Phone sanga (9)

Bhakta: "You said you chant the mahā-mantra to relief Rādhārāṇī from the pangs of separation from Kṛṣṇa. But She is not always in separation from Him."

Advaitadas: "Yes but there is also something called Prema Vaicittya, when Rādhārāṇī feels separation from Kṛṣṇa even while sitting on His lap. Viśvanātha Cakravartī gives very intricate explanations in his Ujjval Nīlamaṇi tikas of how viraha and milana are intertwined. There is also the anticipation of separation. Rādhārāṇī knows that soon Her union with Kṛṣṇa will be over and She will suffer separation again. So there is separation, fear of separation or the illusion of separation. That is especially so in parakīya rasa but even in svakīya rasa - remember the story of Rukmiṇī fainting like a banana tree when Kṛṣṇa jokingly told her He was going to leave her (S.Bhāgavat 10.60). They are legally married and they can spend all day together, yet even then there is the anticipation of separation. It is of course not realistic to only chant the holy name in the times of the day (in aṣṭakālīya līlā) when Rādhārāṇī happens to be separated from Kṛṣṇa."

Bhakta: "So you increase the union by reminding her of separation by chanting? The union becomes more intense when you produce an extra form of Kṛṣṇa by chanting His name?"

Advaitadas: "Sounds interesting, but time will tell if this is actually siddhānta in the sense of yukti and śāstra. What does sound reasonable to me is that when you chant Rādhārāṇī will remember that you were chanting that to Her during times of separation and She may get the apprehension of separation. Another explanation is that the separation-scenario depicted by Dās Gosvāmī may not be the only scenario in which the holy name is to be chanted, because its totally unacceptable that there is any situation in the līlā where the chanting would be unsuitable. Finally there is of course the possibility that this famous mahā mantra vyākhyā is not actually written by Raghunāth Dās Gosvāmī (God save us - where will it end?)"

Bhakta: "In Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa's commentary on the Vedanta Sūtra it is mentioned that one can have 1020 siddha svarūpas and some (Śaṅkara, Rāmānuja) comment on that, saying it means unlimited."

Advaitadas: "That could mean that we, as liberated jīvas, can also, like the svarūpa-śakti, participate in the līlās in all the material and spiritual universes. Nevertheless, all the Gosvāmīs have mentioned that we should meditate on a single siddha svarūpa. In our lineage we follow that siddhānta and sādhana of a single svarūpa, in allegiance to the previous ācāryas. Sādhu Bābā argued that one cannot meditate on so many svarūpas since our mind is only one, and the śāstras constantly say that the svarūpa is created by constant meditation on it."

Bhakta: "So the siddha is rendering different services in different universes?"

Advaitadas: "At the time of siddha praṇālī one gets one particular service from the Guru, though throughout the day one may be required to render other services too. Some services, like making garlands or making the bed, cannot be practised all day long. Of course we discussed before that one can just watch the līlā too, as a service, but in Caitanya Caritāmṛta (Madhya 22.155) Mahāprabhu also told Sanātan Gosvāmī -

mane nija siddha deha koriyā bhāvan; 

rātri dine vraje rādhā-kṛṣṇera sevan' 

'Mentally serve Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa in Vraja day and night, in your siddha deha'.

The service you get from the Guru is your main service, your expertise, but need not be the only thing required of you to do. I have not considered the possibility of being engaged in different universes simultaneously, though, not even if my service would be the same everywhere. But to be a monkey in Rām-līlā and at the same time a mañjarī in Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa līlā is not something I have learned from my Guru, or which I have read anywhere in the Gosvāmīs' books. Viśvanātha Cakravartī's famous comment on Bhagavad Gītā 2.41 comes to mind -

"The instructions that my Gurudeva has given me about hearing, chanting, smaraṇa, pāda-sevanam, etc. of Śrī Bhagavān are my very practise, my very goal and my very life. I am unable to give them up in either the stage of practise or perfection. My single desire and only engagement is to follow them. Besides this, I have no other desire or engagement, even in my dreams. There is no loss for me, whether by following these instructions I attain happiness or misery, or whether my material life is destroyed or not."

vyavasayātmika buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana -"A one pointed mind means a fixed intelligence." bahu śākhā hyanantaśca 'But when you are many-branched, or unlimitedly interested' buddhaya avyavasāyinam - 'This is not a fixed intelligence."

Bhakta: (Quotes various songs and verses depicting the sakhīs apparently witnessing Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa kuñja līlā). You said the mañjarīs have access where the sakhīs don't, but it is mentioned that the sakhīs have access too."

Advaitadas: "Rādhārāṇī feels embarrassed when the sakhīs see Her in an undressed state, but they are also sakhīs, girlfriends, you know. They are not strangers and they are also not stupid - they know what is going on in the kuñja. But the mañjarīs' superiority in intimacy is described in Vraja Vilāsa Stava (38) prāṇa-preṣṭha sakhī-kulād api kilāsaṅkocita bhūmikā - Even Her heart's friends cannot enter into that - asaṅkocita bhūmikā - but the mañjarīs are the abodes of Her complete confidence. sakhīnāṁ lajjayā (Vilap Kusumanjali 92) - "Rādhā feels shy before Her sakhīs." All this evidence is there. Having said all this, the sakhīs are not strangers to Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa's pastimes either - each mañjarī serves in the Yūtha (party) of a certain sakhī - devotees of Nityānanda under Lalitā and devotees of Advaita under Viśākhā. Elsewhere in the Stavāvalī, (Sva Saṅkalpa Prakāśa Stotram) Raghunāth Dās Gosvāmī, as Tulasī Mañjarī, offers prayers to each of the eight sakhīs. In Vilāpa Kusumāñjali (99) there is a prayer to Viśākhā sakhī just after verse 92, which describes how Rādhārāṇī is shy before the sakhīs.  That all proves that the sakhīs are not outsiders, but not complete insiders either. The sakhīs are intimate and the mañjarī are very intimate with Rādhā."


Bhakta: "In the paddhatīs of Gopāl Guru and Dhyānacandra it is mentioned that the mother of Rasa Mañjarī is named Līlā Mañjarī. How can a bud (mañjarī) become a mother?"

Advaitadas: "Good question. Maybe she is a retired mañjarī who got married and had children (laughs). Seriously, I have no idea. Maybe here mañjarī is a surname, like so many ladies in India that are named Goswāmī. I can only give this general answer:

1. In the Advaita Parivāra we do not follow such paddhatīs.
2. In any case we don't spy on the neighbors, in the sense that it is not vital information for our sādhana.

There are many opinions out there. Related to this, there are some who say that the mañjarī don't even have a yoni (female organ) because they do not render intimate services to Kṛṣṇa anyway. Others say that the cowherd boys also don't have liṅgas (male organs). I think that this is complete nonsense. There is no need for functionality in the causeless world. In the material world one should engage in sex only functionally, for procreation, or else face the karma-bill, but such laws do not exist in the spiritual world. Kṛṣṇa is just having fun and He never needs to pay His bills. The manifestation of nitya līlā is of course completely human, despite the karma-exemption."

Bhakta: "Is separation higher or union?"

Advaitadas: "That is an ever-ongoing debate. I can find evidence on both sides. Those who preach that separation is the highest quote this verse:

saṅgama-viraha-vikalpe varam iha viraho na tu saṅgamas tasya

ekaḥ sa eva saṅge tribhuvanam api tanmayaṁ virahe

“Of the duality of union and separation I still prefer separation, not union with Him. When I am united with Him I see Him in a single form, but when I am separated from Him I see the three worlds filled with Him only.” (Padyāvalī, 239)

Kuntī-devī prays in the Bhāgavata (1.8.25) "Let us always be in trouble because then we will always think of you. When we have fun we will forget You."

Those who preach the supremacy of meeting quote:

nikuñja yūno rati keli siddhyai yā yālibhir yuktir apekṣanīya

tatrāti dakṣād ati ballabhasya vande guroḥ-śrī caraṇāravindam

"Sri Guru is very expert in arranging for the meeting of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa in the nikunjas."

Generally mañjarīs' mission is to accomplish the meeting of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. I wonder if there is any ultimate answer to the question whether separation or union is higher, and I wonder if it makes any difference to the residents of the spiritual sky."

Bhakta: "Many of these descriptions of services rendered to Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa appear very self-centered."

Advaitadas: "Yes, the false ego of ego-centrism in the material world gets transformed to a pure ego of servant-hood, as you know, but even then one remains self-centered, be it in a devotional manner. When you talk to your Guru you also consider yourself to be the center of his attention. In his commentary on Vilāpa Kusumāñjali, verse 17, Śrīla Ānanda Gopāl Gosvāmī gives the example of Tulasī Mañjarī getting kicked on the arm by Swāminījī and then proudly going from kuñja to kuñja to show off the lac-mark on her arm. There is no more false ego left then, though. "āmrā rāi-er abhimāna" It is the self-esteem of 'we belong to Rāi (Rādhā)'. "

Bhakta: "Some say that jīva śakti can turn into svarūpa śakti."

Advaitadas: "Not as far as śāstra is concerned. On the other hand, having spoken all this śāstra, ultimately we are all out there, standing shoulder to shoulder with Lalitā, Viśākhā and all the other members of the svarūpa śakti, and it's not that we are aware of who is jīva and who is svarūpa śakti while we render our services. It's not that we all carry ID cards on our chests like members of a conference or of a security guard. Ontologically speaking the distinction is there forever, but not in the līlā and sevā."

Bhakta: "Can vaidhi bhakti cause greed?"

Advaitadas: "Greed is the impetus of rāgānugā bhakti and is caused by the grace of Kṛṣṇa and His devotees. Vaidhi bhakti itself cannot cause greed."

Bhakta: "How can we feel separation from someone we never met?"

