শ্রীকৃষ্ণচৈতন্যদেব, রতি-মতি তারে সেব,
প্রেম-কল্পতরু-দাতা ।
ব্রজরাজ-নন্দন, রাধিকার প্রাণধন,
অপরূপ এই সব কথা ॥ ১১২ ॥
śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-deba, rati-mati tāre seba,
prema-kalpa-taru-dātā |
braja-rāja-nandana, rādhikāra prāṇa-dhana,
aparūpa ei saba kathā || 112 ||
Serve Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanyadeva with your love and intellect. He bestows the desire tree of prema. He is the son of the king of Vraja and the treasure of Śrī Rādhikā’s life. Everything about this topic is amazing.
The Giver of the Desire Tree of Love
Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: In this Prema-Bhakti-Candrikā, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya has described in detail the topic of mañjarī-bhāva-sādhana, a type of bhakti filled with the transcendental, lofty and glorious vraja-rasa. This was the unprecedented gift of compassion from Śrīman Mahāprabhu Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanyadeva. Without his mercy or service to him, no one can attain vraja-bhakti. Therefore, the illustrious author has addressed the topic of Śrīman Mahāprabhu in three verses.
First, he speaks about the worship of Śrīman Mahāprabhu and about his pastimes of bestowing prema. śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-deba, rati-mati tāre seba, prema-kalpa-taru-dātā. Śrīman Mahāprabhu is referred to here as Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanyadeva because kṛṣṇa jānāiyā yei jagata kaila dhanya, ataeba nāma haila śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya (Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Ādi 3.34). “Because he blessed the world with knowledge of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, he became known as Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya.” Although Śrī Vyāsa, Śuka, Nārada and other ācāryas of the bhakti path have no doubt informed us about Śrī Kṛṣṇa, only Śrīman Mahāprabhu is śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya or ‘Śrī Kṛṣṇa-consciousness.’ The reason is that even though other ācāryas have taught about Śrī Kṛṣṇa, their bhaktas only obtain full knowledge when they reach prema through bhajana-sādhana. But if one simply sees Śrīman Mahāprabhu, the observer immediately attains prema and achieves full knowledge without effort. Mahāprabhu is a deva or shining one. His body is covered by Śrī Rādhā’s divine luster.
The sādhaka must perform sevā or bhajana keeping her love and intellect at the feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanyadeva. Otherwise, it is impossible to attain vraja-bhāva: rati-mati tāre seba. In the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Sampradāya, Śrīman Mahāprabhu and his companions in Navadvīpa are to be worshiped alongside Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava and their companions in Vraja. At the end of Śrīla Kavi Karṇapūra’s Śrī-Caitanya-Candrodaya-Nāṭakam (10.74), Śrīman Mahāprabhu spontaneously said the following to Śrī Advaitācārya in the context of giving a blessing:
vṛndāraṇyāntara-sthaḥ sarasa-vilasitenātmanātmānam uccair
ānanda-syanda-bandīkṛta-manasam urīkṛtya nitya-pramodaḥ |
vṛndāvanaika-niṣṭhān sva-ruci-sama-tanūn kārayiṣyāmi yuṣmān
ity evāste’viśiṣṭaṁ kim api mama mahat-karma-tac-cātaniṣye ||
“O Ācārya, I live in Vṛndāvana, where with great pleasure I absorb myself in charming love-sports. My mind is constantly submerged in joy. I shall cause all of you who are devoted to Vṛndāvana to assume a body of your own choice there and taste the sweet nectar of Vraja. This great work remains for me; I will complete it.” Śrīman Mahāprabhu is the combined form of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. In Vṛndāvana, he is always submerged in nectarous pastimes in the form of Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. In navadvīpa-līlā, he also gives a taste of madhura-rasa to his companions who contemplate themselves as Śrī Rādhā’s maidservants in the bowers of Vraja. This is Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s final work. After hearing Mahāprabhu’s words, Advaitācārya replied,
nijecchayā prāpaya yad yad eva sthalāntaraṁ no vapur antaraṁ vā |
tavaitad āścarya-caritram eva jāti-smarā eva ciraṁ smarāmaḥ ||
“O master, you will give us another place or another body by your own free will, but like those who remember their past lives, we will always remember the wonderful pastimes of Śrī Gaura.” Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya has also said, mano-bāñchā siddhi tabe haṅ pūrṇa-tṛṣṇa, hethāya caitanya mile sethā rādhā-kṛṣṇa (Prārthanā 43). “My heart’s desire will be attained and my thirst sated. In Vṛndāvana they are Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa and they unite in Navadvīpa as Caitanya.”
Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanyadeva is prema-kalpa-taru-dātā, or one who bestows the desire tree of prema. Śrīman Mahāprabhu is himself a desire tree of prema, and through his own acintya-śakti, a gardener of that tree and a giver of its fruit: nijācintya-śaktye mālī haiyā skandha haya (Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Ādi 9.12). The following is found in Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Ādi 9.25-30:
uḍumbara-bṛkṣa yaiche phale sarba-aṅge |
ei mata bhakti-bṛkṣe sarbatra phala lāge ||
mūla-skandhera śākhā upaśākhā-gaṇe |
lāgila ye prema-phala amṛtake jine ||
pākila ye prema-phala amṛta-madhura |
bilāya caitanya-mālī nāhi laya mūla ||
trijagate yata āche dhana-ratna-maṇi |
eka phalera mūlya kari tāhā nāhi gaṇi ||
māge bā nā māge keha pātra bā apātra |
ihāra bicāra nāhi jāne deya mātra ||
añjali añjali bhari phele catur-diśe |
daridra kuḍāñā khāya mālākāra hāse ||
“Just as the fig tree bears fruit on all its limbs, the tree of bhakti bears fruit in all times and places. The fruit called prema, which is more delicious than nectar, forms on all the limbs and branches. When it ripens, this prema-fruit is sweet like ambrosia. Caitanya the gardener then distributes it at no cost. One such fruit is more precious than all the riches in the three worlds, but Caitanya simply gives them away without considering whether someone has asked for or deserves them. He distributes handfuls of fruits in every direction. The poor collect and eat them; the gardener smiles.”
Not only that, in Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Ādi 9.34-36, Caitanya the gardener also gave the following order to Śrīman Nityānanda Prabhu, Śrī Advaita Prabhu and so on, who comprise the tree-trunk, and to the world-wide branches and sub-branches:
ekalā mālākāra āmi kāṅhā kāṅhā yāba |
ekalā bā kata phala pāḍiyā bilāba ||
ekalā uṭhāñā dite haya pariśrama |
keha pāya keha nā pāya rahe mane bhrama ||
ataeba āmi ājñā dila sabākāre |
yāṅhā tāṅhā prema-phala deha yāre tāre ||
“I am a lone gardener; where shall I go? Alone, how much fruit can I pick and give away? Picking and distributing requires great effort. It is confusing to know who should get it and who should not. Therefore, I order all of you to just give this prema-fruit to everyone, wherever you go.”
The most wonderful and generous prema-desire-tree and prema-fruit-giver Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya gave madhura-prema, filled with the sweetness of Vraja, or the prema of mañjarī-bhāva in the form of śrī-rādhā-dāsya, to the whole world, regardless of whether the recipients were deserving or not, or performed sādhana or not. Therefore, without worshiping him, no one is able to taste vraja-prema-mādhurī. Śrīla Kavirāja Gosvāmī wrote the following in Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Antya 17.67-69:
adbhuta nigūḍha premera mādhurya-mahimā |
āpani āsvādi prabhu dekhāila sīmā ||
adbhuta dayālu caitanya, adbhuta badānya |
aiche dayālu dātā loke nāhi śuni anya ||
sarba-bhābe bhaja loka! caitanya-caraṇa |
yāhā haite pābe kṛṣṇa-premāmṛta-dhana ||
“Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu personally experienced the glories of the wondrous, profound sweetness of prema and showed us the limit. He is amazingly compassionate and generous. We have not heard of a more merciful or charitable person in the world. O humanity, worship the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and attain the treasure of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s nectarous love.”
Then Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya said, braja-rāja-nandana, rādhikāra prāṇa-dhana, aparūpa ei saba kathā. Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the son of the king of Vraja and the treasure of Śrī Rādhikā’s life, incarnated as Śrī Gaurāṅga. In the mood of a bhakta, he personally tasted vraja-prema-mādhurī and then gave it to the world. Everything about this topic is amazing. The following is written in Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Ādi 17.302-306:
teṅho śyāma baṁśī-mukha gopa-bilāsī |
iṅho gaura—kabhu dvija kabhu ta sannyāsī ||
ataeba āpane prabhu gopī-bhāba dhari’ |
brajendra-nandane kahe—‘prāṇa-nātha’ kari’ ||
sei kṛṣṇa sei gopī—parama birodha |
acintya-caritra prabhura—ati sudurbodha ||
ithe tarka kari’ keho nā kara saṁśaya |
kṛṣṇera acintya-śakti ei mata haya ||
acintya adbhuta kṛṣṇa-caitanya-bihāra |
citra bhāba, citra guṇa, citra byabahāra ||
“There, he has a dark complexion, plays the flute and sports with the cowherds. Here, he is golden. He acts sometimes as a brāhmaṇa and sometimes as a sannyāsī. Therefore, after personally accepting the mood of a gopī, Mahāprabhu called out to Vrajendranandana, ‘O lord of my life!’ He is Kṛṣṇa, but he is also a gopī. It is a great contradiction. Mahāprabhu’s inconceivable nature is difficult to comprehend. We should not argue or entertain doubt about this. Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s acintya-śakti is like this. Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya’s pastimes are inconceivable and astonishing: amazing moods, amazing qualities and amazing behavior.”
