Tongue of Govardhan at Rādhākuṇḍa
Bhakta:
A friend of mine has a deity of Rādhā alone. He worships her without Kṛṣṇa.
I never heard of any worship like that.
Advaita Dās:
That is not right, that is wrong. This is concocted. No śāstra and no ācāryas
said this. No one did this either. People are uncultured - they do not know śāstra
so they just make up one thing after the other.
Bhakta:
Even he thinks that he is a mañjarī. How can explain it to him that it
is wrong?
Advaita Dās -
Just repeat what I said - this worship must be:
1. Prescribed in śāstra
2. Coming through paramparā
3. Received from Guru
If that will not work then quote Rādhā-rasa Sudhānidhi 259 –
dhyāyaṁs taṁ śikhi pincha maulim aniśaṁ tan
nāma saṅkīrtayan
nityaṁ tac caraṇāmbujaṁ paricaraṁs tan mantra
varyaṁ japan
śrī rādhā pada dāsyam eva paramābhīṣṭaṁ hṛdā
dhārayan
karhi syāṁ tad anugraheṇa
paramodbhutānurāgotsavaḥ
“I always meditate on Kṛṣṇa, who wears
a crown of peacock feathers, I always sing His name in saṅkīrtana, I always serve His lotus-feet (the deity) and repeat His
best of mantras (gopāla mantra and kāma gāyatrī), holding the desire for
the supremely cherished service of Śrī Rādhā's lotus-feet in my heart.
When will that great festival of prema
arise in my heart by His grace?”
paricaraṁs – paricaraṁs means worshiping the deity of (Rādhā-)Kṛṣṇa, while holding the aspiration
for rādhā dāsya in the heart. Jīva
Goswāmī quotes Viṣṇu Rahasya in Bhakti Sandarbha (283), saying that if one does
arcanā, even with bhakti, without proper knowledge, one
gets only 1% benefit. In other words, concocted arcanā, or arcanā not
prescribed by Guru –
avijñāya vidhānoktaṁ hari-pūjā-vidhi-kriyām
kurvan bhaktyā samāpnoti śata-bhāgaṁ vidhānataḥ
Bhakta:
Yes...sevā aparādha. Leads to
no inspiration...loss of faith...confusion.
Advaita Das
Yes - like veganism. This is also sevā
aparādha - cooking for your own bones.
*****************
This
is a somewhat edited version of a conversation I had with a devotee in
December, 2006 –
Bhakta
-
Please
accept my obeisances. Praises to the Vaisnavas.
1. What
is the difference from a Govardhana-śilā as Girirāja and that of a Govardhana śilā
as Giridhāri? How is the identity and mood of worship different?
2. At
Rādhākunda I have seen some chanting gāyatri with a cloth covered necklace on.
What is inside the necklace and what is the significance of the articles
inside, what is the reason for wearing it and historical context of wearing it?
Advaitadās
-
1.
Mount Govardhan is both Kṛṣṇa (Mahāprabhu told Raghunāth Dās Gosvāmī the śilā is kṛṣṇa kalevara, Kṛṣṇa’s body” (C.C. Antya 6.292), and Kṛṣṇa Himself
said ‘śailo’smi – I am the mountain’
in Śrīmad Bhāgavata 10.24.35) and haridāsa
varya (the best of Hari's servants, in Śrīmad Bhāgavata 10.21.18), however
the śilā is primarily worshipped as Kṛṣṇa.
The mood is one of sweet rustic simplicity. The worship is briefly explained by
Śrīman Mahāprabhu in Caitanya Caritāmṛta Antya-līlā chapter 6.
2. It
seems you must have seen someone doing that out in the open. Actually mantra japa should be done in private,
not in public. The wreath they wear is called a pañca mālā and consists of five substances – Guñjā-berries, cloth from Lord
Jagannātha, Tulasī, Āmalakī or Dhātrī and clay from Rādhā-kuṇḍa and Śyāma-kuṇḍa.
Some Vaiṣṇavas believe that it enhances concentration.
I have not received such a tool from my Guru, nor have I seen it mentioned in
any Vaiṣṇava śāstra.
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