Thursday, August 16, 2012

'Shri Krishna Karnamrita ': Second Shloka

asti svastaruni-karagra-vigalat-kalpa-prasuna-plutam
vastu prastuta-venu-nada-lahar-inirvana-nirvyakulam  |
srasta-srasta-niruddha-nivi-vilasad-gopi-sahasravritam
hasta-nyasta-natapavargam akhilodaram kisorakriti  ||2||

  Simple Meaning:

Lord Krishna is the Very Essence of Vrindavana

There is an  entity who looks like a youthful boy. He is being showered with kalpataru flowers falling from the fingertips of aspararas.That carefree young boy is in a state of eternal bliss. He stands transfixed, delighted by the melodious strains of the flute and sways joyously, hungry for love. He is surrounded by thousands of beautiful milkmaids who appear so very attractive as they try to hold up their garments which are becoming loose over and over again (due to the ecstasy of hearing Krishn'a flute play). The young boy who grants the joy of release from rebirth to  devotees who have surrendered to Him and who is supremely generous- such an adolescent Lord Krishna is the sole object, the very essence of Shri Vrindavana.

The Rasa-Laden Commentary:

Glorifying Krishna, Shri Bilavmangal ji has saluted HIm in the first shloka and said that He fulfills all our desires.



 
Lord Krishna Assuages our Painful Suffering

In the second shloka he points out that Krishna is an entity. Eagerly desirous for darshan, Shri Bilavmangal is advancing on the spiritual path. It seems as if the Vaishnavas of his time are asking him which extraordinary entity resides in Vrindavan because of which you are going there. He answers that Krishna is the only one who is resplendent in Shri Vrindavan. All other living beings inflict tapas or sufferings whereas that entity assuages pain, is auspicious and confers our well being.

Shri Gopal Bhatt Goswami Pada says: His hands, face, feet and other parts are all exquisite forms which give joy. Thus He does not decay, is eternally charming, always of the same age age, one svarupa, constantly Kishore or youthful and transcendental. A symbol of divinity, He is the munificent Supreme Being. There are several incarnations of Vishnu but there is no other svarupa except Krishna who makes trees-creepers, and even the flora and fauna loot His love.


 
 Bilavmangal ji is Eagerly Desirous to Catch a Glimpse of Krishna'

Singing of the lilas of Krishna, Shri Bilavmangal ji is lovestruck and becomes eagerly desirous for Krishna's darshan...He  says: In Vrindvana, on the banks of the Yamuna, beneath the Vanshi Vata, dressed in yellow garments, wearing the mormukut, placing one foot on the other, in the tribhanga mudra, balancing the flute on slightly tender hollowed hands, playing its mellifluous notes by running His fingers on its seven air holes, Krishna stands radiant, passionately drawing the Braj beauties for a romantic dalliance and dance.


 The Gopis Move in a Delicious Anguish to Krishna

It is the sound of the flute which makes the gopis ardently long for him, their passions are aroused, they cast off the refrains of family duties and run in delicious anguish for union with Krishna, the ocean of love. The dams of highly restrictive social conventions and the constraints of decency and honour break down, and the heart's refrains do not matter...

And now the bonds of body and clothing also break down. This is the true nature of Krishna's love, all the bonds are crushed, the instant it bursts forth.



 
The Gopis Surround Krishna at the Vanshi Vata

The gopis reach the Vanshi Vata and surround Lord Krishna from all sides. As it is the enchanting flute had slackened their constrictions and now on relishing the intoxicating nectar of Madan Mohan's(a title of Krishna, an infatuator of the god of love) beauty, the gopis swoon in religious rapture.


Imbibing the shringara bhava, the peak of human emotions, they become pure and bright all over, and look distinctly beautiful. The gopis are equally tender in expressing and experiencing their love for Krishna and enhance the beauty of Krishna, the Rasraj of Shringara, by reflecting his madhurya in equal measure.


The Supreme Lover Krishna Dallies with a Gopi

Krishna, the symbol of divinity who grants mukti to devotees who want to be released  from the cycle of birth and death, is the One who frees these cowherdesses from all bonds. He grants them the delight of sporting with Him as the supreme lover and grants transcendental love of the highest order to these beloveds.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

'Shri Krishna Karnamrita': First Shloka

cintamanir jayati somagirir gurur me ,
shiksha-gurush ca bhagavan shikhi-pishcha-maulih  |
yat-pada-kalpataru-pallava-shekhareshu,
lila-svayamvara-rasam labhate jayashrih  || 1||

Simple Meaning


 Lord Krishna Wears Peacock Feathers

Glory be to Cintamani, the alluring mistress who showed the path of loving devotion to me and glory be to my initiating diksha guru, Somagiri. And all glories be to the Supreme Being, Lord Krishna who wears peacock feathers on his head. Due to His divine play, Jayashri (Sri Radha) enjoys the divine conjugal pastimes of an eternal consort under the lustre of His lotus feet, which are like the budding shoots of a kalpataru (a tree that grants all desires).

The Rasa Laden Commentary:


The Lotus Feet of Lord Krishna

First of all Shri Shri Bilavmangal ji salutes 'Sri Cintamani' who urged him towards the delightful path of loving devotion. It was because of her instruction that he shunned the mundane world and advanced towards his spiritual goal. Then he prays to his diksha guru (spiritual preceptor), Somagiri. Soon after, he sings the glories of Lord Krishna flaunting the tail of peacock feathers, who is his shiksha guru, whose lotus feet fulfil everyone's desires like the kalpataru and in the lustrous nails of whose toes sweet romantic dalliances frolic. 


 
Shri Radha Relishes Krishna's Divine Play

Wherein Shri Radha, an incarnation of Lakshmi, constantly relishes the rasa of His divine play. Taking the refuge of His lotus feet, bhaktas are absorbed in the ecstasy of His  playful dalliance, Shri Bilavmangala salutes that very Krishna.
shiksha-gurush ca bhagavan shikhi-pishcha-maulih  |


Dark-hued Krishna is Bilavmangal ji's Spiritual Preceptor

 Wearing peacock feathers, the dark-hued youthful Krishna is Bilavmangal's shiksha guru. Although Devi Cintamani had taught him the first lesson in the school of love but that was just like the start of literacy.In reality the diretor and spiritual leader of the school of love is Shyam Sundar, the supreme lover. Obtaining His loving teaching-loaded with passionate devotion, Shri Bilavmangal reaches the heights of religious rapture.
We salute such a shiksha guru who is the lord and acharya of love, the dark-hued and beautiful Supreme Being, wearing the tail of peacock feathers, a million times over,

yat-pada-kalpataru-pallava shekharesh ,
lila-svayamvara-rasam labhate jayashrih  |


 Lord Krishna's  Ineffable Beauty

Shri Bilav Mangal ji strongly feels that whatever is beautiful in this world is insignificant when compared to the ineffable beauty of Krishna.
The fingers of Lord Krishna's feet look like budding shoots of the kalpataru, are very tender, and we ardently long for them. In the front portion of His nails Jayashri (Shri Radha) spontaneously attains the joy of an eternal consort. And by merely doing smarana of His toe nails, Krishna's romantic dalliances gush forth in one's heart.

In the 'Gopi Geet' the gopis have begged for His lotus feet.

pranat-kaamadam padma jaarchitam
dharani mandanam dhyey-maapadi  |
charan pankajam shantmam cha te
raman nah staney-shvarp-yaadhihan  ||


The Gopis Beg for Krishna's Lotus Feet

O Priyatam (dearest)! Please posit Your lotus feet on our hearts. This is the sole means of pacifying the agony which arises due to separation from You.
 
Only by attaining the proximity (beatific state in which the soul attends on God) of these feet, can they relish the sweet rasa of Krishna's romantic dalliance, and the joy of belonging to the supreme lover.
This is their ardent longing and implicit belief.



Dark-hued Krishna Reappears for the Rasa Lila

This pair of Krishna's lotus feet which the cowherdesses yearn for, are the spiritual attainment and treasure trove of these village women. Placing them on an absolutely secretive and safe spot, these beauties relish their closeness as per their own wishes. That is why when Krishna reappears in the rasa lila after he had vanished, some love-struck cowherdess keeps both his lotus feet on her forlorn heart with delicious anguish.

Shri Jiva Goswami

As Shri Jiva Goswamipada says Krishna, the mischievous supreme lover is hungry for the fulfilment of love and  is always yearning for many more romantic escapades like the capricious black bee. His ardent longing is never at peace and is not bound by the highly restrictive social contraints of these village women. This unrestrained interpersonal romantic exchange never lessens and increases every moment. And His lotus feet become passionately restless as they fervently crave for some new playful dalliance.