Vaiṣṇava dress

This is my 2 cents about the ongoing discussion about whether Vaiṣṇava dress is spiritual or cultural (and can be compromised or even totally abandoned).

This discussion took place during Kartik of 2010 -

Purva-pakṣa -

You mention in your interesting blog about Sankīrtan that "dhoti is a sacred garment". I have my doubt about this statement and would like to present a few points for discussion if you don't mind:

1. The terms "dhoti" or "sari" are not Sanskrit words and not mentioned in scripture. We don't know exactly what Kṛṣṇa was wearing (even though I tend to believe that it resembles what we call dhoti)

2. There is no evidence that Lord Caitanya asked any of his followers to change their regular dress when they went out on harinama.

3. "Vaiṣṇava dress" as mentioned in Caitanya Caritāmṛta could just mean the simple garment the followers of Lord Caitanya used to wear as opposed to royal clothes.

I certainly agree that clothing affects our consciousness and has certain connotations if we use it like a uniform. It can uplift (or degrade) us. However, in Indian villages some people wear dhoti and sari without any religious sentiments. It is just village clothing for them. In certain places in India suit is considered a Christian dress. For me the main principle, if we choose to go on Harinam, is to attract people to Kṛṣṇa through beautiful singing, dancing (and possibly also dress). If they get bewildered by weird foreign clothing (which they may at best connect to India, but not to spirituality) we may not reach our goal. Just my two cents ...

Advaita Das -

1. Probably Vaiṣṇavas always wore dhoti and shari so they did not need to change cloth.

2. Haribhakti Vilāsa speaks of wearing white garments as opposed to red/orange. That certainly applies to dhoti not to pants.

3. Mahāprabhu is described as wearing tri-kaccha in Caitanya Bhāgavata, it means ' three-folded'. That certainly applies to dhoti. f.i trikaccha vasan (Caitanya Bhāgavat Adi 8.197)

4. Indian villages have a very pious regime, even if people do not practise any sādhana. Most Hindus are devotees in the heart. In contrast one never sees Muslims wear a dhoti. If it were purely cultural and regional, why South Asian Muslims do not wear dhoti?

5. A devotee would not dare watch peepshows on the street in dhoti, whereas he would be inclined to do so wearing pants, because not only the garment influences him, he would also look absurd wearing the dress of a priest while watching a peepshow.

Pūrva-pakṣa-

Thanks for your reply. Since the words dhoti and sāri are not found in the Sanskrit dictionary, how would they appear in any Sankrit text (unless it is interpolated)? What we do find in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is dukūla-agrye, which just means cloth. Certainly Mahāprabhu and his devotees wore dhotis, as was the custom back then. We just don't know how exactly the Vrajabāsīs and Kṛṣṇa wrapped their clothes around their bodies 5000 years ago. The gopīs are described as wearing belts in the 10th canto which indicated they were not wearing sārīs, but some kind of skirts. I don't doubt that it is uplifting for one's consciousness to wear dhoti /sari in that spirit, but I still hold that there is nothing INTRINSICALLY spiritual to it.

Advaita Das – “There is nothing intrinsically spiritual about being a teetotaler either – it is just healthy to be so. Does it mean we should jeopardize our sādhana by getting loaded on drink and drugs then? It would make sādhana a lot more difficult, right? One can do sādhana in America but it is much better to do in Vraja. Similarly one can also do sādhana with baseball cap, T-shirt and Bermuda shorts but why would you make it more difficult upon yourself? dhuti and śārī are indeed not in the dictionary, but the Kṛṣṇa Bhāvanāmṛta 4.35 mentions the word śāṭikā [corrupted into 'shari' nowadays] - kanaka bindumati nava śāṭikā. Why would a belt not fit with a sharee, by the way?

Purva-paksa-

Thanks Prabhuji, interesting and a beautiful description. Of course even from that we still don't know exactly how that dress looked like. It is obvious that Rādhā doesn't wear mini-skirt, but the opinion of some devotees that saris as they appear now are "Vaikuṇṭha dress" is still not substantiated by that description.

Advaita Das – “Subhadra devī dressed in gopi dress to appease her co-wife Draupadi. It was a skirt, blouse and a top as described in Vilāpa Kusumāñjali 22. Draupadi was probably dressed in a shari at that meeting, so yes it seems like sharis were Vaikuṇṭha dress and gopi dress is a skirt. In that you are right. I am short of evidence from Mahābhārat, where the pastime is described.”

Just recently I received this support from my friend Ananta Govinda –

Ananta govinda - Some devotees insist that there is no such a thing as Vaiṣṇava dress in śāstra.”

Advaitadas: “Haribhakti Vilāsa says that if you do not wear uttarīya (cador) you are naked. Wearing a chador is as purifying as wearing dhoti - 'nuttarīyaśca nagnas cāvastra eva ca - [Haribhakti Vilāsa, 4.148] – “Not wearing uttarīya [chador] is like being naked.”

Ananta govinda: Without Haribhakti Vilāsa I found refutation of this

Advaita Das: Did Mahāprabhu wear suit and tie, in a college office?

Ananta Govinda: The word vaiṣṇava-dress is in sastra: in Caitanya Caritāmṛta Madhya 14.5

sārvabhauma-upadeśe chādi' rāja-veśa

ekalā vaisnava-veśe karila praveśa

SYNONYMS

sārvabhauma — of Sārvabhauma Bhattācārya; upadeśe — under instructions; chādi' — giving up; rāja-veśa — the royal dress; ekalā — alone; vaisnava-veśe — in the dress of a Vaisnava; karila praveśa — entered.

TRANSLATION

“Following Sārvabhauma Bhattācārya's instructions, the King had given up his royal dress. He now entered the garden in the dress of a Vaisnava.”

Ananta Govinda: look here:  vaisnava-veśe . If they don't accept Haribhakti Vilāsa they should not accept Caitanya Caritāmṛta either: so, what is vaiṣṇava veśa, blue jeans and t-shirt? They say Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism is not about the clothes. But why then Jagadānanda Paṇḍit wanted to beat Sanātan Goswāmī because of the clothes point and nothing else? (see Caitanya Caritāmṛta Antya līlā, chapter 13)? Even without considering the color of the clothes, the point was about the clothes - and if it doesn't matter then why śāstra speaks about clothes with so many ślokas?”

Advaita Das – Clothes matter. A transvestite feels feminine when he cross-dresses, a woman with pants feels more masculine than a woman in a dress. And those postmodern devotees who preach ‘the substance vs. the form’ are invited to show me this philosophy or attitude anywhere in Vaiṣṇava-śāstra or history. There is nothing external in bhakti – sevā sādhaka rūpena.  Mahāprabhu instructs Sanātan Goswāmī in Caitanya Caritāmṛta (Madhya 22.156): bāhya antara ihār dui to sādhan - There are two types of sādhana - external and internal." “The substance vs the form” is actually sheer māyāvāda, thinking that something in bhakti sādhana is false. The bottom line is - it is very hard for western devotees to give up their western saṁskāra, even if they are in the top league and supposedly 'seniormost'."

Fundamentalism?

I wrote this blog some years ago, but never posted it yet, and since there is at present not much to say I post it now, after editing it somewhat -

Some ultra-intellectual devotee-bloggers take the political correctness wrought by conditioned souls in 20th-21st Century America as the standard of comparison and the timeless truths of shastra as the object of comparison, while it should, of course, be the other way around. To establish the source of truth, Śrī Jīva Gosvāmīpāda writes in his Tattva sandarbha (9):

tatra puruṣasya bhramādi-doṣa-catuṣṭaya-duṣṭatvāt sutarām alaukikācintya-svabhāva-vastu-sparśāyogyatvac ca tat-pratyakṣādiny api sa-doṣāni

"Human beings are bound to have four types of defects: They are subject to delusion, make mistakes, have a cheating propensity, and imperfect senses. Thus they are unable to understand the inconceivable spiritual reality, for their means of acquiring knowledge by direct perception, inference, and so forth prove inadequate."

tatas tāni na pramāṇanīty anādi-siddha-sarva-puruṣa-paramparāsu sarva-laukikālaukika-jñāna-nidānatvād aprākṛta-vacana-lakṣaṇo veda evāsmākam sarvatita-sarvāśraya-sarvācintyāścarya-svabhāvaṁ vastu vividiṣatam pramāṇam ||10||

"For us who are inquisitive, therefore, about that which is beyond all, yet the support of everything, which is most inconceivable and wondrous in nature, direct perception, inference and so on are not suitable means. For this purpose we accept the Vedas, whose words are transcendental, which is the source of all mundane and transcendental knowledge, and which have been passed down in humanity through beginningless chains of succession."

And in Śrīmad Bhāgavat 4.18.4-5 it is said -

tān ātiṣṭhati yaḥ samyag upāyān pūrva-darśitān
avaraḥ śraddhayopeta upeyān vindate'ñjasā
tān anādṛtya yo'vidvān arthān ārabhate svayam
tasya vyabhicaranty arthā ārabdhāś ca punaḥ punaḥ

"One who follows the principles and instructions enjoined by the great sages of the past can utilize these instructions for practical purposes. Such a person can very easily enjoy life and pleasures. A foolish person who manufactures his own ways and means and does not recognize the authority of the sages who lay down unimpeachable directions is simply unsuccessful again and again in his attempts."

And in the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 3.2.3 -

nāyam ātma pravacanena labhyo
na medhayā na bahunā śrutena
yam evaiṣa vṛṇute tena labhyas
tasyaisa ātma vivṛṇute tanuṁ svam

"The Supreme Lord is not obtained by expert explanations, by vast intelligence, or even by much hearing. He is obtained only by one whom He Himself chooses To such a person He manifests His own form."

The abovementioned intellectuals reject śāstra’s authority by calling the above principles ‚fundamentalism‘, but fundamentalism is a concept that neither exists in Vedic philosophy nor in Vaiṣṇava philosophy or scripture. It is a concept made up by western intellectuals and newsagencies in 1979, when the clerics in Iran established a theocracy there. Of course, sense perception, inference etc. can contain truths but they should be rejected if they contradict the verdict of śāstra.

