Chapter Seven
The Animals of Vraja are Stunned
gåvaç ca k®ß√a-mukha-nirgata-ve√u-gîtapîyüßam
uttabhita-kar√a-pu†ai˙ pibantya˙
çåvå˙ snuta-stana-paya˙-kavalå˙ sma
tasthur
govindam åtmani d®çåçru-kalå˙ sp®çantya˙
Çrîmad-Bhågavatam (10.21.13); B®had-bhågavatåm®ta
(2.7.117)
In order to drink the nectarean vibration
of the flute-song
emanating from the lotus mouth of Çrî K®ß√a,
the cows have
raised their ears. The grass that they
were chewing just remains in
their mouths, and milk begins to drip from
their udders. The
calves at once stop drinking their mothers’
milk, and as they
embrace K®ß√a within their hearts, tears
of love begin to glide
down their faces.
The gopîs are conversing about K®ß√a in
their homes during
the daytime. But we are different; upon
awakening in the morning
we just begin thinking about how to solve
all of our worldly
problems. Except for a very few persons,
no one has the faith or
the free time to chant the holy name, and
even if someone has
some faith and time, then we don’t chant
in the way we should.
Sådhakas should learn from the lives of
the gopîs, who upon
awakening in the morning begin meditating
on K®ß√a, which
means that they begin burning in
separation from K®ß√a. Then
they bathe and decorate themselves – for
whom? Only for K®ß√a.
The theme of their conversation is: “How
can we meet K®ß√a?
69
How can we serve Him?” Then they go to
Nandagråma to receive
His darçana and to cook for Him. When K®ß√a
goes to the forest
for the day, they return to their homes
and converse about Him
for the remainder of the day. In each
group one gopî will be
speaking, and so many other gopîs will be
listening, and there are
thousands of these groups. According to
their particular natures,
they are seated in groups and are singing
about K®ß√a’s pastimes.
We take our beads and sit to chant, but
our minds wander here
and there. Then another devotee comes and
sits near us, and we
begin conversing with him about this or
that. We abandon our
chanting of harinåma, and he leaves it
also. But the gopîs aren’t
like this; one gopî says to another, “Aho!
From the lotus mouth
of K®ß√a the sound of the flute has
emerged. It has crossed the
entire brahmå√∂a, crossed Siddhaloka,
Vaiku√†ha, Ayodhyå,
Mathurå and Dvårakå, and has now entered
V®ndåvana. While
grazing, the cows hear this hypnotic
vibration and at once raise
their ears. The melody of K®ß√a’s flute is
like celestial nectar, and
it is as if they are drinking that nectar
through their ears. And the
grass that they had taken in their mouths
moments before is just
remaining there! They aren’t swallowing
it, and it isn’t coming
back out of their mouths either. They are
just standing motionlessly
and listening.
“And when the calves who are drinking
their mother’s milk
hear the sound of K®ß√a’s flute, the milk
that they had drawn out
remains in their mouths! Usually it is
swallowed immediately,
but at that time it just remains in their
mouths and then gradually
begins to glide down from the corners of
their mouths. What
to speak of just these cows and calves,
all the inhabitants of Vraja
have become absorbed in the melody of K®ß√a’s
flute. But we are
not so fortunate. These cows and calves
are also shedding tears of
prema, and sometimes even the clouds shed
tears of prema for
K®ß√a as well. But it is our great
misfortune that we are so hard-
70 Bhakti-rasåyana
hearted that we don’t leave our homes at
once and go to where
K®ß√a is playing His flute and become
equally spellbound. Because
we are afraid of being disgraced in
society we are holding our
patience and not going there, considering
that there are too many
obstacles. But if someday the sound of the
flute really enters our
hearts, then at once our patience will fly
away and we will immediately
run to K®ß√a. If we could give up these
bodies right now
and take birth as calves, that would be
very good! Then whenever
we would hear the sound of K®ß√a’s flute,
we would go there at
once! We would be entirely under His
protection, and while
gazing at Him we would forget everything
else.”
