I had a remaining problem with the first verse
of the Bhāgavat, so I asked Paṇḍit Satya-nārāyaṇa Dās about it -
Panditji Rādhe Rādhe and a happy Nandotsava to
you. I am studying Bhānu Swami's translation of Visvanatha's tika to the first
verse of the Bhagavata. In Viśvanātha's third explanation Bhanu Swami says that
-
"Let us meditate on Kṛṣṇa from whom
appears the highest rasa, śṛṅgāra-rasa (janma ādyasya). Previously this rasa,
though existing, had disappeared because of the censure by conservative spiritual
aspirants. "
Viśvanātha's Sanskrit reads:
tad yathā—ādyasya śṛṅgāra-rasasya
janma yatas taṁ dhīmahi | pūrvaṁ tasya paramārtha-darśibhiḥ saṁyogāt sadbhir
vigītatvena svato’pi nāśa evāsīd iti bhāvaḥ
It speaks of paramārtha darśibhih, seers of
spirituality. It does not seem that Bhānu's translation is right. What does the ṭīkā actually say?
Paṇḍit Satya-nārāyaṇa Dās replied - “His
translation is right, just needs an explanation to make it clear. The paramārtha
darśibhiḥ mainly refers to spiritualists who were in the renounced
order. Thus they did not appreciate śṛṅgāra rasa, did not study it, and thus
it became invisible. Sannyasis were not allowed or expected to indulge in śṛṅgāra kathā. It was forbidden.”
More Sārārtha Darśinī reviews -
Verse 1.1.2 of the Bhāgavat says that sadyo hṛdy
avaruddhyate, the Lord is instantly captured in the heart by those who hear the
Bhāgavat. Viśvanātha says:
“This indicates that prema arises in
the devotees, since the Lord is subdued only by prema. Praṇaya-raśanayā dhṛtāṅghri-padmaḥ: the
Lord’s lotus feet are tied by ropes to the devotee. (SB 11.2.55)…..Kṛṣṇa enters the hearts of
even those who have suddenly developed the desire to hear from the moment they
begin listening. Since they develop the desire to hear from that moment, even before
having faith, it means that they develop prema simply by hearing the Bhāgavat,
what to speak if they heard with faith!”
Tat-kṣaṇāt can
also mean that due to Kṛṣṇa’s (tat) festival,
frolicks (kṣaṇāt) he becomes caught
in the devotee’s heart. Since Kṛṣṇa becomes supremely blissful by being locked
in a heart filled with prema, this also
indicates that Kṛṣṇa feels paramānanda and prema when the
devotees hear the Bhāgavat. This
result is not attained through any other scripture or sādhana (kiṁ
vā paraiḥ).…
In this scripture and in no other work, the essential object, the religion free
from all deceit, is presented.
Verse 1.1.3 -
The Bhāgavata is the ripened fruit that fell off the desire tree
of the Vedas, dropped from the mouth of the divine parrot, or Śukadeva. O
Rasikas! Drink that luscious bhāgavata until you faint of ecstasy - (śuka mukhād amṛta) galitam means that it falls down of by
itself when it is ripe on the tree - not by force. This fulfills its sweetness.
Even after falling from a high position in the tree, it does not break, nor
does it lose its sweetness. That is because it comes down from the highest
position, from Nārāyaṇa, to the branch of Brahmā, and then to the mouth of
Śuka. Thus it is endowed with liquid sweetness like honey. The parrot, Śuka,
has even made a gate (opening) in the fruit with his beak for taking out the
sweetness. Moreover, having been tasted by him, that fruit becomes even
sweeter. Moreover, it remains unbroken, coming down step-by-step from the
branch of Sūta and others. What is implied here is that without guru-paramparā,
one cannot drink the Bhāgavat in its unbroken form, just by trying to
taste it through the use of one’s own intelligence…..How should the fruit be relished?
One should drink it, for this fruit is the essence of taste (rasam),
devoid of skin, seed and other disposable parts.”
