Śrī Śrī Utkalika Vallari

A Vine Of Eager Aspirations After The Service Of Śrī-Śrī-Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa.

By Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī

With ‘Makaranda Kaṇā-Vyākhyā’ (Commentary called ‘A drop of the honey from this vine of eagerness’)by Rādhākuṇḍa Mahānta Paṇḍita Śrī Ananta dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja

āsīd  yasmād utkalikā vallarir esa karkaśa citta grāva nitānta druti hetuḥ.
śrī rādhā-govinda pādābja vrāta dāyī sa śrī rūpo bhāvuka-bhūpo dāyataṁ naḥ 

“May Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, the king of emotional devotees, who makes even stone-like hearts melt with his ‘Utkalikā  Vallari’-prayers, and who is the bestower of pure devoti-on for the lotus-feet of Śrī-Śrī-Rādhā-Govinda, be merciful to us.”
(Śrīpāda Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa)

VERSE 1: 

prapadya vṛndāvana madhyam ekaḥ
krośann asāv utkalikākulātmā
udghāṭayāmi jvalataḥ kaṭhorāṁ
vāṣpasya mudrāṁ hṛdi mudritasya 

O Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa! O Goddess Śrī Rādhike! This fallen soul has taken shelter of Vrndāvana and cries pitifully for Your audience. I will now open my severely burning heart and show the marks my burning tears have made there! 

VIRAHA VĀṢPAḤ (Tears, or steam, of separation):

Makaranda Kaṇā Vyākhyā:

According to the Vaiṣṇava researchers this is the last work of Śrīpāda Rūpa Gosvāmī, in which he sings his swansong.

Just as the swan sings his most beautiful and pitiful song just before his death, so this Utkalikā Vallari is Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s final song of pity.   

His heart carries a turbulent eagerness that can only be cooled off when he receives the darśana of his most beloved deities Śrī-Śrī Yugala Kiśora.

On the one hand there is eager longing and on the other hand there is great humility that makes him very unsteady when it arises, because it makes him perceive his own lack of qualification. This causes him to weep incessantly.

Weeping is the goal of life – relishing the sweetness of the beloved deity is the greatest means of attaining it. If a person has no thirst he will not even relish the taste of an ocean of nectar, even if it is situated right in front of him! 

In the same way the sweetness of Śrī-Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava, who are an ocean of transcendental sweetness, cannot be relished by someone whose love is bereft of eagerness and anxiety.

In the same way it is understood that the Śrī Yugala Kiśora, whose hearts are as soft as butter, are Themselves tolerating the anguish of separation from the devotee and make the devotee suffer the anguish of his separation from Them.          

Śrīpāda Rūpa Gosvāmī is an eternally liberated associate of the Lord who descends to the world of sādhana to relish the mellows of sādhanā just like the sādhakas.

In this descension the Original Personality of Godhead Śrīman Mahāprabhu personally plunged into the mellows of sādhanā. Like an ajāta-rati sādhaka (a practising devotee who has no deep taste or attachment to the Lord yet) He says:

nāhi kṛṣṇa prema-dhana;
daridra mora jīvana, dehendriya vṛthā mora sab
(C.C.)

“I do not possess the treasure of love for Kṛṣṇa; My life is poverty-stricken and My body and senses are all useless.”

Bhakti-sādhanā does not only devour bodily consciousness, it even devours the transcendental consciousness of liberation and creates a solid consciousness of the beloved deity.

Śrīpāda Rūpa is deeply absorbed in the consciousness of service to Śrī Rādhā. Any other desire than the happiness of service to the Divine Pair cannot find a place in his heart.  

A person who tries to understand this service to Rādhā while remaining in physical male or female consciousness simply deceives him/herself. The service of Rādhā can only be grasped by a person who is totally fixed in mañjarī bhāva, and who is exclusively surrendered to this. Such persons cannot find consolation for their hearts in anything else but the lotus-feet of the Divine Pair.          

Intrinsically Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī is Vraja’s Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī, crying for the vision of Śrī-Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava and Their personal service in a heartrending way:

“I have taken shelter of Your Vraja-dhāma and now I’m opening my heart to show you the tears of the severe pangs of separation that are locked in it! Behold the fire in Your Rūpa’s heart!”

A person who is bereft of the treasure of bhajana cannot possibly fathom these severe feelings of love-in-separation.

Wave after wave of desire (for the Lord) come up in the ocean-like heart of a person who thus suffers this separation. The bondage of patience is broken and the devotee cannot find peace, even if he gets an occasional vision.

Such occasional visions are like lightning flashes in the night: After the flash has disappeared, the darkness of night becomes even deeper than it was before.  

When the ears and the eyes taste a little of the sounds and the forms of the beloved it increases the ocean of their thirst.

Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa writes in his commentary on this verse: iyam avasthā khalu bhakta-janasya  puruṣārtha dātrī – “This condition of love-in-separation is certainly the highest goal of the devotee’s life.”

Weeping is the attainment, wailing is relishable! No one else but a person who has experienced it can understand it.

ei prema yāra mane,
tāra vikrama sei jāne,
yeno viṣāmṛta ekatra milana
(C.C.)

“A person who has this prema in the heart can understand it; it is like a blend of poison and nectar.”  

It was while relishing these ecstasies that Śrīman Mahāprabhu elongated the joints of His bones, and it was in the frenzy of this flavor that He withdrew His limbs like a turtle.

These extraordinary symptoms are the culmination of the pinnacle of relish.

When a sādhaka hears and chants about this great love-in-separation of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī he will also get some of this love-thirst. This is the greatest wealth of the Vraja rasa sādhanā.

Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura Mahāśaya sings:

parama nāgara kṛṣṇa,                tā’te hao ati tṛṣṇa,
bhajo tāre vrajabhāva loiyā.
rasika bhakata saṅge,                 rahibo piriti raṅge,
vrajapure vasati koriyā.         

“Be very thirsty for the greatest amorous hero Kṛṣṇa and worship Him in the Vraja-mood! Always stay with love with the rasika devotees and always live in Vraja!”
(Prema Bhakti Candrikā)

This is the essence of all instructions for those on the path of rāgānugā bhakti. The aspirant should always reside in Vṛndāvana, discussing topics of the pastimes of his beloved deity with rasika devotees. The right mood will be nourished by associating with like-minded devotees.

Before Śrīman Mahāprabhu took leave from Śrīla Rāmānanda Rāya in Vidyānagara, He told him: tumi āmi nīlācale rahibo ek-saṅge; sukhe kāṭāibo kāla kṛṣṇa kathā raṅge – “You and I will stay together at Purī and blissfully spend our time speaking about Kṛṣṇa!”  

Vipralambha mūrti (the embodiment of love-in-separation) Śrīman Mahāprabhu particularly felt the feelings of separation of Śrī Rādhā when Kṛṣṇa had left Vraja to go to Mathurā (māthura viraha rasa).

Even great bhāgavatas like Uddhava were astonished and stunned when they saw Śrī Rādhā’s wonderful viraha-rasa. Uddhava was beside himself of ecstasy when he realised the depth of the gopīs’ love and he stayed in Vraja for ten months (although Kṛṣṇa had sent him from Dvārakā simply to take a message to the gopīs), ecstatically singing the glories of their viraha rasa. He considered himself blessed to enter into the ocean of the gopīs viraha-rasa and said:

virahena mahā bhāgā mahān me’nugraha kṛtaḥ
(Bhāg. 10.47.27)  

“O highly fortunate girls! You have greatly blessed me by (showing me) your feelings of separation from Kṛṣṇa! Actually you can never be really separated from Kṛṣṇa because He is so controlled by Your love that He cannot stay far away from you! You only show external feelings of separation to bless a person like me (a jñānī-bhakta) by showing him the glories of (your) prema! If you did not feel love-in-separation Kṛṣṇa would never have sent me here and I could never have been blessed by seeing your astonishing, glorious love for Him. For me this is the pinnacle of good fortune!” 

Śrīpāda Rūpa says: “I thus reveal the tears (or steam) from my burning heart.”  

In this verse a slight indication is given of the great anguish of separation from the Yugala Kiśora that was infused in Śrīpāda’s heart. Here he submits at the lotus-feet of the Divine Pair how the hot steam of his love in separation is scorching his heart.

This example of the steam of separation cannot be found anywhere in this world, even after searching for it. Through Her own dear devotees Śrī Rādhārāṇī shows the world what the fire of their separation can do.

Siddha Kṛṣṇa dāsa Bābājī from Raṇabāḍī burned his body to ashes like a dry piece of firewood with the fire of his love-in-separation.

Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s heart is as deep as an ocean.

The Bhakti Ratnākara relates:

eka dina rādhā Kṛṣṇa viccheda kathāte; kāṅdaye vaiṣṇava mūrcchāgata pṛthivīte
agni-śikhā prāya jvale rūpera hṛdoy; tathāpi bāhire kichu prakāśa nā hoy
kāru dehe śrī rūpera niḥśvāsa sparśilo; agni-śikhā prāya sei dehe braṇa hoilo
dekhiyā sabāra mone hoilo camatkāra; aiche śrī rūpera kriyā kohite ki āra 

“One day as they heard topics about Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa’s separation the Vaisnavas  fainted and fell to the ground. Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī’s heart was like the high flame of a fire, but still he did not show anything on the outside. If Śrī Rūpa’s outgoing breath touched anyone’s body it would be scorched as if touched by the tongue of a flame. Everyone was astonished by seeing this. What more can I say about Śrī Rūpa’s condition?”

The words hṛdi mudritasya jvalataḥ bāṣpasya means that just as a powerful steam-engine is able to move a big train simply by compressing steam, the power which is generated by compressing the urge of love within one’s heart is able to move the engine of one’s body rapidly, so that it swiftly arrives at the lotus-feet of the beloved deity.
Therefore, the grave devotees want to hide their love within the baskets of their hearts.

The Mahājanas (Śrīla Narottama Ṭhākura Mahāśaya) instruct us: rākho prema hṛdaye bhariyā – “Hide your love within your heart!”

Devotees who are weak-hearted and neophytes who desire some distinction may cry loudly, roll around and throw their arms and legs around when there is a kīrtana going on and thus destroy the sacred Tulasī-plant or hit the nearby saintly devotees, but they simply stop the sincere devotees from relishing the kīrtana and thus commit offenses. Ordinary people may be impressed by such a show, but the true saints take distance from such performances. They try to keep the steam of love within their hearts to increase the power of their love and they will certainly gain even more love in this way – of this there is no doubt!

Until now Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has kept the fire of his great love-in-separation locked within his heart, but now, at the end of his life, he cannot confine it anymore.

The steam of his great feelings of separation now comes out as this “Utkalikā Vallari”.

Śrīpāda Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa writes in his commentary on this verse: āsīd yasmād utkalikā vallarir eṣā karkaśa citta grāva nitānta druta hetuḥ: “Just as lac melts when sufficiently heated even a very hard heart will certainly melt of love and become free from desires for sense gratification after hearing and chanting this ‘Utkalikā Vallari’ – of this there is no doubt.”

The best means to make the heart melt with love is to relish this Utkalikā Vallari. If a devotee conceives of himself as a mañjarī, a dear maidservant of Śrīmatī Rādhikā, and takes this mood of Śrī Rūpa to his heart, then this fire of separation will also expand to his mind and heart and he will forget everything else and become eager to see and serve the Yugala carana of Srī-Srī-Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. That is for sure.

vṛndāraṇya vihāriṇī vṛndāvaneśvarī; jaya śrī govinda vṛndāvana vanacārī
parama ānanda kanda rādhā-Kṛṣṇa nāma; yugala caraṇāravinde ananta praṇāma 

“All glories to the Queen of Vṛndāvana, Śrī Rādhā, who enjoys in Vṛndāvana! All glories to Śrī Govinda, the wanderer of the Vṛndāvana-forest! The holy name of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa is the source of all transcendental bliss. I offer innumerable obeisances unto the lotus-feet of this Divine Pair!”

he nātha śrī giridhāri!             he rādhike mad īśvarī!
prāṇa mora yugala kiśora.
doṅhāra karuṇā bhinna,                 mora gati nāhi anya,
śuno doṅhe nivedana mora. 

“O Lord Giridhāri! O my Goddess Rādhike! O adolescent Pair that is my very life! I have no other shelter but Your mercy! Listen to my ardent prayers!”

ei vṛndāvana dhāme,                   nibhṛta nikuñja vane,
vṛkṣa-tale rajete poḍiyā.
kṛpā kaṇā lālasāya,                   rātri dina utkaṇṭhāya,
kāṅditechi vyākula hoiyā.

“I fall in the dust at the base of a tree in a solitary Nikuñja-forest in this Vrndāvana-dhāma, anxiously crying day and night, desiring a drop of mercy.”     

nā milile daraśana,             yugalera śrī caraṇa,
hṛdayera dvāra udghāṭane.
antarete ye anala,           koribo tāre bāhira,
nirantara koriyā krandane.

“Not attaining the audience of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa’s lotus-feet, I am constantly crying. In this condition I open the door of my heart and bring the fire that burns in it outside.”

yugala virahānale,                  dagdha hoiyā tile tile,
kuñja mājhe śrī rūpa gosvāmī.
utkalikā vallari,          likhilā udgāra kori,
śilā gole yei kathā śuni.

“Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī thus sits in a kuñja, being burnt at every moment by the fire of separation from the Divine Couple, bringing out his feelings in this Utkalikā Vallari. Even a stone would melt after hearing this!”

 Translation by my good friend Sripad Advaita das