Recorded India 2017
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS
BRL 070: Called by Svamini VK 82
Recorded India 2017
Vilapa Kusumanjali 82
Rādhe with a face like a fully blooming lotus flower! When You go out to meet Kṛṣṇa at night Your swiftly moving feet become afflicted with fatigue. O Devi! When will You, although You are shyness personified, call me by name to massage those lotus feet? Then I know that You have accepted me as Your own!
Explanations:
One rasika service after the other is perceived. How sweet, how confidential, how variegated are all these services! How can they (the kiṅkarīs), who are the embodiments of devotional service, remain alive if these services don’t come to them? rādhā-kiṅkarī-bhāva is such a greatly elevated stage! It cannot be had without being totally absorbed, merged in the service.
“Unfortunately, a person like me has no desire for devotional service. I do bhajan for my own welfare, and I don’t understand the secrets of devotional service!”
First the desire for devotional service should awaken. narottama dāsa māge sevā abhilāṣa. The Lord also first likes to see this desire awakening within the hearts of His devotees before He blesses them by giving them service. This is the Lord’s special mercy. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has written:
pūrṇe’pi svasmin nija sevādy abhilāṣaṁ sampādya sevakādiṣu sevādi saubhāgya sampādikā bhagavataś cittārdratāmayī tad upakārecchā (Prīti Sandarbhaḥ 84 Anu).
In the previous verse Śrī Raghunātha relished Svāminī’s ever-so-sweet conversation with Śyāmasundara and was blessed with the sweet service of fanning Them. In this verse Śrīmatī calls Tulasī, who is dedicated to fanning her mistress, by name to give her another extraordinary service. Now Śrīla Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī has completed his prayers for services at noontime and he proceeds to pray for this service, which is required at nightfall. Eagerly and swiftly Svāminī goes out to meet Kṛṣṇa at the trysting place, maddened by feelings of love. Her face is covered with sweatdrops, so Tulasī calls Her Āyātodyat Kamala Vadane, the girl whose face resembles a fully blooming lotus flower.
But because of walking so hurriedly Svāminī gets pain in Her tender lotus feet. Nothing can stop the very powerful course of Śrī Rādhikā’s lovejourney! She considers all the ornaments She wears to be a heavy burden only. The great poet Vidyāpati sings:
nava anurāgiṇi rādhā, kachu nāhi mānaye bādhā, ekali koyoli payāna, pantha vipatha nāhi māna tejala maṇimaya hāra, uca kuca mānaye bhāra kara saye kaṅkaṇa mudari, panthahi tejali sagari maṇimaya mañjīra pāy, dūrahi teji coli yāy, yāminī ghana āndhiyāra, manamatha hiye ujiyāra vighini vithārala bāta, premaka āyudhe kāta, vidyāpati mati jāno, aiche nā heriye ān
“Rādhā, the nava anurāgiṇī (a girl who has just fallen in love, or who feels as if she has just fallen in love) does not consider any possible obstacles:
She goes out alone, not bothering about the different dangers She may encounter on the path. She takes off Her jewel necklace and considers Her own raised breasts to be a heavy burden, She takes the bangles from Her wrists and gives up everything else on the way. She flings away Her jewelled anklebells and walks on. Although the night’s thick darkness envelopes Vṛndāvana Her heart is illuminated by Cupid’s flame (helping Her to find the way).
The obstacles stretch themselves out on the road, but they are cut apart by the weapon of love. Vidyāpati thinks:
“I have never seen such a scene anywhere before!”
This abhisāra is very passionate, very forceful and nothing can stop its course! It’s inconceivable that She who is softer than a flower can move so swiftly. The cause of all this power is Her strong attraction to Kṛṣṇa’s form. Śrī Rādhikā thinks:
sakhi! śyāma rūpa jāgaye marame, kibā niśi kibā diśi śayane svapane “Sakhi!
The form of Śyāma appears in My heart day and night, in My dream and in My sleep!” The sakhīs and mañjarīs become afraid when they see the force of Prema Pāgalinī’s (Rādhikā, who is mad with love for Kṛṣṇa) lovejourney and they say:
sakhi muñca sambhramam abhisāre. cāraya caraṇāmburuham dhīraṁ sukumāre (Rūpa Gosvāmī’s Gītāvali)!
“Sakhi! Give up Your zeal in meeting Kṛṣṇa! Move Your delicate lotus feet slowly!” Now Svāminī’s lotus feet and indeed Her whole body begin to hurt because of the fast course of Her lovejourney (abhisāra).
“O Devi! You will call me by name to engage me in massaging those painful lotus feet, although You are hrī puñja mūrtiḥ: the very form of abundant bashfulness. One of Śrī Rādhikā’s 108 names is hrī paṭṭa vastra guptāṅgī : She whose body is concealed by a silken garment of bashfulness.
nija lajjā śyāma paṭṭa sāḍī paridhāna (C.C.)
“She wears a blue silken sārī of bashfulness.”
“You will not call anyone by name to help You with anything, but now You are calling me, because You are overwhelmed by feelings of great love for me! I am Yours only and in this way You have accepted me!” In this way the maidservant also (reciprocates and) surrenders herself to Svāminī’s lotus feet.
Śrīpāda Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī writes in Vṛndāvana Mahimāmṛta (Eighth Śatakam):
kṣaṇaṁ caraṇa vicchedyāc chrīśvaryāḥ prāṇa-hāriṇīm padāravinda samlagnatayaivāharniśaṁ sthitām ………….. rādhā padābja sevānya spṛhā kāla-trayojjhitām rādhā prīti sukhāmbhodhāv apāre buḍitām sadā rādhā padāmbujād anyat svapnānte’pi na jānatīm rādhā sambandha samdhāvat prema sindhaugha-mālinīm
“The maidservant feels like dying when she is separated from her Śrīśvarī’s lotus feet for even a moment. She’s staying by Her lotus feet day and night. In past, present or future she does not covet anything else but Rādhā’s lotus feet and she’s always immersed in a boundless ocean of blissful love for Her.Even in dreams she doesn’t know anything else but Śrī Rādhā’s lotus feet and she’s like a river that swiftly runs towards the ocean of Śrī Rādhā!”
As much as Svāminī has trusts Her maidservants that much She loves them. She understands: “I can make Her serve just as I want it!” She cannot count on everyone like that. During the Rāsa-dance She sees that Her lover gets pain in His feet, so She tells Her loving kiṅkarīs:
“Massage His feet!” “Similarly You now also order me: “Tulasī, massage My feet! I came running too quickly and I hurt My feet in this way!”
How much affection Svāminī shows for Her maidservant! “O Svāmini! Will I never even get a single drop of experience of Your mercy, either in dreams, visions or smaraṇa?”
When the devotee’s heart breaks his weeping will burst out of it. His heart weeps for want of experience of this ocean of mercy. For obtaining this fortune one must exclusively surrender to Her lotus feet. Śrī Dāsa Gosvāmī gives the example.
bhajāmi rādhām aravinda-netrāṁ smarāmi rādhāṁ madhura smitāsyām vadāmi rādhāṁ karuṇā bharārdrāṁ tato mamānyāsti gatir na kāpi (Viśākhānandada Stotram)
“I worship Rādhā, who has lotus-eyes. I remember Rādhā, whose face sweetly smiles. I speak of Rādhā, who melts of compassion. Thus I have no other shelter than Her.”
Svāminī personally lifts Her feet, that are the all-in-all for Tulasī’s heart, on Tulasī’s chest, because She wants to mitigate their fatigue. These feet have become unfit for playing and dancing with Kṛṣṇa. Who can measure Tulasī’s bliss? She finally gets these long-desired lotus feet on her chest. Tulasī sits on a pedestal, takes Svāminī’s two feet on her chest and starts to serve them.
