HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE 14 страница
It is often rabidly sermonized that “Higher than living in Vrindavana for one’s personal benefit is to leave Vrindavana for the benefit of others,” the conclusion naturally being “Therefore, get out of Vrindavana and PREACH!” Placing the lotus feet of my spiritual master upon my humbled head, I dare to offer a few of my observations in this connection. It should be obvious to any sober-minded devotee that the acarya’s instructions to this end stand not as a mandate to abandon the Vrindavana “comfort zone” but rather as a directive to abandon the self-centeredness of pursuing one’s personal benefit (material or spiritual) while neglecting the practical cultivation of the adi-vrajavasis’ sublime para-upakara mood of helping others become spiritually enriched. Once again, it is the attitude, the consciousness more so than the action, that is under scrutiny. Because the endeavor to benefit others is based on a higher selfless devotional mind-set than performance of devotional service simply for one’s personal gain, the former, whether done in or out of the dhama, would in principle naturally ascend to a markedly more elevated platform. It would serve us well to remember that our guru-maharaja, Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, after having spent nine preparatory years in Vrindavana, went out to benefit the people of the western world as a fully self-realized spiritual master; not as a “fake it till you make it” relatively unimpressive, struggling neophyte of a superficially polished cyber-preacher, having little if any actual cognition, by way of divine revelation, as to the details regarding his highest potential vraja-svarupa. For the most part, we have seen over the years that many devotees of every rank, for diverse reasons, tend to leave, nay, rather flee from Vrindavana, not for powerfully preaching Krishna consciousness all over the world, but for pursuing their various personal and extended personal material requirements. I do not prefer to expand very much upon this point, for fear of drastically increasing the bulk of this book. Suffice to say, on account of maintaining sundry gross and subtle material attachments, one would certainly be deprived of the actual internal experience of the dhama even while residing here. Would it not then be rather presumptuous to expect that the mere semblance of a devotee, incapable of uttering shuddha- nama, is in any way fit to establish any more than a mere semblance of the Vrindavana atmosphere anywhere outside the dhama? Flying and flying around and around the world on the plea of supposedly preaching Krishna consciousness or (mis)managing institutional affairs in and of itself does not necessarily constitute, in the highest sense, “the benefit of others” any more than living in Vrindavana necessarily adds up to merely “one’s own benefit.” Nowhere in the teachings of the Acaryas is it suggested that it is impossible to reside in Vrindavana for the benefit of others. In fact, real Vrindavana life, as exemplified by the Six Gosvamis, means to voluntarily accept painstaking austerities in devotional service for the benefit of others.
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Shastra has it that fifty percent of a disciple’s devotional merit automatically goes to the guru’s account, even without the disciple’s conscious offering. If the disciple consciously sacrifices on behalf of the spiritual master, both the disciple and the guru achieve one hundred times the result of the proffered devotional austerities. It would be the guru’s greatest asset to have serious, hard-working, sacrificial-minded, lazy-intelligent rupa-sanatananuga disciples serving to reveal the pure cult of Vrindavana to the world from the transcendental seat of Vrindavana or Shri Dhama Mayapura where the result of such para-upakara preaching work towers a thousand times over and above that which is achieved by the same preaching done anywhere else in the world – for the beneficiaries and benefactors alike. Yes, we should all agree that it is higher to leave Vrindavana for the benefit of others than to stay in Vrindavana for one’s own benefit, but who says Vrindavana life is meant to be for one’s own benefit? Krishna’s gopas and gopis of Vraja, whose immaculate selfless moods of devotion we are to emulate, never for a moment consider their own benefit. Their every endeavor is to sacrifice for the service of others – the service of Krishna; the service of Radha; the service of Her friends and maidservants; and the service of Nanda-Yashoda, Balarama-Shridhama-Subala, Raktaka-Patraka, and the rest. They come to this Earth planet to do the highest good to others by generously attracting the conditioned souls to the beauty and sweetness of their intimate highest para-upakara moods of loving service demonstrated in the course of the vraja-lil s. They are not misers; nor are their genuine representatives, coming in disciplic succession.
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The simple truth is that achievement of the highest self- sacrificing moods of the Vrajavasis, whether done within or beyond the physically manifest boundaries of Vraja-mandala, requires one’s meticulous assimilation of their consummate para-upakara loving service attitude. Practical internal solidification of the spirit of that broad-minded, most considerate devotional temper is immensely supported by loud sankirtana of Krishna’s Holy Name. Indeed, favorably assisting the acarya’s preaching mission anywhere in the world can certainly help one to get a foothold in the progressive cultivation of the topmost bhavas of Vraja when done with a proper conception of the internal counterpart vraja-lila feature of the externally directed preaching principle. Still, it is not at all wrong to follow Srila Rupa Gosvami’s advice in Bhakti-rasamrita- sindhu: “If possible, one should physically reside in Vrindavana.” Since any devotional service performed in Vrindavana yields a thousand times the result, one year of such service would yield the result of the same service done elsewhere for a thousand years. Thus if the average lifespan were taken to be eighty years, then one year of para-upakara-based pure devotional service done in the dhama would be equivalent to more than twelve lifetimes of the same para-upakara devotional service done anywhere else in the world. That is the extraordinary power of this holiest land of Bhauma Vrindavana, as confirmed by the statements of the Gaudiya Acaryas, in particular our Srila Prabhupada. Practicing while physically residing in Vrindavana all varieties of favorable internal and external devotional service for the benefit of others is the best way to practically capture the essence of a vraja-vasi’s selfless service attitude. It is the best way to expedite one’s progress in the affair of realizing the radiant para-upakara nature of one’s own sthaii-bhava as an eternal resident of Vraja. It is the best way to expedite one’s progress in the business of accumulating the heaps and piles of krita-punya-punjah mercy-credits in one’s transcendental bank account, actually required for directly joining Krishna’s bhauma- lilas in the siddha-deha. It is the best way to expedite one’s progress in the matter of gaining the internal qualification required to actually preach from the platform of ultimate perfection. If for any reason one cannot take full advantage of this greatest spiritual facility manifest on Earth by the mercy of Lord Krishna and His purest internal devotees, then taking shelter of the Holy Name while endeavoring to assist Lord Caitanya’s Sankirtana Movement wherever one may be, one must endeavor to cultivate feelings of separation from Vrindavana, based on intensified desires to attain eternal residence in Vrindavana. Kripa kori’ koro tare vrindavana-vasi. Then one may also gradually augment the purest para-upakara nature of an unalloyed vraja-vasi by guru and Gauranga’s divine grace.
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Some fools foolishly foolosophize that performance of the yuga-dharma has very little if anything to do with the internal culture of raganuga-bhajana. They hastily relegate nama- sankirtana to the realm of externals – sankirtana being, of course, the business of the masses and mere ordinary bahiranga-bhaktas (external devotees). Their tendency to do like this, however, simply demonstrates their utter incompetence to reasonably grasp the inner significance of the eternally comprehensive, broad-spectrum sankirtana principle that undoubtedly fosters both external and internal devotional evolvement. They really ought to be embarrassed and ashamed of themselves. Hari-nama-sankirtana, as well as its extension in the form of transcendental book distribution (brihat-bhagavata- kirtana), when sincerely and purely done for the Lord’s exclusive pleasure, in fact naturally and very easily elicits within the heart of a deeply introspective devotee a profound, indelible impression of the soul’s latent constitutional stri disposition. One thereby becomes acquainted with the soul’s true position as part of the cooperative aspect of Shrimati Radharani…’s complete-whole loving game plan. Stri, the feminine influence, refers to the principle of expansion. When the stri principle is pervertedly reflected in the illusory material dimension, where both so-called males and so-called females are deranged, misled, and corrupted by a false male egoism (purusa-abhimana) aberrant to the original temper of the soul, it manifests as the expansion of a mayic “man’s” loathsome all-entangling empire of mundane egocentric “enjoyments.” The pure spiritual aspect of this stri principle, however, exists diversely in all pure constitutional rasas (dasya, sakhya, vatsalya and madhurya) proportionate to the degree to which masculine consciousness is discarded in deference to the intensified unalloyed selfless service temperament that extends to the standard of parakiya- bhava where the stri dynamic expresses its maximum deliciousness. Serving to blissfully expand the empire of the Lord’s satisfaction, Krishna’s transcendental stri enjoyables purposefully entangle Him in the loving network of amorous interpersonal reciprocity on the spiritual platform. Radha, Lord Krishna’s adya-shakti, is known as mula-prakriti, the original root of all expanded varieties of prakriti, which is intrinsically female, or ontologically the enjoyed aspect of the Absolute. The infinitesimal jiva (para prakriti), characteristically possessed of the spiritual stri quality expanded to a minute degree, is designed to in some small way facilitate or help to expand the happiness of the supreme enjoyer, Shri Krishna. This transcendental stri function of the pure soul is most thoroughly fulfilled when the subordinate “she” cooperates to fulfill the purposes of the stri empress, Shri Radha, by directly or indirectly serving to increase the Lord’s variety of enjoyables. Purely conducted sankirtana of Radha-Krishna’s all attractive names, forms, qualities, and pastimes enables the practicing devotee to tangibly experience what it is to function in that way, because, through its performance, the devotee, aside from personally pleasing the Lord, naturally serves to expand Krishna’s pleasure empire by inducing a myriad of souls to come forward to serve Him for His satisfaction. Thus, by performing sankirtana-yajna, one becomes scientifically acquainted with the true essence of one’s intrinsic stri nature, which undoubtedly finds its peak expression in all perfection as a follower of the transcendentally flirtatious damsels of Vraja. As such, it should be clearly affirmed that shuddha-nama-sankirtana and the perfection of Krishna consciousness, augmenting vraja- prema-bhakti-rasa, go together very well.
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The performance of yuga-dharma hari-nama-sankirtana, when inspired by a conscious greed for vraja-prema, powerfully augments one’s merit in the matter of attaining the transcendental loving service of Radha-Krishna’s nitya-lilas. Such sankirtana, done in pursuit of the madhurya-bhavas of the Vrajavasis according to one’s personal taste (sva-ruci) would thus be accepted as nija-abhista-bhava-sambandhi (connected with one’s desired sthayi-bhava or constant ecstatic loving mood as a vraja-gopa or gopi). It is not merely because the physical bodily senses of the sadhaka-deha are externally engaged in activities of devotional service that one’s actions must be characteristically categorized as vaidhi bhakti. It is the motivation factor, the internal absorption behind the actions, that establishes the status of one’s activities more than anything. When lobha, or greed for the ultimate attainment of the moods of Vraja, prompts their performances, both sankirtana of the Holy Name and transcendental book distribution, done purely as yajna for the satisfaction of Lord Caitanya, no longer function as vaidhika duties. Rather, they ascend to the path of spontaneous loving service and become celebrated as potent constituents of raga-bhajana, bridging the apparent gap between external and internal affairs. At this juncture, it would not be superfluous to firmly reiterate that, strictly speaking, the sole objective of the bhagavata-marga is to augment raganuga-bhava.
With all due respect for the topics under discussion, one should mark with utmost interest that the internally perfected realization of one’s eternal spiritual identity (vraja-svarupa), whether achieved by the practice of antaranga-bhakti-bhajana or by kripa or by both, would immensely enhance one’s preaching proficiency and efficacy. Therefore, it would not look at all well for a resolute pure devotional aspirant to childishly neglect to recognize the intersupportive nature of sankirtana and antaranga-vraja-bhakti-bhajana. In this age, sankirtana-yajna is the vital force of inspired antaranga-bhajana, and conversely, beatified antaranga-vraja-bhakti-bhajana is the essential dynamic behind superlatively empowered sankirtana.
My dear most loveworthy and merciful Radha- Shyamasundara! May the broad-minded, forward-thinking souls evermore respect these deliberations, which are replete with profound concerns for advancing a more progressive culture of antaranga-bhakti in the lives of Your seriously dedicated sankirtana devotees. Please let those essence-seeking, deeply introspective, softhearted individuals who patiently and sincerely read or hear these verbose utterances very soon attain the highest transcendental happiness (paramananda) in the spontaneous loving service of Your lotus feet according to their innermost heart’s aspirations.
Third Heartfelt Effusion
My dear Shri Shri Radha-Shyamasundara! Crying at the lotus feet of Shri Guru, one very fallen and destitute soul humbly offers to You the following unrestrained stream of prayerful outpourings for Your kind and considerate audience.
He Radhe Shyama! When, by a stream of unprecedented tenderheartedness, will the cowherd girls of Vrindavana bestow upon this wretched person the most blessed birth within the cowherd community of Varsana? When, by the mercy of my beloved guru, will I appear as a resplendently delightful young damsel of Vraja? I will never mature beyond the end of my twelfth year and will remain ever intoxicated with luscious freshly blooming vama-madhya love-fascinations. My bewitching spiritually perfect bodily features and transcendental voluptuousness will lay to shameful waste all the most beauteous and supposedly charming froglike women of the lower, middle, and upper planetary systems of this cosmic creation! By Your beneficent, divine benediction, the laksmis of Vaikuntha, the queens of Dvaraka, the enlightened ladies of Mathura, and even the sakhis of Vraja Dhama will highly esteem the irresistible prepossessing pulchritude of my person! My transcendental slender-waisted, nicely hipped figure, the color of creamy golden honey tinged with a rosy hue; my sweet face with deeply charming, dark, kajjala-lined doe eyes; my blissfully arched cupid’s bow eyebrows, flawlessly flanking the elegant tilaka on my forehead and circumscribed with captivating kasturi gopi-dots; my elegantly raised nose adorned with a chained, honey-pearl nose ring; my luxuriantly soft and smooth rosy cheeks and rapturously sportive, glistening honey- moonbeam playfully smiling cherry lips; my jasmine-entwined, long braided locks of glossy, dark bluish-black softly curling hair, bedecked with clusters of campaka flowers and falling nearly to my feet; my deep crimson, splendidly embroidered, silk-satin choli, bountifully brimming with newly blooming adolescent grace; my iridescent indigo skirt and scarlet diaphanous veil, embellished with ornately embroidered alternating Radha-golden and Shyama-bluish lotuses, which I received from the lotus-bud hands of my tenderhearted mistress, Shrimati Ananga Manjari; and the matchless supra- celestial, sparkling sapphire-studded, golden earrings, mangtika, necklaces, armlets, chiming bracelets, finger rings, waist-bells, delicately jingling nupura ankle-bells, and toe rings, adorning my graceful limbs; my everything: my heart, my mind, my words and deeds, and my entire existence – all this will be ever absorbed in the mercy-mellows of our eternal reciprocal loving intimacy. Indeed, by the interceding, pity-laden appeal of my beloved guru, Your very acceptance of my heartfelt supranatural amorous aspirations and Your mercy glances of profuse grace upon my humble existence will render the entire cosmos along with the powerful controllers of the fourteen worlds utterly subservient to me!
To augment the nuances of paramour love, unlimitedly gracious Purnamasi-devi will arrange for my marriage to an overconfident, dunderheaded cowherd boy from the village of Yavata. Though outwardly feigning fidelity toward him, I will not be the least interested in keeping his company and will never ever allow him to defile me or, for that matter, so much as even touch a hair on my delicate body, which I will have dedicated exclusively for the prema-sevas of Your pleasure pastimes. While speaking deceptively charming candy-coated blather, I will cheat him and my in-laws at every opportunity, to escape the dungeon of household duties and flee into the forest to faithfully serve Your nectarous nikunja-lilas.
Having been magnetically drawn by the captivating song of the flute, I, deeply immersed in parakiya-bhava, will eternally reside by the beautiful banks of Radha-kunda within the skillfully secluded, idyllic, mind-alluring, bliss-pervaded Vamshivadadanandada Kunja near the northern ghata in the enchanting grove of Shrimati Lalita Devi. My ornately filigreed golden entrance-gate arbor, lusciously entwined with vine- clusters of intoxicatingly fragrant malati, juhi, and madhavi flowers, frequently attended by swarms of intoxicated buzzing bumblebees and butterflies; my splendidly inviting, personally landscaped love-bower, bordered by luxuriant, consecutively coupled, multicolored, sparkling gemstone-like kalpa-vriksa trees and spiraling kalpa-valli creepers, concertedly bearing six- seasonal sweet and fragrant fruits and flowers of all description; my enchanting winding garden walkways, glowingly paved with intricately picturesque emerald, ruby, lapis lazuli, crystal, honey-golden onyx marble, and moonstone mosaics of elaborate paisley and supra-celestial leaf, fruit, and flower designs, flanked by thick moss, ferns, and varieties of lush, sweet-scented flower bearing verdure; the adjoining intermittently situated, divinely engraved, tastefully gem-bedecked, comfortably cushioned golden bliss-benches beneath the beautifully bending bows of over-laden kadamba, campaka, bakula, ashoka, parijata, radha- chori, Krishna-chori, and lovely land lotus trees, graced with adjacent meticulously sculptured elegant crystal swans, magnificent emerald and sapphire peacocks, and unblemished translucent marble supra-delightful, rapturously poised, flirtatiously dancing love-maidens; my privately placed, splendidly domed, black-and-gold onyx garden gazebos, beautified with many flower-creeper-embraced, delightfully festooned, exquisitely carved ivory-inlaid pillars and arches and replete with varieties of irresistibly engaging pleasure accoutrements such as large and small, multi-colored, super-soft silken pillows, firm, satin-covered love-bolsters, elegantly carved golden pitchers and goblets for supplying refreshing, cool water and ambrosial nectar drinks, as well as jeweled pan boxes and moonstone-studded golden spittoons, plus camara whisks and large hand-held peacock fans for creating cooling and festive breezes; my indescribably sweet and attractive, immaculately sculpted cintamani crystalline kunja love-cottage, intimately nestled amidst maze-like, consummately love- inspiring forest-flower-laden courtyards, intriguingly arranged rock gardens, exotic flower gardens, blissful tulasi groves, and charming, sweet-scented vineyards continually filled with the symphonic twittering, warbling, cooing, passionate crying, and sweet-talking of many varieties of parrots, mynahs, peacocks, swans, cranes, gulls, doves, pigeons, sparrows, and finches always ecstatically responding to my love-lorn constant singing of Your Holy Names – He Radhe Shyama, the splendor of my personal abode cannot be suitably described by a mere string of words. When, in the course of Your never-ending love escapades, will You, by Your unlimited kindness, periodically come to see my exquisitely enchanting private vilasa-kunja as one of Your favorite secret pastime paradises?
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