রাগের ভজন পথ, কহি এবে অভিমত,
লোক-বেদ-সার এই বাণী ।
সখীর অনুগা হৈয়া, ব্রজে সিদ্ধ-দেহ পাইয়া,
সেই ভাবে জুড়াবে পরাণী ॥ ৪৮ ॥
rāgera bhajana patha, kahi ebe abhimata,
loka-beda-sāra ei bāṇī |
sakhīra anugā haiyā, braje siddha-deha pāiyā,
sei bhābe juḍābe parāṇī || 48 ||
I shall now speak of the approved path of rāga-bhajana. These words are the essence of the teachings of the great souls and the Vedas. Become a follower of Śrī Rādhā’s girlfriends and obtain your spiritual form in Vraja. In this way, your heart will be cooled.
The Method of Rāgānugā-Bhajana
Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: From this verse forward, the most venerable Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya is describing the system of rāgānugā-bhajana, chiefly the method of mañjarī-bhāva-sādhana, the great gift of Śrīman Mahāprabhu. First, he says, rāgera bhajana patha, kahi ebe abhimata, loka-beda-sāra ei bāṇī. “I shall now speak about topics related to the path of rāga-bhajana that is approved by the śāstras and sādhus. My words are loka-veda-sāra, meaning they are the essence of the statements of realized devotees on the path of rāga as well as of the Gopāla-Tāpanī-Śruti, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (which is the cream of all vedānta), and the scriptures related to worship on the path of rāga, all of which have been discussed at length.” From this statement of the exalted author, we have understood on the one hand that his words are not products of his own imagination. On the other hand, we also understand that the sādhus and śāstras have given detailed descriptions of the path of rāga and that his teachings contain the essence of those descriptions. Therefore, those who are eager to know the essential truth regarding the method of bhajana on the path of rāga must without doubt study Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya’s Śrī Prema-Bhakti-Candrikā.
Rāga-mārga-bhajana is a vast, deep and very mysterious practice. This rāga-bhakti is clearly present in Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s nitya-siddha companions living in Vraja. Bhakti performed in allegiance to them is called rāgānugā-bhakti. Therefore, it should be understood that ‘the path of rāga-bhajana’ here means ‘the path of rāgānugā-bhajana.’ Bhakti-Rasāmṛta-Sindhuḥ 1.2.270:
virājantīm abhivyaktaṁ vrajavāsi-janādiṣu |
rāgātmikām anusṛtā yā sā rāgānugocyate ||
“The devotion that is clearly present in the residents of Vraja is called rāgātmikā. The devotion that faithfully follows that rāgātmikā-bhakti is called rāgānugā.” Therefore, if the characteristics of rāgātmikā are not first known, rāgānugā-bhakti is not understood. Bhakti-Rasāmṛta-Sindhuḥ 1.2.272 speaks of the qualities of rāgātmikā:
iṣṭe svārasikī rāgaḥ paramāviṣṭatā bhavet |
tanmayī yā bhaved bhaktiḥ sātra rāgātmikoditā ||
“Rāga is the love-filled longing that arises from the complete and natural devotion to one’s beloved. The bhakti that is abundant with such rāga is called rāgātmikā.” The meaning is that the natural, loving, profound thirst for one’s beloved is called rāga, and that this is the intrinsic characteristic of rāga. The senses are naturally inclined toward their objects without being inspired by, or relying upon, anyone else. In the same way, the bhakta’s rāga or deep, affectionate longing for his beloved Śrī Bhagavān is also natural. It does not depend upon another’s urging.
When liquid water comes in contact with coldness, it becomes ice. A piece of straw can penetrate water, but not ice. In the same way, if the premika’s affectionate longing is very deep, not even the faintest trace of the quest for personal happiness, independent of Kṛṣṇa’s happiness, can arise in his heart or mind. Then, all his endeavors are dedicated solely to Kṛṣṇa’s happiness. The result of this profound thirst is that one becomes deeply absorbed in his beloved. This is the taṭastha-lakṣaṇa of rāga. (Taṭastha-lakṣaṇa means that property of a thing which is distinct from its nature, and yet is the property by which it is known.) ākṛti prakṛti dui svarūpa-lakṣaṇa, kārya-dvārā jñāna ei taṭastha-lakṣaṇa (Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Madhya 20.357). “Appearance and nature are two inherent characteristics. Knowledge of someone’s actions is a marginal characteristic.” This rāgamayī or rāgātmikā-bhakti exists only in Śrī Yugala-Kiśora’s nitya-siddha-vrajavāsī companions. Eager for the type of bhāva shown by the rāgātmikā-vrajavāsīs, those who perform bhajana following the mood of a suitable rāgātmikā-bhakta engage in what is called rāgānugā-bhakti. When this rāgānugā-bhakti is practiced constantly, the splendor of the rāga-moon present in the heart of the nitya-siddha-vrajavāsī illuminates the heart and mind of the rāgānugā-sādhaka. yasya pūrvokte rāga-viśeṣe rucir eva jātāsti, na tu rāga-viśeṣa eva svayaṁ, tasya tādṛśa-rāga-sudhākara-karābhāsa-samullasita-hṛdaya-sphaṭika-maṇeḥ śāstrādi-śrutāsu tādṛśya rāgātmikāyā bhakteḥ paripāṭīṣv api rucir jāyate (Bhakti-Sandarbhaḥ 310 anuḥ). The meaning is that a taste for the previously described type of rāga may arise in someone without the rāga itself having yet appeared. When the splendorous rays from the rāga-moon in the rāgātmikā-bhakta’s heart fall upon the crystal-like heart of such a devotee, it begins to glimmer. After hearing from guru-sādhu-śāstra about all the practices of rāgātmikā-bhakti, meaning bodily, verbal and mental acts of love, he develops enthusiasm for those practices.
The purport is that the bhakta’s heart is transparent like a crystal, meaning it is not defiled by harmful emotions such as lust, anger and so on. When he hears from guru, sādhu or śāstra about the particular loving activities of the nitya-siddha-rāgātmikā-bhakta, his heart shimmers like a crystal in moonlight and he begins to relish all the rāgātmikā-bhakta’s acts of love. After this particular type of ruci or taste has been stimulated, the bhakti that is performed in pursuit of that rāga is called rāgānugā-bhakti. Without faithful allegiance to a rāgātmikā-bhakta, this rāgānugā-bhakti or rāga-bhajana will never become successful.
braja-lokera bhābe yei karaye bhajana |
sei jana pāya braje brajendranandana || (CC. Mad. 9.131)
śruti saba gopī-gaṇera anugata hañā |
brajeśvarī-suta bhaje gopī-bhāba lañā ||
bāhyāntare gopī-deha braje yabe pāila |
sei dehe kṛṣṇa-saṅge rāsa-krīḍā kaila || (CC. Mad. 9.133-134)
gopī-ānugatya binā aiśvarya-jñāne |
bhajileha nāhi pāya brajendranandane ||
tāhāte dṛṣṭānta – lakṣmī karilā bhajana |
tathāpi nā pāila braje brajendranandana || (CC. Mad. 8.230-231)
“Those who perform bhajana in the mood of a resident of Vraja realize Śrī Vrajendranandana in Vraja. All the śrutis worshiped Śrī Kṛṣṇa by accepting the mood of the gopīs and following their example. When, in Vraja, they obtained the forms of gopīs, both internally and externally, they performed the rāsa dance with Śrī Kṛṣṇa. By worshiping in a mood of awe and reverence instead of following the gopīs, one does not realize Śrī Vrajendranandana. An example of this is that although Śrī Lakṣmī performed bhajana, she was still unable to get Vrajendranandana in Vraja.”
The nitya-siddha-vrajavāsīs have four kinds of bhāva: dāsya, sakhya, vātsalya and madhura. Therefore, there are also four kinds of rāgānugā-bhajana for people attracted to the respective bhāvas. Those who are attracted to dāsya-bhāva perform rāgānugā-bhajana in allegiance to Raktaka, Patraka and other nitya-siddha servants. Those who are attracted to sakhya-bhāva follow Subala, Madhumaṅgala and Kṛṣṇa’s other friends. Those in vātsalya-bhāva follow Nanda-Yaśodā, and those in madhura-bhāva are devoted to Śrī Rādhikā, Lalitā and so on. In this particular kali-yuga, Śrīman Mahāprabhu and his sheltered servants Śrī Rūpa-Raghunātha and the other Gosvāmīs have imparted the type of worship known as śrī-rādhā-dāsya or mañjarī-bhāva, which is the ultimate stage of madhura-bhāva. This type of rāgānugā-bhajana is most dear to the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Sampradāya. Therefore, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya says, sakhīra anugā haiyā, braje siddha-deha pāiyā, sei bhābe juḍābe parāṇī. Śrī Rādhārāṇī is the possessor of mahābhāva, the embodiment of condensed prema; Śrī Kṛṣṇa is eternal, omniscient and ever blissful, the embodiment of rasa, the erotic sentiment incarnate. When they unite, the ocean of rasa swells and overflows. The minnow-like hearts of Śrī Rādhā’s kiṅkarīs or mañjarīs, who are sheltered at her lotus feet, swim freely and joyfully in that ocean of rasa. This is the highest level of spiritual joy. One becomes attracted to mañjarī-bhāva-sādhanā by the mercy of a Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava guru and other sādhus and great souls who have taken shelter at Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s lotus feet. By resorting to the shelter of Śrī Guru’s lotus feet, the sādhakas obtain the details of their own eternally perfect mañjarī form (nitya-siddha-mañjarī-svarūpa) and the eleven aspects of its nature (ekādaśa-bhāva). In this way, the stream of meditation upon their service as followers of Śrī Lalitā, Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī and so on in their mentally conceived mañjarī forms within Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava’s aṣṭa-kāla-līlā continues to flow along with the śravaṇa, kīrtana and other forms of bhajana they perform in their external sādhaka bodies. After the sādhakas attain success in bhajana, meaning after they attain prema, Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s yogamāyā-śakti blesses them with the direct sevā of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava within their mentally conceived siddha-dehas in the kingdom of līlā. In this way, after yearning for yugala-sevā in the mood of Śrī Rādhā’s kiṅkarīs or maidservants for a long time, their hearts are finally cooled. Other than this, there is no way to cool the hearts of the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava sādhakas. sei bhābe juḍābe parāṇī.