In this way the gopîs are speaking. Just
see the nature of their
condition, their feelings. For receiving darçana
of K®ß√a and for
hearing the melody of His flute, a sådhaka
should have such feelings
of separation (vipralambha-bhåva) in his
heart, and then he
will be engaging in real bhajana. If one’s
sådhana is established on
sound knowledge of Vaiß√ava philosophy and
he becomes free
from anarthas such as fruitive acitivity,
cultivating impersonal
knowledge, laziness, criticising other
devotees and committing
offences, then Bhagavån will not be far
away from him. Bhagavån
is always just behind us, not far away.
Paramåtmå and åtmå are
always together; they are not separate.
K®ß√a and our very souls
are together within us, but at present we
are not seeing Him
because we don’t have sufficient faith.
If a person is crying out from afar, is
there any friend or relative
who won’t come to his aid? Even if there
is a son who has
given his mother great difficulty, even to
the point of trying to
kill her, when he calls out in pain, will
his mother not come to
his aid? Are there any parents anywhere
who could possibly
ignore the pleas of their offspring?
Perhaps only if they don’t hear
them – but K®ß√a is always nearby, and if
we call out to Him, will
He not hear? He is much more merciful than
mere worldly
Chapter Seven 71
parents. There is no place where He is
not; He is always very near
us inside our hearts. If we call Him
sincerely, is it possible that
He won’t hear us? Will K®ß√a not hear if
we loudly call out to
Him? At present we don’t have sufficient
faith, but when we pray
from deep within our heart with great
faith and tears falling from
our eyes, “O master of the gopîs, please
hear my desperate prayer!”
will He not hear it? Certainly He will;
otherwise His name would
have to be changed. When we have this
mood, then what we are
engaged in can really be called bhajana.
Next comes this verse:
v®ndaço vraja-v®ßå m®ga-gåvo
ve√u-vådya-h®ta-cetasa åråt
danta-da߆a-kavalå dh®ta-kar√å
nidritå likhita-citram ivåsan
Çrîmad-Bhågavatam (10.35.5); B®had-bhågavatåm®ta
(2.7.118)
Hearing the vibration of Çrî K®ß√a’s
flute, the bulls, cows and deer
of V®ndåvana approach Him. Unable to
swallow the grass that
they had taken into their mouths, they
stand silently with their
ears raised and appear like animals in a
painting.
The previous verse is from the Ve√u-gîta,
and this verse is from
the Yugala-gîta. “O sakhî, hearing the
sound of K®ß√a’s flute and
seeing His attractive form, the cows,
bulls and deer of Vraja have
become stunned and forgotten everything.
They have abruptly
stopped grazing and the grass that they
were chewing merely
remains within their mouths. They have
lifted up their tails and
raised their ears, trying to discern from
which direction that
sound has come. When they realise the
direction from which it
has come, they slowly proceed until they
come near to K®ß√a. It
is as if the vibration of the flute has
entered through their ears,
stolen their hearts and again exited their
bodies. Therefore what
can they do? They must follow that sound
until they are near
72 Bhakti-rasåyana
K®ß√a, and since their hearts are no
longer within them, they
appear like motionless animals in a
painting. K®ß√a’s flute-song
has stolen their hearts, and feeling
themselves possessionless, they
have approached Him as if begging alms.”
Dh®ta-kar√å˙ – these animals’ ears
generally droop down, but
upon hearing the music of K®ß√a’s flute,
they raised them. At first
they were listening, but then they
reflexively turned their ears
away from that sound so that it couldn’t
enter. Why? They were
thinking, “We won’t allow this sound to
enter into our hearts,
because then it will steal our hearts and
may even steal away our
very lives! We may die, and therefore we
won’t allow this vibration
to enter!” K®ß√a’s appearance and the
vibration of His flute
are like nectar and poison simultaneously –
vißåm®ta ekatra-milana.
It cannot be discerned whether k®ß√a-prema
is nectar or poison,
just as when ice is placed in our hand, it
feels as if it is burning.
We can’t tell if our hand is burning or
freezing. Similarly, coming
in contact with k®ß√a-prema, we can’t
discern whether we are feeling
ecstasy or sadness. Saccharin has a bitter
taste, but if you mix
it with water it becomes sweet. And if you
suck on a gooseberry,
at first it seems sour, but when you get
the juice it becomes
sweet. Like this, externally k®ß√a-prema appears
to be full of great
sadness, and sometimes internally it may
even feel something like
sadness, but it is really the greatest
happiness.
