বচনের অগোচর, বৃন্দাবন হেন স্থল,
স্বপ্রকাশ প্রেমানন্দঘন ।
যাহাতে প্রকট সুখ, নাহি জরা-মৃত্যু-দুখ,
কৃষ্ণলীলারস অনুক্ষণ ॥ ৮৭ ॥
bacanera agocara, bṛndābana hena sthala,
svaprakāśa premānanda-ghana |
yāhāte prakaṭa sukha, nāhi jarā-mṛtyu-dukha,
kṛṣṇa-līlā-rasa anukṣaṇa || 87 ||
Vṛndāvana is a place beyond the reach of words. It is self-manifesting, a condensed form of the joy of love, where happiness is conspicuous. No one suffers the miseries of old age and death. Everyone enjoys the sweet rasa of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes at every moment.
टीका—श्रीवृन्दावनं विशिनष्टि “বচনের অগোচর” इत्यादिना । বচনের অগোচর—अनिर्वचनीयं निर्वक्तुमशक्यमित्यर्थः ।।
The True Nature of Śrī Vṛndāvana
Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: In order to reveal the truth of Śrī Vṛndāvana, in this verse Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya first says, bacanera agocara, bṛndābana hena sthala. Just as the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava ācāryas have established the spirituality and eternality of Śrī Bhagavān’s identities, pastimes, forms, associates and so on, in the same way they have ascertained the spirituality and eternality of his abodes. The material world is a transformation of prakṛti or the external māyā-śakti, but Śrī Dhāma is a transformation of the internal cit-śakti, though residing in the manifest world. Śrī Dhāma’s foundation is in the sandhinī-śakti. Although Śrī Vṛndāvana Dhāma is situated in the visible world, it is spiritual or beyond the world. Therefore, it is in all respects detached from the material part of prakṛti. There is much scriptural evidence that Śrī Vraja Dhāma is beyond the material world, eternal, transcendental, imperceptible to the physical eyes and outside the reach of the mind and words. Chāndogya-Upaniṣad 7.24 says, sa bhagavaḥ kasmin pratiṣṭhita iti sve mahimni. “Where is the Supreme Being called Hari situated?” The reply: “He is situated in his own inconceivable glory.” Śrī-Gopāla-Tāpanī Śruti says, sākṣād-brahma-gopāla-purīhīti. “Vraja Dhāma, the abode of Śrī Gopāla, is directly brahma.” In the Varāha-Purāṇa, there is a narration regarding Śrī Vṛndāvana Dhāma’s transcendental state: anyera kācit sā sṛṣṭir vidhātu-vyatirekiṇa. “Brahmā creates everything in the universe, but Mathurā is created independent of Brahmā; that is another kind of creation.” The following is seen in the Pātāla-Khaṇḍa of Padma-Purāṇa regarding Vraja’s eternality: ṛṣir māthura-nāmātra tapaḥ kurvati śāśvata iti. “The ṛṣi named Māthura perpetually performs austerities here (in Mathurā).” There is no reason to doubt the eternality of the place where Māthura Ṛṣi incessantly performs austerities. Incessant austerities are not possible in a place that is not eternal. The transcendental nature of Vraja has been described in the Ādi-Varāha-Purāṇa: bhūr bhuvaḥ svas talenāpi na pātāla-tale’malam; nordhvaloke mayā dṛṣṭaṁ tādṛk kṣetraṁ vasundhare. Śrī Varāhadeva said to Śrī Dharaṇī, “O Mother Earth! I do not see anywhere within Bhūloka, Bhuvarloka or Svargaloka, in Pātāla or even the higher worlds a place so pure as Mathurā.” There is a statement in the Pātāla-Khaṇḍa of Padma-Purāṇa in regard to Vraja being imperceptible to the physical eye: tejomayam idaṁ ramyam adṛśyaṁ carma-cakṣuṣā. “This radiant and delightful Vṛndāvana Dhāma is invisible to the physical eye.” By implication we can understand that Śrī Dhāma is also beyond the range of speech. Therefore Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya said, bacanera agocara, bṛndābana hena sthala.
Then he says, svaprakāśa premānanda-ghana. Just as Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s vigraha (body) is self-manifested, Śrī Vṛndāvana Dhāma, which is a transformation of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s sandhinī-śakti, is similarly self-manifested. For this reason, the following has been written in Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Ādi 5.18: sarba-ga ananta bibhu kṛṣṇa-tanu sama, upary-adho byāpi āche nāhika niyama. “Like Kṛṣṇa’s body, his dhāma is all-pervasive, boundless and eternal. It extends above and below without restriction.” Śrī Vṛndāvana Dhāma is Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s svarūpa-vibhūti, an expansion of his own form and nature. Therefore, like Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s body, it is also self-manifested. Because it is self-manifesting, it exists in the highest realm of the spiritual sky while also being always present in that same form on earth. Śrī Jīva Gosvāmipāda has written, tad evaṁ tad-dhāmnām upary-adhaḥ prakāśa-mātratvenobhaya-vidhatvaṁ prasaktam; vastutas tu śrī-bhagavan-nityādhiṣṭhānatvena tac-chrī-vigrahavad ubhayatra prakāśāvirodhāt samāna-guṇa-nāma-rūpatvenāmnātatvāl lāghavāc caika-vidhatvam eva mantavyam;…eka-vidhatvaṁ tasyācintya-śakti-svīkāreṇa sambhāvitam eva (Śrī-Kṛṣṇa-Sandarbhaḥ 106 anuḥ). “Śrī Bhagavān’s dhāmas are self-manifesting; they are famous for appearing in both the upper part and lower part, meaning in Paravyoma as well as on earth. Actually, because Śrī Bhagavān’s eternal abode appears in both places, one should think of the dhāmas as identical. Just as Śrī Bhagavān’s vigraha appears in many places at once, so should his dhāma be understood. The qualities, names, forms and so on of both dhāmas are celebrated as being identical or of one kind. Moreover, if this identity is accepted, it becomes easy to understand the tattva. Otherwise, the existence of endless dhāmas in the spiritual sky as well as in endless material universes is beyond imagination.”
