প্রেমভক্তি-তত্ত্ব এই, তোমারে কহিনু ভাই,
আর দুর্বাসনা পরিহরি ।
শ্রীগুরু-প্রসাদে ভাই, এ সব ভজন পাই,
প্রেমভক্তি সখী-অনুচরী ॥ ১০৪ ॥
prema-bhakti-tattva ei, tomāre kahinu bhāi,
āra durbāsanā parihari |
śrī-guru-prasāde bhāi, e saba bhajana pāi,
prema-bhakti sakhī-anucarī || 104 ||
Brother mind! I have explained the nature of prema-bhakti to you. Now you must give up your inauspicious desires. By Śrī Guru’s mercy, one gets shelter on the path of bhajana and attains prema-bhakti as the follower of a sakhī.
Prema-Bhakti: Following the Sakhīs
Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya says to his own mind, prema-bhakti tattva ei, tomāre kahinu bhāi. “Brother mind, I have told you everything about prema-bhakti.” Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya addresses his mind as brother. Just as two brothers equally suffer the misery of poverty or the enjoyment of their parents’ riches, in the same way, if the soul is deprived of the treasure of prema, it suffers the misery of poverty in the form of worldly distress. The mind then also must suffer in a similar way. If the soul obtains the treasure of prema, it becomes eligible to taste bhakti-rasa. Then the mind also, having abandoned its worldliness, becomes spiritual and is blessed with an experience of Bhagavān’s unparalleled sweetness. Therefore, by addressing his mind as brother, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya is teaching the sādhakas of the world that after convincing the mind that it will receive the same happiness and distress as the soul, every sādhaka must take up the path of prema-sādhana. The mind, king of senses, is the best ally of bhajana-sādhana.
Until now in this Prema-Bhakti-Candrikā, everything Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya has discussed has been in regard to prema-bhakti or sādhya-sādhana-tattva (knowledge of the goal and how to attain it). The association of great souls, the mercy of great souls, eagerness for Bhagavān, faith, taking refuge, the shelter of Śrī Guru and the Vaiṣṇavas, service to Śrī Guru and the Vaiṣṇavas, sādhana-bhajana, the nine kinds of bhakti, impediments to bhajana, niṣṭhā, ruci, āsakti, rati, prema, mahābhāva (the highest level of prema), mañjarī-bhāva-sādhana, nāma-tattva, dhāma-tattva, rasa-tattva and so on have all been discussed. If a sādhaka seriously studies this Prema-Bhakti-Candrikā with rapt attention, he or she will be able to understand and realize all the secrets of bhakti-sādhana. Of this there is no doubt. The author has revealed the profound mysteries of bhajana-sādhana in such a simple, natural way, and in so few words, that it is as though he is taking the sādhakas by the hand and leading them to the kingdom of prema-bhakti. Therefore, he says to his mind, “Brother mind, I have given all knowledge of prema-bhakti to you in a simple, natural way. Now, āra durbāsanā parihari; you must abandon the bad karma-saṁskāras* that have accumulated due to beginningless ignorance.” The bad actions of previous births produce bad saṁskāras or impressions that are established in a person’s mind. These bad saṁskāras awaken in the person’s heart the inclination to engage in bad actions. When the mind is attracted in such a way to bad actions, a person becomes unable to rescue himself by his own endeavors from the grip of irresistible wicked desires. Therefore, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya informs us of the only way to give up inauspicious desires and take shelter on the path of bhajana: śrī-guru-prasāde bhāi, e saba bhajana pāi
“O brother mind! By the mercy of Śrī Guru, a person gives up his wicked desires and is blessed with shelter on the path of pure bhajana.” In his description of the sixty-four limbs of bhajana in Śrī-Bhakti-Rasāmṛta-Sindhuḥ, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmipāda said that taking shelter of Śrī Guru, receiving dīkṣā and instructions, and serving Śrī Guru with faith comprise the main gateway to the path of bhakti. Bhagavad-bhakti or bhajana cannot be accomplished by any means without the mercy or grace of Śrī Guru. This is the unanimous conclusion of all the śāstras and mahājanas. Śrī Jīva Gosvāmipāda has written, tat-prasādo hi sva-sva-nānā-pratīkāra-dustyajānartha-hānau parama-bhagavat-prasāda-siddhau ca mūlam (Bhakti-Sandarbhaḥ 237). “It is difficult to give up anarthas through self-made remedies. The main cause of the destruction of anarthas and the attainment of Bhagavān’s supreme grace is the grace of Śrī Guru.” Therefore, śrī-guru-caraṇānāṁ nityam eva viśeṣataḥ sevāṁ kuryāt (ibid). “To give up his wicked desires and attain the treasure of bhajana, the sādhaka shall always seek Śrī Guru’s mercy by serving him or her in specific ways.”
It is not that by the mercy of Śrī Gurudeva only the sādhaka’s bad desires or anarthas will be destroyed and she will attain the great fortune of bhajana. Beyond that, the sādhaka will soon attain prema and be blessed with the treasure of her desired sevā. prema-bhakti sakhī-anucarī. After attaining prema-bhakti, by Śrī Guru’s mercy the sādhaka takes birth in her internally conceived mañjarī-svarūpa from the womb of a gopī in Vraja. There she will get the companionship and mercy of the nitya-siddha sakhīs and mañjarīs. By following them as their attendant, she will be blessed with the confidential nikuñja-sevā of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava. After taking shelter of Śrīnivāsācārya Prabhu and receiving his mercy, King Vīrahāmbira of Vanaviṣṇupura sang the following:
prabhu mora śrīnibāsa, pūrāile manera āśa, tuyā pade ke baliba āra |
āchinu biṣaya-kīṭa, baḍai lāgita miṭha, ghucāile rāja-ahaṅkāra ||
karitu garala-pāna, se bhela dāhina bāma, dekhāilā amiyāra dhāra |
piba piba kare mana, saba lāge ucāṭana, emati tomāra byabahāra ||
rādhā-pada sudhā-rāśi, se pade karilā dāsī, gorā-pade bāṅdhi dilā cita |
rādhikāra guṇa saha, dekhāilā kuñja-geha, śikhāilā duṅhu prema-rīta ||
kālindīra kūle yāi, sakhī-saṅge dhāoyā dhāi, rāi-kānu biharaye sukhe |
e bīrahāmbira hiyā, braja-pura sadā dheyā, yāṅhā ali uḍe lākhe lākhe ||
“Śrīnivāsa, my master! You fulfilled my heart’s desire. What more shall I submit at your lotus feet? I was a worm in the muck of worldly enjoyment, thinking it all to be sweet. You removed my pride in being king. I used to drink poison, but that has all changed. You revealed a stream of nectar and encouraged me by saying, ‘Drink, drink!’ Thus is your behavior. Śrī Rādhā’s lotus feet are an ocean of nectar. You made me a maidservant of those lotus feet. You bound my mind to Gaurāṅga’s lotus feet. You told me of Rādhikā’s virtues and showed me the cottage in the bower. You taught me the nature of their love. Along with the sakhīs, I chase after Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa as they joyfully sport on the banks of the Yamunā. May this Vīrahāmbira always remember the village of Vraja, where bumblebees fly in great numbers.”
*Saṁskāras are impressions on the mind of acts done in a former state of existence. (Monier-Williams)
