Let me have the greatest love for my guru, my initiation-mantra, the holy name of Kṛṣṇa, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the greatest of all Lords, who has appeared from the womb of mother Śacī,
Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara, Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī, his devotees and his elder brother Sanātana Gosvāmī, the king of hills Govardhana, Gāndharvikā’s lake Rādhākuṇḍa, Mathurā-dhāma,
the forests of Vraja, the meadows of Vraja and the inhabitants of these meadows.

Stavāmṛta Kaṇā Vyākhyā:

…

After that Śrī Raghunātha prays that he may become attached to the lotus feet of Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī.

In his Vilāpa Kusumāñjali (verse 6) he surrenders to Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī’s lotus feet, writing:

vairāgya yug bhakti rasaṁ prayatnair apāyayan mām anabhīpsum andham
kṛpāmbudhir yaḥ para duḥkha duḥkhī sanātanaṁ taṁ prabhum āśrayāmi

    “I surrender to my master Sanātana Gosvāmī, who is an ocean of mercy, who is very unhappy when he sees others suffering and who made me drink the nectar of devotion laced with dispassion, although I was blind and unwilling.” Suffering the pangs of separation after the disappearance of Śrī Gaurāṅga Śrī Raghunātha dāsa actually came to Vraja-dhāma to commit suicide by jumping from Govardhana Hill, but Śrīla Rūpa and Sanātana Gosvāmī consoled him and advised him to settle down at Rādhākuṇḍa. Śrīla Raghunātha felt that whatever he had accomplished in bhajana sādhana, either in this life or the next was all due to Rūpa and Sanātana’s grace, but he unfortunately could not become attracted to the lotus feet of they who bestowed such causeless mercy on him. In this humble way Śrī Raghunātha became very unsteady and took a firm vow to be lovingly attached to Śrī Rūpa and Sanātana as an indispensable item of his bhajana.

    After that Śrī Raghunātha desires loving attachment to Girirāja Śrī Govardhana. In Nīlācala Mahāprabhu had given him His Govardhana-silā, which was dearer to Him than life, and explained to him what the real svarūpa of the rock is; prabhu kohe – ei śilā kṛṣṇera vigraha; ihāra sevā koro tumi koriyā āgraha (C.C.) The Lord said: “This stone is Kṛṣṇa’s own body; serve it with great enthusiasm!” By the Lord’s grace Śrī Raghunātha saw the stone as Kṛṣṇa Himself while he served it, and floated in an ocean of transcendental bliss: pūjā-kāle dekhe śilāya vrajendra-nandana (C.C.) Due to his advanced stage of transcendental realization Śrī Raghunātha understood the secret significance of the Lord’s giving him the Govardhana Śilā, and this made him go beside himself of bliss.

raghunātha sei śīlā mālā yabe pāilā; gosāira abhiprāya ei bhāvanā korilā
śīlā diyā more samarpilā govardhane; guñjā mālā diyā dilā rādhikā caraṇe
ānande raghunāthera bāhya vismaraṇa; kāya mane sevilen gaurāṅga caraṇa

    When Lord Caitanya gave him the rock from Govardhana Hill and the string of sacred guñjā-beads, Raghunātha thought about the Lord’s purpose as follows: “The Lord has entrusted me to Govardhana Hill by giving me this rock and He placed me at the lotus feet of Śrī Rādhikā by giving me this string of guñjā-beads!” Raghunātha dāsa was beside himself of ecstasy and He served Lord Gaurānga’s lotus feet with body and mind.

    While his heart is burning in the fire of separation from the Lord, Śrī Raghunātha exclaims: “Alas! Although the Lord submitted me to the lotus feet of Govardhana Hill my heart could not become attracted to him!” Hence Raghu takes a firm vow here to love the lotus feet of Guṇa-nidhi Haridāsa-varya Śrīla Girirāja.

    Then again he prays for an increase of his topmost love for Śrī Rādhākuṇḍa. Kuṇḍavāsī Śrīla Raghunātha – his great loyalty and love for Śrī Rādhākuṇḍa is well-known to everyone. The remembrance of Rādhākuṇḍa is horizontally and vertically entwined with the remembrance of Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī. As soon as someone says ‘Rādhākuṇḍa’ we remember Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī. Raghunātha is exclusively fixed in Śrī Rādhākuṇḍa, the most intimate playground of Śrī-Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava, and he always prays to Priyājī’s Sarasī (lake) to relieve him from the burning pain of separation from Them by allowing him to see and serve Them there –

sva kuṇḍaṁ tava lolākṣi sapriyayā sadāspadam
atraiva mama samvāsaḥ ihaiva mama saṁsthiti
he śrī sarovara sadā tvayi sā mad īśā preṣṭhena sārdham iha khelati kāma raṅgaiḥ
tvaṁ cet priyāt priyam atīva tayor iti mām hā darśayādya kṛpayā mama jīvitaṁ tam
(Vilāpa Kusumāñjali 97, 98)

    “O Lolākṣi (restless eyed girl)! Your lake is always the dwellingplace of You and Your Beloved. Here only I will live and here alone I will stay!”

    “O Beautiful lake (Rādhākuṇḍa)! My mistress always plays erotic games in you with Her beloved Kṛṣṇa. If you are dearer to Them than the dearest, then please show me my mistress, who is my very life!”

    Śrī Raghunātha also desires loving attachment to Śrī Mathurā-purī. In the Padma Purāṇa it is said: aho madhupurī dhanyā vaikuṇṭhāc ca garīyasī; dinam ekaṁ nivāsena harau bhaktiḥ prajāyate “Aho! Blessed is this Madhupurī, which is greater even than Vaikuṇṭha-dhāma! Even after staying there for one day one becomes devoted to Lord Hari!” Of the seven greatest holy cities of the earth Mathurā-purī is the greatest and is worshipable by all other holy places.

In Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī’s ‘Mathurāṣṭakam’ it is seen:

adyāvanti patad grahaṁ kuru kare māye śanair vījaya
cchatraṁ kāñci gṛhāna kāśi purataḥ pādū-yugaṁ dhāraya
nāyodhye bhaja sambhramaṁ stuti-kathāṁ nodgāraya dvārake
devīyaṁ bhavatīṣu hanta mathurā dṛṣṭi prasādaṁ dadhe

    “O Avanti! Today you can take a spittoon in the hand! O Māyāpuri! Fan softly! O Kāñci! Hold an umbrella! O Kāśi! You hold the shoes in front! O Ayodhye! Don’t be afraid anymore! O Dvārake! Don’t utter anymore praises now, because today Mathurā-devī has become pleased with you. Casting a merciful glance on you, she has accepted you as her maidservant!” This is why Śrī Raghunātha desires loving attachment to Mathurā, the best of holy cities and the bestower of loving devotion.

    After this Śrī Raghunātha covets loving attachment to Vrajavana or Vṛndāvana. Vṛndāvana means here the present municipality which has a circumference of 5 Kos. or 10 miles. Often the whole of Vraja-maṇḍala is also called ‘Vṛndāvana’. Geographically the name Vṛndāvana can be used for the particular municipality as well as for its surrounding.

    Just as Śrī Rādhākuṇḍa is Śrī Raghunātha’s dearmost place of worship because it was revealed by Śrīman Mahāprabhu, who is dearer to him than millions of lives, similarly Śrī Vṛndāvana is also dearer to him than life because it was unveiled by Śrīman Mahāprabhu and Śrī Rūpa and Sanātana Gosvāmī. When Śrīman Mahāprabhu came to Vraja, Vṛndāvana was nothing but a jungle. Śrī Vṛndāvana was the last place Mahāprabhu went when He performed the Vraja-maṇḍala-parikramā. He went there daily, coming from Akrūra-tīrtha, where He was staying. In solitary Vṛndāvana the Lord blissfully remembered Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes and performed nāma saṅkīrtana. Śrīla Kṛṣṇa dāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmīpāda described the Lord’s tour of Śrī Vṛndāvana as follows: On the first day He bathed in Kāliya Hrada and Praskandana-tīrtha and had darśana of Dvādaśāditya ṭilā, Keśī Ghāṭa and the Rāsa-sthalī (Vaṁśīvaṭa) before returning to Akrūra Ghāṭa for taking a meal and taking rest. On the second day He bathed in Cīra Ghāṭa, took rest and chanted nāma saṅkīrtana at Tentula talā (Imli Talā) before returning to Akrūra Ghāṭa at midday to take His meal. On the third day He chanted nāma saṅkīrtana in Vṛndāvana until midday, considering this to be a more peaceful place than Akrūra Ghāṭa, where He was bothered by crowds of people, and He met a certain Kṛṣṇa dāsa of the Rājaputa-caste (kṣatriyas from Rājastān) before returning to Akrūra-tīrtha at midday. On the morning of the fourth day He returned to Vṛndāvana with Kṛṣṇa dāsa to chant nāma saṅkīrtana. If there had been any temples or āśramas at that time, the Lord would not have returned to Akrūra Ghāṭa daily to take His alms.

    One day the Lord sat down at Akrūra Ghāṭa and remembered Akrūra’s vision of Vaikuṇṭha and the Vrajavāsīs’ vision of Goloka as He looked in the Yamunā-water. Out of sheer ecstasy He jumped into the water and was about to drown if Kṛṣṇa dāsa had not called Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācāry¬a to help him pull the Lord out. Balabhadra understood that it was not free from danger to keep the Lord in Vraja, because: vṛndāvane ḍube yadi ke uṭhābe tāre (C.C.) “Who would lift Him out if He drowned in Vṛndāvana?” This statement proves again that Vṛndāvana was an uninhabited place at the time of Mahāprabhu’s visit. In Vṛndāvana Śrī Caitanya-deva revealed the holy places Dvādaśāditya-tilā, Keśī-ghāṭa, the Rāsa-sthalī and Cīra-ghāṭa, and later, on the order of the Lord and by His grace, Śrī Rūpa and Sanātana Gosvāmī revealed all the other playgrounds of Kṛṣṇa. The Vṛndāvana we see today is the merciful revelation of Śrīman Mahāprabhu and Rūpa and Sanātana Gosvāmī. The Padma Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, says:

pañca yojanam evāsti vanaṁ me deha rūpakam;
kālindīyaṁ suṣumnākhyā paramāmṛta vāhinī
atra devāś ca bhūtāni vartante sūkṣma rūpataḥ;
sarva devamayaś cāhaṁ na tyajāmi vanaṁ kvacit
āvirbhāvas tirobhāvo bhaved atra yuge yuge;
tejomayam idam ramyam adṛśyaṁ carma-cakṣuṣā

    “This forest (Vṛndāvana) extends over five yojanas (ten miles) and the Yamunā-river, which carries the highest nectar, is its spine. All the demigods and manes reside here in subtle forms. I, the aggregate of all the gods, also never leave this forest. I appear and disappear here age after age. This transcendentally effulgent lovely forest cannot be perceived by the material eyes.” When this Vṛndāvana and its transcendental pastimes had vanished through the force of time Śrī Raghunātha’s dearmost Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Rūpa and Sanātana Gosvāmī unveiled it once more, so that it became dearer to him than his very life-airs. That is why he prays for loving attachment to Śrī Vṛndāvana.

    The word Vrajavana can also mean the twelve forests and subforests of Vrajamaṇḍala:

tena dṛṣṭā ca sā ramyā keśavasya purī tathā;
vanai dvādaśabhir yuktā puṇyā pāpaharā śubhā

    “He saw these twelve lovely forests of Keśava, that destroy all sins and bestow all auspiciousness and virtue”. In the Padma Purāṇa it is seen:

bhadra śrī lauha bhāṇḍīra mahā tāla khadirakāḥ;
bahulā kumudaṁ kāmyaṁ madhu vṛndāvanaṁ tathā
dvādaśaitāny araṇyāni kālindyāḥ sapta paścime;
pūrve pañca vanaṁ proktaṁ tatrāsti guhyam uttamam

    “Bhadra-, Śrī-, Lauha-, Bhāṇḍīra-, Mahā-, Tāla-, Khadira-, Bahulā-, Kumuda-, Kāmya-, Madhu-and Vṛndāvana – these are the twelve forests of Vraja. Of them, seven are on the west bank of the Yamunā and five are on the east bank. These are the most confidential forests.” Śrī Raghunātha desires loving attachment for these twelve most sacred forests.

    Then Śrī Raghunātha prays for loving attachment to the goṣṭhā, or pasture fields of Vraja. There’s nothing as sweet as Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s goṣṭha-līlā!

nija sama sakhā saṅge, gogaṇa cāraṇa raṅge
vṛndāvane svacchande vihāra
yāra veṇu-dhvani śuni, sthāvara jaṅgama prāṇī,
pulaka kampa aśru bohe dhāra (C.C.)

    “Śrī Kṛṣṇa freely plays with His friends on an equal level, tending His cows in Vṛndāvana. When the moving and nonmoving living entities hear the sound of His flute they shiver, get goose pimples and shed streams of tears out of ecstasy.” Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and Her sakhīs also come to the goṣṭha when they hear this enchanting flute song and bless the devotees at Rādhākuṇḍa, that appear as kiṅkarīs, by playing their sweet pastimes of meeting with Śyāmasundara there. By the grace of the goṣṭha Śrī Raghunātha is blessed with relishing the sweetness of the sweet goṣṭha-līlās – that is why he desires loving attachment to the goṣṭha. Śrī Raghunātha also always desires loving attachment to the Vrajavāsī-bhaktas, without whose mercy the darśana and the attainment of the loving devotional service of Śrī-Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava is impossible. In our commentary on the first verse of Manaḥ Śikṣā we have elaborated on this point and that commentary may be consulted.

śrī guru karuṇāmaya, vando tāra padadvaya,
prema kalpataru vara dātā
dīkṣā-mantra harināma, yāhāra amūlya dāna,
kibā gābo tāra guṇa gāthā

    “I praise the lotus feet of my merciful guru, who is a wish yielding tree of love of God, and the greatest donor, who gave me the invaluable jewels of the initiation-mantra and Hari-nāma. How can I sufficiently praise his glories?”

nāma nāmī abheda jāni, guruvākya satya māni,
japa mana parama ādare
śrī Kṛṣṇa caitanya deve, svarūpa gosvāmī pade,
mati rahu yuga yugāntare

    “Knowing the Lord to be non-different from His holy name and the words of my guru to be the truth I repeat the holy syllables with great awe. May my mind dwell in the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya-deva and Svarūpa Dāmodara, age after age!”

prabhura abhinna rūpa, nāma yāra śrī rūpa,
ujjvala rasera kārigara
yāra śuddha kalevare, śakti sañcārita kore,
prabhu kore rasera pracāra

    “Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī, who is non-different from Mahāprabhu, is the craftsman of the erotic rasa. The Lord infused His power into his pure form to preach the science of rasa.”

śrī rūpa gosvāmī pade, mati rahu pade pade,
bhajana rājyera adhipati
daśanete tṛṇa dhare, ei bhikṣā pade poḍe,
yugalera manera pirīti

    “May I always be attracted to Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī’s lotus feet, for he is the master of the kingdom of bhajana! Holding a straw between my teeth I pray for this alm: May I love the divine Couple!”

tāhāra agraja yini, vairāgyera cūḍāmaṇi,
śrīla sanātana yāra nāma
vṛndāvane vṛkṣamūle, hā Kṛṣṇa govinda bole,
yāra hṛde gaura guṇa-dhāma
bṛhad bhāgavatāmṛta, pade pade parāmṛta,
hari bhakti vilāsādi kori.
grantha ratna kore dāna, tribhuvane jayagāna
tāra pada hṛdayete dhari

    “I carry the lotus feet of Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī’s elder brother, named Sanātana Gosvāmī, who is the crown jewel of renunciants, who cried out ‘Hā Kṛṣṇa! Govinda!’ while simply dwelling at the base of Vṛndāvana’s trees, who always carries Gaura Guṇadhāma in his heart, who wrote jewel like books like Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta, which is the highest nectar at every step, Hari Bhakti Vilāsa and others, and whose glories are sung by the three worlds, in my heart!”

rādhākuṇḍa govardhane, vando mui sarva kṣaṇe,
yugala pirīti kore dāna
madhupurī vṛndāvane, goṣṭhe yoto bhaktagaṇe,
pade pade ananta praṇāma

    “At every moment I offer my obeisances unto Govardhana Hill and Rādhākuṇḍa, for they bestow love for the Divine Couple on us. I offer countless obeisances to the lotus feet of all the devotees in Vraja, to the town of Mathurā and to Vṛndāvana.”

vrajavāsī vaiṣṇava-gaṇe, mui dīna akiñcana,
vrajera yoto sthāvara jaṅgama
gala lagnī kṛta vāse, nitya vandi abhilāṣe,
anurāga vṛddhira kāraṇa

    “I always praise the Vrajavāsīs, the Vaiṣṇavas and all the moving and nonmoving creatures of Vraja, being a fallen indigent wretch. I humbly pray that my attraction for them all may increase.”