Śrī Śrī Prema-Bhakti-Candrikā 35 (comm. by Śrī Anantadāsa Bābājī Mahārāja)

পতিত-পাবন নাম,        ঘোষণা তোমার শ্যাম,

উপেক্ষিলে নাহি মোর গতি ।

যদি হই অপরাধী,        তথাপিহ তুমি গতি,

সত্য সত্য যেন সতীপতি ॥ ৩৫ ॥

patita-pābana nāma,        ghoṣaṇā tomāra śyāma,

upekṣile nāhi mora gati |

yadi hai aparādhī,        tathāpiha tumi gati,

satya satya yena satī-pati || 35 ||

     O Śyāma! You are known by the name Patita-Pāvana, the savior of the fallen. If you reject me, I have no other refuge. Though I am an offender, you are still truly my only shelter, like a husband is for his devoted wife.

The Name Patita-Pāvana

     Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: At the awakening of such deep humility, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya considers himself an extremely fallen, wretched person and desires exclusive shelter at Śrī Bhagavān’s lotus feet: patita-pābana nāma, ghoṣaṇā tomāra śyāma, upekṣile nāhi mora gati. “O Śyāma! You are known around the world by the name Patita-Pāvana, the savior of the fallen, and I am an extremely fallen person. Therefore, if you reject me, I have no other shelter.” By addressing Śrī Kṛṣṇa as Śyāma, he has placed a little esoteric teaching in the prayerful words of this verse. In the dictionary, one meaning of the word śyāma is written as follows: śyāyate gacchati mano’sminn iti śyāmaḥ. “That to which the mind goes is called śyāma.” But everyone’s mind does not naturally go toward Śyāma. Everyone’s mind frequently goes to topics regarding the happiness and ease of the body and things related, such as wealth, followers, vanity, reputation and so on. If everyone’s mind would have naturally gone to Śyāma (Śrī Kṛṣṇa), then what would be the need for so much sādhana-bhajana? Such a question, of course, can arise in our minds. If we consider this calmly, we can surely understand that the mind of every jīva in the world is rushing toward joy. The jīvas want happiness or joy, and the condensed form of that joy is Śyāma: raso vai saḥ (He is indeed rasa.); ānandaṁ brahma (Brahma is joy.); rasānāṁ rasatamaḥ (He is the greatest of all rasas). Therefore, though all our minds are in fact running toward Śyāma, many of us cannot catch him. Ānanda radiates from him and a mere particle of its glow has been deposited in the material forms, flavors and so on of the world. By accepting that tiny particle, we become intoxicated and continue to ignore Śyāma. Those who, by the mercy of Śrī Guru and the Vaiṣṇavas, are eager to experience Śrī Jagannātha’s transcendental beauty, charm, form, flavor and so on, and who ignore or forget the world are blessed to taste Śyāma’s mādhurī when their sādhana-bhajana matures. If those who have forgotten the world, meaning they have given up their pride in the body and things related, are not truly patita (fallen), it will be very difficult for them to get the friendship of Patita-Pāvana. Śrīla Narottama Ṭhākura Mahāśaya is saying, “It has been proclaimed in the world that your name is Patita-Pāvana, the savior of the fallen, and I truly am extremely fallen. Therefore, if you neglect me, it will be a stain on your name because you will not find another person in this universe as fallen and lowly as I.” If Śyāma says, “If I neglect you, a stain will be on my Patita-Pāvana name. So be it; why do you care?” In response, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya says, “If you neglect me, I’ll have no other support or shelter anywhere.”

