Paddhati

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Śrī Śrī Prema-Bhakti-Candrikā 88 (comm. by Śrī Anantadāsa Bābājī Mahārāja)

রাধাকৃষ্ণ দুঁহু প্রেম,        লক্ষবান যেন হেম,

যাহার হিল্লোল রসসিন্ধু ।

চকোর-নয়ন প্রেম,        কামরতি করে ধ্যান,

পীরিতি সুখের দুঁহু বন্ধু ॥ ৮৮ ॥

rādhā-kṛṣṇa duṅhu prema,        lakṣabāna yena hema,

yāhāra hillola rasa-sindhu |

cakora-nayana prema,        kāma-rati kare dhyāna,

pīriti sukhera duṅhu bandhu || 88 ||

     Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s mutual love is like gold smelted a hundred thousand times. It is like billowy waves in the ocean of rasa. Kāma and Rati meditate on the love in Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s cakora eyes. Love is a friend to their happiness.

     टीका–युवयोर्मुखचन्द्रयोश्चकोराविव ये नयने तयोः प्रेमाणं रतिकामौ ध्यायतः । যাহার হিল্লোল इत्यादि–श्रीवृन्दावनस्य सम्बन्धे लीलारस एव सिन्धुस्तस्य तरङ्गरूपः श्रीराधाकृष्णयोः प्रेमाः ॥

Gold Purified a Hundred Thousand Times

     Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: In this verse, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya describes the sweetness of rasa and the purity of Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s mutual love. Reflecting upon this purity, he first says, rādhā-kṛṣṇa duṅhu prema, lakṣabāna yena hema. Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s mutual love is pure like gold smelted a hundred thousand times. The more times gold is smelted, the purer it becomes. But regardless of how much base metal is mixed with the gold, after being smelted five times all the base metal is gone and the gold reaches its purest state. Therefore, no one ever smelts gold a hundred thousand times, nor is it necessary. Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya is saying that if it were possible that gold smelted a hundred thousand times existed somewhere, then Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s love would be similar to that in purity. But such gold does not exist. Therefore, there is nothing comparable to Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s love. In this particular kali-yuga, Śrī Śrī Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu took Śrī Rādhārāṇī’s bhāva within his heart and clearly demonstrated the purity of her love to the people of the world. In the final verse of Śikṣāṣṭaka, he says the following:

āśliṣya vā pāda-ratāṁ pinaṣṭu mām 

adarśanān marma-hatāṁ karotu vā |

yathā tathā vā vidadhātu lampaṭo 

mat-prāṇa-nāthas tu sa eva nāparaḥ ||

     Śrī Rādhārāṇī said to her priya-sakhī, “O friend! I am devoted to Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet. He may embrace me, hold me tightly to his chest and take me only for himself, or he may wound my heart by not letting me see him. Loved by many girls, he may sport with them anywhere and everywhere. Why not let him do what he wants? He is the lord of my life; there is no other.” Śrīman Mahāprabhu has personally revealed an extraordinary inner meaning of this verse in Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Antya 20.48-62:

āmi kṛṣṇa-pada-dāsī, teṅho rasa-sukha-rāśi, āliṅgiyā kare ātma-sātha |

kibā nā dena daraśana, jārena āmāra tanu-mana, tabu teṅho mora prāṇa-nātha ||

sakhi he! śuna mora manera niścaya |

kibā anurāga kare, kibā duḥkha diyā māre, mora prāṇeśa kṛṣṇa anya naya ||

chāḍi anya nārī-gaṇa, mora baśa tanu-mana, mora saubhāgya prakaṭa kariyā |

tā-sabāre dena pīḍā, āmā-sane kare krīḍā, sei nārī-gaṇe dekhāiyā ||

kibā teṅho lampaṭa, śaṭha dhṛṣṭa sakapaṭa, anya nārī-gaṇa kari sātha |

more dite manaḥ-pīḍā, mora āge kare krīḍā, tabu teṅho mora prāṇa-nātha ||

     “‘I am a servant of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet. He is the embodiment of nectarous joy. Embracing me, he makes me his own. Or he may cause my body and mind to waste away by not letting me see him. Still, he is the lord of my life. O friend! Hear the conviction of my heart. Whether he shows me affection or pierces me with misery, Kṛṣṇa is the sole lord of my life. Charmed by me in body and mind, he abandons the other girls and reveals my good fortune. He gives them pain by sporting with me where they can see. Sometimes he is a greedy, arrogant, deceitful rogue who keeps company with other girls. He flirts with them in front of me, just to cause me anguish. Even so, he is the lord of my life.

nā gaṇi āpana duḥkha, sabe bāñchi tāra sukha, tāṅra sukhe āmāra tātparya |

more yadi dile duḥkha, tāṅra haila mahāsukha, sei duḥkha mora sukhabarya ||

ye nārīke bāñche kṛṣṇa, tāra rūpe satṛṣṇa, tāre nā pāñā haya duḥkhī |

muñi tāra pāye paḍi, lañā yāṅ hāte dhari, krīḍā karāñā karoṅ tāṅre sukhī ||

kāntā kṛṣṇe kare roṣa, kṛṣṇa pāya santoṣa, sukha pāya tāḍana bhartsane |

yathāyogya kare māna, kṛṣṇa tāte sukha pāna, chāḍe māna alpa sādhane ||

sei nārī jīye kene, kṛṣṇera marma-byathā nāhi jāne, tabu kṛṣṇe kare gāḍha-roṣa |

nija-sukhe māne kāja, paḍu tāra śire bāja, kṛṣṇera mātra cāhiye santoṣa ||

     ‘I don’t care about my own suffering; all I want is for him to be happy. I have devoted myself to his well-being. If it makes him happy to give me misery, that misery is my greatest joy. If Kṛṣṇa is drawn to the beauty of some girl and wants but cannot have her, he becomes sad. I fall at her feet, take her hand and bring her to him. By arranging such pastimes, I make him happy. When his lover becomes angry with him, Kṛṣṇa feels pleasure. He enjoys being chastised and scolded. Appropriately, she begins to sulk, delighting him even further. With a little charm from Kṛṣṇa, she soon gives up her anger. Why does such a girl continue living? She knows nothing of Kṛṣṇa’s inner pain, but still directs her anger at him. She only cares about her own happiness. Let a thunderbolt fall on her head! I only want Kṛṣṇa to be happy.

ye gopī mora kare dveṣe, kṛṣṇera kare santoṣe, kṛṣṇa yāre kare abhilāṣa |

muñi tāra ghare yāñā, tāre seboṅ dāsī hañā, tabe mora sukhera ullāsa ||

kuṣṭhī-biprera ramaṇī, patibratā-śiromaṇi, pati lāgi kaila beśyāra sebā |

stambhila sūryera gati, jīyāila mṛta pati, tuṣṭa kaila mukhya tina debā ||

kṛṣṇa mora jībana, kṛṣṇa mora prāṇa-dhana, kṛṣṇa mora prāṇera parāṇa |

hṛdaya-upare dharoṅ, sebā kari sukhī karoṅ, ei mora sadā rahe dhyāna ||

mora sukha sebane, kṛṣṇera sukha saṅgame, ataeba deha deṅa dāna |

kṛṣṇa more ‘kāntā’ kari, kahe ‘tumi prāṇeśvarī’, mora haya ‘dāsī’ abhimāna ||

     ‘If some gopī who dislikes me pleases Kṛṣṇa and he desires her, I will go to her home and serve as her dāsī. Then my happiness will grow. The wife of a leprous brāhmaṇa became the crown-jewel of chaste women when she served a prostitute for the sake of her husband. She stopped the movement of the sun, revived her deceased husband and satisfied the three principal deities. Kṛṣṇa is my life, the treasure of my life, the life of my life. I will hold him to my chest, serve him and make him happy. This is my constant meditation. My happiness lies in service; Kṛṣṇa’s lies in loving union. Therefore, I give him my body. Kṛṣṇa makes me his lover, says to me, “You are the Goddess of my life.” I consider myself his maidservant.

kānta-sebā sukha-pūra, saṅgama haite sumadhura, tāte sākṣī lakṣmī-ṭhākurāṇī |

nārāyaṇera hṛde sthiti, tabu pāda-sebāya mati, sebā kare dāsī-abhimānī ||

ei rādhāra bacana, biśuddha-prema-lakṣaṇa, āsvādaye śrī-gaurāṅga rāya |

bhābe mana asthira, sāttvike byāpe śarīra, mana-deha dharaṇa nā yāya ||

brajera biśuddha prema, yena jāmbūnada-hema, ātma-sukhera yāhe nāhi gandha |

se prema jānāite loke, prabhu kaila ei śloke, pade kaila arthera nirbandha ||

     ‘Service to one’s lover is full of happiness and sweeter than union. Evidence of that is Śrī Lakṣmīdevī, who, though situated on Śrī Nārāyaṇa’s chest, is inclined to serve his lotus feet as though she were a dāsī.’ Śrī Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu relishes Śrī Rādhā’s words, which are symptoms of the purest love. In such a state, his mind becomes restless and sāttvika transformations pervade his body. He can no longer sustain his mind and form. The pure love of Vraja is like gold from the Jāmbū River; there is no trace of the desire for personal happiness. To teach the people about this prema, Mahāprabhu composed this Sanskrit verse (āśliṣya vā pāda-ratāṁ pinaṣṭu mām) and then explained its meaning in these Bengali verses.” 

