Śrī Śrī Prema-Bhakti-Candrikā 97 (comm. by Śrī Anantadāsa Bābājī Mahārāja)

জগৎ ব্যাপক হরি,        অজ ভব-আজ্ঞাকারী,

মধুর মূরতি লীলাকথা ।

এই তত্ত্ব জানে যেই,        পরম উত্তম সেই,

তার সঙ্গ করিব সর্বথা ॥ ৯৭ ॥

jagat byāpaka hari,        aja bhaba-ājñākārī,

madhura mūrati līlā-kathā |

ei tattva jāne yei,        parama uttama sei,

tāra saṅga kariba sarbathā || 97 ||

     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.

Svarūpa, Aiśvarya and Mādhurya-Tattvas

     Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: Longing for the association of a great bhakta who is devoted to mādhurya and is expert in Śrī Bhagavān’s svarūpa, aiśvarya and mādhurya-tattvas, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya says, jagat byāpaka hari, aja bhaba-ājñākārī, madhura mūrati līlā-kathā. Jagat byāpaka hari (Hari pervades the universe) indicates Śrī Bhagavān’s svarūpa (nature, character); aja bhaba-ājñākārī (he is its eternal ruler) indicates his aiśvarya (power) and madhura mūrati līlā-kathā (his pastimes embody his sweetness) indicates his mādhurya (sweetness or charm). Śrīmat Jīva Gosvāmipāda has written, bhagavāṁs tāvad asādhāraṇa-svarūpaiśvarya-mādhuryas tattva-viśeṣaḥ. tatra svarūpaṁ paramānanda aiśvaryam asamordhvānanta-svābhāvika-prabhutā, mādhuryam asamordhvatayā sarva-manoharaṁ svābhāvika-rūpa-guṇa-līlādi sauṣṭhavam (Laghu-Toṣaṇī commentary on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.12.11). Bhagavān is the name of a particular type of tattva composed of extraordinary nature, power and sweetness. Paramānanda or supreme joy is Śrī Bhagavān’s svarūpa; unequalled, boundless, innate power* is his aiśvarya; the excellence of his incomparable natural beauty, qualities, pastimes and so on, or the quality of being attractive to all, is his mādhurya. By using the word paramānanda, Śrī Jīva has indicated the world-pervading brahma. The svarūpa or nature of brahma is saccidānanda, which has been described in various places in the śruti: saccidānanda-mayaṁ parabrahma; sarva-pūrṇa-rūpo’smi saccidānanda-lakṣaṇaḥ; satyaṁ jñānam ānandaṁ brahma; vijñānam ānandaṁ brahma and so on. Therefore, paramānanda is understood to refer to the omnipresent brahma-tattva. This is Śrī Bhagavān’s nature. By saying jagat byāpaka hari, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya has ascertained the svarūpa-tattva of Śrī Hari.

     By the words aja bhaba-ājñākārī, the author refers to Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s aiśvarya, or his incomparable, boundless, natural power. brahmādi-paribhāvaka-prabhāvo hi aiśvaryam (Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa). “The governing power possessed by Brahmā, Śiva and others is called aiśvarya.” 

     According to the statement by Śrī Jīva, the excellence of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s all-alluring natural beauty, qualities, pastimes and so on is his mādhurya, which Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya expresses as madhura mūrati līlā-kathā. Truly, incomparable character and power are present in Svayaṁ Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the embodiment of sweetness. Sweetness rests upon a foundation of character and power. Without character and power, the attractiveness of form and pastimes alone is not mādhurya. If it were, even the charm of an ordinary boy restless for play would be called mādhurya.

     Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartipāda wrote the following in his Rāga-Vartma-Candrikā (Dvitīya-Prakāśa): mahaiśvaryasya dyotane vādyotane ca nara-līlatvānatikramo mādhuryam. yathā pūtanā-prāṇa-hāritve’pi stana-cūṣaṇa-lakṣaṇa-nara-bāla-līlatvam eva. mahākaṭhora-śakaṭa-spotane’py ati-sukumāra-caraṇa-traimāsikyottānaśāyi-bāla-līlatvam. mahādīrgha-dāmāśakya-bandhatve’pi mātṛ-bhīti-vaiklavyam. brahma-baladevādi mohane’pi sarva-jñatve’pi vatsa-cāraṇa-līlatvam. tathā aiśvarya-sattva eva tasyādyotane dadhi-paya-cauryaṁ gopa-strī-lāmpaṭyādikam. “Whether his divinity is being manifested or not, as long as the appropriate mood for his human pastimes is not violated, that is called mādhurya. For example, even while Śrī Kṛṣṇa was killing Pūtanā, he sucked her breast like a human child. Although Mother Yaśodā found it impossible to tie him with a rope, he was overwhelmed with fear of her. In the brahma-mohana-līlā, the omniscient Bhagavān of the śruti personally went searching for a calf, as though he were uninformed. While bewildering Brahmā, Baladeva and others, he revealed his sweet pastime of grazing the calves. Moreover, though possessing endless power, without revealing any of it he entered the cowherds’ homes and stole their yogurt, butter and so on. Because of this, he is known in śāstra as navanīta-caura, the butter thief. After attracting the young gopīs with his charming form and the sound of his flute, he became known as gopa-strī-lampaṭa, the gopīs’ debauchee.” By the power of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s acintya-śakti,** omniscience and innocence exist in him simultaneously. This is not surprising because divinity is the shelter of mutually opposed dharmas. Śrīpāda Līlāśuka has written, maugdhye ca sārva-jñe ca sārva-bhaumam idaṁ mahaḥ. “Sovereignty over all, whether in innocence or omniscience: this is power.”

     Regarding the sādhana for realizing svarūpa, aiśvarya and mādhurya, Śrī Jīva Gosvāmipāda wrote, tat-tad-anubhava-sādhanaṁ ca krameṇa jñānaṁ jñeyaṁ bhaktyākhya gaurava-miśrā-prītiḥ śuddha-prītiś ca. Through jñāna-sādhana, svarūpa is realized; through love mixed with the awe and reverence of aiśvarya-bhāva, aiśvarya is realized; and through pure love or vraja-prema, mādhurya is realized. In the absence of these three kinds of sādhanas, the māyā-bound human has no realization of any of the three tattvas. Śrī Bhagavān said, nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yogamāyā-samāvṛtaḥ (Śrī-Bhagavad-Gītā 7.25). “O Arjuna, concealed by my yogamāyā, I am not revealed to everyone.” 

     When the bhaktas who possess aiśvarya-jñāna experience Śrī Hari’s majesty, they feel awe and reverence and their relationships with him loosen. But the nature of the Vrajavāsīs’ pure mādhurya-jñāna is such that even though they may witness hundreds of his divine attributes, they will feel no awe or hesitation in their hearts or minds and their relationships with him will not loosen. Rather, their relationships with him become closer. dekhile nā māne aiśvarya kebalāra rīti (Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Madhya 19.194). “Even if one sees aiśvarya, he does not consider it so. This is the way of pure bhakti.” In Vraja, beginning from Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s childhood pastimes up to the rāsa-līlā, the crown jewel of all pastimes, vast aiśvarya has been manifested; it is inconceivable. But to the Vrajavāsīs, all these appear as though adorned with boundless mādhurya. Glowing testimony has been given of his countless pastimes such as the killing of Pūtanā, Tṛṇāvarta, Bakāsura and Aghāsura; the bewilderment of Brahmā; the subduing of Kāliya; consuming the forest fire; lifting Govardhana and so on. Śrīpāda Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa has written the following in his book Siddhānta-Ratna: mādhurya-jñāna-niṣṭhānām aiśvarya-jñānaṁ triveṇyāṁ sarasvatī-pravāhavad-gauṇatayāsti. virahe vismaye vipadi ca tasyodaya-parvaṇi sārasvatasyeva pravāhasya. Like the current of the Sarasvatī in the Triveṇī,*** aiśvarya-jñāna resides secondarily in the vraja-bhaktas who are fixed in mādhurya-jñāna. Just as the current of the Sarasvatī briefly manifests at auspicious times like the full moon day, in the same way, when the Vrajavāsīs experience separation, bewilderment and difficulty, aiśvarya-jñāna manifests for a short time to bless them with the forbearance necessary to sustain their lives. But in this also, there is no awe or hesitation in their minds because Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s aiśvarya vanishes to the unfathomable floor of the Vrajavāsīs’ vast ocean of mādhurya and nourishes it. They continuously enjoy the happiness of swimming in Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s immense ocean of sweetness.