So these cows closed their ears, and when
upon opening them
a little the vibration of the flute
entered, they felt concerned for
their very lives. They didn’t know whether
to accept or reject it.
In the same way, some people say, “My
friend, there is no need
for all of this devotion to God. Those who
have bhakti actually
have no happiness. Even in the stage of sådhana
they are crying.
They think, ‘By leaving home to engage in bhajana,
I have made
all of my family members cry, and I am no
longer able to live with
Chapter Seven 73
them.’ And look at what the composers of
the scriptures have
written:
nayanaμ galad-açru-dhårayå
vadanaμ gadgada-ruddhayå girå
pulakair nicitaμ vapu˙ kadå
tava nåma-graha√e bhavißyati
Çikßå߆aka (6)
O Lord, when will my eyes be filled with a
stream of tears? When
will my voice choke up? And when will the
hairs of my body stand
erect in ecstacy as I chant Your holy
name?
“They are praying for the day when they
will never stop crying,
and they desire to be always wailing in k®ß√a-prema.
Actually it is
not really such a surprising thing that
they desire to cry in the
stage of sådhana, because without a child
crying, his mother
will not feed him milk. All right, so they
are crying in the stage of
sådhana – but just look, then, at their
stage of perfection! Uddhava
and Akrüra were perfected souls, and we
have heard that when
they saw K®ß√a’s footprints on the ground,
they began wailing
and even fell down and began writhing on
the ground! And until
the gopîs met K®ß√a again at Kurukßetra,
they were always crying.
And when they again parted, they cried
even more! Even though
they were perfected souls! Therefore all
of this bhakti is just an
unnecessary commotion.”
But to persons who say this we say yayåtmå
suprasîdati
(Çrîmad-Bhågavatam (1.2.6)): bhakti completely
satisfies the soul
with spiritual bliss. Without engaging in bhajana,
no one can be
happy. Churning water will never produce
ghee. Even if all the
people of the universe say that churning
water produces ghee,
will it happen? Never. And without
engaging in hari-bhajana, no
one can attain happiness or cross over
this ocean of material existence.
This point cannot be refuted any more than
the fact that
the sun will definitely set in the west.
This is confirmed in the
74 Bhakti-rasåyana
Vedas, the Råmåya√a and all of the Purå√as,
and it cannot be
refuted.
Meeting with K®ß√a and separation from Him
are simultaneously
like nectar and poison, and their
characteristics cannot
be distinguished from one another. They
become one and the
same thing. Therefore these animals of
Vraja become bewildered
and concerned for their very lives, while
at the same time the
gopîs are saying, “In Vraja we are the
most unfortunate. Everyone
else is becoming filled with bliss by
receiving K®ß√a’s darçana, but
we must remain here in our homes.”
Chapter Seven 75
Chapter Eight
The Gopîs Glorify the Pulinda Girl
During the daytime, the gopîs are sitting together in their homes
and revealing their inner sentiments to
one another. One says,
“After leaving this body, I desire to take
birth as a deer, and then
easily I will receive the darçana of K®ß√a.”
Another says, “I desire
to become a cow or a calf. Who stops them from
approaching
K®ß√a? Hearing the vibration of K®ß√a’s
flute, I will approach
Him and become spellbound, just as the
cows and calves do. In
an unrestricted fashion I will receive His
darçana.” In this way
some gopîs desire to become clouds, and
others desire to become
bees, birds or rivers. Now, in this verse
from the end of the Ve√ugîta,
they will begin to speak about those in
human form:
pür√å˙ pulindya urugåya-padåbja-rågaçrî-
ku∫kumena dayitå-stana-ma√∂itena
tad-darçana-smara-rujas t®√a-rüßitena
limpantya ånana-kuceßu jahus tad-ådhim
Çrîmad-Bhågavatam (10.21.17); B®had-bhågavatåm®ta
(2.7.119)
O sakhî, we consider the Pulinda girls who
collect grass and wood
to be greatly fortunate, because by
spreading the ku∫kuma which
lies upon the grass on their faces and
bodies, the desires which
arise in their hearts from seeing that
very ku∫kuma are pacified. In
reality, that ku∫kuma is from the breasts
of Çrîmatî Rådhikå, and
at the time of enjoying pastimes with Çrî
K®ß√a, it becomes
77
smeared on His lotus feet. Then as They
wander in the forest, it
falls from His feet onto the grass.
In previous times in Vraja there was a
tribe called Pulinda, who
would construct small huts that they would
live in for only
a short time and then move on. Their women
would collect
wood or dry plants and sell them to
maintain themselves, or they
would bring water for people. They were
also artists, so they
would travel to peoples’ homes selling
their craftwork. The gopîs
are saying, “Aho! All of the living
entities we have described so far
are certainly fortunate, but this girl of
the Pulinda tribe is pür√å˙
– completely fortunate. Why? In the
morning, arriving in the
valleys of Govardhana to collect wood, she
notices that ku∫kuma
is mixed with the dew on the grass. Seeing
this, desire begins to
burn in her heart.”
Intense eagerness to meet K®ß√a arose in
her heart because
remembrance of a previous incident came to
her. The day before,
in a kuñja of Govardhana, K®ß√a and His
friends were playing
dice with the gopîs. There were two
parties: K®ß√a’s party and
Çrîmatî Rådhikå’s party, and the main
players were K®ß√a and
Çrîmatî. Subala and Madhuma∫gala and
others were on K®ß√a’s
side, and Lalitå, Viçåkhå and the other sakhîs
were on Rådhikå’s
side. K®ß√a put up something as a bet and
was defeated. Then
Rådhikå said, “What will You bet now? You
should stake Your
flute.”
K®ß√a replied, “I will stake My flute, but
what will You put up?
You should stake an equally valuable
thing. I value My flute like
My very life, but I will stake it if You
stake something of equal
value.”
Rådhikå said, “Then You please say what I
should stake.”
K®ß√a said, “All right – You should stake
one of the friends of
Your sakhîs.”
Being very pleased, Rådhikå agreed to this
and whispered to
78 Bhakti-rasåyana
one of Her sakhîs, “In the village nearby
is a girl of the Pulinda
tribe. Go and call her.” They brought the
girl there, and entering
that assembly the poor girl felt very shy.
She felt ashamed because
she was of a lower class, so reluctantly
she sat in the back. Seeing
her, K®ß√a said, “I will not stake My
flute for her! What is the
meaning of this?” Then all of the gopîs began
laughing and clapping.
At that time, this Pulinda girl saw the
beauty of K®ß√a.
Before it was described how all of the
birds and animals became
spellbound by seeing K®ß√a, but this girl
considered herself
a maidservant of Rådhikå, so upon seeing
K®ß√a she became even
more spellbound.
So the next morning while this aborigine
girl was collecting
wood and plants, she saw ku∫kuma lying on
the grass, and automatically
she knew where it had come from – the
breasts of Rådhå.
Are the birds, deer or aborigines of
V®ndåvana ordinary? For
instance, how do they know K®ß√a is coming
in their direction
when He is taking the cows out for
grazing? They all recognise
His intoxicating fragrance. It is expected
that the gopîs would
naturally recognise this fragrance, but
even the birds and animals
are familiar with it. When the Pulinda
girl saw this ku∫kuma,
such intense desire to meet K®ß√a arose in
her heart that she was
unable to restrain it.
When K®ß√a is departing Nanda-bhavana to
take the cows out
to graze in the forest for the day, all of
the men, women and children
of Vraja assemble along the road to catch
a glimpse of Him.
They are all standing along the path, and
K®ß√a is coming on His
way playing the flute. At that time there
are also some young girls
who come to see Him who are in çånta-rati.
There are many types
of çånta-rati, such as samanya (general)
and svaccha (undeveloped).
The aborigine girl was svaccha, which
means that rati had arisen
inside her, but not sthåyi-rati, her
permanent internal sentiment.
