We require the blessing of Śrī Hari, guru, and Vaiṣṇavas at all times and in all circumstances • Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead • The development of prema • The glories of Śrīmatī Rādhikā
śrī śrī guru-gaurāṅgau jayataḥ
℅ “Santosh Ashram”
Śrī Bālānanda Āśrama
P.O. Ashram Karanibad
B. Deoghar (S.P.) Bihar
25/8/84
Snehāspadāsu—
Mā Umā! Have you not learned to carefully treat guru and Vaiṣṇavas with love and adoration? “Je jena vaiṣṇava, ciniyā laiyā, ādara karibo jabe; vaiṣṇavera kṛpā, jāhe sarva-siddhi, avaśya pāibo tabe[1] – when one recognizes a Vaiṣṇava and honours him, then he will surely attain the Vaiṣṇava’s mercy, which brings all perfection.” I trust you are acquainted with this. It is a matter of great delight that you have become renounced and are sincerely cultivating aspirations to serve guru and Vaiṣṇavas. The inclination to serve has wakened in your heart and you will surely attain loving conviction in sādhana-bhajana; of this, there is no doubt. Know that we require the blessing of Śrī Hari, guru, and Vaiṣṇavas at all times and in all circumstances, for that alone is our only strength in bhajana, our support and resource.
Can the adhikāra (qualification) to serve be given to us or is it attained according to our adhikāra? The answer to this question is very complex. That said, the attainment of perfection is possible once our sādhana coincides with divine grace; this is a truth agreed upon unanimously by all manner of philosophers. Attachment to the mundane is dubbed “saṁsāra-daśā” (material existence) and freedom from attachment is “mukta-daśā” (liberated existence). “Raso vai saḥ” – Parabrahma (God) is the svarūpa (embodiment) of bliss, the form of rasa. He is akhila-rasāmṛta-mūrti (the personification of all nectarean mellow), the fullest expression of the form of rasa. The form of supreme bliss, Parabrahma, the original personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇacandra, attracts the souls of all living entities with the sweetness of His rasa, which tells us why His name is “Śrī Kṛṣṇa”. The Bhāgavata [1.3.28] informs us: “kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam – Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead.” “Svayaṁ bhagavān kṛṣṇa—kṛṣṇa para-tattva; pūrṇa-jñāna, pūrṇānanda, parama-mahattva[2] – Kṛṣṇa is God Himself. Kṛṣṇa is the supreme principle. He is absolute knowledge, absolute bliss, and supreme glory.” Śrī Kṛṣṇa is saccidānanda-svarūpa, the form of eternal existence, consciousness, and bliss, and He is līlā-puruṣottama, the Supreme Person who conducts infinite divine pastimes; He is Parabrahma, or God, in human shape; He is ever youthful and the best of dancers. The sūtra “lokavat tu līlā-kaivalyam[3]” posits that His pastimes are human-like, His pastimes are infinite, and His pastimes are supreme. He is “madhurāiśvarya-mādhurya-kṛpādi bhāṇḍāra[4] – the treasure-house of sweet opulence, pure sweetness, mercy, and more”. He has the capacity to attract even the hearts of all the other forms of God. That is why He has been called the mādhurya rasa-maya vigraha (the personified form of all sweet moods and relationships).
The desire to please one’s own senses constitutes mundane lust and desires, whereas love [for pleasing] Kṛṣṇa’s senses is referred to by the word “prema”. This is a special function of śuddha-sattva (pure existence) and is by nature a spiritual phenomenon. Since a time without beginning, prema has presided over the hearts of those who are nitya-siddha (eternally perfect). From prema, an attitude of mamatā (“my-ness”, or possessive loving attachment) arises, and then one realizes that Śrī Bhagavān is paramātmīya (one’s supreme dear most relative). A person who has obtained this sort of adhikāra is perpetually obsessed and anxious to make Śrī Kṛṣṇa happy. They have no interest in anything that is unrelated to Kṛṣṇa. As prema intensifies or thickens, it brings an attitude of possessiveness, and then one’s relationships with worldly convention, familial bonds, and social ethics disappear.
As prema concentrates, it gains names like sneha, māna, praṇaya, rāga, anurāga, bhāva, and mahābhāva; mahābhāva is the topmost level, though in some specific cases, bhāva and mahābhāva seem to be almost identical. Real sneha, māna, praṇaya, and so on are never feasible in a material body; it is only possible for them to manifest in those who have rati, who have attained prema. Śrī Rādhārāṇī is kṛṣṇa-kāntā-śiromaṇī (the crown jewel of all Kṛṣṇa’s beloveds); She Herself is the concentrated state of kṛṣṇa-prema. The essence of hlādinī is prema, and the essence of prema is mahābhāva; Śrī Rādhā is mahābhāva-svarūpiṇī, the embodiment of that greatest love. Śrī Rādhā is the presiding deity of prema. Total absorption in the bliss of serving Kṛṣṇa constitutes Her very life. Śrī Rādhā is the fullest form of śakti (potency) and Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the fullest expression of śaktimān (the potent). Śrī Rādhā is kṛṣṇa-gata-prāṇā (She whose life force flows towards Kṛṣṇa); She experiences Kṛṣṇa in all of Her senses. She is kṛṣṇa-mayī (imbued with Kṛṣṇa). Svarāṭa līlā-puruṣottama (the sovereign Supreme Person of all divine pastimes), Śrī Kṛṣṇacandra, is controlled by prema, and so, in the presence of Śrī Rādhā’s prema, Śrī Kṛṣṇa is subdued and defeated. Without mahābhāva-svarūpiṇī Śrī Rādhā, Śrī Kṛṣṇacandra’s sweet charm does not blossom or manifest. “Rādhā-saṅge yadā bhāti tadā madana-mohanaḥ[5] – only if He is in the company of Rādhā is He Madana-mohana, the beguiler of Cupid.” Iti—
Forever your well-wisher,
Śrī Bhaktivedānta Vāmana
[1] Kalyāṇa-kalpataru, Kabe Muĩ Vaiṣṇava Cinibô (5) by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
[2] Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Ādi-līlā 2.8)
[3] Vedānta-sūtra (2.1.33)
[4] Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 21.44)
[5] Govinda-līlāmṛta (13.32)
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