Advaitadas: "Though we neither fell from the spiritual world, nor is prema dormant within the heart, we do belong to Kṛṣṇa (mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūta sanātana) and the potential for loving Kṛṣṇa is with us as well. You get acquainted with Kṛṣṇa by reading śāstra. You then realise how attractive Kṛṣṇa is and start missing Him. It cannot be compared with material relationships. Take pūrva-rāga - Rādhārāṇī is attracted to the name of some boy, the sound of His flute and His picture and misses Him before even meeting Him. That is beautifully described in Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmīpāda's Vidagdha Mādhava-drama. pūrva-rāga is one of the four types of separation from Kṛṣṇa. Attraction increases to the point of feeling separation, though you have not really met Him before. But as I say, this is a spiritual thing. Meditation on Kṛṣṇa is meeting Kṛṣṇa Himself- taṁ sākṣāt pratipedire (Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu)."

Bhakta: "The caves of Govardhana Hill are described as places for Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa to enjoy. That is pretty rough."

Advaitadas: "In the Bhāgavata (10.24.24) Kṛṣṇa says -

na naḥ puro janapadā na grāma na gṛhā vayam; 

nityam vanaukasas tāta vana śaila nivāsinaḥ

"Dad, there are neither cities nor territories nor villages nor houses in our possession. We always dwelled in the forest, woodlands and on mountains." Jīva Gosvāmī comments: nityaṁ vanaṁ na kadāpyanyatra prayāma "Eternal means that we never go anywhere else." That is quite the opposite of some of the jewelled palaces we see in other līlā granthas. As for the caves, I am sure the mañjarī will make nice arrangements inside with a soft flower-floor, nice pictures, lamps, incense, a sandal fire for warmth and so. But basically the idea of making love in a cave is extremely romantic. Extreme mādhurya. Intriguingly, if you go now to Mt. Govardhan you will not find caves there. Perhaps they were shut in due course of time or they only exist in the nitya līlā, who knows?"


Bhakta: "Other sampradāyas worship Candravali."

Advaitadas: "In Raghunāth Dās Gosvāmī's Vraja Vilāsa Stava (40) Candrāvali is praised for increasing Rādhārāṇī's fortune, great pride, ecstatic bewilderment and other characteristics of an amorous heroine. Ultimately the vipakṣa (enemies) are another group of sakhīs (Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi Hariballabha 1-2). They can never break Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa's relationship permanently. māna (jealous anger) can cause Swāminījī to storm out on Kṛṣṇa but that will never last long. Anger, jealousy - this is all prema-rasa. It flatters Kṛṣṇa's ego if the girls fight over Him."


Bhakta: "How do we know which statements in śāstra are exaggarated?"

Advaitadas: "Primarily through their authorized commentaries. Insincere people should not get the opportunity to play down the verdict of śāstra to find an excuse for sense enjoyment. Apart from that, it is a matter of adhikāra. If you would tell a new bhakta that some things are exaggerated you may destroy his/her faith in the bud. More experienced devotees, who have deep taste and realizations and firm faith can make such distinctions though. Nanda Mahārāja thought all the stories about Kṛṣṇa's miracles were exaggerated - he would never accept that He is the Supreme Lord. That is his mādhurya jñāna and his high level of adhikāra."

25 ২৫

Sādhu Bābā shortly after he gave me diksa, on his 48th birthday anniversary in Navadvip, October 1982

It is often said that the day of your initiation is the day of your new, spiritual birth. In that case it is my 25th birthday today, though my material body is already 51. The closest statement I can find in śāstra to confirm this belief is

dīkṣā kāle bhakta kore ātma samarpana; 

sei kāle kṛṣṇa tāte kore ātma sama. 

sei deha kore tār cid-ānandamoy; 

aprākṛta dehe tar caraṇa bhajoy 

from Caitanya Caritāmṛta 4.192-193. "At the time of initiation the devotee surrenders him/herself. At that time Kṛṣṇa considers that devotee to be equal to Himself. He grants the devotee a transcendental body through which the devotee can worship His lotus feet." Śrīla Kṛṣṇadās Kavirāja then quotes the following verse from the Bhāgavata (11.29.34) to illustrate it:

martyo yadā tyakta-samasta-karmā 

niveditātmā vicikīrṣito me

tadāmṛtatvaḥ pratipadyamāno 

mayātma-bhūyāya ca kalpate vai 

"If a mortal person gives up all social duties to surrender unto Me, I grant that person immortality and My personal service." Of the ṭīkās, Śrī Viśvanātha's is the most interesting. He explains: niveditātmā mat-svarūpa-bhūyāya man-mantropadeśakāya gurave -"Surrendering one's self means surrendering to the dīkṣā-Guru". Then he quotes a śloka from an unknown source:

yo’haṁ mamāsti yat kincid iha loke paratra ca 

tat sarvaṁ bhavato nātha caraṇeṣu samarpitam

"Whoever I am and whatever I have, either in this world or in the other, all that, O Lord, I offer unto Your lotus feet."

ātma-bhūyāya sva-bhṛtyai "ātma bhūya means attaining the Lord's servanthood."
phalaṁ tu premavat pārṣadatvam "The result is prema and becoming the Lord's personal associate."

In the week preceding my dīkṣā I had been interviewing Bābā with the help of Bābā's disciple Nivedita Bannerji (now living at Rādhākund under the name 'Haripriyā Mā'). This lady was the only person present who knew both English and Bengali, so she was of crucial importance. Because Bābā was scheduled to return to Navadvīp on September 27 and was said not to visit Vraja more than once a year, I was compelled to make a snap decision on taking dīkṣā. Moreover, I was unsure if my visa would be extended to last another year. On September 24 I had resolved to take dīkṣā and expressed my application to sister Nivedita, who told Bābā.  It was an exciting moment, because Bābā thought for a while before he decided to give me dīkṣā. In those days traditional Vaiṣṇavas were very suspicious of westerners (with some reason) and were very cautious about giving them dīkṣā.  Only 2-3 Gurus had so far agreed to give them dīkṣā, so it was far from guaranteed. Besides, the Haribhakti Vilāsa (chapter 1) says that Guru and śiṣya must test each other for 1 year (brāhmin), 2 years (kṣatriya), 3 years (vaiśya) and 4 years (śūdra), so where would that even leave a westerner? So it was a great relief when Bābā said yes. He will give it tomorrow. Later that same afternoon I hear that Bābā wants to postpone it to September 27, the day of his departure back to Navadvipa. Many years later, in 2000, I learned that 25-9-82 was a bad constellation, mūlā, while the 27th was an auspicious one, uttarāṣāḍhā. Baba was so kind to give me a good launching-pad for my bhajan!

I was also asked to hand in a notebook for Bābā to write the mantras and other instructions in. I asked him to give me a new name on that day. This was also kind of special, because new names are generally only given when devotees take sannyāsa, as we can see in the pastimes of Gaurāṅga f.i.

I received a number of photos to install on my altar - one of Bābā, one of Advaita Prabhu and one of Rādhā-Madangopāl, the deities of Jyetha Mahāśoy (Bābā's elder brother Govinda Gopāl Gosvāmī).

On september 26 I begged 15 Rs dakṣiṇā (alms for the Guru) from two friends in Vṛndāvan and early on Monday, 27th september, I took a bath in the Yamunā (Bābā had asked me to do so) and put on a neat dhoti (normally I walked around in short white rags in those days). At Bihārījī Mandir I bought a flower garland and then proceeded to Advaita Bhavan. I arrived a bit early because Bābā had to bathe still. After bathing Bābā took me into the back room, blinded the windows and whispered two dīkṣā-mantras in my right ear. After that he also gave me the mahā mantra, which he called tārak brahma nāma. This was also extraordinary - Bābā normally first gave only harināma and only six months later mantra, but he gave me mantra at once, while I was even just a westerner, and then harināma afterwards. I had to repeat each word of each mantra three times over. After this he made tilaka on the twelve designated places on my body with the emblem of the Advaita-parivāra. My friend Rādhā Ramaṇa had previously told me how it looks and now Bābā confirmed it in deed: A stem on the forehead and a Banyan-leaf on the nose. After that Bābā took a Tulasī-mālā in the hand to put around my neck, but when he saw that I already had one he left it. Bābā had already written the dīkṣā-mantras in my notebook in both Bengali and English, adding to it: "Your present name is Adwaita dasji Maharaj". The dīkṣā consisted of just two Kṛṣṇa-mantras, as I had expected, the two mantras that are actually mentioned in the śāstras. I asked Bābā what the rules for an initiated devotee are, and he told me: ‘Eat pure, be chaste and don’t drink’ (this is just a rough, concise translation of a more elaborate sermon Bābā gave me). I offered Bābā the flower garland I bought, but it was entangled, and I failed to unravel it, so I just left it like that on the floor. Then I gave him the Rs.15 guru dakṣiṇā that I managed to collect but he did not want to accept it. Instead he said, in English: "I don't need this. I want your heart." This is also not a usual reaction for a poor Indian sādhu vis a vis a rich westerner. I left the money at his feet. Bābā also said: “Our caste distinction is based on the body, not on the soul.” I received a Bengali folder with an arcanā paddhatī that explained the rites for practising the mantras. I also asked Bābā for siddha praṇālī, but he found that too early. Before leaving for Navadvīpa, Bābā told me: “If you have any questions about bhajan then ask my elder brother.”

The family's Vṛndāvana-residence is in Patthar Purā, in the north of town. Patthar Purā means "stone city", the place in Vṛndāvana that delivered the stones to build Rūpa Gosvāmī's Govinda Mandir, which is just down the road from there. I received my mantras at the base of the Yogapīṭh, Śrī-Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s mystical meeting place.

Phone Sanga (8)

Bhakta: "Are you sure that westerners are not qualified for sannyāsa?"

