Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta Canto 2, chapter Six

Continuation of my review of Gopīprāṇadhan Dāsa's rendering of Sanātan Goswāmī's Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta-

2.6.55, purport: "Kṛṣṇa recognizing Sarūpa does not mean he fell from the spiritual world. Kṛṣṇa knows everybody anyway, be they conditioned or liberated. The original text of this purport just says prApta, Kṛṣṇa  attained Sarūpa, not that He re-cognized him, as in 're-aquaintance'. Even if the word recognized would have been there in some form in the ṭīkā, still, in the stage of sādhana the sādhaka has communicated so intensely with Kṛṣṇa that Kṛṣṇa would anyway recognize him upon arrival in the spiritual world.

2.6.62 When Sarūpa arrives in Goloka, the gopīs ask each other "ko'trāgato' 'Who has come here?" If Sarūpa had fallen from the spiritual world, they would have recognized him.
2.6.89 Gopīprāṇadhan says in the purport: "Gopa-kumāra has now assumed his original identity as Kṛṣṇa's friend Sarūpa." This 'original identity', indicating fall-vāda, or predetermined-vāda, is not mentioned in the ṭīkā of Sanātan Goswāmī.

2.6.92 and 88 seems to have inspired Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda in Saṅkalpa Kalpadruma and Kṛṣṇa Bhāvanāmṛta - there also, by Yogamāyā's arrangement, mother Yaśodā naively considers the gopīs/mañjarīs innocent little girls. Out of vātsalya prīti for Kṛṣṇa she also considers Kṛṣṇa to be still just a little boy. The mothers-in-law may not be aware that the gopīs also massage Kṛṣṇa when they are asked to come and cook for Him. Further dalliances of Kṛṣṇa with the gopīs are described in verses 140-145. They appear to be quite intimate for Yaśodā to allow it, especially as she knows, in Sanātan Goswāmī's words, that they can never marry Kṛṣṇa.

2.6.120 Sweet rice (pāyas, paramānna or kṣīra) is always eaten warm, never cold. There isn't even any way to make it ice cold without refrigerators, whose existence is not described in the spiritual sky. Perhaps in earthen or clay pots, but even then - no śāstra speaks of cold sweet rice nor have I come across it even once in my wanderings throughout all branches of the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Sampradāya in India during the 1980s decade. In September 1983 I attended a feast in Nandagrām where the sweet rice was served so hot that it wasn't possible to touch it and by the time it had cooled off we were already expected to get up and wash our hands. Now that is an extreme example, but here it is clearly stated that sweet rice must be warm (koṣṇaṁ pāyasaṁ), not cold. This is not just a local, Vrajavāsī, custom either - in Bengal also I attended many feasts at many different places, and nowhere they were serving cold sweet rice. Some say that the morale of the famous story of the brahmin from Prāg-jyotiṣpur, who burned his finger on the hot sweet rice which he offered in his meditation (see Jīva Goswāmī's comment on Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu) is that sweet rice should be served cold, but that is not true - the morale is that the subtle world of meditation gets crystallized in the gross external world instead. The brahmin should have let it cool off a bit more of course, but it should have been offered warm still, not cold. Before putting the offering on the altar, the pūjārī should hold the cups with the preparations with his/her [right] hand, and if it is too hot to hold the pūjārī needs to wait before offering it, otherwise Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa-Guru will burn their delicate tongues and a sevāparādha will be made. One should never offer things one will not like to enjoy oneself and out of hunger or lust after the tasty dishes one should not rush through the offering. As for the habit of drinking boiling hot milk, the Bhagavad Gītā (17.9) says that atyuṣṇa, food that is very hot, is in the mode of passion (āhāra rajasasyeṣṭā). The end of the purport of verse 124 says: "Then the mixture is kept for some time in a vessel packed in ice." This is not in Sanātan Goswāmī's text - there is no such a thing as ice in pre-industrial pre-colonial Vraja. Kṛṣṇa is said here to start with eating sweets instead of salties - this is a Vrajabāsī custom even now. Who knows, they might have inherited it from Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself, all those years ago! Even now, when there are Bengalis coming to Vrajabāsī feasts they give a howl of disapproval when they start serving sweets first and then the subji.

2.6.125 "Kṛṣṇa’s lovely tongue, rising to His dawn-pink upper lip while He chewed, sported within the cheeks of His lotus face" indicates that Kṛṣṇa eats with His mouth open. This (smacking the lips, flopping) is considered indecent in the West, but many items of Western etiquette are not done in Vedic culture and vice versa. Belching and passing air actually releases the life-airs during the digestive process and are healthy practises that help the digestion. Of course passing air (adho vāyu-tyāga) is forbidden in the temple and obviously in front of Guru-Vaiṣṇava too, but in solitude it is a healthy practise.

2.6.131 'In the family of Rādhārāṇī's brother' does not mean becoming Her brother yourself. This is an indication that the story of Sarūpa is fictional, but even if one takes birth in Rādhārāṇī's family it could be at most as a grand nephew, grand niece, or in-law.

2.6.136  Balarāma, according to the ṭīkā, knows of Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs' pastimes - vicakṣaṇa iti kṛṣṇasya rahaḥ krīḍāvasaro'yam ityādikaṁ jānam.

2.6.137 The pastime of Kṛṣṇa taking a stroll with the gopīs is called cankramāna in Sanātan Goswāmī's ṭīkā, and just means that they take a walk, so that it is acceptable for Yaśodā. It may be a pastime that just provides some subtle gratification for Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs.

2.6.147-155 shows how naively Yaśodā observes Kṛṣṇa's dishevelled state caused by His dalliance with the gopīs. This was later included in aṣṭakālāya granthas like Govinda Līlāmṛta and Kṛṣṇa Bhāvanāmṛta.

2.6.161 Here Kṛṣṇa gets His lunch-box along in the morning. Later Kṛṣṇadās Kavirāja, in Govinda Līlāmṛta, revealed a higher level of service, which is to send the lunch along with Dhaniṣṭhā, so that the meal is more fresh when Kṛṣṇa eats it at noon. yāta yāma - food should be eaten within three hours after it is cooked. Gopīprāṇadhan fails to mention that Sanātan Goswāmī comments on this verse that alternatively, Yaśodā may give the lunch box to Śrīdāma to carry. That makes it also better that Dhaniṣṭhā comes and brings the lunch later in the day - Kṛṣṇa (or Śrīdāma) will not have to carry it along for hours.

2.6.174 Yaśodā did not literally hold a straw between her teeth - it is a figure of speech, that she spoke in a plaintive, yet pressing manner.

2.6.177 "And she [Yaśodā], crying, milk dripping from her breasts, stood right there, motionless like a painted picture,......" later appeared in Govinda-līlāmṛta.

2.6.179 The gopīs may be able to kiss Kṛṣṇa in secret in the village, not in the open, but in the fields there is really no hiding place to even do such a thing. "According to a well-known psychological principle, nivedya duḥkhaṁ sukhino bhavanti: “Unhappy people can regain their peace of mind by revealing the cause of their distress.” But here the gopīs couldn’t even express themselves, so they remained adrift in the vast ocean of their misery.

2.6.189 Nanda Mahārāja is sending out his messengers to find out if Kṛṣṇa is safe, so one may ask here: then how can Kṛṣṇa freely enjoy Himself? I suppose here too Kṛṣṇadās Kavirāja provided a higher level of service (in Govinda-līlāmṛta)  by Yaśodā sending bodyguards like Vijay along with Kṛṣṇa so that she will not have to worry about His safety. But whether messengers or bodyguards are sent along with Him, Kṛṣṇa sheds them all at noontime and finds a pretext to go and see Rādhikā at Rādhākuṇḍa, just with some trusted friends. These messengers of Nanda may of course also be secret cronies of Kṛṣṇa, who will not tell Nanda Mahārāja of His secret exploits in the forest.

2.6.190, commentary - "The gopīs spent the entire day fully absorbed in the saṅkīrtana of singing about the Rāsa-dance and other pastimes they had shared with Kṛṣṇa." Since this takes place in the village-limits they probably did not sing too loudly.

2.6.196 - Commentary: "For all its sweetness, Nanda Mahārāja’s town is more magnificent than Vaikuṇṭha." This juxtaposition is not made by Sanātan Goswāmī himself. In the verse translation also, Gopīprāṇadhan speaks of the 'opulence' of Nanda, which does not occur in the Bengali translation.

2.6.202-3 Śrī Rūpa Goswāmī's Lalita Mādhava-drama shows that Madhumaṅgala is present in Dwārkā too, where Rādhā is Satyabhāmā and Candrāvalī is Rukmiṇī. So it should be no surprise that all Vrajaloka have their expansions in Vaikuṇṭha. The demigods' shadow-forms of the Vrajabāsīs may be like Rati-Kāma, who are said to be in material bodies but having Lakṣmī-Nārāyan within them, as is described in the comments on SB 5.18.15.