After a seed is planted, a creeper begins
to grow from it. At that
Chapter Eight 79
time its leaves have begun to appear but
have not completely
developed, and from looking at the leaves
you cannot ascertain
what kind of plant it is. But when the
leaves become full, then
you can tell what kind of plant it is. It
is the same with rati, and
the Pulinda girl’s rati is described as
being svaccha. Whenever she
sees K®ß√a reciprocating with His devotees
in a particular mellow,
she desires to share that same mellow with
Him.
For instance, when she sees Mother Yaçodå
nurturing K®ß√a,
reciting mantras so that no harm will come
to Him and wiping
His face with the end of her sårî, she
becomes spellbound.
Without blinking she just gazes at Him,
thinking, “I would like
to be His mother just like her.” This is svaccha-rati.
Then a little
later she sees K®ß√a playing His flute,
and running, playing and
eating with His friends with great
pleasure, and then she again
becomes spellbound, thinking, “I would
like to become a sakhå
so I can run and play with Him like this.”
Then later she sees
K®ß√a standing in His threefold-bending
posture, playing the
flute and gazing at the gopîs. He is
shivering, His crown is tilting
to one side and His yellow shawl is
slipping down. Seeing this,
she thinks, “I would like to become a
friend of Rådhå and serve
Him with a similar sentiment.” This is
called svaccha-rati.
So this Pulinda girl, in comparison to the
creepers, bees, clouds
and deer, is the best of all. As a result
of witnessing K®ß√a performing
His pastimes, and especially from seeing
K®ß√a just the
day before, she has gradually come to
desire to enter the camp of
Rådhå’s servitors to be able to serve Him
as they do. Therefore
when she saw the ku∫kuma on top of the
grass, smara-ruja˙ –
intense desire to meet K®ß√a arose in her.
If eagerness to meet
K®ß√a arises even in the birds and
animals, then it is even more
natural that it would arise in her. If
such eagerness develops
within a sådhaka, then it can be said that
he is really engaged in
sådhana-bhajana. But presently we have no
such eagerness to
80 Bhakti-rasåyana
meet Him; instead we are greatly
determined to obtain material
enjoyment. As yet we have no real
eagerness for bhakti, but we
should endeavour to obtain this eagerness
because it is the root,
the very life of bhajana.
The Pulinda girl looked at the ku∫kuma and
began analysing
it: “Where has this ku∫kuma come from? Has
it come from the
feet of K®ß√a, or the feet of the gopîs? Ku∫kuma
is not applied
to K®ß√a; only the gopîs apply ku∫kuma to
their bodies, so how
could it have turned up here? This is
difficult to understand.
Somehow I know that it could have only
come from K®ß√a’s feet,
but how did it get on K®ß√a’s feet? Oh, I
understand! Fearing
that K®ß√a’s feet would be harmed by
pebbles and thorns as He
roams about, the gopîs sometimes place His
feet on their breasts.
Therefore this ku∫kuma must have come from
K®ß√a’s feet as He
returned home from His rendezvous with the
gopîs.” Understanding
the situation, she at once became
intoxicated, placed
some of this ku∫kuma on her head, and by
spreading it all over
her whole body, her kåma was pacified.
The Bhågavatam says that kåma, or lust,
exists in the heart of
the conditioned soul like a disease. This
fire of lust burns inside
the conditioned soul as he turns away from
Bhagavån and casts
his vision in the direction of måyå. The
conditioned soul becomes
attracted to the opposite sex, to wealth
and to being praised by
others. Some leave material life and take
up residence in a temple
to engage in bhajana, and even attain a
little taste for chanting
the holy name and hearing hari-kathå, then
fall down and leave.
Why? They were attracted to måyå, were
they not? Certainly they
were very attracted; if they had such
strong attraction for the
Lord, they wouldn’t have entered the
material world in the first
place. The attraction of måyå is very,
very strong, and in this connection
there is the example of Kålå K®ß√adåsa, a
boy of sixteen
or seventeen years. Nityånanda Prabhu,
Råya Råmånanda and
Chapter Eight 81
Svarüpa Dåmodara each said to Çrî Caitanya
Mahåprabhu, “O
Lord, please don’t go to South
India alone. I will accompany
You.”