Advaitadas: "In Mādhurya Kādambini a symptom of a beginner is called utsāha, enthusiasm. This is not the same enthusiasm which is hailed by Rūpa Gosvāmī in his Upadeśāmṛta, because the latter is connected with dhairya, patience, and niścaya, determination. That is a much higher level. In the scale of reincarnation westerners are totally new to this Vedic culture. You see they are much more enthusiastic than an average Indian Vaiṣṇava, but this wears off, and it may not wear off in a few minutes, but it can take 10-15 years. We are so new to this that we think 15 years is an 'old' devotee, so we give such an 'old' western devotee sannyāsa and within a few years he is back out on the street again, because his was, still, merely utsāha. There is purity but it does not have deep roots. There is no saṁskāra of this life, what to speak of the previous life. That is why the Vedas only allow born brahmins to take sannyāsa - even low caste Indians are a risk, let alone a westerner."

Bhakta: "The Vṛndāvana Mahimāmṛta (1.54) says "The entire festival of the Lord's bliss is only a drop compared to the joy the sakhīs experience when they stare at the ocean of pastimes of Rādhā's hero (Kṛṣṇa)." So their joy is greater than the Lord's and everyone else's together?"

Advaitadas: "This is a glorification. The very name of this book says it all -mahimāmṛta - glorification. In the same book (2.15) it is said that "If someone will tell me to leave Vraja I will certainly kill him (hanmyavaśya), and if my Guru tells me to leave Vṛndāvan I will reject my Guru." Well, Narottama was told by his Guru to leave Vraja and he submissively left Vraja. Can you imagine? There are so many people - your relatives or the Indian Govt - who may tell you to leave Vraja - would you kill them for it? Some verses must be read with the heart rather than with the brain. They are cries of love. These are super-subjective statements and interpretations of love - AbsoluteTruth vs Absolute Fact. Rational analysis of this is like pushing a square peg into a round hole. In understanding these statements, change just one letter in the word 'literal' and come to 'liberal'. This is not undevotional or anti-devotional."

Bhakta: "How does the holy name enter the ears?"

Advaitadas: "The holy name is the sound form of the Lord. You associate with Kṛṣṇa in a sound form."

Bhakta: "So I associate with Rādhā when I chant Hare and with Kṛṣṇa when I chant Kṛṣṇa?"

Advaitadas: "In our concept (the one of Śrīla Raghunātha Dās Gosvāmī) the whole mantra is about Kṛṣṇa, but even if Hare meant Rādhā, there is the verse 'rādhā pūrṇa śakti - kṛṣṇa pūrṇa śaktimān; dui vastu bheda nāi' (CC) 'Rādhā is the supreme energy and Kṛṣṇa the supreme energetic. There is no difference between the two." Your conception will depend on the explanation the Guru gives of the mantra, but the presence of the Lord will always be there, regardless of the angle of vision. Nectar appears in the mouth while chanting, that is the proof - abhinna nāma nāmino -there is no difference between the Name and the Named. Only on the level of bhāva-bhakti you can see Them in the Names, but otherwise you can taste Them still. Even ordinary devotees often have the experience that they cannot stop chanting because it is so nice. A Guru-given interpretation of the words of the mahā mantra is required, as well as a peaceful concentrated mind. We chant in mañjarī bhāva, trying to save Śrī Swāminījī's life by chanting the names of Kṛṣṇa,  lest She dies of separation."

Bhakta: "Is relishing Kṛṣṇa's sweetness a side-effect of devotional service?"

Advaitadas: "We have to analyse the meaning of the word bhakti. It is sometimes translated as 'devotional service', implying that it needs to be some hard labour. Actually it means 'devotion', and Rūpa Gosvāmī has listed 64 items of it, of which just some of them are hard labour. Many items, like tasting (actually honouring) prasāda, seeing the deities, tasting Tulasī-leaves, smelling incense, are certainly not hard labor, but they are acts of worship just as well."

Bhakta: "Yes, but what about the verse hṛśīkena hṛśīkeśa sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate? (Serving Kṛṣṇa with the senses is called bhakti)?"

Advaitadas: "There are jñānendriya (knowledge-acquiring senses) and karmendriya (active senses). It is not that Kṛṣṇa can only be served with the active senses, and bhakti consists only of loading sankīrtan-vans and mopping the floor of the temple-building. Maharaja Ambarīṣa served Kṛṣṇa with his eyes by seeing the deity, through his nose by smelling offered Tulasī-leaves and through his tongue by tasting prasāda, na tu kāma kāmyaya - 'But not for his own gratification'. (SB 9.4.18-20). In Vilāpa Kusumāñjali (76) Tulasī Mañjarī prays just for the vision of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa's pastimes. In his explanations, Śrīla Ānanda Gopāl Gosvāmī quotes Swāminījī saying: “Tulasi! Aren’t you doing anything?” Tulasī – “Do we have to serve all the time? Now we cannot serve – You found Yourself a good decorator now! (In this verse Kṛṣṇa decorates Rādhikā) Let the ocean of our bliss surge as we watch Him perform this service!” Watching is an act of dedication. A non-devotee would not bother watching it, but a devotee is interested, and that is pleasing to Kṛṣṇa - anukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā. In the material context it is the same - if someone gazes at you with love and admiration, that will certainly please you. The only thing that counts is dedication."

Bhakta: "In Vṛndāvana Mahimāmṛta trees of wine are mentioned. Is this poetry, glorification or real time?"

Advaitadas: "I think it is all of this. Wine is liquid, not solid, but in the spiritual world that should not be impossible. Jesus walked over water in the material world, and when you freeze water it becomes solid (ice), too. Vai-kuṇṭha means there is no limitation."

Bhakta: "Are the assistents of the 8 sakhīs like Lalitā also celibate, like Rādhā's maidservants, or do they indulge with Kṛṣṇa?"

Advaitadas: "I don't know, and the identity of these sakhīs or mañjarīs is also not really clear to me. Some devotees have elaborated on the eight sakhīs' kuñjas at Rādhākuṇḍa and have ascribed eight assistants to each of the eight sakhīs and then these 64 assistants may have again 8 assistants. Such assistants are called upasakhīs, though, not mañjarīs. I once joked about it that such coronas of lotus-like kuñjas may extend up to Sūryakund or Kośī."

Bhakta: "Well, it is said in śāstra that all the universes fit into a single corner of Vrajamaṇḍala, so why not?"

Advaitadas: "Just joking. The point is that my Guru emphasised simplicity. Such endless coronas may be there, but we don't spy on the neighbors. We have enough to do ourselves - 8 - 64 - 512 - 4096 kuñjas, and so it may go on. Let it go on."

Bhakta: "Mañjarī bhāva is directly taught by Mahāprabhu?'

Advaitadas: "It is briefly described by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and more elaborately by Śrīla Raghunāth Dās Gosvāmī, who had Mahāprabhu's Personal association for 16 long years in Puri. What actually took place in these years we don't know, but the Caitanya Caritāmṛta speaks of antaraṅga sevā, Raghunātha rendering intimate services to Svarūpa Dāmodāra there. Since Svarūpa Dāmodara's notebooks are lost we may never know what that actually means. But the Gosvāmīs are of course totally empowered and endorsed by Mahāprabhu, so we see Mañjarī Bhāva as His personal gift to us."

Bhakta: "If Kṛṣṇa's ornaments are beautified by His limbs then why should He wear ornaments at all?"

Advaitadas: "In Śrīla Ānanda Gopāl Gosvāmī's comments on Vilāpa Kusumāñjali Rādhikā asks Tulasī Mañjarī: "Why put lipstick on My lips if they are anyway so beautiful?' Tulasī replies that the lipstick will look good on an indigo background (Kṛṣṇa's cheeks). Similarly the red lac on Her feet looks good on Kṛṣṇa's head, etc. I do believe that the ornaments have some decorating effect in themselves, though. Besides, we must remember that these are not ordinary metals, stones and flowers -they are manifestations of the internal potency's sandhinī śakti, transcendental items. Just as the love of Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs constantly enhance each other (hurāhurī), so it is with the beauty of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa's limbs and Their ornaments. It is not that the ornaments will dim the splendour of Their limbs either.

Śrī-Śrī Rādhāṣṭamī

rādhā karāvacita pallava ballarīke

rādhā padāṅka vilasan madhura sthalīke

rādhā yaśo mukhara matta khagāvalīke

rādhā bihāra bipine ramatāṁ mano me

( Rādhā Rasa Sudhānidhi - 14)

This is probably Sādhu Bābā's favorite verse of Rādhā Rasa Sudhānidhi, and the verse through which he first introduced me to  Rādhā Rasa Sudhānidhi. In English it says:

"My mind rejoices in the play-forest of  Rādhā,  where all the vines and leaves are touched by  Rādhā's hands, where the place is sweetened by the playful footsteps of  Rādhā and where the birds madly sing about the fame and glory of  Rādhā."

Pada by Ghanaśyām Dās:

Rāgiṇī Kalyāṇī - Tāla Daśa Kusi

BHĀDRA ŚUKLĀṢṬAMĪ TITHI, VIŚĀKHĀ NAKṢATRA TATHI,

ŚRĪMATI JANAMA SEI KĀLE

MADHYA DINA GATA RAVI, DEKHIYĀ BĀLIKĀ CHABI,

JAYA JAYA DEI KUTŪHOLE

"On the eighth day of the bright lunar quarter in the month of Bhādra, during the Viśākhā constellation Śrīmati took birth. When the sun had passed midday and they saw the luster of the little girl the people eagerly sang "Jaya Jaya!"

VṚṢABHĀNU PURE,     PRATI GHARE GHARE,

JAYA RĀDHE ŚRĪ RĀDHE BOLE

KANYĀRA CĀṄDA MUKHA DEKHI,     RĀJĀ HOILĀ MAHĀ-SUKHĪ,

DĀNA DEI BRĀHMAṆA SAKALE

"In every house in Vṛṣabhānupura the shouts of Jaya Rādhe! Śrī Rādhe! resounded. Seeing his daughter's moonlike face, Vṛṣabhānu Mahārāja became very happy and gave donations to the local brāhmaṇas."

NĀNĀ DRAVYA HASTE KORI, NAGARERA YOTO NĀRĪ,

ĀILĀ SABHE KĪRTIKĀ MANDIRE

ANEKA PUṆYERA PHALE, DAIVA HOILĀ ANUKŪLE,

E HENO BĀLIKĀ MILE TORE

"Taking different presents in their hands all the women of the town came to the abode of Mother Kīrtidā (saying:) "As a result of great piety Fate became favorable to you, so that you have attained such a little girl!"

MODERA MONE HENO LOY, EHO TO MĀNUṢA NOY,

KON CHALE KEBĀ JANAMILĀ

GHANAŚYĀMA DĀSA KOY, NĀ KORIHO SAṀŚAYA,

KṚṢṆA PRIYĀ SADAYA HOILĀ

"We think that this is not a human being. Who has taking a hidden incarnation here?" Ghanaśyāma dāsa says: "Don't doubt it! Kṛṣṇa-priyā has become merciful (by appearing)!"

The ācāryas on immature bhajan

The commentaries on the Gītā's 'hypocrite'-verse (3.6) give a fascinating description of what can go wrong when one immaturely takes sannyāsa and starts / continues making a show of meditation. In our sampradāya one cannot help but think of immature persons who, either out of naive idealism or for material benefits, settle full-time in a holy place like Rādhākund to start 'meditating'. The Gītā-verse itself runs as follows:

karmendriyāṇi saṁyamya ya āste manasā smaran

indriyārthān vimūḍhātmā mithyācāraḥ sa ucyate

'He who controls his active senses but whose mind dwells on sensual objects and is bewildered by them, is called a hypocrite."

Let us first relish Sridhara Swami's comments:

ato’jnaṁ karma-tyāginaṁ nindati karmendriyāṇīti vāk-pāṇy-ādīni karmendriyāṇi 

"The Lord here criticizes the ignorant who give up activities and control the active senses like the speech and hands."

saṁyamya bhagavad-dhyāna-cchalena indriyārthān viṣayān smarann āste 

'Controlling the senses means here: Making a show of meditating on the Lord while remembering sensual things.'

aviśuddhatayā manasā ātmani sthairyābhāvāt

'His impurity is caused by unsteadiness of the mind' (When the mind is not peaceful one will become active in the wrong way, A.d.)

sa mithyācāraḥ kapaṭācāro dāmbhika ucyata ity arthaḥ

"He is called a hypocrite or fraudster."

Madhusudan Saraswati comments in his tika:

yathā-kathancid autsukya-mātreṇa kṛta-sannyāsas tv aśuddha-cittas tat-phala-bhāṅ na bhavati yataḥ

"Simply due to some enthusiasm one takes sannyāsa with an impure mind. This will not yield the desired fruits."

yo vimūḍhātmā rāga-dveṣādi-dūṣitāntaḥ-karaṇa autsukya-mātreṇa karmendriyāṇi vāk-pāṇy-ādīni saṁyamya nigṛhya bahir-indriyaiḥ karmāṇy akurvann iti yāvat

"This verse speaks of the bewildered soul whose psyche is polluted by attachment and repulsion and simply out of some enthusiasm controls his external senses like speech and hands, not performing any external action."

manasā rāgādi-preritendriyārthān śabdādīn na tv ātma-tattvaḥ smarann āste 

"His minds remembers things, like sounds etc., he is attached or averse to, instead of remembering spiritual things." (The word 'sounds' is funny - it reminds me of all the agitation caused in the mind by the blasting loud all-night Bollywood Music in the holy places nowadays. I do know real saints, including Sādhu Bābā, though, who were / are completely undisturbed by that).

kṛta-sannyāso’ham ity abhimānena karma-śūnyas tiṣṭhati sa mithyācāraḥ sattva-śuddhy-abhāvena phalāyogyatvāt pāpācāra ucyate

He proudly thinks/says 'I have taken sannyāsa' and remains devoid of external activity, but he is a hypocrite. Because of a lack of viśuddha sattva he is unqualified for attaining the results of his activities and thus is called a sinner."


tvaṁ-padārtha-vivekāya sannyāsaḥ sarva-karmaṇām
 śrutyeha vihito yasmāt tat-tyāgī patito bhavet ity ādi-dharma-śāstreṇa 


Śrīpād Madhusūdan then quotes the Dharma Śāstra: "To attain the Supreme one must renounce all activities (sannyāsa). This is what the Śrutis command. Whoever gives this up is considered fallen."

প্রথম মিলন Pratham Milan - Silver jubilee

brahmāṇḍa bhramite kon bhāgyavān jīva;

guru kṛṣṇa prasāde pāy bhakti latā bīja

(Caitanya Caritamrita Madhya 19.151):

"Some soul wandering through the material world may be so fortunate to, by the grace of Guru and Kṛṣṇa, receive the seed of the creeper of devotion."

After searching for long, that moment came for me, 25 years ago today, in Vṛndāvana, as I first met my eternal Guru. I made these notes on it in my Indian diary - Vṛndāvana, Friday, September 10, 1982:

(In the preceding days my friend, compatriot and neighbor Rādhā Raman Dās, tried to help me find a Guru, so he had introduced me to some of the prominent Mahātmās of Vṛndāvana of the day, like Rohiṇīndranāth Mitra and Tinkuri Bābā. After introducing me to Tinkuri Gosvāmī, Rādhā Ramaṇa tells me there is another Gosvāmī in town, from Navadvīpa, who is a direct descendant of Advaita Prabhu. He had met him with Asurāri and Madhusūdan when he was in Navadvīpa last July and is named Nikuñja Gopāl Gosvāmī).

September 10, 1982 — Rādhā Raman brings me for the first darśana of Nikuñja Gopāl Gosvāmī as a candidate-guru, in a small house next to the bhajanāśrama, named "Śyāma Vinodini Kuñja". It is the same house where I met Govinda Gopāl Gosvāmī three months earlier; he turns out to be his elder brother. Bābā is corpulent and short, but very effulgent. He has a long beard, long jaṭās (dreadlocks) and huge Tulasī-beads around his neck. He is very happy to meet us. He calls out "Jay Rādhe! Jay Rādhe!" to greet us. It is love at first sight. We don’t stay long, since we don’t really know what to say (Rādhā Raman knows only little Bengali, I don't know anything yet at this point). Back outside I tell Rādhā Raman  "Wow, he's really amazing!" "I told you so!", Rādhā Raman says.

(It would take another 10 precious days before I met Bābā again, because I came down with dysenteria in between).


I found Bābā pretty much the in way he looks on the picture here.

A happy Janmāṣṭamī to all

pūtanā-vadhādi yata līlā kṣaṇe kṣaṇe
saba līlā nitya prakaṭa kare anukrame

ananta brahmāṇḍa, tāra nāhika gaṇana
kona līlā kona brahmāṇḍe haya prakaṭana

ei-mata saba līlā — yena gańgā-dhāra
se-se līlā prakaṭa kare vrajendra-kumāra

krame bālya-paugaṇḍa-kaiśoratā-prāpti
rāsa-ādi līlā kare, kaiśore nitya-sthiti

'nitya-līlā' kṛṣṇera sarva-śāstre koy
bujhite nā pāre līlā kemane 'nitya' hoy

dṛṣṭānta diyā kahi tabe loka yadi jāne
kṛṣṇa-līlā — nitya, jyotiścakra-pramāṇe

"Kṛṣṇa's pastimes are eternal, even the manifest ones - at each moment he is killing Pūtanā somewhere, and all His other pastimes are progressing somewhere at some point at this moment. There is no counting the number of universes, and in which universe Kṛṣṇa performs which pastime. In this way His pastimes flow like the course of the Ganges. At each point the son of Brajendra manifests one pastime or the other. It is like the sun who is traversing the sky and is always shining at one point in creation, though not everywhere at the same time. Wherever He performs His pastimes He grows from babyhood to boyhood to adolescence, where His age enters eternity."

Caitanya Caritamrita, Madhya 20. 379-384

Jīva manifestation of the svarūpa śakti?

I recently stumbled upon this interview with B.V. Tripurāri Swāmī on Audarya fellowship. It originally appeared on Swāmījī’s website on August 8, 2005:

Q. What is the relationship between the jīva (individual soul) and Kṛṣṇa's svarūpa-śakti, and where does the soul's attraction to a particular relationship with Kṛṣṇa come from?

A. Śrī Kṛṣṇa's svarūpa-śakti is his primary śakti, and thus all other śaktis have their origin in it. The svarūpa-śakti is constituted of sandhinī (eternal existence), samvit (complete spiritual knowledge), and hlādinī (joy). The jīva-śakti is a partial manifestation of the svarūpa-śakti and the māyā-sakti (illusory energy) is a distorted manifestation of it. Because the jīva is a partial manifestation of the svarūpa-śakti, it exists eternally, can know itself (brahma-jñāna), and has the capacity to experience the joy of brahmānanda. However, only when the jīva comes in contact with the svarūpa-śakti through the guru-paramparā can it realize its full potential to exist, know, and be happy. This is a potential that is not present in the māyā-śakti, as all manifestations of the māyā-śakti, including material knowledge and sense pleasure, are relative and fleeting, the latter ultimately only leading to greater degrees of suffering. In connection with the svarūpa-śakti, the jīva-śakti has the potential to experience an eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa,  as it is a partial manifestation of the svarūpa-śakti. When the jīva-śakti comes in contact with the svarūpa-śakti through the guru-paramparā, its dormant spiritual potential gradually awakens. "


With due respect to Swāmījī, the underlined sentences do not represent Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava siddhānta, and he is kindly invited to quote evidence for this from śāstra. Rather, in Caitanya Caritāmṛta Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu teaches Sanātan Gosvāmī (CC Madhya 20.108):

jīvera svarūpa hoy kṛṣṇera nitya dāsa; kṛṣṇera taṭastha śakti bhedābheda prakāśa

“The jīva’s real form is of an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, being Kṛṣṇa's intermediary energy, both different and non different from Him.”

