মনের স্মরণ প্রাণ, মধুর মধুর ধাম,
যুগলবিলাস স্মৃতিসার ।
সাধ্য সাধন এই, ইহা বই আর নাই,
এই তত্ত্ব সর্ববিধি সার ॥ ৬১ ॥
manera smaraṇa prāṇa, madhura madhura dhāma,
yugala-bilāsa smṛti-sāra |
sādhya sādhana ei, ihā bai āra nāi,
ei tattva sarba-bidhi sāra || 61 ||
Smaraṇa is the life of the mind and the sweeter-than-sweet abode. The love sports of Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa are the cream of meditation. This is the goal and the means to attain it; there is nothing more. This fundamental truth is the essence of all injunctions.
टीका–विधिनां कर्तव्योपदेशानां सारः । स्मर्तव्यः सततं विष्णुः विस्मर्तव्यो न जातुचित् । सर्वे विधिनिषेधाः स्युरेतयोरेव किङ्कराः ॥
The Life of the Mind
Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: In this verse, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya has explained the smaraṇa limb of bhakti, which is the primary sādhana of rāgānugā-bhakti. First he says, manera smaraṇa prāṇa. Among all of a human’s senses, the mind is the king. Though being silent, it is the receptacle for the objects perceived by all the senses. The senses perform actions in subservience to the mind, as though its slaves. The five subtle elements (tanmātras), namely form, sound, flavor, aroma and touch, are respectively experienced through our eyes, ears, tongue, nose and skin, which are all within the domain of the mind. I can describe something that I saw previously, though not seeing it now, because a picture of that thing has been imprinted on my mind. When we see lightning, it startles us and we become anxious about the impending sound of the thunderbolt because we have previously heard that sound in connection with lightning; it is in our memory. Even though not currently eating them, I can describe the specific flavors of enjoyable foods I have tasted before because a memory of the delicious nature of those foods has remained in my mind. If I have seen some beautiful flower, I can describe how it smells because previously the fragrance of the flower seemed pleasant to me. If a child not yet able to speak touches fire with her hand only once, she will not touch it again. Rather, if she sees fire, she will stand some distance away because she retains in her mind the impression that contact with fire causes painful burns. Even if we accept or use some substance or object with our gross senses, without the mind being focused on them, those things do not appear within our perception. In this way, the mind is the center of all the senses. Though being intangible, it can produce all kinds of thoughts and feelings.
The mind of a person who has turned away from Bhagavān since beginningless time has become corrupted by thinking of worldly sense-objects. Like an ocean that endlessly undulates with waves, large and small, the mind of a materialistic person always undulates with waves caused by thoughts of sense-objects. Our intellects cannot comprehend all thoughts; only specific thoughts are understood. In the conscious state, of course, but also in the sleeping state, the waves caused by thoughts of sense-objects roll on. We call this svapna or dreaming. Only in the state of suṣupti or deep sleep does the mind remain inactive; the waves of thought have ceased. Having accepted this mind, everything becomes a diversion for the bhakta-sādhaka. Even after practicing for a long time in a mechanical way, without proper mental concentration one will not obtain prema, the fruit of bhajana. By performing sādhana-bhajana born of the mercy of Śrī Bhagavān and his bhaktas, the mind is cleansed of filth in the form of desires for sense-enjoyment; it stops being subjugated by thoughts of worldly sense-objects and continuously contemplates Śrī Kṛṣṇa. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.29.11-12, this has been called śuddha or nirguṇa-bhakti (pure devotion).
mad-guṇa-śruti-mātreṇa mayi sarva-guhāśaye |
manogatir avicchinnā yathā gaṅgāmbhaso’mbudhau ||
lakṣaṇaṁ bhakti-yogasya nirguṇasya hy udāhṛtam |
ahaituky avyavahitā yā bhaktiḥ puruṣottame ||
Śrī Kapiladeva said to his mother, Devahūti, “O Mother! If one simply hears about my virtues, his mind flows without interruption to me, dwelling in the hearts of all, like the Gaṅgā flows to the sea. Such causeless and ceaseless devotion to me, the Supreme Person, has been spoken of as a characteristic of nirguṇa-bhakti-yoga.”
Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya has therefore said that this remembrance of Śrī Bhagavān is the prāṇa or life of a bhakta-sādhaka’s mind. The mind that does not remember Bhagavān is as lifeless as a dead body. Just as jackals, dogs and so on freely consume a dead body, in the same way, lust, anger and the other enemies incessantly bite the mind that does not remember Bhagavān. When a jackal or dog sees a living person, it runs away in fear. Similarly, when lust and the other enemies encounter a mind invigorated by remembrance of Śrī Hari, they run far away. Therefore, every bhakta must adopt the smaraṇa limb of bhakti in order to get protection from the oppression of lust and the other enemies and to then taste bhajanānanda-rasa. If the mind is in some way connected to Śrī Bhagavān, that is called smaraṇa. Śrīmat Jīva Gosvāmipāda has mentioned five stages regarding the gradual development of the smaraṇa limb of bhakti: smaraṇa, dhāraṇā, dhyāna, dhruvānusmṛti and samādhi. A slight exploration of Śrī Bhagavān’s forms, qualities, pastimes and so on is called smaraṇa. When the mind is pulled away from thinking of sense-objects and focused to a small degree upon Śrī Bhagavān’s pastimes and so on it is called dhāraṇā. Contemplation of his form and so on in a more specific way is called dhyāna. Uninterrupted remembrance of Śrī Bhagavān’s form, qualities and pastimes like a stream of nectar is called dhruvānusmṛti. When only the object of meditation appears within the mind, it is called samādhi. This samādhi is not like the asamprajñāta-samādhi attained through the sādhanas of jñāna and yoga. In this, the meditation is very deep and Śrī Bhagavān’s pastimes appear as though directly manifest.
The essence of this smaraṇāṅga is meditation upon Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes; therefore he says, yugala-bilāsa smṛti-sāra. There are four kinds of smaraṇa: nāma (names)-smaraṇa, rūpa (forms)-smaraṇa, guṇa (qualities)-smaraṇa and saparikara-līlā (pastimes with their companions)-smaraṇa. Among them, līlā-smaraṇa is the best because meditation on nāma, rūpa and guṇa is included within līlā-smaraṇa. Moreover, compared to the līlā-smaraṇa of other forms of Bhagavān, the līlā-smaraṇa of Vrajendranandana, the embodiment of charm, is best of all because it is filled with transcendental sweetness. Moreover, compared to his bālya, paugaṇḍa and other līlās, his kaiśora-līlās in the preeminent śṛṅgāra-rasa, meaning his amorous pastimes with Śrī Rādhārāṇī, are the best of all. Therefore, yugala-vilāsa is the essence of meditation. The contemplation of pastimes such as Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa meeting with their friends, collecting flowers, stealing Kṛṣṇa’s flute, sporting in the forest, drinking honey-wine, making love, water sports, playing dice, rāsa-līlā and so on is the essence or best of all types of līlā-smaraṇa. In the Śrī Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Sampradāya, there is a paddhati or manual that explains how to meditate upon the pastimes of Śrī Gaurāṅga and Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava along with their companions during the eight time periods (aṣṭa-kālīya) or according to one’s taste (svārasikī), as well as the mantramayī or yogapīṭha meeting pastimes. This is the preeminent smaraṇāṅga-bhajana. Still, the sādhaka who is devoted to smaraṇa must always be sure that at the time of smaraṇa he relishes in the depth of his heart the mādhurya of Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava’s madhura madhura dhāma: their sweeter-than-sweet forms, qualities, pastimes with their companions and so on. The principal aim of this sādhana is to enjoy the sweetness of one’s cherished deity. Specifically, in desire-based rāga-bhakti, if smaraṇāṅga-bhajana is performed only in a very regulated, systematic way and the sādhaka does not taste even a little of the sweetness of Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava’s forms, qualities and so on, how can that be called rāga-bhakti? On the other hand, if the sādhaka does get a taste of this mādhurya, his līlā-smaraṇa, though incomplete, becomes truly complete. In the second chapter of Śrīla Haridāsa Dāsajī’s Gauḍīya-Vaiṣṇava-Jīvana, in the biography of Govardhana resident Siddha Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Bābājī Mahārāja, the following is written: Those who were learning how to perform bhajana from the siddha-bābā would gather together each night. The siddha-bābā would hear from his disciples how their bhajana was going and then help them to correct any errors or omissions. One evening, without saying anything one of the Vaiṣṇava mahātmās began to weep. Bābājī Mahāśaya consoled and encouraged him and then asked why he was crying. The disciple replied, “Today I was not able to perform any bhajana. This morning, after I placed an ornament on Śrī Prāṇeśvarī’s right hand, my mind became so captivated by the beauty of her hand that I couldn’t think of anything else the rest of the day.” The siddha-bābā enthusiastically replied to him, “You have performed true bhajana!”
