Śrī Dāmodarāṣṭakam --- Verse Six
Oṁ viṣṇupāda paramahaṁsa parivrājakācārya aṣṭottara-śata Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja
Dig-darśinī-vṛtti
In the fourth verse, Śrī Satyavrata Muni refused to accept the results of performing vaidhī-bhakti, but in this verse, he expresses that he desires to attain the result of rāgānuga-bhakti: vraja-prema. He desires nothing else.
Those in the line of Śrīman Mahāprabhu, and especially those who aspire for the type of prema conceived by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī (rūpānuga bhaktas) must have this same kind of determination. This determination of the bhakta is exactly like that of the cātaka bird. The only water the cātaka bird accepts is the rainwater that falls when the Svāti-nakṣatra constellation is prominent in the night sky. The cātaka bird thinks:
“I do not care if I die of thirst. I do not even care if I am struck by a thunderbolt! I will only drink the water falling from the Svāti-nakṣatra.”
The devotee should think:
“I only want deep love for Śrī Rādhā- Kṛṣṇa. I do not want anything else. I especially yearn to become the maidservant of Śrī Rādhā. May I serve Her under the guidance of Her intimate friends – Her prāṇa-sakhīs and priya-narma-sakhīs (1) – and may I serve Her beloved Śrī Kṛṣṇa under Her direction. I only want this. I do not need any other benediction.”
As streaks of kājjala (black cosmetic ointment) ran down His face along with His tears, Kṛṣṇa breathed heavily out of fear of His mother. On that day, Śrī Yaśodā bound Śrī Kṛṣṇa by her motherly affection. The Lord of all lords, the possessor of all potencies, He who makes the whole universe tremble by the slightest movement of His eyebrows, on that day, trembled out of fear of His mother. He cried:
“Maiyā, don’t hit Me!”
This is the nature of the immaculate and sweet vātsalya-prema of Vraja.
In his meditation Śrī Satyavrata Muni saw how Mother Yaśodā was kissing Kṛṣṇa’s cheeks, how His earrings were doing the same, and especially how the gopīs were kissing Kṛṣṇa so sweetly. He yearns to see this little Gopāla directly. Astonishingly, even after such a sweet vision, his hankering has still not been satiated. Therefore, he will eventually express an even higher desire than what he expresses in this stanza.
He wonders:
“How can I attain love for Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and consequently, darśana of Mother Yaśodā’s darling son with my eyes?”
It is well known that loving service to Śrī Kṛṣṇa is only attained by chanting His holy names. Therefore, in this stanza, Śrī Satyavrata Muni performs nāma-saṅkīrtana.
In the previous verse, Śrī Satyavrata Muni prayed:
“May Your lotus face in Your form as little Gopāla, the same form in which You shed streams of tears in fear of Your mother, forever appear in my heart. I especially long to see Your face in my heart perpetually, as it is being kissed again and again by Your mother or by Śrī Rādhā. May that Śrī Kṛṣṇa who holds a flute to His lips and attracts the entire world – and even Himself – forever appear in my heart. Upon seeing His form, all moving beings become stunned and motionless, and all non-moving things give up their nature and begin to move.”
In this stanza however, Śrī Satyavrata Muni wishes to directly behold Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s beautiful form with his own eyes. He realised that Śrī Kṛṣṇa will not appear before him unless he performs nāma-kīrtana, so now he prays through the medium of nāma-kīrtana beginning with namo deva dāmodara.
Śrī Satyavrata Muni had heard about the kīrtana performed by the vraja-gopīs. When Śrī Kṛṣṇa disappeared from the rāsa dance, the gopīs were unable to bear separation from Him and began to cry. The song they sang while weeping is famous by the name Gopī-gīta and is found in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. With deep love, Śrīman Mahāprabhu used to relish this song, especially during the period of His life when He remained in the Gambhīrā. The following verse is from Gopī-gīta:
tava kathāmṛtaṁ tapta-jīvanaṁ
kavibhir īḍitaṁ kalmaṣāpaham
śravaṇa-maṅgalaṁ śrīmad ātataṁ
bhuvi gṛṇanti ye bhūri-dā janāḥ
(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.31.9)
O Kṛṣṇa, we are always suffering in this material world, but just hearing the immortal nectar of Your words and narrations of Your pastimes gives us life. These narrations, coming from the lips of Your pure devotees, eradicate one’s sinful reactions and bestow the ultimate benediction, kṛṣṇa-prema, upon whoever hears them with faith. Your pure devotees broadcast these narrations, which are full of spiritual beauty and opulence, all over the world. There is certainly no one more kind and compassionate than those souls who distribute this nectar.
But the gopīs were being tortured by the pain of separation from Kṛṣṇa. They were actually saying:
“The descriptions of Your pastimes are not nectar (amṛta); they are deadly poison (mṛta). If anyone hears them, their life becomes one of suffering. Poets have sung the glories of narrations about You in vain. At first the narrations seem to be full of charm and sweetness, but instead of bringing joy to someone’s life, they plague him with sorrow. In fact, the people who recite Your pastimes are ruining everyone’s lives.”
In this verse, the word bhūridāḥ (most munificent) indicates that those who broadcast narrations about Śrī Kṛṣṇa all over the world are the greatest of all generous people. However, in divine madness (divyonmāda) brought about by the severe pain of being separated from Kṛṣṇa, the gopīs spoke about Him sarcastically:
“Just see how these people are blazoning the activities of that black boy. They carry a copy of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and roam from street to street exclaiming:
‘We do not want money; we just want you to listen to us.’
For no charge they cast the net of Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes over the living entities. Those people, now captured, are left to writhe in agony, weeping and wailing. Eventually they leave their homes, wealth, possessions, relatives and families. Like beggars or like birds, they live without any permanent residence and maintain themselves with whatever meagre eatables are given to them by others, and they sleep wherever they can find a place to lie down. They spend their days and nights in this way, constantly tortured by the pain of being separated from Śrī Kṛṣṇa.”
“My dear friend”
One gopī said
“Those who recite Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam are actually not to blame. The sweetness of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s lotus face, beautiful form, flute, qualities and pastimes are responsible for these calamities. Even just hearing about His sweetness, one will enter this miserable condition”
Another gopī exclaimed:
“O sakhī, what to speak of others in this condition just look at you! There are no hunters more merciless than those who narrate the pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Persons who hear their narrations weep, and then they make their families weep by abandoning them”
Yet another gopī protested:
“Actually, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself is the greatest of all those who spread this propaganda. He is the one who made us run away from our homes to meet Him when He played on His flute. He drove us mad with love, turned us all into beggars, and then left us!
Who is more ungrateful than He?”
When Śrī Kṛṣṇa heard them say all this, He burst into their midst, crying:
“Oh, no, no!
I am not ungrateful!
You are My beloveds and I am yours. I only left all of you to make your remembrance of Me more intense.
Do you know where I went?
I did not actually leave you; I was right behind you, listening to your song of separation.”
Conversing in the indirect mode of communication called parokṣa-vāda (2), Śrī Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs relished their prema for each other. From this example it is clear that parokṣa-vāda, which is common throughout the Vedas, is also employed in the verses of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
If anyone tries to adopt the moods of the gopīs and, hoping to achieve Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s mercy, performs nāma-saṅkīrtana with great humility, Kṛṣṇa will not be able to restrain Himself; He will surely appear directly before that person.
Remaining conscious of one’s relationship with Śrī Kṛṣṇa and free from all anarthas, the sādhaka should perform saṅkīrtana of the holy names that are bestowed upon him by Śrī Guru. All of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes with their inherent sweetness, as well as one’s relationship with Śrī Kṛṣṇa in that particular pastime, are associated with His corresponding holy names. By the mercy of Kṛṣṇa’s holy names, the corresponding pastime will begin to manifest in one’s heart. It is for this reason that Śrī Śacīnandana Gaurahari who is absorbed in relishing mahābhāva, Śrīmatī Rādhikā’s highest mood, propagated the holy name.
hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare
hare rāma hare rāma rāma rāma hare hare
In the groves of Vṛndāvana, Śrī Rādhikā steals away Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s mind. The word haraṇa means “to steal” and harā is the feminine form of “one who steals”. According to Sanskrit grammar, when harā is uttered as a personal address to someone it becomes hare. The root kṛṣ means “to attract” and ṇa means “bliss”. Therefore, He who gives bliss to everyone with the sweetness of His beautiful form, qualities, flute and pastimes is known by the name “Kṛṣṇa”.
