Chapter Three
The Best Servant of Hari
In the next verse the gopîs glorify Govardhana Hill, which is not
only the crown of V®ndåvana, but the crown
of the entire universe.
hantåyam adrir abalå hari-dåsa-varyo
yad-råma-k®ß√a-cara√a-sparaça-pramoda˙
månaμ tanoti saha-go-ga√ayos tayor yat
pånîya-süyavasa-kandara-kandamülai˙
Çrîmad-Bhågavatam (10.21.18); B®had-bhågavatåm®ta
(2.7.109)
This Govardhana Hill is the best of all
those who are known
as hari-dåsa because he is feeling great
jubilation from the touch
of the lotus feet of K®ß√a and Balaråma.
With great respect
Govardhana is worshipping them by
providing all their necessities
such as caves, fruits, flowers and water
for their pleasure, and for
the pleasure of their cowherd friends,
cows and calves.
V®ndåvana is glorious because there K®ß√a
is playing the flute
in the meadows of Govardhana and the
peacocks are dancing,
and becoming stunned, all of the birds and
animals are listening
and watching. The gopîs say hantåyam,
which means they are
expressing their feelings of sorrow, yet
there is so much ånanda
in it. They are disappointed because they
cannot have darçana of
K®ß√a and externally join in the
festivities, yet they are feeling
increasing ecstasy as they experience it
all internally within their
meditation. “We are abalå, devoid of
strength. Why? The female
25
deer go near K®ß√a with their husbands
following behind them,
and there is nothing in this world to
restrict them. But for us,
everyone is an obstacle – our husbands,
mothers-in-law, fathersin-
law, brothers and friends. And what is the
greatest obstacle of
all? The restrictions that exist in our
own minds: our fear of being
disgraced in society. Therefore we are abalå.”
Prema-bhakti is something that is anugatya
– without the mercy
of the spiritual master, it can never be
attained.
çrî-guru-cara√a-padma,
kevala-bhakati-sadma,
vando mui såvadhåna-mate
The lotus feet of the guru are the sadma,
the shelter, for that çrî,
the prema-bhakti for K®ß√a, which exists
in the heart of that guru.
This is its source. If one does not have
devotion for the spiritual
master, does not serve him and is not
surrendered to him in
all respects, then bhakti will never come.
Unless one attains his
mercy, one will never experience bhakti and
will never receive
darçana of K®ß√a. Therefore here the gopîs
are saying, “Sakhî, for
a long time we have been desiring to meet
with K®ß√a, but our
feet are unable to go there, our eyes are
unable to see Him and
our hands are unable to touch Him. In our
helpless condition we
cannot attain His darçana. The birds and
the deer and everyone
else is allowed to receive His touch and
serve Him, but we are
not. However, nearby is Giriråja, who is hari-dåsa-varya
– the
best servant of Hari – and he is guru. If
we surrender to him, if
we go to him and offer püjå to him and
serve him, then certainly
we will receive the good opportunity to
serve K®ß√a.” This is the
nature of the spiritual master:
såkßåd-dharitvena samasta-çåstrair
uktas tathå bhåvyata eva sadbhi˙
kintu prabhor ya˙ priya eva tasya
vande guro˙ çrî-cara√åravindam
Çrî Gurva߆aka (7)
26 Bhakti-rasåyana
The guru is the one who is especially dear
to K®ß√a. All jîvas are
dear to Him, yet by serving and receiving
the mercy of such
a guru who can actually overpower K®ß√a by
prema, we can meet
Him; otherwise we can’t meet Him. All
devotees performing
circumabulation (parikramå) of Govardhana
should visit the
temple of Harideva. If one performs the entire Govardhana
parikramå without first taking darçana of
Harideva, then he
will not receive the full benefit of his parikramå.
So the gopîs
are saying, “On the pretext of bathing in
Månasî-ga∫gå, we will
first take darçana of Harideva, and then
we will go to Giriråja-
Govardhana, where the desires of our
hearts will be completely
fulfilled. Our desires will be completely
fulfilled because somewhere
on top of Govardhana, K®ß√a is taking the
cows to graze
and playing with His friends. There we
will be able to receive His
darçana, to receive His touch and to
freely mix with Him – this
is the main objective of our lives.”
This should also be the main objective of our
lives. Meeting
K®ß√a and attaining K®ß√a’s service –
solely for this purpose we
are practising sådhana. Ultimately the sådhana
(practice) and
sådhya (goal) of bhakti are one and the
same. For instance there
is çrava√a, hearing – what will we hear?
