Silence is Golden

Śrī Śrī Prema-Bhakti-Candrikā 102 (comm. by Śrī Anantadāsa Bābājī Mahārāja)

ঈশ্বরের তত্ত্ব যত,        তাহা বা কহিব কত,

অনন্ত অপার কেবা জানে ।

ব্রজপুরে প্রেম সত্য,        এই সে পরম-তত্ত্ব,

ভজ ভজ অনুরাগ মনে ॥ ১০২ ॥

īśvarera tattva yata,        tāhā bā kahiba kata,

ananta apāra kebā jāne |

braja-pure prema satya,        ei se parama-tattva,

bhaja bhaja anurāga mane || 102 ||

     What can I say of the nature of God? He is eternal and boundless. Who can understand? In Vraja, love is real. This is the supreme truth. Constantly worship Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava with love.

The Highest Reality

     Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: Previously, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya said, līlā-rasa sadā gāna; prārthanā kariba sadā, lālasā abhīṣṭa-kathā, ihā binā sakali anartha, and so on. Now, the question may be asked that if someone is constantly hearing, chanting and remembering Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s līlā-rasa, when will she hear, chant and remember his philosophy and glories? Moreover, verse 97 says, jagat byāpaka hari, aja bhaba-ājñākārī, madhura mūrati līlā-kathā; ei tattva jāne yei, parama uttama sei, tāra saṅga kariba sarbathā. “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.” Is this saying that the experience of rasa or līlā rests upon the foundation of philosophy and divine power? The venerable author has introduced this verse due to the likelihood of such a question.

     First, he says, īśvarera tattva yata, tāhā bā kahiba kata, ananta apāra kebā jāne. The essential nature of God is that he is eternal and boundless. The ocean of his glory is shoreless and difficult to be entered. No one can cross it. In his prayers to Śrī Bhagavān in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.14.11, the creator of the universe Lord Brahmā said the following:

kvāhaṁ tamo-mahad-ahaṁ-kha-carāgni-vār-bhū-

saṁveṣṭitāṇḍa-ghaṭa-sapta-vitasti-kāyaḥ |

kvedṛg-vidhāvigaṇitāṇḍa-parāṇu-caryā 

vātādhva-roma-vivarasya ca te mahitvam ||

     “O Bhagavān! Where am I? I live in a body measuring seven handspans in a universe surrounded by eight coverings of primordial matter, cosmic intelligence, ego, space, air, fire, water and earth. Countless universes whirl in every pore of your skin like particles of dust in a stream of light. Such is your glory. Therefore, before you, I am insignificant.” In this way, Brahmā described the infinite nature of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s qualities, pastimes and so on. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.14.7 says the following in relation to his qualities:

guṇātmanas te’pi guṇān vimātuṁ

 hitāvatīrṇasya ka īśire’sya |

kālena yair vā vimitāḥ sukalpair

 bhū-pāṁśavaḥ khe mihikā dyu-bhāsaḥ ||

     “O Lord! Who can count your qualities? You, the ruler of all qualities, have incarnated for the good of the world. Even great yogīs capable of counting the particles of dust on earth, the dew-drops in the air and the stars in the heavens are unable to enumerate all of your attributes.” Brahmā describes Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s endless pastimes in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.14.21:

ko vetti bhūman bhagavan parātman 

yogeśvarotīr bhavatas trilokyām |

kva vā kathaṁ vā kati vā kadeti 

vistārayan krīḍasi yogamāyām ||

     “O unlimited one! O one endowed with all majesty! O universal soul! O possessor of inconceivable power! When you extend your unimaginable energy called yogamāyā to reveal your amazing pastimes, who can understand how, when, where or how many?” In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.14.38, Brahmā said,

jānanta eva jānantu 

kiṁ bahūktyā na me prabho |

manaso vapuṣo vāco 

vaibhavaṁ tava gocaraḥ ||

     “O Bhagavān! What more can I say? Let those who claim to know your greatness continue to think so. Your glories, however, are beyond the reach of my body, mind and words.”

