Sri Bhajan Rahasya, Part Five
BY: SUN STAFF
Jan 06, 2015 — CANADA (SUN) —
Panchama-yama Sadhana
Bhajana in the Afternoon
Krsnasakti (Attachment to Krsna)
The characteristic of one who chants the holy name and his prayer as the eternal servant of Krsna are given in the Siksastaka(5):
ayi nanda-tanuja kinkaram
patitam mam visame bhavambudhau
krpaya tava pada-pankaja-
sthita-dhuli-sadrsam vicintaya (1)
Oh, my Lord, O Krsna, son of Maharaja Nanda, I am Your eternal servant, but because of my own fruitive acts, I have fallen in this horrible ocean of nescience. Now please be causelessly merciful to me. Consider me a particle of dust at Your lotus feet.
I am Your eternal servant, but I forgot Your Lordship. Now I have fallen in the ocean of nescience and have been conditioned by the external energy. Be causelessly merciful to me by giving me a place with the particles of dust at Your lotus feet so that I may engage in the service of Your Lordship as Your eternal servant.
The stage of bhava is gradually attained by the mercy of Krsna and regular chanting of the holy names without offenses. In the Srimad Bhagavatam (1.2.17-19) it is said:
srnvatam sva-kathah krsnah
punya-sravana-kirtanah
hrdy antah stho hy abhadrani
vidhunoti suhrt satam
nasta-prayesv abhadresu
nityam bhagavata-sevaya
bhagavaty uttama-sloke
bhaktir bhavati naisthiki
tada rajas-tamo-bhavah
kama-lobhadayas ca ye
ceta etair anaviddham
sthitam sattve prasidati (2)
Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramatma (Supersoul) in everyone's heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.
By regular attendance in classes on the Bhagavatam and by rendering service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving service unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.
As soon as irrevocable loving service is established in the heart, the effects of nature's modes of passion and ignorance, such as lust, desire, and hankering, disappear from the heart. Then the devotee is established in goodness, and he becomes completely happy. Such a devotee prays for Krsna's mercy as stated in the Srimad Bhagavatam (10.14.8):
tat te 'nukampam su-samiksamano
bhujana evatma-krtam vipakam
hrd-vag vapurbhir vidadhan namas te
jiveta yo mukti-pade sa daya-bhak (3)
My dear Lord, one who earnestly waits for You to bestow Your causeless mercy upon him, all the while patiently suffering the reactions of his past misdeeds and offering You respectful obeisances with his heart, words, and body, is surely eligible for liberation, for it has become his rightful claim.
One who is situated in this condition attains supreme spiritual peace, as confirmed in the Srimad
Bhagavatam (11.2.43):
ity acyutanghrim bhajato 'nuvrttya
bhaktir viraktir bhagavat-prabodhah
bhavanti vai bhagavatasya rajams
tatah param santim upaiti saksat (4)
My dear King, the devotee who worships the lotus feet of the infallible Personality of Godhead with constant endeavor thus achieves unflinching devotion, detachment, and experienced knowledge of the Personality of Godhead. In this way the successful devotee of the Lord achieves supreme spiritual peace in the form of prema.
The nine types of bhakti are listed in the Srimad Bhagavatam (7.5.23/24):
sravanam kirtanam visnoh
smaranam pada-sevanam
arcanam vandanam dasyam
sakhyam atma-nivedanam
iti pumsarpita visnau
bhaktis cen nava-laksana
kriyeta bhagavaty addha
tan manye 'dhitam uttamam (5)
Prahlada Maharaja said: Hearing and chanting about the transcendental holy name, form, qualities, paraphernalia, and pastimes of Lord Visnu, remembering them, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship with sixteen types of paraphernalia, offering prayers to the Lord, becoming His servant, considering the Lord one's best friend, and surrendering everything unto Him (in other words, serving Him with the body, mind and words) these nine processes are accepted as pure devotional service. One who has dedicated his life to the service of Krsna through these nine methods should be understood to be the most learned person, for he has acquired complete knowledge.
As the stage of bhava arises, attachment for service is spontaneous. The following prayer of Vrtrasura is given in Srimad Bhagavatam (6.11.24):
aham hare tava padaika-mula-
dasanudaso bhavitasmi bhuyah
manah smaretasu-pater gunams te
grnita vak karma karotu kayah (6)
O my Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, will I again be able to serve Your eternal servants, who find shelter only at Your lotus feet? O Lord of my life, may I again become their servant so that my mind may always think of Your transcendental attributes, my words always glorify those attributes, and my body always engage in the loving service of Your Lordship.
The living entity is the enjoyed and Krsna is the enjoyer. Therefore by regularly discharging devotional service, the hope for achieving the service of the ever-blissful Sri Radha gradually increases. At that time one's feelings for serving in the mood of the gopis manifests. The mood of the gopis is described in the Srimad Bhagavatam (10.29.38):
tan nah prasida vrjinardana te 'nghri-mulam
prapta visrjya vasatis tvad-upasanasah
tvat-sundara-smita-niriksana-tivra-kama-
taptatmanam purusa-bhusana dehi dasyam (7)
Therefore, O vanquisher of all distress, please show us mercy. To approach Your lotus feet we abandoned our families and homes, and we have no desire other than to serve You. Our hearts are burning with intense desires generated by Your beautiful smiling glances. O jewel among men, please make us Your maidservants.
The Srimad Bhagavatam (10.29.39) tells how to take shelter of the perfect mood of the gopis:
viksyalakavrta-mukham tava kundala-sri-
ganda-sthaladhara-sudham hasitavalokam
dattabhayam ca bhuja-danda-yugam vilokya
vaksah sriyaika-ramanam ca bhavama dasyah (8)
Seeing Your face encircled by curling locks of hair, Your cheeks beautified by earrings, Your lips full of nectar, Your smiling glance, Your two imposing arms, which take away our fear, and Your chest, which is the only source of pleasure for the goddess of fortune, we must become Your maidservants.
The superiority of parakiya-bhava in this stage is described in the Srimad Bhagavatam (10.29.33):
kurvanti hi tvayi ratim kusalah sva atman
nitya-priye pati-sutadibhir arti-daih kim
tan nah prasida paramesvara ma sma chindya
asam dhrtam tvayi cirad aravinda-netra (9)
Expert transcendentalists always direct their affection toward You because they recognize You as their true Self and eternal beloved. What use do we have for these husbands, children, and relatives of ours, who simply give us trouble? Therefore, O supreme controller, grant us Your mercy. O lotus-eyed one, please do not cut down our long-cherished hope to have Your association.
The necessity for taking shelter of the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani is described in the Sri Sva-sankalpa-prakasa-stotra of the Stavavali in these words:
anaradhya radha-padambhoja renum
anasritya vrndatavim tat padankam
asambhasya-tad bhava-gambhira cittan
kutah syama-sindho rasasyavagahah (10)
How is it possible to immerse oneself in the ocean of Syama rasa (love for Krsna or the madhurya rasa) without worshiping the dust of the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani, or without taking shelter of Vrndavana, which is decorated with Her footprints, or without serving Her devotees, whose grave hearts are always absorbed in love for Her?
The pride of Radha's maidservant is described in the following words:
abhimanam parityajya prakrtavapur-adisu
sri krsna-krpaya gopi-dehe vraje vasamy aham
radhikanucari bhutva parakiya-rase sada
radha krsna vilasesu paricaryam karomy aham (11)
After giving up the pride of falsely identifying the material body with the self, by the mercy of Krsna, I reside in Vraja as a gopi. As Radharani's maidservant, I always take pleasure serving Radha and Krsna in Their parakiya-rasa pastimes.
Giving up all other engagements for the service of the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani is described in the Radha-rasa-sudha-nidhi (33):
durad apasya svajanan sukham-artha-kotim
sarvesu sadhana-varesu ciram nirasah
varsantam eva sahajadbhuta-saukhya-dharam
sri radhika carana renum aham bhajami (12)
Abandoning attachment for family and friends, material pleasures, wealth, and all other spiritual paths, finding them distasteful, I take on my head and worship the dust of the lotus feet of Sri Radhika, which is a shower of wonderful, transcendental bliss.
A prayer to achieve the service of Radharani within the ku?jas of Vrndavana is given in the Radha-rasa-sudha-nidhi (198):
asasya dasyam vrsabhanu-jayas
tire samadhyasya ca bhanujayah
kada nu vrndavana ku?ja vithisv
aham nu radhe hy atithirbhaveyam (13)
O Radha, O Vrsabhanunandini, when, by Your mercy, will I stay on the banks of the Yamuna and wander on the paths within the groves of Vrndavana as I engage in Your service as a maidservant?
In the Radha-rasa-sudha-nidhi (259) there is the following prayer to be always engaged in seeking Krsna by the performance of sankirtana in the mood of Radha-dasya (as a maidservant):
dhyayantam sikhi-piccha-mauli-manisam tan nama-samkirtayan
nityam tac caranambujam paricaran tan-mantra-varyam japan
sri radha padasyam eva paramabhistam hrda dharayan
karhi syam tad anugrahena paramadbhutanuragotsavah (14)
By always remembering Krsna, who wears a peacock feather in His mukut, by performing sankirtana and engaging in the service of His lotus feet, by chanting the best of mantras, and by remembering the most cherished service of the lotus feet of Radha within my heart, when will I relish the most amazing festival of attachment to Radha?
A prayer for attaining the service of Srimati Radharani birth after birth is given in the Radha-rasa-sudha-nidhi (40):
tasya apara-rasa-sara-vilasa-murter
ananda-kanda-paramadbhuta-saukhya-laksmyah
brahmadi-durlabha-gater-vrsabhanu-jayah
kainkaryam eva mama janmani janmani syat (15)
May I attain the service of Vrsabhanunandini birth after birth. She is the personification of the essence of the transcendental mellows of divine sports. With a form of the most wonderful transcendental bliss, She is the supreme goddess of fortune. Her lotus feet are difficult to attain even for the demigods headed by Lord Brahma.
Searching Radhanatha (Krsna) while engaged in the service of Srimati Radharani is described in the Radha-rasa-sudha-nidhi (142):
radha nama sudha rasam rasayitum jihvas tu me vihvala
padau tat padakanksita sucaratam vrnda-tavivithisu
tat karmaiva karah karotu hrdayam tasyah padam dhyayatam
tad bhavotsavatah param bhavatu me tat prana nathe ratih (16)
May my tongue be overwhelmed by relishing the nectar of Radha's name, may my feet be engaged in wandering the paths of Vrndavana which are marked by Radha's footprints, may my hands be engaged in the loving service of Radharani, and may my mind be engaged in meditation on the lotus feet of Radha. By attaining the festival of ecstatic love for Radha, may I attain firm attachment for the lotus feet of Her beloved, Sri Krsna.
In Vilapa-kusuma?jali (8) the lotus feet of Sri Radha are described as the ultimate goal of life. :
devi duhkha kula-sagarodare
duyamana mati durgatam janam
tvat krpa pravala naukayadbhutam
prapaya svapada-panka-jalayam (17)
O Goddess, please rescue this unfortunate person drowning in the ocean of unhappiness. Place me in the strong boat of Your mercy and carry me to the shore of Your lotus feet. Exclusive affinity for achieving attachment for the service of Sri Radha is described in Vilapa-kusuma?jali (16):
padabjayos tava vina vara-dasyam eva
nanyat kadapi samaye kila devi yace
sakhyaya te mama namo 'stu namo 'stu nityam
dasyaya te mama raso 'stu raso 'stu satyam (18)
O most beautifully resplendent Goddess! I shall never ask You for anything other than the service of Your lotus feet as a maidservant. Again and again I offer my obeisances from a distance to the desire of becoming Your sakhi (companion on an equal level). Again and again I desire to relish the sweet nectar of Your service as a maidservant.
A sincere solicitation in Radha-dasya is given in the Gandharva-samprarthanastakam of the Stava-mala:
ha devi kaku-bhara-gadgadayadya vaca
yace nipatya bhuvi danda-vadudbhatartih
asya prasadamabudhasya janasya krtva
gandharvike tava gane gananam vidhehi (19)
O Devi! In great distress I fall to the ground offering You obeisances and prayers with a voice choked with emotion. O Gandharvike! Please bestow Your mercy on this pauper and count me amongst Your own associates.
A prayer to achieve attachment for the service of Srimati Radharani, who attracts the mind of Sri Krsna, is given in the Radha-rasa-sudha-nidhi (39):
venum karan nipatitam skhalitam sikhandam
bhrasta?ca pita-vasanam vraja-raja-sunoh
yasyah kataksa-sara-ghata-vimurcchitasya
tam radhikam paricarami kada rasena (20)
When will I delight in the service of Srimati Radharani? Struck by the arrow of Her side-long glance Krsna faints, His flute falls from His hands, the peacock feathers on His head become loosened and His yellow scarf slips from His neck.
An introduction to the characteristics of one who has attained rati for Radha-dasya is given in the Srimad Bhagavatam (11.6.46):
tvayopayuktah-srag-gandha
vaso 'lankara-carcitah
ucchista-bhojino dasas
tava mayam jayema hi (21)
Simply by decorating ourselves with the garlands, fragrant oils, clothes and ornaments that You have already enjoyed, and simply by eating the remnants of Your meals, we, Your (maid) servants, will indeed conquer Your illusory energy.
An introduction to aparahna-lila (afternoon pastime) is given in the Govinda-lilamrta:
sri radham prapta-geham nija-ramana-krte klrpta nanopaharam
susnatam ramya-vesam priya-mukha-kamalaloka-purna-pramodam
sri krsnam caivaparahne vrajam anucalitam dhenu-vrindair vayasyai
sri radhaloka-trptam pitr-mukha-militam matr-mrstam smarami (22)
I remember Srimati Radharani, who in the afternoon returns to Her home and prepares many sweets like amrtakeli and karpurakeli for Her beloved Sri Krsna. After taking Her ablution and dressing in beautiful clothes and ornaments, She is filled with ecstasy seeing the lotus face of Her beloved Sri Krsna when He returns from the forest to the cowshed.
I also remember Sri Krsna, who is returning home in the afternoon to Nanda-grama along with His cows and cowherd boy friends. As they arrive on the path, He feels satisfied glancing at Srimati Radharani. After meeting with Nanda and other elderly people, He is then bathed and dressed by Mother Yasoda.
O mind! Remember this pastime in ecstasy.
Thus ends the Panchama-yama Sadhana of the Sri Bhajana-rahasya.