     Not to speak of Kṛṣṇa’s eternal associates in Vraja, his ever-fresh mādhurya appeared in Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura, a sādhaka-jīva whose eyes had been smeared with the ointment of devotional love. Even today, his book Śrī-Kṛṣṇa-Karṇāmṛta continues to give his glowing testimony; it can be described as an endless fountain of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s mādhurya-rasa. How can the poet completely express in language the awakening of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s sweetness in his heart? Perhaps one percent has been communicated through words. But even language is ultimately brought to a standstill and he can only repeat the words madhuram madhuram madhuram madhuram (sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet). This is the highest stage in the realization of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s mādhurya. After Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s sweetness is revealed to the rasika devotees fixed in mādhurya, for them the whole world becomes beautiful, full of flavor and as mellow as honey. Above, below, in front and behind them—in every direction—endless, billowy waves surge and fall in a great ocean of sweetness. The premika devotees forget about their bodies and homes and dive deeply into the waves of mādhurya. This the highest and final stage of vraja-rasa worship, the last frontier in the realization of Śrī Bhagavān, because mādhurya is the essence of the divine nature. Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Madhya 21.110:

mādhurya bhagabattā-sāra, braje kaila paracāra, tāṅhā śuka byāsera nandana |

sthāne sthāne bhāgabate, barṇiyāche nānā-mate, yāhā śuni’ māte bhakta-gaṇa ||

     “Mādhurya is the essence of divinity. It was introduced in Vraja. Śuka, the son of Vyāsa, described it in different places in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in various ways. Hearing this, the devotees are filled with joy.”

     Even though Śrī Śuka Muni has described Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s mādhurya in various places in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the essence of all the Vedas, until now, the door to that storehouse of mādhurya had been closed to the sādhakas of the world. Wanting to experience his own incomparable sweetness, Vrajendranandana accepted Śrī Rādhā’s mood and complexion and incarnated as Śrī Gaurāṅga. He personally relished as much of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s mādhurī as he desired, and after opening the door of that mystical storehouse of sweetness, he freely gave its contents to the jīvas punished by kali-yuga. Moreover, it is through the mercy of Śrī Rūpa, Śrī Sanātana and the other Gosvāmīs sheltered at Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s lotus feet that the experience of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s sweetness is possible. They established the jeweled temple of madhura-bhajana on the firm foundation of scriptural logic and their own realizations. Every day they submerged themselves in bhajana-rasa, entered the world of meditation and relished Śrī Bhagavān’s mādhurī-rasa. This they taught to the sādhakas of the world through their own behavior. 

     Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya said, ei tattva jāne yei, parama uttama sei, tāra saṅga kariba sarbathā. The rasika-bhaktas, who are expert in all these mystical doctrines, are the greatest devotees and provide  valuable association. Those sādhakas who long to taste Śrī Bhagavān’s mādhurya-rasa must always seek  the company of such great bhaktas.

*Author’s footnote: “The burning capacity of fire is natural or innate. It is not incidental like the burning power of an iron bar that has been in contact with fire.”

**Inconceivable power

***The confluence of the Gaṅgā, Yamunā and Sarasvatī at Allahabad

Śrī Śrī Prema-Bhakti-Candrikā 96 (comm. by Śrī Anantadāsa Bābājī Mahārāja)

জ্ঞান কর্ম করে লোক,        নাহি জানে ভক্তি যোগ,

নানা-মতে হইয়া অজ্ঞান ।

তার কথা নাহি শুনি,        পরমার্থ-তত্ত্ব জানি,

প্রেমভক্তি ভক্তগণ-প্রাণ ॥ ৯৬ ॥

jñāna karma kare loka,        nāhi jāne bhakti yoga,

nānā-mate haiyā ajñāna |

tāra kathā nāhi śuni,        paramārtha-tattva jāni,

prema-bhakti bhakta-gaṇa-prāṇa || 96 ||

टीका—नाहि शुनि–श्रवणं  न कुर्याम् । परमार्थ तत्त्व जानि–परमार्थ-तत्त्वं ज्ञातव्यम् ॥

     Those who know nothing of bhakti devote themselves to jñāna, karma or yoga. They do not understand the nature, form, qualities and benefits of bhakti. Avoid even hearing about such people. They should learn that bhakti is the supreme truth. Prema-bhakti is the life of the devotees.

Supreme Truth

     Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: In the establishment of prema-bhakti as a genuine spiritual truth, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya first speaks about people who are uneducated regarding bhakti-tattva. jñāna karma kare loka, nāhi jāne bhakti yoga, nānā-mate haiyā ajñāna. Those who are unacquainted with the doctrine of bhakti take shelter of karma, jñāna, yoga and so on. In speaking about karma and the others in the sovereign Śrīmad-Bhagavad-Gītā, Śrī Bhagavān has ascertained the devoted bhakta to be the greatest yogī (6.46-47):

tapasvibhyo’dhiko yogī

jñānibhyo’pi mato’dhikaḥ |

karmibhyaś cādhiko yogī

tasmād yogī bhavārjuna ||

yoginām api sarveṣāṁ

mad-gatenāntarātmanā |

śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ

sa me yuktatamo mataḥ ||

     “O Arjuna! The yogīs are superior to the karmīs, the ascetics, and the jñānīs who meditate upon nirguṇa-brahma. Therefore, become a yogī. Among all types of yogīs, the practitioner of bhakti-yoga, meaning one who worships me with faith, is the best of all.”

     Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya says, nānā-mate haiyā ajñāna. Without understanding the nature, form, qualities and benefits of bhakti, the foolish person abandons bhakti-sādhana and devotes himself to the sādhanas for karma, jñāna and so on. In the commentary on the previous verse, we discussed a little about bhakti being the essential function of the hlādinī and saṁvit aspects of Śrī Bhagavān’s svarūpa-śakti or innate power. Quoting statements from the śruti, Śrīpāda Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa has written, vijñāna-ghana ānanda-ghana saccidānandaika-rase bhakti-yoge tiṣṭhatīti śruteḥ (Gopāla-Tāpanī) itarathā bhagavad-vaśīkara-hetur asau na syāt. tathābhūtāyās tasyā bhakta-kāyādir vṛtte tādātmya nāvirbhūtāyākriyākārātvam. “Deep perception and concentrated joy reside in bhakti-yoga, the embodiment of saccidānanda-rasa. Without this, bhakti could never be the cause of Śrī Bhagavān’s subjugation. Though being the essential faculty of Śrī Bhagavān’s innate hlādinī and saṁvit energies, bhakti appears in and unites with the functions of the senses of a bhakta sheltered at Śrī Bhagavān’s lotus feet and remains active therein.” Śrīpāda Vidyābhūṣaṇa said, sā tathā-bhūtā nitya-dhāmni nitya-pārṣadeṣu nityaṁ cakāsti sura-sarid iva tad-bhakta-praṇālyā prapañce’vatarati. When the jīva’s heart is purified by śravaṇa-kīrtana and so on, the prema-bhakti present in Śrī Bhagavān’s eternal associates descends like the current of the Mandākinī through the channel of sādhu-bhaktas into the phenomenal world. It then enters the heart of the jīva and causes the ever-perfect kṛṣṇa-prema to appear. Therefore, in karma, jñāna and so on, the sādhya (goal) and sādhana (means of attainment) are different, but in bhakti, sādhya and sādhana are the same. Someone may say, sādhyate’nena, “That by which a result is obtained is called a sādhana, and sādhyate’sau, meaning that which is obtained by an action is a sādhya. If this is so, how can sādhana and sādhya be the same?” Those who understand the above mentioned conclusion (that sādhana and sādhya are the same in bhakti) will see that the first appearance of Śrī Bhagavān’s self-manifesting energy named bhakti, which is composed of consciousness and joy, is called sādhana, and its second appearance is called sādhya. This is the great difference between this transcendental bhakti-sādhana and other sādhanas.