No one else but a kiṅkarī can understand how dear these feet are to Tulasī! Tulasī showers these lotuslike feet with oblations of her tears of love and kisses them in an unseen way, thinking:
“When I have Svāminī I have everything!”
As a result of Tulasī’s massage Svāminī’s feet have now been cured of their fatigue. An amazing beauty blossoms on Svāminī’s face. The desire to play with Kṛṣṇa was in Svāminī’s heart, but the fitness to do it was not in Her feet. Now Her feet have become fit again. In the kuñja She holds Her feet on Śyāma’s chest as She leans against Him on the bed, and thus They become eager to make love. Tulasī understands that it is more discrete to go out of the kuñja now. She sits outside, but keeps her ears and her mind fixed on what happens inside. Suddenly she hears an anklebell sweetly jingling: ‘ṭu’. ‘I think I am being called with this sound!’
The maidservant mingles with the absorption of the Yugala and enters the kuñja where she sees that Svāminī’s hair got entangled with Kṛṣṇa’s earrings. She cleverly unravels the knots and quietly leaves the kuñja again, leaving the Yugala Kiśora, who saw her as the personification of Their ecstatic pastimes, to Their loveplays again. Suddenly the vision disappears and with anxious heart Śrī Raghunātha prays:
he devi he śrī rādhe! he lajjā puñja mūrte, he udyat kamala nayane! gamane naṭana līlā, kori tumi cāru śīlā, abhisāre yāibe yokhone. colite colite pathe, patha śrānta hoiyā tāte, kuñja-rāja nikuñje āsiyā. lajjā-śīlā lajjā chāḍi, ājñā dibe hema gaurī, nija jana āmāke bhāviyā. śrī rati mañjarī śuno, śīghro kori āgamana, mora pada koro samvāhana. sei śubha dina kobe, śrānta klānta pada-yuge, ānandete koribo sevana. (Śrī Haripada Śila)
“O golden goddess Śrī Rādhe! You are bashfulness personified! O Blooming lotus-eyed girl! Your steps, Your dancing pastimes and Your behaviour are so sweet and gentle! When You go out to meet the king of the kuñja, who has already arrived on the trysting place, You become tired of walking down the roads, so You give up Your bashfulness and order me, considering me to be Yours: “Listen, O Rati Mañjari! Quickly come here and massage My feet!” When will that blessed day come that I can blissfully serve Your exhausted lotus feet?”
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS
BRL 069: Isthanistha
Recorded India 2017
Vilapa Kusumanjali 83
“O Radhe! O Granddaughter! The time has come for Your worship of the sungod! Where are You?” Will these angry words of Mukhara sound like nectar to me and make me happy?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS
BRL 068: Bhakti is 5th Purusha Artha Q&A
BRL 067: Bhakti is 5th Purusha Artha
BRL 066: Choose Your Side
Recorded India 2017
Vilapa Kusumanjali 81
O Sumukhi (fair-faced girl)! When will I have goosepimples of ecstasy all over my body as I fan You in a temple that gives bliss to Cupid, where You enjoy ever-so-sweet talks with Your lover, Your cheeks blossoming with a smile as You lie on a playbed made of Mälaté- flowers?
Explanations:
Devotional service coincides with relishing the līlā-rasa, as it did in the descriptions of Līlāśuka. Sweet pastimes burst out of each and every verse of his ‘Kṛṣṇa Karṇāmṛta’, showing how expert he was in relishing this sweetness. Without being transcendentally cognizant this cannot be understood. The example of this is Śrīla Kṛṣṇa dāsa Kavirāja’s Sāraṅga-Raṅgadā-commentary on ‘Kṛṣṇa Karnāmṛta’. One’s svarūpāveśa will come automatically by regularly reciting Śrī Vilāpa Kusumāñjali.
One feels like being right there with Svāminī. These are very powerful words, that are revealing Rādhārāṇī. There are only descriptions here of sweetness (mādhurya), there is not even a whiff of aiśvarya (lordliness) here. mādhuryam asamordhvatayā sarva manoharaṁ svābhāvika rūpa guṇa līlādi sauṣṭhavam (Śrī Jīva) “Unrivalled loveliness or beauty of forms, qualities and pastimes is called mādhurya, or sweetness.” Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava-upāsanā is mādhurya.
The truth of mādhurya is inscrutable, and it cannot be experienced without associating with mādhurya-devotees and without attaining the favor of the Lord. As soon as a devotee experiences mādhuryā he loses his taste for Kṛṣṇa’s svarūpa (Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme, He is the Creator, He is transcendental, and the evidence of all these facts) and His aiśvarya (lordliness).
The compilations Stavamālā of Rūpa Gosvāmī and Stavāvalī of Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī are describing the sweetness of the Divine Pair. Something can be understood of what is Rādhārāṇī by reciting Śrī Rādhā’s 108 names and the ‘Premāmbhoja Marandākhya Stavarāja’ from Stavāvalī.
It is as if Śrī Raghunātha floats on the waves of the sweetness of the Yugala Kiśora. Both in separation and in union he relishes the stream of the amazing sweetness of Their forms, qualities and pastimes. Now a transcendental vision comes to him, and he says: “I’ve made a bed of Mālatī-flowers within the Madana Sukhadā-kuñja, where You’re having an ever-so-sweet conversation with Your lover. I see that Your cheeks are blossoming (with goosepimples). I will serve You by fanning You, while my hairs are standing on end of ecstasy – sapulaka-tanur esā tvāṁ kadā vījayāmi. “Won’t I fan Śyāmasundara then?” No.
She fans Svāminī in such a way that Her sweet fragrance reaches Śyāma’s nostrils as Her prasāda. That will make Śyāma feel happy and satisfied.
yasyāḥ kadāpi vasanāñcala khelanottha dhanyāti dhanya pavanena kṛtārtha mānī (Rādhā Rasa Sudhānidhi – 2)
“Madhusūdana feels His life is successful when He catches even the slightest breeze that has touched the tip of Śrī Rādhā’s veil!”
How wonderful is the expertise of this service! The mañjarīs of the kuñja are the teachers (guru) of the service of the Yugala Kiśora. The practising devotees must learn the expert service in the groves of Vraja from the eternally perfect kinkarīs like Tulasī. One of the 25 qualities of Śrī Rādhā that Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī enunciated is Gandhonmādita Mādhava, Her fragrance intoxicates Mādhava.
Tulasī thinks: “Can I neglect the lover of My Svāminī? I will make Them both float in oceans of bliss!” Svāminī is the leader in this intimate joking conversation and enchanted Kṛṣṇa is the attendant. How submissively He inquires from Her! He cannot get enough of Her nectarean words. He feels as if they don’t even touch His earlobes, although He drinks their nectar at every moment! kohilo kāhinī puchaye koto beri (Kavi Rañjana).
Again and again He asks Her what She said to Him:
vacana amiyā rasa anukhana piyaluṁ, śruti-pathe paraśa nā bheli
(I drank the nectar of Her words constantly, but still it did not touch the paths of My ears).
How submissively Śyāma keeps on inquiring! Svāminī accepts Him as Her Prāṇa Ballabha (heart’s lover) and has an ever-so-sweet talk with Him. Svāminī sweetly smiles while She says: “There is nothing that I will not give You!”
Because of this sweet smile She is called ‘Sumukhi’, or fairfaced girl in this text. The beauty of Her face should be seen! Tulasī says: “You are not my Sumukhī, You are the Sumukhī of He who relishes the beauty of Your face!” This loving conversation takes a form. It does not float on the surface, but it enters Śyāma’s heart. I see this sweet conversation in the same way as I hear it. The conversation crystallizes. So many bhāvas become manifest on the bhāva vigrahā (Śrī Rādhikā, the embodiment of ecstatic love). Svāminī says: “Śyāma! How beautiful You are!” The words that come from Her mouth are seen on all of Her limbs also. “You are really My Lover! O dearest One! I cannot live without You!” Svāminī says with faltering voice:
prāṇanātha! kemon koribo āmi! tomā vine mon, kore ucāṭan, ke jāne kemona tumi nā dekhi nayana, jhure anukhana, dekhite tomāya dekhi sowaraṇe mon, murachita heno, mudiyā rahiye āṅkhi
“O My Prāṇanātha! What shall I do? Without You, My mind is so upset! Who knows how You are now? When My eyes don’t see You, they are filled with tears and when My mind remembers You, I faint while keeping My eyes closed!”