“One of the meanings of the word laya
may be the eighth sāttvika-bhāva called pralaya, fainting. One
should drink until one develops the eight symptoms up to the final one,
fainting. Though one will not be able to drink the nectar when one has fainted,
when the fainting wears off, one again awakens to consciousness and begins
drinking until one faints again. One cannot give up drinking. Hence the use of
the word muhuḥ (again and again). Or muhuḥ can mean that though
one has drunk it, by again drinking it, the relish increases. Aho means it is astonishing. O knowers
of rasa (rasikāḥ)! This refers only to the devotees, for their rati
(bhāva) becomes the sthāyi-bhāva which enables them to relish the
rasa of the Bhāgavat…..
Surely Kṛṣṇa is rasa,
the fruit, but this fruit is not directly situated on the desire-tree of the Vedas.
It has fallen down (galitam) nearby. This object, rasa, is not on
the tree itself. It is not to be searched out in the Vedas, but rather it is in
the mouth of Śukadeva. One can say that Vyāsa, knowing that this fruit was very
tasty, got attracted to it, brought it and put it in the mouth of his son out
of affection. śukha-mukhāt can
also indicate a cause: the rasa is sweeter because of coming from the mouth of Śukadeva
…….Bhuvi indicates
Vraja-bhūmi. Bhāvukāḥ and rasikāḥ indicate the dear gopīs.
O dear relishers of Kṛṣṇa’s rasa, drink the sweetness of the rasa
arising from his form (bhāgavatam). Or pibata bhāgavatam rasam
ālayam can mean “relish rasa up to the point of embracing (ālayam)
Kṛṣṇa….. Kṛṣṇa’s rasa is indestructible (amṛta) and flows
away quickly from the mind and eye (drava). Therefore drink that
indestructible nectar in the form of his lips. In that case, nigama-kalpa-taror
galitaṁ phalam means “rāgānugā-bhakti which is the fully ripened
fruit (galitam) on the tree of the Vedas.” This fully ripened fruit is rāgānugā-bhakti
following in the footsteps of the gopīs. It is seen in the Bṛhad-vāmana Purāṇa that the Vedas, adopting
that type of bhakti, accepted the forms of hundreds of thousands of gopīs
in Vraja bhūmi and drank the sweet nectar of his lips.
Verse 1.1.10 is the famous verse
about Kali yuga-people –
In Kali-yuga people are generally short-lived,
lazy, unintelligent, devoid of the good fortune of devotee association, and
afflicted by various problems.
Viśvanātha comments –
“In Kali-yuga people are generally
short-lived. If they have long life by chance, then they are too lazy to
investigate spiritual topics. Even if someone is not lazy then he is
unintelligent. Even if someone is intelligent, he is unfortunate, for he will
be bereft of the company of sādhus. Even if someone has that association of
devotees, he is afflicted. Under the control of diseases and other problems, he
does not get the time to hear from the mouth of the devotee, or even if he does
hear, he cannot discern the highest goal for the human being and then carry out
actions to attain it.”
Verse 1.1.19 –
“We are never satiated with hearing Kṛṣṇa-kathā,
which become more and more relishable at every step for the knowers of rasa.”
Viśvanātha comments -
Uttama-śloka means “he whose fame or good qualities are
the best.” Or it can mean “he who is praised by the best persons.”
In three ways one knows that one has had
enough of something and is satisfied: by having a full belly, by lack of knowledge
of the taste, and by lack of particular relish of the object. In this verse,
there is insufficiency for the hearers (śṛṅvatām) because the exploits
are not directly present, being present only as sound in the ether contacting
the ear. Satisfaction is not
accomplished by a person who does not know rasa, someone who is just
like an animal. Rasikas know [rasajñā,
appreciate] rasa, but still they are not satisfied. Unlike chewed sugarcane
which loses its taste and becomes detestable, the topics of the Lord are most
excellent because of the increase in taste at every moment (pade pade)
after tasting. Rasikas do not lose taste, but are still dissatisfied.
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