Seeking Guru, by Sādhu Bābā

A friend made a video recording of this year's Sītānāth Utsav in Sādhu Bābā's āśram, last January 30, and I noted this nice narration there about Sādhu Bābā's teachings. Tapan Kumar Adhikary speaks:

"One day in 1985 during Bäbä’s last visit to Çré Våndävana, Rebati Mukherjee, a disciple of Bäbä, asked him: "বাবা, সৎগুরু কি করে পাব?" Bäbä, how does one find a genuine Guru? Bäbä replied: “প্রাণপণে হরিনামের আশ্রয গ্রহণ কর - হরিনাম তোমাকে ঠিক জাযগায পৌঞ্ছিযে দেবে –হরিনাম তোমাকে একদিন সৎগুরু পাইযা দিবে, সৎগুরু পৌঞ্ছিযে দিবে” “Wholeheartedly take shelter of harinäm, and harinäm will show you the right place. harinäm will bring you to the genuine Guru. Çré Guru will enter through the open door. I just need to open the door to the Guru once I receive sat guru. Bābā rhymed:

গুরু করবে চেকে

জল খাবে ছেকে

পাপ হেলিবে দেখে”

‘guru korbe checke,

jol khäbe cheìkhe,

papa helibe dekhe’

"Test him before you accept him as Guru, filter the water before you drink it (test the Guru's siddhānta) and see how the sin dissolves".

This text was added to Sadhu Baba's biography on madangopal.com, page 30

Śrīmad Bhāgavat, Canto 11, part 4

This is the 4th and last blog on the 11th canto. More may be added in the comments page or in an appendix blog, later. First again we hark back to some earlier chapters again:

11.11.3 In connection with vidyā, avidyā and pradhāna, Bhānu Swāmi translates the word vṛtti here as ‘modes’ of nature, in the last paragraph of the commentary, which is not so good. ‘Functions‘ would be better, as the word ‘modes’ creates confusion with that other famous subdivision of māyā, sattva raja and tama.

11.11.6 in the last paragraph of the commentary, Bhānu Swāmi translates the famous Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad verse about the two birds in the tree as “Two birds who are friends embrace each other in the same tree.” But actually the text says they are both embracing the tree (of the body, vṛkṣaṁ pariṣasvajāte), not each other.

The final verses:

11.31.10 deals with Kṛṣṇa’s pastime of departure. Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī comments: “Just as the destination of lightning cannot be seen by humans, the destination of Kṛṣṇa as He left the earth could not be perceived by the devatās. But his associates could see. This is Śrīdhara Svāmī’s explanation. Having come from Vaikuṇṭha, from the Kāraṇa Ocean and the Milk Ocean, when Kṛṣṇa had appeared, the associates each now thought “I am bringing my Lord to my abode!” But each could not see the other, by the Lord’s yoga-māya. Thus the Lord went to those abodes with those associates who were delighted. It should be understood that when the Lord appeared on earth, the associates of these Viṣṇu-forms also appeared amongst the Yadus along with their masters, the Viṣṇu forms. These associates returned to their places along with the Viṣṇu forms when Kṛṣṇa departed from this world.

11.31.11 Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravarti quotes Brahmānḍa Purāṇa in his ṭīkā: anādeyam aheyaṁ ca rūpaṁ bhagavato hareḥ. āvirbhāva-tirobhāvāv asyokte graha-mocane - Nothing can be added to or subtracted from the Lord’s form. His appearance and disappearance are said to be simply coming into this world and leaving it."

Plus he adds :

"Though sometimes the Lord appears and disappears like a jīva, this is only an appearance produced by maya. It is like the actions of a magician. Though it is false, the magician can show his or someone else’s birth and death. Someone exhibits death as follows. In front of a king, a magician approaches a stack of valuable garments, jewels, coins and so forth, given by the king. Taking a jeweled necklace, the magician tells the king, “Now I am taking this necklace, and you can’t have it. Now I’m taking this gold coin, and you can’t have it. I am taking seven thousand horses, and you cannot have them.” Then the magician creates the illusion that the king’s children, grandchildren, brothers and other family members have attacked each other with weapons and that nearly all are dead from the violent quarrel. The king observes these things taking place before him as he sits in the great assembly hall. The magician says, “O King! I no longer wish to live. Just as I have studied magic, so also, by the mercy of the lotus feet of my Guru, I have learned the mystic meditation of yoga. One is supposed to give up one’s body while meditating in a holy place, I will die in front of you, who are a holy place yourself.” Thus speaking, the magician sits down in svastika āsana, fixes himself in prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, dhāraṇā, dhyāna and samādhi in silence. A moment later, a strong fire generated by his trance blazes forth out of his body and burns it to ashes. Then all the wives of the magician, distraught with lamentation, enter into that fire. Three or four days later, after the magician has returned to his own province, he sends a letter to the king. “O King, invisibly taking all your sons, grandsons and brothers who are in good health—along with all the jewels and other items given by you, I have come to my house in good health. Please, therefore, give me whatever you consider fitting remuneration for the wisdom of the magic that has been exhibited before you.” In this way, even by ordinary magic one can simulate death.

This example is explained in the verse. I alone have created this confusion of quarrel and fighting with weapons arising from the sages’ curse, and following that, I have entered into that scene and played with mortals for a moment by taking up the reeds. Then I withdrew from that show by my own powers and now remain separate.”

Śrīmad Bhāgavat, Canto 11, part 3

The eleventh canto of the Bhāgavat is the most philosophical one. Apart from the disappearance pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṇa there is practically only philosophy in it. Most Bhāgavat-verses that are quoted by the acaryas in their philosophical books come from the eleventh canto. Like in the previous 11th canto blog, this time too we briefly hark back to earlier verses that were not thoroughly discussed yet.

11.10.12 The Guru is the wood base, the disciple is the wood on top, and the teachings are the kindling stick. It is not that the Guru needs to be put on fire [figuratively of course] – the fire is present within the wood but it needs to be kindled with paripraśnena sevayā, humble service and submissive inquiry. A better and more popular example is the sugarcane. It has a very hard bark, so one cannot extract the sugar-juice from the cane with one’s bare teeth. A mill is needed to crush the cane to extract the sugar juice. That mill is the submissive service the śiṣya renders to Guru. It is not enough that there is just a Guru and a śiṣya – there must be interaction between them, a rubbing of wood which produces spiritual knowledge, leading to the  śiṣya’s enlightenment.

11.10.30 As mentioned in the previous blog, while discussing SB 11.21.23, śāstras sometimes entice simple souls, for their own benefit. Viśvanātha’s ṭīkā: yac ca tuṣyatu durjana iti nyāyenāṅgīkṛtaM svargādīnāṁ nityatvaṁ tan nirākaroti—lokānām iti. svarga-lokasya tat-pālānāṁ ca naiva nityatvam ity āha—lokānām iti. There is a nyāya (maxim): „ Let the wicked be satisfied”, so sometimes the śāstras proclaim the heavens to be eternal, to satisfy materialistic people, but actually they are not. The śāstras do this in order to regulate society, enticing people to act piously and not be a menace to society, by promising them mountains of gold in the afterlife. This is not on the platform of pure selfless devotional service, but if such simpletons come to Mount Govardhan to do parikrama for their heavenly rewards, they may get attracted to Kṛṣṇa bhakti too, even.

A second important point of this commentary is that one should not take all promises of śāstra of rewards in the afterlife too seriously - „As a reward for digging a well here for thirsty people one goes to Vaikuṇṭha for billions of kalpas, along with billions of generations of one’s ancestors”, or „ Anyone who snorts his nose in a mile’s distance from a brahmin goes to hell for as long as the sun and the moon hang in the sky”. Parents use the bogey-man too to frighten their children into good behaviour.

11.21.36 Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī discusses the 4 levels of sound in his ṭīkā - The Veda is difficult to understand regarding its true nature and function. It has two forms, gross and subtle. The subtle form of the Vedas is difficult to understand. First, the Veda is parā, related to prāṇa, situated in the mūlādhāra-cakra. Then it becomes paśyantī, related to mind, situated in the navel in the manīpūra-cakra. Then it becomes madhyamā, related to intelligence, situated in the heart in the anāhata-cakra. Then it becomes vaikharī, related to the senses. In using speech, the sense organ called the voice is prominent. Moreover the Veda, made of material and spiritual prāṇa, is infinite, not divided by space or time.

11.22.39 explains why one cannot remember one’s previous lives: viṣayābhiniveśena nātmānaṁ yat smaret punaḥ jantor vai kasyacid dhetor mṛtyur atyanta-vismṛtiḥ Since the jīva does not remember his previous body because of absorption in his new body, the forgetfulness of that body by the jīva because of termination of present karmas is called death.

11.22.47,  Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī’s tika - yauvanam ā-pañcacatvāriṁśataḥ, tato vayo-madhyam ā-ṣaṣṭi-varṣāt, tato yāvaj jīvanaṁ jaraiva tato mṛtyur iti – „Youth lasts till forty-five years. Middle age continues till sixty years. The rest of life till death is called old age.”

11.22.56,  Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī’s ṭīkā - Though things related to imposition by false identity have no factual existence, the suffering arising from relationship with saṁsāra does not disappear. It does not disappear for a jIva who meditates on sense objects with intelligence directed at enjoying. An example is given of something which gives real suffering, though it is insubstantial. In a dream, one is bitten by a snake and feels pain.

10.25.24 Knowledge in the mode of sattva is not about Brahman, because Brahman is transcendental (SB 1.2.11), rather all the ācāryas comment on this verse that knowledge in the sattva mode is knowledge about the difference between body and soul.