2.6.209 Here Kaṁsa is said to be an eternal associate in Goloka but in Bhakti Sandarbha 286 (a quotation there from SB 10.14.61) it is said that the demons there are just reminders of Kṛṣṇa's manifest pastimes. So I suppose that the Kṛṣṇas in the material world share this knowledge with the Kṛṣṇas in the spiritual world.

2.6.264 That the stones in Vraja actually melt is proven in Nandagrām's Caran Pāhārī, where there is a footprint of Kṛṣṇa in a stone, that melted when Kṛṣṇa played His flute there.

2.6.359 Sarūpa calls himself a newcomer (nūtnānāṁ mādṛśā), which proves he had not fallen from the spiritual world, but Gopī-prāṇadhan instead says: "Some devotees, however, can be distinguished as nūtna (“new”) because they were conditioned souls and have recently been reinstated in their original position by devotional practice and the Supreme Lord’s personal grace." This contradicts the word nūtana (new) and is nowhere in Sanātan Goswāmī's ṭīkā. He speaks there of ādhunika (new) devotees, which is the same as nūtana.

2.6.366 Both in the verse and the tika Sanātan Goswāmī says the Goloka-vāsīs don't want to go anywhere else, even if Kṛṣṇa is not present. Let alone that they become envious of Him and leave to imitate Him in the material world..... That is reiterated in verse 369, kadāpi kenāpi na hātum īśe lava leśam apyaham - 'Never, for any reason, can I give up Kṛṣṇa's lotus-feet'.

2.6.375 Is interesting, as there does seem to be some travel involved, involving time and space, while moving from Goloka to the manifest pastimes in the material world.

Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta, canto 2, chapter Five

Continuing my review of Gopīprāṇadhan Dāsa's rendering of Sanātan Goswāmī's Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta -

2.5.7, commentary: "And whereas devotees of Viṣṇu see their Lord with four arms, the more intimate among the residents of Dvārakā generally see Him with only two."

2.5.12 The intimate discussion with Uddhava is about the Gokula pastimes, it is not political.

2.5.48 Sanātan Goswāmī confirms that one should not make a show of one's ecstasy - nija-bhāva-viśeṣa-prakāśa-bhayāc ca.

2.5.50 Nārada is described in the commentary as kautuki, humorous, while I always pictured him as a serious person.

2.5.52-53 "Just as the one Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa exists in many forms and many places, so also do we, His servants. So it is with all of us— Śrī Garuda and other attendants, devotees like Śrīmān Hanuman, and our friend Uddhava, and others too, like these Yādavas." This shows there are as many eternal associates of the Lord as there are forms of the Lord Himself.
Commentary: "Hanumān sings the glories of Lord Rāma in the Kimpuruṣa-loka of the Bhū-loka region and simultaneously in the Ayodhyā of Vaikuṇṭha. And Uddhava, whom Gopa-kumāra can see right before him, is simultaneously one of the principal companions of Kṛṣṇa in Dvārakā on earth, along with the Yādavas, the Pāṇḍavas, and others."

2.5.54 "All the Lord’s personal associates are at His hand like playthings.They are always fully dedicated to His service. Each assumes a variety of forms yet stays essentially one, just like the Lord Himself." Commentary: "So when He expands Himself and His abode into all sorts of forms, they accompany Him in suitably corresponding forms."

2.5.55 is something for those who want to dress Kṛṣṇa up with blue-jeans and mobile phone: "The abode of Mathurā, and paricchadas [garments and ornaments] like Kaustubha, Sudarśana and so, are also expanding innumerably with the Lord." In other words, these are unseparable features of the Lord. It also means that all flowers, trees and birds in Mathurā [Vraja] are not 'Indian' but reflections of the residents of the spiritual world. Recently I saw pictures of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa deities dressed in Scottisch checkers and even as Santa Claus - this is not just mundane and ridiculous, it is even offensive.

2.5.61 Commentary of Gopīprāṇadhan:  "Although time and space do not exist in the spiritual realm, Goloka is still considered far away in the sense that the common residents of Vaikuṇṭha cannot approach it."
Though this is siddhānta, strictly speaking it is not what Sanātan Goswāmī says in his ṭīkā. He says: śri golokākhyāṁ sthānaṁ śri vaikuṇṭhād api durlabhatvena paramoccatvāt "Higher than Vaikuṇṭha means that Golok is more rarely attained."

2.5.79-80 Since Mathurā is inside Braja-maṇḍal and thus inseparable from it, Mathurā City is also situated in Goloka. It is still called Goloka instead of Mathurā because the entire realm is a land of cows.

2.5.85 'Goloka is said to be far from Vaikuṇṭha because of its laukik bandhu vyavahāra - customs of dealing with God as an ordinary friend.' This is my translation of Sanātan Goswāmī's ṭīkā. Gopīprāṇadhana's translation is a bit too generic here.

2.5.95 Why Kṛṣṇa likes to come to the material world? In Śrīmad Bhāgavat 10.14.37 it is said He gives more astonishment to His devotees there (prapanna janatānanda).

2.5.97 States that Viṣṇu sometimes does vacate Vaikuṇṭha to go to the material world. This is hard to reconcile with the eternality, endlessness and omnipresence of the Lord. Verse 101 says that Kṛṣṇa always adorns the earth with His pastimes [bhūr-loka-stham api krīḍā-viśeṣair bhūṣayet sadā) - which means He would be eternally absent from Vaikuṇṭha. There is also the ālāt cakra vāda, the concept of the Lord's manifest pastimes rotating through the material universes like a firebrand....... A possible solution to this is that Yogamāyā makes Kṛṣṇa's absence seem to last for just a moment, as it is experienced by the cowherd boys in the aṣṭa kālīya līlā. Kṛṣṇa's 5-hour excursion to Rādhākuṇḍa is experienced by them as lasting just a few moments.

2.5.104 Mahā-lakṣmī in Nanda Mahārāja's house means just her intangible presence in the form of wealth, not that the goddess of fortune, who is eternally unable to attain Vraja, would have still attained it in person. That is already denied in Śrīmad Bhāgavat 10.16.36 and 10.47.60, that would otherwise contradict Śrīmad Bhāgavat 10.31.1, where the gopīs sing śrayata indirā śaśvat atra hi, "Indirā (Mahālakṣmī) is always rendering service here" as well as Śrīmad Bhāgavat 10.5.18. We feel the wind but do not see the wind-god, similarly we see the wealth of Nanda Mahārāj in Gokul but not the personality of the goddess of fortune.

2.5.105, Gopīprāṇadhan's commentary: "And how then could Vraja be a suitable place for the Supreme Lord to enjoy pastimes as an ordinary person? Vraja is suitable because the Lord reveals those opulences only in select instances, when they are useful for His purposes. If there is no special need for them He keeps them hidden. Thus the opulences of Godhead are only occasionally seen in Vraja, though the Lord’s charming pastimes as the darling of the cowherds are always visibly expanding."
Sanātan Goswāmī says it a bit differently - svasya īsasya vihāreṣu vighnād dhetoḥ ..... tan mahā vaibhava prakaṭa rūpam aiśvaryaṁ sadā na prakāśayet - "The desire-trees do not always display their prowess for it may obstruct His [the Lord's] sweet enjoyment."

2.5.143 Mundane rockets and airplanes have their own thrusters and propellors but in the heavens and in the spiritual sky they are vimānair vāyu-vegenohyamānair divya ratha viśeṣair yānaṁ - divine chariots (not cigar-shaped vehicles like airplanes here) that are carried by the force of the wind(-god).

2.5.145, ṭīkā: "The phrase “our whole community” implies that the gopas meant to include in their statement the young gopīs but were too embarrassed to mention Kṛṣṇa’s relationship with them directly."

2.5.172 Sanātan Goswāmī's commentary: "A devotee may develop Krsna consciousness to the point of being able to see Kṛṣṇa but may not be able to see Him busily enjoying the special pastimes of Vṛndāvana (tādṛk-krīḍam) with His intimate devotees. When more advanced, a Vaiṣṇava may occasionally see Kṛṣṇa engaging in His Vṛndāvana pastimes but not displaying the full scope of His blissful enjoyment (suprasannam). And even such a Vaiṣṇava may not be fortunate enough to enter Kṛṣṇa’s eternal pastimes and play with Kṛṣṇa in absolute freedom. The highest perfection of Kṛṣṇa-consciousness is rarely achieved."

2.5.216, ṭīkā: "Others, like strict brāhmanas who eat only what they have cooked themselves and offered to their own Deities, should be given rice, other ingredients, and pots and fuel for cooking." 

