Abhīṣṭa Sūcanam
(by Śrī Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī)

“Indication of my desires”

Translation: Advaita das

verse 1

ābhīra-pallī-pati-putra-kāntād
āsyābhilāsātibalāśva-vāraḥ |
śrī-rūpa-cintāmaṇi-sapti-saṁstho
mat-svānta-durdānt-hayecchur āstām ||1||

May my uncontrollable mind mount the horse of spotless thoughts about Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī, which is mounted by the strong desire to serve the lover of the son of the lord of the village of cowherders.

Stavāmṛta Kaṇā Vyākhyā by Srila Ananta das Babaji:

In this final stava of Stavāvalī, named Abhīṣṭa Sūcanam, Śrī Raghunātha dāsa indicates his spiritual aspirations. First of all he indicates (sūcana) that all the rāgānugā Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava devotees do their bhajana in allegiance to Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī:

rāgātmika bhakti mukhya vrajavāsi jane; tāra anugata bhaktira ‘rāgānugā’ nāme
……………………
rāgamayī bhaktir hoy rāgātmikā nāma; tāhā śuni lubdha hoy kon bhāgyavān
lobhe vrajavāsi bhāve kore anugati; śāstra yukti nāhi māne – rāgānugāra prakrti

“The eternal associates of Kṛṣṇa in Vraja are the main rāgātmika devotees, and devotion that follows in their wake is called rāgānugā bhakti. Devotion full of rāga (transcendental fervour) is called rāgātmika bhakti. A fortunate soul who becomes greedy after hearing about this will start following the mood of the people of Vraja, who are these rāgātmika devotees. The nature of such rāgānugā devotees is that they do not care about scriptural injunctions and logical arguments.”

bāhya antara ihāra dui to sādhana; bāhya – sādhaka dehe kore śravaṇa kīrtana
mane – nija siddha deha koriyā bhāvana; rātri-dine kore vraje kṛṣṇera sevana
nijābhīṣṭa Kṛṣṇa preṣṭha – pāchete lāgiyā; nirantara sevā kore antarmanā hoiyā

“There are two kinds of devotional practice – external and internal. Externally one practises hearing and chanting in one’s physical body and internally, that is mentally, one conceives of one’s spiritual body in which one serves Kṛṣṇa in Vraja day and night. In this meditation one follows in the footsteps of one’s favorite devotee of Kṛṣṇa and always performs mental devotional service.” The rāgānugā sādhaka attains perfection in the Vraja-rasa by following in the footsteps of the eternally perfect devotees of Vraja. Those who are mañjarī bhāva upāsakas externally follow in the footsteps of, for instance, Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī by residing in Vraja and hearing and chanting the glories of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, and in their mentally conceived spiritual bodies they follow in the footsteps of Śrīmatī Rūpa Mañjarī and think of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes and the service they are to perform in these pastimes. This is why Śrī Raghunātha dāsa says:
“May my uncontrollable mind mount the horse of spotless thoughts about Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī that is mounted by the strong desire to serve the lover of the son of the lord of the village of cowherders”. In other words: “Let me be engaged in the mentally performed service of Śrī Rādhā that I desire so much, following in the footsteps of Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī. By Śrī Rūpa’s grace my uncontrolled mind will certainly be engaged in this meditative service of Śrī Rādhā”.
Śrī Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī is one of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s eternal associates and an eternal maidservant of Śrī Rādhā, and therefore there’s no question of him having an uncontrolled mind; he is never an ordinary human being! He is only expressing his own humility and is teaching the world of practising devotees that it is never beautiful to concoct one’s own service to Śrī Rādhā, but that one should follow in the footsteps of the previous ācāryas. rūpa raghunātha pade hobe ākuti; kobe hām bujhabo sei yugala prīti (Prārthanā) “When will I understand the love of the Divine Couple by eagerly following in the footsteps of Śrī Rūpa and Śrī Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī?”

yugala kiśora prema, lakṣa bāna yeno hema, heno dhana prakāśilo yārā;
jaya rūpa sanātana, deho more prema dhana, se ratana mora gale hārā

“The love of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa is as pure as gold molten a hundred thousand times. All glories to Rūpa and Sanātana Gosvāmī, who revealed this treasure! Give me this treasure of love! I will wear this gem as a necklace!” (Prema Bhakti Candrikā) They can give this treasure, others not.

ābhīra pallīra pati, vraja rāja mahā mati,
śrī govinda tāhāra nandana
govinda preyasī yini, śrī rādhikā ṭhākurāṇī,
pādapadma dāsya rahu mon.

“Śrī Govinda is the son of the high-minded king of Vraja, the lord of the cowherd-settlement, and Śrī Rādhikā Ṭhākurānī is His beloved. May my mind dwell in the service of Her lotus feet.”

śrī rūpa gosvāmīpāda, ye cintāya dina rāta,
nimagana parama ānande.
sei cintā niramala, aśva yena jhalamala,
bhramiyā beḍāy kuñje kuñje.

“Thinking of Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmīpāda day and night immerses me in the pinnacle of bliss. This spotless thinking is like a shining horse that wanders from kuñja to kuñja.”

śrī rūpera cintā aśve, mora yei abhilāṣe,
viharaye aśvārohī sukhe
mora citta durdānta, aśva tāhe hoy śānta,
tabe dhanya māni āpanāke

“May my desire be a blissful rider on the horse of thoughts of Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī. Then my uncontrolled horse-like mind will become peaceful and I will consider myself blessed.”