In some books we find the reading manera smaraṇa prāṇa, madhura madhura nāma. The meaning is that smaraṇa, the life of the mind, must be practiced under the shelter of sweeter-than-sweet Śrī Nāma. Because smaraṇāṅga-bhajana is dependent on purification of the mind, Śrī Jīva Gosvāmipāda has written, smaraṇaṁ tu śuddhāntaḥkaraṇatām apekṣate (Bhakti-Sandarbhaḥ 276). It is impossible for an impure mind, a mind sullied by desires for earthly enjoyments, to deeply concentrate; therefore, smaraṇāṅga-bhajana does not occur. But nāma-kīrtana does not depend on mental purification. In nāma-kīrtana even an impure mind is not an obstacle because when the mind becomes purified through chanting, that smaraṇāṅga-bhajana will be delightfully performed.
The question may be asked that if this is true, then let nāma-kīrtana go on as long as the mind is not pure, but what is the need for more nāma-kīrtana if the purified mind can concentrate on smaraṇa? Regarding this, in Śrī-Bṛhad-Bhāgavatāmṛtam Śrīmat Sanātana Gosvāmipāda has concluded that the enjoyment of smaraṇa is nourished by nāma-saṅkīrtana and the enjoyment of nāma-rasa is nourished by smaraṇa or dhyāna. Since each nourishes the other, there is never any discussion of performing smaraṇāṅga-bhajana without nāma-kīrtana. Śrī Jīva Gosvāmipāda has written, śuddhāntaḥkaraṇaś cet nāma-kīrtanāparityāgena smaraṇaṁ kuryāt (Bhakti-Sandarbhaḥ 275). “The sādhaka whose mind is purified shall perform smaraṇa together with nāma-kīrtana.”
Then he says, sādhya sādhana ei, ihā bai āra nāi, ei tattva sarba-bidhi sāra. The method one adopts to attain a desired objective is called sādhana, and the objective to be attained through that method is called sādhya. In the sādhanas of jñāna, yoga and so on, sādhana and sādhya are separate things, but in bhakti, the sādhya is also the sādhana. This is the great difference between bhakti-sādhana and jñāna, yoga and so on. Sādhana-bhakti, bhāva-bhakti and prema-bhakti are the primary, comparative and superlative states of the same thing. That which is unripe during sādhana becomes fully ripened in siddhi. Therefore, those who during sādhana can focus their minds intently on the practice of līlā-smaraṇa will be blessed at the time of siddhi with the service that they have contemplated within that līlā. Hence, other than this, there is nothing more to be attained: ihā bai āra nāi. For this reason, in all the śāstras instructions have been given regarding the jīva’s duties. Of all instructions, this is the essence (ei tattva sarba-bidhi sāra). From Śrī-Padma-Purāṇa:
smartavyaḥ satataṁ viṣṇur vismartavyo na jātucit |
sarve vidhi-niṣedhāḥ syur etayor eva kiṅkarāḥ ||
“Always remember Śrī Bhagavān and never forget him. So many rules and regulations have been taught in the śāstras, but all of them are the servants or followers of these two.” Therefore it has been said that if a bhakta forgets Śrī Hari for even a moment, he should cry out in a loud voice, like a worldly person whose possessions have been stolen by thieves. ekasminn apy atikrānte muhūrte dhyāna-varjite, dasyubhir muṣiteneva yuktam ākrandituṁ bhṛśam (Garuḍa-Purāṇa).
