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.”
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