     Brahmā is the creator and original guru of the world. When Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s glories are beyond the reach of Brahmā’s body, mind and words, it need not be said that they are beyond the reach of others. A bhakta who yearns to taste mādhurya should focus on experiencing the sweetness of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s forms, qualities, pastimes and so on rather than spending a great amount of time studying philosophy. But it is not that philosophical discussions are entirely discouraged. They are favorable for one devoted to mādhurya to the extent that they support the tasting of līlā-rasa. If one becomes too much engrossed in philosophical discussions, he will be deprived of the joy of tasting līlā-rasa that he so desires. This is the gist of the Sandarbhas.

     Then Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya said, braja-pure prema satya, ei se parama-tattva, bhaja bhaja anurāga mane. The simple meaning of the word prema is love, but no one should think that prema is like ordinary worldly love. Prema is love for God. Prema is the essential faculty of Śrī Bhagavān’s svarūpa-śaktis (innate powers) called hlādinī and saṁvit. When that spiritual faculty mixes with the heart and mind of a bhakta, it is known as prema. Therefore, words referring to worldly love such as homeland-prema, father-prema, brother-prema and so on merely abuse the word prema.

     Prema means love of Bhagavān, and because prema is a faculty of the spiritual energy, it is not a transitory thing like mundane love. It is the supreme, imperishable truth. But here, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya says braja-pure prema satya. Because of this, one may think that vraja-prema is real and the prema of Vaikuṇṭha, Ayodhyā, Dvārakā and so on is not, but that is not what he means. The prema of the devotees in all of Bhagavān’s abodes is real. He is saying here that pure love is only seen in Vraja. Because the prema of the other dhāmas is mixed with aiśvarya-jñāna, the bhaktas feel reverence and hesitation toward Śrī Bhagavān. In the pure love of Vraja, the bhāva of the vraja-bhaktas toward Śrī Bhagavān is that he is “my son, my friend, my lover.” It is free from even a whiff of aiśvarya-jñāna. Except for Vraja, prema is everywhere designated as a form of aiśvarya-jñāna. Pure or true love is only seen in Vraja.

     The meaning of ei se parama-tattva is that because prema has its fullest manifestation in Vraja, the highest truth is vraja-prema. Or, ei se parama-tattva means that the highest category of prema is properly expressed in vraja-prema. Wherever there is an excess of awe and reverence born of aiśvarya, there will be an equal reduction in the delight of prema. Prema wants to remove hesitation from the heart. If hesitation produced by awe and reverence appears, it is as though prema’s heart is broken. In close embrace, the bhakta and Bhagavān float continuously in a stream of sweetness within prema. This is a special characteristic of prema. This bhāva is not found anywhere other than in vraja-prema because the highest category of prema only exists here. The sweet love of Vraja is above all others. One characteristic  of prema has been described as such: sarvathā dhvaṁsa-rahitaṁ saty api dhvaṁsa-kāraṇe, yad-bhāva-bandhanaṁ yūnoḥ sa premā parikīrtitaḥ. “The bond of love between a young man and young woman is called prema when despite there being hundreds of reasons for them to break up, they stay together.” The principle of prema reaches its zenith in the mutual love of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava, because there, nā so ramaṇa nā hāma ramaṇī, duṅhu mana manobhaba peṣala jāni (Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Madhya 8.194). “He is not the ramaṇa (boyfriend) and I am not the ramaṇī (girlfriend). The god of love has pressed our hearts together.” Prema has merged Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava’s hearts as though into one. The goal of the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas is to worship this ultimate truth, yugala-prema, in the mood of Śrī Rādhā’s maidservants. Therefore, to inspire them to attain the love-filled life of bhajana, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya said, bhaja bhaja anurāga mane. “Constantly worship Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava with love.”