उज्जागरं रसिकनागरसङ्गरङ्गैः
कुञ्जोदरे कृतवती नु मुदा रजन्याम् ।
सुस्नापिता हि मधुनैव सुभोजिता त्वं
राधे कदा स्वपिषि मत्करलालिताङ्घ्रिः ॥ १७ ॥
ujjāgaraṁ rasika-nāgara-saṅga-raṅgaiḥ
kuñjodare kṛtavatī nu mudā rajanyām |
susnāpitā hi madhunaiva subhojitā tvaṁ
rādhe kadā svapiṣi mat-kara-lālitāṅghriḥ || 17 ||
“O Rādhā, when will you wake from a joyful night in the bower with your playful lover and let me bathe you, feed you delicious foods and massage your lotus feet as you again drift into pleasant sleep?”
The Service Mood of Rādhā’s Dāsīs
Rasa-Varṣiṇī-Vyākhyā: In the previous verse, Śrīpāda, while absorbed in his spiritual form, has performed wonderful service by uniting Śrī Rādhā, adorned with the ornament of vilāsa, with Śyāmasundara, who was eager for the sweetness of her love. There is a distinct experience of sevā-rasa that sustains the lives of Rādhā’s kiṅkarīs. Without a distinct experience of this cherished substance, they would be attracted by worldly life. Till now, jīvas like us knew nothing of this substance. Seeing everything as our own, we have forgotten Śrī Kṛṣṇa and absorbed our minds in insignificant worldly matters. By their personal behavior, the ācāryas teach their students how to forget the world, take their cherished deities within their hearts and progress in the realm of sādhana. Śrīmat Prabodhānanda Sarasvatīpāda and Śrīla Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmipāda were both intoxicated by rādhā-rasa. Day and night they cried, “Rādhārāṇī! Where are you? I am struggling in the ocean of misery; please save me with your merciful glance!” “Alas, Rādhā! I am drowning in a terrible sea of destruction. Please bless my eyes, even for a moment, with your tender mercy.” “I don’t want to die without seeing you. Please be kind and let me see you once before I die.” By considering the behavior of the ācāryas, the sādhaka should think, “When shall I feel anxious for want of my beloved?” For this reason he comes to Vṛndāvana. Bhajana must be performed after yearning awakens in the heart. The sādhaka’s intense longing causes Śrī Bhagavān to desire the sādhaka’s sevā. Just as a thirsty person wants water, Bhagavān thirsts for bhakti. When he gets the scent of the yearning bhakta’s devotion, Bhagavān comes running. But Śrī Rādhārāṇī’s mercy is boundless. If my soul is somehow beautiful to her, she will undoubtedly come searching for me. And how uniquely beautiful is Śrīpāda Sarasvatīcaraṇa’s soul! With his entire heart he cries out, “When shall I see you ornamented with the bhāva known as vilāsa?”
A vision of the previous līlā reawakens before anxious Śrīpāda’s eyes. After the union of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, the kiṅkarī helped Śrīmatī bathe in the Yamunā and then brought her home. Śrīmatī has been well-bathed! On the one hand, she was bathed in the sweetness of śrī-kṛṣṇa-rasa, while on the other, she was bathed in the cool, invigorating waters of the Yamunā as her kiṅkarī entertained her with rasa-kathā. Having been bathed in both kinds of kṛṣṇāmṛta, Svāminī has truly been well-bathed! When Śyāmasundara left, the kiṅkarī brought her lovesick svāminī home, all the while speaking to her sweetly and reminding her of him. How can she so instinctively serve a girl mad with kṛṣṇa-prema? She understands her svāminī’s heart; only the skillful kiṅkarī can know such sevā. Even the sakhīs don’t have this extraordinary characteristic!
When Śrīmatī arrived at home, the sakhīs and mañjarīs dressed and decorated her as they continued to help her taste śrī-kṛṣṇa-rasa.(1) As they dressed her, the sakhīs told Śrīmatī many stories about Kṛṣṇa. When the decorating was finished, a kiṅkarī quickly fed her. Such abundant affection, or mamatā,(2) is the mark of their prema. In his gambhīrā-līlā, Kali-Pāvanāvatāra(3) Śrīman Mahāprabhu was overwhelmed by tasting the sweetness of Śrī Rādhā’s viraha-rasa. He neither slept nor ate, but was always submerged in tasting kṛṣṇa-kathā with Śrīpāda Svarūpa Dāmodara and Śrīla Rāmānanda Rāya. Prabhu had not slept the entire night; it was past 9 a.m. and he had still not regained external consciousness. His servant Śrīla Govinda Dāsa fell in the dust and rolled about. Crying, he begged Śrīpāda Svarūpa Dāmodara, “Śrīpāda Svarūpa! Please make Prabhu just a little conscious. Alas! The day has passed its third prahara and I have been unable to put even a little water in his mouth.” This is the profound depth of mamatā of one whose life is sevā.