11.27.25-26, in their comments, Jīva Goswāmī and  Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī  mention the Yogapīth-pūjā with an 8-petalled lotus - tan-madhye navabhiḥ śaktibhir vimalādyābhiś ca mamāsanaṁ yoga-pīṭhaṁ tatrāṣṭa-dalaM padmaṁ ca kalpayitvā veda-tantrābhyāṁ vedoktena tantroktena ca. The original blueprint of the Yogapīṭha features Lord Nārāyan’s 9 śaktis, nowadays it has the eight sakhīs surrounding Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. This means the practice was not a later concoction by Bengali Vaiṣṇavas.

11.28.14 - Śrīdhar Swāmī and  Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī  comment: nanu tarhi vivekino jīvan-muktasyāpi yat kiñcid viṣaya-dhyānaṁ durvāram ity anirmokṣa-prasaṅgas tatrāha—yathā hīti. prasvāpaḥ svapnaḥ bahūn anarthān bibharti, pratibuddhasya prāpta-jāgarasya na mohāya, tasya mithyātva-niścayāt - “Even a person with discrimination, a jīvan-mukta, has difficult avoiding some meditation on sense objects. This means he cannot get liberation.” Though a dream produces many bad experiences for the sleeper, for a person who has woken up, the dream does not produce bewilderment since he understands the dream was false.

11.28.17 ahaṅkāra is called amūla here, without root. Causeless and beginningless, so no prior fall or envy of Kṛṣṇa. Jīva Goswāmī comments that ahaṅkāra is cut by the sharp sword of worshiping the Guru.

Śrīmad Bhāgavat, Canto 11, part 2

In this second installment of the 11th canto review we return briefly to verse 11.6.31, where Śrī Jīva and Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī (inspired by ancient commentator Vaṁśīdhara) interpret the word ‘nāśa’ to mean nigūḍhāyāṁ dvārakāyām praveśa, that Kṛṣṇa entered an invisible Dwārkā Dhām after disappearing from this world. This may hint at the prakaṭāprakaṭa state Śrī Jīva tells us about (the station of Kṛṣṇa and His associates in this material world in which He eternally revels outside of the view of anyone who is not on the level of bhāva bhakti or higher)

11.13.8  Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī 's ṭīkā - “Those who have no knowledge enjoy material life. But even those who know that one can attain the ultimate goal by employing sattva, still enjoy material life. They enjoy just as a dog, though scolded, eats leftovers, just as a donkey though kicked, enjoys a female donkey, and just as the goat, though about to be killed, enjoys the grass.

11.13.35  Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī 's ṭīkā - “Will saṁsāra recur because of inability to withdraw continuously from the state of duality while possessing a body?” Even if one observes the world in necessary daily actions, one will not be bewildered again by what one has given up, based on previous mistaken identity (avastu-buddhyā). However, until death of the body, remembrance, a shadow of saṁsāra, will remain. deha-pāta-paryantaṁ smṛtir iva smṛtiḥ saṁsāra-mātreṇāvabhāso bhaved.

11.14.18   Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī 's ṭīkā - Though the devotee is distressed by (attached to) sense objects, he is not overcome. Because both verbs are in the present tense, it implies that even while being harassed by sense objects, he is not really harassed since bhakti is present. A person who is attacked by the weapons of an enemy cannot be defeated because of the presence of his bravery. Or, on the day that a powerful medicine is taken to prevent fever, though the fever still causes suffering, it is not a real cause of suffering, since the fever is in a state of being destroyed and will be completely destroyed the next day.

11.16.26   Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī 's ṭīkā - Śruti says ardho ha vā eṣa ātmano yat patnī: half of his self is his wife. (Baudāyana śrauta-sūtra 29.9.381.2)

11.17.22 Śrīdhar Swāmī and Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī comment - dvijas traivarnika - the three upper castes are dvijas.

11.17.27 The most famous ācāryaṁ māṁ vijāniyan śloka, glorifying the Guru as Bhagavan Himself, carries no ṭīkā at all by any ācārya – most astonishing!

11.17.38 gṛhaṁ vanaṁ vopaviśet pravrajed vā dvijottamaḥ “A second born person (brahmacārī) becomes a householder, vānaprastha or sannyāsī, in the case of a brāhmaṇa”.

From this it’s clear that sannyāsa is only for Brahmins and it explains the almost unanimous falldown of low-caste or outcaste sannyāsīs.

 Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī 's ṭīkā - "One should not enter the āśrams in a reverse order, and one should not be without   āśram, unless one is my devotee. If one is a devotee, then one does not have to follow the rules of āśram. This will be explained later. If the devotee enters āśram in a different order, or has no  āśram, there is no fault.“

Still Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu banished Chota Haridas, who paid with his life for transgressing the law of the vairāgī āśram, so one cannot just give up sannyāsa to marry.

11.17.51 yadṛcchayopapannena - A householder should comfortably maintain his dependents either with money that comes of its own accord or with that gathered by honest execution of his duties.

11.19.7 Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī 's ṭīkā - "It is also well known that the relationship of the jīva with avidyā is without beginning, through the power of māyā. One could argue that if the ignorance was without beginning it would mean this ignorant condition would be the svarūpa of the jīva, which could therefore not be removed even by jñāna. The jīva`s svarūpa would have to be destroyed to destroy avidyā. But the idea that liberation means destruction of the jīva`s svarūpa is not accepted by the authorities."

11.20.11 If one attains association with karma-miśra-bhaktas or jñāna-miśra-bhaktas, by that type of bhakti one attains śānti-rati.

11.20.17 mayānukūlena nabhasvateritaṁ Means pushed by the favorable wind of serving me

In his tika of 11.20.31,  Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī  quotes Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu 3.1.15, anujjhita-mumukṣā ye bhajante te tu tāpasāḥ - The practitioners of austerity in bhakti are those who worship the Lord while practicing yukta-vairāgya without giving up the desire for liberation, since obstacles to bhakti are destroyed by attaining liberation.

11.21.15 Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī's ṭīkā - “Purification of mantra is described. Suitable knowledge from the mouth of the pure Guru purifies a mantra.“ In other words, one must take dīkṣā in person, not by sms, skype, youtube or e-mail.

11.21.23 phala-śrutir iyaṁ nṛṇāṁ na śreyo rocanaṁ paraṁ śreyo-vivakṣayā proktaṁ yathā bhaiṣajya-rocanam - The rewards promised in scripture are not the ultimate benefit for man but are merely enticements for liberating him. They are like promises of candy spoken to induce a child to take beneficial medicine.

 Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī's ṭīkā - “How can one fall from one’s interest from hearing results like Svarga in the Vedas?” The results described in the scriptures for performing karmas are not beneficial for man. Nārada says: śreyas tvaṁ katamad rājan karmaṇātmana īhase duḥkha-hāniḥ sukhāvāptiḥ śreyas tan neha ceṣyate O King! What benefit do you want for yourself by doing these karmas? It is not possible to destroy suffering and attain happiness by performance of karma. SB 4.25.4 “One hears that the results of karma are eternal: let us then enjoy with the Apsarās.” This is only enticement. Wanting to liberate material people, by stating intermediate results (enjoyment), people develop a taste for doing karmas. Similarly a doctor entices a person to take medicine. The father says “If you drink the neem juice I will give you a sweet.” The child drinks the juice. However the goal is not to eat the sweet.

Śrīmad Bhāgavat, Canto 11, part 1

This is the last canto of the Bhāgavat I studied with the commentaries of Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda, that are very summary in this Canto.

11.2.37 bhayaṁ dvitīyābhiniveśataḥ syād īśād apetasya viparyayo'smṛtiḥ, is often quoted to show the jīva fell from the spiritual world, but the apeta, or turning away from God by the jīva is anādi, beginningless, and that also counts for fear, bhaya. asmṛti means, according to Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda, not forgetting Kṛṣṇa, but the own spiritual nature. viparyaya means taking something for what it isn't, like identifying oneself with the body, which one is not.

11.3.22 the word śikṣet is in imperative case - one must learn and teach bhagavat dharma. A Guru should not just give dīkṣā and then walk away, nor should the śiṣya just take dīkṣā and then walk away.

11.3.48 labdhvānugraha ācāryāt tena sandarśitāgamaḥ mahā-puruṣam abhyarcen mūrtyābhimatayātmanaḥ “Having obtained the mercy of his Guru, who reveals to the disciple the injunctions of Vedic scriptures, the devotee should worship the Supreme Lord in the particular personal form of the Lord the devotee finds most attractive.”

This clearly refutes the theory that one must just do any service the Lord orders one.

11.5.41 –  Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda's ṭīkā - That (debt to the ancestors or devatās) is not so for the devotee who has surrendered completely to Mukunda. It is just like a person who, on being accepted as the servant of the emperor of the earth, cannot be the servant of the ruler of one state.

11.7.20 ātmano gurur ātmaiva puruṣasya viśeṣataḥ yat pratyakṣānumānābhyāṁ śreyo`sāv anuvindate “An intelligent person, acting as his own Guru, can achieve great benefit by perception and logic.”

Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda's ṭīkā - One can attain benefit by sense perception to some degree and by reflection or inference to some degree.

11.7.39, Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda's ṭīkā - The mind and speech will be agitated by food which is too oily, because of increase in laziness and semen.

11.8.20,  Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda's ṭīkā - The moth is destroyed by attraction to form. The bee is destroyed by attraction to smell. The elephant is destroyed by attraction to touch. The deer is destroyed by attraction to sound. The fish is destroyed by attraction to taste. It has been said:

kuraṅga-mātaṅga-pataṅga-bhṛṅga-mīnā hatāḥ pañcabhir eva pañca

ekaḥ pramādī sa kathaṁ na hanyate yaḥ sevate pañcabhir eva pañca

The deer, elephant, moth, bee and fish are destroyed by the five sense objects. How can an insane person who engages all senses in the five sense objects not be destroyed? Garuda Purāṇa 1.115.21

11.9.31 na hy ekasmād guror jñānaṁ su-sthiraṁ syāt su-puṣkalam brahmaitad advitīyaṁ vai gīyate bahudharṣibhiḥ - "Although the Lord is one without a second, the sages have described him in many different ways. Therefore one may not be able to acquire firm and complete knowledge from one guru."

Gaudiya Vaiṣṇavas are eka-guru vādīs though - Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda's ṭīkā - “It is said mad abhijñaṁ guruṁ śāntam upāsīta: one should worship a peaceful Guru who knows me (SB 11.10.5) and tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam: the inquisitive person should surrener to the superior Guru. (SB 11.3.21) From these statements it is understood that one should accept only one Guru. Śvetaketu, Bhṛgu and others did not accept many Gurus. And true, I also have accepted one Guru who gives instruction on mantra. But considering things which act as examples of what is favorable or unfavorable for performing worship, I have made those things my Gurus. They are my śikṣā-gurus, teaching by negative or positive example. »

11.10.7 Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda's ṭīkā - The son of Citraketu said:

yathā vastūni paṇyāni hemādīni tatas tataḥ

paryaṭanti nareṣv evaṁ jīvo yoniṣu kartṛṣu

nityasyārthasya sambandho hy anityo dṛśyate nṛṣu

yāvad yasya hi sambandho mamatvaṁ tāvad eva hi

"Just as commodities and coins pass among many people, the jīva wanders into various wombs with various fathers and mothers. It is seen that the relationships of one object with many people are temporary. As long as the relationship lasts, one has possessiveness of the object." SB 6.16.6-7

But one should not lack possessiveness of Guru and the Lord. Thus it is said one should have firm attachment to them (dṛḍah-sauhṛdaḥ).

11.11.4 ekasyaiva mamāṁśasya jīvasyaiva mahā-mate bandho`syāvidyayānādir vidyayā ca tathetaraḥ – “O intelligent Uddhava! The bondage of the jīva, who is my one part or taṭastha-śakti, by avidyā, is without beginning. By vidyā, he achieves liberation which has a beginning.”

This is clear and unmistakable. Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda's ṭīkā - asya jīvasya avidyayā bandhaḥ sa ca karmaṇo`nādiḥ The jīva is bound by avidyā. avidyā is beginningless because karma is beginningless.

Though Guru Purnima is sometimes called a karmī-or māyāvādī-festival, in his ṭīkā of 11.11.24,  Viśvanātha writes mat-svarūpa-śrī guru-devārādhana-divase ca, (Kṛṣṇa says: ) «My worship means worshipping My swarup Śrī Gurudeva, on the day of his worship. »

It can also refer to Gurudev’s birthday.

11.12.8 Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda's ṭīkā -  “The cows attained me by vātsalya-rasa. The mountains like Govardhana attained me with sakhya-rasa. The animals, the trees and shrubs, though unintelligent, snakes like Kaliya attained me with dāsya-rasa."

Sometimes it is said that the cows, mountains and trees are in śānta rasa, but this makes it clear there is no śānta rasa in Vraja at all. cāri bhāva diye nācāimu tribhuvana – Mahāprabhu declares that he bestows four bhāvas [excluding śānta rasa].

Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi part 5

The final part of my reading of Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi by Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmīpāda -

14.38 svarūpaṁ lalanā-niṣṭhaṁ svayam udbuddhatāṁ vrajet

dṛṣṭe’py aśrute’py uccaiḥ kṛṣṇe kuryād drutaṁ ratim

Focus on the svarūpa of a gopī will automatically and swiftly produce rati for Kṛṣṇa, though He has not been seen or heard before.

Śrī Jīva Goswāmī comments : svarūpaṁ lalanā-niṣṭham iti | ikṣunālīnām iva janmata eva madhura-rasa-yogyatā | kṛṣṇa iti | tādṛśīnāṁ prācīna-saṁskāreṇa tad-eka-samavāyatvāt.” Like sugarcane and its sweetness, this qualification for madhura-rasa is present from birth. This is produced by concentration of previous impressions of such devotees.”

14.52 – The desire for rati and the desire for enjoyment merge. Even in samartha rati there is no complete selflessness. See this blog.

14.55 Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda ṭīkā - tathā hy asyā rateḥ svarūpa-siddhatvād guṇādi-śravaṇānapekṣitatvena prābalyād vayaḥ-sandheḥ pūrvam eva vraja-bālāsu kāsucit tathāparāsu nanda-pura-nikaṭa-vartinīṣu rateḥ svarūpa-siddhatve`pi śrī-kṛṣṇena saha dhūli-khelanādibhiḥ paricayādhikyenāpi prādurbhāvaḥ. sāmānyākāreṇa prādurbhūtāyāṁ ca tasyāṁ tāsāṁ śrī-kṛṣṇa evaṁ prīti-matīnāṁ sarvendriya-vṛttayaḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-sukha-tātparyavatya evābhuvan.  athāyāte vayaḥ-sandhau kandarpodgamena yā sambhoga-tṛṣṇā raty-ākrānte manasy ajaniṣṭa sāpi tat-sukha-tātparyavaty evābhūd iti sambhoga-tṛṣṇāyā ratyā saha tādātmyam. tām avasthām ārabhyaiva tāsāṁ svāṅga-saṅga-ditsayaiva tat-sukha-viśeṣotpādane saṅkalpavatīnāṁ ratir madhurābhidhānābhūt. ity ata eva sambhoga-tṛṣṇā pṛthaktayā na bhāsate

“samartha rati or selfless gopī-bhāva is eternal, so even before puberty the gopīs were in love with Kṛṣṇa, even without hearing about His attributes. When they played in the dust near Nanda Mahārāja’s abode, as little girls, they had samartha rati already, because it is svarūpa siddha. When they attained adolescence and lust entered into their bodies, it [lust] merged with their rati [selfless love for Kṛṣṇa]. Then they vowed to offer their bodies to Him to give Him happiness. The desire for personal enjoyment does not manifest separately.”

This, and verse 52, confirms Sādhu Bābā’s teaching which confused me for so long that the gopis also have a little desire.

14.82 aṅga-saṅge viloke ca śravaṇādau ca sa kramāt. kaniṣṭho madhyamaḥ śreṣṭhas trividho’yaṁ mano-dravaḥ

The heart melts in three grades: low through direct meeting, medium through seeing and high, through hearing.

Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda ṭīkā - Contacting Kṛṣṇa’s limbs is matched with the lowest grade of melting the heart.

14.88  Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda ṭīkā - ghṛta-sneha has more respect than madhu-sneha. There some amount of respect in madhu-sneha also. Rādhā has slightly more respect for Kṛṣṇa than her sakhīs or the priya-sakhīs or Subala.

14.94 Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda ṭīkā - Candrāvalī is not respectful towards Kṛṣṇa because He is God but because He is a prominent person in Vraja.

14.106  Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda ṭīkā - women's left limbs are stronger than their right limbs.

14.108  Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda ṭīkā - "Viśrambha means confidentiality, without reverence. This is caused by uniting one’s life airs, mind, intelligence, body and clothing with those of the beloved."

14.127 Viśvanātha's commentary on the famous verse which describes how Rādhikā does not feel the heat of the rocks of Govardhana on which She stands, due to Her rāga - [One may argue:] “During one's sleep one does not experience the pain of mosquitoes biting, but in the morning on waking up, one sees blood oozing from the bites. Similarly, Rādhikā does not feel pain in her tender feet now, but later she will.” That is not so. By seeing Kṛṣṇa she is submerged in bliss. From Her toe-nails to Her crown, Her body becomes cooler than millions of moons. She became very cool, not that she should be heated up. The moon can never be heated by the sun's rays. Since a piece of cotton cannot be defeated by a sharp rock, her feet which are very tender, more so than cotton, cannot be defeated by the rocks. Or yoga-māyā, solver of all problems, remains always awake in the pastimes.

14.137 - rāga which never vanishes, does not depend on other elements, and increases its beauty constantly is called mañjiṣṭhā-raga, which is seen in Rādhā and Mādhava.

Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda ṭīkā - "Manjistha dye cannot be removed by water (ahāryaḥ). In terms of prema, māñjistha-rāga cannot be agitated by sañcārī-bhāvas. It is svataḥ-siddha, independent. It is not like śyāmā-rāga, dependent on herbs (or timidity). It increases its beauty. kusumbha-rāga has limited beauty. It increases its own beauty. It does not change by mixing with anurāga."

Example - The incomparable festival arising from the prema of Rādhā and Mādhava appears quickly without cause, is not at all moved by any means, produces great taste if met by heaps of opposing elements, and increases with the greatest, unlimited, astonishing bliss.

14.157 varāmṛta svarūpa-śrī svaṁ svarūpaṁ mano nayet

Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda ṭīkā - "The mind's condition is nondifferent from mahā-bhāva and since the senses are functions of the mind, the gopīs' senses become the form of mahā-bhāva, which totally controls Kṛṣṇa. But the queens of Dvārakā desire enjoyment, so their minds do not even assume the form of prema, what to speak of mahā-bhāva?"

Viśvanātha's explanations of divyonmāda at the end of chapter 14, based on the Bhramara Gīta [SB 10.47,12-21] is very similar to the one in his Sārārtha Darśinī ṭīkā.

VCT 14,225- "In the sthāyi bhāva of mādana one experiences separation even during union, when one kisses, embraces etc. Thus two manifestations take place in one. Even during union there is longing for more in thousands of ways, due to visions of separation."

14.232 (śloka): sādhāraṇī rati's limit is prema, samañjasa's limit is anurāga and samartha rati's limit is mahā-bhāva.

15.31 Rādhikā’s bracelets fall off Her wrists as She gets thin out of separation from Kṛṣṇa and if it proceeds even her rings fall off her fingers because the fingers got too thin.

15.65-66 there are two types of kāma-lekhā [love letter]: nirakṣara, without syllables, made with crescent nailmarks, and sākṣara, with [prakṛta] syllables.

15.69 The written letters are bound by lotus fibers and with minerals or musk as ink on broad flower petals and stamped with kunkuma.

