The practice of sadhana bhakti that is directed to pleasing Lord Sri Krishna should be cultivated both externally and internally. Both external and internal practices are important, and are meant to be performed simultaneously. The preaching of the Holy Names of the Lord in context with the sankirtan movement of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu forms the external reason for the Lord’s descent into this world, according to Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj in his Chaitanya Charitamrita. The internal reason that Krishna Das Kaviraj takes to be the main cause for Sri Krishna Chaitanya’s avatar will be discussed in the following. It is a fact that this avatar of Sri Krishna has come for the purpose of giving prema in connection with the preaching of the Lord’s holy names. But this is the external reason for the Lord’s appearance. Now please listen, for there is another reason, which is deep and internal. (CC 1.4.5-6) Five hundred years ago, Svayam Bhagavan Vraja-vihari Sri Krishna incarnated on the bank of the Ganges River in Sri Nabadwip Dham, West Bengal, India. In this avatar as Sri Chaitanya Deva, he brought about a new upsurge or spiritual renaissance into the world of Krishna bhakti. Covering his opulences, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu accepted the role of a devotee of Sri Krishna in order to fulfill three most esoteric desires that was not able to relish as the Supreme Lord of Goloka Vrindavan. In transcendental loving reciprocation between the Lord and his devotees, it is a fact that the servitor can experience an even greater multitude of ambrosia through service to the Lord than the Lord experiences himself. For this reason, Sri Krishna wanted to sample for himself what it is like to be a servitor of Sri Krishna. To do so he appeared in this world from the womb of Mother Sachi, just as the moon rises from the ocean. Then, by taking on the mood and complexion of his topmost devotee, Srimati Radharani, he proceeded to taste three most internal esoteric desires that were still unfulfilled: (1) What is the depth or extent of the prema Radha possesses for me? (2) And with her prema how does Srimati Radharani view my spectacular sweetness? (3) And when she realizes the depth of my incredible sweetness, what does it taste like to her? This is the meaning of the sixth sloka in the Chaitanya Charitamrita, which Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj extracted from the confidential diary of Svarupa Damodar Goswami, the personal secretary of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. That sloka is as follows: Lord Krishna has appeared as Lord Chaitanya out of the womb of Sachi Devi, like the moon appears from the ocean; endowed with the loving mood of Srimati Radharani Herself, He has come in order to fulfill three desires: to know the glories of Radha’s love for Him, to relish His own beauty and sweetness through Her eyes, and to experience the happiness She feels through Her love for Him. (CC 1.1.6) Krishna Das Kaviraj begins his explanation of this verse in the fourth chapter of Chaitanya Charitamrita with the following words: Now let me speak about the principal reason for Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s appearance: (1) to personally taste the essence of prema rasa, and in connection with this, (2) to distribute raganuga bhakti to the devotees. (1.4.13-15) From these two main internal desires, Sri Krishna, who is the chief of all rasika persons and supremely merciful, has advented himself as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. With the help of Chaitanya Charitamrita, let us now have a look into the Lord’s personal motivation for coming; to taste the essence of prema rasa.” Krishna began to consider, “I am filled with bliss, and my very body is the form of all transcendental mellows. Everyone in the universe experiences happiness through me. But is there anyone who can give me pleasure? If there were a person who possessed hundreds of times more qualities than Myself, such a person could bring me happiness. To find a person who has more qualities than myself in this universe is impossible. Only in the case of Radha do I consider this possible. (1.4.238-41) Krishna further elaborates: Even if I had hundreds of mouths still I could not begin to describe the pleasure that Radharani experiences from my association. And I become spellbound and even forget myself when I see the pleasure she derives from our lovemaking. The guru of the rasa shastra, Sri Bharata Muni acknowledges that in loving affairs, the enjoyment of both the man (nayaka) and the woman (nayika) are equal, but he knows nothing about my Vraja rasa. The happiness I feel when I am with Radha is a hundred times greater than the joy I get from others. (1.4.254-7) Krishna continues, I know for sure that there is one particular taste that has subjugated my mohini Sri Radha. That type of pleasure that she experiences from me drives me mad. Even though I carefully try, I am not able to experience her happiness, for just the mere scent of the sweetness of her happiness causes a great hankering within my mind. Therefore as Chaitanya avatar, I will come to taste the sweetness of these various mellows of preme, and at the same time, I will establish what is the standard of raganuga bhakta and his bhakti through the example of my own pastimes. (1.4.261-265) This brings us to the second point of the main reason Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared in this world: “to preach raganuga bhakti to the devotees.” Krishna continues to speak from Chaitanya Charitamrita, In this world people are enamored of opulence. The worship or love of such persons who are conscious of my majesty is not especially to my liking. That person who worships me as the Supreme Lord and considers himself to be an inferior cannot conquer me with his love. The whole universe may worship me by the process of vidhi bhakti, but vidhi bhakti does not possess the potency to give the bhakta entrance into an understanding of the Vrindavan mood. One good example of this is Lakshmi, who even though she worshiped Krishna and tried, still she could not attain to the service of the son of Nanda in Vrindavan because of her attachment to opulence. Sri Krishna goes on to say, On the other hand, those devotees who consider me to be their son, friend or lover and worship me with pure bhakti, thinking me to be their equal or inferior, are able to subjugate me with their loving affection. My Mother thinks I am her naughty child and sometimes binds me as her son. She nourishes and protects Me, thinking Me utterly helpless. My friends may climb on my back and say with pure affection, “What makes you think you’re so big? You and I are equals.” And if some gopi chastises me in jealous loving anger, those words steal away my mind much more than any reverent recital of Vedic hymns. (1.4.24-26) By the influence of Yogamaya, the gopis will relate to me as their paramour. Giving up all varieties of religion, they worship me with deep, pure attachment. Providence may sometimes unite and sometimes separate us, but whatever the case may be, we are forever attracted and spellbound by each others’ forms and qualities. (1.4.29-31) Sri Krishna concludes by saying— Yes, I will take such pure devotees with me and I will descend into this world manifesting such wonderful lilas that are not even known to the residents of Vaikuntha. In this way of preaching (by tasting all the mellows of my Vrindavan associates, I shall bestow mercy on the devotees of the world, because when they hear about the pure moods and rasas of my Vrindavan associates, they too will want to join, and after giving up all other forms of religion and activity, will take to the path of raganuga bhakti. ((1.4.30-33)
Posted on: Mon, 04 Aug 2014 02:34:31 +0000
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