śravaṇe śuniyā, tomāra carita, ān nā bhāviye mone nimiṣera ādha, pāsarite nāri, ghumāle dekhi svapane jāgile cetana, hārāiyā āmi, tomā nāma kori’ kāndi parabodha dei, e rāy vasanta, tileka thira nāhi bāndhi
“When I hear about You I cannot think of anyone else anymore, I cannot forget You for even half a moment and even when I sleep I dream about You! When I wake up I go out of My mind and I cry out Your name. This Rāya Vasanta consoles Rādhā, but She cannot stay calm for even a moment.”
Sometimes She hugs Herself against Śyāma, sometimes She pulls Him on Her lap and whispers sweet words into His ears. When Tulasī sees how beautiful She is then, she calls Her ‘Sumukhi’. Some feelings are expressed by colliding with the beloved, and the rest is expressed through smiles and laughter. Śyāma asks: “Shall I tell Lalitā what You have done just now?”
Svāminī stutters, so Śyāma consoles Her by saying: “No, no! I won’t say anything!” Rādhikā and Śyāma begin to perspire, so Tulasī starts fanning them with a whisk made of vine-buds, thinking: “I will give Śyāma the touch of Your breasts by fanning the scent of Your breasts His way! Those breasts do not want this breeze, they want pleasure! I will give Śyāma touch of Your breasts by fanning in this way, and I will give You also the touch of Śyāma’s chest!”
vratati camarī cāmara marud vinodena (Utkalikā Vallari: 52).
Śyāma becomes intoxicated by that fragrance and Tulasī, seeing her service is successful, gets goosepimples of ecstasy on her skin. The practising devotees should also become invigorated like this. When his service is successful he is happy and when he is deprived of devotional service he is unhappy. Devotional service helps one forget one’s own interest. During the Gambīrā-pastimes Śrīla Govinda dāsa, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s personal servant, committed a grave offense (by stepping over the Lord as He slept), but he did it just to serve the Lord, and therefore the Lord did not count this offense at all. Like a bumblebee Śyāma relishes the honey from Svāminī’s lotuslike mouth. How many ages are passing during this conversation!
When this vision disappears Śrī Raghunātha prays:
sukhada madana kuñje, bhramarā bhramarī guñje, mandirete navīna yugala. mālatī śayyāra’pori, sukhe boise śyāma gaurī, aṅga chaṭā kore jholamola.
“In a temple in a kuñja that gives joy to Cupid and where the male and female bees are humming, the Youthful Couple Śyāma and Gaurī are blissfully sitting on a jasmine-bed with Their effulgent forms.
“ rasera prasaṅga tuli, paraspara kothā boli, rase nimajjita kalevara. sei vākya bhaṅgī yoto, sumadhura parāmṛta, ucchalita gaṇḍa sarovara.
“Their forms are immersed in rasa as They speak rasika words to Each other. These words are like the highest nectar, that causes Their lake-like cheeks to swell.”
he rādhe rāja-nandini! kuñjavana vilāsini, dekhi pulakita gaṇḍasthala. doṅhe guṇa gāhi mukhe, cāmara ḍhulabo sukhe, bohibe ki nayanera jala? (Śrī Haripada Śila)
“O Princess Rādhe! O girl who enjoys in the forests and the groves! When I see this, my cheeks are studded with goosepimples of ecstasy! When will tears of love stream from my eyes as I sing the glories of the both of You and I blissfully fan You with a whisk?”
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS