Sri Krishna’s Vasanta Rasa Part 1

25 January 2015

Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj illustrates the proper appreciation.

Last night, Śrutaśravā Prabhu and I were discussing a verse composed by Jayadev Goswāmī:

viśveṣām anurañjanena janayann ānandam indīvara-
śreṇī-śyāmala-komalair upanayann aṅgair anaṅgotsavam
svachchhandaṁ vraja-sundarībhir abhitaḥ praty-aṅgam āliṅgitaḥ
śṛṅgāraḥ sakhi mūrtimān iva madhau mugdho hariḥ krīḍati
(Śrī Gītā-govinda: 1.11)

This verse is very famous. Mahāprabhu Śrī Chaitanyadev would taste poetry and prayers such as this from Śrī Gītā-govinda. Here, it is described that Kṛṣṇa is performing Rāsa-līlā. He attracts everyone, takes them near Him, accepts their embrace, dances, sings, and so on. So much ecstasy overfloods the area, and the whole world becomes happy. Kṛṣṇa is the concentrated, condensed form of all ecstasy, all ānanda, all rasa. Here, śṛṅgāra-rasa is mentioned. Śṛṅgāra-rasa means madhura-rasa. Śṛṅgāra-rasa sakhi mūrtimān: Kṛṣṇa is the concentrated, condensed divine form of full madhura-rasa; not some part, but full.

Sometimes, Kṛṣṇa wants to see Himself in the mirror, and when He does, He Himself becomes melted and embraces the mirror. Kṛṣṇa has that kind of beauty. Here, in this verse, it is mentioned that Kṛṣṇa is mugdha, astonished and melted, to see His own divine self.

Lord Brahmā has some feeling of this—not full feeling, but partial—and with that vision, he composed Brahma-saṁhitā:

īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sach-chid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
anādir ādir govindaḥ sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam
(5.1)

Sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam [being the cause of all causes] is Kṛṣṇa’s lowest aspect. His highest aspect is that of being īśvaraḥ, kartum akartum samartha [the Lord, who can do and not do anything]. Karte pāren, nā karte pāran, yā khuśi tāi karte pāren sei hachchhe īśvara: He who can do, can not do, can do anything, and can do nothing—He who has all rights reserved—is known as īśvaraḥ. Śrīla Viśvanāth Chakravartī has given this explanation in Sanskrit: kartum akartum anyathā-kartuṁ samarthaḥ saḥ īśvaraḥ. Many have the power of an īśvara: Lord Śiva, Rāmachandra, Matsya, Kūrma, Varāha, Vāmana, and other incarnations. But Kṛṣṇa is not only īśvaraḥ, He is Paramaḥ Īśvaraḥ! He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and Brahmā has seen this. Sach-chid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ: there is no alloy in Him. He is truthful, He is reality, and He is beautiful. Everything is within Him.

akhila-rasāmṛta-mūrtiḥ
(Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.1.1)

Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī Prabhu also revealed that He is the emporium of all rasa. Rasa means ecstasy, but I think rasa means more than that: it is like a fruit that is sweeter than than all else, melted, and without skin and seed. It is like a galitam phalam (SB: 1.1.3): a fruit in which there is no seed and no skin, and which is only melted and very sweet. Actually, feelings are superior to all else, and one who has such feelings even a little bit is so glorious. That is what I think. If my tongue does not taste sweet or sour, then what is the necessity of having a tongue?

vaṁśī-gānāmṛta-dhāma lāvaṇyāmṛta-janma-sthāna
ye nā dekhe se chā̐da vadana
se nayane kibā kāja paḍuk tāra muṇḍe vāja
se nayana rahe ki kāraṇa
(Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta: Madhya-līlā, 2.29)

This Bengali verse is a translation a Sanskrit poem:

śrī-kṛṣṇa-rūpādi-niṣevaṇaṁ vinā
vyarthāni me ’hāny akhilendriyāṇy alam
pāṣāṇa-śuṣkendhana-bhārakāṇy aho
bibharmi vā tāni kathaṁ hata-trapaḥ
(Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta Madhya-līlā 2.28)

Vaṁśī-gānāmṛta-dhāma: Kṛṣṇa’s face is always playing the flute with very sweet sounds and heartfelt attachment, attraction, and affection. But all my senses are useless if I cannot see and touch that form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Why does someone who has not seen Śrī Kṛṣṇa have eyes within their head?

Śrīla Guru Mahārāj, Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj, has given his explanation of gāyatrī:

gāyatrī muralīṣṭa-kīrtana-dhanaṁ rādhā-padaṁ dhīmahi

What is gāyatrī? We are meditating on the gāyatrī mantram every day, but what is the meaning of gāyatrī? Who knows that? Śrīla Guru Mahārāj said gāyatrī muralīṣṭa-kīrtana-dhanaṁ. Muralī [Kṛṣṇa’s flute] wants kīrtan. What kind of kīrtan? Muralī distributes the Name of Rādhā: “Rādhā Rādhā Rādhā Rādhā.” Hare Kṛṣṇa! This is the main subject. Muralī-iṣṭa: iṣṭa means Kṛṣṇa wants His dearmost, and He is distributing that: He is calling the Name of Rādhārāṇī. This muralī-iṣṭa-kīrtan [desired kīrtan of the muralī flute] is the real wealth, and Rādhā-padaṁ dhīmahi: that exists only within the lotus feet of Rādhārāṇī, and never anywhere else. This is the vaṁśī-gāna [flute song] mentioned in the verse vaṁśī-gānāmṛta-dhāma, the song of the flute coming from Kṛṣṇa’s mouth.

smerāṁ bhaṅgī-traya-parichitāṁ sāchi-vistīrṇa-dṛṣṭiṁ
vaṁśī-nyastādhara-kiśalayām ujjvalāṁ chandrakeṇa
govindākhyāṁ hari-tanum itaḥ keśi-tīrthopakaṇṭhe
mā prekṣiṣṭhās tava yadi sakhe bandhu-saṅge ’sti raṅgaḥ
(Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.239)

Everything is within us; everything is within our jurisdiction. If we can take it, we can taste it, and we can feel it. It is not necessary to go anywhere. Sufficiently, we have got. It has been given by our Guru Mahārāj.

Rāmānanda Rāy composed a verse in favour of this thought:

yadā yāto daivān madhu-ripur asau lochana-pathaṁ
tadāsmākaṁ cheto madana-hatakenāhṛtam abhūt
punar yasminn eṣa kṣaṇam api dṛśor eti padavīṁ
vidhāsyāmas tasminn akhila-ghaṭikā ratna-khachitāḥ
(Jagannātha-vallabha-nāṭaka: 3.11)

“Kṛṣṇa suddenly came in front of me and then left. I saw Him, but I could not stand. I fainted, and then Kṛṣṇa was gone. When I see Him again, I will worship time. Then, Kṛṣṇa will stay longer.” This is a very nice subjective evolutionary verse in the scriptures.

The explanation Śrīla Kavirāj Goswāmī gave of the verse Śrī-Kṛṣṇa-rūpādi-niṣevaṇaṁ vinā is so big; it is an explosion!

sakhī he, śuna, mora hata vidhi-bala
mora vapu-citta-mana, sakala indriya-gaṇa,
kṛṣṇa vinu sakala viphala
(Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta: Madhya-līlā, 2.30)

kṛṣṇera madhura vāṇī, amṛtera taraṅgiṇī,
tāra praveśa nāhi ye śravaṇe
kāṇākaḍi-chhidra sama, jāniha se śravaṇa,
tāra janma haila akāraṇe
(Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta: Madhya-līlā, 2.31)

kṛṣṇera adharāmṛta, kṛṣṇa-guṇa-charita,
sudhā-sāra-svāda-vinindana
tāra svāda ye nā jāne, janmiyā nā maila kene,
se rasanā bheka jihvā sama
(Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta: Madhya-līlā, 2.32)

mṛga-mada-nīlotpala, milane ye parimala,
yei hare tāra garva-māna
hena kṛṣṇa-aṅga-gandha, yāra nāhi se sambandha,
sei nāsā bhastrāra samāna
(Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta: Madhya-līlā, 2.33)

kṛṣṇa-kara-pada-tala, koṭi-chandra-suśītala
tāra sparśa yena sparśa-maṇi
tāra sparśa nāhi yāra, se yāuk chhārakhāra
sei vapu lauha-sama jāni
(Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta: Madhya-līlā, 2.34)

kari’ eta vilapana, prabhu śachī-nandana
ughāḍiyā hṛdayera śoka
dainya-nirveda-viṣāde, hṛdayera avasāde
punarapi paḍe eka śloka
(Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta: Madhya-līlā, 2.35)

he deva he dayita he bhuvanaika-bandho
he kṛṣṇa he capala he karuṇaika-sindho
he nātha he ramaṇa he nayanābhirāma
hā hā kadā nu bhavitāsi padaṁ dṛśor me
(Śrī Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta: 40)

All the goswāmīs tasted this, and some exclusive and sweet devotee compiled their remnants into scriptures. We are getting something from there. A very good verse is written at the end of Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam by Śrīla Guru Mahārāj,

śrī-śrīmad-bhagavat-padāmbuja-madhu-svādotsavaiḥ ṣaṭ-padair
nikṣiptā madhu-bindavaś cha parito bhraṣṭā mukhād guñjitaiḥ
yatnaiḥ kiñchid ihāhṛtaṁ nija-para-śreyo ’rthinā tan mayā
bhūyo-bhūya ito rajāṁsi pada-saṁlagnāni teṣāṁ bhaje
(10.14)

The meaning, the substance, of the verse is: “At the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, there is some madhu, ecstasy. His feet are full of ecstasy, and the devotees are taking that ecstasy like bees, singing, and eating. Because of this, some of that nectar falls from their mouths, and I have collected that from the earth and composed Śrī Śrī Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam. You take it! The nectar of those bees is here: their songs are written inside Śrī Śrī Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam.” All the verses are like that everywhere.

Reference

Spoken 31 January 2009.

Verses

[“O friend, affectionately delighting all, creating a festival of Cupid with His soft, bluish, lotus-like limbs, freely embraced in full by the beauties of Vraja on both sides, astonished Śrī Hari plays during the season of spring like the embodiment of amorous love.”]

īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sach-chid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
anādir ādir govindaḥ sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam
(5.1)

[“The embodiment of spiritual energy, consciousness, and ecstasy, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is known as Govinda, is the Supreme Lord of all Lords. He has no origin, He is the origin of all, and He is the cause of all causes.”]

[“Without the service of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s Form, Qualities, and Pastimes, my days and all my senses are like a completely useless burden of stone or dry wood. Alas! How do I bear them? I am shameless.”]

[“O friend! If you are attached to the company of your friends, then do look at Śrī Govinda’s form near Keshi Ghat standing in a threefold posture, shining with a peacock feather in His crown, casting sidelong glances, and smiling with the flute at His tender lips.”]

[“When, by my good fortune, Kṛṣṇa appeared before my eyes, cursed Cupid stole my heart. When Kṛṣṇa comes before my eyes again, even for a moment, I will decorate every second with jewels.”]

[“Kṛṣṇa’s moon-like face is the abode of the nectar of all beauty and the origin of His flute songs. What are the use of eyes which never behold it? May a thunderbolt strike their head. Why do such eyes exist?”]

sakhī he, śuna, mora hata vidhi-bala
mora vapu-citta-mana, sakala indriya-gaṇa,
kṛṣṇa vinu sakala viphala
(Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta: Madhya-līlā, 2.30)

[“O friend, listen, I have lost the favour of Providence. Without Kṛṣṇa, My body, mind, heart, and senses are all useless.”]

[“Kṛṣṇa’s sweet words are waves of nectar. Know ears into which they do not enter to be no better than the holes of a broken conchshell. Such ears were created for no purpose.”]

[“The nectar of Kṛṣṇa’s lips, qualities, and Pastimes surpasses the taste of pure ambrosia. Why did a tongue that does not know this taste take birth and die? Such a tongue is no better than the tongue of a frog.”]

[“The fragrance of Kṛṣṇa’s body vanquishes the pride and prestige of the fragrance of a musk-scented blue lotus. A nose which never smells this fragrance is no better than a bellows.”]

[“The touch of Kṛṣṇa’s palms and soles, which are cooling like ten millions moons, is like that of a philosopher’s stone. May bodies which have not touched them waste away! I consider such bodies to be no better than iron.”]

[“Lamenting thus, Lord Śachī Nandan opened the doors of His heart’s sorrow. With humility, self-reproach, remorse, and a weary heart, He recited a verse again and again.”]

[“O Lord! O Beloved! O friend of the world! O Kṛṣṇa! O restless one! O ocean of mercy! O Master! O Lover! O delight of my eyes! Oh! Alas! When will You enter my vision again?”]

Krishna, Rasa, Srila Govinda Maharaj

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