     Alternatively, this half-verse can also be explained in this way: “O Śyāma! Your names, such as ‘Kṛṣṇa,’ ‘Govinda’ and so on, have been proclaimed everywhere in this world to be the saviors of the fallen. Though I am lowly and fallen, I have taken shelter of your name and thus have no other shelter. You cannot neglect me.” Though Śrī Kṛṣṇa is Patita-Pāvana, this quality is most thoroughly manifest in his names. This has been described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in the story of Ajāmila. Though he was a great sinner and about to die, because he merely uttered the name of his son, ‘Nārāyaṇa,’ the viṣṇudūtas arrived, drove away the yamadūtas and protected him. At the appropriate time, they then took him to Vaikuṇṭha. In this story, we find the following statement (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 6.2.9-10), spoken by the viṣṇudūtas to the yamadūtas:

stenaḥ surāpo mitra-dhrug brahma-hā guru-talpa-gaḥ |

strī-rāja-pitṛ-go-hantā ye ca pātakino’pare ||

sarveṣām apy aghavatām idam eva suniṣkṛtam |

nāma-vyāharaṇaṁ viṣṇor yatas tad-viṣayā matiḥ ||

     “The chanting of Śrī Viṣṇu’s names is the best and most sacred penance for all kinds of sinners, whether one may be a thief, a drunkard, one hostile to his own friend, a killer of brāhmaṇas, one who shares the bed of his guru’s wife, one who kills a woman, a king, a father, or a cow, or so many other kinds of great sinners. Śrī Viṣṇu’s attention remains upon one who chants his names.” The purport is that even though sins are destroyed by other forms of prāyaścitta (atonement), the sinner’s heart is not purified or contemplation of Śrī Bhagavān is not awakened in his mind. Rather, the concept that ‘I am free from sin’ arises within him. The greatness of prāyaścitta in the form of śrī-nāma-kīrtana is that even by nāmābhāsa (a faint or indistinct presence of nāma), unlimited deadly sins are immediately burned to ashes like a cotton ball in a raging fire and the citta contaminated by the desire to sin is also purified. The reason is that by nāmābhāsa, though there is no search for Śrī Viṣṇu in the heart of the person pronouncing nāma, meaning there is no intention to chant the holy name of Śrī Viṣṇu (like Ajāmila addressing his son as Nārāyaṇa), Śrī Viṣṇu still remembers the speaker’s words and thinks, “He is my servant; I must always protect him.” Therefore, Bhagavān’s names have the quality or power of being the savior of the fallen; this is not possible anywhere else.

     Śrī Bhagavān could say, “Those qualities of nāma, such as being the savior of the fallen, are displayed toward an offenseless person, but nāma is not pleased by an offender.” In response, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya says, yadi hai aparādhī, tathāpiha tumi gati, satya satya yena satī-pati. Though being the embodiment of prema, because of his deep humility, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya thinks himself to be a great offender. He says, “O Lord, a husband will no doubt forgive his devoted wife if she somehow offends him because the husband is the only shelter for his wife. If he doesn’t forgive her, to whom shall she go? In the same way, though I am indeed an offender, you are my only shelter. If you don’t forgive me, I have nowhere else to go.”

     The meaning here is that if a devoted wife commits some offense at the feet of her husband, the husband will undoubtedly forgive her. But if the wife is an adulteress, the husband abandons her and never forgives her. In the same way, those who are single-mindedly and exclusively devoted to Śrī Hari, meaning those who have faith in some particular form of Śrī Hari, such as Vrajendranandana, don’t worship other devas and devīs. There is no place in their hearts for anything other than the desire for prema-sevā. If, by the influence of asat-saṅga (bad association) or asat-saṁskāra (a bad impression on the mind), they accidentally commit an offense at Śrī Hari’s lotus feet, Śrī Hari certainly forgives them. But if the desire to worship other devas or the desire for anything other than Kṛṣṇa is present in their hearts, Śrī Hari abandons them like an adulterous wife. Or, after fixing his mind on Śrī Bhagavān, if someone commits an offense while engaged in sevā, Śrī Bhagavān forgives him. But if someone becomes attached to another’s wife and commits adultery with her, though he may be engaged in activities of service to Śrī Bhagavān, Śrī Bhagavān does not forgive him or even accept his sevā. Still, it should be understood that if some performer of exclusive bhajana becomes attached to another’s wife as the result of powerful asat-saṅga or asat-saṁskāras, if he then feels deeply repentant, abandons her and sincerely takes shelter at Śrī Hari’s lotus feet, Śrī Hari is satisfied and forgives him. For this reason, in the Gītā it has been said, kṣipraṁ bhavati dharmātmā śaśvac-chāntiṁ nigacchati, kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati (B.G. 9.31). “He quickly becomes righteous and attains eternal peace. O Kaunteya, you must understand that my devotee never perishes.”

