AKRŪRA YĀTRĀ
Bhakta: Some doubt the Bhāgavat because it says, in
chapter 38 of the 10th canto, that Akrūra left Mathurā to pick up Kṛṣṇa
from Gokula, uṣitvā (10.38.1), without even having broken Ekādaśī, viz. early
in the morning, and only arrived in
Gokula at dusk. Gokula is very close to Mathurā – he should have reached it in
half an hour only.”
Advaitadās – “These are persons with narrow, mundane
intellect only. The land of Vraja contains all the brahmāṇḍas in a mere corner, the Goswāmīs say. Laws of time and
space do not apply there. The opposite scenario is also depicted in Govinda
Līlāmṛta (21.105) –
nidhāya yantrārpita
yāna sannibhe mano-jave hṛt kamala nināya
“The soil of Vraja held Kṛṣṇa
on her lotus-like heart, so He went as swift as the mind.”
Kṛṣṇa lives in Nandagrām
and Rādhikā in Yāvat – 55 km from Vṛndāvana – even by running there it would
take them the whole night – how can They reach it in a flash? mano-jave – by
the speed of the mind. You are now in Vraja but you were born in, say, America.
If you think of America in Vraja you are there instantly. And that is just
travelling with the mundane mind, what to speak of with a spiritual body!
BHAJANĀNANDĪ OR GOṢṬHYĀNANDĪ?
Is there really such a duality between bhajanānandī and goṣṭhyānandī? Apart from the fact that such terms do not appear in śāstra, the eternal associates of Śrī
Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and contemporary ācāryas
following in their wake, spent their valuable time doing both. Look for
instance at Śrī Haridās Ṭhākur. In Śāntipura Śrī Advaita Ācārya gave him a
solitary cave for doing bhajan, but he also taught the devotional purports of
Śrīmad Bhāgavata and Bhagavad Gītā –
gaṅgā-tīre gophā kori
nirjane tare dilā
bhāgavata gītāra
bhakti artha śunāilā
(Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Antya 3.216)
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