     Regarding the form, nature and so on of bhakti, the following is written in the seventy-eighth anuccheda of Prīti-Sandarbha: nikhila-paramānanda-candrikā-candramasi sakala-bhuvana-saubhāgya-sāra-sarvasva-sattva-guṇopajīvyānanta-vilāsamayāmāyika-viśuddha-sattvānavaratollāsād asamordhva-madhure śrī-bhagavati katham api cittāvatārād anapekṣita-vidhiḥ svarasata eva samullasantī viṣayāntarair anavacchedyā tātparyāntaram asahamānā hlādinī-sāra-vṛtti-viśeṣa-svarūpā bhagavad-ānukūlyātmaka-tad-anugata-tat-spṛhādimaya-jñāna-viśeṣākārā tādṛśa-bhakta-manovṛtti-viśeṣa-dehā pīyūṣa-pūrato’pi sarasena svenaiva svadehaṁ sarasayantī bhakta-kṛtātma-rahasya-saṅgopana-guṇamaya-rasanā bāṣpa-muktādi-vyakta-pariṣkārā sarva-guṇaika-nidhāna-svabhāvā dāsī-kṛtāśeṣa-puruṣārtha-sampattikā bhagavat-pātivratya-vrata-varyāparyākulā bhagavan-manoharaṇaikopāyahāri-rūpā bhagavati bhāgavatī prītis tam upasevamānā virājata iti. “Divine love (bhakti) is the moon whose rays are supreme joy; she is the greatest blessing on the world. She is the shelter of sattva-guṇa, the material quality of goodness. Because of the continuous delight of the endless, pleasure-filled, transcendental viśuddha-sattva, if she somehow thinks of the incomparably sweet Śrī Bhagavān, without relying on any rule or method she naturally feels joy. She is not obstructed by anything. She cannot tolerate other intentions. She embodies the essential faculty of hlādinī. She takes the form of a type of jñāna that is by nature favorable to Bhagavān and desires to attain him. Her body is the mind of the bhakta, and being herself filled with nectar, she invests it with nectar. Her beautiful necklace is the bhaktas’ concealment of her mystery, adorned with their pearl-like tears. Her nature is that she is a treasure house of all good qualities. She has made endless wealth and the other objects of human pursuit her maidservants. She is always ardent in her firm vow of devotion to Śrī Bhagavān, like a wife to her husband. Stealing Śrī Bhagavān’s mind is her only activity. Such divine love always serves Śrī Bhagavān in many ways.” If after learning about all these qualities of bhakti from sādhu and śāstra, will anyone disregard the shelter of bhakti-sādhana and devote himself to the sādhana of karma or jñāna? Would a thirsty person abandon an ocean of nectar and run after a mirage? Would a person wanting milk leave behind a kāmadhenu and accept the refuge of a donkey? Therefore, those who give up the shelter of bhagavad-bhakti and devote themselves to the sādhanas of karma, jñāna and so on are foolish people, thoroughly deceived by māyā. Of this there is no doubt.

     Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya says, tāra kathā nāhi śuni, paramārtha-tattva jāni, prema-bhakti bhakta-gaṇa-prāṇa. Those who desire good fortune should never associate with people who have abandoned the nectarous bhakti-sādhana and dedicated themselves to karma and jñāna. Not to speak of associating, they should not even hear about them. They must understand that prema-bhakti is the supreme truth or highest human goal. When Śrīman Mahāprabhu was in the assembly of sannyāsīs in Kāśī, he refuted the jñāna-based interpretation of Vedānta and gave his own based on bhakti. Then, while establishing prema as the highest human goal, he said the following in Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Ādi 7.144-145:

pañcama-puruṣārtha sei prema-mahādhana |

kṛṣṇera mādhurya-rasa karāya āsvādana ||

premā haite kṛṣṇa haya nija-bhakta-baśa |

premā haite pāi kṛṣṇa-sebā-sukha-rasa ||

     “This great treasure of prema is the fifth goal of human life; it causes one to taste Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s mādhurya-rasa. Due to prema, Kṛṣṇa becomes charmed by his devotee. Due to prema, the devotee gets the nectar of joyful service to Kṛṣṇa.”

     Therefore, prema-bhakti is the life of the bhaktas. Constantly longing for prema-bhakti, they enthusiastically pass their time engaged in devotional life. In a previous verse, it was said, jala binu yena mīna, duḥkha pāya āyu-hīna, prema binu eimata bhakta. “As a fish without water suffers and then dies, so does a bhakta without prema.”

Śrī Śrī Prema-Bhakti-Candrikā 95 (comm. by Śrī Anantadāsa Bābājī Mahārāja)

রাধাকৃষ্ণে নাহি রতি,        অন্য দেবে বলে পতি,

প্রেমভক্তি-রীতি নাহি জানে ।

নাহি ভক্তির সন্ধান,        ভরমে করয়ে ধ্যান,

বৃথা তার এ ছার জীবনে ॥ ৯৫ ॥

rādhā-kṛṣṇe nāhi rati,        anya debe bale pati,

prema-bhakti-rīti nāhi jāne |

nāhi bhaktira sandhāna,        bharame karaye dhyāna,

bṛthā tāra e chāra jībane || 95 ||

     They have no love for Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa; they call other gods Lord; they know nothing of the practices of prema-bhakti. Without inquiring into bhakti, they meditate in illusion. Their lives are useless.

Useless Lives

     Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: In the previous verse, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya established the insignificance of karma and jñāna. Now, worshipers of other devas and devīs can say that they are also bhaktas, that even though they do not worship Śrī Hari, they will be blessed by worshiping other gods. After observing them, he says, rādhā-kṛṣṇe nāhi rati, anya debe bale pati, prema-bhakti-rīti nāhi jāne. Bhakti is the essential function of the hlādinī (joy) and saṁvit (consciousness) aspects of Śrī Bhagavān’s svarūpa-śakti (natural power). Therefore, bhakti is composed of sac-cid-ānanda (existence, consciousness and joy); she is not like the dull mental faculty of a human being. Even for a sādhaka, bhakti’s true nature is not diminished. Though being a function of Śrī Bhagavān’s svarūpa-śakti, she mercifully appears in the mind and senses of the bhaktas who have taken shelter at Śrī Hari’s lotus feet and manifests herself in the form of activities like śravaṇa-kīrtana and so on. Śrī Jīva Gosvāmipāda wrote the following in the section of Prīti-Sandarbha* that defines the nature of bhakti: atha śrutau ca ‘bhaktir evainaṁ nayati bhaktir evainaṁ darśayati, bhakti-vaśaḥ puruṣo bhaktir eva bhūyasī’ iti śrūyate. tasmād evaṁ vivicyate. yā caivaṁ bhagavantaṁ svānandena madayati, sā kiṁ lakṣaṇā syād iti. na tāvat sāṁkhyānām iva prākṛta-sattvamaya-māyikānanda-rūpā, bhagavato māyānabhibhāvyatva-śruteḥ, svatas tṛptatvāc ca. na ca nirviśeṣa-vādinām iva bhagavat-svarūpānanda-rūpā, atiśayānupapatteḥ. ato natarāṁ jīvasya svarūpānanda-rūpā, atyanta-kṣudratvāt tasya. tato ‘hlādinī sandhinī saṁvit tvayy ekā sarva-saṁśraye. hlāda-tāpa-karī miśrā tvayi no guṇa-varjite’ iti śrī-viṣṇu-purāṇānusāreṇa hlādinyākhya-tadīya-svarūpa-śaktyānanda-rūpaivety avaśiṣyate, yayā khalu bhagavān svarūpānanda-viśeṣī bhavati… tasyā hlādinyā eva kāpi sarvānandātiśāyinī vṛttir nityaṁ bhakta-vṛndeṣv eva nikṣipyamāṇā bhagavat-prītyākhyayā vartate. atas tad-anubhavena śrī-bhagavān api śrīmad-bhakteṣu prīty-atiśayaṁ bhajata iti. “It has been said in the śruti, ‘Bhakti carries the devotee to the Lord’s abode and gives her darśana of the Lord.’ Śrī Bhagavān is charmed by bhakti. Bhakti is the best sādhana for attaining Bhagavān. Now the consideration is, what is the indication that bhakti’s inherent joy causes Śrī Bhagavān to feel pleasure? Bhakti is not some illusory happiness pervaded by ordinary sattva-guṇa, as the followers of sāṁkhya teach. No one anywhere says that Śrī Bhagavān is controlled by māyā. Bhakti is also not Śrī Bhagavān’s innate joy (svarūpānanda), as the proponents of nirviśeṣa-vāda say. He gets more pleasure from bhakti than he gets from his natural bliss. Bhakti is also not the manifestation of the jīva’s natural joy, because that is insignificant. Therefore, ‘O Lord, your three kinds of innate spiritual powers—hlādinī, sandhinī and saṁvit—dwell in you alone, who govern them all. The mundane energies of goodness, passion and ignorance do not exist in you, who are beyond the modes of nature.’ According to this statement from Śrī-Viṣṇu-Purāṇa, the only thing left is Śrī Bhagavān’s ultimate transcendental energy, called hlādinī, the joyful aspect of his svarūpa-śakti. Its inherent power is bhakti, through which Śrī Bhagavān, though being the embodiment of joy, enjoys a special type of joy and also gives it to others. After being deposited in the bhaktas, this power of hlādinī, which surpasses all in joy, remains eternally as love of God. When Śrī Bhagavān feels the bhaktas’ affection, he also serves them with abundant love.”

     It is clear from this statement that the name bhakti is not given to love for a deva or devī other than Śrī Hari. Therefore, those who worship other devatās as Lord and think of themselves as bhaktas know neither the methods nor nature of prema-bhakti. When kṛṣṇa-bhaktas selflessly serve and worship Śrī Kṛṣṇa to give him joy, his svarūpa-śakti faculty hlādinī enters into the bhaktas’ hearts and minds and creates a particular condition called prema that is very pleasing to Kṛṣṇa. Without this, hlādinī’s purpose is not fulfilled because inducing Śrī Kṛṣṇa to relish the bhaktas’ joyful love is her function. Therefore, those who maintain desires and longings for things of this world or the next also worship Śrī Kṛṣṇa, but hlādinī cannot come to them. Hence, it has been said, bhukti mukti siddhi-bāñchā mane yadi raya, sādhana karileo prema utpanna nā haya (Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Madhya 19.175). The worshipers of other devas and devīs bear desires for pleasure, wealth and so on in this world and the next. They serve the gods and goddesses, thinking themselves to be bhaktas. Needless to say, they know nothing about the practices or natural dharma of prema-bhakti.

     Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya therefore says, nāhi bhaktira sandhāna, bharame karaye dhyāna, bṛthā tāra e chāra jībane. They do not ask, “What is the nature of bhakti? What are its properties?” Still, due to illusion, they meditate on devas and devīs. Like worldly people, karmīs and jñānīs, their lives are also useless.

*Verse 65

Śrī Śrī Prema-Bhakti-Candrikā 94 (comm. by Śrī Anantadāsa Bābājī Mahārāja)

জ্ঞানকাণ্ড কর্মকাণ্ড,        কেবলি বিষের ভাণ্ড,

অমৃত বলিয়া যেবা খায় ।

নানা যোনি সদা ফিরে,        কদর্য ভক্ষণ করে,

তার জন্ম অধঃপাতে যায় ॥ ৯৪ ॥

jñāna-kāṇḍa karma-kāṇḍa,        kebali biṣera bhāṇḍa,

amṛta baliyā yebā khāya |

nānā yoni sadā phire,        kadarya bhakṣaṇa kare,

tāra janma adhaḥ-pāte yāya || 94 ||

     Those who follow jñāna-kāṇḍa and karma-kāṇḍa only drink pots of poison, thinking them to be nectar. They continually rotate through various wombs, eating all kinds of abominable foods. The human birth itself is the cause of their downfall.

Pots of Poison

     Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya has described true success in life through his instruction to perform yugala-bhajana under the shelter of sādhu and śāstra, free from attachment to the mortal human form. Karmīs and jñānīs may think, “But can human life not be blessed with the right to heavenly happiness and the joy of liberation through the practices mentioned in the jñāna-kāṇḍa and karma-kāṇḍa of the Vedas?” Although in verse ninety-two Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya described earthly life, heaven, hell and liberation all as a great calamity for the jīva, still, due to the likelihood of such a question, he again says, jñāna-kāṇḍa karma-kāṇḍa, kebali biṣera bhāṇḍa, amṛta baliyā yebā khāya. Generally, the Vedas are divided into two parts: karma-kāṇḍa and jñāna-kāṇḍa. The part that discusses yajñas and other rituals is called the karma-kāṇḍa. The part bearing the philosophical Āraṇyakas and Upaniṣads is the jñāna-kāṇḍa. The pūrva-mīmāṁsā and uttara-mīmāṁsā philosophies were composed with the help of the karma-kāṇḍa and jñāna-kāṇḍa. According to the karma-mīmāṁsā doctrine created by Maharṣi Jaimini, it is karma that is being taught in the Vedas; talk of jñāna is unnecessary. The Jaimini-Sūtra says, āmnāyasya kriyārthatvāt ānarthakyam atad-arthānām. “Because karma is being propounded in the Vedas, any statements other than those concerning rituals are irrelevant. The entire Veda is composed of precepts and prohibitions. Therefore, wherever statements like satyaṁ jñānam anantaṁ brahma* are seen in the Upaniṣads, they are merely words of praise.”

     On the other hand, in the brahma-mīmāṁsā created by Maharṣi Bādarāyaṇa we see that it is jñāna that is being taught in the Vedas. Although Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya refuted the doctrine of combined karma and jñāna,** Śrīpāda Rāmānuja has taught that the desire to obtain brahma-jñāna arises after first having knowledge of karma. When a person realizes the transient and meager fruits of performing numerous rituals, meaning when he understands that even though he has performed many laborious fire sacrifices and so on, when his puṇya (accumulated virtue) decays, he falls from the pleasurable heavens and is reborn into the mortal world. Then he feels remorse for his actions and wants to understand the eternal brahma in order to obtain everlasting peace. Śruti also says, nirvedam āyān nāsty akṛtaḥ kṛtena, meaning that mokṣa or liberation is not obtained through karma or action. After considering this, a person devoted to brahma will become indifferent to the world. 