Bhāvanā-Sāra-Saṅgrahaḥ, Prātaḥ 71-73

निवेद्य कुशलं चास्यै तयोत्कण्ठितया सह ।

उत्का शय्यागृहं सूनोः प्रविवेश व्रजेश्वरी ॥ ७१ ॥

nivedya kuśalaṁ cāsyai tayotkaṇṭhitayā saha |

utkā śayyā-gṛhaṁ sūnoḥ praviveśa vrajeśvarī || 71 ||

     “Yaśodā politely informed her that they were all well and then the two of them eagerly entered Kṛṣṇa’s bedroom.” (Govinda-Līlāmṛtam 2.7)

डोरी-जूटित-वक्रकेशपटला सिन्दूरबिन्दूल्लसत्-

सीमन्तद्युतिरङ्गभूषण-विधिं नातिप्रभूतं श्रिता ।

गोविन्दास्य-निसृष्ट-साश्रुनयनद्वन्द्वा नवेन्दीवर-

श्याम-श्यामरुचिर्विचित्र-सिचया गोष्ठेश्वरी पातु वः ॥ ७२ ॥

ḍorī-jūṭita-vakra-keśa-paṭalā sindūra-bindūllasat-

sīmanta-dyuti-raṅga-bhūṣaṇa-vidhiṁ nātiprabhūtaṁ śritā |

govindāsya-nisṛṣṭa-sāśru-nayana-dvandvā navendīvara-

śyāma-śyāma-rucir vicitra-sicayā goṣṭheśvarī pātu vaḥ || 72 ||

     May Yaśodā Mā, queen of the cowherds, protect you all. Her dark, curly locks have been tied back and the line of vermilion in the part of her hair shines radiantly. She is modestly decorated with ornaments, and her eyes fill with tears as she gazes at Govinda’s face. Her bodily complexion is dark blue, like a newly grown blue lotus, and she wears a beautiful and colorful dress. (Bhakti-Rasāmṛta-Sindhuḥ 3.4.13)

पर्यङ्के न्यस्य सव्यं तदुपरि निहितस्वाङ्गभाराथ पाणिं

कृष्णस्याङ्गं स्पृशन्तीतर-करकमलेनेषदाभुग्नमध्या ।

सिञ्चन्त्यानन्दबाष्पैः स्नुतकुचपयसां धारया चास्य तल्पं

वत्सोत्तिष्ठाशु निद्रां त्यज मुखकमलं दर्शयेत्याह माता ॥ ७३ ॥

paryaṅke nyasya savyaṁ tad-upari nihita-svāṅgabhārātha pāṇiṁ

kṛṣṇasyāṅgaṁ spṛśantītara-kara-kamaleneṣad-ābhugna-madhyā |

siñcanty ānanda-bāṣpaiḥ snuta-kuca-payasāṁ dhārayā cāsya talpaṁ

vatsottiṣṭhāśu nidrāṁ tyaja mukha-kamalaṁ darśayety āha mātā || 73 ||

     “Placing her left hand on the bed above Kṛṣṇa for support, she leaned over and gently touched his body with her right hand. Moistening the bed with tears of joy and the milk oozing from her breasts, she said to him, ‘My child! Get up quickly. Wake up and show us your lotus face.’” (Govinda-Līlāmṛtam 2.13)

Śrī Śrī Prema-Bhakti-Candrikā 34 (comm. by Śrī Anantadāsa Bābājī Mahārāja)

যাবৎ জনম মোর,        অপরাধে হৈনু ভোর,

নিষ্কপটে না ভজিনু তোমা ।

তথাপি তুমি সে গতি,        না ছাড়িহ প্রাণপতি!

আমা সম নাহিক অধমা ॥ ৩৪ ॥

yābat janama mora,        aparādhe hainu bhora,

niṣkapaṭe nā bhajinu tomā |

tathāpi tumi se gati,        nā chāḍiha prāṇapati!