Here the jīva is established as a certain distinct energy of the Lord. Later, in verse 111, Śrīman Mahāprabhu says:

kṛṣṇera svābhāvika tina śakti pariṇati; cicchakti, jīva-sakti, āra māyā śakti

"Kṛṣṇa naturally has three energies – the cognizant (internal, spiritual) energy, the jīva-energy and the illusory potency.”

The Lord then quotes the Viṣṇu Purāṇa:

viṣṇu śakti parā proktā kṣetrajñākhyā tathā parā; avidyā karma saṁjñānyā tṛtīyā śaktir iṣyate

“Lord Viṣṇu has three energies: “The supreme (internal, spiritual) energy, the field-knowing energy (the living entities) and the ignorant energy (māyā).”

It is nowhere stated that jīva śakti is a partial manifestation of svarūpa śakti. Wherever there is a discussion of the Lord's śaktis, jīva-śakti and svarūpa-śakti are mentioned as eternally separate. One also never becomes the other.

Preaching in perspective

Is preaching the greatest service? (contd.)

When Mahārāja Pratāparudra sang the Gopī Gītā to Śrīman Mahāprabhu (in Caitanya Caritāmṛta Madhya līlā ch. 14), the Lord exclaimed he was bhūri-da, a word mentioned in one of the verses of the gopīs (SB 10.31.9) the King had recited. This word is sometimes translated as "the most munificent", but that superlative 'most' is not mentioned in the original verse, which is thus sometimes used as evidence to prove that preaching is the greatest service. The word bhūri-da simply means 'great (bhūri) donor (da)', not the MOST munificent.


Liberating the whole world means ending the material world?

Vāsudeva Datta prayed to Mahāprabhu (CC Madhya 15.163) "Prabhu, free all living entities of the disease of material life". Mahāprabhu replied (171): "Simply by your desire the world will be released." But, that is not the end of the material world as a whole, because Mahāprabhu continues (172-174): "Just as one Uḍumbar-tree yields millions of seeds, millions of universes float in the water of the material cosmos. If one of these seeds is destroyed, what will be the loss to the tree? Similarly, if one universe is liberated, Kṛṣṇa won't feel such a petty loss."

Seeing things thus in their proper perspective should not at all discourage a preacher though - a preacher has compassion that should not reach for a target,a preacher should be compassionate without attachment - attachment either to the result of his/her preaching ("soon the job will be over when we have liberated the whole world"), or attachment to the prestige of rendering the greatest service. Preaching is a great service, but not the greatest. Service rendered with love is the greatest, that is all.

Jhulan Pūrṇimā

RĀGIṆĪ KALYĀṆĪ — TĀLA CAÑCU-PUṬA

(Chorus) ĀJU KUÑJE RĀDHĀ — MĀDHAVA JHULARI

(JHULARI JHULARI JHULARI JHULARI)

ĀJU KUÑJE RĀDHĀ — MĀDHAVA JHULARI

"Today Rādhā and Mādhava are swinging in the kuñja."

SAKHĪGAṆA MELI KOROTO GĀNA

GHANA GHANA MURALĪ ŚĀNA

LOCANE LOCANA TOḌAI MĀNA

NĀSĀYA VEŚARA LOLARĪ 

"The sakhīs meet and sing while the flute plays incessantly. Meeting eyes uproot pique and pearls dangle under Their noses."

HINDOLĀ RACITA KUSUMA PUÑJA

ALI KULA TĀHE VIHARE GUÑJA

SĀRI ŚUKA PIKA BEḌHALO KUÑJA

GHERI GHERI GHERI BOLARI

"The swing is made of lots of flowers and swarms of buzzing bees enjoy there. The female Śari-parrots, the male Śuka parrots and the cuckoos fly around in the kuñja, surrounding them and singing."

JHULANĀ DHAMAKE CAMAKE RĀI,

VIHASI MĀDHAVA DHARAI TĀI

ĀNANDE AVAŚA PARAŚA PĀI

CĀPI DHARAI KOLARI

"On the swing Rādhā is alarmed and scolds Mādhava, Who laughs and holds Her. He becomes overwhelmed with bliss when He touches Her and keeps Her pressed on His lap."

PRIYA SAHACARI ṬĀNAI ḌORI

ALASE AVAŚA HOILĀ GORI

GHUMĀOLO DHANI RASE VIBHORI

DĪNA KṚṢṆA DĀSA BOLARI

"The priya sakhīs pull the ropes of the swing and Gori Rāi becomes overwhelmed with fatigue. Dīna Kṛṣṇa dāsa sings: Absorbed in rasa Dhanī Rāi fell asleep."

Pure love for Kṛṣṇa is not dormant within the heart, but is an external gift

There is a widespread theory among Western Vaiṣṇavas that bhakti exists in a dormant state in the heart of the jīva. The upholders of this theory support their view by a verse from Caitanya Caritāmṛta, which runs as follows:

nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema 'sādhya' kabhu naya

śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya

“Love of Kṛṣṇa is eternally perfect, it is never merely produced by sādhana – when the heart is purified by hearing and so, it arises.”

However, the Caitanya Caritamrita (Madhya 19.151) says:

brahmāṇḍa bhramite kon bhāgyavān jīva, 

guru-kṛṣṇa prasāde pāy bhakti-latā bīja. 

“Wandering throughout the universe, some fortunate soul receives the seed of devotion, by the grace of Guru or Kṛṣṇa.” Every word is significant here - kon means “some”, not that everyone gets it. pāy means 'he/she gets', not that it's intrinsic – it’s coming from outside. prasāda means that it isn’t deserved, but is causeless grace. One cannot work in advance to attain it. Only in this way the verse nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema 'sādhya' kabhu naya can be understood. hlādinī is the missing ānanda in the svarūpa of the jīva and it is an external gift.

The verse nitya siddhasya bhāvasya from the Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu (1.2.2, quoted just before the nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema - verse in the Caitanya Caritāmṛta) confirms this - this nitya siddha bhāva is the goal, it is not to be achieved artificially. Jīva Goswāmī comments on B.R.S. 1.2.2: bhāvasya sādhyatve kṛtrimatvāt parama-puruṣārthatvābhāvaḥ sādityāśaṅkyāha—nityeti | bhagavac-chakti-viśeṣa-vṛtti-viśeṣatvenāgre sādhayiṣyamāṇatvād iti bhāvaḥ , i.e. “If bhāva is attained mechanically (kṛtrima means something that is not produced naturally or spontaneously) it cannot be the highest goal of life; in order to clear this doubt the verse says – nitya-siddhasya bhāvasya. The meaning is that in the first place (agre) it happens by a special function of the Lord's potency“. The word nitya siddha means nitya-siddha bhaktas according to Mukunda Goswami in his comment on this verse: nitya-siddha-bhakteṣu śuddha-sattva-viśeṣa-rūpatayā sadā vartamānasyātra svayaṁ sphuraṇān na kṛtrimatva-śaṅkā | ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ [bha.ra.si. 1.2.234] iti vakṣyamāṇatvāt | sādhana-bhaktir eva na kṛtrimā, kim uta bhāvaḥ  – “The pure sattva which is ever present in the nitya siddha devotees manifests itself and thus should not be seen as artificial. This can be seen in verse 1.2.234, ataḥ śrī kṛṣṇa nāmādi. Surely sādhana bhakti is not artificial, what to speak of bhāva.”

Jīva Gosvāmī comments on that Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu verse (1.2.234):

sevonmukhe hīti | sevonmukhe bhagavat-svarūpa-tan-nāma-grahaṇāya pravṛtta ity arthaḥ | hi prasiddhau | yathā mṛga-śarīraṁ tyajato bharatasya varṇitam | nārāyaṇāya haraye nama ity udāraṁ hāsyan mṛgatvam api yaḥ samudājahāra [bhā.pu. 5.14.45] iti | yathā ca gajendrasya jajāpa paramaṁ jāpyaṁ prāg-janmany anuśikṣitam [bhā.pu. 8.3.1] ity ādi 

“Sevonmukhe means one becomes inclined to chant the holy name of the Lord. The examples of Bharata in the deer-body, and Gajendra the elephant are very famous in this regard. They had animal tongues, but since they had a desire to chant the name of Kṛṣṇa, svayam eva sphuratyadaḥ - all this became spontaneously manifest.”

Bhakti is svarūpa-śakti and the jīva is taṭastha śakti. Therefore, bhakti cannot be intrinsic to the jīva. ānanda that comes with bhakti is a function of cic-chakti which manifests as sandhinī, samvit and hlādinī. bhaktyānanda is the hlādinī-aspect of cic-chakti. The Lord's ānanda is two-fold according to Jīva Gosvāmī's Prīti Sandarbha (66): svarūpānanda and svarūpa-śaktyānanda. The Lord Himself is depending on svarūpa-śaktyānanda (svarūpa-śaktyānanda-rūpa yadānanda-parādhīnaḥ śrī-bhagavān apīti). This ānanda is bhakti.

The Śruti quite clearly says that ānanda is not a property of the jīva: raso vai saḥ, rasam hy evāyam labdhvānandī bhavati, “God is verily rasa. If one attains rasa, one becomes blissful“. Apart from that, in the ānandamayādhikaraṇa of the Vedānta-sūtras, the ācāryas explain that the jīva is not ānandamaya. In the tika to the sūtra vikāra-śabdān neti cen na prācuryāt, Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa refutes the idea that the word ānanda-maya could be applied to the jīva (tasmad ānandamayo na jīvaḥ), and this is the case also in the liberated state which means non-existence of suffering (na cānandamaya-śabdena muktau duḥkhāpty-asadbhāvāj jīva iti vācyam).

In addition, commenting on the definition of the jīva as cid-ānandātmaka, Jīva Gosvāmī explains in Paramātma Sandarbha (29) that the jīva is not ānanda in the proper sense of the word: duḥkha-pratiyogitvena tu jñānatvam ānandatvaṁ ca ... ānandatvaṁ nirupādhi-premāspadatvena sādhayati. “Because the jīva is beyond misery it is said to be of the nature of consciousness and bliss ... The jīva attains bliss when it attains love of God.“ However, Jīva Goswāmī mentions the ānanda of the jīva in Prīti Sandarbha (Anu. 65): ato natarāṁ jīvasya svarūpānanda-rūpā, atyanta-kṣudratvāt. He says that it is extremely minute. However, one has to understand the statement in connection with the previous one, i.e. that the ānanda means just non-existence of misery.

If one argues “What about the verse jīvera svarūpa hoy kṛṣṇera nitya-dāsa from Caitanya Caritāmṛta (Madhya 20.108)? How to explain that in the light of bhāva not being inherent? The words nitya and svarūpa also imply inherence, after all.”

The answer to that will be: “The verse jīvera svarūpa hoy kṛṣṇera nitya-dāsa does not say that bhakti is inherent to the jīva. It just means that the jīva is a śakti of the Lord, and thus it is subordinate to Him who is the śaktimān, the Owner of the śakti. This relationship is eternal. It never was and will never be different. The verses subsequent to this one in Caitanya Caritāmṛta make the point clearly. The Bhagavad Gītā statement mad bhaktiṁ labhate paraṁ (18.54) “He attains My devotion and thus the Supreme” proves bhakti is not intrinsic but gotten (labhate) from outside.

The translation of the word udaya in the nitya siddha verse above should not be ‘awakened’, but ‘arises’, as prema is not dormant in the heart. If it were described in scripture as dormant it would have been called supta prema or nidrita prema, but such terminology does not exist at all in scripture."

"The point “Bhakti is svarūpa-śakti and the jīva is taṭastha śakti. Therefore, bhakti cannot be intrinsic to the jīva." was taken from Navadvip Das’ introduction to Bhakti Sandarbha, with thanks. Some of the quotes were contributed by Krishnadasa (that was more than a little help from my friend).

Phone sanga (7)

Bhakta: If God is all-powerful, is he able to change jīva śakti into svarūpa śakti?

Advaitadas: "No he is not. This is fixed, it is never created and is also never destroyed. It is nirvikāra, untransformable. By his mercy a conditioned soul can become a liberated soul, but it still remains taṭastha śakti."

Bhakta: "It is said that śāstra is unlimited so perhaps things we do not know (or you deny) can be in śāstra in for instance heaven, where it is said that the Mahābhārata is much greater."

Advaitadas: "śāstra is unlimited but I don't think we lack any essential knowledge here. Earth is the perfect environment for self-realization, so it is very unlikely that here we would be lacking essential scriptural knowledge. Besides, it is said in the end of Śrīmad Bhagavat: sarva vedānta sāraṁ hi śrīmad bhāgavatam īṣyate - "Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is the essence of all spiritual knowledge." In a sense it is even an insult to the Bhāgavata, that it would be lacking the essence of knowledge." ananta śāstram bahulaś ca vidya - yat sāra bhūtam tad upāsanīya "Scriptures are endless, so we must worship (take) the essence."

Bhakta: "The finite must be there with the infinite to make the creation complete?"

Advaitadas: "Logic without śāstra has no basis. People massively accept that we fell down from the spiritual world because we are envious of Kṛṣṇa,  that any qualified man can wear a brahmin thread and that one needs to be a pure devotee to start rāgānugā bhakti, because that apparently makes sense, yet it is contrary to śāstra and therefore must still be rejected. Jīva Gosvāmī comments on Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu (1.2.17): yuktiś cātra śāstrānugataiva jñeyam 'Logic is only (acceptable) in obedience to scripture".

Bhakta: "Isn't there supposed to be an ultimate end (cessation) to the material world?"

Advaitadas: We have already discussed (in the blog of July 30) the verses from the Viṣṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa that there are innumerable conditioned souls, that will keep the material world occupied, no matter how many souls reach liberation. So how can the material world ever end then? That answer is connected with the previous question - the Lord's creation is complete with both a perfect and imperfect part. ekapāda vibhūti and tripāda vibhūti complete the creation. Especially if you accept the fall-vāda, that there will always be people falling from the spiritual world, there will always be a material world needed to board them."

Bhakta: "Perhaps Viśvanātha Cakravartī's explanation (in his ṭīkā of S.Bhāg 3.7.10, see blog of July 30) of there being no reason for the conditioning of the jīvas, and that there are innumberable jīvas, is poetic?"

Advaitadas: "No, poetic license is there in glorification but not in siddhānta. That would open the flood-gates to no end of speculations, apostasies, doubts and confusion. There is no way the ācāryas would mislead mankind on siddhānta, for whatever reason, benign (to make it understandable, for preaching etc.) or otherwise. Besides, the point that our ignorance is beginningless is made dozens of times in śāstra, and confirmed by all ācāryas. Would that ALL be poetic?

Bhakta: 'The problem with all these abstract answers that fail to give a logical reason is that people will reject it as dogma, as they often do with Christianity."

Advaitadas: "That cannot always be helped. It is a handicap of an over-educated science-based culture. Rūpa Gosvāmī wasn't exactly illiterate yet he also demanded 'ādau śraddhā', "first there must be faith", and 'acintya khalu ye bhāvā na taṁs tarkena yojayet' "One should not apply false logic to inconceivable matters". Look at the concept of acintya bhedābheda tattva - our philosophy. acintya is a vital part of it - inconceivable. Matters that just need to be accepted on authority. You were able to accept that there are things beyond the range of your sensual perception but you have to go one step further and accept there are also things beyond the range of your intellectual grasp."

Bhakta: "Needn't there be the freedom of choice to love Kṛṣṇa?  Shouldn't even Lalita and Viśākhā have the opportunity to leave?"

Advaitadas: "Lalitā and Viśākhā belong to the Lord's inner potency (svarūpa śakti), they are in a sense non-different from Him. In the Bhāgavata (10.33.17) it is said that Kṛṣṇa danced with the gopīs as a boy who is playing with His own reflection. That is very significant. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī comments on this verse that it shows the gopīs are Kṛṣṇa's svarūpa śakti, in a sense non-different from Him. As far as freedom of choice or to love is concerned, the ācāryas have said we become devotees by the mercy of a saint; even this is not free choice." 

(After this phone-talk I consulted Kṛṣṇadas-Slovakia on it. He said:) 

"I am wondering what is the source of the theory. Maybe that prema is the highest puruṣārtha? Don't know. Where is it said that the jīva is in the material world to learn to love Kṛṣṇa? Our ācāryas do not say that Love of Kṛṣṇa can be learnt. They say that it is given to us. The issue with the free choice seems to me speculative because if one is in love one hardly has the choice to give it up because one simply can't, it is unthinkable because of the attachment. We may have some choice in the beginning but that seems to me also doubtful. If one is in māyā, what alternatives can one really choose from? Choice is there if we have alternatives to ponder about and choose from. But in this case it does not appear to me to be so. Bhakti begins with śraddhā which is itself gained by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa. There is not much scope for choice......."

Bhakta: "Does the word jñāna in the verse jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva (SB 10.14.3) refer to book knowledge or impersonalism?"

Advaitadas: "According to Viśvanātha Cakravartī, it is both. By the way, the transcendental path of jñāna should not be translated as 'mental speculation', because it is a spiritual practise, while mental speculation is on the material platform. Impersonal it may be but that does not make it mundane. Concerning book knowledge, many have attained perfection simply by hearing. The Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu tells us that Parīkṣit Mahārāja attained perfection simply by hearing."

Bhakta: "Can you attain love of God without perfect knowledge?'

Advaitadas: "I don't believe one needs to know all the nitty gritty of astrology and music and so, but if there is no proper knowledge of siddhānta there will also be no proper attitude. Take this fall-vāda - it makes a devotee think that everybody is a demon who is envious of Kṛṣṇa while that is simply not true, and generally the idea that everybody outside one's own cult is a demon - even if they are devotees - is not conducive to developing prema. Mahāprabhu said 'jīve sammāna dibe jāni kṛṣṇa adhiṣṭhāna' - 'Honor all living beings, knowing that Kṛṣṇa resides in them'. It is important to know the essence of shastra, which has so nicely been compiled by the Gosvāmīs - nānā śāstra vicāraṇaika nipuṇau saddharma saṁsthāpakau. Complete knowledge means complete understanding. It takes a long time to piece together all components of a jig-saw puzzle, though. Also this noteworthy caution is given in the Bhagavad Gītā (16.23):

yaḥ śāstra vidhim utsṛjya vartate kāma kārataḥ

na sa siddhim avāpnoti na sukhaṁ na paraṁ gatim

'Whoever gives up scriptural rules and acts according to his own whim will neither attain perfection, nor happiness nor the supreme destination."

Bhakta: (Returns to his plea for a female Kṛṣṇa with the same enjoying prerogatives as the male one, see blog of July 30).

Advaitadas: "This is both rasābhāsa and viruddha siddhānta."

Bhakta: "It is said, also about Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, that variety is the mother of enjoyment."