     Śrīpāda Bodhāyanācārya, the author of a commentary on vedānta, has said, vṛttāt karmādhigamād anantaraṁ brahma-vividiṣā. After a person gains knowledge of karma, the desire to know brahma arises. The brahma-mīmāṁsā (Śārīraka-Sūtra) combined with Jaimini’s karma-mīmāṁsā is complete in sixteen chapters: twelve chapters of pūrva (earlier or karma)-mīmāṁsā and four of uttara (later or brahma)-mīmāṁsā. Actually, both mīmāṁsās are one śāstra, but are divided into two topics, karma and brahma, and are known by these names.

     In Śrī-Bhagavad-Gītā, Śrī Bhagavān recommends that people perform selfless karma-yoga to purify their hearts and minds. The jīva, whose ignorance has no beginning, cannot refrain from action for even a moment; he is compelled to act. Moreover, he must act in a way that does not create bondage again. This has been referred to in the Gītā as yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam. If a person performs his daily and occasional duties as directed by Śrī Bhagavān, having no desire for the fruits of such actions, those very actions will bring success to such a jīva averse to Śrī Bhagavān. He is given the most auspicious result of all, meaning he is brought to a state of eagerness for Bhagavān. Bhakti will then gradually blossom in his heart, which has been corrupted by the saṁskāras of beginningless actions.

     The jñānī, after resolving to attain brahma-sāyujya,*** continuously performs jñāna-sādhana. When by the spontaneous mercy of a great soul he gets a taste of bhakti or bhajana-rasa, he then realizes, brahmānando bhaved eṣa cet parārdha-guṇī-kṛtaḥ, naiti bhakti-sukhāmbhodheḥ paramāṇu tulām api. “If the joy of brahma were multiplied a hundred thousand billion times, it would not equal even a drop of the ocean of devotional happiness.” He then abandons his infatuation with brahmānanda and becomes a pure bhakta. In this way, to lead all the karmīs and jñānīs to the temple of bhakti, the Vedas have given instructions in karma and jñāna for those who are thus qualified. Therefore, the real intention of the benevolent Vedas or the Veda-knowing sages is to establish all jīvas on the bhakti-mārga, the path of true benefit for them. Unable to comprehend the hidden intention of the Vedas, those who consider karma, jñāna and so on to be different ways of bringing auspiciousness to mankind remain engaged in their respective sādhanas and do not accept the shelter of bhakti. They continue performing acts of great delusion, drinking pots of poison, thinking them to be nectar. Instead of getting joy, they get burning poison; instead of immortality, they are swallowed by the gaping mouth of repeated birth and death. These jīvas are truly deceived by māyā.

     In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.14.1-2, Śrī Uddhava Mahāśaya asked Śrī Kṛṣṇa the following:

vadanti kṛṣṇa śreyāṁsi bahūni brahma-vādinaḥ |

teṣāṁ vikalpa-prādhānyam utāho eka-mukhyatā ||

bhavatodāhṛtaḥ svāmin bhakti-yogo’napekṣitaḥ |

nirasya sarvataḥ saṅgaṁ yena tvayy āviśen manaḥ ||

     “O Kṛṣṇa! The ṛṣis who propound the Vedas have described various types of beneficial sādhanas for human beings, including karma, jñāna, yoga and bhakti. Please tell me, are all of them equally important or is one primary? 

     “O Lord! Through bhakti-sādhana, the mind abandons all attachment to sense-objects and becomes absorbed in you. Your assertion of bhakti-yoga’s preeminence is not universally accepted; please comment on this.” In response to Śrī Uddhava Mahāśaya’s questions, Śrī Kṛṣṇa replied,

kālena naṣṭā pralaye vāṇīyaṁ veda-saṁjñitā |

mayādau brahmaṇe proktā dharmo yasyāṁ mad-ātmakaḥ |

………………

man-māyā-mohita-dhiyaḥ puruṣāḥ puruṣarṣabhaḥ |

śreyo vadanty anekāntaṁ yathā-karma yathā-ruci ||

     “O Uddhava! By the influence of time, the teachings of the Vedas were lost in the universal dissolution. At the beginning of the next creation, I taught them to Brahmā in the form of bhakti-yoga, the religion born of my own nature. O best of men! Those whose minds are infatuated by my illusory māyā declare karma, jñāna or other sādhanas to be the most auspicious, according to their own taste and past actions.”

     Such deluded people drink poison in the form of karma-kāṇḍa and jñāna-kāṇḍa as though it were a pot of nectar: nānā yoni sadā phire, kadarya bhakṣaṇa kare. Even though the karmīs rarely attain svarga (the heavens), after enjoying life there, they again enter the worldly condition and rotate through various wombs. Born from pigs and so on, they always eat impure foods. Even though the jñānīs consider themselves to be jīvan-mukta,**** actually, kebala jñāna mukti dite nāre bhakti bine (Śrī-Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Madhya 22.21). “Without bhakti, jñāna alone cannot give liberation.” Therefore, they fail to get mukti. Those who think they are liberated must also enter the worldly state again, taking low births wherein they must eat abominable foods. In fact, tāra janma adhaḥ-pāte yāya. Their attainment of a human body meant for performing hari-bhajana, which is difficult to attain even for the gods, becomes itself the cause of their downfall.

*Brahma is truth, knowledge and eternity.

**“The jnāna-karma-samuccaya-vāda that is refuted by Śrī Śaṅkara is the theory which holds that karma should continue to be performed even after the realization of the identity of the individual self and Brahman, in order to attain liberation. Such a combination of jñāna and karma is what was advocated by Bhartṛprapañca and his followers. They held that, though karma by itself cannot lead to mokṣa, karma combined with jñāna can.” From advaita-vedānta.org.

***Absorption in the divine essence

****One who is free from worldly attachment even while living in the world

Śrī Śrī Prema-Bhakti-Candrikā 93 (comm. by Śrī Anantadāsa Bābājī Mahārāja)

দেহে না করিহ আস্থা,        মরিলে সে যম শাস্তা,

দুঃখের সমুদ্র কর্মগতি ।

দেখিয়া শুনিয়া ভজ,        সাধু-শাস্ত্র-মত যজ,

যুগল-চরণে কর রতি ॥ ৯৩ ॥

dehe nā kariha āsthā,        marile se yama śāstā,

duḥkhera samudra karma-gati |

dekhiyā śuniyā bhaja,        sādhu-śāstra-mata yaja,

yugala-caraṇe kara rati || 93 ||

टीका—देहे ना करिह आस्था–देहेऽस्मिन् आस्थां मा कुरु । देहाभिमानं मा कुर्वित्यर्थः ।

     Do not place your hopes in the body; when you die, Yama will chastise you. The result of karma is an ocean of misery. After seeing and hearing all this, perform loving devotional service at Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet according to the instructions of the saints and the scriptures.

Devotion to Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s Lotus Feet

     Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: To teach his own mind about yugala-bhajana, the venerable author first describes the suffering of a person who identifies with his body. dehe nā kariha āsthā, marile se yama śāstā, duḥkhera samudra karma-gati. Placing one’s hope in this transitory body made of five elements is not reasonable. The mind of a person engrossed in the body and things related cannot be engaged in hari-bhajana. Faith, care, refuge, reliance and attention are synonyms of the word āsthā. Śrī-bhagavad-bhajana is not possible unless these attitudes toward the material body are abandoned. It is inappropriate to maintain faith in the body. Many people think, “I am now in my youth; I will live for many years. Let me happily enjoy my senses for now, and when I am old, I will worship Śrī Hari.” It is improper to keep this kind of faith toward the perishable body because it can expire at any moment. There is no doubt about this. We must always be prepared for our death. It is nothing but a great folly when a person resolves to perform hari-bhajana in old age, after passing his energetic youth engaged in sense enjoyment, keeping faith in a transitory body that will meet death in the blink of an eye. Śrī Prahlāda Mahāśaya said to the demon boys, kaumāra ācaret prājño dharmān bhāgavatān iha, durlabhaṁ mānuṣaṁ janma tad apy adhruvam arthadam (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.6.1). “O friends! Intelligent people should practice bhāgavata-dharma from childhood because this human birth is very difficult to obtain, and though transitory, it bestows the highest truth.”

     Moreover, āsthā means that it is improper to give excessive care to the body. If the mind becomes absorbed in the affairs of the body, it cannot be absorbed on the spiritual path. No matter how much care is given to this frail body, someday it will die. Therefore, one should care for the body only as much as is needed to maintain it. Always keep this in mind: Take care of your body in order to stay alive and use your life for bhajana, not for sense enjoyment. Hence, the body should be cared for appropriately with the understanding that it is an instrument for bhajana, not for enjoyment.

     Another meaning of the word āsthā is refuge. An intelligent person should never waste the precious moments of human life by taking refuge in the perishable body and thus neglecting bhajana. An intelligent person should always bear in mind the stories and discussions about the unfortunate condition of the jīva who has fallen into the well of material life. A man entered a dense forest to go hunting and suddenly fell in a hidden well. He grabbed clumps of grass on each side of the well (which represent the span of his life) and remained about halfway down. Below, a monstrous snake (hell) awaits him, and above, a tiger (heaven), both with their mouths gaping, ready to devour him. Moreover, two mice, one white and one black, are chewing on the roots of the two clumps of grass that support him. (The mice are the days and nights of his lifetime.) Though understanding his dreadful situation, he drinks a drop of honey (sense enjoyment) dripping from a beehive near the clump of grass. Intoxicated by tasting the honey, he thinks himself to be happy and without a care. Though looking at death, he does not see it. Ah! What great power illusion has!* Therefore, an intelligent person will never be carefree by taking shelter of this body.

     The word āsthā can also mean reliance. Many people think, “The renunciation, indifference to the world, adherence to rules, firm faith and so on required for bhajana make it very difficult. Thus, is it even possible for me to perform bhajana?” Even though they have some interest, they are unable to take shelter of the path of bhajana because of their reliance on the body. After observing them, a mahājana said, “Do not lose this golden opportunity for bhajana due to fear born of dependence on the body.” Why should you not rely so much on the body? One day it will die. Therefore, if you spend the precious moments of this perishable body engaged in bhajana, you will be blessed.

     Yet another meaning of āsthā is attention. Though having entered the path of bhajana, some people cannot advance because their attention is toward the body and things related. Their minds remain absorbed in mundane sense enjoyment. Even if one practices bhajana in accordance with the precepts as far as possible, if done inattentively, it is mechanical bhajana. As a result of this, there is no progress in bhajana, even after a long time. Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya’s extraordinary eloquence is such that through this two-syllable word (āsthā), he has given mankind many valuable instructions.

     Then he says, marile se yama śāstā. Human forms are difficult for even the gods to obtain and are well-suited for bhajana. Those who have human bodies but do not engage in bhajana will inevitably suffer Yama’s punishment after death. The ways in which Yama’s punishments are dreadful can be known from the description of hell in the fifth canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which by reading or hearing makes one’s body and mind shudder. But there is no promise that Yama’s punishment is the end: duḥkhera samudra karma-gati. After suffering the miseries of hell, one takes birth according to his karma in the miserable wombs of ferocious snakes, tigers and other creatures. These births are endless and all are filled with suffering. Therefore, they are like an ocean that is difficult to cross. In this way, the consequence of karma is great misery. 

     Therefore, dekhiyā śuniyā bhaja, sādhu-śāstra-mata yaja, yugala-caraṇe kara rati. After seeing the mortality of the human body and the miserable condition of the jīvas in various wombs, and after hearing from sādhu and śāstra about the necessity of performing bhajana in this well-suited human body, an intelligent person will take shelter of a great soul and engage in devotional service according to his or her instructions. An intelligent person should particularly serve the lotus feet of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa in the yuga of Śrīman Mahāprabhu. This yugala-bhajana is distributed only once in a day of Brahmā, or after nearly eight thousand yugas, through the incarnation of Śrīman Mahāprabhu. Though difficult to be obtained by Brahmā, Maheśvara, Lakṣmī and Uddhava in other yugas, in this particular kali-yuga, this rare yugala-bhajana can by the mercy of Śrīman Mahāprabhu be relished even by the wretched jīvas. Therefore, true success in life for a person in the kali-yuga of Mahāprabhu is taking shelter of this unprecedented path of yugala-bhajana. For this reason, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya said, sādhu-śāstra-mata yaja, yugala-caraṇe kara rati. After collecting all the scriptural statements in support of their own doctrines, the sādhus of Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s sampradāya have given instructions on yugala-bhajana. The people of this kali-yuga should perform devotional service in accordance with these instructions, always keeping their attachment for Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet.

*Author’s note: There is an illustrated description worth seeing in the book Bhaba-Kūpe Jībera Gati composed by my most worshipable Śrīla Guru Mahārāja (Śrī Kuñjavihārī Dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja).

Śrī Śrī Prema-Bhakti-Candrikā 92 (comm. by Śrī Anantadāsa Bābājī Mahārāja)

বিষয় বিষম গতি,        নাহি ভজ ব্রজপতি,

কৃষ্ণচন্দ্র-চরণ সুখসার ।

স্বর্গ আর অপবর্গ,        সংসার নরক ভোগ,

সর্বনাশ জনম বিকার ॥ ৯২ ॥

biṣaya biṣama gati,        nāhi bhaja braja-pati,

kṛṣṇacandra-caraṇa sukha-sāra |

svarga āra apabarga,        saṁsāra naraka bhoga,

sarba-nāśa janama bikāra || 92 ||

     The consequences of sense enjoyment are severe. Why do you not worship the Lord of Vraja? Kṛṣṇacandra’s lotus feet contain the highest joy. Worldly happiness, heavenly happiness, the happiness of liberation and the suffering of hell involve the jīva in repeated births, deaths and other transformations that bring about his ruin.

The Highest Joy

     Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: Under the guise of instructing his own mind, the venerable author, an embodiment of prema, is giving humanity important guidance regarding śrī-kṛṣṇa-bhajana. In this verse, he first describes the poisonous fruit of enjoying sense objects such as form, flavor and so on. Then he describes the joy of serving Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet. biṣaya biṣama gati, nāhi bhaja braja-pati, kṛṣṇacandra-caraṇa sukha-sāra. The consequences of sense enjoyment are severe, meaning poisonous or filled with misery. Even though mundane sense objects such as form, flavor and so on seem pleasing at first, the true nature of sense enjoyment is concentrated suffering. For example, if one drinks poison, thinking it to be nectar, his body, mind and life-breath begin to burn and he quickly welcomes death. In the same way, sensual enjoyment causes one to suffer the terrible burning of the three kinds of afflictions and the dreadful miseries of birth, death and hell. One may understand the poisonous consequences of sense enjoyment, but as a result of repeatedly engaging in it such a powerful saṁskāra forms in the heart and mind that there is no way to stop it. Prahlāda Mahāśaya thus instructed the young demon boys in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.6.9-13:

ko gṛheṣu pumān saktam ātmānam ajitendriyaḥ |

sneha-pāśair dṛḍhair baddham utsaheta vimocitum ||

ko nv artha-tṛṣṇāṁ visṛjet prāṇebhyo’pi ya īpsitaḥ |

yaṁ krīṇāty asubhiḥ preṣṭhais taskaraḥ sevako vaṇik ||

kathaṁ priyāyā anukampitāyāḥ saṅgaṁ rahasyaṁ rucirāṁś ca mantrān |

suhṛtsu tat sneha-sitaḥ śiśūnāṁ kalākṣarāṇām anurakta-cittaḥ ||

putrān smaraṁs tā duhitṝr hṛdayyā bhrātṝn svasṝr vā pitarau ca dīnau |

gṛhān manojñor uparicchadāṁś ca vṛttis tu kulyāḥ paśu-bhṛtya-vargān ||

tyajeta kośas-kṛd ivehamānaḥ karmāṇi lobhād avitṛpta-kāmaḥ |

aupasthya-jaihvyaṁ bahu manyamānaḥ kathaṁ virajyeta duranta-mohaḥ ||

     “O friends! If one is attached to his home in youth, he cannot give up that attachment later on. Who can hope to liberate himself if he has no control of his senses and is bound by the strong ropes of property, riches, family and friends? Can anyone give up his thirst for wealth, which is more desirable than life itself? Thieves, merchants and servants remain devoted to gathering wealth even after giving up their attachment to life.* Moreover, who, after reflecting upon his intimate and pleasurable conversations and so on with his compassionate wife, is able to give them up? Which soft-hearted man, bound by ropes of affection for his loved ones, can relinquish kinship with them after hearing the sweet murmurs of his children? Who can abandon his affectionate sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, helpless mother and father, beautiful home, attractive clothing, livelihood, cows and other animals, servants and so on? In truth, just as a silk worm while building her own home blocks the way out and traps herself inside, a worldly person attached to family and so on, with unfulfilled desires and greedy for sense enjoyment, remains continually engaged in worldly pursuits. Regarding highly the pleasures of the tongue and genitals, they become covered by a powerful web of illusion. There is no way for them to become free from the inclination for sense enjoyment.”

     Having understood the poisonous effects of sense enjoyment, every intelligent person should serve Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet in this human body, which is well-suited for bhajana and is difficult for even the gods to attain. Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya therefore said, nāhi bhaja braja-pati, kṛṣṇacandra-caraṇa sukha-sāra. “O mind! Though knowing the severe consequences of sense enjoyment, why do you still not serve the lotus feet of Vrajapati Śrī Kṛṣṇa? You are searching for happiness. The source of the highest, most enjoyable happiness is Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s two lotus feet.”

     A human’s thirst for joy is ancient. He tries to obtain true joy, but he doesn’t know how. Śāstra has shown the path; this is the mystical meaning of the word darśana. Sense enjoyment, which infatuates almost everyone in the world, is a mere particle of the glow of parabrahmānanda (spiritual joy). This vast ānanda sustains the misery-filled creation. If this were not the case, no one would be able to continue living. For this reason, Taittirīyopaniṣad says, ko hy evānyāt kaḥ prāṇyāt yady eṣa ākāśa ānando na syāt eṣa evānandayati. It has also been mentioned in the purāṇas: kas tiṣṭheta jīved vāpi yady ānando na vidyate.

     Now, a question naturally arises: What is the source of this vast ānanda? One day, the high-minded Śatakarṇi was meditating in a solitary āśrama. He thought, kuto hy evāyam ānandaḥ: “From where is this stream of joy coming?” Behind this continuously changing universe, Śrī Bhagavān stands eternally as the Supreme Truth. He is madhumaya (charming), ānandamaya (joyful) and rasamaya (full of nectar). The jīva’s sādhanā is to search for that person who always remains situated within his own nature amidst endless change and constant transformation. When she becomes successful through this great and exalted sādhanā, her joy will be everlasting. Chāndogyopaniṣad has therefore said, yo vai bhūmā tat-sukham, nālpe sukham asti. “Joy is present in Śrī Bhagavān, the eternal, infinite, all-pervading spiritual essence. There is no joy in that which is limited, meaning in transitory sense pleasures.” That infinite joy appears before the vraja-bhakta’s love-filled eyes in the form of Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇacandra, the embodiment of the nectar contained in all rasas. There are no words to express the joy that fills the premika’s heart. Language thus remains silent, as it has no power to express such a feeling. While the great devotee Śrīla Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura struggled to find words that would express such unprecedented joy, he arrived at the gate of wonder. Like a person enchanted by magic, he stopped suddenly and said, madhuram madhuram madhuram madhuram (sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet). Therefore, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya says, kṛṣṇacandra-caraṇa sukha-sāra. “Kṛṣṇacandra’s lotus feet are the essence of joy.”

     Then he says, svarga āra apabarga, saṁsāra naraka bhoga, sarba-nāśa janama bikāra. It was previously said that true happiness comes only from serving Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet. Someone may say, “But do we not see descriptions of heavenly happiness in the karma-kāṇḍa section of śruti and the happiness of liberation in the jñāna-kāṇḍa section?” The answer to this question has been given in the second half of the verse. Worldly happiness, heavenly happiness, the happiness of liberation and the suffering of hell are all the same for those who have obtained the joy of bhagavad-bhajana. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 6.17.28 says svargāpavarga-narakeṣv api tulyārtha-darśinaḥ. “Śrī Bhagavān’s devotees see the heavenly worlds, liberation and hell as equal.” In the happiness of svarga and so on, the purely spiritual jīva, eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, is caught up in repeated births, deaths and other transformations. That is not happiness. In truth, it is a complete loss for the jīva.

*The Sanskrit here literally means they gather wealth at the cost of their precious lives.

Śrī Śrī Prema-Bhakti-Candrikā 91 (comm. by Śrī Anantadāsa Bābājī Mahārāja)

দুর্লভ ভজন হেন,        নাহি ভজ হরি কেন,

কি লাগি মরহ ভববন্ধে ।

ছাড় অন্য ক্রিয়াকর্ম,        নাহি দেখ বেদ-ধর্ম,

ভক্তি কর কৃষ্ণপদদ্বন্দ্বে ॥ ৯১ ॥

durlabha bhajana hena,        nāhi bhaja hari kena,

ki lāgi maraha bhaba-bandhe |

chāḍa anya kriyā-karma,        nāhi dekha beda-dharma,

bhakti kara kṛṣṇa-pada-dvandve || 91 ||

     Why do you not worship Śrī Hari? It is such a rare bhajana. Why should you perish in material bondage? Give up other scriptural rites and do not look at veda-dharma. Just worship Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet.

Rare Bhajana

     Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: By saying beda-bidhi-agocara (beyond the range of Vedic injunctions) in the previous verse, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya has established the rarity of yugala-bhajana. Now, in the yuga of Śrīman Mahāprabhu, that rare bhajana has become easily obtainable for all jīvas, including those broken by immorality and suffering. Taking shelter at Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s lotus feet, Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava ācāryas such as Śrī Rūpa, Sanātana, Raghunātha, Śrī Jīva and the rest of the Six Gosvāmīs, and then later on, Śrīnivāsācārya, Śyāmānanda Prabhu, Narottama Ṭhākura Mahāśaya, Viśvanātha Cakravartipāda, Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa and other ācāryas and poet mahājanas have in endless ways made the rare path of yugala-bhajana magnanimous and open.