15.187 Jīva Gosvāmī tries to justify svakīya bhāva by arguing that only ultimate union can give peace and satisfaction. Later in the 15th chapter, however, it will be shown that the longer the separation, the more the enjoyment, be it in sampanna or samṛddhimān sambhoga, and it is eternally so.

Viśvanātha argues that prakaṭa līlā is eternal and if the cosmos is aprakaṭa within Mahaviṣṇu, Yogamāyā creates duplicate universes in which Kṛṣṇa's manifest pastimes continue. He also says that in the unmanifest pastimes Kṛṣṇa always stays in Mathurā etc. because He must be eternally present for His pastimes there. The Padma Purana [6.255-257] says vedāṅga sveda janita toyaiḥ prasrāvitā - the causal ocean flowed from the sweat-drops of the Vedas. Of course this is not literally true, as Bhagavad Gītā says viddhy anādi ubhāv api - the material world is beginningless. Similarly, it seems as if Kṛṣṇa is born, but He is also anādi. The Gaṅgā seems to be invoked by Bhagiratha, but already existed long before, in Pṛthu's time [SB 4.21.11]. The words devaki janma vādo in SB 10.90.48 prove that Kṛṣṇa's birth pastime is also eternal, as vāda means 'conclusively' as in Bhagavad Gītā 10.32. Kṛṣṇa crawling as a toddler is eternal even in His manifest pastimes, because as He grows up and stops crawling, He continues to do it in the next universe where He performs the same course of pastimes later on. This also counts for seasonal [Holi] and daily pastimes.

15.195 sankīrṇa sambhoga is mixed with the remembrance of unpleasant past actions of one's partner [and therefore is not uttama samboga]

15.207  Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda ṭīkā - The gopīs becoming queens as is described in Lalita Mādhava is not a concocted story, it is confirmed in Padma Purāṇa, Kartik Māhātmya chapter 32 - kaiśore gopakanyāś ca yauvane rāja-kanyakā - "The adolescent cowherd daughters were princesses in their youth."

That the Bhāgavat shows them as different persons is because that took place in a different kalpa.

15.253-256 līlā vilāsa is coquettish resistance of the heroine to attempts at intercourse by the hero. Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī says that this is giving greater happiness than the intercourse itself.

Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi part 4

This is the fourth blog on my readings of Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmīpāda's Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi and its commentaries -

Chapter 10 deals with uddīpana, or incitements of ecstatic love.

Un 10.28 Viśvanātha Cakravartī's ṭīkā -

chāyāyāḥ kāntes taralatvaṁ taraṅgāyamānatvam - Lābanya is like a wave of luster.

atha abhirūpatā —

yad ātmīya-guṇotkarṣair vastv anyan nikaṭa-sthitam |

sārūpyaṁ nayati prājñair ābhirūpyaṁ tad ucyate ||33||

Abhirūpatā: "When, due to its excellent qualities, an object makes a nearby object assume similar qualities, the wise call it abhirūpatā."

vakṣoje tava campaka-cchavim avaṣṭambhoru-kumbhopame

rādhe kokanada-śriyaḥ karatale sindūrataḥ sundare 

drāg indindira-bandhureṣu cikureṣv indīvarābhāṁ vahann

ekaḥ kairava-korako vitanute puṣpa-trayī-vibhramam ||35||

FOR INSTANCE-

"O Rādhe! When it rests on your golden breasts shaped like large pots, this white lotus bud appears like a golden campaka flower. When you hold it in your beautiful palm it appears like a red lotus because of the hand’s redness, and when it is placed in your locks of hair, black like a bee, it at once appears like a blue lotus. In this way this white lotus bud assumes the beauty of three different flowers."

UN 10.40 Both Jīva Gosvāmī and Viśvanātha Cakravartī mention China, showing that the ācāryas were aware of the outside world.

UN 10.41   Viśvanātha Cakravartī's ṭīkā - Discoloring due to separation does not make the gopīs ugly, on the contrary – suffering separation in the spiritual world is the greatest happiness and such happiness enhances the gopīs’ luster.

UN 10.59 Some argue that the gopīs did not cover their heads with their veils, but in his tika Viśvanātha Cakravartī writes keśeṣu vastrācchāditeṣv. Kṛṣṇa says: ‘Her hairs are covered by Her garment’.

UN 11.7  Viśvanātha Cakravartī's ṭīkā - prākṛta-vastunāpy aprākṛta-padārthasyopamā nāsamañjasā. meghādineva śrī-kṛṣṇasya aprākṛta-vastūnāṁ loke sākṣād anupalabdher iti

It is not improper to use a material example for a spiritual subject, since people cannot grasp spiritual objects directly. Thus Kṛṣṇa is compared to a cloud and other material objects.

tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ, tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ yathā vinimayaḥ [bhā.pu. 1.1.1] iti | ya ādyasya rasyasya kavayaḥ kāvya-kṛto muhyanti | bhrameṇālakṣye`pi prākṛta-rasa-lakṣaṇasya saṅgamanāt | tatra dṛṣṭāntas tejo-vārīti

Viśvanātha Cakravartī compares the mistaking of spiritual eros for material eros with the phrase in the first verse of the Bhāgavat, tejo vāri mṛdam – mistaking fire or earth for water.

UN 13.96  Viśvanātha Cakravartī's ṭīkā - kiṁ cātra kusuma-padena śleṣeṇānyo bībhatsito`rtho na vyañjitavyaḥ sarvāsām eva vraja-bālānāṁ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nitya-saṅgārthaṁ yogamāyayaiva strī-dharma-rūpasya rajasaḥ sarvathaivānutpāditatvāt | prakṛte`rthe ca rajasvalā kiṁ punaḥ sambhogānukūlā bhavatīti tan-niṣedho`pi nopapadyate svid iti ca vicāryam „The other meaning of the word kusuma, menstruation, can not be used because it is disgusting. So that they can be eternally [always] enjoyed by Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Yogamāyā has arranged for them never to menstruate, though this is natural for fertile women. Thus, though it is forbidden in the material world to have intercourse during menstruation, this needs not even be considered in relation to the gopīs.”

It makes sense because fertile girls are contaminated about 1/7 part of the time, so if 100 gopis would go out to meet Krishna every day, about 14 of them would be unsuitable for His enjoyment. The babies of the gopīs mentioned in the Bhāgavat are said by our ācāryas to be babies of their sisters and nieces, not their own. Other than that there is no mentioning of the gopīs ever having children, whereas in Vedic culture it is natural that the young bride has a child within a year of marriage.

UN 14.31 nirhetutvam eveti siddhānte vyañjite lokokti-rītyaivaite hetava uktā iti – Though rati has no cause it is said to have a cause for popular understanding, in popular parlance. In other words, causeless matters are explained in causal terms, to make it understandable for the common man. Just as God has never created anything or anyone because both matter and spirit are beginningless (prakṛtaṁ puruṣam caiva viddhy anādi ubhāv api, Gītā 13.19), he is still often called the creator (as in aham sarvasya prabhavo in Gītā 10.8, or agre nārāyaṇam āsīt).

UN 14.32, Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī ṭīkā - tathā ca sati bahubhir janmabhiḥ sucira-siddhatvāt. sudṛḍho yo madhuravatyā ābhāsaḥ punaḥ punar ādhikyenodayas tasya janmāntara-bāhulyādinā tirodhāne`pi taj-janyas tadīyo yaḥ saṁskāraḥ sūkṣmatayā sthitaḥ sa nisarga ity arthaḥ „Madhura rati reaches perfection only after many births. Firm practise of madhura rati appears repeatedly with increased intensity. It may disappear for many births but it maintains a subtle saṁskāra (impression). This is called nisarga.”

This statement confirms that bhakti with the quest of prema is not a question of going back to Godhead in this lifetime, for rati or bhāva is just not attainable in a single birth. Śrī Rupa Goswami teaches the same thing in his Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu.

Jīva Goswāmī continues -

yathā suṣuptau śubhāśubha-tat-karmaṇa iti bhāvaḥ. tataś ca tasya saṁskāra-rūpeṇa sthitasya madhura-ratyākhyasya bhāvasyodbodhe vardhamānāvasthatve śrī-kṛṣṇa-guṇa-rūpa-śrutir yad-dhetuḥ syāt tan manāg eva syād anāvaśyakatayaiva syād ity evārthaḥ. bahir-hetv-anapekṣīti sāmānya-lakṣaṇasyāvyāpter iti bhāvaḥ „It is like the impressions of good and bad karma in deep sleep. The awakening and increase of madhura rati, which was situated in the form of saṁskāras [impressions], makes the hearing about Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s form and attributes unnecessary as its cause. It does not depend on external causes.”

Viśvanātha Cakravartī's ṭīkā - nanu bahir-hetavaḥ para-sambandhagā upamā tadīya-janādayaḥ. antar-hetavaś cānuṣaṅgika-tac-chravaṇādayaḥ. ta eva nirhetv-anapekṣīty ukte antar-hetum apekṣata iti labhyate | satyam asya nisarga-rūpe`ntar-hetv-ābhāsasyāpekṣā kvacit syād eva ity ata āha—tad udbodhasyeti | tadīyodbodhasya hetur api tasyāpi hetur ity arthaḥ | sudṛḍhābhyāsa-janya iti | sudṛḍhābhyāso`pi nitya-siddha eva jñeyaḥ | taj-janya-saṁskāro`pi pravāha-paramparayaiva | tathā sa ca līlā-śakti-dvāraiva śrī-kṛṣṇa-rūpa-guṇa-śravaṇam upasthāpayatīti | nāma-mātreṇaiva hetor hetutety arthaḥ | ata eva manāg iti pada-prayogaḥ

“External causes of rati are qualities (sambandha), similar items (upamā) or dear objects of the Lord (tadīya). Internal causes are hearing about the Lord and other processes. Though rati is said to be causeless and independent, it depends on these internal causes. That is true. In the portion called nisarga there is some dependence on a semblance of internal cause. Thus the verse says “the cause of its arousal, the cause of nisarga, is hearing about the Lord. The impression is created by firm practice, but it is actually nitya-siddha.” In Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu (1.2.2) bhāva is said to be nitya siddha.