The science of the
Supreme Lord (bhagavat-tattva), and
especially the nature of the
illusory nergy (måyå-tattva) we must
understand well: “That
which we are seeing now and which we are
attached to due to our
selfishness will only bring us
unhappiness.” Until we surrender to
the feet of the spiritual master and
follow the sådhana that he
prescribes, we are just following the
advice given to us by our
own minds. When we take exclusive shelter
of the guru, he will
save us from our own independence. Then we
should empty
our hearts completely and accept the
spiritual master’s order and
act accordingly. We must make our hearts
one with guru and
the Vaiß√avas, and one with our previous åcåryas
like Çrîla
Chapter Three 27
Viçvanåtha Cakravartî ˇhåkura, Çrîla
Bhaktivinoda ˇhåkura
and Çrîla Bhaktisiddhånta Sarasvatî
Prabhupåda. If we keep our
hearts separate from them, then måyå will
certainly snatch us. If
we don’t surrender our independence to
them, then we will only
act according to our own desire. We should
depend solely on
them: “As they instruct me, I will do. I
will apply all of my intelligence
to carrying out their orders.” Then we
will be successful;
otherwise bhakti, which is fully spiritual
and has its own independent
nature, will not come easily.
Therefore here the gopîs are saying, “By
thousands of our own
efforts we will never overcome the
obstacles that prevent us from
meeting K®ß√a, such as fear of our elders
and adherence to the
regulations of var√åçrama-dharma. They
will only be overcome
when we attain the mercy of Giriråja.” And
those of us in the
stage of sådhana should never leave the
company of that Vaiß√ava
who is actually qualified to be followed.
So many distractions
may come, but we should never leave him –
this is instruction
number one. According to his desire we
will move, and then we
will surely progress upwards in the
kingdom of bhajana. But if we
listen instead to the dictates of our
minds, we will descend into
the hell known as Rasåtala. What kind of
things does the mind
tell us? “Look, take good care of your
body. Remain comfortable,
and endeavour only for that happiness
which is easily obtained.”
And following these instructions we will
become trapped in
the reactions to our enjoyment, and
suffer. Therefore instead
we should honour the instructions of the
spiritual master, the
Vaiß√avas and the scriptures. Like the gopîs
are saying in this
verse, we are abalå – we have no vitality
in our association with
sådhus. If we are living in a temple but
we never speak to anyone,
and we don’t have love for both the guru and
other Vaiß√avas,
then what will happen? We will become
isolated and discouraged.
Lovingly we should speak with them, ask
questions, attentively
28 Bhakti-rasåyana
listen to the answers, and have a mood of
affectionate reciprocation
with them in all respects. Without them,
we are abalå – we
have no spiritual strength.
pråcînånåμ bhajanam atulaμ dußkaraμ s®√vato
me
nairåçyena jvalati h®dayaμ
bhakti-leçålasasya
Stava-målå
How did previous great personalities
obtain their most cherished
objectives? For sixty thousand years
Kaçyapa ‰ßi and Aditi stood
on their hands and went without eating,
drinking and even
breathing. After they performed such
severe austerities, Nåråya√a
appeared and offered them a boon. Kaçyapa ‰ßi
said, “We desire
a son like you, we desire a son like you,
we desire a son like you.”
Nåråya√a replied, “Where will you get a
son like me? Therefore
I myself will come as your son.” And
because he had asked three
times, Nåråya√a became their son in three
separate births. We
can see what severe austerities Hira√yakaçipu
performed to obtain
only material things. For acquiring his own
planet, Dhruva
Mahåråja performed very severe
austerities. Someone offered
Sanåtana Gosvåmî a quilt, but fearing that
it may make him sleep
more, he said, “Burn it!” But on the
contrary, what are we doing?
With great pleasure all day we are eating,
sleeping, joking,
laughing, quarrelling and in the midst of
all this we chant a little
harinåma. Relatively easily we can rid
ourselves of our worldly
attachments, but that rare prema which we
are aspiring for will
not come if we are going on like this. We
must have great eagerness,
always thinking, “How will I meet K®ß√a?”
Once Bhagavån gave Nårada his darçana and
then immediately
disappeared, and Nårada began crying
profusely. Why did he
disappear? “Inside you there is not
sufficient eagerness; therefore
I have come to increase your eagerness for
attaining my association.
In your present form you cannot always
remain with me,
but when your eagerness to be with me
becomes sufficiently
Chapter Three 29
intense, you will automatically shed your
present body, and then
you will always be able to see me.” But
our bhajana is not filled
with eagerness and intensity. If our
hearts are not completely
melted we will never meet K®ß√a, so there
is only one hope: “We
are standing on the shores of the ocean of
Your kindness, and if
even one drop of that ocean falls upon us,
then our lives will
become meaningful.” Our only hope is that
sometime or other
we will meet Him.
Therefore if we are fortunate enough to
acquire the company
of a real Vaiß√ava, we should stay with
him and adopt his ways,
hoping that one day we will receive the
direct mercy of K®ß√a.
The gopîs are saying, “We are abalå because
our feet are unable to
take us to K®ß√a. Thousands of people will
see us and say, ‘Where
are you going?’ Or they will say to our
parents, ‘Where is your
daughter going? She has become a disgrace
to your family!’” It is
like this in modern times also when a
family member begins to
engage in bhajana. If a son or daughter
drinks and smokes, goes
to the cinema, and keeps illicit
connections with the opposite sex,
then the family members think nothing of
it. But if someone
leaves everything for bhajana, they say
that he or she has become
a disgrace to the family. If a sådhu hears
about this, what will he
say? “Because he has taken up bhajana, he
has become the lamplight
of the family.” And hearing of this, that
person’s forefathers,
whether they are in Pit®loka or wherever,
will begin dancing:
“Now a devotee has appeared in our family!”
The gopîs are saying hari-dåsa-varya˙ –
Govardhana is the best
servant of Hari. He in whom K®ß√a invests
all of His good qualities
is called a devotee of Bhagavån, and that
person is hari-dåsa.
Three personalities have been referred to
as hari-dåsa: Yudhi߆hira
Mahåråja, Çrî Uddhava and
Giriråja-Govardhana. Yudhi߆hira
Mahåråja has three types of relationships
with K®ß√a: in våtsalyabhåva,
sakhya-bhåva and dåsya-bhåva. He serves
K®ß√a in these
30 Bhakti-rasåyana
three sentiments, according to the
necessity. He loves K®ß√a in the
same way as he does Arjuna and Sahadeva,
as a younger brother.
As K®ß√a’s friend he jokes and laughs with
Him. And by considering
that everything he possesses – his
kingdom, wealth, wife,
sons – is for the service of K®ß√a, he
acts as His servant. After
K®ß√a had left Hastinåpura, Yudhi߆hira
Mahåråja felt that his
kingdom no longer had any value, but as
long as K®ß√a was
present there, he felt that all of his
property was for the service of
K®ß√a. Whenever K®ß√a desired to leave
there and go to Dvårakå,
Yudhi߆hira Mahåråja would approach Kuntî
and say, “My dear
mother, He will not listen to me, but He
will listen to you. Please
speak with Him.” To Draupadî he would say,
“He won’t listen
to me, so you just let some tears fall
from your eyes. He won’t
listen to me because I won’t cry, but by
crying a little you will
capture Him.” Then because she started
crying, and Kuntî cried
also, K®ß√a would not go. In this way,
sometimes implementing
some trickery, he would serve K®ß√a. Even rasika
Vaiß√avas
like Nårada pray to Yudhi߆hira Mahåråja, “You
are hari-dåsa.
Accompanied by His queens, K®ß√a comes to
your palace, and so
many sådhus also come. The sådhus come
because they want to
experience the glories of K®ß√a, but I
have not come for that
reason. I have come for your darçana; your
prema is so elevated
that it even overpowers K®ß√a.”
Uddhava is K®ß√a’s minister, friend and
servant, and he even
performed the function of a priya-narma-sakhå
when he delivered
a message from K®ß√a to the gopîs. There
is pür√a (complete),
which is Yudhi߆hira Mahåråja, pür√atara (more
complete),
which is Uddhava, and pür√atama (most
complete), which is
Giriråja-Govardhana. In whichever rasa K®ß√a
desires to enjoy,
Giriråja-Govardhana is ready to serve Him.
In the çånta-, dåsya-,
sakhya-, våtsalya-, mådhurya- and sumådhurya-rasas,
Govardhana
makes the suitable arrangement for K®ß√a,
and is therefore
Chapter Three 31
known as the best of those who are hari-dåsa.
Knowing this, the
gopîs are saying here, “We will go to
Giriråja, offer püjå to Him
and serve Him, and then we will attain darçana
of K®ß√a taking
the cows out to graze.”
In his commentary on this verse, Sanåtana
Gosvåmî explains
that the gopîs were thinking, “We have no
strength when it comes
to tolerating all of the obstacles that
prevent us from meeting
K®ß√a. We are sitting in our homes, and if
any other disturbance
comes, we can hold our patience; but for
meeting K®ß√a we
cannot hold our patience. But if we were
to abandon it, what
would happen? All would be destroyed for
us. We know that
K®ß√a has taken the cows out to graze, yet
for us to go there
would not be proper. If we were to go,
then our mothers-in-law,
fathers-in-law and all the people of the
village would criticise us.
Therefore we are holding our patience. If
we have any hope of
ever receiving the company of K®ß√a, our
fear of being disgraced
in society, our fear of our elders, and
our fear of transgressing our
dharma must remain. Therefore we are abalå
– we cannot abandon
our patience; we don’t possess the
strength to do it. We are
unable to go there.”
In this world also these considerations
exist. One would be
afraid of the reaction in society if he
were to leave his home, wife,
children and job to engage in bhajana. In
our k®ß√a-bhajana, our
lack of strength is also an obstacle. We
are very lazy, and we are
always thinking of our bodily comfort. And
especially those who
are householders have so many
responsibilities to society and to
their families that obstruct them.
Soon after taking birth, Çukadeva Gosvåmî
left his home and
entered the jungle. His father Vyåsadeva
was left crying, “My
dear son! My dear son!” but Çukadeva didn’t
answer him. Who
answered him? Only the echo of the forest;
his call didn’t even
reach his son’s ears. If not today, then
tomorrow or the next day
32 Bhakti-rasåyana
our eagerness for k®ß√a-bhajana should be
like Çukadeva’s, and
then all of our abalå sentiments will go
far away. When we really
desire to overcome all of the obstacles to
our bhajana, where will
we get the strength to do so? The gopîs are
saying, “For this we will
go to Giriråja-Govardhana, because He is
the best servant of Hari.