     To draw the attention of worldly people toward this rare bhajana, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya said, durlabha bhajana hena, nāhi bhaja hari kena, ki lāgi maraha bhaba-bandhe, under the pretext of instructing his own mind. “Why do you not worship Śrī Hari? It is such a rare bhajana. Why should you perish in material bondage?” Śrīman Mahāprabhu has mercifully given to the jīvas tormented by kali-yuga an unparalleled taste of vraja-rasa, which in other yugas was difficult for even Brahmā and Maheśvara to obtain. Though having now received a human body, if someone is deprived of this golden opportunity or does not take shelter of the path of bhajana, he will, due to saṁskāras of attachment to sense objects, pass his rare human lifetime pursuing the happiness derived from food and other pleasures. He will fall into the gaping jaws of repeated birth and death and remain perpetually bound by the fetters of the material world. Śrīla Premānanda Ṭhākura has sung the following in his Manaḥ-Śikṣā:

e mana! mānuṣa habe ki āra |

badana bhariyā, ‘hari hari’ bala, ‘śodha’ nā yamera dhāra ||

bhābiyā dekha nā, se hāre āpanā, ihāte ye kare pāpa |

āpanāra doṣe, āpani pāya se, janame janame tāpa ||

sei se catura, bāpera ṭhākura, ye laya harira nāma |

ihāte yāhāra, ruci nā janmila, bidhātā tāhāre bāma ||

e bodha bujhibe, narake majibe, śamana ruṣibe yabe |

āṅkhira palake, e ṭhāṭa bhāṅgibe, ki bali eḍābe tabe ||

bhāi bandhu jāyā, tanaya-tanayā, āpanā balicha yāre |

jāna nā mukhete, anala bhejāye, agādha jalete ḍāre ||

mūrati dekhiyā, ḍare ḍarāiyā, tile nā rākhibe ghara |

kahe premānanda, ‘hari hari’ bala, tā binu sakali para ||

     “O mind! Will you get a human body again? If you fill your mouth with harināma, you will no longer owe payment to Yama, the god of death. Having considered it, do you not see? As a result of losing himself, a man commits sin. It is because of his own mistakes that he suffers birth after birth. Those who are intelligent and worthy of reverence chant the name of Śrī Hari. Providence is unfavorable to those who have no taste for this. You will understand this when you anger Yama and sink into hell. In the blink of an eye this outward show will disintegrate. How then will you escape suffering? You claim your friends, wife, sons and daughters to be your own. Do you not know that they will light a fire in your mouth and dump you in deep water?* After seeing your dead body, they will be frightened and remove it from the house immediately. Premānanda says, ‘Chant Hari! Hari!’ Other than that, all is irrelevant.”

bhāi re bhaja gorācāṅdera caraṇa |

e tina bhubane āra, dayāra ṭhākura nāi, gorā baḍa patita pābana |

hena abatāre yāra, nahila bhakati-leśa, bala tāra ki habe upāya ||

rabira kiraṇe yāra, āṅkhi parasanna naila, bidhātā bañcita bhela tāya ||

hema-jalada kāya, prema-dhārā bariṣaya, karuṇāmaya abatāra |

gorā hena prabhu peye, ye jana śītala naila, ki jāni kemana mana tāra ||

kali—bhaba-sāgare, nija nāma bhelā kari, āpane gaurāṅga kare pāra |

tabe ye ḍubiyā mare, ke tāre uddhāra kare, e premānandera parihāra ||

     “O brother! Serve the lotus feet of Śrī Gauracandra. There is not a more compassionate spiritual guide in the three worlds. Gaura is a benevolent savior of the fallen. Tell me, what will be the solution for one who has not even a trace of bhakti in such an avatāra? One has been deprived by fate if his eyes are not pleased by a ray of the sun. This merciful incarnation’s body is like a golden cloud that rains down a constant stream of prema. How do I understand the mind of one who is not soothed after getting a master like Śrī Gaura? In the age of Kali, Gaurāṅga will ferry you across the ocean of material existence in a raft of his own holy name. But if one instead immerses himself in this ocean and perishes, who will rescue him? Premānanda gives up!”

     Then Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya says, chāḍa anya kriyā-karma, nāhi dekha beda-dharma, bhakti kara kṛṣṇa-pada-dvandve. Here, anya kriyā-karma means engaging in illusory rites and rituals meant to produce mundane bodily happiness rather than performing śrī-kṛṣṇa-bhajana. Veda-dharma means the varṇāśrama-dharma mentioned in the Vedas. He advises us to abandon such things and take shelter of the path of pure bhajana.

     The jīva is by nature the eternal servant of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, the desire to serve Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the jīva’s natural dharma. The jīva who is averse to Śrī Kṛṣṇa desires independent enjoyment of illusory things. Because of that, the desire for sevā that is naturally related to the svarūpa (spiritual form) instead manifests through the body and senses. Influenced by the dharma of the senses, it is transformed into the desire for service to the senses. This is why we see the jīva try to gratify his senses through the enjoyment of mundane objects. The māyā-bound jīva engages in various kinds of rituals or adopts varṇāśrama or other forms of veda-dharma in an attempt to become happy through sense-enjoyment. But the sense-enjoyment described in the karma-kāṇḍa section of the Vedas can never make one happy. There is no true or lasting happiness in sense-enjoyment; only the arrival of misery after misery. Other than bhakti or service to Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet, there is no means of release from this misery. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.9.6 says the following:

tāvad bhayaṁ draviṇa-deha-suhṛn-nimittaṁ 

śokaḥ spṛhā paribhavo vipulaś ca lobhaḥ |

tāvan mamety asad-avagraha ārti-mūlaṁ 

yāvan na te’ṅghrim abhayaṁ pravṛṇīta lokaḥ ||

     In Brahmā’s glorification of Śrī Bhagavān, he says, “O Bhagavān! As long as people do not take shelter of your fear-removing lotus feet, they continue to experience apprehension, grief, desire, humiliation and extreme greed regarding their wealth, bodies, friends and families. They maintain the mentality of ‘I and mine’ regarding the illusory body and things related. This is the root of all misery.”

     The first fetter of the māyā-bound jīva who is averse to Śrī Kṛṣṇa is avidyā, or ignorance. Through this, he forgets his own spiritual nature and his dharma as a servant of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The second fetter is asmitā, or egoism, through which he considers the transitory body to be himself. He also develops a possessive mentality regarding wealth, family members and other things related to the body. The third fetter is rāga, or attachment, through which is born a fondness for acquiring money, property and so on, which are pleasurable to the body and senses. The fourth is dveṣa, or enmity, through which he becomes averse to anything antagonistic to the body and things related. The fifth is abhiniveśa, which means devoting the mind to the acquisition of things conducive to sense enjoyment, or the mind being transformed into the shape of sense objects. Firmly bound by this five-limbed ignorance, the jīva sinks into the mud of desire for mundane sense enjoyment. The inclination for spiritual joy, which is the natural dharma of the self, is transformed into an inclination for worldly pleasures. There is no other way for the māyā-bound jīva than to abandon through sādhu-saṅga his attachment to good and evil actions, which are impediments to devotion, and take shelter of śrī-kṛṣṇa-bhakti. For this reason, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya said, chāḍa anya kriyā-karma, nāhi dekha beda-dharma, bhakti kara kṛṣṇa-pada-dvandve. “Give up other scriptural rites and do not look at veda-dharma. Just worship Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet.”

* “Normally the eldest son carries out the funerary rites. He lights the funeral pyre after first placing a burning stick in the mouth of the deceased.” From factsanddetails.com.

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