Viśvanātha continues: “The impressions created by this practice are actually a continuous stream (not created)."

Probably "continuous stream" refers to Jīva's statement on the verse: “That very firm practice of madhura-rati which appears repeatedly with increased strength, and which, though disappearing for many lifetimes, remains as a subtle impression to produce rati later on, is called nisarga.” The impression is actually continuous, though it may appear to disappear at times.

Viśvanātha continues: The impressions bring about hearing of Kṛṣṇa’s form and qualities by means of the līlā-śakti. Thus it is caused in name only. Therefore the word manāg (slight) is added.”

The līlā-śakti is the REAL cause of hearing about the Lord (and even of the impressions), though the impressions are the apparent or visible cause. We could equate  līlā-śakti with mercy in general, but by specifying  līlā-śakti he probably indicates that the Lord (or his pastimes) is eager for us to enter his pastimes.  līlā-śakti causes inclination to hear , as in Bhagavad Gita chapter 6 - pūrvābhyāsena pūrva-dehinam "One is automatically attracted to yoga."

(The commentaries on this verse’s tika are by HH Bhanu Swami)

September 4, 2011 reply from Dr. Satyanārāyan Dās to a query on 14.32-

AD - Prabhuji Radhe Radhe

I have a question about Viśvanāth's ṭīkā of Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi 14.32, dealing with nisarga type of rati. He writes -

nanu bahir-hetavaḥ para-sambandhagā upamā tadīya-janādayaḥ. antar-hetavaś cānuṣaṅgika-tac-chravaṇādayaḥ | ta eva nirhetv-anapekṣīty ukte antar-hetum apekṣata iti labhyate | satyam asya nisarga-rūpe`ntar-hetv-ābhāsasyāpekṣā kvacit syād eva ity ata āha—tad udbodhasyeti | tadīyodbodhasya hetur api tasyāpi hetur ity arthaḥ | sudṛḍhābhyāsa-janya iti | sudṛḍhābhyāso`pi nitya-siddha eva jñeyaḥ | taj-janya-saṁskāro`pi pravāha-paramparayaiva | tathā sa ca līlā-śakti-dvāraiva śrī-kṛṣṇa-rūpa-guṇa-śravaṇam upasthāpayatīti | nāma-mātreṇaiva hetor hetutety arthaḥ | ata eva manāg iti pada-prayogaḥ

“External causes of rati are qualities (sambandha), similar items (upamā) or dear objects of the Lord (tadīya). Internal causes are hearing about the Lord and other processes. Though rati is said to be causeless and independent, it depends on these internal causes. That is true. In the portion called nisarga there is some dependence on a semblance of internal cause. Thus the verse says “the cause of its arousal, the cause of nisarga, is hearing about the Lord. The impression is created by firm practice, but it is actually nitya-siddha. The impressions created by this practice are actually a continuous stream (not created). The impressions bring about hearing of Kṛṣṇa’s form and qualities by means of the līlā-śakti. Thus it is caused in name only. Therefore the word manāg (slight) is added.”

My questions are about the highlighted parts - it is created by firm practise but is actually nitya siddha - does this refer to the BRS 1.2.2 verse and the nitya siddha kṛṣṇa prema-verse, or does it mean something else?

SND - Yes it refers to nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema .... verse

AD - What does he mean with the pravāha paramparā [continuous stream]?

SND - He means that it is nitya like the pravāha of a river, not an outcome of one's practice. In other words there is no cause and effect relation in the ordinary sense.

AD - And how is the  līlā-śakti bringing about the hearing of Kṛṣṇa's attributes?

SND - ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grahyam indriyaiḥ.... You know this verse. It happens by lila-sakti.

AD - What does līlā-śakti mean here?

SND - The antaranga-śakti which manifests Lord's names, attributes, pastimes.

AD - And how is it thus caused in name only?

SND - Well it appears as if it has been caused by the efforts of the devotee but it is nitya-siddha. That is what i said above - there appears to be a cause and effect relation, as in ordinary actions and their results. I make an effort to speak and the sound is produced. The sound is an effect of my effort. In case of chanting the name it appears that i produced the name (in sound) by the movement of my tongue. But in reality it is not so. the name is nitya-siddha, ever-existent. It is not a product of movement of tongue. It becomes manifest when tongue is moved to pronounce it and gives the illusion that the tongue made the sound. sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuratyadaḥ.

Jai radhe

Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi part 3

7.92 Viśvanāth Cakravartī's ṭīkā - vastutas tu yadi sundara-prakṛtir api patir adāsyat tad api rucir nābhaviṣyat | mac-cetasaḥ śrī-kṛṣṇaika-grāhitvād ity ābhyantaro vicāraḥ -

If the gopīs would cheat their husbands with Kṛṣṇa because they are ugly or nasty it would not be a compliment for Kṛṣṇa, so Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda says here: “Actually, even if my husband were beautiful in form or nature still I would have no taste for him. My heart is exclusively captured by Śrī Kṛṣṇa. This is her inner consideration.”

8.66  Viśvanāth Cakravartī's ṭīkā - ahaṁ patra-hārī śrī-rādhāyā dūty asmi kim iti mayi lāmpaṭyaṁ tanoṣi | dūtyaḥ prāṇān varam arpayanti, na tu tanum iti dūtī-svabhāvaṁ jānāsy eveti sambhrāntāṁ rasāla-mañjarīṁ śrī-kṛṣṇaḥ prāha—dūtī-paddhatim iti – This may have inspired Ānanda Gopāl Goswāmī in a similar purport on Vilāpa Kusumāñjali. 'Rasāla mañjarī told Kṛṣṇa - "I am a letter carrying messenger girl of Rādhā's - why are you fooling around with me? Dūtis can give their lives but not their bodies."

8.67 Viśvanāth Cakravartī's ṭīkā - gṛhīta-vastraṁ śrī-kṛṣṇaṁ prati rati-mañjarī prāha—prasīdeti | he nirdaya, ahaṁ sampraty asustha-śarīrāsmīti bhāvaḥ - One should not make love while sick. Another instance of mañjarī bhāva being tad tad bhāvecchātmikā: "When Kṛṣṇa grabs Rati Mañjarī's cloth, she says: " Be merciful to me, O cruel one. Today I am feeling sick."

8.84 sakhyo`pi dvividhāḥ—śrī-kṛṣṇasyātilobhanīya-gātrā nātilobhanīya-gātrāś ca. tatra prathamāsu prathama evāgrahaḥ, dvitīyāsu dvitīya eva. sukumāryānayā svakāntāya kāma-samudāya-sampūrṇa-rati-dānāsamarthayā tad-arthaṁ vayam api niyujyāmahe tad asyāḥ sāhāyyaṁ kurma iti nāyikātve prathamā īṣad-āgrahavatyo bhavanti. dvitīyās tu sveṣu śrī-kṛṣṇa-lobhasyālpatāṁ jānatyaḥ svais tādṛśa-sāhāyyān atisambhavaṁ manyamānās tāṁ tat-sakhīś ca saubhāgyādhikāḥ sva-prayatnaiḥ śrī-kṛṣṇena sambhujyaiva tāṁ sukhayitum icchantyo nāyikātvena āgrahavatyo na bhavantīty - There are two kinds of sakhīs – those with bodies very desirable to Kṛṣṇa and others with bodies not so desirable for Kṛṣṇa. The first group is eager to please Kṛṣṇa directly, the others want to please Him indirectly [by serving other sakhīs]. ‘By this small girl it is impossible to fully satisfy all the lover’s desires, hence let us assist the heroine here."

They understand they are less desirable by Kṛṣṇa than the others, who are more fortunate. They do not desire to be nāyikās themselves.”

This does sound like mañjarī-bhāva, but it is neither confirmed or denied by Viśvanātha. I doubt it myself, because the same Viśvanātha writes in Kṛṣṇa Bhāvanāmṛta: (3.2-3): 

tā vidyud udyuti jayi prapadaika rekhā vaidagdhya eva kila mūrtibhṛtas tathāpi

yūtheśvarītvam api samyag arocayitvā dāsyāmṛtābdhim anusasnur ajasram asyāḥ

"Each line on these mañjarīs' toes defeats the bright splendour of lightning. They are cleverness personified and although they are qualified to be groupleaders of gopīs (yūtheśvarīs) they have no taste for this, but are always immersed in the nectar-ocean of Śrī Rādhikā's service."

From this it is very clear that the manjaris are supremely attractive themselves, so they do not seem to answer the description of the first group of sakhīs above.

8.88 The nitya sakhī or mañjarī refuses to enjoy with Kṛṣṇa – in his commentary, Viśvanāth Cakravartī writes - tvayā saha svāṅga-saṅga-sukhād api jāla-randhrādau śrī-rādhāṅga-saṅga-darśanotthaṁ sukham adhikam anubhūtaṁ man-manasā nahi labdhādhika-sukhā janā alpe sukhe pravartanta iti bhāvaḥ. tataś ca māstu tava sukhaṁ mat-sukhaṁ tu kurv iti śrī-rādhikā-datta-cara-mantraṇena śrī-kṛṣṇena sā balā sambhuktaiveti jñeyam ‘More than my own bodily pleasures with Kṛṣṇa I enjoy to peep through the slits of the kuñja to see Kṛṣṇa enjoying with Śrī Rādhā. Why would my mind accept a lesser happiness when a greater one is available? But then Śrī Rādhā may advise her: ‘Leave your own happiness and make Me happy instead. Then that girl had herself enjoyed by Śrī Kṛṣṇa anyway.”

8.115  Viśvanāth Cakravartī's ṭīkā -  ābhīra, he abhimanyo sūrya-pūjāyāṁ snānādy-arthaṁ kapilā-dugdham apekṣitam atas tvaṁ gāṁ dugdhvā paya āgamaya ānaya | aruṇām iti | yā hi sarvāṅgeṣv aruṇa-varṇā, atha ca piṅgākṣī saiva pataṅgasya sūryasya priyā kapileti tām anyaḥ paricetuṁ na ṣakṣyatīty anyo na preṣaṇīya iti bhāvaḥ

In aṣṭakālīya līlā it is mentioned that Rādhikā is ordered to go out and get milk from a Kapila [brown] cow. From this commentary it becomes clear why – a cow which is red in all its limbs and has brown eyes is dear to Sūrya deva. Its milk is required for Sūrya pūjā.

8.120  Viśvanāth Cakravartī quotes Garuḍa Purāṇa:

śuṣkaṁ māṁsaṁ striyo vṛddhā bālārkas taruṇaṁ dadhi

prabhāte maithunaṁ nidrā sadyaḥ prāṇaharāṇi ṣaṭ

"Dry meat, an old woman, the sunrise, fresh yoghurt, sleeping or mating after dawn take away one’s life."

8.127 A kṛṣṇa snehādhikā sakhī does feel much for her sakhī-groupleader, but still feels slightly more affection for Kṛṣṇa .

8.131 Vice versa for the sakhī-snehādhikā. Kṛṣṇa will love you automatically if you love Rādhā.

8.137 – Viśvanāth Cakravartī's ṭīkā - nanu tāḥ katham anugamanānarhāḥ? ucyate rāgānugīya-bhakta-mate śrī-kṛṣṇād anyūna-prītimattayaivānujigamiṣitā gopī khalv anugamyate. tasmān nyūna-prītyāpy anugamane vācye vaidhād rāgasya ko viśeṣaḥ? bhaktānugatiṁ vinā vaidha-bhakter apy asiddheḥ. tasmāc chrī-kṛṣṇe`dhikā sakhī tad-anujigamiṣubhir janaiḥ śrī-kṛṣṇād anyūna-prīti-viṣayīkartavyā.

How are they to be followed? It is said that in the opinion of the rāgānugā-bhakta one should follow a gopī whom one loves not less than Śrī Kṛṣṇa. If one follows a gopī in spite of having less love for her than for  Kṛṣṇa  then what is the difference between vaidhi-bhakti and rāgānugā bhakti? Even vaidhi-bhakti fails to lead to perfection without following devotees. Hence in rāgānugā-bhakti, devotees who wish to follow a sakhī with more love for Kṛṣṇa should not have less love for that sakhi than for Kṛṣṇa."

From this it appears that following in the footsteps of a kṛṣṇa-snehadhika, bhakti is only rāgānugā bhakti if one loves the kṛṣṇa-snehādhikā rāgātmikā devotee more than Kṛṣṇa.

9.43 Viśvanāth Cakravartī's ṭīkā - 

"As long as there is no mixing of bhakti with the antaḥkaraṇa (subtle body of mind, intelligence, consciousness), the functions of the mind such as attachment and hatred will remain as material anarthas. When sulfur is added to mercury there is no immediate mixing, but after repeated rubbing, after a long time, they mix. Sulfur then gives up its original nature and takes a different form. Similarly the material nature of the antaḥkaraṇa is gradually destroyed and becomes spiritual. Just as sulfur and mercury eventually become one substance as collyrium, so bhakti and the antaḥkaraṇa become one as prema. Though mercury does not combine with other substances, sulfur transforms by rubbing into another form, and by heating, it gradually matures and takes on a unique form and name. The uncontaminated Lord, in the form of chanting or other processes, enters the antaḥkaraṇa endowed with attraction through the ears or other senses and rubbing against it by its power, makes the antaḥkaraṇa take on a spiritual form. By heating that combination till it matures to higher and higher states, it then attains the unique forms and names of prema, sneha, praṇaya, rāga, anurāga and mahābhāva. Just as the mature combination takes on varieties by mixing with favorable elements, so prema takes on forms such as dasya or sakhya by mixing with bhavas of a servant, friend, parent or lover. The prema of the sādhana-siddhas has been described in this way. What doubt is there then about the prema of the nitya-siddhas?

9.48- Viśvanāth Cakravartī's ṭīkā - 

"A follower of Vṛndā, a deity of the forest, curious about the conclusions of prema, asks “If Kṛṣṇa attains happiness by enjoyment with Candrāvalī, which is also your goal—to give him happiness--then why are you inimical to her? Why do you get angry when he frustrates your desires and meets with her?”

Rādhā teaches her the principle. "Candrāvalī can also mean the moon in the twelve months. The moon is always endowed with faulty marks. Or, she deals with Kṛṣṇa as a neutral party, because of having great respect. The moon is impure, having marks on its surface. She is devoid of the natural crookedness of prema, which moves crooked like a snake. By its nature the moon gives suffering, being cool. Or she is without intelligence. Or by her respect, friendliness is lost. The moon or she is skilful at closing the beautiful lotuses. Or the word vaidagdhi can mean the opposite. She is skilful at closing lotuses because of incompetence. She, the lotus, does not give happiness to the Kṛṣṇa-bee. The moon is brilliant in the night, not the day. In her mind (antara) she is joyful at seeing her faults as good qualities. She does not see her neutral nature as a fault. The moon appears (sphuraṇam) in the eastern direction (harer āśayaḥ). Or she has a slight appearance of desire for Kṛṣṇa, but not an actual desire. She should produce another form. Seeing the moon, or considering Candrāvalī, who can tolerate this? One can tolerate her on earth, but all will discover her malice. Therefore she should not criticize again. Let her be like that. Her relationship with Kṛṣṇa will be finished. It is not unsuitable that I hate her. What is tasty to eat, one takes and prepares. If someone produces occasions for taking things which are tasteless, then will one become angry or not at that person? Consider this and then tell me."

In this way she revealed the truth about prema.

Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi part 2

Viśvanātha Cakravartī comments on UN 3.37:

aprasūtikā iti | tāsāṁ puṣpodgamābhāvān nitya-vilāsārthaṁ yoga-māyayaiva sampāditatvāt -

“The gopīs never delivered babies because they have no menstruation. Yogamāyā arranged this to make them suitable for eternal enjoyment (by Kṛṣṇa. In this way they never get pregnant and Kṛṣṇa fulfills His status of dhīra lalita, who is niścinta, carefree).”

3.38| tac ca sat-kula-kanyānāṁ tāsāṁ stanādy-udghāṭanāsambhavād eva

Jīva Goswāmī: “A girl of good family does not have such fully developed breasts at the marriageable age.” This means that high class girls were married earlier than low caste girls.

manuṣya-deva-gandharvādi-janmāntaram ity arthaḥ | yad vā, martyā mānuṣyāḥ amartyā hariṇyādayaḥ | hiraṇyāṅgī haridvarṇā hariṇī-garbha-sambhavā iti bṛhad-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikokteḥ |

“Recent gopīs [that appear with Kṛṣṇa for the first time in His manifest pastimes] may appear from animal wombs, like for instance Hiranyāṅgī, who is mentioned in Śrī Rūpa Goswāmī’s Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa Gaṇoddeśa Dīpikā [101] as appearing from the womb of a deer. If that means she appeared from the deer as a human or a deer is not clear here but I suppose she was human still.”

Added to my blog of June 3, 2009

Viśvanātha Cakravartī Tika on UN 3.49-51 -

bhāvini rāmāvatāre rāma-saundarya-darśitvena prasiddhānāṁ daṇḍakāraṇya-vāsināṁ gopālopāsakānāṁ munīnām avaśyambhāvitvāt | na caitat kalpa-vṛtta-rāmāvatāra-gatā eva te munayo bhāviny api rāmāvatāre bhavitum arhantīti vācyam | etat-kalpa-vṛtta-śrī-kṛṣṇāvatāra eva teṣāṁ prāpta-gopikā-rūpatvena siddhatvāt siddhānāṁ punaḥ sādhakatvāyogāt | na ca maivaṁ bhaviṣyanti munaya iti vācyam | bhāvini kṛṣṇāvatāre rāsārmabhe antar-gṛha-gatānāṁ kṛṣṇa-viraheṇa deha-tyāgavatīnāṁ gopīnām avaśyambhāvitvāt | tās tarhi kā bhaviṣyanti etat-kalpa-vṛtta-muni-caryā eveti cen na | tāsāṁ siddha-dehatvena punar deha-tyāgāyogāt | yogamāyā eva deha-tyāgaṁ pratyāyayatīti cen na | siddhā api dehaṁ tatyajur iti prasiddher api jugupsitatvena tathā tat-karaṇāyogāt | tasmāt sādhaka-bhaktānām anantatvāt | pratikalpa eva te munayo’nye’nya eva bhavanti | ta eva kṛṣṇāvatāre navīnāṁ municaryo gopyas tāsām eva kāścid antar-gṛha-gatā dehaṁ tyajantīti 

“In the future again other sages will become attracted to Śrī Rāma’s beauty and take birth as gopīs in a future manifest pastime of Kṛṣṇa. Why can it not be the same sages? That is not possible because these sages/gopis attained perfection [siddhi] as they left their bodies in their houses when Kṛṣṇa lured them to the Rāsa-dance with His flute playing. It would be distasteful and impossible if siddhas would again turn into sādhakas.“ This means that the sādhakas who are promoted to Kṛṣṇa’s manifest pastimes for further training still have material bodies. These bodies must be of some higher quality because Viśvanātha Cakravartī earlier said that the material body cannot tolerate rāga, anurāga etc.”

Viśvanātha Cakravartī comments on UN 3.52-53 - 
bhaktāś ca trividhāḥ sva-vāsanānusāreṇa tal-līlā-parikarāṇāṁ śuddhānugatimanto’haṅgrahopāsanā-mayānugatimanto’nanugatimantaś ca | tatrādyāḥ kecid devāḥ śrīdāma-subalādīnāṁ priya-sakhāḥ | kāścid devyaś ca śrī-rādhādīnāṁ prāṇa-sakhyaḥ | tathā nanda-yaśodādīnām api sakhāyaḥ sakhyaś cānubhavan | dvitīyās teṣu tāsu ca prāviśan | droṇa-dharā-vasv-ādayo yathā nanda-yaśododdhavādiṣu tathā ṛṣayo’pi kecit go-vatseṣu vṛndāvanīya-pakṣiṣu ca | tṛtīyās tu tatra prādurbhāvābhāvenālabdha-manorathā eva babhūvur yathā lakṣmy-ādaya iti | tal-līlā-parikarānugatitām eva tat-prāpti-niyamanāt.

“There are three types of eternally beloveds of Kṛṣṇa in the heavenly planets – those who purely follow the līlā-parikaras (eternal associates of Kṛṣṇa)  according to their own vāsanās (spiritual aspirations), those who worship themselves as these associates (ahaṅgropāsanā) and those who do not follow Kṛṣṇa's associates. Some devatās in the first group become dear friends of Śrīdāma and Subal, while some Devis become hearts friends (prāṇa sakhīs) of gopīs like Śrī Rādhā while again others become friends or girlfriends of Nanda and Yaśodā etc. The second group enters (merges) into these associates of Kṛṣṇa, like Drona merged with Nanda, Dharā with Yaśodā and Vasu with Uddhava. Seers (ṛṣis) may also merge with the cows, calves, birds etc. of Vṛndāvana. The third group do not have their desires fulfilled (do not attain these associates) due to a lack of appearance (of the appropriate feeling and attitude), examples are Lakṣmī and others. The rule for attaining an associate of Kṛṣṇa is allegiance to him or her.”

yūthādhipātve‘py aucityaṁ dadhānā lalitādayaḥ |
sveṣṭa-rādhādi-bhāvasya lobhāt sakhya-ruciṁ dadhuḥ 

Though Lalitā, Viśākhā, Padmā and Śaibyā are capable of being leaders, because of their mood of serving other leaders like Rādhā, they have a taste as friends of leaders. Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi 3.61

Viśvanātha Cakravartī comments on UN 4.3 śrīmaj-jīva-gosvāmi-caraṇānāṁ vyākhyānāt rukmiṇy-ādīnāṁ hlādinī-śaktitve’pi na mahā-bhāva-rūpatvaṁ vraja-devīnāṁ śrī-rādhāyā evāṁśa-bhūtānāṁ mahā-bhāvāṁśa-rūpatve’pi mahā-bhāva-sāra-bhūta-mādana-bhāgābhāvān na mahā-bhāva-svarūpatvam | yathā nada-nadī-taḍāgādīnāṁ jalāśayatve’pi na jaladhitvam

“Rukmini and others, though being of the pleasure potency hlādinī śakti, do not have mahābhāva. The women of Vraja, particles of Rādhā, are particles of mahābhāva, but they are not the svarūpa of mahābhāva since they lack the essential portion of mahābhāva called mādana. Rivers, streams and ponds, though reservoirs of water, are not like the ocean.”

A bit hard to understand the simile with the ocean – it seems the pond has the same quality but not the same quantity as the ocean, so this simile would suggest the other gopīs also have mādana mahābhāva but just in a smaller amount, but that is not the case.

Viśvanātha Cakravartī comments on UN 4.5, which quotes the famous yathā rādhā priya viṣṇos verse, praising Śrī Rādhākuṇḍa - 

tataś ca viṣṇor vyāpakasya rādhāyā ātma-buddhi-dehendriyādikam āśliṣya sthitasya sataḥ kṛṣṇasya yathā rādhā priyā viṣṇor jala-sthala-sopāna-nikuñjodyāna-kusuma-phala-vihaṅgama-kūjitādiṣu snānāvagāhanāsana-śayana-vihāra-darśanāvaghrāṇāsvādana-śravaṇādibhir vyāpya sthitasya priyam | nanu tasyānyā api gopyaḥ priyāḥ śrūyante | satyam | kintu sarva-gopīṣu viṣṇoḥ prakaṭitānanta-prakāśatvena tā api sarvā āśliṣya sthitasyāpi tasyānta-vallabhātvaṁ lakṣayatīty āyātam | yato rādhikā-yūtha evāyaṁ modano na tu sarvataḥ [u.nī.15.176] iti | tad-yūthasya sarva-yūthebhya utkarṣam uktvā – sarva-bhāvodgamollāsī mādano’yaṁ parāt paraḥ | rājate hlādinī-sāro rādhāyām eva yaḥ sadā || [u.nī.15.219]

(The word Viṣṇu mentions in the śloka conventionally means ‘all-pervading’) “Just as Rādhā is dear to Kṛṣṇa who pervades and embraces Rādhā’s soul, intelligence, body and senses - her kuṇḍa is similarly dear to Kṛṣṇa (viṣṇoḥ), who pervades the water, steps, groves, gardens, flowers, fruits, birds and their cooing by bathing, sitting, reclining, playing, seeing, smelling, tasting and hearing at that kuṇḍa. “But it is heard that other gopīs are also dear to Kṛṣṇa.” That is true, but this is included in the verse as it says they are very dear to Him too (atyanta ballabha) as He pervades (embraces) them all too in innumerable manifestations (forms). Because it is said rādhikā-yūtha evāyaṁ modano na tu sarvataḥ: modana exists only in Rādhā’s group (Ujjvala-Nīlamani.15.176), her group is also the best of all groups.”

Viśvanātha Cakravartī comments on UN 4.47, which shows that Rādhā is Kṛṣṇa’s dearest sweetheart (kṛṣṇa priyāvalī mukhyā)- tvad-vapuṣaḥ pṛṣṭhādy-eka-pradeśā api dṛṣṭvā māṁ svastimantaṁ kurvanti tāsāṁ tādṛśāpāṅga-bhaṅgyo’pi neti bhāvaḥ

(Kṛṣṇa says:) “Even one part of Your body, like Your back, makes me happy, unlike the willful glances of them (the other gopis).”

Jīva Goswāmī quotes unknown śāstra in U.N. 5.11-

parakīyā dvidāḥ proktā paroḍhā kanyakā tathā yātrādi-niratāny oḍhā kulaṭā galita-trapā kanyā tv ajātopayamā salajjā nava-yauvanā

There are two kinds of parakīyās: the paroḍhā (married to another man) and the kanyakā (unmarried). The paroḍhā is engaged in worldly affairs, is unchaste and devoid of shame. The kanyā is not married, is shy and of fresh youth."

UN 5.94 - ced iyaṁ preyasā hātuṁ kṣaṇam apy atiduḥśakā |
parama-prema-vaśyatvān mādhavīti tadocyate ||

If Kṛṣṇa cannot give up his lover for even a moment because he is controlled by her prema, the svādhīna-bhartṛkā is called mādhavī.

UN 7.80- dhavam upekṣya kaṭhoram iyaṁ puraḥ parimalollasitā kila mādhavī |
śrayitum utkalikā-valitādbhutaṁ nanu bhavantam upaiti hali-priya

“This fragrant Mādhavī-vine ignored her hard husband to take shelter of a wonderful Kadamba tree.”

Tapan Dā at Rādhākuṇḍa

It is time again for the annual niyam sevā for Kartik in Rādhākuṇḍa and the village fills up again with Bengali Vaiṣṇavas for the month of intense bhakti practises. One of them is my senior Gurubrother Tapan Kumār Adhikārī, who has moved his residence from Ranchi to Asansol recently and travelled here with Viśvānanda Avadhūt. He is staying in Gadādhar Caitanya Mandir on the bank of Śyāmakuṇḍa. He went on Girirāja parikramā alone yesterday and is visiting me now in my kutir at Lalita Kund.

I ask him why Baba worshipped Śiva as Gopeśvara instead of Gopīśvara. He tells me the story of how the gopīs worshipped Kātyāyanī Devi for a whole winter month, when they were just 6 years old and that Bābā considered Gopeśvara to be Kṛṣṇa. He will ask the answer to that question to Kumkum Da when he meets him during the upcoming festival for Bābā’s viraha. Bābā said that Madan Gopāl is spreading out His hand (as Laḍḍu Gopāl) because he begs for the loving gifts of His devotees, the gifts of prema sevā. I ask him if I do not commit aparādha by preaching Bābā’s glories – they are confidential and those who do not understand may criticise him. Bābā himself was also averse to preaching. Tapan Dā quotes Bābā saying that the elephant will walk on even if the dogs may bark around him. He also says that the śiṣya can attract people to the Guru by his strong sādhana and preaching of rāgānugā bhakti, something which Krishna Di and Niranjan Babu both told me too, independently, more than 10 years ago. The flower spreads its sweet fragrance to the connoisseurs who are ready to appreciate it.

I ask if the story of Bābā seeing the sādhus at night when he was deciding whether to marry or to stay celibate (see Satīnāth Datta’s hagiography of Sādhu Bābā on madangopal.com) was a real story or a divine vision. Tapan Dā says, as I expected, it was a divine vision. He says about the story that Bābā was immersed in the Gangā while Jñāna Dā went shopping that it was Bābā's own wish, so He could do his sādhana in peace.

Tapan Dā tries to convince me to come with him to Navadwip, very embarrassing because I am so attached to Rādhākuṇḍa that I just want to stay here. I beg him and the didis forgiveness. Tapan Dā tells me some surprising details about himself. He is only 52 years old, 3 years younger than me even, and joined in 1983, a year after me too. He is a brahmin from Katwa (Mau Gram), whose family has been worshipping Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa vigraha for the last 300 years. His father, following kula-prathā (family tradition) took dīkṣā from Ānanda Gopāl Goswāmī, so Tapan Dā was not a newcomer to the family. He will get a pension at 60 and he will try to make a kutir at Rādhākuṇḍa at that time.