     In these lines of poetry, Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s words revealed the purity of Śrī Rādhā’s love in a very simple and straightforward way. Nothing in the world compares to this. According to the love of the premika devotee, Śrī Kṛṣṇa shows his love toward him or her. This is the natural dharma of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, whose essence is eternity, knowledge and bliss. Therefore, it should be understood that Śrī Kṛṣṇa, thoroughly enchanted by Śrī Rādhārāṇī’s love, also expresses his pure love for her.

     Then Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya said, yāhāra hillola rasa-sindhu. In his commentary on this segment, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartipāda has written, yāhāra hillola ity ādi–śrī-vṛndāvanasya sambandhe līlā-rasa eva sindhus tasya taraṅga-rūpaḥ śrī-rādhā-kṛṣṇayoḥ premāḥ. The meaning is that the līlā-rasa of Śrī Vṛndāvana is like an ocean; its endless, billowy waves are śrī-rādhā-kṛṣṇa-prema. Pure, sweet Vṛndāvana, like an ocean of līlā-rasa, is boundless, unfathomable and difficult to enter. In that ocean, Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s love swells in endless waves. Two kinds of oceans are seen: one with waves and one without. An ocean’s pleasant-sounding, continuous string of waves enchants the eyes and mind of one who experiences it. In the ocean of Śrī Vṛndāvana’s sweet and pure līlā-rasa, Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s love billows day and night with endless waves of emotion. The heart and mind of one who witnesses this become utterly captivated. Even though these waves of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s love are difficult to comprehend or enter, at present, in the yuga of Śrīman Mahāprabhu, the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava ācāryas sheltered at his lotus feet have revealed the mystery of this love through various means in their books. In this way, they have bestowed upon even the poor, lowly and fallen people the great fortune of bathing in those waves. Therefore, those who have obtained a human body in this particular kali-yuga but are unable to experience a drop of Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s waves of love are the most unfortunate jīvas in the universe.

     Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya then said, cakora-nayana prema, kāma-rati kare dhyāna, pīriti sukhera duṅhu bandhu. In his commentary on this segment, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartipāda wrote, yuvayor mukha-candrayoś cakorāv iva ye nayane tayoḥ premāṇaṁ rati-kāmau dhyāyataḥ. “Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa! Like cakora birds, your eyes drink the sweet nectar of each other’s moonlike face. Even Kāma and Rati constantly meditate on obtaining such love.” The purport is that the function of prema is to cause the lover (āśraya-tattva) to relish the sweetness of the beloved (viṣaya-tattva). Prema is the natural instrument for, or doorway into, tasting mādhurya. Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s mutual love causes them to taste each other’s sweetness, mainly through the chalices of their eyes. Through their eyes, their playful, amorous moods are revealed; through their eyes, they taste the sweetness of each other’s beauty. Therefore it has been said that Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s cakora-like eyes drink the sweet nectar of each other’s moonlike face. Their love is fully expressed through their reciprocal gazes, which even Kāma and his wife Rati always contemplate in hopes of attaining such affection for each other. In this, Śrī Kṛṣṇa is revealed as Madana-mohana, or “one who enchants even the god of love.” rādhā-saṅge yadā bhāti, tadā madana-mohanaḥ; anyathā viśva-moho’pi, svayaṁ madana-mohitaḥ. “When Śrī Kṛṣṇa is with Śrī Rādhā he is Madana-mohana; otherwise, he is himself charmed by the god of love, though he charms the whole world.” Similarly, if Śrī Rādhā is not with Śrī Kṛṣṇa, she becomes dejected and suffers feelings of separation. For this reason he says, pīriti sukhera duṅhu bandhu. Just as a friend increases the happiness of a friend in various ways, Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa increase each other’s enjoyment of love. In the matter of tasting the nectar of love, Śrī Kṛṣṇa cannot be happy without Śrī Rādhārāṇī, even in the company of countless other gopīs. Other than Vrajendranandana, no other form of Bhagavān, including Dvārakānātha, can give Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī the joy of love.