HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE 7 страница
It should be emphasized here that the details of a disciple’s ekadasha-bhava are generally to be sussed out between the disciple and the guru during the krama-shuddha- shravana-dasha stage in light of the disciple’s specific lobha. acarya-vani has it that these constituents of raga-marga-sadhana may be inculcated to the disciple quite early in the course of events if the guru sees that the disciple’s association is pure, elevated, and siddhantically solid. When, satisfied that the guru has correctly ascertained one’s inner greed for achieving a specific devotional perfection, one vows to heartily accept the compatible bhava for continuous cultivation, only then does one come to the stage of varana-dasha, which is the very basis of raganuga-bhajana-nistha. Having become “fixed-up” and satisfied on the brahminical platform of goodness (sthitam sattve prasidati), one becomes freed from the major lot of gross material distractions. At this point one may gradually focus and absorb one’s mind and heart (from smarana, dharana, dhyana, anusmriti, to samadhi) in the remembrance of one’s given vraja- svarupa while cultivating the mental service of Radha-Krishna’s eightfold daily pastimes (asta-kaliya-lila-manasa-seva). apana- dasha, as a sequel to all this, comes quite later in the chain. Hence, it would be erroneous to conclude that raganuga- sadhana and the prerequisite greed (lobha) to pursue the path of raga would commence from the stage of bhava. Moreover, it would be terribly clumsy to suggest that sadhakas must first attain vaidhika bhava-siddhi on the path of reverential devotion before gaining the credibility and the go-ahead to even dare to consider the prospect of pursuing the principles of raganuga- sadhana. It is preposterous to in any way deduce that sadhana would begin after sadhya (apana-dasha [rati]) has been achieved. Jata-rati Vaishnavas are bhava-bhaktas, not sadhana- bhaktas.
After the attainment of svarupa-siddhi, a siddha-bhakta anxiously cries to be reinstated in his or her original constitutional relationship (vastu-siddhi) with the Lord. This state of intense eagerness is technically termed lalasamayi. It is incorrect to equate lalasamayi, which is manifested in the perfectional stage, with lobha, the basic element needed for embarking on the path of raganuga-sadhana while in the state of bondage, the position of imperfection. It is not that one must be perfect (jata-rati) before one can practice to become perfect. If sankirtana of the Holy Name can bring the sadhaka to the highest perfectional platform of unalloyed Krishna-prema, why should we not expect the Holy Name to grace the sadhaka with the relatively lesser adhikara required to merit hearing esoteric ekadasha-bhava instructions from the lips of Shri Guru – instructions that are actually required for the tangible practice of proper asta-kaliya-lila-smarana and manasa-seva in pursuit of the internal achievement of raganuga bhava-siddhi, svarupa- siddhi. Whether or not the present generation of gurus have the adhikara to adequately deliver the goods is a question in and of its own. God knows; it’s a question that the guru-figureheads themselves will ultimately have to honestly acknowledge and answer. But in principle it should not be presumed that just because the general mass of people tends to be prone to degradation and hypocrisy, genuine people don’t exist, and that such genuine people should not be instructed and encouraged according to their genuine internal spiritual needs. It is not altogether surprising nor blameful that an astute disciple, upon ascertaining a drought of siddhantically viable confidential guidance at the feet of guru, might opt to go hither and thither in search for someone who might ably fill the bill. One could hardly expect to acquire the requisite knowledge of the moods of Krishna’s nitya-parikara and their anugata-seva just like that, without receiving proper direction. At which stage in one’s devotional progress does esoteric instruction concerning the culture of one’s internal spiritual identity become relevant? The dictum most sanctimoniously bandied about, “First deserve – then desire,” should be rightly understood. One deserves to desire simply when one’s desire is big enough. One’s desire is big enough when there is no room in one’s heart for any other desire. Ultimately, the bottom line is this: Dire necessity knows no law.
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Some devotees, though not understanding the intricacies of their own spiritual identities, may for all intents be esteemed as elevated uttama-adhikaris, given that they have somehow cent per cent surrendered body, mind, and words to the service of the Lord and His Holy Name with undivided faith, realizing Hari (nami) and Hari-nama to be identical. That is the opinion of Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, as evidenced in Jagadananda Pandita’s Prema-vivarta. Still, it would not be unreasonable to infer that these individuals, far from being fully self-realized, really need to make considerable progress to be all they can potentially be as representative Gaudiya Vaishnava spiritual masters in disciplic succession. To be sure, the internal bhava and pure devotional outlook of a kevala-madhurya-premika- bhakta (vraja-vasi) would no doubt have to be conscientiously and meticulously cultivated here and now in this current lifespan if one were to expect to achieve the highest perfection this time around. Otherwise, one could hardly expect to fully transcend all substandard notions (material or spiritual) about oneself before quitting the present physical body. It’s not good enough to remain a fallible neophyte with an ambiguous sense of belonging to the spiritual realm. Everything will be tested at the time of death, the outcome determined by one’s previously cultured bhava. Yam yam vapi smaran bhavam, tyajaty ante kalevaram. It is not such a cheap or haphazard affair that “Oh well, anyway, somehow or other. What me worry.” No! Not that we apathetically await a windfall of mercy while mulishly ignoring the purposeful, scientific pursuit of the Gaudiya- sampradaya’s highest ideal.
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It is a fact that the vast majority of those claiming to have been initiated by a bona fide guru in proper disciplic succession in terms of either bhagavata-vidhi or pancaratrika-vidhi will not upon the end of the present lifetime be fortunate enough to attain the Lord’s manifest vraja-lilas. If we want to be included among the small percentage that actually succeeds, we will have to seriously focus and intensify our bhajana. Kripa-siddhi is very rare – an extremely atypical improbability. Though we in all our inadequacies hope and pray for such divine dispensation, we cannot sophistically force the exception to become our rule. That is not in our hands. The standard success formula, which largely stresses our willful application of appropriate devotional practices, should not be artfully ignored. We must scrupulously deepen and deepen our inner quest. Jivasya tattva-jijnasu. There should be no other purpose behind any of our life’s activities. Nartho yas ceha karmabhih. That is deservingness. Do not heed the die-hard religio-institutional dogmatists. It’s not enough that children pretend to be adults ad nauseum. A tad of spiritual common sense may have to be mustered to grasp this point.
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Revelation is gained through priti-bhajana. Vrajendranandana Krishna from within supplies the required intelligence to one lovingly engaged in devotional service (raga- bhakti), not to one fearfully engaged merely on the basis of shastra-vidhi (rudimentary scriptural rules). Priti-bhajana undoubtedly connotes the ragatmika-bhakti of either the ‘mukhya’-vraja-janas or the sadhana-siddhas and kripa-siddhas who have been elevated from conditional existence to the status of eternal Vrajavasi associates of the Lord. The foremost feature of this priti-bhajana principle is found in the young vraja-gopis’ mode of spontaneous loving service. Ramya kacid upasana vraja-vadhu-vargena ya kalpita. There is no higher expression of priti to be seen anywhere else. Dumping family ties, household duties, reputation, feminine bashfulness, as well as all moral considerations, they run in the dead of night with resolute enthusiasm to satisfy the senses of Krishna. Lord Krishna reciprocally unfolds His innermost heartfelt feelings in proportion to the intensity and depth of His devotee’s loving sentiments. The young damsels of Vraja, distinct from devotees in vatsalya-, sakhya-, and dasya-rasas, are ever infatuated and enthralled to intimately engage with Him day and night (satata- yuktanam) in keeping with the asta-kaliya-nitya-lila format. It is of little wonder that Krishna would feel naturally inclined to reveal to them His highest penchant for the pleasures of paramour love (parakiya-rasa), awarding them the intelligence (dadami buddhi-yogam tam) by which they may overcome all obstacles (so-called husbands, in-laws, superiors) in their endeavors to unite with Him as their upapati (yena mam upayanti te).
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However, the parakiya disposition of one belonging to another catalytically diffuses its influence from different angles all over the land of Vraja to augment both in the Lord and in His devotees an apprehension of mutual unattainability in various ways. This effectively intensifies the nuances of love in all the primary rasas. It is certainly a fact that when applied to the delusive sense of Krishna’s belonging to another (as the son of Vasudeva and Devaki, as the scion of the Yadu dynasty, or as a denizen of any realm other than the land of Vraja), the parakiya notion hurls His parents, friends, and servants into a deluge of acute loving desperation. Here, resultantly, the devotee’s mind and heart are seen to run mad after Krishna in a way undreamed of in any other quarter of the spiritual world. The dread of separation from Krishna increases His value in the eyes of His devotee.
With regard to the madhurya-rasa, however, the parakiya- tattva finds its ascendancy not in the supposition that Krishna belongs to any other (as aforementioned), but rather in the fancy that the young newly wed gopi girls themselves belong to others – their lawful “so-called” cowherd husbands – and that Krishna must assume the wife-thief-like upapati-bhava in His efforts to woo their hearts. The superexcellent speciality of this parakiya angle of influence is that it augments the succulence of rasa not so much by intensifying the devotee’s desperation to serve the lotus feet of Krishna, but by amazingly amplifying Krishna’s desperation to serve the feet of His devotee. Out of extreme anxiety to meet the nearly unobtainable, Shyamasundara forgets Himself, babbles incoherent nonsense, and wanders aimlessly around in circles like a madman. His disquietude over being separated from His gopi beloveds increases their worth in His eyes, making His mind and heart run after them, with special deference to the supremely luscious lotus feet of Shri Radhika.
It may be additionally noted in this connection that there are two brilliantly illuminating developmental features of gopi- prema described in the shastras: ghrita-sneha, love like ghee, which is not sweet in of itself; and madhu-sneha, loving affection like honey, which is always permeated with the sweetest deliciousness. Although married to another (Govardhana Malla), a situation which augments the parakiya-bhava in that sense, Shri Candravali, the right-wing-gopi embodiment of ghrita-sneha, characteristically traverses the inner path of thinking, “I belong to Him.” As Krishna congruously reciprocates His devotee’s bhava, it is seen that He sometimes in the course of His all- accommodating frolics condescends to nourish Candravali’s affectionate feelings, but He’s still His own man. Yet Shri Radhika, the left-wing-gopi embodiment of madhu-sneha, exerts an entirely different parakiya influence over Lord Krishna on the basis of Her thinking, “He belongs to me!” As Krishna responds to Radha’s feelings, He finds that He is no longer His own man. No longer is He independent. Rather, He, the supreme beloved, becomes the henpecked lover of She who now dominantly disports the dignity of being supremely loved by Him. She becomes His beloved. He madly runs to give Himself to Her, and She, from time to time, condescends to allow Him to become Her devoted servant, making Him dance like a puppy dog in Her hands. She becomes the prepossessing possessor of Him who is ever-increasingly possessed by Her totally enticing, honey-like, transcendentally preponderant ever-new supra-mundane feelings of absolute possessiveness. Thus, in Her absence, Shri Krishna, transcendentally engulfed in His own amorous delusions, finds Himself dancing behind a most skillful dancing- master, Shri Radhika’s roving image, appearing before His lovesick gaze in every Vrindavana tree and creeper in every direction.
Parakiya-tattva similarly goes on to manifest another charming permutation. Radha’s maidservants, like Radha, also cherish not the humor of belonging to Krishna. They are radhika-snehadhika sakhis who, though married to other cowherd boys, treasure the status of belonging to Radhika. Upon seeing a manjari’s sincere and unwavering devotion to Shri Radha's lotus feet, a devotion filled with boundless love greater even than the love He Himself feels for His own devotees, charming Krishna will embrace her, take the betel nuts from His own mouth and place them in hers, and place His own forest garland upon her. Why? She is not His. She belongs to another (parakiya). She is Hers. Having taken shelter of the indomitable fortress of Radha’s lotus feet, she has conquered Him outright. As seen in Shri Sanat-kumara Samhita, Lord Krishna instructs Sada-shiva, “A person who once surrenders to Her [Radha], saying, ‘I am Yours,’ attains Me also – without doing any extraneous sadhana. Of this there is no doubt. Therefore, O Shiva, one who desires to conquer Me should surrender wholeheartedly to Her. In this way, one becomes extremely dear to me.” In Ujjvala N…lama i, Ma i-manjari says to the young, inexperienced Catur , “Catur , let me teach you what I have learned from my own experience. If you make friends with Radhara i, then within that friendship is automatically included ecstatic love for Hari.” Again, Krishna says in the adi Purana, “One who claims to be My devotee is not My devotee. But one who claims to be the devotee of My devotee is actually My devotee.” Elsewhere, in the Padma Purana, Lord Krishna intimates to Narada, “Therefore, if you want to impress Me, then become wholly devoted to Radha.”
Krishna has personally given Himself to Radha, and as might be expected, He very much appreciates and identifies with those elevated individuals who fortunately follow suit. Indeed, He becomes madly enamored of the manjaris’ sakhi- snehadhika-based unstinted bodily beauty, a sublimely scented beauty far surpassing that of the sakhis possessed of other bhavas. Hence, birds of a feather are seen to flock together. Since the manjaris are so intimately intertwined with Radhika and Krishna’s heart is ever given to Radhika, the proximity of Krishna and Radha’s kinkaris is not so astonishing. Pure devotees have no desire for mukti. They desire only shuddha- bhakti. Yet mukti is automatically achieved by them without their directly endeavoring for it. In the same way, though having not even the slightest desire to directly associate with the rascally Krishna, having no desire other than to serve Radha’s lotus feet, Radha’s maidservants naturally gain optimum access to the loftiest communion with Radhara i’s Krishna, unimaginable to Radha’s other categories of sakhis and Krishna’s various other yutheshvari mistresses. If tenderhearted Shrimati Radharan i affectionately shows Her kinkari to Her Krishna, who walks the path of debauchery, ordering her to play the role of a transcendental love thief, please hear how that maidservant will faithfully serve Her. With smiling sidelong glances, and with the hairs of her body standing up with joy, she will tightly embrace Him. In this way, she will taste the nectar of Radhika’s carana-seva. Even though Krishna tells the manjari, “The queen of My life is very merciful to you,” and even though He again and again kisses her, embraces her, and maddens her with the nectar of amorous pleasures, and even though He creates in her a wonderful wealth of sweetest love, the manjari’s thoughts nevertheless remain ever absorbed in the nectar pastimes of Shri Radhika’s lotus feet. When the manjaris’ necks are embraced by the magnificent arms of Radha’s lover in the sweet and wonderful rasa-dance festival, splendid with tinkling bracelets, anklets, and other ornaments, they will always fix their gaze on the footprints of their queen, having no motive other than to please Her. Seeing the manjari’s unrivaled love for Radhika, a love that has outclassed even His own, and seeing the manjari’s purest motive to intently serve to fulfill Her purposes, enthusiastic Krishna inundates her with His own amplified love-bliss, unknown even to His own devotees. Even so, the manjari’s resolve to sympathetically savor Radhika’s sweetest ecstasies, which exceed Krishna’s ananda ten million fold, keeps her always fixed and victorious.
This same parakiya permutation, however, has another important function. There are many times (perhaps more often than not) when a manjari must thoroughly resist Krishna’s advances in order to safeguard her integrity as Radha’s confidential kinkari. The parakiya sense of belonging to Radha rather than to Krishna fortunately affords her the necessary footing and firmness to successfully accomplish the task. This bears special significance particularly for the sadhana-siddha manjaris, who are vibhinnamsha-jivatmas possessed of limited potency. They are anu, very insignificant, whereas Krishna is vibhu, unlimitedly great and omnipotent. On her own, the sadhana-siddha manjari could hardly hope to withstand the onslaught of Krishna’s unlimited attractiveness, sweetness, beauty, and handsomeness. How could she resist Him? Can a particle of iron escape the force field of a great magnet? Highly unlikely. Yet, if there is the influence of a greater magnetism, if the sadhana-siddha manjari is constantly bound by the force of greater attraction, greater sweetness, and greater beauty, she can easily deflect His absolute unlimited wantonness. That is Shri Radhika. Without Her shelter, who could stand a chance? Radhika, the supreme svarupa-shakti counterpart of Shri Krishna, is also vibhu. She too is unlimited, as are Her many kaya-vyuha confidants. As such, Radhika, on the basis of Her transcendental preponderance, can effectively ward off the rapacious cupidity of Her lover, when She deems it necessary to play hard-to-get. So too, under the auspices of Radha, can Her privileged vibhinnamsha kinkari, through her bond of affection to Radha reinforced by her sakhi-guru’s potent directives which totally accord with Radha’s wishes. On the strength of Radha’s prevailing influence and her rigid disinclination to breach Radha’s trust, the manjari boasts the requisite authority and prerogative to say “no” to Krishna. Resisting, she may address Krishna in the following words: “Hey, you lampata! Control Your senses! Forget it! I’m not Yours for the taking. I belong to Svamini! I’m just Her insignificant messenger. Merciless boy, be kind to me. Let go of the edge of my sari. Look! The sun is setting. I have to go to evening arati now. It is not Your fault that You cannot understand my dear friend's message and You slight Her valuable gift. You are just too unintelligent to understand. Krishna, why do You raise the fearsome cupid's bows of Your eyebrows in that way? O Krishna, O moon of Vraja, if You neglect my friend and instead try to make advances upon me, I shall give up my life on the spot!” In this way, the jiva, though very insignificant, also facilely acquires the power to purposefully play hard-to-get.
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