The rāma in this mantra is not Śrī Rāma, son of Daśaratha. He who enjoys (ramaṇa) with Śrī Rādhā is known as Rādhā-ramaṇa. The name rāma in this mantra is an abbreviated form of the name Rādhā-ramaṇa.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa plays on His flute and attracts (ākarṣaṇa) the minds of the gopīs to Him. He is therefore called “Kṛṣṇa”.
This mantra embodies so many sweet moods. There is no transcendental emotion or pastime of Kṛṣṇa that is not included within this mahā-mantra, but they will only dawn in one’s heart by the mercy of Śrī Guru and the Vaiṣṇavas. Initially, by the mercy of these great personalities, one realises the sweetness of the holy name:
“Oh, these holy names are sweeter than the sweetest. Nothing is sweeter.”
Thereafter, the possessor of the name (nāmī) personally awakens within one’s heart and enables one to enter into His pastimes.
What should the sādhaka do if he is not achieving perfection in bhakti?
Regarding himself to be very fallen and destitute, he should piteously perform kīrtana of the mahā-mantra. For this reason it is said:
harer nāma harer nāma
harer nāmaiva kevalam
kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva
nāsty eva gatir anyathā
(Bṛhan-nāradīya Purāṇa Ādi 17.21)
The name of Hari, the name of Hari, the name of Hari is the only way. In this age of Kali, there is no other way, there is no other way, there is absolutely no other way to achieve the ultimate destination.
This mahā-mantra is the infallible remedy for all the ill effects of Kali-yuga. By chanting this mantra, all of one’s desires are fulfilled without fail. What to speak of achieving something in this mundane realm, by this mantra one cannot help but achieve the highest spiritual attainment. Such is the glory of nāma-saṅkīrtana.
As already mentioned, when Śrī Kṛṣṇa disappeared at the time of the rāsa dance, the gopīs sang Gopī-gīta with the desire to see Him directly. When Śrī Kṛṣṇa heard their song He could not check Himself and finally appeared before them. With this in mind, Śrī Satyavrata Muni also prays to directly behold Śrī Kṛṣṇa through nāma-saṅkīrtana:
“O Deva, You whose form is divine and astonishing; O bhakta-vatsala Dāmodara, You who were bound by the rope of Your mother’s love; O Ananta, You who have unlimited potencies; O Viṣṇu, You who pervade everything and reside as the witness in the hearts of all beings; O Prabhu, You who possess infinite, inconceivable potencies; O Īśa, my Master, You who are supremely independent.”
It is always advised that one should offer respects to one’s worshipful Lord before beginning a prayer or before beginning any other activity. Therefore, Śrī Satyavrata Muni first offers respects to his iṣṭadeva with the words namo deva. Deva means “He whose form is divine”.
What is that divine form like?
kastūrī-tilakaṁ lalāṭa-paṭale vakṣaḥ-sthale kaustabhaṁ
nāsāgre vara-mauktikaṁ kara-tale veṇūḥ kare kaṅkaṇaṁ
sarvāṅge hari-candanaṁ sulalitaṁ kaṇṭhe ca muktāvalī
gopa-strī pariveṣṭito vijayate gopāla-cūḍāmaṇiḥ
(Śrī Gopāla-sahasra-nāma-stotra 28)
His forehead is decorated with musk tilaka, the Kaustubha jewel rests upon His broad chest, and an exquisite pearl hangs from the tip of His nose. The flute gracefully rests in His lotus hands and bracelets adorn His wrists. His entire form is anointed with candana, and a necklace of pearls graces His attractive neck. All glories to the crest jewel of the gopas who is surrounded by all the young vraja-gopīs.
This form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, surrounded by the young ladies of Vraja, is most beautiful and enchanting. Mother Yaśodā has bound Deva, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. She wrapped a rope around His waist, brought it behind His back, and tied it to the grinding mortar.
Deva can also mean “He who is playing”. In other words, in this pastime Śrī Kṛṣṇa is playing in a form of a child. Śrī Satyavrata Muni therefore says, “I want to see the divine beauty of this Gopāla, who has appeared as a little child, directly with my own eyes.”
Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī explains several meanings of dāmodara in his commentary. One way to understand this name is in relation to Mother Yaśodā. Śrī Kṛṣṇa wanted to relish Śrī Yaśodā’s motherly affection, so He submitted to being bound by the rope of her love. He thus became known as Yaśodā-Dāmodara, He whose waist is bound by Śrī Yaśodā.
Another way to understand this name is in relation to Śrī Rādhā. When Śrī Kṛṣṇa eventually reappeared after leaving the rāsa dance, He somehow pacified Śrī Rādhā’s anger. One time this happened at Sevā-kuñja and another time at Māna-sarovara. Just before they started the rāsa dance again, Śrī Lalitā and Viśākhā tied Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s yellow pītāmbara to Śrī Rādhā’s veil, binding Them and making it impossible for Him to escape.
Another time when Śrī Kṛṣṇa was on His way to meet with Śrī Rādhā, Padmā somehow brought Him to Gaurī-kuṇḍa and united Him with Candrāvalī. Meanwhile, Śrī Rādhā’s maidservants headed by Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī noted that Śrī Rādhā was becoming increasingly anxious to meet with Śrī Kṛṣṇa. They began to search for Him and finally found Him at Gaurī-kuṇḍa.
“O Aghāri (slayer of the giant snake demon)”
They exclaimed
“A demon has entered Vraja and is destroying everything!” (The demon was actually Śrī Rādhā’s separation from Śrī Kṛṣṇa.)
As soon as Śrī Kṛṣṇa heard this, He spoke to Candrāvalī, comforting her:
“My dear one, I will return immediately after killing the demon; just wait for Me.”
In this way, the mañjarīs cleverly took Śrī Kṛṣṇa from Candrāvalī’s grove and united Him with Śrī Rādhā. There, the mañjarīs tied the ends of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa’s cloth in a knot.
On yet another occasion, Śrī Rādhā’s friends tied the ends of Her and Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s cloth in a knot. To this day, the place where that pastime occurred is called Gāṅṭholī (3). It is because of all these pastimes that Śrī Kṛṣṇa became known as Rādhā-Dāmodara.
Generally, viṣṇu means “the all-pervading being”. Thus, it is understood that the sage is saying, “There is no place where You are not situated, and no heart in which You do not dwell; You are everywhere.” However, in his commentary, Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmīpāda has revealed another meaning of viṣṇu: “Śrī Kṛṣṇa eternally performs His confidential pastimes in all the secluded caves and groves of Girirāja-Govardhana.”
Although even the demigods are unable to see Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes in those kuñjas, Śrī Satyavrata Muni addresses the Lord as Viṣṇu with the hope that he may see Śrī Kṛṣṇa directly:
“In Your pastimes, You reside in every grove and cave throughout this Vṛndāvana. Therefore, You do not have to undergo any pain by travelling a long distance to appear before my eyes”
The name Viṣṇu is used in a similar way in a verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.33.39):
vikrīḍitaṁ vraja-vadhūbhir idaṁ ca viṣṇoḥ.
In this verse, Viṣṇu refers to that Kṛṣṇa who, with the desire to relish the gopīs’ love for Him, sounded His flute and lured all the gopīs from their homes. By pervading their hearts, He entirely won their love. Similarly, in Śrī Satyavrata Muni’s prayer, Viṣṇu refers solely to Vrajendra-nandana Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
Śrī Satyavrata Muni says duḥkha-jālābdhi-magnaṁ:
“I am oppressed by the miseries of material existence. For an incalculable period of time I have been trapped in this vicious circle of birth and death, and subsequently, I mistake this body to be my actual self. I am wretched and utterly foolish. I am drowning in the fathomless ocean of material existence and I am unable to rescue myself”
Furthermore the sage says:
“I am suffering because I am not being supported by the mercy of saints and I do not have any strength to perform sādhana”
In this regard Śrīman Mahāprabhu asked Śrī Rāya Rāmānanda:
“duḥkha madhye kona duḥkha haya gurutara
Of all sorrows, which is the most severe?”
Śrī Rāya Rāmānanda replied:
“Kṛṣṇa-bhakta-viraha vinā duḥkha nāhi dekhi para
Other than the pain of being separated from Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s devotees, I see no actual sorrow.”
The sorrow of being separated from Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s devotees is in fact the greatest agony. Therefore, from Śrī Satyavrata Muni’s words: “duḥkha-jālābdhi-magnaṁ – I am drowning in an ocean of misery,” we can understand that he prays to attain sādhu-saṅga, the company of saintly personalities.
One can only attain Śrī Bhagavān’s mercy by the causeless compassion of saints. Śrī Nanda Mahārāja tells Śrī Gargācārya:
mahad-vicalanaṁ nṝṇāṁ
gṛhiṇāṁ dīna-cetasām
niḥśreyasāya bhagavan
kalpate nānyathā kvacit
(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.8.4)
Saintly personalities like you wander about visiting the homes of ordinary people and wretched and destitute householders like us. O exalted devotee, you never have any other reason to do this except to bestow mercy on us.
One should note that it is because Nanda Mahārāja was acting like an ordinary human being that he addressed Gargācārya in this way. In reality, there is a vast gulf of difference between Nanda Bābā and Gargācārya. This kind of behaviour is exhibited by Śrī Bhagavān’s associates in the course of performing their human-like pastimes in order to show everyone that Śrī Bhagavān can only be achieved by the immense mercy of sādhus.
When even Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s eternal associate, His mother, had to undergo so much endeavour to bind Him, then on what grounds can the conditioned souls complain about the troubles they encounter in trying to achieve Him?
There is no need to make a pompous display of devotion. We should simply act according to the method of sādhana taught to us by guru and Vaiṣṇavas, and in this way perform bhajana following in the footsteps of our six Gosvāmīs:
rādhā-kuṇḍa-taṭe kalinda-tanayā-tīre ca vaṁśī-vaṭe,
premonmāda-vaśād aśeṣa-daśayā grastau pramattau sadā
gāyantau ca kadā harer-guṇa-varaṁ bhāvābdhi-bhūtau mudā,
vande rūpa-sanātanau raghu-yugau śrī-jīva-gopālakau
(Śrī Ṣad-Gosvāmyāṣṭākam 7)
I worship Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī, Śrīla Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī, Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī and Śrīla Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī. Intoxicated with love and gripped by the countless ecstasies arising from separation, they always used to roam the banks of Rādhā-kuṇḍa and the Yamunā, or the forest near Vaṁśī-vaṭa. They remained overwhelmed with spiritual ecstasies while incessantly enraptured by singing about Śrī Hari’s most excellent qualities.
The words aśeṣa-daśayā in the above verse describes the six Gosvāmīs as being “gripped by the countless ecstasies arising from separation”. In other words, their bodies would erupt with horripilation, trembling and other ecstasies. They would even reach the stage in which one verges on death due to the intense pain of separation and begin to faint.
How exalted is the bhajana of these great personalities?
In comparison, where is our sādhana-bhajana?
Not one single tear comes to our eyes, what to speak of us fainting. Therefore, we must strive to perform bhajana in sādhu-saṅga in such a way that we are constantly immersed in serving our worshipful Lord.
The Gosvāmīs, acting as rāgānuga-sādhakas, were suffering because they could not see Śrī Bhagavān and His associates:
He rādhe! vraja-devīke! ca lalite! he nanda-sūno! kutaḥ?
(Śrī Ṣad-Gosvāmyāṣṭākam 8)
The six Gosvāmīs would cry out:
“O Rādhā! O Goddess of Vṛndāvana!
O Lalitā-devī!
O Son of Nanda!
Where are you?”
Far beyond the pain of separation experienced in the stage of sādhana is the indescribable pain of separation experienced by Śrī Bhagavān’s rāgātmika-jana (those whose hearts are imbued with rāga) in the stage of prema. In Gopī-gīta and Bhramara-gīta within the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī has illustrated such separation by indirect hints. In the same way, Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī in his written work has merely alluded to the condition of someone separated from Śrī Kṛṣṇa
Even bhāva-bhakti is extraordinary, for even after performing millions and millions of arduous spiritual practices one cannot achieve it. For example, Śrī Uddhava went to Nandagrāma where he closely associated with rāgātmika-jana of all five rasas. However, he could only get the association of Śrīmatī Rādhikā, the most exalted of all those associates, from a distance. However he was able to achieve the company of Her friends, who are Her kāya-vyūha, or bodily manifestations.
He had so much good fortune, but did he ever succeed in becoming a single plant in Vraja, or a creeper, or even a piece of straw?
In the end, he could only praise the gopīs:
āsām aho caraṇa-reṇu-juṣām ahaṁ syāṁ
vṛndāvane kim api gulma-latauṣadhīnām
yā dustyajaṁ sva-janam ārya-pathaṁ ca hitvā
bhejur mukunda-padavīṁ śrutibhir vimṛgyām
(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.47.61)
Aho, the vraja-devīs have given up everything for Śrī Kṛṣṇa. They have abandoned the path of chastity, their families and their children, which are all extremely difficult to give up. Now they have taken shelter of prema-bhakti for Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The personified scriptures (Śrutis) constantly search for that same prema-bhakti but rarely attain it. Let me just become a bush, a creeper, or a blade of grass in Vṛndāvana. Then I might attain the dust from the lotus feet of one of these gopīs.
vande nanda-vraja-strīṇāṁ
pāda-reṇum abhīkṣṇaśaḥ
yāsāṁ hari-kathodgītaṁ
punāti bhuvana-trayam
(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.47.63)
I bow down to the dust of the feet of the gopīs who reside in Nanda Bābā’s Vraja. Oh, whatever these gopīs have sung about Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes always has and always will purify the entire world.
Why is that we feel cheated of this rasa and cheated of these exalted moods even after we have obtained sādhu-saṅga?
The reason is that we do not really want to taste what the saints long for us relish.
Otherwise, why do we not become full of anxiety when we are separated from them?
Why do we not perform bhajana with great eagerness?
When Śrī Kṛṣṇa concluded His pastimes in this world, a desire to attain vraja-bhāva awoke within Śrī Uddhava’s heart. This desire came by the mercy of the Vrajavāsīs, and especially by the mercy of Śrīmatī Rādhikā. Because Uddhava desperately wanted to become a particle of dust at Śrī Rādhā’s lotus feet, it is presumed that he is performing bhajana at Uddhava-kuṇḍa in Govardhana to this day. However, we do not know if he was able to become even a particle of dust in Vraja-dhāma.
Śrī Tulasī dāsa has said:
“aba pachatāye hota kyā, jaba ciḍiyā cuga gaī kheta
What is the use of lamenting now?
It is because of your own carelessness that birds have eaten your crops.”
In other words, by Śrī Bhagavān’s grace you have taken a rare birth in the human species. If you waste it simply eating and sleeping like an animal, then you will have to remain wandering in the material world, taking birth in one of the eighty-four million species of life. Therefore, you should realise how trivial it is to simply exist like an animal and you should stay determined to permanently be in sādhu-saṅga.
But our situation is so sad that even though we have attained the great fortune of associating with saints, our hearts remain unaffected. This is because we do not have full faith in Śrī Hari, Guru and Vaiṣṇavas and, as a result, we remain deprived of the grace of Śrī Guru and Śrī Bhagavān.
Śrī Satyavrata Muni prays prasīda prabhu:
“O You who possess all inconceivable potencies!
O Master, please be kind to me. Deliver me from my pitiable mundane existence and grant me the association of Your devotees. I have no hope but You.”
We must also pray like this.
“O Prabhu, cast Your compassionate glance upon us. When we chant Your names, no tears come to our eyes, and our bodies do not tremble. We are unable to perform sādhana. We are only sustaining our ambition of attaining vraja-prema – and especially gopī-bhāva, the prema which Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu came to give – on the hope that we will receive Your merciful glance. It is only by the strength of that glance that we have any chance of attaining our goal. Even if we continue performing sādhana-bhajana as we are now doing for millions and millions of lifetimes, it will be in vain. It will still be completely impossible for us to attain vraja-prema, especially gopī-bhāva, the topmost love in Vraja. O Master, have mercy on us!”
With great anguish we should cry:
“Let me attain just a drop of gopī-bhāva.”
How can such a drop be obtained?
It is obtained by the mercy of sādhus who are absorbed in the mood of Vraja. Thus Śrī Satyavrata Muni says:
“O Prabhu, kindly grant me the association of pure-hearted saints. In their association all of my cherished desires will be fulfilled.”
Śrī Satyavrata Muni addresses Śrī Bhagavān as Īśa:
“You who are supremely independent”
In order to petition Him:
“You are the master and controller of all, so I need not seek the mercy of others to achieve Your grace. (4) O Lord, be kind to me – You do not depend on anyone or anything. If the sādhaka is completely surrendered, then You do not even pay attention to the formalities of his sādhana.”
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the best example of how the Lord distributes His causeless mercy while completely ignoring all considerations of qualification. If someone merely saw Him, even from a distance, prema would spontaneously manifest in their heart. Śrīman Mahāprabhu did not consider anyone’s qualifications or frailties. Without even considering the quality of anyone’s spiritual practices, He distributed prema to everyone.
A brilliant example of this is found in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. On His way to Vṛndāvana, Śrīman Mahāprabhu journeyed through the Jharikhaṇḍa forest. As he passed through the forest, He caused prema to awaken in the hearts of all the wild animals, birds, worms, insects, trees, and plants and creepers. All the creatures of the jungle were instantly granted prema.
Alas, will the world ever see anyone else so merciful?
“Therefore, have mercy on me and grant me direct darśana of You.”
Śrī Satyavrata Muni entreats Śrī Bhagavān:
“It is not enough for me to have but a momentary vision within my heart of little Gopāla crying out in fear of His mother as she binds Him to the grinding mortar. O master, I pray to see that form directly with my own eyes.”
In Verse Four, Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī quoted Śrī Pippalāyana Ṛṣi’s explanation of antara-darśana found within Śrī Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta:
“One first sees Śrī Bhagavān within one’s mind and then with one’s eyes. Brahmājī beheld Śrī Kṛṣṇa within his mind and received a benediction from Him, which fructified as the ability to create the material universe.”
However, in reply to Pippalāyana Ṛṣi’s reasoning, Śrī Gopa-kumāra said:
“Your thoughts are excellent, but my desire is to see Śrī Madana-gopāla directly with my eyes.”
Prabhupāda Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura states:
“First, Śrī Bhagavān is seen within the soul, and then that vision reflects in the mind. The form of the deity is the externally manifest reflection of the moods that Śrī Guru and the Vaiṣṇavas experience at such times. Śrī Guru and the Vaiṣṇavas mercifully plant the tendency to perform service to Śrī Kṛṣṇa in a person’s heart as a seed. That seed gradually matures through the stages of śraddhā, niṣṭhā, āsakti and on, until it finally reaches its destination. But the seed can only develop like this if the sādhaka carefully proceeds in sādhu-saṅga without interruption.
“Even if Śrī Bhagavān personally appears to a devotee who is in the advanced stages of prema, he will think that he is seeing his worshipful Lord within his heart due to being overwhelmed with bhāva. For example, when Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu left Śrī Navadvīpa-dhāma, He would personally come to eat the foodstuffs His mother cooked for Him, but she always considered her visions of Him to be hallucinations. Similarly, after Śrī Kṛṣṇa left Vṛndāvana, He personally appeared before the gopīs again and again but they also dismissed those meetings as mere visions“
“A devotee who progresses through the stages of bhakti by performing nāma-saṅkīrtana finally attains prema. Leaving this world behind, he enters the divine realm where he sees Śrī Bhagavān directly. This darśana eradicates the slightest scent of any remaining anarthas and gives him entrance into Bhagavān’s eternal pastimes in Śrī Vṛndāvana-dhāma.”
~ Thus ends the Dig-Darśinī-Vṛtti on the sixth verse ~
(1) Editor’s footnote: Śrī Rādhā’s prāṇa-sakhīs are Her mañjarīs, whom She considers more dear to Her than Her own life, and Her priya-narma-sakhīs, like Lalitā and Viśākhā, are Her most affectionate friends who are always dedicated to pleasing Her.
(2)Editor’s footnote: In the same way that Śrī Bhagavān does not reveal Himself to unqualified people, the Vedas express confidential knowledge in an indirect, or concealed, manner because it is not meant to be openly distributed. This indirect form of communication is called parokṣa-vāda.
(3) Editor’s footnote: The name Gāṅṭholī comes from the Hindi word gāṅṭha which means “knot”.
(4) Editor’s footnote: It is generally seen that one obtains kṛṣṇa-prema by the mercy of Śrī Guru and the Vaiṣṇavas (bhakta-prasāda-ja-kṛpā) although occasionally one receives the direct mercy of the Lord (kṛṣṇa-prasāda-jakṛpā).
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