Advaitadas: "That is correct. Rūpa Gosvāmī writes in his auspicious invocation to Dāna Keli Kaumudī that the bliss is ever-increasing, vibhur api kalayan sadābhivṛddhim, despite the fact that it is already complete. Another inconceivable fact. na vinā vipralambhena sambhoga puṣṭim aśnute - "Union cannot be nourished without separation." Māna or quarrel refreshes and invigorates the love (after the peace has been made). Worldly lovers also experience that. pravāsa is there, when They are separately dwelling in Their parents' home and then, when They meet, there may be even māna too, and they separate because of a quarrel. Double viraha, double impetus."

Bhakta: "How about sound in the spiritual sky? You once said that Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa will speak the language of love with you."

Advaitadas: "The spiritual sky is not mute. There is music and dance and everybody speaks of Kṛṣṇa.  Whatever language they speak there, whether it is Sanskrit or Prakṛta or whatever, you will know it when you get there. Not through a material learning process but through a cultivation of love - Kṛṣṇa promises in Bhagavad Gītā (10.10) bhajataṁ prīti pūrvakam- if you worship Me with love" dadāmi buddhi yogam tam "I give you divine intelligence" yena mām upayānti  "Through which you can reach Me." It comes along with and is a part of, self realisation."

Bhakta : "Can Kṛṣṇa commit suicide? He is almighty, after all..... Then there is no more existence for anyone."

Advaitadas: "Kṛṣṇa says: na tvevāhaṁ jātu nāsaṁ na tvam ... na caive na bhaviṣyāma sarve vayam ataḥ param (B. Gītā 2.12) "Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you...nor will there ever be a time we do not exist." There can not be existence and non-existence at the same time, or alternatively. Since we exist, there can be no non-existence. If you wonder why anyone or anything exists you get stonewalled on the principle of acintya - it is inconceivable, period. Even the jīva, if it merges in Brahman, it continues to exist. When you throw a drop of water into the ocean, it is still there, though you can no longer distinguish it."

Deceit - benign and malicious.

There was an interesting article by George A. Smith on harekrsna.com, on August 11th. Though I dont want to get involved in the central topic of the article, some things were interesting and require further comment. Mr. Smith quotes the Bible:

"To Jews I become like a Jew, to win Jews; as they are subject to the law of Moses, I put myself under that law to win them, although I am not myself subject to it. To win Gentiles, who are outside the law, I make myself like one of them, although I am not in truth outside God's law, being under the law of Christ. To the weak, I become weak, to win the weak. Indeed, I have become everything in turn to men of every sort, so that in one way or another I may save some." (I Corinthians 9:20-22)

Mr Smith: "In other words, the servants of the Lord, are not above the practice of deception. In the later quote, Paul, or Saint Paul, who some believe to be the actual founder of Christianity, admits to being a manipulative liar basically, whenever it suited his, or the Lord's purpose for him to be one. The word for this quality is "antinomian", and what it refers to is anyone who will lie, steal, and cheat, anything in the service of their "higher" calling, whatever that higher calling may be. Whether it be religious, spiritual, personal or political, those displaying it are acting under the assumption that the end justifies the means, however immoral, unethical or even horrific those means might be, or even horrific and offending of the most basic sensibilities......."
(End of mr. Smith’s comment)

I dont know the context of the Bible text above, but to me this text alone need not indicate duplicity at all, I dont see it the way mr. Smith sees it. We must distinguish between benign and malicious deceit by a devotee. Like Paul, Sādhu Bābā spoke of yoga to his yoga-inclined students, of karma to his karma-inclined students, of jñāna to his jñāna-inclined students, rāga mārga to his rāgānugī students etc. See it as a gold-merchant, who sells other items in his shop as well. Knowing full well that most people won't buy gold, he will also sell silver, metal and plastic ornaments, hoping that people will ultimately go for gold.

After another paragraph mr. Smith quotes a verse from the Bhāgavata (1.13.37)

sañjaya uvāca

nāhaḿ veda vyavasitaḿ

pitror vaḥ kula-nandana

gāndhāryā vā mahā-bāho

muṣito 'smi mahātmabhiḥ

Sañjaya said: My dear descendant of the Kuru dynasty, I have no information of the determination of your two uncles and Gāndhārī. O King, I have been cheated by those great souls."

The essence of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami's purport runs as follows:
That great souls cheat others may be astonishing to know, but it is a fact that great souls cheat others for a great cause. It is said that Lord Kṛṣṇa also advised Yudhiṣṭhira to tell a lie before Droṇācārya, and it was also for a great cause. The Lord wanted it, and therefore it was a great cause. Satisfaction of the Lord is the criterion of one who is bona fide, and the highest perfection of life is to satisfy the Lord by one's occupational duty. That is the verdict of Gītā and Bhāgavatam.................Sanātana Gosvāmī also cheated the keeper of the prison house while going away to see Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and similarly Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī also cheated his priest and left home for good to satisfy the Lord. To satisfy the Lord, anything is good, for it is in relation with the Absolute Truth. We also had the same opportunity to cheat the family members and leave home to engage in the service of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Such cheating was necessary for a great cause, and there is no loss for any party in such transcendental fraud." (end of quotation)

Mr. Smith continues:
"The above noted purport was taken as an authorization for many immoral, unethical and even criminal practices by many devotees during the early years of ISKCON, even while Śrīla Prabhupāda was still with us physically. Among some it became a competition even. Devotees would compete, who could be the better liar, the better thief, all in the service of the greatest cause." Mr. Smith then reminds us that A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swāmi never approved of such criminal activities. (end of my quotes from mr.Smith's article)

My response:
As for Raghunāth Dās Gosvāmī, he may have cheated Yadunandanācārya for a very great purpose - meeting Śrīman Mahāprabhu - but he himself otherwise condemned cheating in his Manaḥ Śikṣā, verse 6:

are cetaḥ kapaṭa kuṭīnāṭī bhara-khara 

kṣaran mūtre snātvā dahasi katham ātmānam api mam. 

"O mind! Why are you scorching yourself and me in the trickling ass-urine of duplicity, deceit and hypocrisy?"

Organisations which teach that we should not imitate Sanātan Goswāmī's life of bhajan and tapasya are imitating him in widespread deceit. Instead of using deceit for major spiritual purposes, it has become a way of life – short-changing the 'karmīs' on the street, lying in business transactions, criminal activities, tax evasion and worst of all, applying such theft and deceit to one's fellow devotees as well. When such deceit is extended to Guru and Vaiṣṇava it becomes a horrid aparādha. God is the absolute Truth and He can never be perceived or attained by a person whose consciousness is absorbed in deceit, falsehood and duplicity. Transcendental trickery like that of Sanātan Gosvāmī or Raghunāth Dās Gosvāmī does not mean gross deceit on the material platform, nor does it mean hypocrisy in morality. The Gosvāmīs seem to have tricked people into attraction to Vraja by ascribing all kinds of opulences to the place.

Śrīpād Anantadās Bābājī writes in his Śikṣāṣṭakam booklet:

“Those scriptures which preach jñāna (intellectual spiritual realization) and karma (work) are also most merciful, for they engage those people who are not ready yet for the path of devotion, being still too attached to jñāna and karma. These scriptures gradually bring such souls into the temple of devotion, so one certainly commits an offense to the holy name by blaspheming such scriptures."

That is the benign duplicity. About malicious duplicity: When I returned from the Ratha-Yātrā festival in Puri to my ashram on July 25, 1983 I told my Gurudeva Sādhu Bābā that the Oriya Railway Police beats up boys on the train station if they were riding without ticket. Bābā said: "Very good! And when they are finished they can send them to me, and I will beat them up again!" I also often noticed Bābā telling his merchant disciples not to cheat in their retail business. There is a limit in "cheating for Kṛṣṇa."

Phone sanga (6)

In this new phone sanga the same bhakta shifts more from philosophy to rasa and lila -

Bhakta: "Could the Caitanya Candrodaya-verse dāsye kecana (quoted in the last blog) actually be about sādhana-siddhas in Gaur līlā like the sādhana siddha gopīs in the Bhāgavata?"

Advaitadas: "This verse is very problematic in different ways - no, it could not be compared because the verse is spoken by Advaita Ācārya. It is totally unacceptable to consider him a sādhaka or sādhana siddha. If that would apply to some Bengali who stumbled into Gaura's prakaṭ līlā and then attained siddhi that is fine with me, but it concerns none other than Advaita Prabhu! So I would not be surprised if this were some poetic glorification of Mahāprabhu līlā instead of a literal or philosophical fact."


Bhakta: "Can sādhakas have 2 svarūpas like Rāmānanda Rāya?"

Advaitadas: "Yes and no. Yes - It seems to be technically possible as Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa has said in his Vedānta commentary, but no - the Gosvāmīs have always mentioned just one svarūpa - be it gopī- or mañjarī - and have never spoken about multiple svarūpas."

Bhakta: "It is commented on CC Madhya 14.5, where Maharāja Pratāpa-Rudra changed from royal outfit into Vaiṣṇava dress to serve Śrīman Mahāprabhu ( ছাড়ি রাজবেশ একলা বৈষ্ণব বেশে করিল প্রবেশ ) that Vaiṣṇavas can take off their Vaiṣṇava dress for the sake of preaching."

Advaitadas: "No, that is the other way around - he changed INTO Vaiṣṇava dress, not OUT of it. Pratāparudra was dressed like a king, with embroidered silk, velvet turban what have you, and changed into a dhoti, as a Vaiṣṇava dress. Another important point is that this verse DOES prove that there IS something called Vaiṣṇava dress and this is not called Indian dress there, which we need not wear because we are westerners. Of course when you have a job or go anywhere out in western society it is better to wear western dress but there is no reason why in the privacy of our Vaiṣṇava homes we should not wear Vaiṣṇava dress. This does cultivate a devotional feeling. I remember going out to distribute books in pants and my consciousness plummeted just because of that. Sādhu Bābā considered Vaiṣṇava dress very important and lamented the fact that even his Indian disciples would wear jeans instead."