The word 'brāhmana' is not mentioned in Sanātan Goswāmī's ṭīkā. Those who get the raw ingredients are a class of vairāgīs, or it is happening in a region where householders, from whom the sādhus beg, tend not to be vegetarians. The śāstra says āhāra-śuddhau sattva-śuddhih, sattva-śuddhau dhruvāsmṛtih, smṛtilambhe sarva-granthīnaṁ vipramokṣah (Chāndogya Upaniṣad VII.26.2) - 'Pure food brings pure existence, pure existence brings extensive meditation, which again frees one from all knots." When you eat your own cooked food you neither win or lose - it is just your own manovṛtti, if you eat from others you may degrade or elevate yourself (usually degrade, it is very risky because you can not see on the outside which cook is pure or impure within the heart). It is very touchy socially, because you may not want to eat the cooking of an important person (relative, devotee, employer, friend). It may appear to be proud, but actually it is a discipline. Out of humility one can also not start eating one's relatives' beefsteak, thinking 'Oh I am the lowest in the world - anyone's food will elevate me - they are all superior to me'. That is not humility, that is stupidity. One can drink juice and milk from them, or eat nuts and fruits.

2.5.219 Sanātana Goswāmī says gopayen mātṛ jāravat iti na cātra mantavyam - bhakta-vareṣu nija pratiṣṭhārthaṁ tathā syād 'If ecstatic symptoms arise that may happen spontaneously, but it should never be done for false prestige. The śāstra says one should hide it like one hides the fact that one's mother has a paramour."

2.5.221 Gopīprāṇadhan writes in his purport: "Once sādhana-bhakti has yielded its fruit—rāgānugā-bhakti, spontaneous devotion....."
There is no mentioning in Sanātan Goswāmī's verse or commentary of sādhana culminating into rāgānugā bhakti - Gopīprāṇadhan's purport is outright misleading. Sanātan Goswāmī speaks of sādhana leading to prema, not to rāgānugā bhakti. rāgānugā bhakti is itself a sādhana.

2.5.226 Sanātan Goswāmī's commentary: "According to Nārada, only those who have realized prema can distinguish its real nature. The essence of prema cannot be defined in mere words. At best it can be recognized by its secondary characteristics (taṭastha-lakṣaṇa). Thus we can understand the presence of prema by its external symptoms like trembling, floods of tears, and standing erect of the bodily hair. Softening of the heart (cittārdratā) also counts as an external symptom because it is knowable by the mind, even though it is also said to be internal because it is not a directly visible object."

2.5.234 Though this verse seems to hint at Śrīman Mahāprabhu, Sanātan Goswāmī does not mention Him in his commentary.
Gopīprāṇadhan adds: "To protect the hope of Gopa-kumāra and other devotees to obtain love at the lotus feet of Śrī Rādhikā and the Lord of Her heart, here Nārada hints at the future appearance of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the combined form of Śrī-Śrī Radha and Kṛṣṇa. For even subtly alluding to the merciful descent of Lord Caitanya, Nārada is all-glorious."
But this is just Gopīprāṇadhan's own comment.

2.5.251, commentary: vividha jñānena manaś cāncalyāt tathā'tyantautsukyābhāvācca. bhāva-viśeṣānutpattyā bhagavaddarśane'pi tādṛśa sukhaṁ nodeti - ".....Gopa-kumāra’s simplicity allowed him to see in a very pure loving mood the Personality of Godhead. A mind filled with all kinds of knowledge becomes easily agitated by critical thoughts and is not free to enjoy enthusiasm like the mind of a simple person. Had Gopa-kumāra been more sophisticated, he would not have been able to discover the Supreme Lord in His various aspects with as much sincere affection and would not have derived as much joy from the Lord’s darśana."

Nine types of rāgānugā, empowered preachers, seeing Kṛṣṇa.

Madanmohan Mandir on Dwadasaditya ṭīlā, Vrindavan appr. 1789

Bhakta: "It is sometimes said that of the nine types of bhakti [śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ smaraṇaṁ pāda sevanam etc], only the last two, sakhyam and ātma nivedanam, are rāgānugā bhakti."

Advaitadas: "I do not see how. This is not what the ācāryas say in their commentaries on the famous verse. Let us go through them, one by one.

śravaṇam means hearing of the mañjarīs' service to Radharani from rasika Vaiṣṇavas,
kīrtanam means Rasa kīrtan or Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa līlā kīrtan, 
smaranam is the very pillar of rāgānugā bhakti. Viśvanātha Cakravartī has proclaimed rāgānugā bhakti to be a mental religion par excellence.
pāda sevanam or paricarya is practical service like cleaning Radhakund,
vandanam is reciting stotras like Vilapa Kusumanjali or Radharasa Sudhanidhi.
arcanam means worshipping Giridhari, the way Sriman Mahaprabhu taught Srila Raghunath Das Goswami,
dāsya means radha dasya, or manjari bhava, 
sakhya is either gopa bhava or the friendship the manjaris cherish with Radhika, although they are maidservants, and
ātma nivedanam is glossed by the acaryas as offering one's body. This too can be done in both sadhaka- and siddha-deha in raganuga bhakti. "

Bhakta: "Great Prabhu Santānas (descendants of the Lord) like Sādhu Bābā and Madangopāl Goswāmī preached boldly and with great success, should we not do the same thing?"

Advaitadas: "About the bold preaching of our Guru-janas, please remember that 'kṛṣṇa śakti vinā iha nahi pravartan' [CC] - without empowerment by Kṛṣṇa one cannot promulgate this. What our great brahmin superiors could do we cannot imitate. Not in this lifetime, perhaps in a future lifetime. When that power is placed in your hands you must use it, as a matter of duty. That is not for us in this lifetime. I can see that clearly in my own life, as I fail to recruit even one serious bhakta for my Sādhu Bābā. This should not be seen as a 'failure' - its just not our duty for us in this lifetime. Now we just study and do nāma."

Bhakta: "Is it allright to tell people you have seen Kṛṣṇa?"

Advaitadas: "It is not so easy to see Kṛṣṇa  for starters, but even if you see Him you should not make a big show of your own advancement by telling everyone. Sanātan Goswāmī was a nitya siddha, Labanga Mañjarī, and he told Śrīman Mahāprabhu: 'I do not know who Kṛṣṇa is, I only know that Your mercy saved me." As far as I am concerned, I have seen Sādhu Bābā, Śrī Rādhākund and Girirāja. I have read the Bhāgavat and the Goswāmīs' books and I have taken Harināma - this is how I have experienced Kṛṣṇa and I know for sure He is there on the other side of the veil of my mind, senses, intellect and ego. As my elder Guru-brother Nirañjan Bābu said: "I have not seen Kṛṣṇa - I have never seen Him but I have seen my Gurudeva (so I know there is Kṛṣṇa)."

Bhakta: "Is not a Guru supposed to have seen Kṛṣṇa? It says tattva darśina in the Bhagavad Gītā's Guru-verse (4.34)."

Advaitadas: "Only Śrīdhara Swāmī and Baladeva discuss this word in their ṭīkās. Śrīdhara Swāmī says 'aparokṣānubhava-sampannā', someone who has attained experiences of intangible matters.' This does seem to refer to seeing Kṛṣṇa indeed because in Bhakti Sandarbha (202) Jīva Goswāmī says: pare brahmaṇi bhagavad-ādi-rūpāvirbhāve’parokṣānubhavena niṣṇātaṁ tathaiva niṣṭhāṁ prāptam - "He has experience of intangible matters of para Brahman, in the form of the Lord and so and has become fixed in that." This is under the heading of 'śravaṇa guru', though. Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa says about tattva darśina - 'tajjñāna pracārakāḥ - preachers of spiritual knowledge'. It is, of course, impossible to see on the outside what is going on on the inside of the Guru. Ultimately only God knows if the Guru has really seen Him. Therefore the least we can do is sit at the feet of Śrī Guru and listen. If he speaks truth and is morally sound we can faithfully adopt him as a genuine teacher."

Vidyābhūṣaṇa's last words

Kṛṣṇacūḍa flowers - once grew in Sādhu Bābā's ashram

Deenanath Das posted a nice article on fall-vada on Sampradaya Sun today, which is interesting and largely acceptable, but there were some flaws in the Kuśakrath-translation of the final prose paragraph of Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa's Vedānta-commentary. The corrections are interspersed in bold below:

"In this way the scriptures explain that the Supreme Personality of Godhead will never abandon His devotee and the devotee will always ardently love the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is always truthful and His desires are always at once fulfilled. He is an ocean of love for they who take shelter of Him. He washes away the ignorance that made His devotees turn from Him [the original text says sva-vaimukhyakarīm avidyāṁ – it means that ignorance causes the conditioned soul to be turned away from God, period, not that once they turned away from Him, they simple are turned away from Him indefinite]. Once He brings back to Himself [svāntikam upānīya does not mean ‘taking back’, but ‘taking to Himself’] His dear devotees, who are His parts and parcels, the Supreme Personality of Godhead will not again let them go [kadācid api na jihāsati means ‘never even will He let them go’, the word ‘again’, [punaḥ] is not there] . In the same way the individual soul, who had been searching for happiness and who finally has turned from the pathetic, wretched, pale reflection of happiness he had for many births sought in the material world in many ways, and who now, by the mercy of the bona-fide spiritual master has understood the truth of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, of whom he is a part and parcel, who now has no desire apart from the Supreme Lord, who is now purely engaged in devotional service to the Supreme Lord, and who has now attained the Supreme Lord, whose spiritual form is filled with limitless bliss, and who is the merciful friend and master, will never desire to leave such a Lord. In this way the truth is understood from the scriptures. This truth is understood only by taking shelter of the scriptures. The words of the sUtra are repeated to indicate the conclusion of the book."