Mahåprabhu replied, “If I take any of you,
then the others will
say, ‘You are taking him, but not me?’
Then I will be at fault, so
I will go alone.”
“All right, then we will send someone whom
You are not
acquainted with: this simple and honest
son of a bråhma√a. Keep
him with You, because how Your mind
changes we cannot
understand. Sometimes You forget everything,
even Your bodily
needs. You require kaupînas and a
waterpot, so who will carry
them? Sometimes You throw them somewhere
and proceed
onward, and sometimes when You are crying
out, ‘Where is the
Lord of My life?’ You roll on the ground,
and even if Your
clothes were to come off, You wouldn’t
notice! Crying and
crying, You just proceed onward. You will
need someone to fetch
water and beg alms for You, so please take
this Kålå K®ß√adåsa.”
Mahåprabhu agreed, and Kålå K®ß√adåsa
accompanied Him
until they reached Kanyåkumårî, where
there was a group of
gypsies called Bha††athåris who would
travel here and there with
their bulls, donkeys and belongings. Their
business was to lure
young boys and girls to join them – how?
They would show boys
a girl, and girls a boy. Once they had
lured someone they would
immediately move on, and the people of the
village would not
know where their son or daughter had gone.
In this way they
would set traps for innocent boys and
girls, and there was a very
large group of these gypsies nearby where
Mahåprabhu was
staying. One day Mahåprabhu went out
begging, leaving Kålå
K®ß√adåsa sitting underneath a tree. One
of these gypsies
approached him, and after speaking with
him for some time,
said, “It is as if you have been my son
for a very long time! Look
– we will marry you to this girl, and you
will live with her very
82 Bhakti-rasåyana
happily. Within our tribe you will become
a king.” The poor boy
was lured, and decided to go with them.
When Mahåprabhu returned and didn’t see
him, He thought,
“Where has that boy gone? Oh, those
gypsies must have taken
him!” Mahåprabhu entered their party, and
locating Kålå
K®ß√adåsa, grabbed him by the çikhå,
saying, “You rascal! You
left Me and came here?” He had to forcibly
drag back Kålå
K®ß√adåsa, who didn’t even desire to leave
there! So just see how,
even if one is associating with Bhagavån
Himself, måyå can
attract him. So what to speak of us? This måyå
is very dangerous,
and escaping its many trappings is very
difficult. And even if
someone can renounce everything – even his
wife and family –
still he may not be able to leave the
desire for prestige (prati߆hå).
It is as if the desire for it runs in our
veins. But if we receive some
special mercy from the spiritual master,
the Vaiß√avas and
Bhagavån, then we will be able to abandon
that desire; otherwise
we won’t easily be able to leave it. We
should make our own
effort to leave it, but we must also
receive their mercy, both.
vikrî∂itaμ vraja-vadhübhir idaμ ca viß√o˙
çraddhånvito ’nuç®√uyåd atha var√ayed ya˙
Çrîmad-Bhågavatam (10.33.39)
If one faithfully hears the five chapters
of the Çrîmad-Bhågavatam
that describe the råsa dance – K®ß√a’s
transcendental pastimes
with the gopîs – then the heart disease of
lust will be destroyed.
But it must be heard with real faith,
which is received from the
spiritual master and the Vaiß√avas. If one
enjoys reading novels,
and considers these pastimes between K®ß√a
and the gopîs to be
mere fiction, then it will not have the
desired effect. Previously
there was this lust in the Pulinda girl’s
heart, but by the mercy of
the great bhåva of the gopîs, who are K®ß√a’s
hlådinî-çakti, all
anarthas can be destroyed. Therefore that ku∫kuma
was the gopîs’,
and having been smeared on K®ß√a’s feet,
it now lay on the grass
Chapter Eight 83
invested with some powerful potency (çakti).
Having come in
contact with both the gopîs and K®ß√a, it
had become so powerful.
How much çakti can be in foot-dust? Once
Çrî Råmacandra
was walking along in a forest and he came
across Gautama ‰ßi,
who had cursed his wife, Ahalyå, to become
stone. When Råma
touched that stone with his feet, she
immediately assumed her
original form as a very beautiful goddess.
