrupted and boundless, Śrī Rādhā’s prema is also uninterrupted and boundless. Therefore, Śrī Rādhā alone, through her constant mādanākhya-mahābhāva, is capable of tasting Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s boundless sweetness.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa says, ei prema-dvāre nitya rādhikā ekali, āmāra mādhuryāmṛta āsvāde sakali (CC). “Only Śrī Rādhikā, through this gateway of prema, can always taste the nectar of my sweetness in full.” Though it is impossible for the multitude of jīvas to taste what Śrī Rādhā tastes, if some fortunate jīva is eager to serve Śrī Rādhā with devotion, by her mercy, he can also be blessed to attain that taste. At present, in this particular kali-yuga, Śrīman Mahāprabhu and his sheltered ācāryas Śrī Rūpa, Śrī Sanātana and others have introduced the worship of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava in the mood of Śrī Rādhā’s kiṅkarī or mañjarī (maidservant). This type of worship provides the highest taste of Śrī Bhagavān’s mādhurī. This will explained in detail later on in this Prema-Bhakti-Candrikā of Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya. We took the opportunity to mention only a small amount of this subject-matter here.
