If we follow Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, even if we might be in different parivars, we all have the same goal: to become Srimati Radhika´s maidservants, to be immersed in RADHA DASYAM.

If we follow Srila Rupa Goswami, we all will achieve our goal.

guru-padashrayas tasmat krsna-diksadi-siksanam
vishrambhena guroh seva sadhu-vartmanuvartanam

(1) submission to the lotus feet of the Guru (Spiritual Master); (2) receiving diksha-mantras from him and instructions on bhakti; (3) serving the spiritual master with affection; (4) following in the path of saints.

Let us all pray to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, whose mercy is like a cloud bank of pure nectar.

Mādhurya Kādambinī-
Visvanatha Cakravartipada

with commentaries by Śrī Rādhākuṇḍa’s Mahānta Paṇḍita Śrī Ananta Dās Bābājī Mahārāja
translated by Advaita das

First Shower of Nectar

VERSE 1:

hṛd-vapre nava-bhakti-śasya-vitateḥ sañjīvanī svāgamā-
rambhe kāma-taparttu-dāha-damanī viśvāpagollāsinī
dūrān me maru-śākhino ’pi sarasī-bhāvāya bhūyāt prabhu-
śrī-caitanya-kṛpā-niraṅkuśa-mahā-mādhurya-kādambinī

TRANSLATION: The causeless and completely independent mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu 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. 

Pīyūṣa kaṇā explanation: 

The most respected Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava ācārya Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda has expertly analyzed the various stages in practicing bhakti in this book Mādhurya Kādambinī. In Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī mentions the stages through which the devotees engaged in sādhana-bhakti gradually pass to finally attain the kingdom of prema:

ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgo ’tha bhajana-kriyā
tato ’nartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt-tato niṣṭhā rucis-tataḥ
athāsaktis tato bhāvas tatah premābhyudañcati
sādhakānām ayaṁ premnaḥ prādurbhāve bhavet kramaḥ

“First one attains śraddhā, or firm faith, in the śāstras and teachings of sādhus, then one gradually passes through the stages of sādhu-saṅga (association of pure devotees), bhajana-kriyā (practice of bhakti), anartha-nivṛtti (cessation of unwanted elements unfavourable to the practice of bhakti), niṣṭhā (steadyness), ruci (taste), āsakti (attachment to the Lord), bhāva (permanent attachment to the Lord), and finally prema (divine love). In this way, prema gradually manifests in the devotee’s heart.” (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1/4/15-16) In this book Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī describes these stages from śraddhā to prema in an easily understandable manner. He also vividly describes the removal of unwanted elements (aparādha, anartha, and others) that create obstacles in the gradual development of sādhana-bhakti. For a devotee sincerely practicing sādhana-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 sādhaka who wants to attain prema has the singular duty to study this book to the utmost.

Śrīla Cakravartipāda has named this book Mādhurya Kādambinī, “The Bank of Nectar-showering Clouds.” Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī writes in Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi (11.19), mādhuryaṁ nāma ceṣṭānāṁ sarvāvasthāsu cārutā: “The eternal beauty or charm of all the activities and gestures of the Lord is known as mādhurya.” 

bhagavāṅs tāvad asādhāraṇa svarūpaiśvarya mādhuryas tattva viśeṣaḥ. tatra svarūpaṁ paramānanda aiśvaryam asamordhvatayā sarva manoharaṁ svābhāvika rūpa guṇa līlādi sauṣṭhavam (Laghu-toṣaṇī commentary of the Bhāgavata (10.12.11): 

“The Absolute Truth having uncommon form (svarūpa), majesty (aiśvarya), and sweetness (mādhurya) is Bhagavān. Parabrahma is personified (svarūpa) supreme bliss, or paramānanda, His incomparable, infinite, spontaneous supremacy is His aiśvarya and the superexcellent nature of His all-enchanting form, pastimes, qualities, and so forth is mādhurya. mādhurya bhagavattā sāra: “Mādhurya is the quintessence or very life of the Supreme Absolute Truth.” (Cai-caritāmṛta, Madhya 21.110)

Though all forms of the Supreme Lord are nondifferent, still the son of Nanda Mahārāja, Vrajendra-nandana in human-like form, is personified mādhurya, gūḍhaṁ paraṁ brahma manuṣya-liṅgam. (Ś.B. 7.10.48) The śruti says, raso vai saḥ: “Bhagavān Himself is personified rasa or transcendental mellow.” Though the svarūpa of Bhagavān is nectarean (rasamaya), the rasas differ in different avatāras. There is no other form of Godhead except Vrajendra-nandana Śrī Kṛṣṇa that displays all rasas at once. Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the personification of all rasas in full, or akhila-rasāmṛta-mūrti. All the qualities that support or nourish all kinds of rasas are naturally present within Him. The great sages call all these qualities mādhurya. Though Śrī Kṛṣṇa is an infinite ocean of form, qualities, and pastimes full of infinite sweetness, the Gosvāmīs have divided that ocean into four component parts: līlā-mādhurya, sweetness of pastimes, prema-mādhurya, sweetness of love, veṇu-mādhurya, sweetness of the flute and rūpa-mādhurya, sweetness of form. These four kinds of sweetness manifest only in Vraja: caturdhā mādhurīs tasya vraja eva virājate. (Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta) 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 sādhaka can undoubtedly become completely showered by the sweet nectar of Vraja.

The reality (tattva) of mādhurya 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 Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself has manifested in the form of Śrī Gaurāṅga accepting the mood (bhāva) and splendor (kānti) of Śrī Rādhā. He accepted this form to fulfil His three desires which remained unfulfilled in His vraja-līlā: kaichana rādhā prema, kaichana (mora) madhurimā, kaichana bhāve tiho bhora, “to relish the prema of Śrī Rādhā, to relish the wonderful sweetness that Rādhā relishes in Him, to relish the bliss that Rādhā attains by realizing His sweetness.” 

Kṛṣṇa Himself relished the sweetness of Vraja in His Gaurāṅga 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 Mahāprabhu in its auspicious invocation (maṅgalācaraṇa), the author describes His mercy as niraṅkuśa-mahā-mādhurya-kādambinī. 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 Mahāprabhu bestows divine love to the whole world without any discrimination between the deserving and the undeserving. Śrīla Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī, the dear associate of Mahāprabhu, writes in Śrī Caitanya-candrāmṛtam (112):

pātrāpātra vicāraṇāṁ na kurute na svaṁ-paraṁ vikṣyate
deyādeya vimarśako na hi na vā kāla pratīkṣaḥ prabhuḥ
sadyo yaḥ śravanekṣaṇa-praṇamana-dhyānādinā durlabhaṁ
datte bhakti-rasaṁ sa eva bhagavān gauraḥ paraṁ me gatiḥ

“The most powerful and magnanimous Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu very quickly and easily bestowed the mellow of divine love which is very difficult to obtain by such practices as śravaṇa (hearing), kīrtana (chanting), praṇāma (obeisances), and dhyāna (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, Śrī Gaurasundara, be my ultimate and only shelter.”

As constant rains lead to flooding, so the most merciful Mahāprabhu has flooded the whole universe with His extremely uncontrollable and causeless cloudbank of exquisitely sweet nectar. This is written in Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Ādi 7.25-28):

uthaliyā prema-bonyā caudike beḍāya;
strī, vṛddha, bālaka, yuvā, sabāre ḍubāya
sajjana, durjana, paṅgu, jaḍa, andha-gaṇa;
prema bonyāya ḍubāila jagatera jana
jagat ḍubila, jīvera haila bīja nāśa;
tāhā dekhi’ pāñca janera parama ullāsa
yata yata prema-vṛṣṭi kare pañca-jana;
tata tata bāḍhe jala, vyāpe 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. Mahāprabhu, Nityānanda Prabhu, Advaita, Gadādhara, and Śrīvāsa 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 Pañca-tattva showered divine love, the more the flood swelled, expanding throughout the universe.”

Thus when Mahāprabhu appeared, He pleased the entire world by giving vraja-prema even to those without the qualifications of sādhana 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 sādhana-bhakti. Still, Mahāprabhu’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, hṛd-vapre nava-bhakti-śasya-vitateḥ sañjīvanī: “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. Śabdasāra says, yato-nirjyāti viṣayo yasminścaiva pralīyate hṛdayaṁ tad-vijānīyāt-manasa sthitikāraṇam: “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 saṁskāra (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 hṛd vapra.

nava-bhakti here refers to ninefold bhakti, śravaṇa, kīrtana, and so on as delineated in the Bhāgavata (7.5.23):

śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam.
arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ sakhyam ātma-nivedanam ‘

“Hearing, chanting, and remembering Śrī Viṣṇu’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 sādhana-bhakti, but these ninefold practices are the best paths to attain prema-bhakti. Mahāprabhu Himself said:

bhajanera madhye śreṣṭha nava-vidhā bhakti;
kṛṣṇa-prema, kṛṣṇa dite dhare mahā-śakti
tāra madhye sarva-śreṣṭha nāma-saṅkīrtana;
niraparādhe nāma laile pāya prema-dhana

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

Being nourished by heavy showers from the clouds, the crops very soon bear fruits. So too, the streams of saṅkīrtana-nectar showering from Mahāprabhu’s cloudbank of compassion inundate the crop of ninefold bhakti in the heart of the devotee, quickly bringing the fruit of kṛṣṇa-prema. In this age of Kali, the father of saṅkīrtana, Śrīman Mahāprabhu, gave the ability to attain the fruit of prema through nāma-saṅkīrtana, the yuga-dharma, or religion of this age. Only through nāma-saṅkīrtana, nine-fold bhakti attains its perfection. In this age of Kali without nāma-saṅkīrtana none of the other devotional processes can lead to perfection and give the fruit of prema. This is understood from Mahāprabhu’s own words, nava-vidhā bhakti pūrṇa nāma-hoite hoy: “The nine fold bhakti reaches perfection through nāma-saṅkīrtana.” (Cai.caritāmṛta 2.15.108) Even the other parts of devotion cannot be awakened without nāma-saṅkīrtana. In the explanation of the first śloka of śikṣāṣṭaka, ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ, Mahāprabhu says:

saṅkīrṭana haite pāpa-saṁsāra-nāśana;
citta-śuddhi sarva-bhakti-sādhana-udgama
kṛṣṇa-premodgama premāmṛta-āsvādana;
kṛṣṇa-prāpti sevāmīta-samudre majjana

“Nāma-saṅkīrtana destroys all sins and frees one from material bondage. The heart becomes purified and all processes of sādhana-bhakti awaken within the heart. Gradually attaining kṛṣṇa-prema, one relishes transcendental mellow. Finally attaining Kṛṣṇa Himself, one is immersed in the nectar of ocean of His service.” (Cai.-caritāmṛta, Antya 20.13-14) Mahāprabhu Himself relished the extremely charming sweet nectar of nāma-saṅkīrtana 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 Mahāprabhu’s mercy that infuses life in the crop of ninefold bhakti, mahā-mādhurya kādambinī.

Nourished by the mercy of Mahāprabhu, Rūpa Gosvāmī in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu explained the ninefold bhakti in sixty-four parts, in a way that is easily understandable by the devotees. By Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s grace, Jīva Gosvāmī expertly analyzed the various ideas of ninefold bhakti. Both in Bhakti-sandarbha and the elaborate Krama-sandarbha commentary of the Bhāgavata text 7.5.23, śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ, he explains the various secrets of the performance of sādhana-bhakti by which a sincere sādhaka 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 Jīva Gosvāmī as these are also wonderful nectar-showers from the cloud bank of Mahāprabhu’s mercy.

If the cloud bank of Mahāprabhu’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 Mahāprabhu’s mercy, svāgamārambhe kāma-taparttu-dāha-damanī. 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 Mahāprabhu’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 Śrī Kṛṣṇa-bhajana fills their hearts. Śrīla Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī therefore writes:

na yogo na dhyānaṁ na ca japa-tapas-tyāga-niyamā
na vedā nācāraḥ kva nu bata niṣiddhādyuparatiḥ
akasmāc-caitanye’vatarati dayā sāra hṛdaye
pumarthānāṁ mauliṁ param iha mudāluṇṭhati janaḥ

“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 Śrīman Mahāprabhu, the embodiment of boundless compact compassion.” (Caitanya-candrāmṛta 6) 

Now the author describes another influence of Mahāprabhu’s mercy, viśvāpagollāsini. Swollen with heavy rains, the rivers overflow their banks roaring swiftly to the ocean. So too, rivers swollen with the nectarean showers of Mahāprabhu’s mercy and overflowing both banks with the bliss of roaring nāma-saṅkīrtana sweep away the hearts of all living entities to the ocean of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Śrīman Mahāprabhu Himself declared, pṛthivīte joto āche deśa grāma; sarvatra sañcāra hoibe more nāma (Caitanya-bhāgavata) “All the towns and villages of the earth will resound with My name.” 

Any intelligent person can easily see that Mahāprabhu’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 nāma-saṅkīrtana of Mahāprabhu.

Finally the respected author is praying for Mahāprabhu’s mercy, dūrān me maru-śākhino’pi sarasi-bhāvāya bhūyāt: “May that causeless and completely independent mercy of Mahāprabhu’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 Mahāprabhu’s mercy. He is therefore praying, “May the extremely powerful mercy of Mahāprabhu refresh my dry, desert-tree like heart with the sweet nectar of Śrī Kṛṣṇa bhakti-rasa.” Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Mahāśaya is fully blessed with Mahāprabhu’s mercy and glorified by the whole world. His extraordinary humility is the specific quality of the devotees of Mahāprabhu. Though highly exalted, they consider themselves as most fallen. Śrīpāda Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī writes:

tṛnād api sunīcatā sahaja-saumya mugdhā-kṛtiḥ
sudhā-madhura-bhāṣitā viṣaya-gandha thuthūt-kṛtiḥ
hari-praṇaya vihvalā kim api dhīranālambitā
bhavanti kila sad-guṇā jagati gaura-bhājām-amī 

“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 Mahāprabhu, overwhelmed by gaura-prema, and completely aloof from worldly attachments, in this world all these good qualities belong only to the devotees of Mahāprabhu.” (Caitanya-Candrāmṛta)