She circumambulated
him, offered him prayers, and then bid him
farewell and left with
her husband. So this ku∫kuma of the gopîs mixed
with the dust of
K®ß√a’s feet will have enormous çakti. In
this Pulinda girl’s heart
was the disease of lust, but upon touching
this ku∫kuma her heart
was made supremely pure and was invested
with k®ß√a-prema.
Her feelings became like those of the gopîs,
and following them,
she began serving K®ß√a. So in this verse
the gopîs are saying, “For
an aborigine girl, she is so fortunate!
Even more so than the
female deer. What would they understand of
this ku∫kuma? But
she has understood that this ku∫kuma is
not ordinary; by touching
it the amorous pastimes of Çrî Rådhå and
K®ß√a arise in one’s
heart.”
If a sådhaka applies the ku∫kuma of these
descriptions to himself
through hearing them – even in åbhåsa, the
semblance of real
hearing – then his heart will also be
supremely purified, and all
his material desires will be destroyed.
Here the gopîs are actually
singing their own glories, but they’re not
thinking that way.
Whose ku∫kuma was this? Their own; yet
here, by the influence
of Yogamåyå, they are forgetting that and
singing the glories of
the aborigine girl.
A devotee is one who considers himself
extremely fallen. If we
are thinking, “I am an advanced devotee
and better than others;
I can attract people by giving various
meanings of Sanskrit verses,
I possess so much bhakti and so many
people are showing me
respect,” then we have not yet become
devotees. When even a little
84 Bhakti-rasåyana
bhakti has entered someone’s heart, then
humility will certainly
be there. Where there is no humility, we
can understand that
there is no bhakti. He who has become a
better devotee is he whose
humility has increased. Where humility
exists in its full form,
there bhakti will also be in its full
form. And where there is no
humility, there will not be even a trace
of bhakti. More humility
is found in a madhyama-adhikårî devotee
than in a kani߆haadhikårî,
and more humility exists in the uttama-adhikårî
devotee
than in the madhyama-adhikårî. Then it is
found more in the
residents of Goloka Vraja than in the
general class of uttamaadhikårîs,
and amongst the Vrajavåsîs more humility
can be seen
in the gopîs, and amongst them the most
humility is found in
Çrîmatî Rådhikå. She is the pinnacle of
humility. In whomever
She detects even a trace of bhakti, She
considers that person
worthy of Her reverence. She offers
prayers to that person, thinking,
“I should try to become like them.”
This is the vision of an uttama devotee: “Oh,
Kaμsa is so
fortunate! In order to kill Kaμsa,
Bhagavån has come in such an
attractive form! He won’t kill Kaμsa’s
soul, but will show him
mercy by releasing him from his body. At
the same time, He has
bestowed on this world pastimes that are
full of unlimited purifying
potency. If not for Kaμsa, then K®ß√a
would not have
appeared, and His glories would not have
become known. Only
because of fear of Kaμsa, K®ß√a was taken
to Gokula. Then He
returned to Mathurå only to kill Kaμsa,
and then He left for
Dvårakå because of Kaμsa. Why? Jaråsandha’s
daughters were
married to Kaμsa, so when Kaμsa was
killed, they went crying to
their father, ‘For some reason K®ß√a has
killed your son-in-law!’
Taking an army, Jaråsandha attacked K®ß√a seventeen
times, so
K®ß√a thought, ‘Every day there is
fighting here, so we should
go away from here,’ and He left for
Dvårakå. It was all because
of Kaμsa. Kaμsa was not an ordinary
person, and that is why
Chapter Eight 85
a mahå-bhågavata Vaiß√ava like Nårada
would regularly go to see
him.”
A madhyama-adhikårî may feel some hatred
for Kaμsa, but an
uttama-adhikårî won’t. In a similar way,
the gopîs are considering
the Pulinda girl to be superior to
themselves and are glorifying
her: “If we could take birth as a Pulinda
girl, then our mother,
father and brothers would not restrict us
from seeing K®ß√a during
the daytime. We could go to the forest
every day and collect
wood, but because we belong to higher
class families, this is not
possible for us now.” If a sådhaka is to
enter into bhakti, he must
have this humility; and when he does, he
can really be called a
sådhaka.
