Pratah Stava: Preface

Pratah Stava: Composed by Shri Nimbarkacharyaji and interpretation by highly revered Usha Bahenji

The moment people saw the brilliant boy born to Aruna Rishi and Jayanti Devi, on the banks of the sacred Godavari in Vaiduryapattnam village, of Andhra Pradesh, they were certain he was God Incarnate in the eleventh century A.D. The avatara or incarnation of the Sudarshan Chakra, the discus of Lord Krishna and member of the parikar (attendants of the Lord), Niyamanand,was soon famed as Acharya Nimbarka. Founder of the dvaita advaita theory, he became a widely revered spiritual teacher.

Child Niyamanand had great love for Braj right from the start. Moved by their son's exquisite longing, his parents came and resided in Neem Village, nestled in the lowlands of Giriraj.

The manifestation of Shri Audumbracharyaji and sighting the Sun God behind a neem tree while attending to the needs of a sacred guest, are amazing incidents of his rare persona; that led to his being addressed as Acharya Shri Nimbarka.

Theory

The theory of dvaita advaita is based on the innate bheda abheda connection between the individual soul and Brahma, the all-pervading spirit of the universe. Both exist simultaneously, but one comes from the other. Brahma is all pervasive, and the manifest individual is its tiny fragment. Brahma and the individuated soul are simultaneously one and different;coexisting precisely like the tree and its leaf, the lamp and its light, the senses and life, each equally important for the existence of the other.

Shudha Advaita or pure non-dualism maintains that the material world is a manifestation of Brahman and as such is true, and not illusory or maya. It is possible that the ordinary life here is conceived of as a parallel with the other, cosmic life of Krishna. Dvaita or Krishna's double identity reveals him as being very much in and of this world but yet above it, a mere mortal in love with the gopis of Vrindavana but essentially divine, sensuous but also pointing to the spiritual aspect of romantic love.

For us in the Indian tradition, shringara rasa is considered the peak of human emotions; enflaming union of the soul with the divine. An outpouring of romantic love towards an intimate a and a personal god, made bhakti shringara personal and universal at the same time; taking us to the very heart of the love of Radha and Krishna.

There is no greater symbol to denote the longing of the soul in its quest for the divine than the longing of the nayika for her beloved. Radha's characterization in the literature of the Gaudiyas, embodies the highest religious rapture experienced through madhura rasa or the sentiment of sweet romance. Krishna's consort, Shri Radha, the source of all shaktis or feminine manifestations of cosmic energy, becomes the primal Goddess.

She is exalted as the blissful energy or hladini shakti of Krishna. In this position, it is Radha who is the principal idol of devotion and the symbol of divine love. In this more demonstrative Vaishnava tradition, Krishna is not an end in itself but devotion is to be expressed and experienced in the union of the lover and the beloved, Radha and Krishna.

Radha's re-configuration therefore becomes necessary, as love requires not only the self but equally the object of love for its expression. Radha and her companions represent the ideal paradigmatic personae that provide the role model for the heightened experience of devotional ecstasy.

Shri Radha-Krishna's madhura rasa or sentiment of sweet romance unfolds in idyllic and sensuous Vrindavana. The kunjas-nikunjas (bowers) and forest environs provide the perfect setting for their sweet love; fragrant sandalwood winds intoxicate the mind, bees dancing around lotus pollen sing a love song, peacocks dance in ecstasy, birds sing passionately and blossoms bloom affectionately. Romantically dallying in these verdant groves, Shyama-Shyam are constantly absorbed in amorous frolics, along with the passionate sakhis, their kayavyuhas or replications.

Even though the abundance of intimately passionate love-exchanges is not attainable for Shri Radha-Krishna. This sublimation of sensual feelings to spiritual desire in a land of highly restrictive social constraints makes them assume the guise of dvaita or double identity in advaita or non-dualism. (How can a sensually charged romantic love exist between the earthly gopis and a celestial Krishna.) Krishna's yogmaya or the shakti of his yoga helps the duo be human at one level and divine at another. Raas Karvavat Keli.

Exalting Shri Radha, Lord Krishna's hladini shakti resplendent in his left portion, Bhagwan Nimbarka endorsed the tradition of propitiating the Yugal or Shri Radha-Krishna as a sacred couple on an equal footing. Thus the Vaishnava World is indebted to him forever.

The Brahmavaivarta Purana, describes Radha as a consort of Krishna in the heavenly sphere called golok, who was destined to come to earth reborn as a milkmaid and be re-united with Krishna. But the honour of presenting Shri Radha-Krishna within dvaita advaita goes to Shri Nimbarkacharyaji Maharaj.

The Pratah Stava reveals the enthused exultation of the Acharya steeped in Shri Radha-Krishna's love: Where the romantic dalliance of these gopis, constant closeness of Priyaji (Radha) and the enchanted denizens of Vraja are madhur or sweet, serious and extraordinary. Propagating Yugal Rasupasana (worship of the most intimate transcendental exchanges of Shri Radha-Krishna) to make it easily accessible for like-minded devotees, has been the prime purpose of the manifestation of Acharya Nimbarka.

Highly revered Usha Bahenji had madhurya bhakti enrapturing her right from the start. An unprecedented great saint, whose every thought was absorbed in the rasa madhuri of Priya-Priyatam. She was exquisitely desire of union with Shri Radha-Krishna in her daily regime.

Invariably Priya-Priyatam sporting in the rippling waves of the sacred Yamuna, would manifest for her.The constant closeness of Shri Radha-Krishna and their amorous frolics in the nikunjas of river banks was her wish. An ardent longing for playful dalliances of the Braj cowherdesses tugged her. Ushaji reached the deeper ecstasies of devotion by the Yugal Madhuri (sweet romance of Shri Radha-Krishna) in the caverns of Giriraj.

An unprecedented incidence in her life was the manifestation of a sakhi belonging to the nitya parikar (attendants of the daily divine play of the Lord), urged by Shyama-Shyam. A lila related to Shri Rang Devi,out of the several bequeathed by that sakhi, is mentioned at the end of the text.. Acharya Nimbarkacharya is believed to be the avatara or incarnation of Shri Rang Devi belonging to the sakhi parikar of Nikunja Upasana (worship of Shri Radha-Krishna in nikunjas or bowers where they fix their tryst.)

Revered Bahenji was a rare persona in the new millennium of unprecedented prosperity, constantly absorbed in the romantic dalliance of Priya-Priyatam. She never imposed her thoughts but firmly grounded in the Krishna cult and path of union with the divine, gave befitting esteem to all sampradayas or sects.

Delightfully savouring the conscientious work of Shri Nimbarkacharyaji, she bestowed these dalliances to us through her verbal narration and write-ups; which eager individuals secured on the pretext of a compilation. I am striving to gather these moments of elation and ecstasy in a book form, to present her boon to dedicated devotees, bhaktas and the rasikas of Shri Radha-Krishna lilas.

In the Pratah Stava, we have the sequence of Shri Nimbarkacharyaji's sensitive perception along with Usha Bahenji's constant immersion in the same divine play of Shri Radha-Krishna, which is presented to the reader in the compiled stotras or hymns of praise.

The pivotal concept of this text is delving into madhur rasa or the sentiment of sweet romance. Ujjavala rasa or erotic love rises from mere sensuality to spirituality when rasa madhuri is percieved through the perspective of a competent guru absorbed in nitya lila. The exercise proves highly beneficial as it lifts romantic love to divine heights.

Role of Sensuality in Pratah Stava: Hymns praising Shri Radha-Krishna

The highest reality of the human soul is its delightful absorption in the divine which includes earthly joy. An ardent longing of mankind for a divine and transcendental love is perfectly reflected in the terrifying rush of love between Shyama-Shyam.

This prime essence is called Shri due to passionate dalliances with Shri Krishna, the all-pervading spirit of the universe. The embodiment of the irreristably attractive feminine principle, Shri is the paradigm of the seeker for ultimate reality. And because of propitiating Shri Krishna, the source of all manifestations of God, the essence is called Radha (the source of all shaktis or feminine manifestations of cosmic energy). When in a collective form, the divine play is acclaimed as raas, a moment of grace when the supreme lover and gopis are in unison.

Despite being all pervasive, it is majestic in idyllic Vrindavana. Lord Krishna's amorous frolics with his consort Shri Radha, is called dallying with his own self. And passionate antics with the gopis who are Shri Radha's replications or kayavyuhas has been termed as Shri Radha Vihar. Therefore the only male, Lord Krishna is called Aatmaram or the Supreme Being.

Shri Nimbarkacharyaji is revered for being the foremost worshipper, imbibing the sakhi bhava. (A sakhi is the love-messenger, whose only concern is to see Radha and Krishna united and joyous in love. To this end she not only carries messages but comforts and even admonishes them.)

Acharyaji's rare gift to the Vaishnava World; is the philosophical concept of bheda abheda or difference and identity. It defines the shringara bhakti of Krishna, who is very much in and of this world but yet above it. Secondly, Shri Nimbarka exalted the lovable adulation of Shri Yugal (Shri Radha-Krishna); Devotion to Krishna is not an end in itself but that devotion is to be expressed and experienced in the union of the lover and the beloved, Radha and Krishna.

Rasikacharya Shri Nimbarka awakens us to a whole new world of the passionate and young Yugal (Shri Radha-Krishna). And in the Sutra (a short rule or aphorism used in Sanskrit manuals of instruction) literary style, he has evaluated the entire gamut of Sakhi Bhavopasna (worship with the sakhi bhava)

Highly revered Usha Bahenji has deeply imbibed the passionate shokas (verses) of Nimbarkacharyaji, absorbing the very essence of the bhavas (love flowing toward the Lord) contained in the verses. She gives a charming and sweet description of the write-up, which is not possible without sensitivity of perception. The readers' thoughts can easily identify with her terrifying rush of love, within that region of the heart where God is ultimately found.

There is a unique combination of language and bhava. The artistic creativity and emotions are both par excellence. It seems one is sighting Shri Radha-Krishna's divine play while going through the work; in reality her fusions of delight and desire are bound in the recorded description.

The chief bhava of a gopi who sees Radha as her deity, as her life and soul is revealed as the distinctive feature of this sacred text. 'Tatsukhe sukhi! ' Her primary concern, over and above her own self-interest, is Radhika's pleasure.With the same perfection, Radha embodies the beautiful sentiment of sakhi vatsalya (maternal love) for the sakhis. Radha feels that her love for Krishna can always expand to greater heights and therefore she manifests herself as the many gopis of Braj, who fulfil Krishna's desire for a loving relationship in a variety of ways.

With highly revered Usha Bahenji's sensitive portrayal, the Nimabarka Sect is obliged and her glory is akin to a radiant pillar in the Vaishnava World. I make obeisance hundreds of times before such a great rasika (person moved by passionate religious devotion, especially for Krishna) saint.

Finally I entreat Shri Vijayji, who is gifted in writing spiritual literature with great lucidity, to publish the entire collected data of other predominant bhavas, doing a great favour unto the Vaishnavas.

Vaidhyanath Jha.

Pratah Stava: Editor's Note

The most significant gift of madhurya bhakti, a certain spirituality that can only arise from indulging in love, is Yugal Upasana or worship of Shri Radha-Krishna as a sacred couple. Shri Radha is considered the divine mediatrix, without whom access to Narayana is not possible; for it is said that she controls Krishna with her love and that perfect spiritual life is unattainable without her grace.

Devotion to Krishna is not an end in itself but that devotion is to be expressed and experienced in the union of the beloved and the lover, Radha and Krishna. Lord Krishna's longing for dallying romantically,manifested in the form of Shri Radha adorning his left portion. The supreme nayaka involves himself voluntarily in human life and the sensual pleasures of the world; as the play between Radha and Krishna moves into the mazes and mysteries of love.

Without dwait or Krishna's double identity the heights of elation and ecstasy cannot be attained. Shri Radha-Krishna are in essence a single entity who manifest as two distinct individuals for the sake of interpersonal romantic exchange. Krishna tells Radha,'There is a difference only in word...We have two bodies but the soul is identical...I created you for the sake of joy.'

Their love now expands to greater heights through kantabhava because a woman's love for her lord or husband is the only greatest possible love. Shri Nimbarkacharyaji is honoured for giving this doctrine a tangible form, ascertaining its complete acceptance and the stature of worship in the Vaishnava World.

When we love the Lord imagining ourselves as women, calling after him with the kanta bhava as the gopis do (all men and women in the world are spiritually women and the lord alone is male) it is considered the peak of human emotions. An emotion that only celebrates and defines our humanity but equally reaches out to an evocation of divinity.The terrifying love of Priya-Priyatam engaged in romantic dalliances with their own kayavyuhas or replications, gushes forth constantly in Vraja. Vraja Rasa and Vrindavana Rasa are roughly the same.

The distraught, offended and enraptured maiden could easily be interpreted as a symbol of the soul in search of god, from an outpouring of romantic love towards an intimate and personal god. Acclaimed as madhurya or sweet love, it is the key to understanding and celebrating the love of Radha and Krishna, and in doing so, get a glimpse of one's own transcendent self.

The Yugal or Shri Radha-Krishna are a repository of the romantic sentiment that subsumes all other forms of devotion. Radha's re-configuration therefore becomes necessary, as love requires not only the self but equally the object of love for its expression in the idyllic forest of Vrindavana.

The perennial quest of mankind for a divine and transcendental love is an independent science. When the soul's longing takes on a certain form with enthused exaltation it becomes the svarupa (form) of our worship.

Bhagwan Rasikji Maharaj has clarified this concept further:

Nahin Dwaitadwait Hari, Nahin Vishishta-dwait.

Bandhyon nahin Matvad mein Ishwar ichadwait.

The svarupa of worship is neither bound by any propounded theory, nor by nitya vihar (the eternal divine play of Lord Krishna). And it is present in both the prakat(Krishna's playful dalliance obvious to the mundane world) and aprakat lila (divine play not apparent)-plus free from both of them.

Confining devotion to the parakiya form of love (A special feature of Radha's selfless devotion expressed through her status as parakiya, who is a woman married to another; but yet in love with Krishna, making her love free from the constraints of marriage) important in Gaudiya Vaishnavism because it exhibits total freedom from societal pressures, would not be correct.

Not casting off the burdens of conventions in a land of highly restrictive social constraints,the major difference between the early more contemplative and austere Vaishnavism and later more ecstatic Vaishnava tradition, is the romantic sentiment or the instinctive terrifying rush of love towards Shri Radha-Krishna.

When Lord Krishna, the supreme lover, desirous to appease our perennial quest for union with the divine, snuggles us to his huge chest; then which sequence of nitya vihar' and thicket of nikunja vihar (bower, a particular meeting-place of Radha and Krishna's romantic dalliance in Vrindavana) should we seek to impose restrictions in this fusion. We will see the transformation of nitya vihar and prakat lila on reaching the deeper ecstacies of devotion, by savouring love's sweet rasa.

Not becoming a prey to ritualistic Vedic worship, we must instead engage in a more humanistic dharma of love. Vishnu according to the 'Bhagavata' is not to be expressed through ascetic rites and religious rituals, neither by inward contemplation and life negating attitudes, but by evocative expressions of love that affirm one's own sensuality and that of everything around.

How amazing is this ardent longing of the enflamed soul for union with the divine-and the various ways of quietly calming its exquisite desire!

Prem Sudha Dhara: Vijayji

(Page 326)

Shri Hari

Shri Vrindavan Dhaam

25th April 1973

Dear Vijay,

With love, Jai Shri Hari.

Received your letter on Monday and was glad to know that you reached safely.You want me to remember you and your discussion and I require the same from you. You must not forget yourself and be firm about your decision or else, we also do not bear you in mind. And Shri Radha-Krishna, the sacred couple, are almost neglected.

Remember...never forget the lovingly tender Supreme Being and be focused. And when your search transforms into the cry of the enraptured soul for union with god, moving in delicious anguish to the side of Shri Radha-Krishna; you will be absorbed in their transcendental love; reaching the deeper ecstasies of devotion, with energy and joyfulness.

Steeped in the mysterious and sometimes terrifying rush of love, which will fill your life with inspiration and delight, you will not be able to resist Lord Krishna, the passionate protagonist, who will burst forth into your heart with his secret or sudden love!

But there is no need to be apprehensive that Bobo (saint Ushaji) may abandon you in such circumstances. Rather she will come closer since you would share an all consuming intimacy with the Lord. When enchanted with the Supreme Being, other thoughts, desires and longing vanish soon after.

This union creates a collective identity of the devotees, serving as an element in their devotional strength. Precisely like several sensuous creepers wind around the same evergreen tree, we love Lord Krishna constantly, freely, without purpose. He is everything to us. Dedicated followers repeatedly experience union and separation; the joy of his presence is often followed by the emptiness of his absence.

Whatever is worth leaving is shunned instinctively in the spiritual plane and what is worth holding, is retained with mischief and spontaneity. With tenderness and teasing, music and dancing, Lord Krishna enflames the desire of the individuated soul for union with god. Uncertainty hounds us unless Krishna becoming the focus of our ardour, is seen as an object of longing and of a transcendental love. Our exquisite desire and ardent longing, passionately draw the Lord and we reach the heights of elation and ecstasy with his constant grace and loving tenderness.

Brother, there is no time for delay now! Capturing a delicate and decisive moment in your progression towards union with the Lord, hunger for him as you move in a delicious anguish to his side, without losing a second.

With love,

Yours Bobo.

Prem Sudha Dhara: Vijayji

(Page 323)

Shri Hari

Shri Vrindavan Dhaam

22nd February 1973

Dear Vijay,

With love, Jai Shri Hari.

Today I received your letter in the evening and came to know your condition. The write-up was beautifully worded. The concept of not having a dispute with the holy lotus feet of Lord Krishna was remarkable. But I ask even if a strife is indisputably on, what next? It is ten o' clock. Since many days I was knitting a blanket and sat down to write after completing it. Thakurji (living presence of Lord Krishna) is put to sleep after nine-thirty these days. Kirtan or songs of a devotional nature are sung around quarter past five in the morning. But whether there is dispute or peace...we must write that shloka or verse.

'I wholeheartedly worship with dedicated devotion the pair of lotus feet of Baba Nand's darling son. They are solely worth meditating upon and all of the beauty and all of the virtue of the world co-mingle in their character and form. Fulfilling all desires and bestowing fruition of all longings, Lord Krishna's feet relieve worldly sufferings.'

Truly speaking, the lotus tender dark-hued feet of the handsome god, an intimate friend and the repository of love bloom in the fields, forests and streams which so inhabit our heart. And soon enough the mundane world and its sorrows vanish. If there is any realm, it is immersed in the spirited antics of these inconstant feet; adorned with Lord Krishna's romantic dalliance...abundantly endowed with love...loving tenderness; where the entry of grief is banned and there is no mention of pain.

Heights of elation and ecstasy are reached, when Krishna bursts forth into the hearts of his devotees; filling their lives with inspiration and delight. In this domain every endeavour, every action leads to the mazes and mysteries of love being an amalgamation of its different dimensions. What else is worth focusing upon except these beautiful, fondly adulated, exquisitely desirous, impassioned, intoxicating, nectarine lotus feet!

The perennial quest of mankind for a divine and transcendental love and the seeker for ultimate reality is amazing. The storehouse of the heart's wealth, power of bhaktas, the root-cause of life; we must be seeking them. Come let us have a look at the playful dalliance of the feet, their spirited antics, adorable roaming and wandering.

Just sight the fragrant limbs in the narrow lane...the smoothness of the Yamuna's sandy river-bank...the marks here are adorned by whose footprints. Come sakhis let us head towards that shrine-like nikunja where sensuous creepers pulsate. How scented is this whispering intoxicated breeze! Why is the earth ecstatic on pretext of the budding shoots?

Certainly our lovable deity, Pranvallabhava ( a title of Krishna, beloved of our hearts) taking Radha along is engrossed in charming escapades. He is probably aware of our arrival. Listen, can you hear the sweet sound of his holy feet's tinkling anklets...And now, keeping the flute on his lips and filling it with the breath of love, he beckons us. An enviable call to eternity, is his song. And further listen to two voices singing in unison...who are they-'Kaha gavat hai pyari Bihari ke sang'; the lover and the beloved sing mellifluously.

Let us also join the herd of Braj beauties, passionately drawn by his fragrant limbs and the serene sensuality of his revered feet. With great regard walk along with them, to that bower, the same sandy river-bank, the market-place, mountain pass, the forest grove, the same bhavan (abode) where the lotus pair enrapture us with tenderness and teasing, mischief and spontaneity. How does this picture of the blue-hued god concealed in the veil of the beauty look?

Let us go real close and watch. What is this? Giving in to freedom, spontaneity and intense passion, are the pair of the Lord's lotus feet. They exude a sweet fragrance and are resplendent with a luminous brilliance.

A paragon of sweetness and the bestower of treasured wishes, is this pair of feet. Their seekers, the Braj beauties, inflamed for union with Lord Krishna, do not have spare time to dwell on the mundane world, its grief and relief. So steeped in the love of Krishna's lotus feet are the hearts of these gopis, that they are eternally enraptured by fresh romantic dalliances; spurred by the pivotal concept of madhurya or sweet love.

I constantly worship my favoured deity, Lord Krishna's pair of feet; the ultimate reality, with my mind, verbally and physically too. They are the essence of my life, and my inspiration and delight. My love incarnate...my master!

With love,

Yours Bobo.