guru-mukha-padma-bākya,        hṛdi kari mahāśakya,
āra nā kariha mane āśā |
śrī-guru-caraṇe rati,        ei se uttama-gati,
ye prasāde pūre sarba āśā || 4 ||

The words from Śrī Guru’s lotus mouth have great power. Take them into your heart and rely upon nothing else. Attachment to his lotus feet is the best way to achieve success. By his mercy, all your hopes will be fulfilled.

The Gravity of Śrī Guru’s Words

Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā: After the sādhaka has taken shelter of the lotus feet of a sad-guru who understands śrī-kṛṣṇa-tattva, meaning after he has accepted dīkṣā-mantras and so on, Śrī Gurudeva shall give him instructions in sādhana and bhajana, as well as in śrī-kṛṣṇa-tattva, bhakti-tattva, prema-tattva and rasa-tattva._ The instructions flowing from Śrī Gurudeva’s lotus mouth are as sweet as honey and are like an elixer for the heart and ears. They have a powerful effect in establishing the sādhaka on the path of bhajana. In this verse, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya introduces this idea by saying, guru-mukha-padma-bākya, hṛdi kari mahāśakya, āra nā kariha mane āśā.

The honey-like words falling from the lotus mouth of Śrī Gurudeva, the embodiment of bhagavad-bhakti-rasa, are ambrosial as well as intoxicating. There is no comparison anywhere to the instructions that Śrī Gurudeva speaks, his heart melted with affection and compassion, to his sheltered disciple. The word mahāśakya means ‘endowed with the power to lead one to God.’ The word bākya means ‘instructive speech concerning the prema-rasa of devotion to Śrī Kṛṣṇa.’ The sādhaka must hold within his heart the words of Śrī Gurudeva (who is the embodiment of pure devotion to God) and give up all dependence on anything else. The purport is that when the merciful Lord sees the sad and miserable condition of the māyā-bound people, his heart melts for them. In order to teach them about the various tattvas and cause them to personally taste the sweetness of bhajanānanda-rasa, the bhagavat-svarūpa-samaṣṭi-guru (God as the aggregate guru) empowers some great soul who has attained bhakti to act as vyaṣṭi-guru (individualized guru). He alone is to be regarded as the genuine sad-guru. Since Śrī Guru is the embodiment of the Lord’s mercy, there is no doubt that his instructions have the power to deliver one to the Lord. Therefore, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya is saying here that for those who are very eager to obtain Śrī Kṛṣṇa, it is essential that they hold the powerful words of Śrī Guru within their hearts and give up their reliance on anything else.

The question may arise that if the instructions given by Śrī Gurudeva do not agree with the opinions of śāstra and the mahājanas, how can the sādhaka establish trust in those instructions? In reply, it has been said that the sad-guru can never give instructions that disagree with the sādhus and śāstras. If some guru should happen to instruct his śiṣya in a way contrary to the opinions of sādhu and śāstra, the virtuous śiṣya shall, without showing any disrespect, refuse to accept that instruction. He should disregard it with the attitude that he is unable to understand its hidden meaning. Therefore, in the twelfth verse Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya says, sādhu-śāstra-guru-bākya, hṛdaye kariyā aikya, satata bhāsiba prema-mājhe. “By making your heart one with the teachings of sādhu-śāstra-guru, you will always be flooded with divine love.”

After that Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya says, śrī-guru-caraṇe rati, ei se uttama-gati, ye prasāde pūre sarva āśā. This means that those who possess some attachment for Śrī Guru’s lotus feet, having accepted within their hearts his instructions on śrī-kṛṣṇa-tattva, bhakti-tattva, prema-tattva and rasa-tattva, are blessed because of that sincere devotion to easily obtain the most precious thing within the kingdom of prema, the service of the lotus feet of Śrī Rādhā’s beloved sweetheart. By ‘devotion to Śrī Guru’s feet,’ it is meant that if the sādhaka’s mind becomes satisfied by his firm devotional attachment to Śrī Guru’s lotus feet, or if the sādhaka’s mind becomes absorbed in contemplating the form of Śrī Guru, who is always engaged in bhajana, then he easily obtains the supreme refuge. It may be asked that since the supreme refuge (uttama-gati) or most cherished attainment of the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas is the prema-sevā of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava, then why is it mentioned here that devotion to the feet of Śrī Guru is the uttama-gati? The meaning is that since the sādhaka who has attachment for the feet of Śrī Guru certainly obtains the uttama-gati of Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s nikuñja-sevā, it indicates in a logical way that the two are identical. For example, the phrase āyur ghṛtam iti literally means ‘ghee is life.’ Ghee is not life, but because by eating ghee one’s life is undoubtedly extended, it is said that ‘ghee is life.’ Therefore, by indicating that devotion to the feet of Śrī Guru and the uttama-gati are not different, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya has determined that this attachment to Śrī Guru’s lotus feet is the sādhaka’s sole and most important sādhana and sādhya (means and purpose). The essential meaning is that wherever loving devotion to Śrī Guru’s lotus feet exists, the uttama-gati, or ultimate refuge, should be understood to also always be present. The meaning of ye prasāde pūre sarva āśā is that by the mercy of Śrī Gurudeva, if he is pleased, all the sādhaka’s hopes for the prema-sevā_[1] of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa in their jeweled cottage within the forest of Śrī Vṛndāvana are fulfilled. ‘All hopes’ means that whenever the sādhaka’s heart is pervaded by constant longing for Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava’s prema-sevā, by the mercy of Śrī Gurudeva, that cherished desire is fulfilled. Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya has revealed a similar hope in these verses of his Prārthanā:

kusumita bṛndābane nācata śikhigaṇe pikakula bhramara jhaṅkāre |
priya sahacarī saṅge gāiyā yāibe raṅge manohara nikuñja kuṭire ||
hari! hari! manoratha phalibe āmāre? |
duṅhaka manthara gati kautuke heraba ati aṅgabhari pulaka antare ||
caudike sakhīra mājhe rādhikāra iṅgite ciruṇī laiyā kare dhari |
kuṭila kuntala saba bithāriyā āṅcaraba banāiba bicitra kabarī ||
mṛga-mada malayaja saba aṅge lepaba parāiba manohara hāra |
candana kuṅkume tilaka banāiba heraba mukha-sudhākara ||
nīla paṭṭāmbara yatane parāiba pāye diba ratana mañjīre |
bhṛṅgārera jale rāṅgā caraṇa dhoyāiba mucchāiba āpana cikure ||
kusuma komala-dale seja bichāiba śayana karāba doṅhākāre |
dhabala cāmara āni mṛdu mṛdu bījaba charamita duṅhaka śarīre ||
kanaka sampuṭa kari karpūra tāmbūla bhari yogāiba doṅhāra badane |
adhara sudhā-rase tāmbūla subāse bhokhaba adhika yatane ||
śrī-guru karuṇā-sindhu lokanātha dīna-bandhu mui dīne kara abadhāna |
rādhā-kṛṣṇa bṛndābana priya-narma sakhī-gaṇa narottama māge ei dāna ||

“Along with their dear companions, they will sing and joke as they walk among the dancing peacocks, the cuckoos and buzzing bees to that charming cottage within the blossoming Vṛndāvana forest. Hari! Hari! Will my heart’s desire ever come true? When I see Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa walking slowly together, happy in each other’s company, my limbs will erupt in goosebumps from delight. Surrounded by her sakhīs, Rādhikā will beckon me to dress her hair. With a jeweled comb I shall spread her curled tresses and braid them into a beautiful plait. I shall anoint her limbs with musk and sandalwood paste, and adorn her throat with an exquisite necklace. Gazing upon her moonlike face, I shall decorate her forehead with delicate tilaka made of candana and kuṅkuma. I shall very carefully clothe her with a blue silken dress and place jeweled anklets upon her feet. I shall bathe her crimson lotus feet with scented water and dry them with my own hair. Then I shall scatter soft flower petals upon their bed and ask them both to lie down. I shall fan their tired bodies very gently with a white cāmara and place camphor-scented tāmbūla from a golden box into their lotus mouths. Then, with great care, I shall taste the remnants of that fragrant tāmbūla mixed with the nectar of their lips. Śrī Guru! You are an ocean of mercy. Śrī Lokanātha! You are the friend of the poor. I am very miserable, so please hear my cry! Narottama begs you for the service of Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa with their priya-narma-sakhīs in the forests of Vṛndāvana.”

[1] Sevā such as fanning with a cāmara, massaging their feet, etc.

Translated by Haricaraṇa Dāsa

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