In the verse we are discussing, why does
it say çrî-ku∫kuma? It
can mean that ku∫kuma which carries some
special splendour, or
it can mean reddish, like K®ß√a’s lotus
feet. K®ß√a is of a dark
blue (çyåma) complexion, but the palms of
His hands and the
soles of His feet are a deep reddish
colour. This ku∫kuma is of the
same hue, and when it came in contact with
K®ß√a’s feet, it
assumed some special splendour and also
some special çakti. If
food is prepared for and offered to K®ß√a,
His potency enters into
it – K®ß√a’s full çakti is in mahå-prasåda.
Upon being touched by
K®ß√a’s mouth it becomes sac-cid-ånanda,
just like Him. So
before the gopîs used this ku∫kuma it was
not çrî, but coming in
contact with K®ß√a’s lotus feet, all the
potency and splendour of
those lotus feet entered into it, and it
became extraordinarily
beautiful. And where did that ku∫kuma come
from originally?
Dayitå-stana-ma√∂itena – from Rådhikå, and
therefore it can also
be said that it became çrî from Her touch.
By seeing that ku∫kuma lying on the grass
in the morning,
smara-ruja˙ – lust arose in the heart of
the Pulinda girl. But when
she smeared that ku∫kuma on her body, did
her lust increase or
diminish? All the jîvas in V®ndåvana – the
insects, birds, animals
86 Bhakti-rasåyana
and people – are always restless to see
K®ß√a; and when they see
Him, does their eagerness for Him increase
– or diminish? It certainly
increases, but when they receive K®ß√a’s
touch, then they
may become a little peaceful. Therefore
this çrî-ku∫kuma is nondifferent
from K®ß√a Himself; upon seeing it, the
eagerness of the
Pulinda girl increased, but upon spreading
it all over her body,
she became fully satisfied, and once again
peaceful.
In speaking this verse, the gopîs considered
the Pulinda girl to
be pür√å˙ – to have become completely
fulfilled, even more so
than the birds and animals of Vraja. She
was not as divinely beautiful
as the gopîs and was unqualified to
participate in amorous
pastimes with K®ß√a, but in considering
her to be more fortunate
than themselves, the gopîs are exhibiting
a symptom of mådana,
which is the upper stage of mahåbhåva.
This is when they consider
an unqualified person, or even an
inanimate object, to be
superior to themselves, and even give an
explanation of why they
feel this way. The flute is an inanimate
object, but because it
always resides at K®ß√a’s lips and never
becomes separated from
Him, and even though it is of male gender,
the gopîs feel that it
is more fortunate than them. Their
sentiment towards the flute
is that it is like the second wife of K®ß√a.
So here, this feeling from the upper stage
of mahåbhåva has
arisen in the gopîs towards the Pulinda
girl. It is not possible for
other devotees to have this high
sentiment, and therefore in
places like Dvårakå this sentiment isn’t
known. This beautiful
bhåva is found only in Vraja. Even though
this girl had no relationship
with K®ß√a, seeing how she began shivering
and tears
began flowing from her eyes when she
noticed the ku∫kuma from
K®ß√a’s feet that was lying on the grass,
the gopîs desired to experience
her sentiments. Çrîmatî Rådhikå said, “Such
a bhåva never
comes to us!” Here Rådhikå Herself is
singing the glories of the
Pulinda girl, and She is not considering
the actual elevated state
Chapter Eight 87
of the vraja-gopîs. She is not thinking
about that. Whose ku∫kuma
was it in the first place? Hers, but she
is considering the aborigine
girl to be more fortunate! This is a
symptom of mahåbhåva. “She
is so fortunate! If in My next life I
could take birth as a girl of
the Pulinda tribe, then there would be no
one to prohibit Me
from seeing K®ß√a, and I would also be
able to experience such a
beautiful bhåva.”
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
(My
humble salutations to the lotus feet of Swami jis great Devotees , Philosophic
Scholars, Purebhakti dot com for
the collection)
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