Mother Śāradā on faults

This summer I had the following exchange with some friends at Facebook:

Bhakta:
"I tell you one thing my child -- if you want peace, do not find fault with others. Rather, see your own faults. Learn to make the world your own. No one is a stranger, my child; the whole world is your own."
...
(From Śrī Śāradā Devī's last words, spoken before passing away on July 20, 1920)

Advaita Das:
"I like especially the first half of this teaching."

Bhakta:
"I like the first bit the best as well. As for the rest, if all jīvas are nitya kṛṣṇa dās, then all jīvas are "ātmiya-svajan." (Bengali for 'relatives', AD) Isn't it?

Advaita Das
"If you point one finger at another, you point three fingers at yourself. Whenever you criticize someone, if you practice some ruthless introspection, you will be shocked to find you have done the same thing at some time in the past or are even doing it at present as well. At least that is my experience. That brings peace. Just shut up and do bhajan."

Bhakta:
YES! Exactly. I always have a list of grand excuses for why I've done something grandly stupid, while if someone else makes a tiny mistake I am ready to write him or her off as a phony. Gurudev also said, "mānuṣer prati kaṭākṣa na janmāy, nirabe bhajan korā-i niyam!" (Do not cast glances at anyone. Just shut up and do bhajan!)

Advaita Das
"Just see - I unconsciously quoted your Gurudeva. Making grand excuses at least shows some acknowledgement of faults, whereas I am so low I don't even recognize the faults in myself that I see in others."

Bhakta 2:
"I heard that when you criticise, you build a bridge and the faults come trotting over it to you ... me, that is."

Bhakta:
"I came to Vraj with no awareness of any of my faults, but from day 1 Rādhārāṇī started making all the biggest, crunchiest and nastiest things about me public knowledge, until I could no longer convince myself that I am anything but fallen. Good thing Nitai Chāṅd loves fallen people. Still I know there are tons of anarthas left over that I haven't noticed yet. By your kṛpā maybe one day I will."

Advaitadas:

As (Rādhākuṇḍa's late Kṛṣṇa Dās) Madrasi Baba often told me - gaurer āmār sob bhālo , ami eka-mātra mando o choto "Everyone is Gaur's and they are all good, only I am bad and low" āmi śata doṣer doṣī - I have 100 faults, āmi sahasra doṣer doṣī - I have 1000 faults, āmi koṭi doṣer doṣī - I have 10,000.000 faults" eto guṇe guṇī āmi sob somoy sakaler doṣa-ṭā-i dekhi, kintu āmāke sakaler guṇ-ṭā-ke khujte beḍābe, tabe tā'hole se-o ei adhamer madhye ye guṇ dekhite pābe ekatra ubhoy bose ki korile bhālo hoy sob somoy cintā korā jāy. "Because of these shortcomings I always try to find some faults in others, although in reality I do possess them myself in a concentrated way. Rather I should always try to find the good qualities in others. If I adopt such a behaviour they will maybe detect some good qualities in me although I don't have any, and in this way we may then find a place to sit together and converse gently. It should always be done like this."

The Mother said: "-- If you want peace, do not find fault with others."

Kṛṣṇa says ; nirmamo nirahaṅkāra sa śāntim ādhigacchati - "He who is without possessiveness or false ego, attains peace." (Bhagavad Gītā 2.71)

Jhulan Ekādaśī

Giridhārī on the Jhulan, on Jhulan Ekādaśī, Friday 20 august 2010

pāpa puruṣa

An inquiry on the sin in the grains on Ekādaśī to Dr. Satya-nārāyan Dās.

Prabhuji Rādhe Rādhe
I have a question about the pāpa puruṣa: It is said to enter the grains on Ekādaśī-day, yet śāstra also says that children younger than 8 and elders older than 80 are exempt from fasting from grains, what to speak of non-Vaiṣṇavas. Does the pāpa puruṣa not pervade their grains then? How should we picture this pāpa puruṣa?"

Satya-nārāyana Das
"pāpa means improper action, that which will harm oneself and the society i.e. which will create moral imbalance. Actions depend upon the state of mind. Mind is most influenced by food. The moon, besides being the presiding deity of mind, is also the king of vanaspati (foodstuff). It is understood that the quality of food changes with time. Āyurveda is very explicit about it. Time is calculated by the movements of the luminaries. On Ekādaśī grains are not salubrious for the mind so they should be avoided . This fact is told in the story form for a common person. In case of child or old person also the pāpa-puruṣa is there but probably the outcome of not eating would be worse than that of eating, so choose the least of bad effects. "
(August 6, 2010)

Māyā, Rāmānuja, Sītājī, China, Guru-tyāga and Vahan tattva

Bhakta: "Since Durgā-devī is Vaiṣṇavī and she is a servant of Kṛṣṇa, māyā is allright."

Advaitadas: "If serving Māyā is serving Kṛṣṇa then alcohol, meat and prostitution is also devotional service? Mahāprabhu says - kṛṣṇa sūrya sama - māyā hoy andhakāra - Kṛṣṇa is the sun and Māyā is darkness. yāhā kṛṣṇa tāhā nāhi māyār adhikāra - Where there is Kṛṣṇa, māyā has no rights."

* * *

Bhakta: "Some say Rāmānujācārya loudly chanted the secret dīkṣā-mantra and whoever heard it became his disciple. Please comment."

Advaitadas: "It is often used by some institutions to justify their extreme missionary zeal. Whether the story is true or not,

1. We are not Rāmānujaites but Gauḍīyas. We have our own doctrine, leaders and role-models.
2. śāstra is śāstra, and we must follow it. We cannot and should not imitate the great ones, being only small ourselves. naitat samācarej jātu.
3. The confidentiality and personal nature of the dīkṣā-process will be destroyed if we all acted like that."

* * *

Recently a Facebook-friend expressed reservations about the abandonment of Sītā by Rāma, saying that this is not a God she could support. My response was:

"When you begin to criticize Lord Rāma in this way you have clearly not understood Rāma-līlā. Caitanya Caritāmṛta (Madhya 9.188-196) clearly says materialists cannot even see Sītājī, let alone touch Her. Rāvan kidnapped only a māyā- [false] Sītā. The punishment of Sītā by Rāma seems very harsh, but 3 things you must remember -

1. Although this is of course a līlā of the Lord and His eternal energy, in this līlā Sitaji was not totally innocent - She disobeyed Lakṣman by stepping out of the protective circle he had drawn for Her and She made Vaiṣṇava-aparādha to him too by claiming he did not want to leave the circle to answer to the call for help by the bogus-Rām named Marīca, because he was attracted to Her, his own sister in law.
2. Sītā is the Supreme Lord's inseparable śakti, so the abandoned Sītā must also have been a material māyā-Sītā.
3. Mahāprabhu was also very stern by rejecting Choṭa Haridās, driving him to suicide, to make a certain point very clear - vairāgīs do not dally with women. Similarly, Rāma made clear to the women of the world not to disobey their husbands or falsely accuse their brothers in law.
Bhakti means we are judged by God and not that we judge God or pick and choose what decisions of Him we will accept and what we don't. That is not surrender.

* * *

Although Viṣṇudāsa glosses the word cīna in Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi 10.40 as 'very soft', Śrīla Jīva Goswāmī and Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda say: cīnasya tan nāma deśodbhavasya. "China is a country of that name". It is interesting that there is some knowledge of foreign countries in the writings of the previous ācāryas. That word cīna is translated as Chinese also by some in Vilāpa Kusumāñjali verse 22 - pānīyaṁ cīna-vastraiḥ etc., though, to preserve the mādhurya I think it better to gloss it as 'very soft'.

* * *

In his ṭīkā of Śrīmad Bhāgavat 10.45.32, Ācārya Vaṁśīdhara quotes the Mahābhārat -

vidyāṁ śrutvā ye guruṁ nādriyante
pratyāsannā manasā karmaṇā ca
teṣāṁ pāpaṁ bhrūṇa-hatyā viśiṣṭaṁ
tebhyo nānyaḥ pāpa-kṛc cāsti loke

'A person who hears knowledge from the Guru and does not respect him or awaits on him with his mind and actions, is as sinful as an abortionist. No one in the world is as sinful as him."

This verse shows that the sin of abortion (bhrūṇa-hatyā) was already committed so many thousands of years ago, and it also shows a clear condemnation of guru-tyāgīs.

* * *

Finally, I had this interesting exchange with Dr. Satya-Nārāyan Dās about vahana tattva (the Lord's vehicles) -

Advaita Das 02 august -
"Prabhuji, Rādhe Rādhe. Every God has a vahana - Viṣṇu has Garuḍa, Brahmā the Marāla swan, Shiva the bull Nandī, Kāmadeva has a parrot, Ganesh a mouse, but Kṛṣṇa, Rām and Mahāprabhu do not have a vehicle. Is there a significance in this? Perhaps this shows their humanity?"