Bhakta: "Can one become a maidservant of the goddess of fortune or of Kṛṣṇa's queens?'

Advaitadas: "That should be possible. In ancient days all queens and ladies of nobility had maidservants, also in the west. Some sampradāyas seem to have borrowed our conception of mañjarī bhāva, like they have Sītā sakhī. Rāma has only Sītā as a consort and some Rāma Bhaktas have introduced that concept of Sītā sakhī. But again, Lakṣmī-mañjarī and so are not conceptions that are mentioned in the Gosvāmīs' books."

Bhakta: "There is more distance between Rādhārāṇī and Her sakhīs than between Her and Her mañjarīs."

Advaitadas: "There is a difference though. We have suhṛt pakṣa, taṭastha pakṣa and vipakṣa - friends, neutral girls and enemies. It is not all the same."

Bhakta: "But then Kṛṣṇa does not bother about the sakhīs when He is with Rādhārāṇī?"

Advaitadas: "According to chapter 15 of Govinda Līlāmṛta He expands Himself into as many Kṛṣṇas are there are sakhīs and goes to enjoy with them, on Rādhā's instigation. This expanding is again aiśvarya and can be scrapped if you feel it disturbs your abhīṣṭa bhāva (desired feeling). Same for the gopīs' joking references to Kṛṣṇa's activities in His other avatāras. rāgānugā bhakti, after all, means following (anuga) your own attraction (rāga)."

Bhakta: "Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī is Tuṅgavidyā Sakhi yet speaks of his/her own body as made of blood stool etc. (in Rādhā-rasa Sudhānidhi verse 60)"

Advaitadas: "That is the sādhaka deha. In books like Rādhā-rasa Sudhānidhi you have to be careful to know which verse is spoken in siddhāveśa (awareness of the spiritual body) and sādhakāveśa (awareness of the material body). It should be mentioned in the purports. In the Vilāpa Kusumāñjali it is easier - almost everything is in siddhāveśa. Rādhā-rasa Sudhānidhi is more of a patch-quilt of verses in either siddha or sādhakāveśa. Many different moods and angles are there."

Bhakta: "What about the spiritual body of the Guru?"

Advaitadas: "I can give you two examples. In 1976, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami was in France, New Māyāpura. Some Dutch devotees were there, they told me personally (they both expired unfortunately). Swāmījī had some throat problem and kept a loṭā next to him wherein he spat saliva, mucus and snot. A lady jumped at the loṭā (to honor the remnants), but Swamiji stopped her and said: "What are you doing?" The lady said "Oh you have a spiritual body!" Swāmījī said that that was nonsense and she should not drink that substance.

Second example is of my Guru Sādhu Bābā, whom I once saw inviting some disciples who had such a sentimental idea too, to join him while he was passing stool, to see what Guru is like 'গুরু কি রকম, দেখিতে এস'." Spiritual body means spiritualised, like if you keep iron in the fire for a long time, it assumes the qualities of fire, it becomes red hot, even white hot, because it is absorbed in service to the Lord. When you put it into water it will be seen as iron again. Similarly if a devotee leaves devotional service and starts using his body for his own pleasures again, it becomes like 'iron' again. But even in the 'heat' of devotional service that spiritual body will still produce stool and urine. It is rather the attitude towards the Guru that counts. You are not allowed to see him as human, it is repeatedly forbidden in the Bhāgavata (martyāsad-dhī 7.15.26, na martya buddhi 11.17.27). That is an offence, but it doesn't mean that the body of the Guru is not material."

Bhakta: "Then what about Ṛṣabha-deva? His stool was said to be fragrant".

Advaitadas: "Ṛṣabha-deva was an incarnation of Kṛṣṇa. I have never been too close to any Guru's excrements so I really cant judge if its the same, though I believe it isn't."

Bhakta: "So fragrant excrements will be aiśvarya?"

Advaitadas: "Well, when we have to render service to Rādhārāṇī as in verse 18 of Vilāpa Kusumāñjali, lets hope there will be some aiśvarya there (laughs). Seriously, though, I think this verse which speaks of cleaning the toilet with one's hair is more a statement of intention, that 'I am willing to render any service, not just the pleasant ones. Whatever you tell me to do I will do.'

Bhakta: "Who wrote the commentaries to Rādhā-rasa Sudhānidhi?"

Advaitadas: "Madhusūdan Vācaspati was a disciple of Prāṇ-gopāl Gosvāmī, he lived about 80 years ago. Ānanda Gopāl Gosvāmī's comments were used by Ananta Dās Bābājī, though they were originally comments to Vilāp Kusumāñjali (Ānanda Gopāl Gosvāmī lectured extensively on Rādhā rasa Sudhānidhi too, but those lectures were never recorded) and finally Ananta Dās Bābāji himself. I read the original book with Madhusūdan Vācaspati's comments, I borrowed it from Mādrāsī Bābā. I don't know where this went after he passed away though."

Bhakta: "What is the paribhāṣa sūtra (single verse with the core definition) of the Caitanya Caritāmṛta?"

Advaitadas: "I am not sure if there is any. I would say there are at least some defining chapters there, like Ādi līlā chapter 4 and Madhya līlā chapter 8."

Bhakta: "What about the introductory verses of the Caitanya Caritāmṛta?"

Advaitadas: "Yes, anarpita carim cirāt (C.C. Adi 1,4) is about as essential as you can get it."

Bhakta: "And the verses rādhā-kṛṣṇa praṇaya vikṛtir and śrī rādhāyāḥ praṇaya mahimā kīdṛśo? (Ādi 1.5-6)"

Advaitadas: "Yes, excellent. Seems essential to me, though frankly speaking I don't know if all the rules of paribhāṣa sūtra apply to a Bengali book which consists largely of quotations from other books."


Bhakta: "Why does Subal fan Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa with a ceiling fan instead of going in to personally fan Them?"

Advaitadas: "Although Rādhārāṇī is very close friends with Subal (see the Subal Milan Lila on Gopāṣṭamī, where She swaps personalities with Subal to meet Kṛṣṇa) She would nevertheless be too embarrassed to be intimate with Kṛṣṇa in front of him."

Bhakta: "But it is described that the mañjarīs can even go under the sheets of Rādhā."

Advaitadas: "Yes, but that is different. It shows how close they are to Rādhārāṇī and how trusted they are. Secondly, a girl would feel less shy to be so intimate with a boy in front of another girl than in front of a boy. Even so, Rādhārāṇī will not even be caught doing this by Her girlfriends, as you can see in Vilāpa Kusumāñjali (92) - sakhīnāṁ lajjayā devi, and in the Niśānta Līlā (Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa's pastime of awakening in the aṣṭakāliya līlā). The mañjarīs have to dress Her up quickly before the sakhīs wake up and come in the kuñja. This intimacy is exactly why mañjarī bhāva is higher than sakhī-bhāva. They may be of such an age because of their intimacy with Rādhārāṇī rather than the other way around."

Bhakta: "In Mukta Caritā one gopī called Raṅganamālā is said to have some contact with Kṛṣṇa, and later she is revealed to be Rūpa Mañjarī. How is that?"

Advaitadas: "In Govinda Līlāmṛta (10.66-71) Rūpa Mañjarī finds herself in the same situation. In Kṛṣṇa Bhāvanāmṛta (13.35-36), Kṛṣṇa even rapes the mañjarīs. Ultimately Kṛṣṇa can do whatever He wants, but it is not what the mañjarīs themselves aspire for. mañjarī bhāva upāsakas can just skip such descriptions. There are verses in Vṛndāvana Mahimāmṛta, Rādhā Rasa Sudhānidhi, Vilāpa Kusumāñjali and Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi that describe how the mañjarīs reject or refuse such contact with Kṛṣṇa. Ultimately the śāstras can describe so many scenarios but we will simply follow the Guru (such picking and choosing does not apply to siddhānta, only to līlā and sambandha). Kṛṣṇa demands submission to the Guru - it should not be done whimsically."

Bhakta: "In Muktā Carita Satyabhāmā heard about the glories of the gopīs. Did she want to become a gopī then too?"

Advaitadas: "I have already quoted Lakṣmī who was unable to attain the Rāsa-dance, no matter what. Another example is the queens of Dwārakā, when they met Draupadī (Tenth Canto, ch.83). They actually glorified the gopīs, knowing that the gopīs are superior to them. Yet they were unable to become gopīs themselves, since their sthāyi-bhāva did not permit it."

Bhakta: "Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī is Tuṅgavidyā-sakhī, yet there is so much mañjarī bhāva in the Rādhā Rasa Sudhānidhi."

Advaitadas: "Yes - the bābājīs say he got some special mercy from Mahāprabhu to be able to perceive and describe mañjarī bhāva too. In my opinion he could well have an extra mañjarī svarūpa. After all, many associates of Mahāprabhu have multiple svarūpas."


Bhakta: "Narottam Dās Thākur sings he wants to be an ankle-bell at the feet of a gopī...."

Advaitadas: "That is a statement of humility. He was actually Campak Mañjarī, and had a much higher status than that of an ankle-bell. The same humility was expressed by Raghunātha dās Gosvāmī when he said he is willing to clean Rādhārāṇī's excrement with his/her hair. Brahmā prayed in the Bhāgavata for birth as a blade of grass to catch the footdust of the gopīs..."

Bhakta: "It is said that Rādhā's angry mood of kila-kiñcit pleases Kṛṣṇa more than actual union with Her. Is this poetic?"

Advaitadas: "No it isn't. It is confirmed in Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi (15.253) -

vidagdhānāṁ mitho līlā-vilāsena yathā sukham; 

na tathā samprayogeṇa syād evaṁ rasikā viduḥ 

"The rasikas know that for the clever ones, the happiness of intercourse is not so great as that of the playful pastimes."