জগৎ ব্যাপক হরি, অজ ভব-আজ্ঞাকারী,
মধুর মূরতি লীলাকথা ।
এই তত্ত্ব জানে যেই, পরম উত্তম সেই,
তার সঙ্গ করিব সর্বথা ॥ ৯৭ ॥
jagat byāpaka hari, aja bhaba-ājñākārī,
madhura mūrati līlā-kathā |
ei tattva jāne yei, parama uttama sei,
tāra saṅga kariba sarbathā || 97 ||
Śrī Hari pervades the entire world and is its eternal ruler. The stories of his pastimes embody his sweetness. Those who know this are the greatest devotees and I shall always seek their association.
Svarūpa, Aiśvarya and Mādhurya-Tattvas
Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: Longing for the association of a great bhakta who is devoted to mādhurya and is expert in Śrī Bhagavān’s svarūpa, aiśvarya and mādhurya-tattvas, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya says, jagat byāpaka hari, aja bhaba-ājñākārī, madhura mūrati līlā-kathā. Jagat byāpaka hari (Hari pervades the universe) indicates Śrī Bhagavān’s svarūpa (nature, character); aja bhaba-ājñākārī (he is its eternal ruler) indicates his aiśvarya (power) and madhura mūrati līlā-kathā (his pastimes embody his sweetness) indicates his mādhurya (sweetness or charm). Śrīmat Jīva Gosvāmipāda has written, bhagavāṁs tāvad asādhāraṇa-svarūpaiśvarya-mādhuryas tattva-viśeṣaḥ. tatra svarūpaṁ paramānanda aiśvaryam asamordhvānanta-svābhāvika-prabhutā, mādhuryam asamordhvatayā sarva-manoharaṁ svābhāvika-rūpa-guṇa-līlādi sauṣṭhavam (Laghu-Toṣaṇī commentary on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.12.11). Bhagavān is the name of a particular type of tattva composed of extraordinary nature, power and sweetness. Paramānanda or supreme joy is Śrī Bhagavān’s svarūpa; unequalled, boundless, innate power* is his aiśvarya; the excellence of his incomparable natural beauty, qualities, pastimes and so on, or the quality of being attractive to all, is his mādhurya. By using the word paramānanda, Śrī Jīva has indicated the world-pervading brahma. The svarūpa or nature of brahma is saccidānanda, which has been described in various places in the śruti: saccidānanda-mayaṁ parabrahma; sarva-pūrṇa-rūpo’smi saccidānanda-lakṣaṇaḥ; satyaṁ jñānam ānandaṁ brahma; vijñānam ānandaṁ brahma and so on. Therefore, paramānanda is understood to refer to the omnipresent brahma-tattva. This is Śrī Bhagavān’s nature. By saying jagat byāpaka hari, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya has ascertained the svarūpa-tattva of Śrī Hari.
By the words aja bhaba-ājñākārī, the author refers to Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s aiśvarya, or his incomparable, boundless, natural power. brahmādi-paribhāvaka-prabhāvo hi aiśvaryam (Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa). “The governing power possessed by Brahmā, Śiva and others is called aiśvarya.”
According to the statement by Śrī Jīva, the excellence of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s all-alluring natural beauty, qualities, pastimes and so on is his mādhurya, which Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya expresses as madhura mūrati līlā-kathā. Truly, incomparable character and power are present in Svayaṁ Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the embodiment of sweetness. Sweetness rests upon a foundation of character and power. Without character and power, the attractiveness of form and pastimes alone is not mādhurya. If it were, even the charm of an ordinary boy restless for play would be called mādhurya.
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartipāda wrote the following in his Rāga-Vartma-Candrikā (Dvitīya-Prakāśa): mahaiśvaryasya dyotane vādyotane ca nara-līlatvānatikramo mādhuryam. yathā pūtanā-prāṇa-hāritve’pi stana-cūṣaṇa-lakṣaṇa-nara-bāla-līlatvam eva. mahākaṭhora-śakaṭa-spotane’py ati-sukumāra-caraṇa-traimāsikyottānaśāyi-bāla-līlatvam. mahādīrgha-dāmāśakya-bandhatve’pi mātṛ-bhīti-vaiklavyam. brahma-baladevādi mohane’pi sarva-jñatve’pi vatsa-cāraṇa-līlatvam. tathā aiśvarya-sattva eva tasyādyotane dadhi-paya-cauryaṁ gopa-strī-lāmpaṭyādikam. “Whether his divinity is being manifested or not, as long as the appropriate mood for his human pastimes is not violated, that is called mādhurya. For example, even while Śrī Kṛṣṇa was killing Pūtanā, he sucked her breast like a human child. Although Mother Yaśodā found it impossible to tie him with a rope, he was overwhelmed with fear of her. In the brahma-mohana-līlā, the omniscient Bhagavān of the śruti personally went searching for a calf, as though he were uninformed. While bewildering Brahmā, Baladeva and others, he revealed his sweet pastime of grazing the calves. Moreover, though possessing endless power, without revealing any of it he entered the cowherds’ homes and stole their yogurt, butter and so on. Because of this, he is known in śāstra as navanīta-caura, the butter thief. After attracting the young gopīs with his charming form and the sound of his flute, he became known as gopa-strī-lampaṭa, the gopīs’ debauchee.” By the power of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s acintya-śakti,** omniscience and innocence exist in him simultaneously. This is not surprising because divinity is the shelter of mutually opposed dharmas. Śrīpāda Līlāśuka has written, maugdhye ca sārva-jñe ca sārva-bhaumam idaṁ mahaḥ. “Sovereignty over all, whether in innocence or omniscience: this is power.”
Regarding the sādhana for realizing svarūpa, aiśvarya and mādhurya, Śrī Jīva Gosvāmipāda wrote, tat-tad-anubhava-sādhanaṁ ca krameṇa jñānaṁ jñeyaṁ bhaktyākhya gaurava-miśrā-prītiḥ śuddha-prītiś ca. Through jñāna-sādhana, svarūpa is realized; through love mixed with the awe and reverence of aiśvarya-bhāva, aiśvarya is realized; and through pure love or vraja-prema, mādhurya is realized. In the absence of these three kinds of sādhanas, the māyā-bound human has no realization of any of the three tattvas. Śrī Bhagavān said, nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yogamāyā-samāvṛtaḥ (Śrī-Bhagavad-Gītā 7.25). “O Arjuna, concealed by my yogamāyā, I am not revealed to everyone.”
When the bhaktas who possess aiśvarya-jñāna experience Śrī Hari’s majesty, they feel awe and reverence and their relationships with him loosen. But the nature of the Vrajavāsīs’ pure mādhurya-jñāna is such that even though they may witness hundreds of his divine attributes, they will feel no awe or hesitation in their hearts or minds and their relationships with him will not loosen. Rather, their relationships with him become closer. dekhile nā māne aiśvarya kebalāra rīti (Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Madhya 19.194). “Even if one sees aiśvarya, he does not consider it so. This is the way of pure bhakti.” In Vraja, beginning from Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s childhood pastimes up to the rāsa-līlā, the crown jewel of all pastimes, vast aiśvarya has been manifested; it is inconceivable. But to the Vrajavāsīs, all these appear as though adorned with boundless mādhurya. Glowing testimony has been given of his countless pastimes such as the killing of Pūtanā, Tṛṇāvarta, Bakāsura and Aghāsura; the bewilderment of Brahmā; the subduing of Kāliya; consuming the forest fire; lifting Govardhana and so on. Śrīpāda Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa has written the following in his book Siddhānta-Ratna: mādhurya-jñāna-niṣṭhānām aiśvarya-jñānaṁ triveṇyāṁ sarasvatī-pravāhavad-gauṇatayāsti. virahe vismaye vipadi ca tasyodaya-parvaṇi sārasvatasyeva pravāhasya. Like the current of the Sarasvatī in the Triveṇī,*** aiśvarya-jñāna resides secondarily in the vraja-bhaktas who are fixed in mādhurya-jñāna. Just as the current of the Sarasvatī briefly manifests at auspicious times like the full moon day, in the same way, when the Vrajavāsīs experience separation, bewilderment and difficulty, aiśvarya-jñāna manifests for a short time to bless them with the forbearance necessary to sustain their lives. But in this also, there is no awe or hesitation in their minds because Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s aiśvarya vanishes to the unfathomable floor of the Vrajavāsīs’ vast ocean of mādhurya and nourishes it. They continuously enjoy the happiness of swimming in Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s immense ocean of sweetness.
Not to speak of Kṛṣṇa’s eternal associates in Vraja, his ever-fresh mādhurya appeared in Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura, a sādhaka-jīva whose eyes had been smeared with the ointment of devotional love. Even today, his book Śrī-Kṛṣṇa-Karṇāmṛta continues to give his glowing testimony; it can be described as an endless fountain of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s mādhurya-rasa. How can the poet completely express in language the awakening of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s sweetness in his heart? Perhaps one percent has been communicated through words. But even language is ultimately brought to a standstill and he can only repeat the words madhuram madhuram madhuram madhuram (sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet). This is the highest stage in the realization of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s mādhurya. After Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s sweetness is revealed to the rasika devotees fixed in mādhurya, for them the whole world becomes beautiful, full of flavor and as mellow as honey. Above, below, in front and behind them—in every direction—endless, billowy waves surge and fall in a great ocean of sweetness. The premika devotees forget about their bodies and homes and dive deeply into the waves of mādhurya. This the highest and final stage of vraja-rasa worship, the last frontier in the realization of Śrī Bhagavān, because mādhurya is the essence of the divine nature. Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Madhya 21.110:
mādhurya bhagabattā-sāra, braje kaila paracāra, tāṅhā śuka byāsera nandana |
sthāne sthāne bhāgabate, barṇiyāche nānā-mate, yāhā śuni’ māte bhakta-gaṇa ||
“Mādhurya is the essence of divinity. It was introduced in Vraja. Śuka, the son of Vyāsa, described it in different places in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in various ways. Hearing this, the devotees are filled with joy.”
Even though Śrī Śuka Muni has described Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s mādhurya in various places in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the essence of all the Vedas, until now, the door to that storehouse of mādhurya had been closed to the sādhakas of the world. Wanting to experience his own incomparable sweetness, Vrajendranandana accepted Śrī Rādhā’s mood and complexion and incarnated as Śrī Gaurāṅga. He personally relished as much of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s mādhurī as he desired, and after opening the door of that mystical storehouse of sweetness, he freely gave its contents to the jīvas punished by kali-yuga. Moreover, it is through the mercy of Śrī Rūpa, Śrī Sanātana and the other Gosvāmīs sheltered at Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s lotus feet that the experience of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s sweetness is possible. They established the jeweled temple of madhura-bhajana on the firm foundation of scriptural logic and their own realizations. Every day they submerged themselves in bhajana-rasa, entered the world of meditation and relished Śrī Bhagavān’s mādhurī-rasa. This they taught to the sādhakas of the world through their own behavior.
Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya said, ei tattva jāne yei, parama uttama sei, tāra saṅga kariba sarbathā. The rasika-bhaktas, who are expert in all these mystical doctrines, are the greatest devotees and provide valuable association. Those sādhakas who long to taste Śrī Bhagavān’s mādhurya-rasa must always seek the company of such great bhaktas.
*Author’s footnote: “The burning capacity of fire is natural or innate. It is not incidental like the burning power of an iron bar that has been in contact with fire.”
**Inconceivable power
***The confluence of the Gaṅgā, Yamunā and Sarasvatī at Allahabad
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