Why? Because He doesn’t just serve K®ß√a,
but månaμ tanoti
saha-go-ga√ayos tayor yat – K®ß√a has so
many companions, and
he serves all of them as well. He provides
pure and fragrant water
for the cows and sakhås to drink, and for
washing K®ß√a’s feet.”
By providing all necessities,
Giriråja-Govardhana would offer
respect not only to K®ß√a, but to His
companions as well. Many
people are engaged in serving the
spiritual master, but few offer
respect to the servants of the guru; but
when one performs the
service of respecting the guru’s servants,
the guru is even more
pleased. Similarly many devotees are
serving K®ß√a, but if someone
serves K®ß√a’s devotees and pleases them,
then automatically
K®ß√a will be pleased. Govardhana not only
provides pure water,
but beautiful, soft grass as well. Eating
this grass, the cows
become strong and give ample milk which
satisfies K®ß√a. And
for the sakhås Govardhana provides not
only water, but all kinds
of fruits, which simply upon being seen
increase their happiness:
bananas, lemons, pomegranates, coconut and
tåla, which is especially
fragrant.
Govardhana also provided caves for the sakhås
when they
became tired from tending the cows. On hot
days the caves would
be cooling, and on cold days they gave
warmth, and within these
caves were kuñjas with mirrors composed of
jewels where one
could see his reflection. All materials
for decorating oneself and
others were available there, and in this
way it also became a meeting
place for K®ß√a and the gopîs. Nearby are
such places as Dånaghå†
î and Dåna-nivartana-ku√∂a, where K®ß√a
and Rådhikå and
Her sakhîs took taxes from one another. So
the gopîs are praying,
Chapter Three 33
“O Giriråja-Govardhana, You are a witness
to all of K®ß√a’s pastimes;
please give us a place from where we can
also witness His
pastimes.”
Hearing these words of the gopîs, a sådhaka’s
hankering will
increase and he will think, “When will
such a day be mine, when
I can go to Giriråja-Govardhana with these
sentiments of the gopîs
flowing in my heart? I also desire to
witness K®ß√a’s pastimes
during the day.” This desire is the aim
and objective of our lives,
and the very pinnacle of bhajana.
34 Bhakti-rasåyana
Chapter Four
The Clouds, Rivers and Trees Serve K®ß√a
If someone is inimical to Bhagavån, then they will have to
undergo much suffering and be very
unhappy. They will have to
take millions of births in the material
world, and will never attain
happiness in any birth. The jîva is a part
of Bhagavån; his very
intrinsic form is as a servant of
Bhagavån. Abandoning this
understanding, the living entity becomes
opposed to Bhagavån
and thinks, “I am the enjoyer of this
world,” “I am the master of
everything,” and “Everything has been
created for my enjoyment.”
This is the illusion of the opposed jîva.
When K®ß√a disappeared
from the vision of the gopîs, in divine
madness they went searching
for Him. In reality He is never far away
from them; but on
the contrary we have made ourselves
separate from Him. If in our
search for Bhagavån we have the same kind
of eagerness that the
gopîs have, then we can meet Him. But
without such eagerness,
we will never meet Him.
The gopîs possess an extremely intense
eagerness to meet K®ß√a,
and if even a fraction of that arises
within us, then it can be said
that we are really searching for K®ß√a in
our sådhana-bhajana. But
from where will this eagerness come? K®ß√a
and Çrîmatî Rådhikå
both assume forms that are easily
accessible to conditioned souls.
For the purpose of bringing jîvas towards
Himself, K®ß√a has
become the çålagråma-çilå, and His dearest
one has become
35
tulasî. K®ß√a has also entered this world
in the form of Giriråja-
Govardhana, and His dearest one has come
in the form of the
Yamunå. We can see how merciful Bhagavån
is: so much so that
He has made the arrangement for everyone
to attain Him.
Govardhana is accessible for everyone, and
is fully capable of
bestowing k®ß√a-prema. It has been said
that he fulfils whatever
desires people approach him with, and in
this way has arranged a
very nice trap for them. If anyone desires
a son, wealth, to get
their son or daughter married, a better
job or whatever, they can
go to Govardhana, beg from him, and he
will bestow those
things. In this way, at first he slowly
captures people by grabbing
the end of their finger, and then he grabs
the whole finger, next
the hand, and finally he grabs everything.
Those of you who have travelled on the
trains in India
have
seen how they are very crowded and how no
seats are available.
So after boarding the train people first
move near a bench, then
place their hand down on it, then spread
their hand out a little,
and then begin to edge their way in until
they have squeezed
themselves into a seat. In the same way,
Giriråja, the spiritual
master and the Vaiß√avas gradually bring
the conditioned soul
towards bhakti.
Having become separated from K®ß√a, the gopîs
are thinking,
“K®ß√a is everything to us, so how will we
meet Him? We must
get the mercy of a Vaiß√ava, and who are
the best Vaiß√avas?
Yudhi߆hira, Uddhava and
Giriråja-Govardhana; and amongst
them, Giriråja is the best. Going to
Yudhi߆hira or Uddhava won’t
be fruitful; they cannot give us what we
desire. Only Giriråja can
give it.” In this way, if we really feel
that Bhagavån is our only
necessity, we will have such eagerness.
Then our eagerness will
lead us to ask a Vaiß√ava, “How can we
meet K®ß√a? How can we
overcome all of our despair?” This is
where we recognise our
necessity for a guru. For obtaining any
material object a guru is
36 Bhakti-rasåyana
not necessary, but in spiritual matters
approaching a guru is
necessary. Giriråja will give mercy, Yamunå-devî
will give mercy,
V®ndåvana-dhåma will give mercy, and we
should pray to all of
them.
Here the gopîs, through the eyes of vipralambha-bhåva
in
separation from K®ß√a, are seeing prema in
all the residents of
V®ndåvana but themselves. This is the symptom
of an uttamaadhikårî
Vaiß√ava. There are three levels of Vaiß√ava.
The first is
the kani߆ha-adhikårî, and his symptoms
are that even though he
offers püjå to the deity and accepts that
the water of holy places
and the water that has washed the deity is
sacred, he does not
detect the presence of Bhagavån within the
hearts of other living
entities. He considers the body to be the
self, and has no respect
for the devotees of Bhagavån. He doesn’t
believe that the spiritual
master knows all; he thinks that the guru may
possess more
knowledge than he does, but that he
certainly doesn’t know
everything. Therefore he feels that there
is no real necessity of
taking advice from the guru. Upon not
obtaining the material
things that he desires from his practice
of bhajana, he may
become disgusted and even abandon his bhajana.
The symptoms of the madhyama-adhikårî Vaiß√ava
have been
told to be that he has love for Bhagavån,
he has friendship with
other devotees, he is merciful to those
who are faithful and he
remains indifferent towards those who are
opposed to Bhagavån.
He wants to give mercy to everyone, but it
is not possible to love
everyone; it is inappropriate. One cannot
show love to a snake or
a tiger – they will only attack you.
Therefore he behaves suitably
towards others according to their
qualification.
The uttama-adhikårî Vaiß√ava sees the
presence of his master
in the hearts of all jîvas, and believes
that they all have the same
feelings for Bhagavån that he does.
Prahlåda Mahåråja saw that
his worshipful deity was in the hearts of
all living entities, and
Chapter Four 37
that even the trees had the same feelings
of çånta- and dåsya-rasa
towards Bhagavån that he did. Similarly
the gopîs saw their own
sentiments sometimes within Giriråja,
sometimes within the deer
of V®ndåvana and sometimes even within the
clouds. And they
also saw that just as K®ß√a loves them, He
also loves all the other
residents of V®ndåvana in the same way.
Therefore the uttamaadhikårî
doesn’t see anywhere in the world a living
entity who is
not engaged in bhajana and who doesn’t
have the same sentiment
for K®ß√a as he himself does.
mama vartmånuvartante
manußyå˙ pårtha sarvaça˙
Bhagavad-gîtå (4.11)
Everyone follows My path in all respects,
O son of P®thå.
The highest devotees really see that
everyone is serving Bhagavån
– don’t think that this statement is an
exaggeration. The gopîs
actually see that, “Just as we love K®ß√a,
all of the trees, creepers,
birds, mountains and rivers of V®ndåvana
are fully conscious and
are serving K®ß√a.” They are planning to
go to Govardhana on
the pretext of going to bathe in Månasî-ga∫gå
and having darçana
of Harideva because nearby there, K®ß√a is
taking the cows out to
graze, and then they will surely receive
His darçana. In this way,
with his eyes closed and chanting the holy
name, an uttamaadhikårî
similarly meditates on the pastimes of K®ß√a,
especially
His eternal eightfold daily pastimes (a߆akåla-lîlå).
Meditating
more and more, eventually the object of
his meditation appears to
him, and he becomes absorbed in that flow:
“I am at Govardhana,
and I am doing my service.” When his
vision begins to dissipate,
he begins to lament, “Håya! Håya!” And
here, as the day progresses
and the gopîs are sitting in their homes
and conversing,
their absorption in the previous bhåva begins
to diminish, and
one sakhî says to Rådhikå:
38 Bhakti-rasåyana
d®ß†våtape vraja-paçün saha råma-gopai˙
sañcårayantam anu ve√um udîrayantam
prema-prav®ddha udita˙ kusumåvalîbhi˙
sakhyur vyadhåt sva-vapußåmbuda åtapatram
Çrîmad-Bhågavatam (10.21.16); B®had-bhågavatåm®ta
(2.7.110)
Seeing K®ß√a and Balaråma playing their
flutes in the afternoon
sun and taking the cows and calves out for
grazing, the clouds
burst with divine love, and like an
umbrella shield their friend Çrî
K®ß√a from the sun while showering tiny
drops of rain that are
like a shower of flowers.
Now it is afternoon time, and taking the
cows out to graze
accompanied by Baladeva and the gopas, K®ß√a
has entered the
forest. Desiring fresh grass to eat, the
cows grazed on and on until
they reached the rocks of Govardhana. The
rocks were very hot
in the afternoon sun, and the sand and
soil below their feet were
also very hot. Thinking that the cows and
His friends were feeling
some pain due to this, K®ß√a played the
flute in such a way that
at once the clouds gathered and began to
shower soft rain.
In India there are many rågas that are
well-known for producing
different effects. Once there was a guru named
Haridåsajî who was
a master of rågas, and he had two
disciples named Baijubåvara
and Tanasena. Tanasena was a singer in the
court of the king,
and it was his policy that if anyone came
to Delhi to
sing, they
were obligated to challenge him in the
royal court – and if they
were defeated, they would have to face
punishment from the
king. Hearing of this, Baijubåvara went to
Delhi and began
skilfully singing different melodies, and
a large crowd of people
gathered to hear him. The news of this reached
the king, who
said, “Who is this person daring to sing
here? This is a great
insult to Tanasena!” So he called for
Baijubåvara and said to him,
“You must have the proper qualification;
otherwise you are not
allowed to sing in Delhi.”
Chapter Four 39
Baijubåvara said, “All right, we will have
a competition. Where
will it be held?”
“It will be held in the royal assembly.”
“Then who will decide the winner? Who will
decide whose
singing is the sweetest and the most
beautiful?”
“All of my queens here will decide.”
“No, I can’t trust them. I want the
animals of the jungle to
make the decision, and then I will accept
it. The queens will all
certainly be prejudiced. Therefore we
should go to the jungle and
see whose singing pleases the animals
most.”
“All right, so it shall be.”
The entire assembly went to the jungle,
and first Tanasena
sang. Then Baijubåvara sang, and groups of
deer immediately
gathered there. These deer became so
absorbed in his singing that
he reached over and placed a flower
garland around the neck of
one of them. Then as soon as he stopped
singing, all of the deer
ran off very quickly. Baijubåvara said, “If
Tanasena is a better
singer than me, then he should call all of
these deer back with his
singing, and once they are again absorbed,
he should reach over
and retrieve the garland.” Tanasena stood
and began singing, and
he sang with such effort that he was
perspiring heavily, but still
the deer didn’t come, and he couldn’t
retrieve the garland. Then
Baijubåvara sang again, and this time even
more deer came and
at once again became absorbed in his
singing. With one hand he
reached over and took back the garland,
and then when he
stopped singing, all the deer ran off
again. In previous times there
were singers and musicians like this who
could also produce
effects like bringing rain or even
starting a fire without the use of
any matches or other such things.
Therefore we can scarcely conceive
of the effects K®ß√a’s flute-playing is
capable of producing.
After entering the forest, K®ß√a played
the flute in such a way
40 Bhakti-rasåyana
that it bewildered everyone, and the
clouds saw that, “Our friend
has come! We should show some respect to
our friend.” Why was
there friendship between them? Because
they were of the same
darkish blue (çyåma) colour. The afternoon
sun had made the
rocks and the soil underfoot very hot, and
when K®ß√a played
this particular råga on the flute,
wherever the sakhås and cows
were standing they became stunned and just
listened, and the
clouds began to gather in groups. But they
didn’t only come for
K®ß√a: wherever there were gopas, cows or
calves standing, the
clouds desired to render service and they
covered the sun with
their own bodies like an umbrella. As they
rendered this service,
it increased their prema, and tears of joy
came to their eyes. These
tears took the form of cooling drops of
rain, and they fell softly
from the sky like an offering of flowers.
The gopîs are saying, “These clouds are so
fortunate! We cannot
be equal to them; we cannot render even a
little service to K®ß√a.
No one is as unfortunate as us.” Sådhakas should
also feel like this
– “Everyone is serving K®ß√a, but I am
not.” If a sådhaka feels this
way, then he will surely make progress in
his sådhana. Otherwise,
if he sees the faults in others, then all
of those faults will in return
come within him. Therefore we should never
see the faults in
other devotees, but should always make an
effort to recognise
only their good qualities.
Next comes this verse:
nadyas tadå tad upadhårya mukunda-gîtam
åvarta-lakßita-manobhava-bhagna-vegå˙
åli∫gana-sthagitam ürmi-bhujair murårer
g®h√anti påda-yugalaμ kamalopahårå˙
Çrîmad-Bhågavatam (10.21.15); B®had-bhågavatåm®ta
(2.7.111)
O sakhîs, when the rivers of V®ndåvana
headed by the Yamunå
hear the vibration of K®ß√a’s flute, their
currents completely stop,
Chapter Four 41
and their waters begin to swirl as if they
are overcome with desire.
With their arms in the form of waves they reach
out to touch and
offer lotus flowers to His lotus feet.
These verses describe the sentiment of
elevated devotees, but
they may not even come to all elevated
devotees; they are exclusively
the sentiments of the gopîs. So why have
they been given in
the Bhågavatam? These verses are there for
the benefit of those
sådhakas who have a similar type of
hankering as the gopîs do. By
remembering these verses more and more,
some day, in some lifetime,
this beautiful bhåva of the gopîs’ eagerness
to meet K®ß√a
will enter their hearts. As the gopîs are
sitting in their homes,
one bhåva arises within them, and then as
it diminishes, another
immediately arises. This is called bhåva-çåbalya,
where one bhåva
is fully relished and then another comes.
The meaning of this
verse is that as the gopîs were looking
towards the Yamunå, they
said, “O sakhî, hearing the flute-song of
Mukunda, the river is
carrying all the lotuses like gifts in her
thousands of arms and
offering them as pußpåñjali to K®ß√a’s
feet. The waves of the river
have stopped flowing, and a whirlpool has
been created. This
whirlpool is a symptom of manobhava, the
river’s love for K®ß√a.”
Who is the husband of the Yamunå,
Månasî-ga∫gå and the
other rivers of Vraja? The ocean, because
they all flow towards
him. But these rivers don’t flow easily
towards their husband.
The best of these rivers is the one who is
the dearest to Bhagavån:
Kålindî, she who springs forth from the Kålinda Mountain.
Kålindî is the one whose water, from
receiving K®ß√a’s touch or
from the añjana of the gopîs, has assumed
K®ß√a’s çyåma colour.
Having had her heart stolen by the sound
of K®ß√a’s flute, the
waves of her bhåva were like her hands,
and taking a gift of
lotuses – kamalopahårå˙ – in these hands,
she offered them to
the feet of K®ß√a. Kamalopahårå˙ can also
mean Lakßmî, which
means splendour. What is the splendour of
a river? The lotus; so
42 Bhakti-rasåyana
it can also mean taking that splendour and
offering it to K®ß√a’s
feet. The waves have been said to be
Kålindî’s long, long arms,
and there were not just two of these arms,
but thousands and
thousands of waves surrounding K®ß√a’s
feet. Why? For grasping
His feet so He wouldn’t be able to go away
from there. In this
way, after offering a gift of all her
splendour – the lotuses – she
submerged K®ß√a’s feet in her waves as if
grasping them, thereby
placing them in her heart.
The gopîs are saying, “How can we go and
grasp the feet of K®ß√a
in this way? We are very afraid of being
disgraced in society, and
therefore we cannot go. We are unable to
abandon our present
circumstances to meet with K®ß√a. But this
river is indicating to
us, ‘You are unable to do what I have
done? Being attracted by
K®ß√a’s flute you are not able to leave
everything – as I have
stopped flowing towards my husband, the
ocean – and place all
of your splendour at His feet? You do not
have that much
courage? You are so afraid of being
disgraced in society?’ But we
are unable to do it, and therefore if
there is anyone in this world
who is unfortunate, it is us. Having taken
birth in these circumstances,
we are unable to meet K®ß√a, to speak with
Him or to
serve Him, because we are always busy in
our household affairs.
But this river has abandoned everything,
even its fierce flow, and
embraced the feet of K®ß√a.”
It is the same for us; we are unable to
engage in sådhanabhajana.
In the same way as the river offered the
gift of lotuses to
K®ß√a’s feet, we should offer our very
hearts to the spiritual
master and the Vaiß√avas. We may have everything
– the association
of guru and the Vaiß√avas – but as yet we
have no such
eagerness by which we can turn the
tendency of our minds away
from material enjoyment and exclusively
towards K®ß√a. This is
the message being carried by the river,
and the instruction being
given here through the medium of the gopîs.
Chapter Four 43
Next comes this verse:
vana-latås tarava åtmani viß√uμ
vyañjayantya iva pußpa-phalå∂hyå˙
pra√ata-bhåra-vi†apå madhu-dhårå˙
prema-h®ß†a-tanavo vav®ßu˙ sma
Çrîmad-Bhågavatam (10.35.9); B®had-bhågavatåm®ta
(2.7.112)
Look how the creepers and the branches of
the trees of V®ndåvana
are drooping down due to their weight!
They must have also taken
Çrî K®ß√a within their hearts, because
tears of love in the form of
streams of honey are dripping from them,
and the emergence of
their fruits and flowers bear witness to
their ecstatic rapture.
The previous verses were all from the Ve√u-gîta
of the Çrîmad-
Bhågavatam [chapter 21 of the Tenth
Canto], but this verse is
from the Yugala-gîta [chapter 35 of the
Tenth Canto]. What is
the meaning of the Yugala-gîta? The gopîs are
singing to each
other concerning their separation from K®ß√a.
In the Ve√u-gîta
there was more pürva-råga, preliminary
attraction, but here, after
meeting with K®ß√a, they are speaking
about their agitated state
of vipralambha-bhåva. One who has such
eagerness as the gopîs
are expressing here will be able to meet
K®ß√a and His dearest
ones.
The system for spiritual enlightenment is
arranged by K®ß√a
alone. Here someone may ask, “There are so
many jîvas in the
world, so are they all in mådhurya-rasa?
There are numerous
devotees performing bhajana in the sampradåyas
of Nimbårka,
Råmånuja and Viß√usvåmî, and there are
others such as yavanas
who perform no bhajana at all. Why is it
that they don’t all come
towards mådhurya-rasa?” The answer is that
Bhagavån is so merciful
that all the systems in this world are in
His hands; according
to a person’s particular actions, a
certain fruit is bestowed upon
them. Every jîva certainly has a
particular instrinsic rasa. Five
primary sentiments have been described: çånta,
dåsya, sakhya,
44 Bhakti-rasåyana
våtsalya and mådhurya, and every jîva falls
within one of these
categories. Yet from time immemorial he
has been taking birth,
dying, sometimes attaining the higher
planetary systems and then
again returning here, wandering in all
directions.
Those who were more fortunate took birth
in Satya-yuga,
where most people worshipped Bhagavån
through çånta-rasa, as
the four Kumåras and the Nara-Nåråya√a ®ßis
did. After this Çrî
Råmacandra came and emphasised the glories
of dåsya-rasa, and
for preaching this ideal, Hanumån remained
in this world
after the disappearance of Råma. Then K®ß√a
came at the end of
Dvåpara-yuga and gave prema even to the
creepers. He performed
such pastimes that simply by hearing and
chanting about them,
especially through the medium of Çrîmad-Bhågavatam,
a jîva
could be attracted and gradually attain that
bhåva. But there
were some jîvas who were contemporary with
K®ß√a yet could
not understand His pastimes. Çiçupåla, Kaμsa,
Du˙çåsana and
Jaråsandha criticised this bhåva: “Oh, in
Vraja this boy of no particular
caste has appeared, no one even knows for
sure who his
real mother and father are, and now he has
become a king in
Dvårakå and will rule over us?”
In the Bhågavatam it is stated that K®ß√a
is Svayam Bhagavån,
and all bhåvas are included in Him, yet
the bhåva He showed in
Vraja was not shown anywhere else. But
very few people outside
of Vraja actually accepted that bhåva at
that time and just
criticised Him for it. For this reason K®ß√a
inspired Çukadeva
Gosvåmî: “You please manifest the shining
sun of Çrîmad-
Bhågavatam. No one else is capable; you
are lîlå-çuka, the expert
narrator of our pastimes.” Then on the
pretext of Parîkßit Mahåråja
being cursed to die by the bite of a
snakebird, the Bhågavatam
was manifest by Çukadeva Gosvåmî; but at
that time very few
people were actually qualified to accept
it. Then Ça∫karåcårya
came, then Madhva, then Råmånuja, and
other åcåryas came and
Chapter Four 45
gave dåsya-rasa, and maybe a little sakhya-rasa.
Finally Caitanya
Mahåprabhu came with His eternal
associates, and through the
medium of Çrîmad-Bhågavatam validated that
special vraja-bhåva
and gave prema to the world. Meeting the
incarnation of Bhagavån
who goes by the name Vrajendra-nandana is
the ideal that is being
described in these verses from the Bhågavatam.
The gopîs, being extremely agitated to
meet K®ß√a, have even
forgotten their own bodies. Which K®ß√a
are they desiring?
Sakhå-K®ß√a, the K®ß√a who is so dear to
them. If anyone
becomes similarly agitated to have K®ß√a
as their own friend, son
or dear one, and goes to an elevated
devotee and hears k®ß√akathå
from him, then easily he can attain k®ß√a-prema.
Otherwise
there is no way to attain it; Caitanya
Mahåprabhu Himself
came and showed the way. And who was
accompanying Him?
Svarüpa Dåmodara, Råya Råmånanda, and
Rüpa, Sanåtana and
Raghunåtha dåsa Gosvåmîs. He bestowed all
of His mercy on
Svarüpa Dåmodara and Råya Råmånanda by
relishing kathå
with them night after night, but He
invested His potency (çakti)
directly into the hearts of Rüpa at Prayåga
and Sanåtana at
Vårå√asî. Through them this bhåva was
manifest in the world,
and everyone was drowned in the ocean of bhakti-rasa.
Before the
appearance of Mahåprabhu these things were
not known; no one
could even imagine them. Whenever
Mahåprabhu saw a forest,
He considered it to be V®ndåvana, whenever
He saw a body of
water, He took it to be the Kålindî, and
whenever He saw any
elevated land, He took it to be
Govardhana. This is the bhåva of
an uttama-adhikårî.
So in this verse the gopîs are saying, “Aho!
K®ß√a has continued
on His way playing the flute, and it seems
that all of the trees,
creepers and mountains of V®ndåvana are
revealing their hearts to
Him. The creepers have very large flowers
and the trees have very
large fruits, and it seems that upon
seeing K®ß√a they have begun
46 Bhakti-rasåyana
laughing in great ecstasy. The prema within
them has manifested
externally in the form of their ripening
fruits and blossoming
flowers. And when K®ß√a passes by them,
those trees and creepers
bend over, and those fruits and flowers
that are normally at
the height of His head are offered to His
feet as pußpåñjali. And
expressing their prema for Him, there is
an incessant flow of
streams of honey emanating from them. But
we are so unfortunate;
we are unable to meet K®ß√a. These
creepers and trees have
so much prema for K®ß√a in their hearts,
and it is manifesting in
the form of all the fruits and flowers and
streams of honey, which
are like tears flowing from their eyes.
But can we take any fruits
and flowers to K®ß√a? What would people
say? Because of our
fear of being disgraced in society we are
unable to go. But maybe
if in our next lives we assume the form of
trees and creepers, then
we will also be
able to serve K®ß√a.”
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
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