Hari-katha inspired by the Guru-varga
In previous classes we heard how Lalita-devi and the other gopis and manjaris are present at the bank of the Yamuna, immersed in separation. At that time a big and beautiful swan came. When Lalita-devi saw the swan she said, “We are in a very lamentable situation and request you for help. Look at Vraja-bhumi and you will realize its condition. Go to Nandagrama and Govardhana where you should sit for some time and observe. Govardhana used to be Krsna’s playing center where He used to sit in beautiful gardens, talking with the sakhas and Vraja-devis. When you go to these places you should quietly sit there, absorbed in prayers, and then the pastimes of Krsna and His associates will manifest in your heart. There is a Kadamba garden where Krsna used to distribute srngara-rasa by His rasa-sakti. Go to that place and if you sit there for a while you will understand the deep moods that have been exchanged there. The anuraga-maya-lila-bhumi is related with Krsna and all these places are very powerful and imbued with Krsna’s sweetness. Therefore you should go there and shower yourself with the nectar of the pastimes of the supreme lover and His beloved. You will obtain a momentary vision of their pastimes and realize them. In this way you will become eligible to taste this rasa.”
A donkey may carry sugar, sweets, and grains but it is not possible for him to even drink a single drop of it. All he gets to eat is dry grass and leaves, and to drink he does not even get clean water. If he goes to a clear pond to drink, he would see his reflection in the pond and then become angry at his reflection saying, “Why did you come here? This water is for me to drink.” Then he would try to kick his reflection, and only after the water became dirty and the donkey can no longer see his reflection, he would drink the dirty water. Many people come to lila-bhumi but they do not drink lila-rasa.
Lalita-devi said to the swan, “Don’t go directly to Mathura. I will give you the message, but before you go to Mathura you should go to Govardhana, Syama-kunda, Radha-kunda, Vrndavana, Yamuna-pulina, kadamba garden, Nikunja-bhavana, and other pastime places. There you should only sit and think about Srimati Radharani and the Vraja-devis. By their mercy, Giriraja Govardhana, Syama-kunda, and Radha-kunda will give you divine love. Don’t go there to pray for anything material.”
People do parikrama of Giriraja Govardhana for material gain. They build little brick houses at the side of the path in the belief that Govardhana would bestow a house, with as many floors as bricks are on top of each other, on them. Others tie two branches of a tree together and like this pray for a husband or a wife. And again others do dandavat-parikrama to receive good progeny. They try to cheat Govardhana who by Krsna’s order distributes pure vraja-bhakti at Dan-gati. But these people cannot accept this and want Govardhana to fulfill their own material desires. They want Giriraja Govardhana to serve them and therefore they are ready to perform dandavat-parikrama or milk-parikrama. Conditioned souls only do something with conditions. Without prospects of the fulfillment of their desires they would not go there and would even deny the existence of God.
Lalita-devi said, “Hey Hamsaraja, please visit these places and tell them that Lalita-devi, Radharani, and the manjaris sent you. Pray to Govardhana for a vision of Krsna’s eternal pastimes. After you realized and drank this lila-rasa, you will be strong enough to refuse the bribes of Krsna. Otherwise Krsna will cheat and steal you. If you have a strong relation with Vraja-bhumi you will never go elsewhere. If you have a strong relation with the dust of Vraja, you will never want to touch any other dust. And if you have a relation with vraja-rasa, you will never run to taste other rasas. Therefore I suggest you to go to these pastime places, sit there, and pray, and when you realized their glories you can move on. “Otherwise do not go to meet Krsna in Mathura. How would you know what to say? If you go there and Krsna sees you, He will see your effulgence and grace and think, ‘Brahma’s carrier is here. This means that Brahma must be here too.’”
Srila Gurudeva sometimes sent some devotees to preach. It was not possible for them to preach the puranas, upapuranas, or other samhitas etc. Srila Gurudeva is vraja-rasa-rasika and he does not like anything other than the glories of the Vrajavasis. The disciples therefore received Srila Gurudeva’s mood and when someone explains this while preaching we can know him to be Gurudeva’s real follower. If they speak about useless topics, we can understand that they are not real disciples of Srila Gurudeva.
Lalita-devi said, “If you go without having established a relation with the Vrajavasis and Vraja-bhumi, then how can you appear as a servant and representative of the Vrajavasis before Krsna? He will think that you came from Brahma-loka and will not talk to you. When He sees you and recognizes you to be a follower of the Vrajavasis, then He will take time to talk to you, hear news about the Vrajavasis, and accept the letter that we will send to Him. First you should take shelter of Vraja-bhumi and taste vraja-rasa.”
Text 25
saran-megha-sreni-pratibhatam aristasura-sirah
ciram suskam vrndavana-parisare draksyati bhavan
yad arodhum duran milati kila kailasa-sikhari-
bhramakranta-svanto girisa-suhrdah kinkara-ganah
Lalita-devi continued, “Some distance away from Giriraja Govardhana lays Aritgaon, the village of Aristasura. Aristasura came in form of a huge bull. He was so big that his head touched the sky. When he entered Vraja-bhumi he made such a tremendous sound of an angry bull that Vraja-bhumi began to shake. His head is still present as a big hill at the outskirt of Vrndavana. Kuvera once came accompanied by his servants and thought the hill to be the top of mount Kailasa. Aristasura came to Vraja-bhumi to destroy the Vrajavasis, but he himself got killed by Krsna and his head became a big hill. In this way Krsna cleaned all of the demon’s anarthas.”
Anybody who wants to get rid of anarthas can go to Aritgoan and pray to Lila-purusottama for the cleansing of his anarthas. In this way one can get rid of all jealousy. One without bhakti will have no sakti and will always be uncontrolled. His mind will always be disturbed and in depression, and because he is suffering, he disturbs everybody around him.
Lalita-devi said, “Sit at the place of Aristasura and pray to Rasika-sekara, ‘Hey Lila-purusottama, please clean my anarthas and make me attracted to Vraja-bhumi and the Vrajavasis.”
Text 26
ruvan yahi svairam carama-dasaya cumbita-ruco
nitambinyo vrndavana-bhuvi sakhe santi bahavah
paravartisyante tulita-murajin-nupura-ravat tava
dhvanat tasam bahir api gatah ksipram asavah
“O Hamsaraja, go to Vrndavana and look at the many gopis who are immersed in separation from Krsna. Death is kissing them and their souls are about to leave their bodies. When you hear the sweet sound of the ankle bells of dancing Krsna, then no other sound will ever capture your mind.”
Text 27
tvam asinah sakhantara-milita-canda-tvisi mudam
dadhithah bhandire ksanam api ghana-syamala-rucau
tato hamsau bibhran-nikhila-nabhasas cikramisaya
sa varddhisnum visnum kalita-dara-cakram tulayita
“O Hamsaraja, go and take rest for a while in Bandhiravana. When the sun arises the sun will not enter the dense kunja-kutira there. Prema-bandha, the bondage of love, is present there and Krsna is there to taste this and nourish everyone with it. When you go there, you will attain svarupa-siddhi. Krsna was a baby when Nanda Maharaja took Him to Bandhiravana and Srimati Radharani was similarly young, but when they came to Bandhiravana they both became teenaged and then Brahma came and performed their gandharva marriage ceremony. Oh Hamsaraja, if you go there you will similarly forget that you are a swan and will realize your eternal form. You will no longer be an ordinary swan but will be a paramahamsa. You will realize everything.
“If you go to Bandhiravana you will understand the difference between mundane and divine love. Krsna will then no longer be able to bribe you by offering mundane things. You will then no longer be involved with this world. Go to Bandhiravana, sit there and pray. This Bandhiravana holds Sri Visnu’s disk and conch that came to cheat you.”
The gopis are not cheated by this. They are always with Krsna and only have a relation with Him. They collect prema for Krsna and do not give importance to other love. When Visnu, Vamana, and other incarnations came to the gopis, the gopis offered them donations and then asked them to leave again. When Siva came they gave him bhiksa and said that any yogis are not welcome to stay there any longer and that he should go back to Kailasa.
Text 28
tvam astabhir netrair vigalad-amala-prema-salilair
muhuh siktas tamam catura-caturasya-stuti-bhuvam
jihithah vikhyatam sphutam iha bhavad-bandhava-ratham
pravistam mamsyante vidhim atavi-devyas tvayi gate
“O Hamsaraja, hear our request and accept our advice. Brahma prayed to Krsna again and again. He was shedding tears, but Krsna was not pleased with him. Brahma entered the forest where he saw how the Vraja-devis continuously serve Krsna. To learn such unconditional service, he then left all his comforts and enjoyments in Brahma-loka and came to Vraja-mandala to engage in austerities.”
Texts 29 and 30
udancan-netrambhah prasara-lahari-picchila patha-
skhalat-pada-nyasa-pranihita-vilambakula-dhiyah
harau yasmin magne tvarita-yamuna-kula-gamana-
sprhaksipta gopyo yayur anupadam kamapi dasam
muhur lasya-krida-pramada-aho-purusika-
vikasena bhrastaih phani-mani-kulair dhumala-rucau
puras tasmin nipa-druma-kusuma-kinjalka-surabhau
tvaya punye peyam madhuram udakam kaliya-hrade
“Go to Kaliya-hrada and stay there for a while. During the rasa-dance Krsna did not dance for so long because the ground was a little hard. But when Krsna danced on the hoods of Kaliya, He displayed such artistic dancing and in this way cleansed the snake form all anarthas and bestowed vraja-prema on him. The kadamba tree at the bank of Kaliya-lake was also greatly fortunate for Krsna climbed up the tree to jump inside the lake and in this way gave prema to the tree and turned the water of the lake into nectar. Krsna fought with Kaliya and cleaned him from all anarthas, and Kaliya then left asat-sanga and realized the meaning of sat-sanga. O Hamsaraja, go there and sit for a while and get prepared to go to Mathura.”
Text 31
trnavartarater viraha-dava-santapita-tanoh
sadabhiri-vrnda-pranaya-bahumanonnati-vidah
pranetavyo navya-stabaka-bhara-samvardhita-sucas
tvaya vrnda-devyah parama-vinayad vandana-vidhih
“Meet Vrnda-devi and pray to her with great love and respect. The Vraja-devis’ hearts are burning in separation from Krsna. How can we cool our hearts? Why did such punishment come upon us? All the manjaris are also suffering. Please let Vrnda-devi know about your mission and ask for her blessings. She is our guru. If you accept mantra and advice from guru, everything will become successful. Otherwise if you neglect guru and go without her sanction, then whatever you do will be destined to fail.”
In this Hamsaduta, Rupa Gosvami describes how Krsna’s lila-bhumi is helpful for the sadhaka. In this way he makes the conditioned soul qualified and turns them into swanlike personalities themselves. Krsna is gone, but that does not mean that His pastime places have no power. They are very helpful. Everywhere else is asat-sanga. The dust of Vraja-bhumi has the power to help the sadhaka. Therefore Rupa Gosvami Prabhu wrote all the glories of Vraja-bhumi.
Hamsa is first taking training, and when he then leaves Vraja-mandala, he will not become entangled in other affairs. The sadhaka should come to Vraja-bhumi, follow the teachings of Rupa-Raghunatha, and in this way learn etiquette and gain strength in devotional practice. His desires will become purified, and once he tasted vraja-rasa, he will no longer strive to taste any other rasa. If anyone has a relation with Vraja-bhumi, then other things will no longer be of any value. The sadhaka will only think about how to go to Vraja-bhumi and meet the Vrajavasis. He will miss them and weep in remembrance of them.
[CC-by-NDNC Bhakta Bandhav]