Srimad Bhagavat Canto 12, part 2

12.9.25 Krishna does not know the limit to the sweetness of His own toes as He sucks them on the Banyan leaf on the ocean of cataclysm. Kavi Karnapur sucked Mahaprabhu’s toe as a toddler and as a result he wrote so many beautiful books like Caitanya Candrodoy, Gaur Ganoddesh Deepika and Krishnahnika Kaumudi. Visvanath’s tika : mac-caraNAmbuje kIdRzaM madhu vartate yata etad AsvAdanArthaM bahavo mad-bhaktA yatante tasmAd idam aham apy AsvAdya pariceSye - « What honey is there in My lotusfeet? Since many of My devotees try to taste it, so should I. » Though Krishna is the vessel of all sweetness He can still not relish it. Whatever or whoever is unlimited can not reach his own limit, and it has been said earlier in the 10th canto, chapter 87, that the Lord does not know His own limits. That is why He became Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, to find the limits of His own sweetness and the love that Radha feels for Him. Sri Ananda Gopal Goswami said in his Vilapa Kusumanjali lectures that Mahaprabhu never reached that limit and He never will, and this establishes the eternality of Gaura Lila. This form of Bat Krishna, lying on the Banyan leaf, is also eternal, like all of the Lord’s forms and He also never finds the limit to the sweetness of His own toe. Not only that, Srila Rupa Goswami even taught ‘vibhur api kalayann sadAbhivRddhim’ – Although the bliss and sweetness of Krishna lila is unlimited, it is still ever-increasing.
12.10.23 In his commentary Jiva Goswami explains that the words devAz cetanojjhitA [lifeless statues] do not refer to deities of Lord Vishnu, but to statues of Indra and other devatAs. Speaking of deities, there is a belief that once the deity is installed, the deity will accept all service from any and every devotee. That is a very bureaucratic vision. Sridhar Swami comments on Bhagavad Gita 9.26 tasya prayatAtmanaH zuddha-cittasya niSkAma-bhaktasya tat-patra-puSpAdikaM bhaktyA tena upahRtaM samarpitam aham aznAmi ‘prayatAtmana means that I [Krishna] will eat offerings from a pure-hearted devotee without selfish desires’ and Visvanath Cakravartipad comments kiM ca mad-bhaktasyApy apavitra-zarIratve sati nAznAmIty Aha prayatAtmanaH zuddha-zarIrasyeti rajaHsvalAdayo vyAvRttAH ‘Even if one is a devotee, if he/she has an impure body i will not eat the offering. The body must be pure, especially from menstruation.’
12.10.26 Lord Shiva is praising Markandeya Rishi, who can not get enough of hearing about it. According to Visvanath Cakravartypad it does not mean Markandeya was so proud or narcistic. Rather he felt like being instructed [and encouraged] as to what type of a person he should actually be.
12.11.20 In his tika, Visvanath seems to say that the hladini shakti is represented in the happiness of swarg, which would validate the theory that material pleasure is a reflection of the spiritual hladini shakti : anapAyinI eka-rUpA sAkSAt svarUpa-bhUtA zaktiH | asyAhlAdinI-zakter vibhUtir laukikaH svargAdy-Ananda UhyaH | tantra-mUrtiH paJcarAtrAdy-Agama-rUpaH paJcarAtrAdy-AgamA viSvaksenasya vibhUtaya ity arthaH | harer dvAHsthA ye nandAdayaH, te`pi aNimAdyA guNA anya-gatA vibhUtayaH
However the word used here is vibhuti, not pratibimba or chAyA. vibhuti like in Bhagavad Gita, chapter 10, representing Krishna's prowess and glory only.
12.11.50 lokan avatyaja - the sun is the protector of the world, because crime – mugging, burglary, murder, rape - usually is committed at night. Daylight gives security to mankind, except in times of war or natural disaster of course.
12.12.49 Visvanath’s tika - asya zAstrasya kRSNa-kIrtana eva tAtparyAt, tad anya-kIrtanam avigItam api na kuryAt | tat kIrtanaM yat pazubhir vigItatvenoktaM tad api kuryAd ity Aha—mRSeti | tAH satyA api giro mithyA eva | priyA api giro`satIr asatyaH kaTUktaya eva | tathA satAM viduSAm api kathA asat-kathA eva | kutaH ? yad yato bhagavAn na kathyate iti | ataH sa satyavAdy api mithyA-vAdI priyaMvado`pi kaTu-bhASI sat-kathako`py asat-kathaka ucyate iti bhAvaH | svakalpitatvAd asatyam api bhagavad-yazaz cet tad eva satyaM gRhAzrama-vidhvaMsakatvAt amaGgalam api tad eva maGgalaM nAnyat bhagavataH para-dAra-haraNAdikam apuNyatvenAdhamair uktam api tad eva puNyam | yato bhagavato guNasyaiva na tu doSasyodayo yasmAt tat
« The purpose of shastra is to glorify Krishna – others’ glorification, even if not done badly, should still not be done. However, even if animals glorify the Lord badly, that should be done. Though the words are true they are also false. Though the words are dear they are still unchaste, false and bitter. Even if the words are uttered by learned persons they are not real. Why? Because they do not describe the Lord. In this way even truthful persons are liars, sweet talkers are bitter speakers etc. If the words are false because they come from one’s imagination, they are still true if they glorify the Lord. »
This last sentence is significant. Even if the great poets who wrote so many volumes of Krishna katha in the past, have just used their poetic skills of imagination [kavir kalpana], still they are all true because Krishna is the Absolute Truth and any story which is projected upon Him will be the Absolute truth too. Mahaprabhu has proclaimed this, adding that the only rules are that there should be no apasiddhanta (wrong philosophy) or rasAbhAsa (bad taste). This verse is not a glorification but actual truth.
Visvanath continues : « If the words are inauspicious because they destroy the householders world they are actually auspicious. »
In India the grihasthas invite the sadhu to lecture them and they know they will get the sauce for being materialistic and bodily conscious. They are prepared for that and they humbly accept their verdict without arguing or finding excuses.
Visvanath continues : « Even if fallen rascals say that the Lord’s eloping with other men’s wives is immoral, still it is virtuous [pure] »
Whatever touches the Chintamani gem turns into gold, and similarly whatever act Krishna performs is sacred, even if it externally appears to be sinful or immoral.
12.12.52 Visvanath's tika - "Just as sacred mantras are starting and ending with a beej, this bhagavatam begins and ends with the same verses. From this it is clear that endings like svaha and pracodayat are also considered beejas."
Bhanu Swami incorrectly translated the words sthane sthita in Visvanatha’s tika of SB 10.14.3, as ‘remaining in one’s social status’. Actually Visvanatha says satAm nivAsa eva sthitAH – remain in the abode of a saint, na tu tIrthAnyapyaTantaH, but do not wander all over the holy places.
12.13.23 the very last verse of the Bhagavat. In his tika Visvanatha acknowledges that all kinds of nondualist philosophies are included in the Bhagavat - Arambhe pariNAme ca vivarte’pi na hi kSatiH zrImad-bhAgavate bhakteH puruSrtha-ziromaNeH - "Arambhavada, Parinama-vada and Vivarta-vada in the Bhagavat do not harm it – it [nonetheless] propounds bhakti as the crownjewel of life’s goals. Jiva Goswami has established our siddhanta as acintya bhedAbheda, and abheda is an equal part of that. It is perfectly reflected in the Bhagavat, though the acaryas, especially Visvanatha, have given a pure devotional slant to the abheda verses in their commentaries. There is no ancient shastra which is entirely fixed on one path or the other – though the Upanishads stress the path of brahman it has many personalist verses too and though the Bhagavat obviously stresses bhakti, it has impersonalist verses too. But any honest person would acknowledge that the Bhagavat is all about bhakti to Krishna.