The sakhīs and kiṅkarīs have finished dressing Śrīmatī and fed her some sweets and other foods. Śrīmatī is madhunaiva subhojitā (well-fed with delicious foods). The kiṅkarī knows that Śrīmatī will eat nothing but kṛṣṇādharāmṛta, food that contains the nectar from Kṛṣṇa’s lips. So she gives sweets to her that have been secretly mixed with Kṛṣṇa’s lip-nectar, and Śrīmatī tastes that nectar as though it were directly from him. She distinctly feels the intoxicating power of Kṛṣṇa’s lips. One can comprehend the taste of food, but it is impossible to comprehend the taste of the nectar of Kṛṣṇa’s lips. Some are able, even in Kṛṣṇa’s absence, to experience through deep meditation Kṛṣṇa’s form, rasa and so on as though he were directly present. For such a person, it is also possible to experience the intoxication of direct contact with Kṛṣṇa’s lips by tasting food mixed with his lip-nectar. While in rādhā-bhāva, Śrīman Mahāprabhu became intoxicated by tasting the prasāda from Śrī Jagannātha’s gopāla-vallabha-bhoga offering and taught the devotees that mahāprasāda soaked in Kṛṣṇa’s lip-nectar is truly powerful. Śrī Gaurāṅga was lost in ecstasy while describing the glory of mahāprasāda to the devotees. Sāttvika-vikāras(4) spread throughout his beautiful body. His eyes filled with tears and his limbs erupted in goosebumps. Delirious, in a voice choked with emotion, he said,
tanu-mana kare kṣobha, bāḍāya surata-lobha,
harṣa-śokādi-bhāba bināśaya |
pāsarāya anya rasa, jagat kare ātma-baśa,
lajjā dharma dhairya kare kṣaya ||
nāgara! śuna tomāra adhara carita |
mātāya nārīra mana, jihvā kare ākarṣaṇa,
bicārite saba biparīta ||
“O lover! Listen as I describe the nature of your lips: they agitate one’s body and mind, increase the desire for romance and destroy both joy and sorrow. They cause one to forget any other rasas, bring the whole world under their control and destroy shyness, virtue and patience. They cause women to go mad, attract the tongue and make everything seem to be the opposite of what it is.” (Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Antya 16.121-122)
adharera ei rīti, āra śunaha kunīti,
se adhara-sane yāra melā |
sei bhakṣya-bhojya-pāna, haya amṛta-samāna,
nāma tāra haya kṛṣṇa-phelā ||
se phelāra eka laba, nā pāya debatā saba,
ei dambhe kebā pātiyāya |
bahu-janma puṇya kare, tabe ‘sukṛti’ nāma dhare,
se sukṛti tāra laba pāya ||
“Listen to more about the corrupting influence of these lips: whatever food or drink comes in contact with them becomes just like nectar. That food or drink is called Kṛṣṇa’s leftovers. None of the gods can get even one morsel of those leftovers. Whoever falls for this trickery must perform pious acts for many births, and by that sukṛti, they can then get a small amount.” (Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Antya 16.130-131) No one can comprehend Mahāprabhu’s incoherent state after he has floated so far in the stream of rādhā-bhāva-rasa.
After being nicely fed, Śrīmatī washed her hands and mouth and sat down with her sakhīs. Chewing tāmbūla given by a kiṅkarī, Śrīmatī and her friends sank into the rasa of kṛṣṇa-kathā. In the form of a kiṅkarī, Śrīpāda is thinking that his svāminī needs to take some rest. Śrīmatī had in great happiness spent the previous night in the bower cottage with her rasika lover, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Wide awake (ujjāgaram), without naps or drowsiness, they had passed the night laughing and joking. In the kuñja, there was a bed made of young shoots with tender leaves, with a pillow made of flowers. Śyāmasundara rested his head upon the pillow while Śrīmatī used his left arm as her pillow. Lying on their sides, they faced one another and talked, admired the other’s beauty, laughed and pushed each other. So much rasa! Their hearts and minds flowed toward infinity in a stream of mutual love! Therefore they were wide awake. A kiṅkarī said, “Svāminī! You have been awake all night; you should take a little rest.” The sakhīs commended the kiṅkarī: “She knows how to serve you correctly; we had forgotten that you need to rest. Go now, Sakhī! Go take a nap.” Holding Śrīmatī’s hand, the kiṅkarī took her to a bed of roses she had prepared and made her lie down. To remind her of Śyāma, the kiṅkarī covered Śrīmatī’s body with a black cādara (shawl). In his kiṅkarī form, Śrīpāda has gotten the good fortune of massaging Śrīmatī’s lotus feet. She is massaging them with the utmost tenderness. The word lālana means “affectionate service.” The kiṅkarī feels gratified seeing the beauty of Śrīmatī’s feet. Svāminī falls asleep. The kiṅkarī sometimes holds Svāminī’s feet to her bosom and sometimes kisses them. There is no limit to the joy of such a fortunate maidservant. Suddenly, the vision ends. In sādhaka consciousness, he humbly prays to obtain that sevā. rādhe kadā svapiṣi mat-kara-lālitāṅghriḥ?
1. See the fourth chapter of Śrīpāda Viśvanātha Cakravartipāda’s Śrī-Kṛṣṇa-Bhāvanāmṛtam for a description of Śrī Rādhā’s dressing and so on in the early morning.
2. Considering a person or thing as one’s own (Samsad)
3. The incarnation that rescues us from the age of Kali
4. External manifestations of internal ecstasies
No comments:
Post a Comment