Sri Sri Radha Rasa Sudhanidhi – Sripad Prabhodhananda Sarasvati

VERSE 9:

VRiNDANI SARVA MAHATAM APAHAYA DIRAD
VRiNDATAVIM ANUSARA PRANAYENA CETAH
SAT TARANI KRiTA SUBHAVA SUDHA RASAUGHAM
RADHABHIDHANAM IHA DIVYA NIDHANAM ASTI

O Mind! Leave all great things (or persons) far from you and go to Vrindavana with love, for there is a divine jewel, a nectar-stream of good moods named Radha there, Who redeems the sincere souls!

THE DIVINE JEWEL OF SRI VRiNDAVANA

Commentary by Srila Ananta das Babaji:

Transcendental greed is the very life-force of raga-bhakti.
When a devotee becomes greedy after the pure loving mood of the eternally perfect associates of Krishna in Vraja, he enters into the field of raganuga bhakti.
When a materialistic person becomes greedy he becomes like mad and he forgets his body and everything related to it while searching for his wanted object. This is mundane greed.
But that greed which appears in the heart at one moment and disappears again the next moment cannot be called real greed.
Sri Visvanatha Cakravartipada writes in his ‘Raga Vartma Candrika’:

atisayena pravrittih syat yatha kamarthinam kamopayeshu

“The raganuga devotee is as absorbed in his desires for devotion as a lusty man is in thinking of the fulfillment of his desires.”

Unless there is strong eagerness, the sweetness of raga bhajana cannot be understood. The devotee always thinks: “When will I get the service of my Beloved?” This eagerness is the lifeforce of raga practise.
Sripada thinks to himself: “How can I become so fortunate to be the broom to sweep the yard of the kunja? O mind! Throw all other great efforts, such as worship of the demigods, performance of fruitive activities, gathering of empirical knowledge, and the making of extensive pilgrimages, far away! They are just stumbling blocks on the path of pure devotion! Why should I go anywhere else than to Radharani’s abode Vraja? Why should I visit innumerable places of pilgrimage?”

In the second volume of Haridasa Dasa’s book ‘Gaudiya Vaishnava Jivana (the lives of Bengali Vaishnavas)’ we can read that a pure devotee named Sri Krishna Dasa Babaji, who lived in the village named Ranabari (not far from the town of Chata in Vraja) once desired to visit some other holy places in India, so He went to Dvaraka, the place where Krishna was married to 16108 queens. When he returned to Vraja, though, Radharani appeared to him in a dream and told him:
“Now you belong to the group of Krishna’s queen Satyabhama! Go back to Dvaraka!”
Baba was so upset with this, that he burned himself up in the fire of separation from Vraja and Sri Radha like a piece of firewood. In this way Baba gave up this mortal world, showing all the devotees in the world how unfavorable it is for a devotee of Sri Radha to leave Vraja.

One may ask Sri Prabodhananda Sarasvati:
“O Sripada! What spiritual practise will you perform to have your desires fulfilled then?”
Sripada says in this verse:
vrindatavim anusara pranayena cetah
“O Mind! Go to Vrindavana with love!”
In the center of Vrindavana Syama plays His enchanting flute.
sarva dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja
‘Ohe! Give up all forms of religion and take shelter of My lotus feet!’
Those whose hearts have been purified by spiritual practise can hear the call of this flute. The hearts of such devotees are absorbed in the mood of Vraja and they will go there with love, eager to meet their Beloved. Knowledge of the impersonal brahman or the localised paramatma and reverential regulated devotion to the Supreme Lord will cast one far away from the path of tasting the sweetness of Vraja. It is only pure, spontaneous love that brings us on the path to Vraja and it is that love that brought the previous acaryas like Bilvamangala, Jayadeva, Candi Dasa, the six Gosvamis and so many other great devotees to Vraja. Day and night these devotees are crying out:

ha ha kahan vrindavana, kaha gopendra nandana,
kaha sei vamsi vadana
kaha se tribhanga thama, kaha sei venugana
kaha prabhu madana mohana

“O! Where is Vrindavana?! Where is Krishna, the cowherd prince, Who keeps a flute to His mouth? Where is that threefold bending form? Where is that flute song? Where is the Lord Who enchants even Cupid?” Srila Narottama Dasa Thakura sings:

sitala yamuna jale, snana kori kutuhole,
premavese anandita hoiya
bahu’por bahu tuli, vrindavane kuli kuli,
krishna boli’ bedabo kandiya

“I will bathe in the cool water of the Yamuna, overwhelmed by feelings of ecstatic love. Raising my arms, I will wander around in Vrindavana, crying out Krishna’s name.”

dekhibo sanketa sthana, judabe tapita prana
premavese gadagadi dibo
kaha radha pranesvari, kaha girivaradhari,
kaha natha boliya dakibo

“I will soothe my burning heart by seeing Radha and Krishna’s trysting place and I will roll on the ground there in loving ecstasy, calling out: “Where is Radha, the Queen of my heart? Where are You, O Lord, lifter of Govardhana Hill?”

madhavi kunjeropari, sukhe bosi suka sari,
gaibek radha krishna rasa
taru tale bosi taha, suni judaibe hiya,
kobe sukhe goyabo divasa

“Above the bower of Madhavi vines the male and female parrots blissfully sit and sing songs about Radha and Krishna. I will sit at the foot of a tree there and soothe my heart by hearing them. When will I pass my days in such happiness?”

Another reading of this verse can be: “O Mind, beware of random association with the residents of Vraja! It is as difficult to associate with devotees in a purely Krishna concious way, without falling into frivolous and mundane talks, as it is to control the mind!”
Many great saints have therefore prefered a life of solitude in Vraja over a life full of social engagements there. In this way they could easily catch that divine jewel named Radha, Who redeems Her surrendered devotees with the nectarstream of Her good feelings.

The word sat tarani in the text can also mean that Radhika redeems Krishna, Who is sat (real in all three phases of time).
‘One may ask here: “Does Radha have to redeem Krishna at all? He is, after all, not a conditioned soul, is He?”
The answer is:
“Krishna is suffering from the pain caused by Cupid’s darts and Radha redeems Him by showering Him with the nectarstream of Her bodily association.”
The root-verb div of divya nidhana means: ‘play’, which means that the sweet erotic play of Radha, which makes Krishna happy, takes place in Vrindavana, and that is why Sripada eagerly sends his mind to Vrindavana. Another explanation is that the sat Krishna was eager to relish the love of Radha in Vraja and therefore descended to earth to become relieved from the burning agony of that desire. That divine jewel named Radha is a stream of nectar and simply by taking shelter of Her one will attain the rare love of Vraja.