āmā sama nāhika adhamā || 34 ||

     For my entire life I have been engrossed in committing offenses; I have not sincerely worshipped you. Still, you are my refuge. O Lord of my life, do not abandon me! There is no one as worthless as I.

Sincere Bhajana

     Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: The intensity of Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya’s humility has gradually increased. Considering himself as extremely offensive, lowly and devoid of bhajana-sādhana, he says, yābat janama mora, aparādhe hainu bhora, niṣkapaṭe nā bhajinu tomā. “For my entire life I have been engrossed in committing offenses; I have not sincerely worshipped you.” Though being the embodiment of prema, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya has given through this outpouring of humility all the instructions which are most beneficial for the sādhaka, like a medicine that restores life. In the progressive life of bhajana, there are many kinds of obstacles on the path of obtaining prema. Among them all, aparādha (offense) is the most powerful. In Śrī Caitanya-Caritāmṛta Ādi 8.26-30, we see the following:

eka kṛṣṇa-nāme kare sarba-pāpa nāśa |

premera kāraṇa bhakti karena prakāśa ||

premera udaye haya premera bikāra |

sveda-kampa-pulakādi gadgadāśrudhāra ||

anāyāse bhaba-kṣaya, kṛṣṇera sebana |

eka kṛṣṇa-nāmera phale pāi eta dhana ||

hena kṛṣṇa-nāma yadi laya bahubāra |

tabe yadi prema nahe, nahe aśrudhāra ||

tabe jāni aparādha tāhāte pracura |

kṛṣṇa-nāma bīja tāhe nā haya aṅkura ||

     “Simply by chanting one name of Kṛṣṇa, all sins are destroyed and bhakti, the cause of prema, becomes revealed. At the appearance of prema, various transformations of prema, such as perspiration, trembling, goosebumps, faltering voice, tears and so on occur. One’s worldly existence is easily finished and one obtains Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s sevā. We get such a great treasure as the result of chanting just one name of Kṛṣṇa. If one chants kṛṣṇa-nāma repeatedly but neither prema nor tears appear, then we can understand the person has committed many offenses. The seed of kṛṣṇa-nāma does not sprout in that person.” 

     In the growing of a sprout, if a potent, well-nourished seed is dropped into the ground and gets rained upon, it germinates. If it is then carefully guarded, watered and so on, at the appropriate time the fruit will be produced. In the same way, after planting the seed of kṛṣṇa-nāma in the field of one’s heart, if one sprinkles it with the water of hearing, chanting and so on, a sprout of the creeper of devotion will grow, and at the proper time, the flower of bhāva and the fruit of prema will inevitably follow. But if that seed is deposited upon a stone, there is no possibility of it ever germinating. The heart and mind of an aparādhī are also like stone, whereupon the seed of bhakti, understood as the Holy Name, has no possibility of sprouting. For this reason, careful thought about aparādha is so important in the Vaiṣṇava Sampradāya.

     Immediately after the verses of Śrī Caitanya-Caritāmṛta that were previously quoted, the following is written: caitanya-nityānande nāhi esaba-bicāra, nāma laite prema dena, bahe aśrudhāra. “In Śrī Caitanya and Śrī Nityānanda, there is no such consideration. They give prema to one who chants the Holy Names, and tears flow from his eyes.” By this statement, it can be understood that in Śrī Caitanyadeva and Śrīman Nityānanda, there is no consideration of aparādha. If even an offender simply chants the Holy Names, they give him prema. Still, in Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s Navadvīpa-līlā, some critical students, atheists and others had spoken ill of him, so he accepted sannyāsa, not seeing any other way of giving prema to such offenders. After Prabhu took sannyāsa, the critical people then bowed down at his lotus feet and their offenses were removed. Because he was then able to give them prema, this pastime has been described in Śrī Caitanya-Caritāmṛta. Moreover, because Gopāla Cāpāla had been offensive toward Śrīvāsa, Prabhu arranged for Śrīvāsa to forgive his offense and then he gave prema to him. It has also been described that after Prabhu mentioned that even his own mother had made some offense to Śrī Advaitācārya, she took the dust from Advaita’s feet and then Prabhu gave her prema. Therefore, it is not that Śrī Caitanya and Nityānanda don’t consider offenses, it is rather that they don’t make any judgement about who deserves or doesn’t deserve the gift of prema. It should be understood that after destroying the offenses of critical people, they also gave prema to them. By these deliberations, the gravity of aparādha, the most powerful impediment to bhakti-sādhanā, has been established. Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya says, yābat janama mora, aparādhe hainu bhora. “I have behaved offensively since birth and have sunk into the mud of aparādha. Or, I have been overwhelmed by aparādha, meaning while constantly committing offenses, I have lost the intellect or power for being cautious regarding those offenses.” As much as we continue to cry out ‘aparādha aparādha,’ to that degree we are consequently unable to be attentive regarding offenses. Or, as the result of committing an offense, we become depressed, indeed stupefied. A sādhaka seeking auspiciousness must endeavor with great care to constantly perform offenseless bhajana, having given up in every way the great impediments which are nāmāparādha, sevāparādha and so on. Otherwise, because of offenses, the attempt to obtain prema, the true fruit of bhajana, will be foredoomed to failure.