That transcendental Śrī Vṛndāvana Dhāma is the playground of Svayaṁ Bhagavān Vrajendranandana and Śrī Rādhārāṇī, the embodiment of mahābhāva. Is there any doubt that it is a condensed form of the joy of love? Śrīpāda Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī has written the following in Śrī-Vṛndāvana-Mahimāmṛta 6.10:
premānanda-rasātivihvalatame nānā-camatkāra-bhṛd-
divyāneka-maṇi-sthale bahula-sad-vallī-dru-gulmādike |
divyaiḥ pakṣi-mṛgaiḥ sarovara-saric-chailādibhiś cādbhute
śrī-vṛndā-vipine kadā nu lalitaikātmyaṁ kiśoraṁ bhaje ||
“When shall I worship the most charming, inseparably united Śrī Yugala-Kiśora in the wonderful Śrī Vṛndāvana, which is filled with lakes, rivers and mountains, pervaded by beautiful birds and animals, decorated with many kinds of splendid trees and creepers, adorned with astonishing and delightful bejeweled locations, and always overwhelmed by the nectar of joyful love?”
Then he says, yāhāte prakaṭa sukha, nāhi jarā-mṛtyu-dukha, kṛṣṇa-līlā-rasa anukṣaṇa. Both the manifest and unmanifest displays of Śrī Vṛndāvana, the place of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s confidential pastimes, are truly inexpressible, made of sat, cit and ānanda, and are the condensed forms of the joy of love. Hence, cinmayānanda-rasa is always present there. All the mobile and immobile beings there are joyful. Because it is beyond māyā, no one suffers the miseries of old age, death and so on. Everyone enjoys the sweet rasa of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s nectarous pastimes at every moment.
In the visible manifestation, meaning the Vṛndāvana we can see with our physical eyes, we encounter old age, death, disease, grief and other miseries. The eyes of common people are shown these things so their worldly view of Śrī Dhāma is not disturbed. The purport is that if the outward-looking people of the world do not see the old age, death, sickness and sorrow of the residents of Vṛndāvana, they will all come to Vṛndāvana seeking immortality or freedom from misery. But this is not of true benefit to them because they are not qualified for either bhakti or residence in Vraja. If they take up residence there, their worldly view will be disturbed and the mystical nature of bhakti will also be harmed. We see all kinds of humans, animals, birds, trees and creepers in the visible manifestation of Vraja. By the power of Śrī Dhāma, they inevitably obtain a saccidānanda body and proximity to Śrī Bhagavān. Because of this, Śrī Bhagavān says the following in Padma-Purāṇa: idaṁ vṛndāvanaṁ ramyaṁ mama dhāmaiva kevalam. atra ye paśavo pakṣi-vṛkṣāḥ kīṭā narāmarāḥ. ye vasanti mamādhiṣṇe mṛtā yānti mamālayam. Therefore, all living beings of Vṛndāvana must be understood to be saccidānanda in nature. If someone considers the Vrajavāsīs to be like creatures of the material world, ordinary jīvas bound by karma and afflicted by old age and death, then because of that offense he will not attain the supreme path of service to Śrī Rādhā. Śrīmat Prabodhānanda Sarasvatīpāda has written the following in Vṛndāvana-Mahimāmṛta 17.83-84:
svānanda-sac-cid-ghana-rūpatā-matir
yāvan na vṛndāvana-vāsi-jantuṣu |
tāvat praviṣṭo’pi na tatra vindate
tato’parādhāt padavīṁ parātparām ||
yadaiva sac-cid-rasa-rūpa-buddhir
vṛndāvana-stha-sthira-jaṅgameṣu |
syān nirvyalīkaṁ puruṣas tadaiva
cakāsti rādhā-priya-sevi-rūpaḥ ||
“Even though one has entered Vṛndāvana, as long as he does not think of its residents as embodiments of condensed saccidānanda or filled with transcendental rasa, he will due to this offense be unable to attain the ultimate state of rādhā-dāsya. When a person free from deceit understands the transcendental nature of the mobile and immobile creatures of Vṛndāvana, he or she obtains a mañjarī form that is suitable for Śrī Rādhā’s intimate service and becomes radiant.” Then, blessed to constantly enjoy the līlā-rasa of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava, who are supremely joyful, the sādhaka is crowned with success.
