জীবনে মরণে গতি, রাধাকৃষ্ণ প্রাণপতি,
দোঁহার পিরীতি-রসসুখে ।
যুগলসঙ্গতি যারা, মোর প্রাণ গলে হারা,
এই কথা রহু মোর বুকে ॥ ৪২ ॥
jībane maraṇe gati, rādhā-kṛṣṇa prāṇa-pati,
doṅhāra pirīti-rasa-sukhe |
yugala-saṅgati yārā, mora prāṇa gale hārā,
ei kathā rahu mora buke || 42 ||
Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa are the rulers of my life and my only shelter in this world and the next. Those sakhīs and mañjarīs who are always with them, submerged in the joy of the Divine Couple’s mutual love, are like a garland around not only my neck, but also my very life. Let these words remain forever in my heart.
Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, the Rulers of My Life
Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: Having expressed his longing for yugala-bhajana, which is the highest ideal of rāga-bhakti and Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s glorious gift of mercy, and which is very pleasing to the Gauḍīya-Vaiṣṇava sādhakas, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya is now teaching the method of yugala-bhajana to the sādhakas: jībane maraṇe gati, rādhā-kṛṣṇa prāṇa-pati, doṅhāra pirīti-rasa-sukhe. yugala-saṅgati yārā, mora prāṇa gale hārā, ei kathā rahu mora buke. “Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa are the rulers of my life and my only shelter in this world and the next. Those sakhīs and mañjarīs who are always with them, allured by the joy of the Divine Couple’s mutual love, are like a garland around not only my neck, but also my very life. Let these words remain forever in my heart.”
First of all, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya speaks of his own devotion: rādhā-kṛṣṇa prāṇa-pati. For Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas, the goal is service to Śrī Rādhā in the mood of a mañjarī. This tattva is an act of mercy by Śrīman Mahāprabhu and the thing most dear to Śrī Rūpa-Sanātana and the other Gosvāmīs who spread it about. In the opinion of the Gosvāmīs, this is sarva-mahā asādhāraṇa sādhya-tattva: “the most extraordinary truth to be attained.” By sādhana and bhajana, the ultimate staircase, the jīva-śakti can ascend to the highest peak of the spiritual realm. Rādhā-kṛṣṇa prāṇa-pati means that Śrī Rādhārāṇī is the Goddess of the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas’ lives, and they perform śrī-kṛṣṇa-bhajana under the shelter of her lotus feet. Under the shelter of the sad-guru’s lotus feet, the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava sādhakas obtain the particulars of their own siddha-svarūpa (spiritual form) as Śrī Rādhā’s dāsī or mañjarī (including name, age, complexion, dress and the other elements of the ekādaśa-bhāva). By meditating on this svarūpa, or by establishing a sense of self within that svarūpa, their internal bhajana or rāga-bhajana continues. The topic of bhūta-śuddhi (purification of the elemental or mortal body) in the worship of Śrī Bhagavān has been discussed in the śāstras. For the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava, the contemplation of this siddha-svarūpa, or the fixing of one’s sense of self in it, is the proper bhūta-śuddhi. Śrīmat Jīva Gosvāmipāda has written, tatra bhūta-śuddhir nijābhilaṣita-bhagavat-sevaupayika-tat-pārṣada-deha-bhāvanāparyantyaiva tat-sevaika-puruṣārthibhiḥ kāryā nijānukūlyāt (Bhakti-Sandarbhaḥ 286 anuḥ). “Those whose only goal in life is bhagavat-sevā shall contemplate a body that is suitable for their desired service as a companion of Śrī Bhagavān. This is the bhūta-śuddhi that will be favorable to their bhajana.” devo bhūtvā devaṁ yajet, nādevo devam arcayet. “Having become divine himself, a sādhaka shall worship the divine. If he has not become divine, he shall not worship the divine.” In śāstra, by means of anvaya-mukha (assertion), this is a vidhi (injunction); and by vyatireka-mukha (negation), it is a niṣedha (prohibition). It is clearly understood that the devotee who desires bhagavat-sevā must think of himself as an associate of Śrī Bhagavān. For the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas, that means the body of a kiṅkarī or mañjarī in service to Śrī Rādhā. The meaning is that Śrī Rādhārāṇī is the beloved Goddess of their souls, and because Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the Lord of her life, he is also the Lord of their lives. Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya has tried to express this by using the words rādhā-kṛṣṇa prāṇa-pati. Therefore, Śrī Yugala-Kiśora are jībane maraṇe gati, meaning Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa are the only real shelter in this life or the next. After using the words rādhā-kṛṣṇa prāṇa-pati to express his devotion to his beloved, he then says jībane maraṇe gati to describe his unwavering refuge at their lotus feet.
By saying jībane maraṇe gati, he has proclaimed that there are two states of śaraṇāgati or refuge regarding the Divine Couple: in the consciousness of being a sādhaka and in the consciousness of being in one’s siddha-deha. In sādhaka-consciousness, one thinks, “I am a person devoted to mañjarī-bhāva,” and in his mentally conceived bhāva-deha (love body), he remains submerged in the enjoyable rasa of serving the Divine Couple and contemplating their sweetness. This is indeed an amazing state of enjoyment. Those in whom a little mañjarī-bhāva has awakened can understand this. In this state, the sādhaka thinks, “Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa are my only shelter in life or in death. In life, after protecting me from the influence of anarthas and so on, and blessing me with the opportunity to serve them, they will bestow upon me the gifts of rati and prema. In death also, through their own virtue they will mercifully bless me with sevā at their lotus feet, or if I am not yet fit to serve their lotus feet, they will shelter me wherever they desire. Their desire will be my life.” In this way, the sheltered sādhaka, regarding the lotus feet of Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa to be his sole object of pursuit, will become free from worry and doubt in his life of bhajana.
When the sādhaka arrives at the stage of rati, his siddha-svarūpa awakens daily and he forgets his physical body. In his siddha-svarūpa also he considers the lotus feet of Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa to be his only refuge in life or death. Although there is no question of life and death in the siddha-svarūpa, just as in their humanlike pastimes the nitya-siddha gopas and gopīs consider themselves to only be ordinary jīvas bound by birth and death, the sādhaka who is absorbed in his siddha-svarūpa is also of a similar nature. Through this, a very nice taste of Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava’s sweet, humanlike līlā-rasa is attained.
When the sādhaka arrives at the stage of rati, his siddha-svarūpa awakens daily and he forgets his physical body. In his siddha-svarūpa also he considers the lotus feet of Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa to be his only refuge in life or death. Although there is no question of life and death in the siddha-svarūpa, just as in their humanlike pastimes the nitya-siddha gopas and gopīs consider themselves to only be ordinary jīvas bound by birth and death, the sādhaka who is absorbed in his siddha-svarūpa is also of a similar nature. Through this, a very nice taste of Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava’s sweet, humanlike līlā-rasa is attained.
After mentioning his object of devotion, he now discusses his firm faith in the process of worship: doṅhāra pirīti-rasa-sukhe, yugala-saṅgati yārā, mora prāṇa gale hārā, ei kathā rahu mora buke. “Overwhelmed by the joy of Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava’s mutual love, those who have become constant companions of the Divine Couple, the sakhīs and mañjarīs, are like a garland around not only my neck, but also my very life. May these words remain always in my heart.” Madhura-rati is of two kinds: (1) sambhogecchāmayī (nāyikā-bhāva) and (2) tad-bhāvecchātmikā (sakhī-bhāva). In manifest or sequential līlā, it is as though from childhood the minds of Śrī Rādhā, Lalitā and the other gopīs have been stolen by some mysterious, handsome, sweet, fine young man and they have offered themselves completely at his lotus feet. In due course, they come to understand that he is Śrī Vrajendranandana, the embodiment of beauty and charm. In some particular līlās, when Śrī Kṛṣṇa became present before everyone’s eyes and Lalitā and the others witnessed the sweetness of his mutual love with Śrī Rādhā, they lost the desire to get Kṛṣṇa as their lover (nāyikā-bhāva) and their minds were enticed to taste this yugala-mādhurī. For example, one mahājana has sung the following regarding kāliyadamana-līlā (from Pada-Kalpa-Taru):
kāliyadamana dina māha | kālindī-kūla kadambaka chāha ||
kataśata vraja-naba-bālā | pekhaluṅ janu thira bijurika mālā ||
tohe kahoṅ subala sāṅgāti | taba dhari hāma nā jānoṅ dina rāti ||
tahiṅ dhanī-maṇi dui cāri | tahiṅ mana-mohinī eka nārī ||
so raha majhu mane paiṭhi | manasija dhūme ghuma nāhi diṭhi ||
anukṣaṇa tahika samādhi | ko jāne kaichana biraha-beyādhi ||
dine dine kṣīṇa bhela dehā | gobinda dāsa kaha aiche naba lehā ||
“My dear friend Subala, on the day I subdued the Kāliya serpent, I saw countless young vraja-gopīs, like abiding streaks of lightning, in the shade of a kadamba tree on the bank of the Yamunā. I’m telling you, when I think of them now, I cannot understand if it is day or night. A few of them are the most beautiful of girls, and among those, one has enchanted me. She has entered my mind and remains there. In the fog of love, no sleep comes to my eyes. I think of her at every moment. Who can understand how I suffer from her absence? After many days like this, my body has become thin and weak.’ Govinda Dāsa says, ‘Such is young love.’”
In this way, when Śrī Lalitā and the others saw the sweetness of Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa in their stage of pūrva-rāga (dawning or incipient love), they were overwhelmed by the joy of relishing the Divine Couple’s mutual loving sentiments and became their constant companions, with equal affection (sama-snehā) for each. Rūpa Mañjarī and others are rādhā-snehādhikā, meaning they have more affection for Śrī Rādhā than Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Although they are Śrī Rādhā’s sakhīs, they are eager to serve her and in that way became companions of the Divine Couple, meaning their respective eternal natures manifested in the gradually unfolding līlā. In mañjarī-bhāva, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya is saying, “The sakhīs and mañjarīs are like garlands around both my soul and my neck. Just as a garland increases the beauty of one’s body, in the same way, may they increase the beauty of my soul and my body.” ei kathā rahu mora buke: May this mood dwell forever in my heart, allowing no other condition to distract it. yugala-saṅgati yārā, mora prāṇa gale hārā. Another reading for this is yugala-bhajana yārā, premānande bhāse tārā. The meaning is that by tasting the sweet sentiments flowing between Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, the sādhakas in sakhī or mañjarī-bhāva experience great joy. They forget all talk of independent happiness, become absorbed in yugala-bhajana and drift in the ecstasy of love. Let these words remain always in my heart, meaning let my heart be always eager for such joy. It is to be understood that such longing is the only cause for the appearance of rāga-bhakti.
