TEXT 7:

    atha raganuga bhakti majjanasyanartha nivritti nishtha-rucyasaktyantaram prema-bhumikarudhasya sakshat svabhishta-prapti-prakarah pradarsyate. yathojjvala nilamanau “tad bhava baddha raga ye janas te sadhane ratah. tad yogyam anuragaugham prapyotkanthanusaratah. ta ekaso’thava dvi-trah kale kale vraje’bhavan” iti. anuragaugham raganuga bhajanautkanthyam natvanuraga sthayinam sadhaka-dehe’nuragotpattyasambhavat. vraje’bhavann iti avatara samaye nitya priyadya yatha avirbhavanti tathaiva gopika-garbhe sadhana-siddha api avirbhavanti. tatas ca nitya-siddhadi gopinam maha-bhava-vatinam sanga mahimna darsana sravana kirtanadibhih sneha mana pranaya raganuraga maha-bhava api tatra gopika-dehe utpadyante. purva janmani sadhaka-dehe tesham utpattyasambhavat. ataeva vraje krishna preyasinam asadharanani lakshanani. yad uktam – “gopinam paramananda asid govinda darsane. kshanam yuga-satam iva yasam yena vina bhaved” iti. “trutir yugayate tvam apasyatam” ityadi ca. kshanasya yuga satayamanatvam maha-bhava lakshanam.

    Now it will be described how the raganugiya bhakta gradually advances through the stages of anartha nivritti (cessation of bad habits), nishtha (fixation), ruci (taste), and asakti (attachment to the beloved deity) upto the stage of prema (love of God) and the direct attainment of his beloved deity. In the Ujjvala Nilamani it is said that ‘those who are specially attracted to the ecstasy of the Vrajavasis and thus perform raganuga bhajana will attain that abundance of eagerness that is fit for performing raganuga bhajana and will take birth in Vraja in groups of one, two or three in their own time, according to their eagerness.’ Here the word anuragaugha means ‘that eagerness that makes one qualified for doing raganuga bhajana’. The anuraga mentioned here does not refer to the sthayi bhava (permanent mood) of that name, because the sthayi bhava named anuraga cannot be attained within a material body. The words ‘having taken birth in Vraja’ means the sadhana siddhas take birth from the womb of a gopika, just as Krishna’s eternally beloved gopis appear with Him when He descends to earth (prakata lila). After that, gradually sneha, mana, pranaya, raga, anuraga and mahabhava will become manifest in the gopika-body of that sadhaka on the strength of associating with the gopis that are endowed with maha-bhava and by hearing and chanting and seeing the greatness of Krishna’s eternally liberated gopis. These feelings could not possibly have arisen in the material body of the sadhaka, in his previous birth. In this way the extraordinary characteristics of Sri Krishna’s beloveds in Vraja has been shown. In Srimad Bhagavata it is said that the gopis attained the pinnacle of transcendental bliss by seeing Govinda. Without Him, they experienced a moment to last like a hundred ages. Their statement (in Srimad Bhagavata 10.31.15) ‘Without seeing You, we consider a second to last like an age’, is a symptom of mahabhava.

 

Kripa-kanika Vyakhya by Srila Ananta das Babaji:

Now it is described how the sadhaka attains the personal service of his beloved deity in His lila-kingdom, after attaining the perfection of prema. Two kinds of sadhana have been desribed of the raganugiya devotees – the external practice of hearing and chanting in the sadhaka-body and the desired mental service in the self-conceived siddha body. When the sadhaka’s obstacles, such as anarthas (different kinds of mischief) are removed by the continued practice of bhajana, he gradually becomes fixed up, gets (lasting) taste for bhajana and becomes genuinely attached to the Lord. Then, when rati and prema are attained the practice in the sadhaka deha is completed. In other words, when all the stages of the stream of sadhana – faith, surrender, taking shelter of the lotus feet of Sri Guru, serving Sri Guru and Vaishnava, hearing, chanting, remembering, meditating, becoming free from mischief, becoming fixed up, acquiring taste, becoming attached to the Lord and rati – have been fulfilled – then one reaches the culmination named prema. It is described in the book named Sri Ujjvala Nilamani how, after attaining this prema, all these raganugiya sadhakas that do bhajana in the madhura rasa with the feelings of sakhis or manjaris, will attain the personal service of the Lord in the kingdom of lila:

tad bhava baddha raga ye janas te sadhane ratah
tad yogyam anuragaugham prapyotkanthanusaratah
ta eko’thava dvi-trah kale kale vraje’bhavan
(Sri Haripriya Pra.- 49 and 50)

“Those who are especially attracted to the feelings of the gopis and are thus engaged in raganuga bhajana, attain the abundance of anuraga that is proper for raganuga, and according to their eagerness, take birth in Vraja at different times as Vraja-gopis alone or in groups of two or three.” In the above verse the word anuragaugham means the eagerness that is proper for raganuga, not the sthayi bhava named anuraga, because only stages up to prema can appear in the sadhaka body. The stages above prema, from sneha up to mahabhava, that are required to attain personal service in the mood of the gopis, can only appear in a transcendental gopi-body, for a sadhaka body is unable to tolerate the coolness of meeting with Sri Krishna or the heat of separation from Him. The words ‘vraje’bhavan’, meaning “taking birth in Vraja”, must be understood to mean that the sadhana siddhas appear in the womb of a gopika in the same way as the eternally beloved Vraja-vadhus of Sri Krishna appear during the manifest pastimes. After that, on the strength of the association of nitya-priyas like Sri Radha and Lalita they gradually attain sneha, mana, pranaya, raga, anuraga and mahabhava through seeing, hearing and glorifying Sri Krishna and His associates. Without this mahabhava the personal devotional service of Sri Krishna in a gopi body cannot be attained. The example of this is given by Sri Sukadeva in the Srimad Bhagavata, when he described how the gopis went on their way to dance the Rasa with Krishna after they heard Sri Krishna playing His flute, but some gopis were locked into their inner chambers because they were sages from the Dandaka-forest in their previous birth who were unable to get the association of the nitya siddha gopis, although they had taken birth in Vraja as gopis. Since they were thus unable to attain mahabhava and could also not get the aid of Yogamaya, the gopis who were locked into their houses by their relatives felt such great pangs of separation from Sri Krishna that on the strength of their meditations on Him they were quickly able to attain this stage of mahabhava, that is usually only attained through a gradual process, and thus became blessed by attaining the Rasa-dance. Thus the blessed author says that in the sadhaka body of the previous birth it is not possible to awaken the stages from sneha up to mahabhava. Therefore the extraordinary characteristics of the Sri Gopikas in Vraja are described in Srimad Bhagavata:

gopinam paramananda asid govinda darsane
kshanam yuga-satam iva yasam yena vinabhavat (10.19.16)

“The gopis, that experience a single moment without Sri Krishna to be like a hundred ages, attained the topmost bliss when they saw Govinda.”
Then again in the Sri Gopi Gita we can find the Sri Gopikas speaking the following words to Sri Krishna:

atati yad bhavan ahni kananam trutir yugayate tvam apasyatam
kutila kuntalam sri mukham ca te jada udikshatam pakshmakrid drisam (10.31.15)

“When You go out into the forest in the daytime to tend Your cows we consider even a split second that we don’t see You to be like an age, and then when You return home in the evening we consider the Creator, who made our eyelids blink, so that our eyes cannot gaze constantly at Your face, that is decorated with curly locks, to be dull and arasika.” This experience of a moment like a hundred ages is a characteristic of mahabhava. Srimat Rupa Gosvami writes in his definition of rudha mahabhava –

nimeshasahatasanna janata hrid vilodanam
kalpa kshanatvam khinnatvam tat saukhye’py arti sankaya
mohadya bhave’pyatmadi sarva vismaranam sada
kshanasya kalpatetyadya yatra yoga viyogayoh
(Ujjvala Nilamani Sthayibhava Prak. – 161. 162)

“In the stage of rudha mahabhava, either during union or during separation, the gopis show the following physical expressions of permanent emotions (anubhavas): they cannot tolerate a moment of separation, their hearts are disturbed by approaching people, they consider an age (when they are together with Krishna) to be like a moment, they suffer when they are anxious about Krishna’s happiness, even if He is happy, they forget all about themselves even when they are free from delusion and they consider a moment to be like an age (when they are separated from Krishna).

nanu prema-bhumikarudhasya sadhakasya deha-bhange satyevaprakata prakase gopigarbhaj janmana vina eva gopika-deha praptau satyam tatraiva nitya-siddha gopika sangodbhutanam snehadinam bhavanam praptih syad ityevam kim na brushe. maivam. gopigarbhaj janmana vina iyam sakhi kasyah putri kasya vadhuh kasya stri ityadi nara-lilata vyavaharo na sidhyet. tarhyaprakata prakasa eva janmastiti cennaivam prapancagocarasya vrindavaniya prakasasya sadhakanam prapancika lokanam ca pravesadarsanena siddhanam eva pravesa darsanena jnapitat kevala siddha bhumitvat snehadayo bhavas tatra sva sva sadhanair api turnam na phalanti, ato yogamayaya jata premano bhaktas te prapanca gocare vrindavana prakase eva sri krishnavatara samaye niyante tatrotpattyanantaram sri krishnanga-sangat purvam eva tat tat bhava siddhyartham. tatra sadhaka bhaktanam karmi prabhritinam siddha bhaktanam ca pravesa darsanenaivanubhuyate sadhaka bhumitvam siddha bhumitvam ca. nanu tarhyetavantam kalam taih paramotkanthair bhaktaih kva sthatavyam. tatrocyate sadhaka-deha-bhanga-samaye eva tasmai premavate bhaktaya cira samaya vidhrita sakshat sevabhilasha mahotkanthaya bhagavata kripayaiva saparikarasya svasya darsanam tad abhilashaniya sevadikam calabdha snehadi prema-bhedayapi sakrid diyate eva yatha naradayaiva. cidanandamayi gopika tanus ca diyate. saiva tanur yogamayaya vrindavaniya prakata prakase krishna parivara pradurbhava-samaye gopigarbhad udbhavyate. natra kala-vilamba gandho’pi. prakata lilaya api vicchedabhavat. yasminn eva brahmande tadanim vrindavaniya lilanam prakatyam tatraivasyam eva vraja-bhumau atah sadhaka premi-bhakta-deha-bhanga-sama-kale’pi saparikara sri krishna pradurbhavah sadaivasti iti bho bho mahanuragi sotkantha bhakta ma bhaishta susthiras tishthata svasty evasti bhavadbhya iti.

    One may ask: “Why don’t you say: ‘When the sadhaka attains the stage of prema and leaves his body, he will take a gopika-body in the spiritual world (aprakata prakasa) without first taking birth from the womb of a gopika, after which he manifests sneha, etc. there in that body through the association of the eternally perfect gopis?” The answer here is: “No, that will not happen, because without taking birth from the womb of a gopi one cannot get a proper acquaintance according to the human-like pastimes there, like: “Whose daughter is this sakhi? Whose wife is she? Whose daughter-in-law is she?” “All right then”, one may say, “then why not take birth in the aprakata prakasa?” Then the answer is: “No, that can also not be! Sadhakas (practising devotees) or materially conditioned souls cannot enter into the transcendental manifestation named Sri Vrindavana, only perfected souls can enter it. Even through one’s own sadhana the feelings of sneha and so on are not easily attained there. Therefore Yogamaya takes those devotees, whose prema has awoken, to Krishna’s materially manifest pastimes in Vrindavana when Krishna descends there, for the sake of perfecting their feelings like sneha etc. before they attain Sri Krishna’s bodily association. Because practising devotees, fruitive workers and perfected devotees can all be seen to enter into the materially manifest Sri Vrindavana, it is experienced as both sadhaka bhumi (the land for practitioners) and siddha bhumi (the land for the perfect).

    “Then where will those most eager sadhakas stay all this time?” The answer is: “After the sadhaka-body perishes, that loving devotee, who has eagerly desired direct devotional service for a long time, will once, by the Lord’s grace, receive the gift of the desired service and the audience of the Lord and His eternal associates, even though he has not yet attained the manifestations of prema like sneha and so, just as the Lord once bestowed His Personal audience to Narada Muni in his previous birth (see Srimad Bhagavata Canto One, Chapter Six). He will give the sadhaka a transcendental gopika-body. Yogamaya will make that body take birth from a gopika-body in the manifest pastimes, when Sri Krishna descends to earth with His eternal associates. There will be not even the slightest delay in that, because the prakata lila goes on without interruption. The liberated devotee will take birth in that material universe where Krishna plays His manifest Vrindavana-lila at the time. Sri Krishna and His associates always appear when the loving practising devotee leaves His body. Therefore, O greatly eager anuragi devotees! Do not fear! Be at ease! All is auspicious for You!”

Kripa-kanika Vyakhya:
Previously it has been said that the sadhana siddhas take birth from the wombs of gopis just as the nitya-siddha krishna-priyas do during Krishna’s manifest pastimes, and that in such bodies they attain sneha, mana and all the other stages leading up to maha-bhava, on the strength of their association with the nitya siddhas. In a sadhaka deha it is not possible to practise the higher stages of prema like sneha and mana, and without the advent of mahabhava the personal service of Sri Krishna in the mood of a gopi is not possible. Here one may ask: the raganuga bhajana of those who practise sakhi or manjari bhava is performed by meditating on one’s guru-given siddha svarupa and by establishing one’s self-identification with it. When prema is attained the sadhaka has established a full self-identification as such and, forgetting his sadhaka body, he perceives his siddha svarupa day and night. Why is there any further need then for taking birth from the womb of a gopi, after already attaining prema? They should get gopi-bodies in the unmanifest (spiritual) world, and there they should attain personal service after gradually going up the stages like sneha and mana to mahabhava on the strength of associating with the nitya siddhas.” To this question the author replies: “Without taking birth from the womb of a gopi it is impossible to nourish the human-like pastimes, because without knowing whose daughter, whose daughter-in-law and whose wife this is one can never have human-like acquaintance and customs with each other. We can find corresponding prayers of the mahajanas: kobe vrishabhanupure, ahiri gopera ghare, tanaya hoiya janamibo? yavate amara kobe, e pani grahana hobe, vasati koribo kobe tay? “When will I be born as a daughter in the house of a cowherd in Vrishabhanupura (Barsana)? When will I be married in Yavata and when will I live there?” and so on (Srila Thakura Mahasaya).

If someone says: “What is the harm in taking birth from the womb of a gopi in the unmanifest pastimes? All the pastimes in the aprakata prakasa are after all just the same as the pastimes in the prakata prakasa!” The answer to this is that it is not possible, since sadhakas or materially conditioned souls cannot enter into Vrindavana’s unmanifest pastimes. That is a siddha bhumi, an abode reserved for accomplished souls. Only they can enter there, and not the sadhakas, or those who are still developing in practice. Therefore how can stages like sneha and mana be practised there? For this reason Sri Krishna’s Yogamaya, who can accomplish the impossible, places the sadhaka in the womb of a gopi in Sri Krishna’s manifest pastimes in Sri Vrindavana, that are visible to the material eyes, after they have attained prema and before they attain Sri Krishna’s association, and here they can reach perfection in sneha and mana and so on. We can see that sadhaka bhaktas, siddhas and even ordinary people can enter into the visible manifestation of Sri Vrindavana on the earth, therefore this place is both sadhaka bhumi and siddha bhumi.

Here one may doubt that: Sri Krishna, the Original Personality of Godhead, descends in Vraja once in a day of Brahma and then performs His pastimes. In one day of Brahma there are fourteen Manvantaras, and Sri Krishna’s manifest pastimes take place once at the end of the Dvapara yuga in the 28th Caturyuga of the seventh Manvantara. Where and in what condition will the eager devotee, who has developed prema, stay all these days, after he gives up his body in a universe where he will have to wait many ages before Sri Krishna’s manifest pastimes commence again? It will be impossible for him to wait that long!

The answer to this is that the Lord will be kind to such a loving devotee, who has been very eager to attain His personal devotional service for so long, and when the devotee leaves his body He will once grant him His audience along with His associates, and will also give him a little of his long-desired devotional service, even though he has not attained the manifestations of prema known as sneha and mana. There is an example in the Srimad Bhagavata of the Lord giving a single darsana to Narada Muni, after he attained prema in his previous birth as the son of a maidservant. Certainly this will not occur again and again, therefore there is a consolation in such an event that he will swiftly attain the kingdom of devotional service and attain his coveted service there. In this instance we see Sri Narada once attaining the darsana of the Lord, and when he became eager to see the Lord again, the Lord consoled him with the following unembodied words –

sakrid yad darsitam rupam etam kamaya te’nagha
mat kamah sanakaih sadhuh sarvan muncati hricchayan
sat sevaya dirghayapi jata mayi dridha matih
‘hitvavadyam imam lokam ganta maj janatam asi
(S.B. 1.6.23-24)

“O sinless one! I showed you this form of Mine once, just to increase your desire to see Me! When the desire to see Me and to serve Me has arisen the devotee gradually gives up all desires for sense gratification. You have become fixed in Me simply by serving My devotees for a short while. Thus you will swiftly give up this material world and attain My abode as one of My associates.”

The Lord also gives the desired gopi-body to a loving devotee who worships Him in the mood of a gopi. Yogamaya makes this body appear from the womb of a gopi at the time when Sri Krishna’s associates appear in Sri Vrindavana’s manifest pastimes. There won’t be even the slightest delay in this, because Sri Krishna’s manifest pastimes are constantly revolving within the innumerable material universes, just like a firebrand, without interruption. Not only that, each and every manifest pastime is also eternal. This means that as soon as the pastime of Krishna’s advent or His killing of Putana is completed it will commence again in some other material universe. In this way each and every pastime is eternal, just like the ever-revolving firebrand. Therefore as soon as the sadhaka leaves his body, Yogamaya will grant him birth from a gopi’s womb in Vraja, in a universe where Sri Krishna has manifest Himself. tatraivasyam eva vrajabhumau “There, in that Vrajabhumi.” This sentence means that the holy dhama is a manifestation of Sri Krishna’s sandhini-sakti, His existence potency, and is all-pervading like Sri Krishna. This dhama is one and is simultaneously present in the spiritual world and in all the material universes.

sarvopari sri gokula vrajaloka dhama; sri goloka svetadvipa vrindavana nama
sarvaga ananta vibhu krishna tanu sama; uparyadho vyapi ache nahika niyama
brahmande prakasa tara krishnera icchaya; ekai svarupa tara nahi dui kaya (C.C.)

“Above all there is Sri Gokula, Vrajaloka-dhama, which is also called Sri Goloka, Svetadvipa and Vrindavana. This abode is all-pervading and endless, just like Krishna’s body; it extends above and below without any fixed rule. By Krishna’s wish it is manifest in the material universe in one form, not two.” Therefore it is not so that the dhama is different when it is situated in another universe. Thus there is no need for the eager and anxious loving devotees to worry – by Sri Krishna’s wish they should know themselves to be in an all-auspicious situation.

 

TEXT 8:

lila vilasena bhakti manjari lolupaline.
maugdhya sarvajna nidhaye gokulananda te namah.
dadami buddhi-yogam tam yena mam upayanti te.
ityuvacah prabho tasmad etad evaham arthaye.
gopikucalankritasya tava gopendra-nandana.
dasyam yatha bhaved evam buddhi yogam prayaccha me.

    ye tu raganuga bhaktih sarvathaiva sarvadaiva sastra-vidhim atikranta eva iti bruvate ‘ye sastra vidhim utsrijya yajante sraddhayanvitah’. iti ‘vidhi hinam asrishtannam’ ityadi gitokter garham arhanto muhur utpatam anubhutavanto’nubhavanto’nubhavishyanti cety alam ati vistarena.

hanta raganuga vartma durdarsam vibudhair api.
paricinvas tu sudhiyo bhaktas candrikayanaya.

iti mahamahopadhyaya srimad visvanatha cakravarti mahasaya viracita raga vartma candrika samapta.

 

    O Gokulananda! You are enjoying Your pastimes like a bumblebee thirsty for the buds of devotion! You are the embodiment of bewilderment and omniscience! I offer my obeisances unto You! O Lord! You personally said: “I give My devotees the transcendental intelligence by which they can come to Me”. Therefore I pray to You: “O Vrajendranandana! Give me the intelligence by which I can attain You, as You are adorned by the gopis’ breasts!”

    Those who say that raganuga bhakti is always fully transcendental to all scriptural injunctions in all respects are denounced by Gita-verses such as ‘those who give up all scriptural injunctions to worship with mere faith’, and ‘food made without regulations’, have always caused disturbance, are causing disturbance and will cause disturbance. There is no need to say anything more.

    Aho! The path of raganuga bhakti is hard to see even by the demigods! May the intelligent devotees get to know this path through the diffusion of this light.

 

Kripa-kanika Vyakhya:

Sri-Sri Gokulanandajiu is the sevita vigraha of Srila Cakravartipada. In this conclusion of Raga Vartma Candrika he reveals his prayers to the lotus feet of his beloved deity and thus also reveals what is the desired goal of the raganugiya sadhaka. “O Gokulananda! You delight everyone here in Gokula or Vrindavana, therefore You will surely not deprive this fallen soul of transcendental delight! You are so playful, always eager to enjoy the mellows of pastimes with Sri Radharani, and also You will certainly need me, since I am the maidservant of She who is rarely attained by You and Whom I can help You to meet. Then again You are also a bumblebee who is eager to drink the honey from the bud of bhakti, so You will also accomplish Your own relish of prema rasa by blessing me by giving me prema. So it is not just that I need You, You will also need to get me. In Vraja-lila You are the embodiment of both bewilderment and omniscience, therefore You know exactly what I want. Please bless me by fulfilling those aspirations!”

When Sri Gokulananda says: “Tell Me, what you want?”, then the answer is: “O Lord! You personally said in the Gita-sastra: dadami buddhi yogam tam yena mam upayanti te “I grant My devotees transcendental intelligence through which they can come to Me.” So kindly give me the intelligence through which I can attain Your service, as You are adorned by the gopis’ breasts!” In other words, I desire to serve You as You are surrounded by Sri Radharani and Her girlfriends, enjoying many different erotic sports of laughter and joking.”

It has been ascertained before that raga-margiya bhajana is performed by taking shelter of the scriptures. In this conclusion the blessed author stresses this again, just to emphasise its importance. Those who consider this raganuga bhajana marga to be completely beyond all scriptural injunctions at all times and in all circumstances , and therefore violate scriptural injunctions, thinking that raganuga bhajana consists of all kinds of whimsical, independent activities, are not raga sadhakas, but are blameworthy in all respects. Previously it has been said that even unalloyed Hari bhakti is to be seen as a social disturbance if it is not practised according to the regulations of the Srutis, Smritis, Puranas and the Pancaratra. So we should know that those who violate the scriptural injunctions have caused disturbance, are causing disturbance and will cause disturbance. The blessed author proves this statement by quoting the sacred words of the Gita. In the Gita Sri Arjuna asks Sri Krishna –

ye sastra vidhim utsrijya yajante sraddhayanvitah
tesham nishtha tu ka krishna sattvam aho rajas tamah (17.1)

“O Krishna! Are those who faithfully worship, but who give up the scriptural injunctions, fixed in goodness, passion, or ignorance?” The Lord said:

vidhi hinam asrishtannam mantra hinam adakshinam
sraddha virahitam yajnam tamasam paricakshate (17.13)

“O Arjuna! Sacrifices performed without following the scriptural injunctions, without donating foodstuffs, practising mantras, giving financial donations, or having any faith, are called tamasika sacrifices in the mode of ignorance.” The purport of this is that Arjuna mentioned two contradictory things in the first verse, namely ‘giving up the scriptural injunctions’ and ‘worshipping with faith’, since real, natural faith never causes one to give up the scriptural injunctions. Whenever there is any kind of spiritual celebration going on that does not follow the scriptural injunctions, it must be considered devoid of real faith, and hence it should be called a celebration in the mode of ignorance. There is no more need to elaborate on this. This raganuga marga is very confidential – it is difficult to perceive even for the demigods. May the intelligent devotees, who traverse the path of raganuga, find the way on the path of raga through the diffusion of this raga vartma candrika, the moonlight on the path of raganuga bhakti.

Thus ends the Kripa Kanika-commentary on Mahamahopadhyaya Srila Visvanatha Cakravartipada’s Raga Vartma Candrika.

Thus ends Srila Visvanatha Cakravartipada’s ‘Raga Vartma Candrika’.

Kripa-Kanika-commentary by Radhakunda Mahanta Pandita Srila Ananta dasa Babaji Maharaja is published from: Shri Krishna Chaitanya Shastra Mandir, Vrajananda Ghera, PO Radhakund, Dt. Mathura, U.P. INDIA)

TRANSLATED BY ADVAITADAS