Satyanarayana Dasa 02 august -
"Rāma has Hanumān, and Kṛṣṇa has Garuḍa. But because their līlā is a human līlā they do not use them unless to show their aiśvarya side, like when Kṛṣṇa went to fight with Bhaumāsura and then went to heaven to return the ear-rings. So you are right "this shows their humanity".

bhūṣaṇa āyudha nityatā

Earlier this month I had this conversation with Dr. Satya-nārāyan Dās about the apparel of the Lord:

Rādhe Rādhe Prabhuji
I have a question again on the eternal apparel of the Lord –

1. In the Purāṇas it is said that Lakṣmī did tapasya [penance] to attain Kṛṣṇa in Vraja, but the Lord told her it was not possible, but instead she could get a place on his chest as the Śrīvatsa-mark. But the Śrīvatsa is an eternal ornament of the Lord, so how could there be an historical moment that Śrīvatsa was added to the Lord Kṛṣṇa’s chest? Is this verse an interpolation or just a glorification of the madhurya of Vraja?
2. Speaking of Śrīvatsa, why does Kṛṣṇa have the Śrīvatsa in Vraja at all? It does not seem to match with the madhurya of His Vraja svarupa.

Satyanarayana Dasa replied:
"Are bhai, mādhurya is founded on aiśvarya, it is not devoid of it. otherwise Kṛṣṇa would be like any other guy on the block. Mādhurya subjugates aiśvarya. That is the point. Therefore, sometimes the gopis are described as Lakṣmīs - lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama- to show that aiśvarya of Vraja is much superior even to Vaikuṇṭha. There is also a story of Krsna getting the Cakra [from Paraśūrām, Ad]. This has nothing to do with Historical moment. It is a matter of being vyakta [manifest, Ad] and avyakta [unmanifest, Ad] for the sake of pastime - to make it look more human-like, otherwise He always has everything."

Advaitadas-
"Yes, I agree. But what about the Lord getting the Kaustubha-gem and Lakṣmī during the Samudra Manthan (the churning of the Milk Ocean as described in Śrīmad Bhāgavat 8th canto, Ad.) then? There is no mādhurya in the samudra manthan līlā. Some say the Lord getting all these items during Samudra Manthan has all adhyātmika [symbolic] meanings? Is that so?

Satya-nārāyan Das -
"If there is no mādhurya ,there is aiśvarya. It is His līlā. Otherwise do you think that Kaustabha and Lakṣmī actually came from the ocean? Read Śrīmad Bhāgavat 6.8.32-33. It says that bhūṣaṇa āyudha (ornaments and weapons, Ad.) etc are the Lord's own Potency, sva-māyayā. As He is eternal, so is His potency. Śrīmad Bhāgavat 10.3.9 says that Kṛṣṇa was born with them, and then they became unmanifest. This shows that bhūṣaṇa etc can manifest and unmanifest as per līlā but they are ever with the Lord. How then can His svarūpa-śakti be separated from Him?

(note: Jīva Gosvāmī in his ṭīkā to Śrīmad Bhāgavat 6.8.32-33 refers to Maharāj Ambarīṣa's prayers to the Sudarśan Cakra in Śrīmad Bhāgavat 9.5.3-11, where all the attributes of Bhagavān are ascribed to it. Jīva Gosvāmī also refers to Śrīmad Bhāgavat 3.28.28, where the Lord's gem is compared to the living entities, something that can obviously not be replaced by a leather jacket, Santa Claus outfit or a mobile phone as some deluded persons think nowadays. The Śrīmad Bhagavat [12.11.10] also states that the Lord carries the pure consciousness of the jīva, His own particle, in the form of the Kaustubha gem, and it is the diffusive splendour of the latter which the Lord actually wears on His [right] breast as Śrīvatsa.)

Śārikā - Gracula religiosa, turdus or Mynah bird?

I did a Google-pictures and Sanskrita-Wiki-dictionary search on the Śārikā-bird, which is usually translated as 'female parrot', but I have seen it also translated sometimes as 'Mynah-bird'. This is what came up for Gracula Religiosa, Mynah and Turdus. The first two [top row] are identical, but the turdus [bottom row] is different, it is a type of robin. It seems most likely to be the Gracula Religiosa and the Mynah:

Śrīmad Bhāgavat, Canto 3, part 2

Completing a quotation of my favorite commentaries on the 3rd Canto of the Śrīmad Bhāgavat-

3.16.5 Neither the Gita Press- nor the BBT-translation is complete - Bhānu Swāmi's is the only correct one -

"When the servant commits a sin using the name of his master [yan nāmāni ca gṛhnati] the master gets criticised and his fame destroyed, just as white spot on the skin gets one condemned as a leper."

Viśvanātha Cakravartī has the most interesting ṭīkā, as usual: "But how can the Supreme Lord commit an offence? Even if You do who could punish You? How can You restrict Yourself? There can be no punishment - infamy alone would be the punishment. The fame of a master is destroyed by the activities of a servant who performs sinful activities in the name of the master, just as white leprosy destroys the skin. People who see a white spot on someone's skin say: "This person has leprosy".

SB 3.16.34 The residents of Satyaloka 'cried out of disappointment' when Jaya and Vijaya fell from Vaikuṇṭha. It shows that there is no fall from Vaikuṇṭha, because if that were so, the residents of Satyaloka would be accustomed to it and not even bother about yet another one becoming envious of Kṛṣṇa and coming down, wanting to imitate Him. The Sanskrit text says hāhākāra, which is generally a cry of astonishment, not necessarily disappointment."

SB 3.23.47 Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī comments - pumān puṁso'dhike śukre strī bhavatyadhike striyāḥ - when the man produces more genital fluid the child will be male, if the woman produces more genital fluid the child will be female. tāṁ striyaṁ bhāvayann iti ādhāna-kāle strī-dhyānena stry-apatyaṁ syād - "Thinking of a woman during impregnation creates a female child." śāstra says women are nine or eight times lustier than men, but adhika kāma probably means 'greater sexual capacities than men'. That is why prostitution is usually done by women - they can do it over and over again, but a man is sexually exhausted after one single time sex, at most two times, a day.

SB 3.25.32-33 - Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda quotes from Viṣṇu Rahasya -

utsargān mala-mūtrādeś citta-svāsthyaṁ yathā bhavet.

ataḥ pāyur upasthaś ca tad-ārādhana-sādhanam

"Just as [because] the consciousness gets healthy by passing stool and urine, the anus and genitals are instruments of worship."

SB 3.25.21 - ajāta śatrava - The saint's enemies are never born. This does not mean a saint has no enemies - look at how many enemies great saints like Haridās Thākur and Mahārāj Yudhiṣṭhira had. Both Śrīdhara Swāmī and Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda say that 'sādhu bhūṣaṇa' means they respect the sādhus. Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda adds to that that they think of the sādhus dearly like ornaments.

SB 3.25.25 - From Sādhu Saṅga comes an attraction to the Lord within the mind, when one associates with the sādhus in an excellent way there will be Hari-kathā, if the companionship is not so excellent there will be only bhajan kriyā, but not kathā. From the excellent association anartha nivṛtti arises and niṣṭhā [fixation] in such kathā. Then comes genuine knowledge (samvido) of My prowess (mama vīrya). When taste (ruci) arises it will be a tonic for the heart and ears (hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanā). Attachment (āsakti) for the Lord then opens the door to liberation (apavarga vartmani), and gradually from śraddhā and āsakti there will be rati (bhāva) and bhakti (prema). In this way Viśvanātha creates a parallel between Rūpa Goswāmī's ādau-śraddhā sequence and the sequence in this famous Bhāgavat-verse.

SB 3.25.38 Is another nail in the coffin of the fall-vādīs: The residents of Vaikuṇṭha do not lose anything enjoyable. Viśvanātha confirms this: tasmin mal-loke mat-parās tad vāsino lokāḥ kadācid api na nankṣyanti bhogya-hīnā na bhavanti. He later quotes the commentary on Viṣṇu Sahasra Nāma: param utkṛṣṭam ayanaṁ sthānaṁ punar āvṛtti-śaṅkā-rahitam 'In that Supreme Abode there is no fear of returning"

SB 3.26.61 Though the head is popularly believed to be the abode of the mind, Viśvanātha Cakravartī comments on this verse - hṛdaya eva mana ādy-antaḥkaraṇa-catuṣṭayasyādhiṣṭhānam - "The heart is surely the abode of the fourfold subtle body [mind, intelligence, ego, citta], including the mind."

SB 3.29.10 - Viśvanātha comments that karma miśra bhaktas who perform horse sacrifices get sālokya mukti, jñāna miśra bhakti, where bhakti predominates results into śānta rasa and jñāna miśra bhakti wherein jñāna dominates results in sāyujya mukti. In India many poor people become sādhus to get a better material life and in the west many people join Hare Kṛṣṇa because they have some sexual hangup or some drugs-hangover. But they cannot approach Kṛṣṇa without having any bhakti at all. Despite their ulterior motives there IS bhakti too. See Bhagavad Gītā 7.16 - four types of PIOUS people come to Me. When the glass is half empty it is half full too, after all. You have all these big singers in India like Anup Jalota and Hari Om Sharan - they became very rich as singers, but they are not only in it for the money still. Without bhakti you cannot do these things. Of the four types of mukti only sāmīpya is somewhat devotional because they want to be near the Lord. See blog of December 3, 2008.

3.29.15 — nātihiṁsreṇa ati hiṁsā rahitenetyati śabdena bhagavan mandira mārjjana lepana tad arthān nādi vividha naivedya sādhanādiṣvati durvāra durlakṣya sūkṣma jīva hiṁsana śāka mūla phalādi troṭanādāvapi na kṣatir iti jñāpitaṁ. ‘Not being too violent` means that there is no harm if some violence is done to small insignificant creatures while picking roots, fruits and vegetables for the food offerings in the temple.

SB 3.31.35 Worse than associating with a woman is associating with a womanizer. When a woman is beautiful but chaste she poses no threat to the sādhaka, but even if there are no attractive women around, if the sādhaka associates with a debauch who constantly speaks about acquiring women, that is a much greater impetus to fall-down than association with a woman herself, especially a chaste and pious lady. Even if the debauch does not speak about women, his mere presence can be contaminating due to his mentality spilling over into your mind. In his ṭīkā Madhvācārya quotes the Varāha Purana:

sat-puṁsu ca tathā strīṣu na saṅgo doṣam āvadet

'There is no fault if saintly men and saintly women [innocently] associate with each other."

SB 3.31.40 — yā ca puruṣaṁ viraktaṁ jñātvā svīya niṣkāmatāṁ vyañjayanyī śuśrūṣādi miṣeṇa upayāti sāpi anartha-kāriṇītyāha yopayātīti. atra tṛṇācchādita kūpasya mayi janaḥ patatviti bhāvanābhāvāt kasyacit pārśve'pyanāgamāt sarvatrodāsīnā vā bhakti jñāna vairāgyādimatī vā unmādād acetanā nidrāṇā vā mṛtāpi vā strī sarvarthaiva dūre parityājyā iti vyañjitam
 "Women are a kind of illusion created by God, and it is very difficult to be released from the grip of this illusion. Hence a person who desires his own welfare should not associate with women. A woman may approach a man only for the sake of rendering service to him, thinking him to be very renounced, and he may consider himself to be very renounced also, but still he should consider her to be his wholesale destruction — he should consider women to be death personified, like a well covered over by grass. Even if a woman is devoted, full of spiritual knowledge, renounced, in a swoon due to hysteria, sleeping, or even dead, still he should not come near her — he should always stay far away from her."

SB 3.33.6 Jīva Goswāmī says in his ṭīkā on the famous verse that says that even a dog-eater can instantly perform fire sacrifices by even casually remembering Bhagavān, that tatra yogyatāyāṁ labdhārambho bhavatīty arthaḥ. tad-anantara-janmany eva dvijatvaṁ prāpya tad-ādy-adhikārī syād -
"This describes the beginning of qualification, but he is eligible to become a brahmin only in the next life"

Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda seems to disagree: soma-yāga-kartā brāhmaṇa iva pūjyo bhavatīti durjāty-ārambhaka-prārabdha-pāpa-nāśo vyañjitaḥ  "He becomes worshipable like a brahmin who performs Soma-sacrifices, it indicates the destruction of his prārabdha karma that caused his bad birth."

He does not literally or practically say that dog-eaters can perform sacrifices but they become worshipable like them (brāhmaṇa iva pūjyo) as Śrīdhara Swāmī says too by the way. In other words, where Jīva Goswāmī is practical Viśvanātha is more emotional and follows the line of glorification in the original verse, stressing the glories of bhakti. There is never any contradiction between the ācāryas, at most a different stressing of viewpoint (dṛṣṭikoṇa).

Destruction of prārabdha karma does not mean you get a new material body. When you enter the initiation-arena with one eye or with one leg, it is not that after dīkṣā suddenly you now have two eyes or two legs. The body remains the same, even though sins have been destroyed through dīkṣā or a sādhana process. Similarly one does not become a brahmin without first taking birth as one. The fact that brahmins are needed in the west to perform weddings and funerals, does not warrant making brahmins artificially out of mlecchas - the scriptural rule cannot be made subservient to practical demands. The same with Guru-successors - many famous Gurus go without a great successor - it simply did not happen for one reason or the other. The time was not ripe for a spiritually mature successor when the Guru's physical body expired. So organisations who need initiators as part of their preaching and on-the-job-training programmes go ahead and appoint unqualified dīkṣā Gurus anyway, for practical purposes, of course with disastrous results. Sometimes one just has to wait for a successor to mature and sometimes also a lineage just stops at a certain ācārya.

In the next verse, 3.33.7, Viśvanātha continues to follow the glorifying hyperboles of the śloka in his ṭīkā, saying: ataeva sa śvapaco garīyān atiśayena gurur bhavatīty anyān api nāmātmaka-mantram upadeṣṭuṁ yogyatāṁ dhatte iti bhāvaḥ - 'What to speak of a full pronunciation, if the dog-eater even hold the holy name on the tip of the tongue he becomes qualified to be a dīkṣā-guru." If this were to be taken literally, then any prostitute or pimp in a brothel called Porno-rama would be qualified to give dīkṣā (the name Rama is there)?

Śrīmad Bhāgavat, Canto 3, part 1

This is the first of a series of blogs on some of my favorite commentaries on Śrīmad Bhāgavat, primarily the 3rd and 4th canto. The commentaries are by Śrīpāda Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda, unless mentioned otherwise-

2.9.32 Lord Nārāyan tells Brahmā: "By My grace, you shall have true knowledge about Me, as to how great I am, what is My essential character, in how many forms I manifest Myself, what virtues I possess and what My activities are. "

Viśvanātha Cakravartī's ṭīkā says: "Knowledge which is beyond the senses and which is true should appear to some degree to theists who are pure and have faith. Vijñāna refers to the realization of that entity beyond the senses, direct vision of My svarūpa as it is. This can not occur without prema- and sādhana-bhakti, knowing the Lord gives His blessing for that purpose. ..... By a gradual increase of sādhana- and prema-bhakti, that are special features of the Lord's mercy-potency, one gradually realizes the Lord's sweetness more and more. It is indicated here that 'eventually you will realize the most rare and sweet form of Mine as Kṛṣṇa in Vraja-bhūmi.' This (rūpa-guṇa-karmaka) naturally defeats the notion of any type of indistinct abstract realization like Brahman."

Brahmā is the greatest intellectual in the universe and he still needed the Lord's blessings for understanding things. That shows once more that mundane brain-salads alone do not lead to spiritual realization or understanding.

3.6.23-24 The moon-god entered the heart of the giant form of the universe - the moon-god presides over the mind, which indicates that the mind is in the heart. Vijayadhvaja Tīrtha comments - hṛdaya mano vāsa-sthāna 'The heart is the abode of the mind'. Viśvanātha also comments on SB 3.26.61 hṛdaya eva mana ādy-antaḥ-karaṇa-catuṣṭayasyādhiṣṭhānam - "The whole fourfold subtle body, including the mind, is situated in the heart."

3.7.9 Viśvanātha Cakravartī shows here one should not theorize about the reason why we are in the material world, like for being 'envious of Kṛṣṇa' or even 'to learn how to love God' etc - anādyavidyā saṅgavaśāt jīvena sva jñānānandaṁ vismṛtya dehābhimāna prāptaṁ deha dharmaṁ durbhagatvādikañca prāpya yadi kliśyate tarhi kasmai doṣo deya iti  "Because of association with beginningless ignorance the jīva has forgotten his blissful and conscious nature and has developed a false ego in the material body. He suffers due to acquiring bodily characteristics and misfortune, therefore no one is to be blamed."

3.7.10 — More of the same here - tatra bhagavataḥ pṛṣṭha sthitayā anādyavidyayā tamaḥ svarūpayā anādi vaimukhya rūpa bhagavat pṛṣṭha-sthānāṁ jīvānāṁ jñānam yallupyate tasya na vastutvam kāraṇam nāpi prayojanaṁ kim apy asti "Ignorance, which is beginningless, is situated on the Lord's back. She covers the knowledge of the jīvas who are situated on the Lord's back and are non devotees. Their non devotion is anādi. There is no real reason or purpose for their knowledge being covered."

3.7.16 - And yet more - "O learned Maitreya! You have accurately explained how the external energy, whose actions which are without purpose and without cause is under the shelter of the Supreme Lord, and you have explained how the jīva's bondage, which is without purpose and without cause, is under the shelter of the Lord's māyā. Except for that māyā, then is no other cause for the universe. ....The bondage of the jīva by ignorance, and the resulting misfortune of losing knowledge (ātma-māyāyanam), is under the shelter of māyā. This is also without a goal and without a cause."

3.7.20 — kiṁ ca seyaṁ mahat sevaivāti durllabhetyāha alpa tapasā iti lokarītyoktir mahat sevāyāṁ tat kṛpaika labhyatvena tapaḥ phalatvābhāvāt vaikuṇṭhasya vartmabhūteṣu tad bhakteṣu nityaṁ sādhana sādhyāvasthāyāṁ. “That the service of great souls is very rarely attained by those of scant penance is a popular saying (loka-rīti-ukti), for the service of the saints is attainable by their grace alone, it is achieved by the devotees (Vaikuṇṭha-vartma) without the fruit of penance as the eternal practise and goal.”

3.9.11 — te sādhaka-bhaktāḥ sva sva bhāvānurūpaṁ yad yad dhiyā bhāvayanti tat tad eva vapus teṣāṁ siddha dehaṁ praṇayase prakarṣeṇa tān prāpayasi aho te sva bhakta pāravaśyam iti bhāvaḥ 
"Whatever the sādhaka bhaktas meditate on, according to their own feelings, the Lord will make them a siddha deha accordingly, which they will attain. Aho! This is how the Lord is subdued by His devotees!" The words sva sva bhāvānurūpa make it clear that the siddha deha is not a diktat from the Lord above, but something which spontaneously develops in the heart of the sādhaka / sādhikā.