It is really astonishing that though the pūrva-pakṣa [opponent who will be refuted by the śāstra] speaks of fall from the spiritual world [see article at the link] Kuśakrath Dās still speaks of such a fall.

Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta, canto 2, chapter 4, part 2

Continuation of my review of Gopīprāṇadhan Dāsa's rendering of Sanātan Goswāmī's 'Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta'

2.4.107 Gopīprāṇadhan says in his commentary: "Second, the Personality of Godhead, for His various pastimes, requires different moods in His devotees." Sanatana Goswami simply says vicitra bhagaval līlānusāreṇa - 'This variety is there to facilitate the Lord's versatile pastimes'- nothing mentioned about any mood being required from (commanded to) a devotee.

2.4.117, purport: Śrī Maitreya describes this in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.11.38):

kālo’yaṁ dvi-parārdhakhyo nimeṣa upacaryate
avyākṛtasyānantasya anāder jagad-ātmanah

“The duration of the two parts of Brahmā’s life is calculated to equal one nimeṣa [less than a second] for the beginningless Soul of the universe, the unchanging and the unlimited.”
Gopīprāṇadhan writes that this scale of comparative time is only metaphorical, and here he is completely right because material time does not affect either the Lord or His abode, they are already called avyākṛta, immutable, in this verse. Sanātan Goswāmī does not discuss the metaphorical status of this śloka but his comment is interesting anyway - etad api tatra bhagavan madhuratara līlā rītyānusāreṇaiva kevalam upacāra mātraṁ na tv ayam api tatratyānām āyur gaṇana prakāraḥ avinaśvaratādi svabhāvakatvāt " 'There is no increase or decrease of time in Vaikuṇṭha - it is always there. Still, according to the Lord's sweeter pastimes there is counting of time- but that does not include counting the lifespan of the residents of Vaikuṇṭha - they are naturally indestructible." At any rate, statements like in this śloka must be metaphorical since God and His realm cannot be measured in terms of material time and space. There are also statements in Purāṇas and Upapurāṇas about supposed distances to travel to Goloka, that obviously just serve to give an indication that it is hard to reach. There is of course no rocket that could ever bring us physically to a place which is attainable only through pure devotional surrender, so such verses are obviously metaphorical. The Bhāgavata verse even ends with the words anāder jagad-ātma, the Lord is beginningless. Enough said. No lexicon gives 'planet' as the meaning of the word 'loka', or vice versa.

2.4.142-3, verses: "Having each attained sameness with a particular form of the Lord, they (the Lord's associates in Vaikuṇṭha) have gained the opulences of various kinds of bodies, as sages, demigods, fish, tortoises, human beings, and mystic seers. Some have become hogs, man-lions, or dwarfs, and some have three eyes, four arms—or thousands of eyes like the Mahāpuruṣa.

2.4.144 The translation of the quoted Bhāgavat-verse is not so good - the Lord is not 'sky-blue'. śyāma means indigo, deep purple, raincloud-colour instead.

2.4.147, purport: "Lord Nārāyaṇa has four arms and a dark-blue complexion, but because devotees are attracted to Him in other forms, the Lord’s all-powerful personal energies enable devotees to see Him in whatever forms they like. Thus in Vaikuṇṭha each devotee can cherish the Supreme Lord in his own way."

2.4.152  Even a lack of niṣṭhā is awarded: "Devotees not exclusively attracted to one form of the Lord, those whose affection is not focused on a single appearance of His, are ready to serve Him in any form." Commentary: Some devotees are attracted to all of the Supreme Lord’s appearances. Those devotees serve any one form of the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha, without any preference as to which. Other devotees are attracted to serving two, three, or several particular forms." The next verse explains what happens to them: "(And, ye ca) Some devotees dedicated themselves to the eight-syllable mantra or some other mantra for the husband of Lakṣmī, and when those devotees left their material bodies they all obtained the shelter of this Vaikuṇṭha."

2.4.157 The commentary gives a fascinating list of famous avatāras that appeared up to 5 different times, performing all kinds of līlās and duties.

2.4.155-157 Deities are also transcendental avatāras of the Lord.

2.4.158, Commentary: The Personality of Godhead is a vast ocean of many different moods of loving exchange. His various devotees respond to His various pastimes by developing individual varieties of ecstasy, and the Lord reciprocates with these ecstasies by showing Himself in different ways. His devotees are concerned with Him alone, and therefore whenever a devotee becomes extremely anxious to see Him in a particular form, the Lord at once shows that form to the devotee. These appearances of the Lord, although apparently ad hoc, are in fact eternal, real, and all-pervading.

2.4.187 The word avatārī ['origin of the avatāra'] in the purport seems to be in terms of aiśvarya, not in terms of who is the original Godhead, Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu.

2.4.210-211 Sanātan preaches deity-worship: "One can reach perfection by honoring even a blade of grass—provided one sees within it the presence of the Supreme Lord—or by just once uttering or hearing even a faint semblance of the Lord’s name. How then can one find fault in worshiping the Deity, in whom the Lord personally appears [adhiṣṭhāna], who evokes remembrance of the Lord, who has been consecrated by mantras, and who is the receiver of all kinds of devotional service?" The word adhiṣṭhāna in the text means 'base, abode, stand-by', the word mantra-saṁskṛte means 'consecrated by mantras' and the word smāraka means reminder. It does seem that there is an ādhibhautik aspect to the deity, an object of wood or metal, which is being spiritualized, not, as some devotees believe, that the deity itself is spiritual. arce viṣṇau śīlā-dhiḥ means 'the attitude [dhi] that the deity is a clump of stone instead of the Lord Himself appearing in a tangible form'. So it is the attitude towards the deity that counts.

2.4.212 Not every deity worshipper is a neophyte as described in SB 11.2.47 - a proper pūjārī can be madhyam or uttam adhikārī as well, it depends on the individual. Sanātan Goswāmī confirms this in verse 218: "When the Purāṇas and other scriptures make statements that belittle Deity worship, you should understand that all such statements refer to those particular [materialistic] worshipers, not to all devotees."

2.4.215, commentary quotes Śrīmad Bhāgavat 4.31.21 -

na bhajati kumanīṣiṇāṁ sa ijyāṁ
harir adhanātma-dhana-priyo rasa-jñaḥ |
śruta-dhana-kula-karmaṇāṁ madair ye
vidadhati pāpam akiñcaneṣu satsu ||

"Śrī Hari, who loves the destitute looking upon Him as their only wealth, and knows the bliss inherent in devotion, does not accept the worship of those foolish men who through their pride of learning, affluence, pedigree and deeds show disrespect to such destitute devotees."

Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda comments on this: "ātma dhana, the wealth of the soul, is devotion to the Lord - such persons are dear to the Lord. Another meaning of adhanātma is those who are free from material entanglements and desires - those who have that wealth of the soul are also very dear to the Lord - 'they give up their possessiveness towards wife and children and consider only Me to be theirs - those are the true rasikas." He then refers to SB 11.5.9 - sato vinindanti hari-priyān khalah "Rascals blaspheme Hari's dear saints". Devotees are often worshipped for their material qualifications - eloquent lecturers, skilfull kīrtanīyas (previously great rock musicians) big book-distributors (previously great salesmen) etc. are worshipped as pure devotees simply due to their material skills. It is a deep rooted disease in a result-oriented Vaiṣṇava-community. Often such materially qualified bhaktas look down upon real devotees, who may not be so skilful but may have much more devotion, which is simply a thing of the heart and has nothing to do with tangible accomplishments. Often the weak struggling devotees continue on as devotees their whole lives while the 'big' devotees - who top the hierarchy due to their material qualifications - good musicians, speakers and salesmen - fall down like a brick and are gone now for 25 years and counting. The panacea for this anartha of pratiṣṭhā is mentioned in Manaḥ Śikṣā (7): sadā tvaṁ sevasva prabhu-dayita sāmantam atulaṁ - 'Always serve the great generals among the devotees (the really big devotees, that is)." If such devotee-generals are not physically present, no problem. Just hearing or reading about their sacred activities will purify one and ignite the fire of renunciation and humility.

2.4.246, commentary: "Or alternatively it may be that Nārada is advising Gopa-kumāra to follow the rāgānugā method of devotional service by listening to the dictates of his heart, rather than mechanically following the injunctions of scripture." 'Listening to the heart' is there in Sanātan Goswāmī's text, but not that this is 'rāgānugā bhakti'. Gopīprāṇadhan is strengthening the misconception here that rāgānugā bhakti means returning to freewheeling hippyism, an idea which was condemned in Viśvanātha Cakravartī's Rāga Vartma Candrikā.

Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta, Canto 2, chapter four, part I

My review of chapter 4 of canto 2 is so lengthy that I decided to post it in two parts, to keep it surveyable –

2.4.4 See my blog of October 24, 2009

2.4.5 In the purport, which is supposed to be Sanātan Goswāmī's, Gopīprāṇadhan speaks of 're-establishing one's connection with the Lord's lotus feet'. That seems to support fall-vāda, but no such a thing is mentioned by Sanātan Goswāmī - he writes 'bhaktir eva yogaḥ sri vaikuntha loka prāptyupayaḥ bhagavac caraṇāravinda samyoga rūpo vā - 'Bhakti-yoga is the means to attain the Vaikuṇṭha world or the lotus feet of the Lord'. Nothing about re-establishing here.

2.4.20 Gopakumār flew into Vaikuṇṭha with his plane and then he was told to wait to get permission to enter. In the purport Gopīprāṇadhan writes: "This is the standard etiquette for introducing someone to the supreme opulence of Vaikuṇṭha: specific permission should be obtained for him either from Lord Vaikuṇṭha-nātha directly or from a proper deputized authority." But why he needed permission again if he had already been allowed to board the plane to Vaikuṇṭha on earth? Here Gopīprāṇadhan jumps to conclusions again. Sanātan Goswāmī simply says that Gopakumār is asked to wait a while (tvaṁ kṣaṇam ekaṁ tāvat tiṣṭha) so a manager (adhikārī) can tell Vaikuṇṭhanāth of his arrival (prabhuṁ vaikuṇṭha-nāthaṁ svayam eva sākṣād vijñāpya kenacit tad adhikāriṇā vā kṛtvā vijñāpanaṁ) because such is the etiquette in this most majestic realm (paramaiśvaryāviskāra rītyanusārāt). Nothing said about permission here.

2.4.24 Gopīprāṇadhan writes in the purport that a resident of Vaikuṇṭha "Covering his ears with his hands and sticking out his tongue, he waved another hand at Gopa-kumāra to stop him. Sticking out one's tongue is an insult in the west. Actually Sanātan Goswāmī wrote 'jihvāgra-saṁdaśana', he bit on the tip of his tongue, which in India is a sign of shock and outrage, but not an attempt to insult.

A refutation of the misconceptions about BB 2.4.25-41 has already been presented in my blog of June 24, 2009.

2.4.35 The residents of Vaikuṇṭha can contract or withdraw their own families within themselves. How does that work? I suppose it is like Kṛṣṇa expanding Himself into the boys and the calves during the Brahma Vimohan Līlā and then withdrawing them into Himself again.

2.4.36  "The Vaikuṇṭha-devotees not only acted in many different ways but also assumed many differing forms, including even those of animals, birds, and trees. Some devotees would show one form for some time and then change into another." The Vedanta Sūtra says liberated souls can have so many spiritual bodies at once (see my blog of August 5, 2006

2.4.45  In the purport Sanātan Goswāmī quotes Śrīmad Bhāgavat 3.15.18-19 - bhṛṅgādhipe hari kathām iva gāyamāne - it is as if the bees sing the glories of Hari. They temporarily stop their noise. Noise here also means glorification of Kṛṣṇa - kolāhalair vividha vandi-kalāvatam - the cowherds of Nandīśvara make a lot of noise too (Vilāpa Kusumāñjali 60). This is spiritual noise, it is not comparible to the blaring of Bollywood music from Indian megaphones, polluting the skies of Vraja nowadays. Its all a question of perception - for us kīrtan is the most ecstatic sound vibration but for non-devotees it is just a lot of noise, since they fail to catch the transcendental nature of the sound vibration. So this noise is a pleasant noise, not a disturbance. Viśvanāth Cakravartīpāda comments on the Bhāgavat verses that the bees humming sound like 'hari hari' is like Hari-kathā. He takes it literally. In Vaikuṇṭha everything centers around Nārāyan, so the singing of the birds and the bees must be about Him too. Śrīdhara Swāmī comments on this verse: anena tatratya-pakṣīnam api hari-kathā-śravaṇādi-paramānando darśitaḥ  'Here we see even the birds present showing topmost ecstasy in hearing and chanting Harikathā. Śrīdhara Swāmī speaks of a temporary lull in the noise, but Viśvanātha glosses it as śīghra, they swiftly stop the noise - 'the different birds like cuckoos, cranes and flamingos are totally non-envious, so they say: "Ham Ho! The bees are singing about Hari now, so let us be quiet now!" Birds aren't able to form words but Kṛṣṇa-conscious birds naturally sing about Hari, so it is understood to be such. Viśvanātha compares it to the ghūṇākṣara nyāya - termites may accidentally bite into wood in such a pattern that it is shaped as a letter in the alphabet. Similarly, even the flapping of the birds' wings may sound like Hari Hari and is understood as such. If even the flapping of their wings is adorable then what to speak of if they directly sing of Kṛṣṇa? "

2.4.46  The Vaikuṇṭha-vāsīs enjoy in connection with Kṛṣṇa, as in the samañjasā- and sādhāraṇī-rati of the Lord's consorts.

2.4.48 Gopīprāṇadhan says in his purport - "Thus the airplanes, trees, houses, and so on are all perfect living beings, qualitatively one with the Supreme Lord and with all other living persons, and they appear in whatever forms the Lord requires for His pleasure."
Sanātan Goswāmī's text is different- 'Although all objects there - forms, places, airplanes and so - are one compact Brahman (brahma-ghanatvenaikyatvaṁ bhagaval-līlānusāreṇa ca bahu-vidhatvam) they manifest in various forms. According to this brahma-ghanatva [being compact Brahman] it is one, and according to the pastimes of the Lord it appears in a multiple variety." That leaves the question whether the objects in Vaikuṇṭha are jīva-souls or some transcendental substance called brahma-ghana.

2.4.83 'For so long, hope had me dancing....' seems to say that Gopakumār was once with Kṛṣṇa, and had not been in the material world not since beginningless time, but the words 'for so long' are not there in the śloka, instead the word sadā, always, is there. He had always been hoping. In the commentary, Sanātan Goswāmī seems to say, "Even though Gopa-kumāra had forgotten his Lord for many lifetimes, which also indicates a beginning to his conditioning." That is in Sanātan Goswāmī's ṭīkā too, but searching for Kṛṣṇa for many lifetimes means there was a beginning to the search but not necessarily to the conditioning. This does not prove fall at all. Imperfection is absolutely absent from a perfect world because if it were even minutely imperfect it would immediately cease to be a perfect world. For this simple reason it is impossible for anyone to fall from the spiritual sky, since falling, becoming envious etc. is deeply imperfect. Mercy is always causeless - to say 'causeless mercy' is double - causeless is an unnecessary adjective to mercy. It is something you do not deserve but you get anyway.
The phrase “Gopakumār was returning home” at the end of the purport of verse 84 is also not there in the original Sanskrit ṭīkā of Sanātan Goswāmī."
At the end of the purport of verse 83, Gopīprāṇadhan writes "the Lord had always been to regain the association of His devotee." Here the word 'regain' is also not there in the original text. It may not be deliberate fraud, though. The same for the words 'returning' in the comment on verse 84. Some translators are so conditioned to fall-vāda that they see it in every text, though in fact it is nowhere. It is just a jump to conclusions. In Bhagavad Gītā, too, nowhere it is said 'he comes back to Me', but instead it is always 'he attains Me' - mām evaiṣyasi, mām upetya, te'pi yānti paraṁ gatim, etc. etc.

In the purport of BB 2.4.86, Gopīprāṇadhan writes "The Lord does not interfere with the independence of the rebellious jīvas." It becomes almost tedious, but this too is not in the text. In that place of the comment Kṛṣṇa Himself speaks - tasmād mad viṣayaka bhavad upekṣaṇāt - "Because of your upekṣā towards Me...." upekṣā in the dictionary says: "overlooking, disregard, negligence, indifference, contempt, abandonment, endurance, patience, dissent, trick, deceit." Though dissent and abandonment are mentioned here, neither of them are the primary meaning of the word, nor does it belong in the contextual mood of the story. Kṛṣṇa says in the previous verse 'tat te mayy akṛpām' - "you (Sarūpa) showed Me no mercy" - not "you rebellious soul became envious of Me and wanted to imitate Me so you left Goloka".

2.4.94 In the purport it is said: "This is the nature of Vaikuṇṭha—it is free from the constraints (kuntha) of material bondage." Vaikuṇṭha is translated sometimes as 'no fear or anxiety' and sometimes as 'no limitations', but actually all the dictionaries say that kuṇṭha means dull, blunt, lazy and stupid - symptoms of tamo-guṇa. So Vaikuṇṭha is the opposite of tamo-guṇa - lively, smart and sharp.

2.4.104 In his comment on this verse Gopīprāṇadhan writes: "The Supreme Lord may sometimes play tricks by pretending to assume forms that are not actually His eternal forms (svarūpas). For example, Lord Visnu showed Himself disguised as Mohini, the most attractive woman, but in fact the Personality of Godhead is always male, never female."

However, Sri Rupa Goswami quotes from Padma Purana nityāḥ sarve pare dhāmni ye cānye ca divaukasaḥ , "Even the demigods in the spiritual sky are eternal" - then what to speak of the Supreme Personality of Godhead - all His/Her forms and activities are eternal, otherwise how can they be God? This reeks of māyāvāda. And why God is never female? The śāstras say śakti-śaktimator abhedhaḥ - "There is no difference between the energy and the energetic." Indeed, we mention the śakti first and then the śaktimān - Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, Sītā-Rām, Lakṣmī-Nārāyan. Anyway, just because we only know of a few activities of Mohinī - distributing nectar, beheading Rāhu and deluding Shiva and a few activities of Nṛsiṁha - ripping up Hiraṇyakaśipu, blessing Prahlād and receiving prayers from the Devatas - does not mean They are not eternal deities. Every breath God takes is eternal. Indeed, that is coming in the purport of verse 158: "These appearances of the Lord, although apparently ad hoc, are in fact eternal, real, and all-pervading." The Mohini-paragraph of that purport is by Gopīprāṇadhan himself, not from Sanātan Goswāmī,  and clearly contradicts this. If Mohini is not eternal then what is she, if she is not God then what is she? Some Vaiṣṇava groups do two Nṛsiṁha-kīrtans a day, every day of their lives, and always find ecstasy in it - so because Nṛsiṁha had an ad-hoc functional līlā, does that mean He is not eternal?

2010 Sītānāth āvirbhāva tithi

Śrī Advaita Ācārya [Prabhu Sītānāth]’s 576^th Advent day, 2010 –

From Śrī Caitanya Bhāgavat, ādi khaṇḍa, chapter 2 –

চারি ভাই শ্রীবাস মিলিয়া নিজ ঘরে ।

নিশা হইলে হরিনাম গায় উচ্চৈঃস্বরে ॥১১১॥

Śrīvāsa Paṇḍit and his three brothers met at his home at night and loudly performed Harinam Sankirtan.

শুনিয়া পাষণ্ডী বোলে - হইল প্রমাদ ।

এ ব্রাহ্মণ করিবেক গ্রামের উত্সাদ ॥১১২॥

মহাতীব্র নরপতি যবন ইহার ।

এ আখ্যান শুনিলে প্রমাদ নদীয়ার ॥১১৩॥

Hearing this, local infidels said – ‘This means trouble – this brahmin will cause the destruction of this town. The Muslim king here is very cruel – if he hears of this he will wreak havoc in Nadiya!”

কেহ বলে - এ ব্রাহ্মণে এই গ্রাম হইতে ।

ঘর ভাঙ্গি ঘুচাইয়া ফেলাইমু স্রোতে ॥১১৪॥

এ বামুনে ঘুচাইলে গ্রামের মঙ্গল ।

অন্যথা যবনে গ্রাম করিবে কবল ॥১১৫॥

Someone said: “Let’s throw this brahmin out of town, demolish his house and throw it in the Ganges. It would benefit the town to throw this brahmin out, otherwise the Muslims may usurp it!”

এইমত বোলে যত পাষণ্ডীর গণ ।

শুনি 'কৃষ্ণ' বলি কান্দে ভাগবতগণ ॥১১৬॥

Hearing that from the mouths of the infidels, the Bhāgavats [Vaiṣṇavas] wept and said ‘Kṛṣṇa!”

শুনিয়া অদ্বৈত ক্রোধে অগ্নি হেন জ্বলে ।

দিগম্বর হই সর্ব বৈষ্ণবেরে বোলে ॥১১৭॥

শুনো শ্রীনিবাস, গঙ্গাদাস, শুক্লাম্বর ।

করাইব কৃষ্ণে সর্ব নয়ন গোচর ॥১১৮॥

সবা উদ্ধারিবে কৃষ্ণ আপনে আসিয়া ।

বুঝাইবে কৃষ্ণভক্তি তোমা' সবা লইয়া ॥১১৯॥

যবে নাহি পারো তবে এই দেহ হইতে ।

প্রকাশিয়া চারি ভুজ চক্র লইমু হাতে ॥১২০॥

পাষণ্ডীরে কাটিয়া করিমু স্কন্ধ নাশ ।

তবে কৃষ্ণ - প্রভু মোর, মুই - তার দাস ॥১২১॥

Hearing this, Advaita Ācārya combusted in the fire of sacred fury. Being Digambar Shiva, He told all the Vaiṣṇavas: “Hear Me, O Śrīnivāsa, Gaṅgā Dās and Śuklāmbar! I will cause Krishna to appear before everyone’s eyes! Kṛṣṇa will redeem everyone by Personally coming here and teaching Kṛṣṇa-bhakti to you all. If I cannot accomplish this I will manifest four arms from this My body and carry a disk in My hand, with which I will behead the infidels, thus totally destroying them. Thus Kṛṣṇa will be My Lord and I will be His servant!”

এইমত অদ্বৈত বলেন অনুক্ষণ ।

সঙ্কল্প করিয়া পূজে কৃষ্ণের চরণ ॥১২২॥

ভক্ত সব নিরবধি একচিত্ত হইয়া ।

পূজে কৃষ্ণ পাদপদ্ম ক্রন্দন করিয়া ॥১২৩॥

“Advaita Acarya said this over and over, vowing to worship Kṛṣṇa’s feet. All the devotees constantly wept and worshipped Kṛṣṇa’s lotus-feet with one-pointed attention.”

Sādhu Bābā particularly loved the saying ‘cakra loimu hāte, pāṣāṇḍīre kāṭiyā korimu skandha nāśa, tabe kṛṣṇa prabhu more, mui tāra dās’ ‘Taking a disk in My hand I will behead the infidels – then Kṛṣṇa is My master and I am His servant’.

The wonders of Vaikuṇṭha and the boat of rock

Late last year I picked up quite a few interesting things from the Bhāgavata on the internet -

Śrīmad Bhāgavata 3.15.20-

yeṣāṁ bṛhat-kaṭi-taṭaḥ smita-śobhi-mukhyaḥ
kṛṣṇātmanaṁ na raja ādadhur utsmayādyaiḥ

„The broad hips and beautifully smiling faces of Vaikuṇṭha’s ladies do not sexually agitate the men there, for they have offered themselves to Kṛṣṇa.”

Jīva Goswāmī’s Krama-sandarbha ṭīkā - rajo nādadhuḥ kintu tāsām api parama-bhaktatvād bhakty-uddīpanam eva jātam ity arthaḥ – „The ladies incite devotion, not lust, because they are the greatest devotees.”

This is an answer to the raised eyebrows often caused by reading the earlier verse, 17, which says that the denizens of Vaikuṇṭha enjoy flying in airplanes with their wives – vaimānikaḥ sa-lalanāś caritāni śaśvad gāyanti yatra śamala-kṣapanāni bhartuḥ, which seems like separate enjoyment from the Lord, which is normally impossible in the spiritual sky. Śrīdhar Swāmī writes in his comment on verse 17: anena bhagavat-pārṣadānāṁ niratiśaya-viṣaya-sukhe’pi bhagavad-bhajanānandāsaktir darśita « Here it is shown that, although the associates of the Lord enjoy great sensual happiness, they are attached to the ānanda of bhagavad-bhajan. » This may be another, spiritual way, of dharmāviruddha kāma, desire that does not conflict dharma, as mentioned in Bhagavad Gītā 7.11.

SB 3.15.25 Sārārtha Darśinī-commentary by Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda:

kvacit purāṇādāv asurāṇām api kadācit keṣāṁcit tatra yat kṣaṇika-gamanaṁ śrūyate, tat tu tatratya-cid-vibhūti-sukhānubhavābhāvāt gamanam apy agamanāyamānam eva yathā vividha-saurabhyādi-guṇa-yukteṣu maṇi-maya-rāja-sadaneṣu vyāghra-bhallukādīnāṁ praveśaḥ sva-purastha-parijana-vṛndāny eva kautuka-viśeṣa-vaśāt tāṁs tān darśayitum iccho rājña evājñayā bhavati tathaiva svīyāprākṛta-nitya-dhāma-nivāsinaḥ svajanān kautuka-vaśād darśayituṁ prākṛta-padārthān kadācit ghora-sattvān asurān kadācit sāttvikān bhṛgv-ādīn kadācit triguṇātikramiṇaḥ sanakādīṁś ca svecchayaiva bhagavān eva nayati punaḥ śīghram eva tad-yogyatvāt tato niḥsārayati ca .

This verse deals with the description of Vaikuṇṭha – ‘In some Purāṇas it is seen that even demons may briefly enter Vaikuṇṭha.  That is, however, not real entry, because they cannot experience the transcendental bliss that normally goes with residing there. Just as in a jeweled royal palace, which may be endowed with many attributes like fragrance, bears and tigers may be allowed in on the order of the king for the entertainment of the inhabitants, similarly the Lord may occasionally amuse His devotees, who reside in His transcendental abode, by freely showing them mundane phenomena, which may sometimes be horrid creatures like demons, sometimes persons in the mode of goodness like Bhṛgu Muni and others, or persons who transcend the three modes of nature, like the four Kumāras, and then, after showing them, too, the residents of Vaikuṇṭha, He may quickly eject them again as He sees fit. (Just as a tiger is not part of a court, the asuras' entry into Vaikuṇṭha  is as good as no entry.)

About the age of the residents of Vaikuṇṭha, In Śrīmad Bhāgavata 2.9.11 the Vaikuṇṭha-vasis are called supeśa, which all the ācāryas gloss as ati-sukumāra, very tender, though it is sometimes translated as adolescent [though they may well be adolescent, too].
And finally:

teṣāṁ kupatha-deṣṭṛṇāṁ patataṁ tamasi hy adhaḥ
ye śraddadhyur vacas te vai majjanty aśma-plavā iva

« Those who believe the words of those who advise the wrong path, fall into darkness, as anyone who boards a ship made of rock will sink along with it. » 6.7.14

The Guru is the captain of the ship that should ferry us across the ocean of birth and death (guru-karṇadhāra) – but if the ship is made of rock, it will not even set sail – it will sink on the spot, in the harbour, along with all of its passengers. So similarly a kupatha-deṣṭṛ, an advisor on the broad path of sin and deviation, will sink in the bhava-sāgara (ocean of birth and death) along with all his followers. There is a similar verse in Haribhakti Vilāsa and Bhakti Sandarbha, quoted from Śrī Nārada Pañcarātra -

yo vakti nyāya-rahitam anyāyena śṛṇoti yaḥ
tāv ubhau narakaṁ ghoraṁ vrajatah kālam akṣayam

«Both a speaker who is bereft of morality and the audience who hears such immoral sermons, go to hell for eternal time. »

2010 Festival in honor of Śrī Advaita Prabhu [Sītānāth]

As in previous years for the past 35-odd years Sādhu Bābā's āshram hosts a huge festival in honour of the advent of our arch father (prāṇa-puruṣa) Śrī-Śrī Advaita Prabhu. This year the festival takes place from 18-22 january, 2010. The location of the utsava is Prācīna Māyāpur, just before the Bhajan Ashram, northern Navadvīp, at a stone's throw of the (Nitāi-Gaura Rādhe Śyāma administered) Janmasthān Mandir. Here is the English translation of the Nimantran Patra -

Śrī-Śrī Rādhā Madan Gopālaḥ Śaraṇam
JAY PRABHU SĪTĀNĀTH

rādhā madana gopālādvaita prāṇaballabham
sītānāthaṁca tad bhṛtyaṁ vande gaurāvatārakam

sei navadvīpe boise vaiṣṇavāgragaṇya
advaitācārya nāma sarva loke dhanya

(Caitanya Bhāgavat ādi 2)

"In that Navadvīpa lived the foremost of Vaiṣṇavas, named Advaita Ācārya, who was blessed in all the worlds."

śrī-śrīman mahāprabhu pravarttita premabhakti patha pathikeṣu

To all those who tread the path of Prema Bhakti promulgated by Śrīman Mahāprabhu -

As in previous years, this year on Friday January 23, 2010, the auspicious advent day of the most merciful Prabhu Sitanath is celebrated on Makara Saptami day, so in front of Śrī-Śrī Rādhā Madan Gopāla, the beloved deity of Śrī-Śrī Sādhu Bābā, in Śrī Navadvīp Dhām's Rāmacandrapur district a great 5-day devotional festival will be held for His satisfaction, starting on Monday January 18th. Items will include Pārāyan, discussions on devotional scripture and Kīrtan.

Please bless us by attending this festival. This is not an invitation, it is an anxious cry by Prabhu Sītānātha's servants to have their sensually polluted consciousness lifted into absorption into bhakti rasa. Petitioner -

Crown jewel of merciful Prabhu Sītānātha's family, engaged in nitya līlā -

PRABHUPĀDA ŚRĪ NIKUÑJA GOPĀL GOSWĀMĪ

On behalf of the fallen servants and maidservants of his lotus-feet,

Namitā Sāhā and Tulasī Sāhā

PROGRAMME -

Monday 18 January 2010 in the evening Maṅgal Ghāṭ Sthāpan and Adhivāsa

Tuesday 19 January and Wednesday 20 January 2010 daily program -

5-6 a.m. Nagar Saṅkīrtan
7-9 a.m. Bhakti Grantha Pārāyan
9-11 a.m. Śrī-Śrī Rādhā Madan Gopāla's Śṛṅgār Ārati
12-1 p.m. Śrī-Śrī Rādhā Madan Gopāla's Bhoga Rāga
3-5 p.m. Śrī Līlā Kīrtan
5-7 p.m. Discussion on Bhakti Granthas and glorification of Sītānāth.
7-8 p.m.Sandhyā Ārati Kīrtan
8-11 p.m Śrī-Śrī Līlā Kīrtan

Thursday 21 January 2010 24-hour Tārak Brahma Nāma (Hare kṛṣṇa) Kīrtan

Friday 22 January 2010 In the morning Śrī Nagar Saṅkīrtan, Prabhu Sītānāth's Abhiṣekha
Kīrtan of His birth pastimes and Prasād.

PS According to necessity the program may be altered.

Kīrtan Groups:
Servants and students of Śrī-Śrī Sādhu Bābā -
Śrī Śacīnandan Karmakār (Pākur, Bihār) and others.

Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta, Canto 2, chapter 3

Bookreview of the edition of Gopīprāṇadhan Dās, part 5-

2.3.6 See my blog of October 14, 2009

2.3.28 Gopīprāṇadhan says that the daughter of Yasoda is Subhadra - this is not in Sanatan Goswami's tika. It should be Maya instead. Subhadra is the only daughter of Vasudeva and Rohini instead.

2.3.50 See my blog of June 30, 2008

2.3.112 in the commentary Gopīprāṇadhan writes: "And so Jaya and Vijaya gave up their material bodies to resume their posts, in their spiritual bodies, as eternal servants of the Lord. Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī has thus entertained the theoretical possibility that devotees who live in the Lord’s abode during His appearance sometimes have material bodies." This is nowhere in the ṭīkā of Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī. After this supposed purport, Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī's actual ṭīkā says:

śrī bhagavān iva martyaloke'pi te sarve manuṣyākārāḥ saccidānanda vigrahā eva yaddhi kadācit svakīyāvirbhāva tirobhāvādikaṁ nija prabhu-vara-līlānusāreṇa paramotkaṭa prema viśeṣodayena vā vistārayanti - "Just as the Lord’s appearance, even as a human being within the world of mortals, is always purely transcendental, so also are the “human” bodies of the devotees who take part in His pastimes. When those devotees appear or disappear, they are either responding to the needs of the pastimes of their beloved Lord or expressing the ecstasies of their fully blossomed prema."

2.3.127 ṭīkā - tathāpi ekenaiva prakārena vaikuṇṭhasya siddhau satyām api sā anirvacanīya paramahārasa viśeṣamayī nava-vidhaiva sampādyate sāngam anuṣṭhīyate. kim artham. vicitrāṇāṁ sravaṇa-kīrtanādi bhedena bahu-vidhānām etasyā bhakte rasānām āsvādanāṁ mādhuryasya labdhaye yato rasajnaiḥ - "Although devotees can attain Vaikuṇṭha by any one of the nine practices of bhakti, they often like to engage in all nine to enjoy the supreme, indescribably blissful taste of those transcendental activities. Each of the practices, beginning with śravaṇa and kīrtana, gives a sweet satisfaction of its own."

2.3.133 "You should not consider devotional service merely an activity of the body, senses, and mind. It is in fact the eternal absolute reality, manifesting itself as the most intense ecstasy, beyond the material modes."

ṭīkā synopsis: 'pure bhakti is never approached by material senses. Even though hearing is done with the ears, chanting with the tongue, remembering with the mind, and praying and other activities with the limbs of the body, these activities are not material; they are spiritual activities that can be performed only by a devotee’s awakened spiritual senses.'

2.3.134 "By Lord Kṛṣṇa’s mercy, His devotees happily realize this devotional service in many varieties. It reveals itself to them in their hearts, which are free from the material modes and immersed in eternity, knowledge, and bliss." This verse is Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī's counterpart of Rūpa Goswāmī's famous ataḥ śrī kṛṣṇa nāmādi verse, quoted from Padma Purāṇa.

Gopīprāṇadhan adds this purport:

'As devotees mature in their practice, their individual tastes gradually appear, and on the higher levels of advancement their reciprocations with Kṛṣṇa become increasingly precise, diverse, and ecstatic.'

This is not in Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī's ṭīkā but is not necessarily wrong.

2.3.139, commentary: Even devotees who still live in this world in bodies made of material energy can engage in pure bhakti because the awakening of bhakti transforms their bodies. Either their bodies become literally sac-cid-ānanda, or bhakti enters their material bodies by the potency of the Supreme Lord’s special mercy, or else their bodies and senses become suitable for performing bhakti by some God-given potency inherent in the jīvas themselves.

2.3.141 Devotional service appears to new servants of the Lord to be a function of their own senses, body, and mind so that such neophytes can engage in devotional service with relish, as they should.

Commentary: When one undertakes devotional service, one perceives one’s devotional activities to be external functions of the material body. Why should such direct perception be denied? It should be denied because such perception is only the experience of beginners in devotional practice. Bhakti encourages those who are new to the Lord’s service to think “Oh, my own tongue is vibrating the names of God, and my own ears are hearing them!” In this way the faith of the neophytes is evoked, since otherwise they would have difficulty making the effort required to surrender their independence.

This last sentence of the ṭīkā is wrongly translated by Gopīparānadhana - instead Sanātan Goswāmī comments - anyathā svaprayāsa sādhyatvābhāvena tatra tatraudāsīnyāpatteḥ "If such new practitioners did not have faith in this being their own endeavour they would become indifferent."

2.3.142 But great devotees fixed in devotional service do not think the services they do to be actions under their own control but expressions of the Lord’s supreme mercy.

2.3.148 But we consider chanting to be alone the most excellent form of bhakti, better than remembering, which appears only in one’s own turbulent heart. For chanting harnesses not only the faculty of speech, which it engages directly, but also the mind and sense of hearing. And chanting helps not only the person practicing it but others as well.

Commentary: kīrtana also acts on the mind, bringing it subconsciously into contact with all spiritual sensory functions. If this subtle contact were not established, the spirit soul could not awaken to his real life. The transcendental sound of kīrtana enters the ears on its own strength, without any effort by the hearer, and thus it benefits not only the chanter but everyone who hears it.

2.3.149 If the sense of speech, which sets all the external and internal senses in motion, is brought under constant control, then the mind becomes stable and can properly engage in transcendental remembrance of the Lord. Remembrance thus develops as the fruit of chanting.

2.3.151 If by the force of one’s meditation all the functions of the senses—saṅkīrtana of the Lord, physical contact with Him, seeing Him, and so on—become absorbed into the function of the mind, that meditation may be accepted as better than chanting out loud.

Commentary: evaṁ sankīrtanādi sambandhe sati dhyānasya śraiṣṭhyam asmābhir apyaṅgīkriyata ityāhuḥ ced iti. tā asmad abhipretā indriyāṇāṁ vāk tvak cakṣur ādīnāṁ vṛtti-rūpāḥ sankīrtanādayo dhyānasya vegāt prābalyena ced yadi citta vṛttāvantar bhavanti dhyāna madhye evāntaḥ kīrtanādayaḥ sampadyante tadā dhyānaṁ kīrtanato varyaṁ śreṣṭham astītyabhyupagamaḥ - "Accepting that meditation is superior over saṅkīrtana,  it is now said that if the workings of speech, skin, eyes and other senses are internalized in the consciousness, viz. the strong impressions of kīrtana, darshan and touch are revealed within the consciousness, then it must be admitted (abhyupagama) that meditation is greater than kīrtana."

I must think of the samudra-patan-līlā, when Mahāprabhu washed upon the shore at Purī, in deep trance, and the devotees tried to bring Him back to external senses with harinām saṅkīrtana and Mahāprabhu complained of it, calling it 'kolāhol', noise (CC Antya 18, 109).

Gopīprāṇadhan's translation (above translation is mine): "If a devotee becomes so proficient in dhyāna (meditation on the Lord) that the devotional practices he earlier performed with his speech, touch, eyes, and other senses become spontaneous activities of his mind, then of course for that devotee meditation has become the most suitable practice. He can inwardly continue his śravaṇa, kīrtana, and so on, with or without the participation of his external senses." The last sentence of this translation is not so accurate.

2.3.152 "Whatever the devotional method by which a man with true spiritual taste feels satisfaction and complete joy, that is the method saintly authorities deem most excellent and effective for him. It is not only the best of methods but the very aim of his endeavor."

Commentary: How should we regard the meditation in which a Vaiṣṇava does not experience the sensory functions of saṅkīrtana,  touching the Lord, and so on, but merely contemplates the Lord’s form? That style of devotional service should also be accepted as perfect for the devotee who derives pleasure from it. When a devotee feels eager attraction to any of the nine kinds of service, that devotional method becomes the means for him to quickly fulfill all his desires. Moreover, his practice will gradually evolve into prema, the final goal of devotional life.

2.3.153, commentary: Either [kīrtana or dhyāna] may be done separately, but neither, in the end, is complete without the other. Regardless of which serves as the cause and which the effect, the two are essentially non-different (kārya-kāraṇayor abhedāt).

2.3.157 The earlier praise of meditation by the Vaikuntha-dutas in verse 151 is superseded by their praise of saṅkīrtana here, after all, in the sense that one needs a quiet and lonely place for meditation while saṅkīrtana can be done in public too. (But where is the peace of mind then?)

2.3.168 Commentary: "The devotees who prefer meditation to saṅkīrtana might argue that chanting in full view of the public is risky in several ways: envious people may try to interfere, one may succumb to the allurement of popularity, one may not have the required physical strength, or one may be too sick to chant properly. These dangers do not arise when a devotee simply concentrates on the Supreme Lord in a secluded place. In answer to this objection, the Vaikuṇṭha messengers say that nāma-saṅkīrtana cannot be disrupted by obstacles, for it develops by the mercy of the Lord, not by one’s own endeavor. (One does see a lot of devotees on ego-trips during harināma, though, trying to shine on photos of the event).

2.3.170, commentary: "....when saintly devotees like Bharata, deeply absorbed in the moods of loving service to the Lord, seem to exhibit material attachment (as when Bharata became obsessed with the care of a fawn) and when they seem to fall into bad association and miserable conditions (as when Bharata took his next birth as an animal), they are only pretending to be materially affected, in order to keep the confidential moods of devotional service hidden from public view. Such devotees would rather be treated with undeserved contempt than honored and worshiped."

2.3.171, commentary: "Shouldn’t advanced devotees, in order to deliver the world from ignorance, let everyone see their greatness? Yes, but the so-called anomalous behavior of Vaiṣṇavas like Bharata Maharaja is in fact their way of teaching sad-ācāra, civilized human behavior. By the examples of their own lives they show the consequences of violating the laws of God and material nature, for if people fail to learn how to act according to civilized standards their hearts will remain contaminated by sinful desires and they will never become inclined toward the Lord’s devotional service."

2.3.172 As Bharata and others showed the fault of bad association, Yudhiṣṭhira and others the fault of gambling, and Nrga and others the fear caused by taking a brāhmaṇa’s property, pure souls generally use their own behavior to teach the people.

Commentary: Bharata Maharaja showed by his own life the danger of wrong association. Although almost perfectly devoted and renounced, he was distracted into caring for a newborn deer and therefore had to suffer birth as a deer. A similar case is that of Saubhari Ṛṣi, who was deviated from meditation by seeing two fish engaged in sex. In the opinion of the Vaikuṇṭha-dūtas, however, in reality these elevated souls were faultless.

2.3.176 sva māṁsa cakṣuṣā darśanābhimānena tadīya kāruṇya viśeṣāvagamāt 'Those who imagine to see the Lord with the carnal retina know this to be His special grace."

2.3.179 ato mānasikasya dhyāna-dhāraṇādi-rūpa bhakti prakārasyāpi sākṣāddarśanam eva phalam 'The dhyāna and dhāraṇa of the mental [yogik] worshipper is a type of bhakti which also leads to the final goal - the direct vision of the Lord (dṛgbhyam, with one's very two eyes)."