Śrī Śrī Prema-Bhakti-Candrikā 55 (comm. by Śrī Anantadāsa Bābājī Mahārāja)

যুগল-চরণ সেবি,        নিরন্তর এই ভাবি,

অনুরাগী থাকিব সদায় ।

সাধনে ভাবিব যাহা,        সিদ্ধদেহে পাব তাহা,

রাগপথের এই সে উপায় ॥ ৫৫ ॥

yugala-caraṇa sebi,        nirantara ei bhābi,

anurāgī thākiba sadāya |

sādhane bhābiba yāhā,        siddha-dehe pāba tāhā,

rāga-pathera ei se upāya || 55 ||

  I shall always remained devoted to Śrī Yugala’s lotus feet and shall constantly meditate on serving them. I shall obtain in my siddha-deha that which I contemplate during sādhana. This is the method for those on the path of rāga.

The Consistency of Sādhana and Siddhi

  Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: In the previous verse Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya has given a hint of the rāgānugīya-sādhaka’s mental service; in this verse he describes the method and results of that mental service. After establishing a sense of self in their own guru-given siddha-svarūpas, the rāgānugīya Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava sādhakas perform mental sevā while contemplating Śrī Śrī Gaura-Govinda’s aṣṭa-kāla-līlā. The Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava ācārya Śrīmad Rūpa Gosvāmipāda has described the aṣṭa-kālīna-līlā in brief aphorisms within his Smaraṇa-Maṅgala-Stotra. With that as support, Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmipāda narrated Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s aṣṭa-kālīna-līlā very extensively in his book Śrī-Śrī-Govinda-Līlāmṛta. Like Śrī Bhagīratha, he has blessed the sādhaka community with a Gaṅgā-like stream of līlā-rasa. Later on, in his book Śrī-Kṛṣṇa-Bhāvanāmṛta, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartipāda gave an elaborate description of all the līlās that had been only briefly described in Govinda-Līlāmṛta, thus increasing in every way the storehouse of aṣṭa-kālīna-līlā-rasa. It is impossible to obtain a vision of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava’s līlā without first meditating on Śrī Śrī Gaurāṅga’s līlā. Therefore, at a later time Śrī Govardhana resident Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Siddha Bābā was given darśana of Śrī Rādhārāṇī, wherein she personally instructed him to develop for her devoted Vaiṣṇavas a system of meditation suitable for Śrī Śrī Gaura-Govinda’s aṣṭa-kālīna-līlā. After receiving this order from his beloved Śrī Rādhā, Śrīla Siddha Bābā compiled the Śrī-Śrī-Gaura-Govinda-Līlāmṛta-Guṭikā, thus creating a manual for līlā-smaraṇa that was in all respects suitable for the rāga-sādhaka’s meditation. To enable the community of sādhakas to taste the rasa of this aṣṭa-kālīna-līlā through the realizations of the mahājanas, Śrīla Siddha Bābā compiled a book called Śrī-Bhāvanā-Sāra-Saṅgraha, which is a large collection of verses that describe the various līlās. In this way, the previous mahājanas have vastly enriched the treasure trove of Śrī Śrī Gaura-Govinda’s aṣṭa-kālīna-līlā, which supports the internal bhajana of the rāgānugīya Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas who have taken shelter at Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s lotus feet. Within his constant meditation on those aṣṭa-kālīna-līlās, the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava sādhaka also contemplates the sevā he most likes to perform. Therefore, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya says, yugala-caraṇa sebi, nirantara ei bhābi, anurāgī thākiba sadāya. In his book Śrī-Bhakti-Sandarbha, within the discussion of the smaraṇa limb of bhakti, Śrīmat Jīva Gosvāmipāda has referred to evidence from the Śrī-Garuḍa-Purāṇa showing the necessity for constant meditation on Śrī Hari.

ekasminn apy atikrānte muhūrte dhyāna-varjite |

dasyubhir muṣitenaiva yuktam ākrandituṁ bhṛśam ||

  “If one spends even a moment without thinking of Śrī Hari, he should weep in lamentation like a person who has lost everything to thieves.” Therefore, the mahājanas have given a system of aṣṭa-kāla-līlā-smaraṇa by which the bhakta-sādhakas don’t waste even a moment of the day or night and by which they can be blessed with loving service at the lotus feet of their beloved deities. The rāgānugīya rasika-bhaktas do not rely on the instructions of śāstra and are dependent only upon longing or ardent desire. They follow (not imitate) the bhāva of the nitya-siddha rāgātmikā-vrajavāsīs, and in constant allegiance to them, eagerly engage in mental sevā while contemplating Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava’s pastimes. Therefore, the following has been written in Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Madhya 22.156-157 regarding rāgānugā-bhakti-sādhana:

bāhya antara ihāra dui ta sādhana |

bāhya-sādhaka-dehe kare śrabaṇa-kīrtana ||

mane nija-siddha-deha kariyā bhābana |

rātri-dina kare braje kṛṣṇera sebana ||

  “There are two types of sādhana in rāgānugā-bhakti: external and internal. In the external sādhaka body, the devotee performs śravaṇa and kīrtana. In the mind, he meditates on his own siddha-deha and serves Śrī Kṛṣṇa day and night in Vraja.” Consequently, the rāgānugīya Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava sādhaka remains absorbed in his svarūpa, speaking nothing of the world. Roaming about always in the kingdom of love, he spends his life devoted to bhajana. anurāgī thākiba sadāya. Thus, if the sādhaka performs bhajana in allegiance to those who belong to the nitya-siddha svarūpa-śakti group, his bhāva will become one with theirs. By the mercy of his guru-rūpā-mañjarī, he is blessed with success and obtains the direct sevā of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava in his mañjarī-svarūpa in the bowers of Vrajadhāma.

  Therefore, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya says, sādhane bhābiba yāhā, siddha-dehe pāba tāhā, rāga-pathera ei se upāya. One most spiritually scientific truth has been deposited within the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas’ method of contemplating aṣṭa-kāla-līlā. We find the following in Chāndogya-Upaniṣad 3.14.1: yathā-kratur-asmin-loke puruṣo bhavati tathetaḥ pretya bhavati sa kratuṁ kurvīta. The jīva’s mental state in this life determines the state he will attain after leaving the body. Therefore, the sādhaka must take shelter of love. This is also found in the Bṛhad-Āraṇyaka-Upaniṣad 4.4.5: sa yathā-kāmo bhavati tat-kratur bhavati tat karma-kurute yat karma-kurute tad-abhisaṁpadyate iti. “To the degree a jīva is attached to his desires, he similarly becomes engaged in work (karma). Whatever work he is engaged in, that work he accomplishes. The type of work he accomplishes determines the result he obtains.” This is also found elsewhere in the śruti-vākya: yathā yathopāsate tad eva bhavantīti. “That which one is intent upon, that he becomes.” In Śrī-Bhagavad-Gītā 8.6, Śrī Bhagavān says, yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajaty ante kalevaram, taṁ tam evaiti kaunteya sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ. “Whatever state of being one contemplates, he remembers at the time of death; and whatever state he remembers at death, he will attain after leaving the body.” This power of contemplation is a scientific truth. From Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.9.23:

kīṭaḥ peśaskṛtaṁ dhyāyan kuḍyāṁ tena praveśitaḥ |

yāti tat-sātmatāṁ rājan pūrva-rūpam asantyajan ||

  “When a wasp seals her larva within the walls of her nest, the larva thinks constantly of the wasp and transforms into a similar form without even giving up its previous body.” If there is such power in the contemplation of material things, then there can be no doubt that by contemplating Śrī Bhagavān, the transcendental form of condensed spirit and embodiment of the supreme truth, the devotee’s desire will be realized with the help of the divine bhakti-śakti. Śrī Kṛṣṇa said to Śrī Uddhava in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.15.26,

yathā saṅkalpayed buddhyā yadā vā matparaḥ pumān |

mayi satye mano yuñjaṁs tathā tat samupāśnute ||

  “A person obtains that which he desires by devoting himself to me and directing his mind toward me, for my wish is always fulfilled.” That meditation which is performed by the sādhaka after he has taken shelter of Śrī Bhagavān, the supreme truth incarnate, and which has the powerful support of bhakti, the essential function of Śrī Bhagavān’s hlādinī-śakti, can never result in useless imagination. He obtains in his siddha-deha, or in his internally conceived, guru-given mañjarī body, the same aṣṭa-kāla-sevā of Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava that he contemplates during sādhana. There is no exception to this. This is the best method for achieving one’s desires through rāga-bhajana.

Śrī Śrī Prema-Bhakti-Candrikā 54 (comm. by Śrī Anantadāsa Bābājī Mahārāja)

বৃন্দাবনে দুইজন,        চতুর্দিকে সখীগণ,

সময় বুঝিব রসসুখে ।

সখীর ইঙ্গিত হবে,        চামর ঢুলাব কবে,

তাম্বূল যোগাব চাঁদমুখে ॥ ৫৪ ॥

bṛndābane dui-jana,        caturdike sakhī-gaṇa,

samaya bujhiba rasa-sukhe |

sakhīra iṅgita habe,        cāmara ḍhulāba kabe,

tāmbūla yogāba cāṅda-mukhe || 54 ||

     In Vṛndāvana there are two people surrounded by their friends. When, after seeing the sakhī’s gesture and understanding the moment, shall I joyfully fan them with a cāmara and offer tāmbūla to their moonlike mouths? 

Service in Spiritual Joy

     Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: In this verse, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya is visualizing in meditation the loving service performed by those rāga-sādhakas who have obtained mañjarī-bhāva. In the previous verse, he gave a hint of the sādhaka’s siddha-svarūpa. He now indicates that the devoted rāgānugīya-sādhaka shall perform mental service in the līlā-kingdom of Vrajadhāma in his siddha-svarūpa among the sakhīs and mañjarīs. bṛndābane dui-jana, caturdike sakhī-gaṇa, samaya bujhiba rasa-sukhe. sakhīra iṅgita habe, cāmara ḍhulāba kabe, tāmbūla yogāba cāṅda-mukhe. In the kingdom of rasa, within the incomparably beautiful environment of Śrī Vṛndāvana, the sādhaka shall meditate upon two people, namely the king of śṛṅgāra-rasa incarnate, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and the embodiment of mahābhāva, Śrī Rādhārāṇī, who is endowed with unequalled beauty, qualities and devotion. Śrī Rādhārāṇī’s sakhīs, who are similar to her in splendor, surround Śrī Yugala-Kiśora on all sides. By joking and teasing, the sakhīs inspire high waves of beauty, love and affection to rise in the oceans of prema and rasa, namely in Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Śyāma, and then they swim in those oceans. In his poem Prārthanā, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya has painted an extraordinary mental picture of this.

bṛndābana ramyasthāna, dibya cintāmaṇi-dhāma, ratana-mandira-manohara |

ābṛta kālindī-nīre, rājahaṁsa keli kare, tāhe śobhe kanaka-kamala ||

tāra madhye hema-pīṭha, aṣṭa-dalete beṣṭita, aṣṭa-dale pradhānā nāyikā |

tāra madhye ratnāsane, basi achena dui-jane, śyāma saṅge sundarī rādhikā ||

o rūpa-lābaṇya-rāśi, amiyā paḍiche khasi, hāsya parihāsa sambhāṣaṇe |

narottama dāsa kaya, nitya-līlā sukhamaya, sadāi sphuruka mora mane ||

     “Vṛndāvana is such a delightful place, a heavenly abode made of cintāmaṇi (a wonderful gem that fulfills all desires). There is a charming jeweled palace there, surrounded by the river Yamunā, in whose waters swans sport among beautiful golden lotuses. Within that palace stands a golden pedestal surrounded by eight petals occupied by the eight principal nāyikās. In the middle of that pedestal sits a jeweled throne on which two people are seated: Śrī Śyāma and the lovely Śrī Rādhikā. They exude grace and charm like drops of nectar as they laugh and joke together. Narottama Dāsa says, ‘May these joyful, eternal pastimes always appear within my mind.’”

     The revered author has also written the following:

kadamba-tarura ḍāla, nāmiyāche bhūme bhāla, phuṭiyāche phula sāri sāri |

parimale bharala, sakala bṛndābana, keli kare bhramarā bhramarī ||

rāi kānu bilasai raṅge |

kibā rūpa, lābaṇi, baidagadhi-khani dhanī, maṇimaya ābharaṇa aṅge ||

rāiyera dakṣiṇa kara, dhari priya giridhara, madhura madhura cali yāya |

āge pāche sakhī-gaṇa, kare phula bariṣaṇa, kona sakhī cāmara ḍhulāya ||

parāge dhūsara sthala, candra-kare suśītala, maṇimaya bedira upare |

rāi kānu kara-yoḍi, nṛtya kare phiri phiri, paraśe pulaka aṅga bhare ||

mṛga-mada candana, kare kari sakhī-gaṇa, barikhaye phula-gandharāje |

śrama-jala bindu-bindu, śobhā kare mukha-indu, adhare muralī nāhi bāje ||

hāsa bilāsa-rasa, sarasa madhura bhāṣa, narottama manoratha bharu |

duṅhuka bicitra beśa, kusuma racita keśa, locana-mohana līlā karu ||

     “The branches of the kadamba trees are bent low by dense clusters of blossoming flowers whose fragrance pervades all of Vṛndāvana. The male and female bees flit about while Śrī Rādhā and Śrī Kṛṣṇa amuse themselves with jokes and laughter. How beautiful are their forms! How graceful and intelligent! How elegantly they are adorned with jewels! Śrī Rādhā’s beloved Giridhārī holds her right hand as they walk about with enchanting style. Some of the sakhīs shower them with flowers from front and back, while another fans them with a cāmara. With hands joined, Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa dance round and round upon a jeweled platform turned grayish with pollen and cooled by moonlight, their bodies covered with goose bumps risen from each other’s touch. The sakhīs shower them with fragrant substances like musk, sandalwood powder and jasmine flowers. Drops of perspiration beautify their moonlike faces; exhausted, Śrī Kṛṣṇa no longer plays his muralī flute. Joking and laughing, they speak with sweet and charming words. Both are dressed in colorful clothing and wear flowers in their hair. Their pastimes captivate the eyes. Narottama’s desires have been fulfilled.”

     The narrations of those who have directly experienced with their eyes of love the sweet pastimes of Śrī Yugala-Kiśora and their friends in Śrī Vṛndāvana, the kingdom of rasa, provide support for the meditations of the sādhakas. The sāmājika-sādhaka* will realize what a flawless picture has been painted in the poetry above describing Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s sweet pastimes with their sakhīs in Vṛndāvana. In this way, the rāgānugīya-sādhaka will with great delight offer the appropriate sevā to Śrī Yugala-Kiśora surrounded by their sakhīs, who are an ocean of beauty, virtues and pastimes. Samaya bujhiba means “knowing the various services that are suitable for winter, summer and so on, as well as those suitable at the time of abhisāra (lover’s journey to a rendezvous), milana (meeting), vilāsa (amorous pastimes) and viccheda (separation) along with sevā in the form of narrations and discussions.” Rasa-sukhe means “in the spiritual happiness born of affectionate service to Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava and their sakhīs, as well as in that joy born of tasting the sweetness of their forms, qualities and pastimes.” Svayaṁ Bhagavān Vrajendranandana Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the highest truth and the embodiment of charm, is a billowy ocean filled with the nectar of beauty, virtues and pastimes. A taste of his mādhurya-rasa may be obtained through rāgānugā-bhakti. In the company of Śrī Rādhārāṇī and her sakhīs, that ocean of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s sweetness swells and surges without limit. Only Śrī Rādhā, through her mādanākhya-mahābhāva, is fully capable of tasting that boundless mādhurya-rasa. In Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Ādi 4.138-139, Śrī Kṛṣṇa says the following:

adbhuta ananta pūrṇa mora madhurimā |

trijagate ihāra keha nāhi pāya sīmā ||

ei prema-dvāre nitya rādhikā ekali |

āmāra mādhuryāmṛta āsvāde sakali ||

     “My sweetness is astonishing, boundless and complete; no one in the three worlds can find its limit. Through her love, Śrī Rādhikā alone always fully relishes the nectar of my charm.”

     By Śrī Rādhārāṇī’s mercy, her sakhīs and mañjarīs, who have taken shelter at her lotus feet, swim continuously in the endless sea of yugala-mādhurya-rasa. Nothing else in the spiritual realm can compare to the happiness they derive from tasting this rasa. This is the highest level of rasika joy the jīva-śakti can attain through sādhana-bhajana. Moreover, it should be understood here that this rāgānugā-bhajana is never possible with the human body made of five elements. For this reason, during the stage of sādhana, the sādhaka must contemplate a beautiful body similar to those of Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī and others. This is called the siddha-deha or perfected body. By the mercy of Śrī Gurudeva, who has much experience in bhajana, the sādhakas obtain specific knowledge about their siddha-dehas. Śrī Gurudeva is of the same nature as Śrī Bhagavān. By his power as inner guide, he makes the rāgānugā-sādhaka familiar with his eternally perfect divine form, which is an abode of spiritual beauty, along with its ekādaśa-bhāva (the eleven characteristics of the siddha-deha). Śrīla Gosvāmipāda has determined that this siddha-deha is a suitable body for the direct service of Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava. The sādhaka contemplates living among the sakhīs in this siddha-deha in Vrajabhūmi and, along with them, rendering direct service to Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava. Those sādhakas who have a slight realization of their siddha-deha can experience the unprecedented joy of such mental service. No one can explain this through a commentary.

     Then Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya said, sakhīra iṅgita habe, cāmara ḍhulāba kabe, tāmbūla yogāba cāṅda-mukhe. The hearts and minds of Śrī Rādhā’s kiṅkarīs are so attuned with Śrī Rādhārāṇī’s nature that she considers them to be non-different from her own body. Sometimes, by Śrī Rādhārāṇī’s desire, her sakhīs make love with Śrī Kṛṣṇa, but the kiṅkarīs will not accept this even in dreams. For this reason, the kiṅkarīs are blessed with more intimate service to Śrī Yugala than even the sakhīs. 

tāmbūlārpaṇa-pāda-mardana-payodānābhisārādibhir

vṛndāraṇya-maheśvarīṁ priyatayā yās toṣayanti priyāḥ |

prāṇa-preṣṭha-sakhī-kulād api kilāsaṅkocitā bhūmikāḥ

keli-bhūmiṣu rūpa-mañjarī-mukhās tā dāyikāḥ saṁśraye || 

(Vraja-Vilāsa-Stava 38)

     “I take full shelter of Śrī Rādhā’s maidservants headed by Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī. They constantly arrange for Vṛndāvaneśvarī Śrī Rādhā’s thorough satisfaction by offering her tāmbūla, massaging her feet, bringing her water, setting up secret meetings with Śrī Kṛṣṇa and so on. They come and go from the sites of Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s intimate pastimes more freely than even Śrī Lalitā and the other prāṇa-preṣṭha-sakhīs.” When, at the time of sporting in the kuñja, Śrī Yugala become exhausted from making love, the sakhīs signal the kiṅkarīs to perform the appropriate sevā. By that signal, the mañjarīs enter without hesitation the site of Śrī Yugala’s pastimes to offer water, tāmbūla, fanning and other services.

rati-raṇe śramayuta, nāgarī nāgara, mukhabhari tāmbūla yogāya |

malayaja kuṅkuma, mṛgamada karpūra, militahi gāta lāgāya ||

aparupa priya-sakhī prema |

nija-prāṇa koṭi, dei niramañchai, naha tula lākha bāna hema ||

manohara mālya, duṅhu gale arpai, bījai śīta mṛdu bāta |

sugandhi śītala, karu jala arpaṇa, yaiche hota duṅhu śāṅta ||

duṅhaka caraṇa puna, mṛdu saṁbāhana, kari śrama karalahiṅ dūra |

iṅgite śayana, karala duṅhu sakhī-gaṇa, sabahuṅ manoratha pūra ||

kusuma-śeje duṅhu, nidrita herai, sebana-parāyaṇa-sukha |

rādhāmohana dāsa, kiye heraba, meṭaba saba manodukha ||

     “How sublime is the priya-sakhīs’ love! When Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa become exhausted from Cupid’s battle, the sakhīs prepare tāmbūla and place it in their lotus mouths. They anoint Śrī Yugala’s bodies with sandalwood paste, saffron, musk and camphor. This service is more precious to them than their own lives a million times over. Their love is purer than gold melted a hundred thousand times. They place charming garlands around Śrī Yugala’s necks and cool them with a gentle breeze by fanning. They allay their thirst with offerings of cool, fragrant water. They drive their fatigue away by gently massaging their lotus feet again and again. When given the signal, they make Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa lie down to rest. The sakhīs fulfill their every desire. Whenever Rādhāmohana Dāsa, who joyfully performs his sevā, sees them both asleep on a bed of flowers, all his distress will be gone.”

* Sāmājika means “a member of an audience or assembly, a spectator at an assembly or meeting.”