3.9.12 - bhaktena sarva-bhūteṣv eva dayā kāryaiva tad api na sarva-muktir draṣṭavyā. nahi sarvatraivoptāny api bījāny uṣara-kṣārādi-bhūmiṣv api prarohantīti - "The devotee should be merciful upon everyone, and yet we do not see everyone getting liberated. (The clue is: ) Seeds can be sown everywhere, but still they will not sprout on saline or barren ground."

3.9.21 Brahmā prays to Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu when He wakes up: he mat-prabho kṛpā-pārāvāra jāgṛhi jāgṛhi kiṅkaro’haṁ maṅgalārātrikaṁ karavāṇīti bhāvaḥ "O Lord, ocean of mercy, wake up wake up I am your servant, and then performs maṅgala ārati." This is a very cosmic maṅgala ārati because this Lord has been sleeping for an entire kalpa. Mahaviṣṇu's maṅgal ārati is mādhurya on a cosmic līlā projected by Viśvanātha here.

There is anyway some mādhurya in these cosmic pastimes in śayan ekādaśī, pārśvaikādaśī and utthānaikādaśī. On Śayan Ekādaśī the cosmic Puruṣa goes to sleep, on Pārśva Ekādaśī He turns over on his other side after 2 months, and then, on Utthāna Ekādaśī He rises again after 4 months of rest. In the beginning of the cyclic creation the Lord also 'felt alone' in SB 3.5.24 - there Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda compares Lord Nārāyan in that situation with a gṛhastha without wife - asantam iva mene gṛhinīṁ vinā gṛhastha

3.14.16-21 and surrounding verses do not mean that sex affliction can be solved in marriage; Kasyapa's flattering words to Diti are not meant literally as objective siddhānta. Viśvanātha comments on verse 17: kaśyapasya bahu-vāg-vilāsa-racanā sāyaṁ-kāla-yāpanārthaṁ eveti jñeyam - "Kaśyapa used many playful words to keep Diti occupied until the inauspicious twilight time was over". He comments on verse 16: "Vidura was strong in dharma, but Kaśyapa was not. Kaśyapa did not glance at Diti or scold her in anger. If he would have done so her affliction of lust would have disappeared out of fear. Being dizzy with lust she could not tolerate any conciliatory words. Her lust simply increased."

The ṭīkā of verse 20 confirms what i said in my blog of June 6 : durgo’tra viṣaya-bhoga eva. tatra daivāt patitān brahmacaryādīn eva bhraṁśantīti, na tu gṛhasthān, teṣāṁ bhoga-viśeṣasya śāstra-vihitatvena - "The fortress is sense enjoyment. If a brahmacārī falls into it, it ruins him, but not the gṛhastha because his enjoyment is according to śāstra." This is repeated in the next śloka's ṭīkā too - tad evaṁ striyam āśrityaiva gṛhastha eva sukhena viṣayam api bhuṅkte narake’pi na patati, na tu virakta. The ṭīkā of verse 21 says Kaśyapa is joking with Diti - by speaking of himself in plural case and of Diti in singular case Kaśyapa indicates he is joking with her. None of this means that sex desire is solved by marriage.

3.15.19  tarhi tad eva tapo vayam ito bhārata-bhūmiṁ gatvā ācarāma iti teṣāṁ mano’nulāpo dhvanyate. tataś ca vaikuṇṭha-vāsino’pi bhārata-bhūmau janma vāñchantīti vaikuṇṭhād api bhārata-bhūmer utkarṣo’nudhvanyate. ‘Then let us go to India to do penance` this is how they think to themselves. So it is indicated here that even the residents of Vaikuṇṭha desire birth in India and that India is even more excellent than Vaikuṇṭha."

3.15.20 "The ladies of Vaikuṇṭha do not incite lusty desires with their feminine features"
- Śrī Jiva Goswami comments on this verse: rajo nādadhuḥ kintu tāsām api parama-bhaktatvād bhakty-uddīpanam eva jātam ity arthaḥ 'Even they [the women of Vaikuṇṭha] incite devotion [not lust] due to their being the topmost devotees." Just like, if you meet a great devotee in the material world, you get bhakti. yeṣāṁ saṁsmaraṇāt puṁsaḥ - "even the remembrance of a great soul", sadya śudhyanti vai gṛha - "instantly purifies your abode". So though these great souls (parama bhaktatvāt) may appear as beautiful and attractive ladies, their sight is simply purifying, not lust-inciting, for the equally great male devotees of Vaikuṇṭha.

The prostitute that came to seduce Haridās Ṭhākur was converted by him, after which she shaved her head, gave up her beautiful dresses and ornaments, and began to chant day and night before the Tulasī-tree. This caused even the great mahāntas came to come and be purified by having her darśana (divine audience). Devotee-wives can very much enthuse their devotee-husbands in bhakti, because they have a heart. The Sanskrit word bhakti is female gender and the word jñāna is male, not by accident - the man's ratio and the woman's heart should complement each other and create a balance. The lame supporting the blind. So here the ladies of Vaikuṇṭha make themselves pretty for Kṛṣṇa. Even in the sādhaka world, down here, often ladies, and even men, dress themselves in their best outfits when they visit the temple, to please the Lord's eyes with their looks. It is not just that we should enjoy the sight of the deity, but it should be vice versa too.

3.15.24 — hā hanta bhārata bhūmau kadā nṛ-januṣo bhūtvā vayaṁ kṛṣṇaḥ bhajantaḥ kṣaṇa mātreṇaiva vaikuṇṭhaṁ prāpnuyāmeti — "Alas! When can we take human birth in India, so that we can attain Vaikuṇṭha by worshipping Kṛṣṇa for only a moment?"

Verses 3.14.16-21 paragraph edited June 26, 2010, verse 3.15.20 added February 8, 2011

Guru-nectar in Kaṭha Upaniṣad and Viśva-sāra Tantra

Some nice Guru-verses were added to (pages 8/9 and 15 of) my anthology 'The glories of the (one) Guru' on my website.


uttiṣṭhata jāgrata prāpya varān nibodhata kṣurasya dhārā nisitā duratyaya durgaṁ pathas tat kavayo vadanti

“Get up! Wake up! Seek the guidance of an illumined teacher and realize the Self. Sharp like a razor's edge, the sages say, is the path, difficult to traverse. “ (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.3.14)

gu-kāraś cāndhakāraḥ syāt 
ru-kāra tan nirodhakah
andhakāra nirodhitvāt 
gurur ityabhidhīyate.

'The syllable Gu indicates darkness (nescience) and Ru indicates removal of darkness (nescience). One who removes darkness - ignorance - is called Guru.”

gu-kāraś cāndhakāraḥ syāt
ru-kāras teja ucyate,
ajñāna nāśakam brahma 
gurur eva na saṁśayaḥ

(Viśva-sāra-tantra)

"The syllable 'Gu' signifies darkness-ignorance and 'Ru' signifies light. Therefore, it is undoubtedly true that self-effulgent Para-brahma, whose light removes darkness-ignorance, is Guru.”

More on the fall issue and some other questions

MORE ON THE FALL ISSUE-

Bhakta: "What about the mad elephant offence? It is said to destroy the devotional creeper completely."

Advaitadas: "There are many so called ex devotees who hate us, they left us 30 years ago or so, and if you read their blogs and their forum-posts they cannot stop speaking about us, be it negatively, after such a very long time. That is not just because Kṛṣṇa-consciousness is such a deep experience psychologically [rising at 4, cold shower, kirtan etc.] but also because it is a profoundly spiritual truth and bliss. nehābhikrama nāśo'sti pratyavāyo na vidyate [BG 2.40] - There is no loss and diminution on this path. When Kṛṣṇadās Kavirāja speaks of uprooting the creeper of devotion through Vaiṣṇava aparādha he speaks of future devotional service, not of the past because that stands forever."

Bhakta: "You say we did not fall from the spiritual world, but even Śrī Caitanya says 'patitaṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau' I have fallen in the material ocean'.

Advaitadas: "Devotional humility is one thing, philosophical truths another one. Secondly, 'fallen' does not mean we fell down from the spiritual world - for example, in caste-Hinduism outcastes are called adhama or patita, fallen, but it is not that they were brahmins before, like Rupa and Sanatana, who fell from their brahmin caste by eating Muslim-food, no, they were born fallen. It is not that the fallen souls were one time up there and then became fallen. There is no time factor to being fallen in this case. All this is covered [counteracted] by the statement anādi bahirmukha in the Caitanya Caritāmṛta - our disinclination towards God is beginningless."

Bhakta: 'I have heard that the spiritual sky is only available through prema, but I read in your blog of September 19, 2009 that there are other motives too."

Advaitadas: 'Look at Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu (1.2.55-57) :

atra tyājyatayaivokta muktih panca vidhāpi cet |
sālokyādis tathāpy atra bhaktyā nātivirudhyate ||55||

"Though all the five forms of mukti have been stated here as to be discarded (by a pure devotee), yet the first four, sālokya-sāṛṣṭi-sāmīpya and sārūpya are not altogether incompatible with Bhakti."

sukhaiśvaryottarā seyaṁ prema-sevottarety api |
sālokyādir dvidhā tatra nādyā sevā-juṣaṁ matā ||56||

"Sālokya-sāṛṣṭi-sāmīpya and sarūpya muktis are of two kinds: firstly, as grandeur-and-pleasure-giving to the individual, i.e. mukti in which the individual desires his personal pleasures from the grandeur and wealth, and secondly mukti in which Prema-sevā dominates, i.e. in which the dominant desire is to serve the Lord for His delight. But the first of these two aspects of mukti is not welcome to those who are devoted to the service of the Lord, i.e. they do not seek personal pleasures from the grandeur and wealth of the first four forms of mukti."

kintu premaika-mādhurya-juṣa ekāntino harau |
naivāngīkurvate jātu muktiṁ panca-vidhām api ||

"But devotees solely attached to the Lord who relish the sweetness of prema never accept the five types of liberation at all (even premottara)."

This is also stated in SB 3.29.13 and 9.4.67. This also shows that all the śāstrik verses of someone returning from Vaikuṇṭha after enjoying there does not indicate fall because pure devotion has never been there and it is typical for enjoying the kingdom of God without God. Apart from this, such statements refer to temporarily attaining the Vaikuṇṭha within the mahat tattva. (See the end of my blog of September 19, 2009) These persons do not become envious of Kṛṣṇa and do not come down here to imitate Him at all."

Some other questions -

Bhakta: 'Why nitya siddhas like the Pāṇḍavas have to suffer?"

Advaitadas: Śrī Rūpa Goswāmī gives a definition of the siddha in Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu: avijñātākhila kleśa sadā kṛṣṇāśrita kriyā - "A siddha does not know any suffering- he is always under Kṛṣṇa's shelter."

The Pāṇḍavas and the narrators of their adventures teach us things through their suffering - the virtue of forbearance, the saving grace of God, the ultimate victory of truth, etc."

Bhakta: "Does marriage solve a sādhaka's sexual problems?"

Advaitadas: "Sexual indulgence in the gṛhastha āśram does not free one from sex desire, only offenseless harināma and Guru-krpā do so. Marriage is an emergency case, to keep a devotee from falling into deeper sin of unmarried sex. Śrī Narottam sings - gṛhe va bonete thāko sadā haribolo ḍāko "Whether in the woods [renounced] or at home, always chant the name of Hari!"

Nityānanda Ādi Guru, bhajan at home, astrology and dormant love

Kusum Sarovar in 1865, photo by W. Henry Baker

Bhakta: Caitanya Caritāmṛta [Adi 1.9] says that Advaita Prabhu [as Mahaviṣṇu] emanates from Nityānanda Prabhu -

māyā-bhartājāṇḍa-sańghāśrayāńgaḥ
śete sākṣāt kāraṇāmbhodhi-madhye
yasyaikāḿśaḥ śrī-pumān ādi-devas
taḿ śrī-nityānanda-rāmaḿ prapadye

"I offer my full obeisances unto the feet of Śrī Nityānanda Rāma, whose partial representation called Kāraṇodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, lying on the Kāraṇa Ocean, is the original puruṣa, the master of the illusory energy, and the shelter of all the universes."

Should not the family of Nityānanda get precedence then in giving dīkṣā?"

Advaitadas: "Advaita Prabhu took disciples before Śrīman Mahāprabhu even appeared in this world. What should He have done after Nityānanda's family starting accepting śiṣyas - send his disciples over there and 'resign' as a Guru or so? The sequence of cosmic creation is not the same as the historical sequence of Gaura-līlā."

Bhakta: "But then there is the Vyāsa Pūjā-description of Lord Nityānanda in Caitanya Bhāgavata (Madhya 5) - does that not prove that Nityānanda is the ādi Guru?"

Advaitadas: "This needs to be seen in context. Nityānanda was of course Mahāprabhu's right hand, yet it is also well known that Vṛndāvan Dās Ṭhākur, who wrote this Caitanya Bhāgavat, was highly biased in favor of Nitāi Cāṅd. He calls Mahāprabhu āmār prabhur prabhu - the master of my master (Nityānanda). This bias is not a dūṣaṇa (pollution), but a bhūṣaṇa (ornament). 

There is no official theology in our Sampradāya, either in the Sanskrit scriptures of the Goswāmīs, or in the Bengali caritas of Mahāprabhu, including the Vyāsa-pūjā story, that Nityānanda is the Ādi Guru."

Bhakta: "Is it really easier to do sādhana in an ashram than at home?"

Advaitadas: "It depends on the sincerity and strength of the sādhaka. Compare it with a schoolboy - if he makes his homework in the school-library he will not get distracted, but if he makes his homework at home he will have his broadband connection, his mp3s, TV and his brothers and sisters and so to distract him. He will make his homework at home as well, but not as easily as in the school library. Of course if the boy has no interest in distractions anyway he can make his homework at home just as well. Similarly if a sādhaka is strong or just fed up with material life anyway, he can do sādhana at home just as well."

Bhakta: "What value does astrology have for a Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava?"

Advaitadas: "The Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava ācāryas are the 6 Goswamis - they have written large volumes on rules and philosophy, as the Sandarbhas, Haribhakti Vilāsa and Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu. Nonetheless none of these huge works mention anything about jyotiṣa, so it is safe to assume it need not be consulted or heeded by a Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava."

Bhakta: "You said that love of God is not dormant within the heart but is a potential only. Can you illustrate that with an example?"

Advaitadas: "First of all we must examine śāstra on this dormant love theory - in Sanskrit 'dormant love' means 'supta prema' or 'nidrita prema' - such words are not found anywhere in śāstra.
As for an example - a child who is born with a high IQ can only exploit it if he gets a good education and good grades. Or a little girl has the potential of motherly love within her though she is too young to have children of her own. Hence she plays with dolls. Later she will be a real mother. That is potential. Some girls and women will never have children but they still have the potential of being a mother. Similarly, a spirit soul needs to receive the mercy of Guru and Kṛṣṇa (guru-kṛṣṇa prasāde pāy bhakti latā bīja) and to perform an offenseless sādhana to achieve prema. Having just a field without sowing in it and irrigating it will not yield crops. The crops are not dormant in the soil - they need to be sown there first. That is Guru Kṛpā. Jīva Goswāmī writes in Bhakti Sandarbha that a soul needs to cry out for Kṛṣṇa. That is the beginning of devotional service and Guru Kṛpā." (See also my blog of August 18, 2007)

Some important corrections to Govinda Līlāmṛta

Govindaji Temple in Vrindavan in 1865. Photo by Samuel Bourne

I have been going through the translation work of my friend Haricaraṇa recently and this helped me to correct my own humble bid at translating śāstra a bit. These are some of the main improvements I made in my Govinda Līlāmṛta translation-

6.24 Original version: "Looking all around Him, Kṛṣṇa became glad and agitated by thirst from seeing the ripe grapefruits, pomegranates, Bael fruits and oranges, imagining them to be the beautiful breasts on Śrī Rādhikā's body."

6.24 Corrected version: "Looking all around Him, Kṛṣṇa became glad and agitated by thirst from seeing the ripe grapefruits, pomegranates, Bael fruits and oranges. Imagining them to be the beautiful breasts on Śrī Rādhikā's body, He wondered if Her body was all-pervading!" (vibhūtvaṁ saśaṅke)

6.43 Original version: Kṛṣṇa considered the six martial arts of conquering the great kingdom of Rādhā's bodily association (making allies, scattering the enemy, surrounding the city, performing battle, making peace and riding out against the enemy), consulting experts like Vṛndā, Dhaniṣṭhā, Subala and Madhumaṅgala.

6.43 Corrected version: Kṛṣṇa considered the six strategies of conquering the great kingdom of Rādhā's bodily association (making allies, scattering the enemy, marching, halting, division and annexing), consulting experts like Vṛndā, Dhaniṣṭhā, Subala and Madhumaṅgala.

6.69 Original version: "Today Candrāvalī will hold a festival for Durgā's worship and she has sent me here to invite Rādhā!

6.69 Corrected version: "Today Candrāvalī will hold the concluding festival for Durgā's worship and she has sent me here to invite Rādhā! (udyapa = concluding)

6.72 Original version: Having come there, She was entrusted with all the responsibilities for the festival's execution, along with all of Her girlfriends.

6.72 Corrected version: Having come there, She was humbly entrusted with all the responsibilities for the festival's execution, along with all of Her girlfriends. (vinayaiḥ = humbly.)

7.119 Original translation: All this can be seen in its real form (svarūpa) by those who are favorable to these pastimes and by practising devotees, but others see it as just a material place.

7.119 Corrected translation: All this can be seen in its real form (svarūpa) by those who are favorable to these pastimes (nitya siddhas) and by practising devotees (who have developed bhāva bhakti), but others see it as just a material place.

This new translation is based on the commentary of Vṛndāvana Cakravartī – līlānukūleṣu ye teṣu nitya-siddheṣu janeṣu tathā sādhaka-bhaktānām utpanna bhāveṣu citteṣu svarūpataḥ.
Yadunandan Thākur (who was manifest before Vṛndāvan Cakravartī) glossed 'favorable' also as 'parikara-gaṇa' (Kṛṣṇa's eternal associates). It shows that ‘favorable to the pastimes’ does not refer to your regular hippie visiting Rādhākuṇḍa from Poonah, saying Rādhe Rādhe while smoking a bīḍi on the bank of the kuṇḍa. It refers to nitya siddhas no less, and the sādhaka bhaktas mentioned in the verse, are on the bhāva bhakti stage, which makes sense, since all ācāryas have taught that on the stage of bhāva bhakti things become revealed. These corrections, along with a number of minor adjustments, are added to the digital correction sheet on my website.

Is bhakti ever selfless?

Kusum Sarovara at around 1855

This is a purely philosophical discussion which is not meant to influence devotional sentiments or attitudes - bhakti should of course be practised in a selfless mood.

Bhakta: Smt. Rādhārāṇī is described as niḥsīma hari mādhurya saundaryadyeka bhoginī - She enjoys unlimitedly the endless beauty and sweetness of Hari. Is it not the mood of Dwārkā to enjoy Kṛṣṇa?"

Advaitadas: The deeper the bhakti is the deeper the relish of Kṛṣṇa's sweetness and beauty. Much of chapter 4 of Adi Līlā of Caitanya Caritāmṛta explains this, for instance,verse 198: gopī preme kore kṛṣṇa mādhuryera puṣṭi - "The gopis' prema nourishes Kṛṣṇa's sweetness." The topmost devotion is ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśilanaṁ bhaktir uttamā - just acting favorably for Kṛṣṇa. It does not mean one should not desire happiness, because that desire is innate - everyone seeks ānanda (though most seek it in the wrong place). You cannot separate service from bliss, like you cannot separate your shadow from yourself. It is our adhikāra (right) to be happy. The ācāryas say there are three types of happiness - sensual happiness, happiness of brahman and happiness of prema, but everyone searches for happiness, it is unavoidable. Śrī Śukadeva explained to King Parīkṣit what is true selfishness in Śrīmad Bhāgavat (10.14.51-55):

"To all created beings, O protector of men, their own self alone is dear; others such as one's progeny and wealth are dear only because of being loved by oneself. Hence, O King, the same love as is seen in the heart of the embodied souls for their own self, they do not have for their sons, wealth, house etc, which are regarded as their own. Even in the eyes of those who speak of the body as the own self, those (persons and objects) that are connected with the body are not so dear to them as their own body. If even the body comes to be recognized as one's own, it would not then be loved like the self whereas the desire to survive was very strong even when the body was worn out. Thus one's own self is supremely dear to all embodied souls; this entire creation, mobile and immobile, is loved for the sake of the self alone. Know this Kṛṣṇa to be the Self of the selves......."

The love of Dwārkā is different because there is some reservation there in surrender - the Queens will love Kṛṣṇa conjugally too but on the condition that He preserves their reputation and marries them first. This is called samañjasa rati, second class love. The gopīs of Vraja have first class love, samartha rati - they give Kṛṣṇa everything without reservation and without demanding anything in return. That automatically leads to the supreme relish of Kṛṣṇa's sweetness too. Then there is also the factor of awe and reverence, of the devotees in Vaikuṇṭha, Dwārkā and Mathurā - this also contracts their relish of Kṛṣṇa's sweetness and causes Kṛṣṇa to appear to them in a less relishable form. Look at the very title of the Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu - 'The ocean of nectar of the taste of devotion" - he did not call it 'The ocean of poison'..... It is like a box of chocolates when you open it - nougat, nuts, caramel etc in the form of dāsya, sakhya, vātsalya etc - to preserve a devotional attitude one should not talk too much about relish though. Look at what Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta says on relishing rasa:

BB 2.2.152-

tathāpi brāhmya-kṛtyābdhi- bhanga-magno na pūrvavat
lebhe bhagavato bhakti- sukhaṁ cintāturāntaraḥ

"Even so, I was immersed in the waves of the ocean of Brahmā’s duties, and therefore unable to enjoy devotional service to the Lord as I had before. My mind was too disturbed by anxious concerns."

BB 2.2.203-

tad-bhakti-rasikānāṁ tu mahatāṁ tattva-vedinām
sādhyā taccaraṇāmbhoja- makarandātmikaiva sā


"And for those great souls who know the truth and are rasikas, that nectar of serving at Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet is itself the goal (sādhya)."

BB 2.3.127-

tathāpi tad-rasa-jnaiḥ sā bhaktir nava-vidhānjasā
sampādyate vicitraitad- rasa-mādhurya-labdhaye

"Yet devotees who understand the rasas of devotional service may practice all nine forms of bhakti to easily obtain the sweetness of its diverse tastes."

Sanātan Goswāmī's commentary: "Although devotees can attain Vaikuṇṭha by any one of the nine practices of bhakti, they often like to engage in all nine to enjoy the supreme, indescribably blissful taste of those transcendental activities. Each of the practices, beginning with śravaṇa and kīrtana, gives a sweet satisfaction of its own."

BB 2.3.133-

nijendriya-manaḥ-kāya ceṣṭā-rūpāṁ na viddhi tām
nitya-satya-ghanānanda rūpā sā hi guṇātigā

"You should not consider devotional service merely an activity of the body, senses, and mind. It is in fact the eternal absolute reality, manifesting itself as the most intense ecstasy, beyond the material modes." The word bhakti is mentioned in the previous verse and is the central topic here - it shows that 'devotional service', implying activities, is not an apt translation for the word 'bhakti'.

Bhakta: "Is service in separation higher?"

Advaitadas: "See my blog of March 2, 2009. Separation being a higher ecstasy than union does not mean one does not want to see Kṛṣṇa, and that one wants Kṛṣṇa to leave in order to experience a higher ecstasy. According to Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī (in his commentary on Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu 1.3.1), bhāva bhakti has three features: prāpty-abhilāṣa, sva-kartṛkānukūlyābhilāṣa and sauhārdābhilāṣa - desire to attain the deity, desire to act favorably for the deity and a desire to love the deity."

Bhakta: "Should'nt we act in such a way that Kṛṣṇa will want to see us instead of us wanting to see Him?"

Advaitadas: "That does not mean that you will not see Kṛṣṇa or that you don't want to see Him - He comes to see you instead, according to this philosophy. It is the same thing, either way. This saying is meant to enhance and stimulate a devotional attitude. The ācāryas clearly say that ecstatic love involves a desire to see Kṛṣṇa."

Bhakta: "The last verse of Śikṣāṣṭakam says "I just want to serve even if You don't show Yourself to me."

Advaitadas: "This is said to make sure to Kṛṣṇa that He can count on you, not that you don't want to see Him - that is already shown in the first paragraphs of my 2 march 2009 blog. The Gosvāmīs would not contradict Mahāprabhu, would they? Look at Raghunātha dās Gosvāmī's yearning to see Rādhārāṇī - in Stavāvali he says he would fly to Dwārkā at the speed of the mind just to be with Rādhikā, now matter how unfavorable the atmosphere there is. There is no mentioning of any higher or lower in prāpty-abhilāṣa, sva-kartṛkānukūlyābhilāṣa and sauhārdābhilāṣa. There is sambandha (relationship), abhidheya (practise to realize that relationship) and prayojana (the goal of prema), and the earlier stages have their scriptures like Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu and Haribhakti Vilāsa. Raghunātha Dās Gosvāmī was the prayojanācārya, the teacher of prema, and he craved for Rādhārāṇī's darśan more and more towards the end of Vilāpa Kusumāñjali. Look at verse 16 -

sakhyāya te mama namo'stu namo'stu nityaṁ 

dāsyāya te mama raso'stu raso'stu satyam - 

In one breath the desire for relish and the desire for service are mentioned - 'I offer my respects to Your friendship but truly, truly let me get the flavor of Your service instead'. It comes simultaneously, they are inseparable. The desire to enjoy material pleasures fades out in the course of our sādhana, but the desire to relish transcendental rasa never fades out. See my blog of November 26, 2009. In Vilāpa Kusumāñjali, verses 58 and 76, Tulasī Mañjarī just wants to relish Swāminījī's sight, she does not always pray for service. At the climax of the Six Goswāmī-aṣṭakam it is said: he rādhe braja devike ca lalite he nanda sūno kutaḥ - kutaḥ means "Where are you?", not : "I don't want to see You because I am so advanced!"

Bhakta: "What about serving in separation in a mission?"

Advaitadas: "If you say you don't want to see Kṛṣṇa but I want to serve in separation you do so because you know it will be an even higher ecstasy. It's not that there is no desire to make Kṛṣṇa happy, though. We go to the kīrtan knowing it will make us happy. The desire to be happy is merged with the desire to please Kṛṣṇa. It is like putting the left hand in the right hand, or salt or sugar merging with transparent water. prema is the fifth puruṣārtha, goal of life, above even mukti, but the goal of life is happiness still. Intelligent people know that sense pleasure leads to sorrow (ye hi saṁsparśaja bhoga duḥkha yonaya eva te, Bhagavad Gītā 5.22), so they renounce it and practise bhakti instead - that is also an attempt for happiness. These verses [Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu 2.1.6-10] show how to relish rasa -

prāktanyādhunikī cāsti yasya sad bhakti vāsanā

eṣa bhakti rasāsvādas tasyaiva hṛdi jāyate

bhakti-nirdhūta-doṣāṇāṁ prasannojjvala-cetasām

srī-bhāgavata-raktānāṁ rasikāsanga-rangiṇām

jīvanībhūta-govinda-pāda-bhakti-sukha-sriyām

premāntaranga-bhūtāni kṛtyāny evānutiṣṭhatām

bhaktānāṁ hṛdi rājantī samskāra-yugalojjvalā

ratir ānanda-rūpaiva nīyamānā tu rasyatām

kṛṣṇādibhir vibhāvādyair gatair anubhavādhvani

prauḍhānanda-camatkāra-kāṣṭhām āpadyate parām

kintu premā vibhāvādyaiḥ svalpair nīto'py anīyasīm

vibhāvanādy avasthāṁ tu sadya āsvādyatāṁ vrajet

"The taste for bhakti-rasa arises in the heart of a person who has experiences of pure bhakti in previous and present life. rati, which is the very form of ānanda, appears in the hearts of devotees who have been purified of all faults by bhakti, whose hearts have become joyful and bright, who have developed great relish for the Śrīmat Bhāgavat, who enjoy the blissful company of rasika saints, whose very life is the blissful wealth of devotion to Govinda's feet, who always discharge the confidential duties of love like hari nāma saṅkīrtana, associating with rasika saints, hearing transcendental topics from them and remembering these topics throughout the day are qualified to relish bhagavat-rasa (the flavour of God). This rati then attains a state of relish by realizing vibhāva, anubhāva, sāttvika bhāva and vyabhicārī bhāva (in relation to Kṛṣṇa)  and finally attains the highest, astonishing peak of profound bliss. However, prema, even becoming slightly pleasurable by a slight mixture of vibhāva and the other ingredients. quickly becomes fully tasteful."

Bhakta: "Then what about the Caitanya Caritāmṛta-verse: krsna bhakta niṣkāma - ataeva śānta; bhukti mukti siddhi kāmī sakalei aśānta? "The devotee of Kṛṣṇa is without desire therefore He is peaceful, while those who crave for sense enjoyment, liberation or mystic perfections are all bereft of peace."?

Advaitadas: "This is a philosophical statement. This verse is not about material śānti, it is spiritual or philosophical śānti - again, look at how Rāghunāth Dās Gosvāmī craved for Rādhārāṇī's darśana - it is not surface śānti. Look at all the evidence I quoted above, here....Once, on the roof of the ashram, Sādhu Bābā told me privately that even the gopīs have their own desires. Perhaps the above statements explain this."
Śrīman Mahāprabhu said during His topmost Gambhīrā-pastimes (CC Antya 20.37):

"prema-dhana vinā vyartha daridra jīvana

'dāsa' kori' vetana more deho prema-dhana"

"Without prema My life is useless. Therefore I pray that You accept Me as Your servant and give Me the salary of prema."

Happiness is always the pursuit, even in the highest realms of devotion.

Thanks to Acyutānanda for the photo of Kusumsarovar

Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta, Canto 2, chapter 7 [final part]

This is the 11th and final part of my review of Gopīprāṇadhan Dās’s rendering of Śrīla Sanātan Goswāmī’s Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta.

2.7.115 Is a quotation from Śrīmad Bhāgavat 10.21.14 -

“O mother, in this forest all the birds have risen onto the beautiful branches of the trees to see Kṛṣṇa. With closed eyes they are simply listening in silence to the sweet vibrations of His flute, and they are not attracted by any other sound. Surely these birds are on the same level as great sages.”

Normally speaking one should not close one's eyes during sadhana due to the danger of laya and vikṣepa [falling asleep and spacing out], but I suppose the bird-like Munis in this Bhāgavat-verse are siddhas that need not fear sleep. This danger of sleep can be largely avoided if a sādhaka is allowed to get sufficient sleep - it is a myth that everyone should sleep 6 hours or less - it is medically well proven that some persons are naturally long sleepers and others short sleepers.
Sanātan Goswāmī comments: "According to the commentary of Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī, all sages, even if content in their own selves, should become birds in the Vṛndāvana forest." This may seem ordinary for us modern Vaiṣṇavas, but in his time, when nearly all sādhus were brahmavādīs or māyāvādīs, it was quite revolutionary. It may be one of the oldest references to a siddha svarupa.

2.7.119, commentary: "Apparently Kṛṣṇa was walking vigorously, because the kumkum became firmly attached to the grass and stones." This is not correct. Sanātan Goswāmī writes: prācuryāt sammarda viśeṣeṇa padābjayoḥ sampṛktatvāc cākṣīyamāṇaṁ sadā vana-sthalīṣu tata itaścaṁ krameṇa tābhyāṁ tṛṇādiṣu saṁlagnaṁ - 'Because Kṛṣṇa's lotus-feet intensely rubbed the gopīs' breasts and because there was so much kumkum on these breasts, the kumkum remained on His feet even though He walked all over the place with it...'

2.7.121, quoting SB 10.12.11: "These gopīs could see Kṛṣṇa only as an attractive youth (nara-dāraka). They gave no thought to His godly omnipotence. As if ordinary girls, they simply focused their attention on Him as the sole object of their desire and affection. Or— another reading—the same Kṛṣṇa who is the constant companion of the cowherd boys is also amorous appeal personified for all human females (nara-dārāḥ). Or else Kṛṣṇa figuratively tears apart all persons (narān dārayati) by filling their hearts with unique love for Him. Of course, Kṛṣṇa's attraction in the conjugal rasa is most appropriately described in relation to women, but because the gopīs presume every human being to be like themselves, they think that Kṛṣṇa tears apart the heart of everyone and fills it with love. This presumption is suggested by the use of the masculine form nara-dārakeṇa, which can be grammatically understood to include both males and females."

2.7.133, ṭīkā: "Of course the days [the gopīs] spent without Kṛṣṇa didn’t literally last hundreds of yugas, but, as indicated by the word iva [just like], such was the gopīs’ subjective experience while in the pain and anxiety of separation."

2.7.136 The gopīs were riding swings (inkana) in this Bhāgavat verse (10.44.15), but those leasurely activities are never disconnected from Kṛṣṇa as it could not stop them from drinking the nectar of Kṛṣṇa. They were going about their daily lives without it obstructing their Kṛṣṇa consciousness, as did Ambarīṣa, Prahlād and the Pāṇḍavas.

2.7.138, commentary: Dividing the phrase sva-sādhu-kṛtyam differently yields yet another understanding. su-asādhu-kṛtyam (which changes to sv-asādhu-kṛtyam) means “very un-virtuous acts.” Thus Kṛṣṇa indicates that even the things the gopīs do that lack virtue, such as behaving cruelly toward Him, are glorious."
What those cruel acts of the gopīs were is not explained; perhaps some of the harsh words they spoke to him before, in chapters 31 and 32 of the tenth canto?

2.7.140, commentary: "Kṛṣṇa assures Uddhava that even though the gopīs have for His sake abandoned loka and dharma, He watches over them and protects them. He continues to provide them the same worldly and superworldly benefits they have rejected. Thus when Uddhava reaches Vṛndāvana he will find the gopīs at home with their husbands and children, and of sane mind." Sanātan Goswāmī uses the word dhairya here [patience] for 'sane mind'. This seems to contradict this statement in the commentary of verse 141: "Unable to think and act coherently, they become as if insane." However, although the gopīs are very upset, when Uddhava comes to see them, Kṛṣṇa arranges for it that they are at least patient [dhīra] enough to hear him out, so that they understand that Kṛṣṇa cares enough about them to send Uddhava to them to console them.

2.7.144 "The moonlit autumn nights when Kṛṣṇa danced with the gopīs passed quickly for the gopīs, but not other nights. On other nights the suffering they underwent from Kṛṣṇa’s absence seemed to last millions of years. Or if we accept that Kṛṣṇa, almost every night, would find ways to sneak out of the house to meet the gopīs, then every night passed quickly, not just the nights of the Rāsa-līlā season. Only the day times were excruciatingly long." Since in aṣṭakālīya līlā there is Rāsa līlā every night this may all apply to the prakat līlā here, as described in Śrīmad Bhāgavat. This is anyway a verse quoted from the Bhāgavat (11.12.11), which deals with prakat līlā.

2.7.148 The first sentence in the commentary is by Gopīprāṇadhana; “It is obviously with irony that Uddhava speaks these words.” the word 'irony' is not well chosen, 'creating a big contrast' would have sounded better.
Further on in the commentary, "Uddhava thinks that they are Kṛṣṇa’s dearmost devotees whereas he has deviated in so many ways from the path of devotion: he has committed serious aparādhas, refused to carry out Kṛṣṇa’s instructions, and failed to develop confidence in the process of bhakti-yoga." It is not clear what this refers to, if this is narrated in other Purāṇas or it is just a statement of humility by Uddhava.

2.7.150, commentary: "In the opinion of some authorities, the Upaniṣads earned the right to become gopīs out of intense hankering to worship Kṛṣṇa in the gopīs’ special mode of prema. But this should be rejected as an untenable theory. Why? Because the Upaniṣads are inferior in devotion even to the goddess Lakṣmī. Thus the Upaniṣads, on their own merit, do not deserve the good fortune of becoming gopīs. Only on the strength of Kṛṣṇa’s special mercy could any of them ever attain that perfection."

2.7.154, end of the commentary: "Those trees cry unhappy tears because they cannot receive the nectar from Kṛṣṇa’s lips." There is bhāgya-bheda among the trees in Vraja - the trees that hang above Rādhākuṇḍa are most fortunate, because, unlike most gopas and all parents, they can actually witness Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa's jala-keli and provide shade and even ornaments (stored in their pumpkins), as well as offer seats to birds, peacocks and monkeys who can thus also witness the līlā.

Thus ends the review of Gopīprāṇadhan Dās’ rendering of Sanātan Goswāmi’s Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta. 

Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta Second Canto, chapter 7, part 1

Continued book-review of the English edition by Gopīprāṇadhan Dās –

2.7.14 The verses about brahman at the end of this long commentary are about hypocrites, not about brahmānandīs in general.

2.7.29 gaja-mukta is not a pearl from the elephant's brow, according to the wiki, its dentine, not mollusk [see picture]. It is not a pearl really but a globule of ivory.

2.7.30 After musk, sandal and kumkum-tilak, we now also find a description of Kṛṣṇa's tilak being made of Yamunā-clay. Speaking of tilak, according to the Goswāmīs' books Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa do not have tilak on 12 parts of the body, only on the forehead.

2.7.48-50 Here may be the first mentioning of hiding in the lotus-patch [padma-vane lukko-curi] during water-pastimes, though here it is with the gopas, not the gopīs as in Govinda Līlāmṛta, Vilāp Kusumāñjali and Sankalpa Kalpadruma.

2.7.55 rasāla means mango. Gopīprāṇadhan could and should have known that.

2.7.69 A stava is not prayer but praise, like (the gopas chanting) "Jai Govinda Jai Gopāl!"

2.7.76. Verse: "It’s not that just anyone at any time can achieve those perfections at once just by traveling to the district of Mathurā on earth. Rather, only a rare person achieves them, when he has obtained full mercy from the Lord’s dear devotees. O mother, please, therefore, gather dust from the feet of devotees who have exclusive love for the lotus feet of the Lord."

The verse confirms one cannot just attain perfection by travelling to Vraja. The (Nāradīya, Skanda) Purāṇas say that the faithless, the atheists, doubters, hetu-niṣṭhā (ultra-rationalists), imposters, those who lust after others' wives (or go there to rendez-vous with them), travelling merchants (Garuda Purāṇa) and heretics do not receive benefit from visiting a holy place. The tīrtha yields benefit if the soul is pure, has conquered lust, fury, greed etc. The śāstras also say that one should go on pilgrimage on foot (pada-yātrā) and will have no or much less benefit if one uses a vehicle (though this has become the norm in modern days. It clearly does not feel good to sit in a taxi circumambulating Govardhana, and soon also Vṛndāvana, once this Yamunā bridge is completed). I suppose if a person is handicapped there would be more benefit in using a vehicle. Nārada Purāṇa [4.62] says that pilgrimage on the back of a bull is like killing a cow, riding on a man’s shoulder yields just half the yātrā’s benefit and travelling on foot yields four times the benefit. Nārada Purāṇa says: “If the path is gravelly or thorny one can wear shoes…” This sounds a bit strange, as I have never seen people go around Girrāja with shoes on, though there are many thorns and pebbles on the road, especially on the old dust paths. Nowadays, of course, huge roads are built to facilitate Delhi-Sunday-drivers who don’t even get out of their Humvees anymore but just cause obstruction for sādhakas doing daṇḍavat parikramā or try to go around doing their daily business in the holy dhāma. If such visitors do take a holy dip this will be their only benefit. One should also not perform tīrtha yātrā for others - the sādhaka has to do it in person. Going on tīrtha yātrā for others yields just 1/16 of the benefit. However, paying for someone else’s tīrtha yātrā will yield 4x the benefit. Makes sense…

Back to Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta. Sanātan Goswāmī's commentary on the above verse says: "Only during the short time of Kṛṣṇa’s avatāra —when He makes Himself visible on earth, at the end of but one Dvāpara-yuga in each day of Brahmā— can anyone who simply visits Vraja become perfect. At that time, Kṛṣṇa  descends to earth to bestow causeless good fortune to all the jīvas. At other times, one can achieve the full realization of Kṛṣṇa consciousness only by receiving a flood of mercy from a dear devotee of Śrī Gopīnātha."

2.7.80, commentary, Gopīprāṇadhan writes: "....beyond them is the abode of liberation (mukti-pada), then comes Śrī Shivaloka, and then the spiritual world." This is wrong. Shivaloka is already the spiritual world, described here as beyond muktipada. Sanātan Goswāmī says 'tad upary eva śrī vaikuṇṭha-lokaḥ', he speaks of Vaikuṇṭha in particular, not the 'spiritual world' in general.

2.7.82, commentary: "In contrast to the tiny sky of the material world, the spiritual sky is infinite." ‘Tiny’ here means in quality, not quantity, as in the ekapāda-and tripāda vibhūti concepts - they are clearly metaphorical and ontological.

2.7.86 The Goloka where Mother Surabhi lives is the destination of fortunate cows who do not live in Mathurā-maṇḍala and associate with Kṛṣṇa and His gopas but who belong to Brahmā and other demigods. Since Kṛṣṇa  is always present in Mathurā (yatra nityaṁ sannihitaḥ), the cows with whom Śrī Gopāla-deva shares His eternal pastimes in Gokula later become eternal residents of the Goloka above Vaikuṇṭha." The Goloka mentioned in chapter 27 of the Tenth Canto had already been ascertained as this heavenly planet by Jīva Goswāmī and Viśvanātha Cakravartī in their Bhāgavat-ṭīkās.

The latter part of the 7th chapter show that Viśvanātha Cakravartī did not initiate the practise of sometimes far-fetched svārasikī vyākhyās [creative purports] - Sanātan Goswāmī was a formidable forerunner of his.

2.7.94-95 quote the two long Brahma Saṁhitā-verses at the end of chapter 5 (55-56). Gopīprāṇadhan says: "In some manuscripts of Brahma-Saṁhitā we find the variant word parama-puruṣāḥ, which is in the plural form. With that word the verse can be understood to mean either that the husbands of the gopīs in Goloka are all mahā-puruṣas, fully surrendered devotees of Govinda, or that Govinda expands Himself into numerous duplicate forms to associate with each gopī simultaneously." The words cid ānandaṁ jyotiḥ param api tad āsvādyam api ca are not clearly translated here: "The supreme spiritual entities are all to be tasted and enjoyed" - this leaves you scratching your head. The explanation of Sanātan Goswāmī is well translated by Gopīprāṇadhan and gives more insight: "In Goloka the paraṁ jyotiḥ (“supreme light”), comprising perfect consciousness and bliss, is directly perceivable (āsvādyam). This jyotiḥ can be identified either with Kṛṣṇa Himself, or with the unique prema that pervades Goloka, or even with the lamps and other sources of light in Goloka, all of which radiate absolute light and ecstasy because they emanate from the bodily effulgence of Para-brahman, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. It can also be identified with the nectar of Kṛṣṇa’s lips, which in Goloka is able to be tasted (āsvādyam) by His most worthy devotees, the divine gopīs."

Jīva Goswāmī comments on this that the luminous vastu (objects; perhaps hence the word 'entities' in the translation) in Goloka are called 'relishable' due to their transcendental nature. Then the text says, "transcendental time, ever present, without past or future, eternally exists, not subject to passing away even for the space of half a moment." - though strictly speaking this is not in the original Sanskrit, it is actually siddhānta. Goloka is an eternal now - though it is said that Rādhikā married Abhimanyu, and Her cooking was blessed by Durvāsā Muni, this actually never took place, because where there is eternity there is no past. Time in the material world causes fear but not in the spiritual sky - when Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa are in anxiety when it is time to leave the kuñja in the morning or time to leave Rādhākuṇḍa in the afternoon, this is different. This is all ecstasy, just like Their separation. na ca kāla vikrama (SB 2.9.10).

About Goloka being Svetadvīp in the Brahma Saṁhitā, Sanātan Goswāmī comments: "It is a dvīpa (“island”) not only in the sense of being a place separate from all others but also because it is a secluded place, a shelter, the residence of exalted pure souls such as Nanda Mahārāja. Like Mathurā-maṇḍala on earth, Goloka is shaped like a round island, bordered by the shores of the river Yamunā. And in Goloka milk flows so abundantly that the whole Goloka world seems to be an island floating in the middle of an ocean of milk." In Sanātan Goswāmī's original text of this comment the words 'secluded place' is not found. Interestingly a shape of Goloka is given here, which is different in śloka 2 of Brahma Saṁhitā: sahasra patraṁ kamalaṁ gokulākhyāṁ mahat padam - Gokula is shaped like a thousand-petalled lotus flower. The round shape does conform with the many diagrams the Bābājīs have made of the Yogapīṭha of Vṛndāvana, which show a globular Vṛndāvana surrounded by a semi-circle Yamunā. Whether this is really experienced by the sādhana- or nitya-siddhas that reside there.........?

2.7.99 Here Sanātan Goswāmī quotes a verse from the Bhāgavata (10.14.33):
“Yet even though the extent of the good fortune of these residents of Vṛndāvana is inconceivable, we eleven presiding deities of the various senses, headed by Lord Shiva, are also most fortunate, because the senses of these devotees of Vṛndāvana are the cups through which we repeatedly drink the nectarean, intoxicating beverage of the honey of Your lotus feet.”

In the beginning of his commentary, Gopīprāṇadhan says 'in the material world', but that is not in Sanātan Goswāmī's ṭīkā. Sanātan Goswāmī says na bhavatu puṁsām upasthendriya-dvārā tat gopīnāṁ kila sākṣād eva sampadyate - 'Men do not serve Kṛṣṇa with their genitals, but the gopīs surely do this directly and personally....." This about the men is not mentioned by Gopīprāṇadhan. Some cautious devotee leaders in the past have suggested that Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs do not have full intercourse but only kiss and caress, but it is shown here by Sanātan Goswāmī that the gopīs do engage their genitals in Kṛṣṇa’s service.