Sunday, September 22, 2019

Śrī Śrī Prema-Bhakti-Candrikā 98 (comm. by Śrī Anantadāsa Bābājī Mahārāja)


পরম-নাগর কৃষ্ণ,        তাহে হও অতিতৃষ্ণ,
ভজ তাঁরে ব্রজভাব লৈয়া ।
রসিক-ভকত-সঙ্গে,        রহিব পীরিতি-রঙ্গে,
ব্রজপুরে বসতি করিয়া ॥ ৯৮ ॥

parama-nāgara kṛṣṇa,        tāhe hao atitṛṣṇa,
bhaja tāṅre braja-bhāba laiyā |
rasika-bhakata-saṅge,        rahiba pīriti-raṅge,
braja-pure basati kariyā || 98 ||

     टीका—ভজ তাঁরে–श्रीकृष्णं भज । পীরিতি-রঙ্গে–युगल-प्रेम-कथा रङ्गेण ।

     O mind, long for the supreme lover Śrī Kṛṣṇa and worship him in the Vraja mood. With joyful love I will dwell among the rasika-bhaktas of Vṛndāvana.

Vraja-Bhāva-Bhajana

     Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya then gives the gist of vraja-bhajana: parama-nāgara kṛṣṇa, tāhe hao atitṛṣṇa, bhaja tāṅre braja-bhāba laiyā. “O mind, long for the supreme lover Śrī Kṛṣṇa and worship him in vraja-bhāva.” Śrīpāda Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa has said that bhakti means longing for Śrī Kṛṣṇa. kṛṣṇa-mātraika tṛṣṇā, kṛṣṇa-vinānya-tṛṣṇā-śūnyā bhaktiḥ. “Bhakti means longing for Śrī Kṛṣṇa and nothing but Śrī Kṛṣṇa.” This is intense longing or thirst. While thirst remains weak, thoughts of water occur alongside thoughts of other matters. But if that thirst is intense, the mind only thinks of water. This intense thirst has been called the natural characteristic of rāga-bhakti. iṣṭe gāḍha-tṛṣṇā ‘rāga’–ei svarūpa-lakṣaṇa, iṣṭe ābiṣṭatā–ei taṭastha-lakṣaṇa (Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Madhya 22.151). Deep longing for Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the essential quality of rāga. As a result, attachment for Kṛṣṇa is born and attachment for matters other than Kṛṣṇa disappears.
     Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya is saying, “We must long for Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the supreme lover.” Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the vraja-sundarīs’ clever hero, for which he is called nāgara (lover, gallant, paramour). When he is the lover of Śrī Rādhārāṇī, the crest-jewel of all the vraja-sundarīs, he is the parama-nāgara. Therefore, by saying parama-nāgara kṛṣṇa, tāhe hao atitṛṣṇa, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya has given the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas an instruction about the rāga-bhajana of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. The Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas who are devotees of mañjarī-bhāva or rādhā-kiṅkarī-bhāva possess bhāvollāsā-rati. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmipāda has written, sañcārī syāt samonā vā kṛṣṇa-ratyāḥ suhṛd-ratiḥ, adhikā pūṣyamāṇā ced bhāvollāsa itīryate. In madhura-rasa, those among Śrī Rādhārāṇī’s girlfriends who love Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa equally or who love Kṛṣṇa a little more than Rādhā have the sthāyi-bhāva called śrī-kṛṣṇa-rati. Their love for Rādhārāṇī will be a sañcārī or passing sentiment. But if their love for Śrī Rādhārāṇī exceeds that for Śrī Kṛṣṇa, then it is known as bhāvollāsā-rati. Their sthāyi-bhāva is called rādhā-snehādhika, or having more love for Śrī Rādhā. The Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas mainly perform śrī-kṛṣṇa-bhajana under the shelter of Śrī Rādhā. āmāra īśvarī hana bṛndābaneśvarī, tāṅra prāṇanātha bali’ bhaji giridhārī. “My Goddess is Vṛndāvaneśvarī Śrī Rādhā; because Giridhārī is the lord of her life, I also worship him.” tavaivāsmi tavaivāsmi na jīvāmi tvayā vinā, iti vijñāya devi tvaṁ naya māṁ caraṇāntikam. “I am yours! I am yours! I cannot live without you. O Goddess! Now that you know this, please lead me to your lotus feet.” This is the mūla-mantra of those who worship in mañjarī-bhāva. Therefore, why did Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya tell us to long for Śrī Kṛṣṇa instead of Śrī Rādhā? Such a question may arise. The author did not just say kṛṣṇa; he said parama-nāgara kṛṣṇa. Profound meaning lies hidden within the words parama-nāgara kṛṣṇa. In some līlās, for the sake of serving Śrī Rādhārāṇī, the rādhā-snehādhikā-mañjarī-bhāva-sādhaka must meditate on yugala-sevā with a desire for Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
     While contemplating a pastime in his mentally conceived siddha-svarūpa, the sādhaka has taken the anxious Śrī Rādhā to meet with Śrī Kṛṣṇa. After preparing the bower with the help of her maidservant, Śrīmatī fixed her eyes on her lover’s path. The time for their meeting has passed. Śrīmatī became confused and wept in separation from Śrī Kṛṣṇa. One of Śrīmatī’s maidservants helped her regain her composure and then left in search of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. She carried a great longing for Kṛṣṇa in her heart. After looking everywhere for him without success, she finally became distressed and began to cry. “Alas, Lord of Rādhā! Alas, Supreme Lover! Show yourself to me. Your beloved Rādhā suffers a terrible burning sensation born of separation from you.” Now, after seeing the strong desire of Śrī Rādhā’s maidservant for Śrī Kṛṣṇa, one wonders if such desire is even possible for a worshiper of Kṛṣṇa. Because of the kiṅkarī’s intense desire, parama-nāgara Śrī Kṛṣṇa revealed himself to her. The kiṅkarī brought the king of lovers to the bower and performed her unique service to Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa there. Therefore, it is understood that in a particular type of service to Yugala-Kiśora, Śrī Rādhā’s maidservant must have deep longing for Śrī Kṛṣṇa while maintaining greater affection for Śrī Rādhā.
     Then Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya says, bhaja tāṅre braja-bhāba laiyā. “Worship Śrī Kṛṣṇa in the mood of Vraja.” Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s eternal rāgātmikā companions living in Vraja have forgotten all of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s aiśvarya and serve him through ordinary positive human relationships in vātsalya, sakhya and madhura-rasas. mora putra mora sakhā mora prāṇa-pati. “Kṛṣṇa is my son. Kṛṣṇa is my friend. Kṛṣṇa is the lord of my life.” The sādhaka who follows them also forgets Kṛṣṇa’s aiśvarya and serves him through an ordinary human relationship in his or her own rasa. Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the object of love; except by love, he cannot be caught. The sentiment of the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas toward Śrī Kṛṣṇa is that he is the dear friend of Śrī Rādhā. This is vraja-bhāva. Śrīmad Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmipāda wrote the following in verse nine of his Manaḥ-Śikṣā:

mad-īśā-nāthatve vraja-vipina-candraṁ vraja-vane-
śvarīṁ tan-nāthatve tad-atula-sakhītve tu lalitām |
viśākhāṁ śikṣālī-vitaraṇa-gurutve priya-saro-
girīndrau tat-prekṣā-lalita-ratidatve smara manaḥ ||

     “O mind! Remember Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the moon of Vṛndāvana, as the lord of my queen Śrī Rādhā’s life. Remember Śrī Rādhā, the goddess of the Vraja forest, as the lover of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Remember Śrī Lalitā as her dearest friend and Śrī Viśākhā as the guru who teaches the sakhīs the arts of sevā. Remember their beloved lake Śrī Rādhā-Kuṇḍa and Govardhana, king of mountains, as revealers of Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa and  givers of innocent love for them.”
     Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya then describes the sādhana that nourishes the sādhaka’s vraja-bhāva: rasika-bhakata-saṅge, rahiba pīriti-raṅge, braja-pure basati kariyā. Here, rasika-bhakta-saṅga means associating with devotees who are earnest about tasting bhakti-rasa, who are well-established in virtuous practices, are affectionate to you and are more advanced than you: sajātīyāśaye snigdhe sādhau saṅgaḥ svato vare, śrīmad-bhāgavatārthānām āsvādo rasikaiḥ saha. “I shall remain among such bhaktas in joyful love.” In his commentary on this section, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartipāda wrote yugala-prema-kathā-raṅgeṇa, meaning, submerged in the wondrous rasa of stories about Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava’s mutual love, the sādhaka should take shelter of their transcendental playground Śrī Vṛndāvana, the ultimate place for the illumination of śrī-yugala-līlā, and pass the rest of his life in bhajana. This is the best sādhana for nourishing the vraja-bhāva of the vraja-rasa-sādhaka.





No comments: