Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj describes the conditioned soul’s predicament.
Vaśitā
Captivation
Translated from the original Bengali
published in Sri Gaudiya Darshan,
Volume 1, Issue 2, Friday, 16 September 1955.
śuna-ite vyādha- muralī-rava mādhurī
dhāota mohitā kuraṅginī
daraśana mohe pataṅgā anala ’pari
madhu-lobhe bhramarā vandinī [1]
śuna-ite–Hearing dhāota–runs [like] mohitā kuraṅginī–an enchanted deer mādhurī vyādha-muralī-rava– after a hunter’s sweet flute-song. daraśana–Sight [flys like] pataṅgā–a moth mohe–in enchantment anala ’pari–above a fire. [Taste hovers like] bhramarā–a bee vandinī–captivated madhu-lobhe–by greed for honey.
Hearing runs like an enchanted doe after a hunter’s sweet flute-song. Sight flys like an enchanted moth above a fire. Taste hovers like a bee captivated by greed for honey.
vimohita mīna varaśī-rasa-saurabhe
paraśe lubadha kari-rāja
eka hi eka vaśe hoya‑i hṛta-jñāna
dhāota śamanaka pāśa [2]
Smell is like a bewildered fish on the spear of pleasing fragances. Touch is like a covetous king of elephants. Captivated one after the other, the senses are deluded and run into death’s trap.
pañchendriya vaśe pañcha yo sevata
kahabu̐ ki tākara bāta
dāsa dharama smari’ bhaya-bhīta anukhaṇa
yāchaye prabhu-parasāda [3]
ki–What bāta kahabu̐–shall I say tākara yo–of those who, pañchendriya vaśe–captivated by the five senses, sevata–indulge pañcha–in the five [objects of the senses]? smari’–Remembering dharama–virtue, [this] dāsa–servant [is] anukhaṇa–always bhaya-bhīta–cautious and afraid, [and] yāchaye–prays prabhu-parasāda–for the mercy of the Lord.
What shall I say of those who are captivated by the five senses and indulge in the five objects of the senses? Remembering dharma, this servant is always cautious and afraid, and prays for the mercy of the Lord.
Comment
On the holy day of Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj’s disappearance, reflecting on our own fallen and bound condition, we pray for his mercy, as he here prays for the Lord’s. His shelter is the only hope we have in our lives.
kaivalyaṁ narakāyate tri-daśa-pūr ākāśa-puṣpāyate
durdāntendriya-kāla-sarpa-paṭalī protkhāta-daṁṣṭrāyate
viśvaṁ pūrṇa-sukhāyate vidhi-mahendrādiś cha kīṭāyate
yat-kāruṇya-kaṭākṣa-vaibhavavatāṁ taṁ gauram eva stumaḥ
(Śrī Chaitanya-chandrāmṛta: 5)
For the fortunate souls who have received His merciful side-long glance, merging into the Lord is hellish, the abode of the gods seems phantasmagorical, the uncontrollable senses are like defanged poisonous serpents, the world is filled with joy, and Brahmā, Indra, and the other gods are like insects. We glorify Śrī Gaura (and His manifestation for our deliverance—Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj).