Madhurya-kadambini, verse 1 (Srila Vishvanatha Cakravartipada)

hrid-vapre nava-bhakti-sasya-vitateh sanjivani svagama-
rambhe kama-taparttu-daha-damani visvapagollasini
duran me maru-sakhino ’pi sarasi-bhavaya bhuyat prabhu-
sri-caitanya-kripa-nirankusa-maha-madhurya-kadambini

TRANSLATION: The causeless and completely independent mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is like a cloud bank of exquisitely sweet nectar that infuses life in the grains of ninefold bhakti in the devotee’s heart, from the very beginning of its appearance extinguishes the scorching summer heat of material desires, and gives joy to the universal river of living beings. May those nectar clouds, even from afar, refresh me, a dried-up tree in the desert.

Piyusha kana explanation:

The most respected Gaudiya Vaishnava acarya Srila Visvanatha Cakravartipada has expertly analyzed the various stages in practicing bhakti in this book Madhurya Kadambini. In Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu Srila Rupa Gosvami mentions the stages through which the devotees engaged in sadhana-bhakti gradually pass to finally attain the kingdom of prema:

adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sango ’tha bhajana-kriya
tato ’nartha-nivrittih syat-tato nishtha rucis-tatah
athasaktis tato bhavas tatah premabhyudancati
sadhakanam ayam premnah pradurbhave bhavet kramah

“First one attains sraddha, or firm faith, in the sastras and teachings of sadhus, then one gradually passes through the stages of sadhu-sanga (association of pure devotees), bhajana-kriya (practice of bhakti), anartha-nivritti (cessation of unwanted elements unfavourable to the practice of bhakti), nishtha (steadyness), ruci (taste), asakti (attachment to the Lord), bhava (permanent attachment to the Lord), and finally prema (divine love). In this way, prema gradually manifests in the devotee’s heart.” (Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu 1/4/15-16)

In this book Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti describes these stages from sraddha to prema in an easily understandable manner. He also vividly describes the removal of unwanted elements (aparadha, anartha, and others) that create obstacles in the gradual development of sadhana-bhakti. For a devotee sincerely practicing sadhana-bhakti, this book will take him by the hand and definitely lead him to the kingdom of prema-bhakti. As a thermometer shows the body temperature, similarly by thoroughly studying this book, a practising devotee can easily realize the level at which he is practicing bhakti. Gradually giving up all anarthas, he can step up through the higher stages of bhakti. Therefore each sadhaka who wants to attain prema has the singular duty to study this book to the utmost.
Srila Cakravartipada has named this book Madhurya Kadambini, “The Bank of Nectar-showering Clouds.” Srila Rupa Gosvami writes in Ujjvala-nilamani (11.19), madhuryam nama ceshtanam sarvavasthasu caruta:
“The eternal beauty or charm of all the activities and gestures of the Lord is known as madhurya.”

bhagavans tavad asadharana svarupaisvarya madhuryas tattva viseshah. tatra svarupam paramananda aisvaryam asamordhvataya sarva manoharam svabhavika rupa guna liladi saushthavam (Laghu-toshani commentary of the Bhagavata (10.12.11):
“The Absolute Truth having uncommon form (svarupa), majesty (aisvarya), and sweetness (madhurya) is Bhagavan. Parabrahma is personified (svarupa) supreme bliss, or paramananda, His incomparable, infinite, spontaneous supremacy is His aisvarya and the superexcellent nature of His all-enchanting form, pastimes, qualities, and so forth is madhurya.”

madhurya bhagavatta sara: “Madhurya is the quintessence or very life of the Supreme Absolute Truth.”
(Cai-caritamrita, Madhya 21.110)

Though all forms of the Supreme Lord are nondifferent, still the son of Nanda Maharaja, Vrajendra-nandana in human-like form, is personified madhurya, gudham param brahma manushya-lingam. (S.B. 7.10.48) The sruti says, raso vai sah:
“Bhagavan Himself is personified rasa or transcendental mellow.”
Though the svarupa of Bhagavan is nectarean (rasamaya), the rasas differ in different avataras. There is no other form of Godhead except Vrajendra-nandana Sri Krishna that displays all rasas at once. Sri Krishna is the personification of all rasas in full, or akhila-rasamrita-murti. All the qualities that support or nourish all kinds of rasas are naturally present within Him. The great sages call all these qualities madhurya.
Though Sri Krishna is an infinite ocean of form, qualities, and pastimes full of infinite sweetness, the Gosvamis have divided that ocean into four component parts: lila-madhurya, sweetness of pastimes, prema-madhurya, sweetness of love, venu-madhurya, sweetness of the flute and rupa-madhurya, sweetness of form. These four kinds of sweetness manifest only in Vraja: caturdha madhuris tasya vraja eva virajate. (Laghu-bhagavatamrita)

This book, therefore, is like a bank of clouds whose falling showers consist of the unique sweetness of Vraja. By thoroughly studying this book, the sadhaka can undoubtedly become completely showered by the sweet nectar of Vraja.
The reality (tattva) of madhurya is very difficult to understand and obtain. There is no way to attain the fortune to relish this sweetness unless one gets the mercy of a devotee who already relishes this sweetness. In this special age of Kali Vrajendranandana Sri Krishna Himself has manifested in the form of Sri Gauranga accepting the mood (bhava) and splendor (kanti) of Sri Radha. He accepted this form to fulfil His three desires which remained unfulfilled in His vraja-lila: kaichana radha prema, kaichana (mora) madhurima, kaichana bhave tiho bhora, “to relish the prema of Sri Radha, to relish the wonderful sweetness that Radha relishes in Him, to relish the bliss that Radha attains by realizing His sweetness.” Krishna Himself relished the sweetness of Vraja in His Gauranga form while at the same time plunging all the living beings of the universe into streams of nectar. In the beginning of this book while glorifying Mahaprabhu in its auspicious invocation (mangalacarana), the author describes His mercy as nirankusa-maha-madhurya-kadambini. The bank of clouds in the rainy season, spreading all over the sky, floods the whole universe with heavy rainfall. Similarly, the completely independent and causeless mercy of Mahaprabhu bestows divine love to the whole world without any discrimination between the deserving and the undeserving. Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati, the dear associate of Mahaprabhu, writes in Sri Caitanya-candramritam (112):

patrapatra vicaranam na kurute na svam-param vikshyate
deyadeya vimarsako na hi na va kala pratikshah prabhuh
sadyo yah sravanekshana-pranamana-dhyanadina durlabham
datte bhakti-rasam sa eva bhagavan gaurah param me gatih

“The most powerful and magnanimous Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu very quickly and easily bestowed the mellow of divine love which is very difficult to obtain by such practices as sravana (hearing), kirtana (chanting), pranama (obeisances), and dhyana (meditation). He did not differentiate between who was deserving and who was not, friend and foe, proper and improper time, without stopping to consider whether or not to give this prema. May such a Supreme Lord, Sri Gaurasundara, be my ultimate and only shelter.”
As constant rains lead to flooding, so the most merciful Mahaprabhu has flooded the whole universe with His extremely uncontrollable and causeless cloudbank of exquisitely sweet nectar. This is written in Caitanya-caritamrita (Adi 7.25-28):

uthaliya prema-bonya caudike bedaya;
stri, vriddha, balaka, yuva, sabare dubaya
sajjana, durjana, pangu, jada, andha-gana;
prema bonyaya dubaila jagatera jana
jagat dubila, jivera haila bija nasa;
taha dekhi’ panca janera parama ullasa
yata yata prema-vrishti kare panca-jana;
tata tata badhe jala, vyape tri-bhuvana

“The rising flood of divine love expanded in all directions, drowning everyone, men and women, young and old, gentle and wicked, lame, dull-minded, and blind. Mahaprabhu, Nityananda Prabhu, Advaita, Gadadhara, and Srivasa felt overjoyed seeing the entire world submerged in divine love which destroyed the seed of ignorance in all living beings. The more the five members of the Panca-tattva showered divine love, the more the flood swelled, expanding throughout the universe.”
Thus when Mahaprabhu appeared, He pleased the entire world by giving vraja-prema even to those without the qualifications of sadhana simply because of His causeless mercy. But now, after His disappearance from this world, the attainment of such love once again depends on the efforts of sadhana-bhakti. Still, Mahaprabhu’s cloud bank of mercy nourishes the devotional life of the devotee, soon yielding the fruit of prema-bhakti. Describing the influence of this cloud bank of mercy, the author says, hrid-vapre nava-bhakti-sasya-vitateh sanjivani:
“It infuses life in the grains of ninefold bhakti within the field of the heart.”

The heart is the most appropriate place or receptacle for the manifestation of bhakti.
Sabdasara says, yato-nirjyati vishayo yasminscaiva praliyate hridayam tad-vijaniyat-manasa sthitikaranam:
“The heart is the place where all desires appear and all desires merge. The heart is the cause of the mind’s disposition.”

Another name of the heart is citta. Though it is material in its nature, by the will of the Lord it becomes worthy for the manifestation of transcendental pure devotion. It is thus compared with a fertile field for sprouting the grains of bhakti. As a desert or barren land full of stones is not suitable for cultivation, so the intellect, very rough due to mental speculations, is not at all suitable for the manifestation of bhakti. Through intelligence one can attain material knowledge, but spiritual knowledge needs to be approached through the heart. An unintelligent boy may have deep faith in bhakti due to his previous birth’s samskara (impression of previous activities on the mind), while a very intelligent person may be an atheist. So the heart is most receptive for the manifestation of bhakti, not the mind or intellect. Gradually the mind and intellect of the devotee are spiritualised, as a piece of iron is turned into gold by the touch of a touchstone. This is the deeper meaning of the word hrid vapra.
nava-bhakti here refers to ninefold bhakti, sravana, kirtana, and so on as delineated in the Bhagavata (7.5.23): sravanam kirtanam vishnoh smaranam pada-sevanam. arcanam vandanam dasyam sakhyam atma-nivedanam “Hearing, chanting, and remembering Sri Vishnu’s names, form and pastimes, serving His lotus feet, worshipping, offering prayers, engaging oneself as His servant, serving Him in fraternal mood, and complete self-surrender to His lotus feet are the ninefold bhakti.”

There are many parts of sadhana-bhakti, but these ninefold practices are the best paths to attain prema-bhakti. Mahaprabhu Himself said:

bhajanera madhye sreshtha nava-vidha bhakti;
krishna-prema, krishna dite dhare maha-sakti
tara madhye sarva-sreshtha nama-sankirtana;
niraparadhe nama laile paya prema-dhana

“Among all parts of devotion, ninefold bhakti is the best, because it has great potency to give one Krishna and krishna-prema. Among the ninefold processes of bhakti, nama-sankirtana is supreme. By chanting the holy name without offense one can easily attain the treasure of divine love.” (Cai.-caritamrita, Antya 4/70-71)

Being nourished by heavy showers from the clouds, the crops very soon bear fruits. So too, the streams of sankirtana-nectar showering from Mahaprabhu’s cloudbank of compassion inundate the crop of ninefold bhakti in the heart of the devotee, quickly bringing the fruit of krishna-prema. In this age of Kali, the father of sankirtana, Sriman Mahaprabhu, gave the ability to attain the fruit of prema through nama-sankirtana, the yuga-dharma, or religion of this age. Only through nama-sankirtana, nine-fold bhakti attains its perfection. In this age of Kali without nama-sankirtana none of the other devotional processes can lead to perfection and give the fruit of prema. This is understood from Mahaprabhu’s own words, nava-vidha bhakti purna nama-hoite hoy: “The nine fold bhakti reaches perfection through nama-sankirtana.” (Cai.caritamrita 2.15.108) Even the other parts of devotion cannot be awakened without nama-sankirtana. In the explanation of the first sloka of sikshashtaka, ceto-darpana-marjanam, Mahaprabhu says:

sankirtana haite papa-samsara-nasana;
citta-suddhi sarva-bhakti-sadhana-udgama
krishna-premodgama premamrita-asvadana;
krishna-prapti sevamita-samudre majjana

“nama-sankirtana destroys all sins and frees one from material bondage. The heart becomes purified and all processes of sadhana-bhakti awaken within the heart. Gradually attaining krishna-prema, one relishes transcendental mellow. Finally attaining Krishna Himself, one is immersed in the nectar of ocean of His service.” (Cai.-caritamrita, Antya 20.13-14) Mahaprabhu Himself relished the extremely charming sweet nectar of nama-sankirtana along with His associates to establish the ideal practice of ninefold bhakti for the people of Kali-yuga. This was never revealed anywhere before His appearance. The author has named Mahaprabhu’s mercy that infuses life in the crop of ninefold bhakti, maha-madhurya kadambini.
Nourished by the mercy of Mahaprabhu, Rupa Gosvami in Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu explained the ninefold bhakti in sixty-four parts, in a way that is easily understandable by the devotees.
By Sriman Mahaprabhu’s grace, Jiva Gosvami expertly analyzed the various ideas of ninefold bhakti. Both in Bhakti-sandarbha and the elaborate Krama-sandarbha commentary of the Bhagavata text 7.5.23, sravanam kirtanam vishnoh, he explains the various secrets of the performance of sadhana-bhakti by which a sincere sadhaka can quickly attain prema-bhakti. In this way he has immensely benefited the sincere devotees. A devotee desiring to quickly attain prema must carefully study these commentaries by Jiva Gosvami as these are also wonderful nectar-showers from the cloud bank of Mahaprabhu’s mercy.
If the cloud bank of Mahaprabhu’s mercy showers within the heart of a fortunate devotee practicing pure devotion, then the grains of ninefold bhakti are nourished, quickly ripening into the fruit of prema. But, one may ask, how can one attain such fortune in Kali-yuga, where the living entities are totally ignorant, their hearts bound by material desires? In reply the author describes another influence of the cloud bank of Mahaprabhu’s mercy, svagamarambhe kama-taparttu-daha-damani. On the appearance of fresh rain clouds in the sky, cool breezes blow even before the showers begin. These breezes relieve the scorching heat of the summer season, cooling and soothing the distressed people both externally and internally. Similarly Mahaprabhu’s cloud bank of mercy relieves the threefold material miseries that burn crores of times more than the scorching summer heat from the very beginning, even before showers. Cooling all living entities both externally and internally, His mercy drives away all material desires from the heart, even the desire for liberation (mukti). Only desire for Sri Krishna-bhajana fills their hearts. Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati therefore writes:

na yogo na dhyanam na ca japa-tapas-tyaga-niyama
na veda nacarah kva nu bata nishiddhadyuparatih
akasmac-caitanye’vatarati daya sara hridaye
pumarthanam maulim param iha mudalunthati janah

“Those who have never practiced yoga, meditation, chanting, penance, renunciation, regulative principles, Vedic study, nor followed scriptures, yes even those who have not refrained from sinful activities, are blissfully relishing prema, the crest-jewel of all human attainments, due to the sudden appearance of Sriman Mahaprabhu, the embodiment of boundless compact compassion.” (Caitanya-candramrita 6)

Now the author describes another influence of Mahaprabhu’s mercy, visvapagollasini. Swollen with heavy rains, the rivers overflow their banks roaring swiftly to the ocean. So too, rivers swollen with the nectarean showers of Mahaprabhu’s mercy and overflowing both banks with the bliss of roaring nama-sankirtana sweep away the hearts of all living entities to the ocean of Sri Krishna. Sriman Mahaprabhu Himself declared, prithivite joto ache desa grama; sarvatra sancara hoibe more nama (Caitanya-bhagavata) “All the towns and villages of the earth will resound with My name.”

Any intelligent person can easily see that Mahaprabhu’s prediction has been fulfilled. Now throughout the world even animal-like materialists, drunkards, meat-eaters, and atheists are being swept away by the roaring river of nama-sankirtana of Mahaprabhu.
Finally the respected author is praying for Mahaprabhu’s mercy, duran me maru-sakhino’pi sarasi-bhavaya bhuyat: “May that causeless and completely independent mercy of Mahaprabhu’s cloud bank of exquisitely sweet nectar, even from far off, refresh my heart that is like a dried-up tree in the desert.” The clouds of the rainy season come very near the earth profusely showering rain, but they do not shower in the desert. Rather only from far off they sprinkle a little water on the desert. The respected author in his great humility is considering himself as a dried-up tree in the desert, far away from the cloud bank of Mahaprabhu’s mercy. He is therefore praying, “May the extremely powerful mercy of Mahaprabhu refresh my dry, desert-tree like heart with the sweet nectar of Sri Krishna bhakti-rasa.” Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura Mahasaya is fully blessed with Mahaprabhu’s mercy and glorified by the whole world. His extraordinary humility is the specific quality of the devotees of Mahaprabhu. Though highly exalted, they consider themselves as most fallen. Sripada Prabodhananda Sarasvati writes:

trinad api sunicata sahaja-saumya mugdha-kritih
sudha-madhura-bhashita vishaya-gandha thuthut-kritih
hari-pranaya vihvala kim api dhiranalambita
bhavanti kila sad-guna jagati gaura-bhajam-ami

“More humble than the blade of a grass, naturally pleasant and charming, honey-tongued like nectar, spitting at the smell of sense objects without relation to Mahaprabhu, overwhelmed by gaura-prema, and completely aloof from worldly attachments, in this world all these good qualities belong only to the devotees of Mahaprabhu.”
(Caitanya-Candramrita)

– commentary by Radhakunda Mahanta Sri Srimat Ananta das Babaji
– translated by my friend Sripad Advaita das