     Then he says, niṣkapaṭe nā bhajinu tomā. “I have not worshiped you sincerely.” Filled with humility, Śrīla Narottama Ṭhākura Mahāśaya is in his own words giving a very valuable instruction to the society of sādhakas: niṣkapaṭe nā bhajinu tomā. Some of the dictionary meanings of the word kapaṭa are ‘illusion, having one mood internally and another externally, deceit, cunning, cheating, swindling’ and so on. After giving up one’s affinity for māyā and being devoid of any other desires, if one performs bhajana in the consciousness of his own svarūpa, it is called niṣkapaṭa, free from deceit or fraud. Because of the sādhaka’s absorption in the body and things related, various kinds of desires for profit, adoration, distinction and so on awaken in his citta (heart, mind) at the time of bhajana. This is also one of māyā’s deceptions by which one’s bhagavad-bhajana cannot be filled with niṣkapaṭa or sincerity. If one pays homage to Śrī Guru, the Vaiṣṇavas and Śrī Bhagavān externally but has no such faith and devotion in his heart, such deceit will prevent his pursuit of bhakti. In Śrī Bhakti-Sandarbha, Śrīmat Jīva Gosvāmipāda has declared this deceitful mentality to be the result of an old offense to a great soul. Even with bhakti or bhajana characterized by residence in the dhāma and the association of great souls, if this deceit is not removed, it becomes dangerous like a disease that is difficult to cure. As a result of this, various kinds of deception, cunning, crookedness and so on get displayed toward Śrī Guru, the Vaiṣṇavas and Bhagavān. Though such people whose citta has been defiled by deceit may pretend externally to perform bhajana, as long as that deceit has not been removed by association with powerful devotees or by their mercy, no hope for sincere bhajana remains. After taking shelter at the feet of Śrī Guru, the Vaiṣṇavas and Śrī Bhagavān, those who perform bhajana with an innocent heart are blessed with their compassion and receive the great fortune of sincere bhajana. Therefore, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya says, tathāpi tumi se gati, nā chāḍiha prāṇapati! āmā sama nāhika adhamā. “Although I am unable to sincerely give up everything, surrender to you and earnestly worship you with an innocent heart, still you are my only refuge. Although, in truth, I am your servant and you are my eternal master, by the deception of your powerful external māyā-śakti, I have been indifferent to your lotus feet since beginningless time. And though I have become habituated to being attached to this body and things related to it, my servant-master relationship with you has not been destroyed. Truly, you are my only refuge and shall remain so forever. Therefore, O Lord of my life, though I have fallen under the delusion of your māyā, have abandoned your lotus feet and desire other things, please do not abandon your eternal servant. No one is as lowly, worthless and in all respects unqualified as I. Because you are the savior of the lowly, and I am indeed the lowest of all, please attract this wretched person with your wonderful qualities and give him a place at your lotus feet, which free one from all fear.” The import of this discussion is that if the sādhaka who has taken refuge at Śrī Bhagavān’s lotus feet offers his prayers at those feet with humility and anguish, by Bhagavān’s mercy, he can be blessed with the great fortune of sincere bhajana.