Sunday, July 23, 2017

'Prem Rasamrit Dhara': Letter No: 11


Shri Dham Vrindavan

Dear Darshan,
   
vilsatu vilase priyasya |


 The Ineffable Beauty of Krishna

“He is very dear to us” this is sufficient enough as an answer to your question. A repository of happiness and the alleviator of sorrow, Krishna can never cause pain to us. If we are feeling so it is the fault of His ineffable beauty, His madhurya, His infinite affection, His tender age and fresh youthfulness and His being the Supreme Lover of beautiful cowherdesses, His reddish slanting eyes, the sweetness of His joyous laughter and lips soaked in rasa, His adeptness in the art of charming people, the exquisite beauty of His chubby cheeks, His broad chest adorned with the vanamala, kneelength arms, eagerly desirous of embracing His beloveds along with beauty pervading every fiber of His being . .Distressed at our inability of gathering up the ineffable beauty of Krishna, is what makes us feel the anguish of separation. Actually, He is eternally dear to us and all the activities of Krishna are also eternal. Transience can’t even touch Him. He simply does not know how to part from us after being found.  Infinite affection is His very nature. He does not even like listening to words like separation, parting and so on. Then how can one believe that He performs the lila of making us suffer the anguish of separation.


The Sakhi Has Become One with Dark-hued Krishna

How much truth is there in the anxious sakhi lamenting about the anguish of separation from Krishna. Dark-hued Krishna’s indestructible entity pervades every thought, body, mind and fiber of her being.” Hugging Krishna to her heart, she is pining for Him. The sakhi singing the tale of separation has actually become one with Krishna,’jit dekhun tit Shyammayi hai’-Wherever I look I see Krishna, the colour of the condensed sky.” It was then decided that feeling separation from Krishna is another name for an emotional yearning for the Supreme Lover/, which seeks fulfillment.

 
 Krishna Pervades every Particle of Braj


Dark –hued Krishna pervades every particle of Braj then how can the torturous anguish of separation stray there.
We can just not gather up His beautiful body and sweetness even if we want to that is why it seems like a state of separation. As far as I can understand He simply does not. approve of the anguish of separation. In case he does then that Thakur must be belonging to some realm of opulence.


Supreme Lover Krishna Embraces His Beloved

We can’t forget the fact that He is a premi, a Lover. When the Premspada, the Supreme Lover, does not want separation and wants to tightly bind the beloved in the noose of His embrace, constantly relishing the rasa of her lips, then how can the dear Lover even dream of forgetting this sweet bond?  It is only the ineffable beauty of Krishna beauty which keeps making us feel a sense of separation , even on being bound in a tight embrace. The sakhi’s intense love and an ardent longing for rasa makes her labour under this misapprehension. In reality she is highly fortunate, and a lovingly passionate amorous woman. This unfortunate state can’t affect her even in her dreams. The rules of this realm are confusing. The one who has found Krishna also says she has not attained him, whereas the one who has not found Him keeps complaining that she have not got Him. Saying so is a strange custom in this divine realm .They have not found Krishna is the very nature of those who have attained Krishna and drunk the rasa of Krishna’s love.


 
A Sakhi Longs for Krishna

How can she be a beloved if she hasn’t found the Supreme Lover or is separated from Him.The chakor[1] has not even dreamt of being separated from the moon. 


 Black Bee Sucks Nectar of the Lotus

The large black bee has not known the anguish of separation from the lotus. 



Night Bird Chakor Thrives on Moonbeams

The chakor bird always longs for and thrives on moonbeams and the moonbeams are linked to him. No one has ever seen them crying due to separation. But of course, being thirsty and forever longing for each other is their permanent state. And so this lack of satisfaction and longing for more seems like separation. Who can possibly explain this state? That realm is full of crazy sakhis smitten by Krishna, all of them have drunk bhang. There is no one else there who can make  them understand things or admonish them. And that’s it! All of them are constantly infatuated by Krishna.



Dark-hued Krishna with His Beloved in a Kunja

(2)The Supreme Lover and His beloved are sitting in joyous abandon with their feet dangling in a water body. That kunja is enclosed by dense creepers and loaded with the fragrance of khas and rose flowers. The sakhis are attached to creeper thickets like honey bees. Both Radha-Krishna are engrossed in sweet mutual conversation and absorbed in the sweetness of their entwined limbs. They are both bound in a tight embrace during the momentum of their talk, finding an opportunity to relish the rasa of their lips. The gust of a cool slight breeze makes them vigilant at times and encourages them to dally romantically once again.


A Bumble Bee Hovers Over Shri Radha's Lotus Face

How  were they to know that there were would be a hindrance even in this? Suddenly a humming black bee, passionate to relish rasa, got entry into the nikunja along with the gust of wind, guided by the couple’s exuding bodily fragrance; and ended up breaking the silence of the secluded ambiance. Beloved Radha’s deep trance was broken. She woke up-and was startled because of having a timid nature. Though the hindrance by the bumble bee was not desirable but this would have probably happened to accentuate the speed of this particular dalliance. Hence beloved Radha, bound in a close embrace, could not stop the greed of the black bee. He hovered really close to Shri Radha’s lotus face, sometimes humming over Her braid and coming dangerously close at other times, drawn by her bodily fragrance and buzzing close to her cheeks. 




Beloved Radha Tries to Drive Away the Bumble Bee

 Priyaji was so scared whereas mischievous Supreme Lover Krishna kept sitting indifferently. One wondered what He was thinking of as he watched that intoxicated black bee? It seemed that He too was experiencing a new ardent longing. Bewildered Priya ji was trying to ward off the black bee with both her hands. Afraid of the black bee, She was taking refuge in the Supreme Lover’s embrace. Sometimes with the edge of Her saree and at times with the Supreme Lover’s pitambar[2]  She was trying to drive off the bee but the bee did not want to be chased away. When beloved Radha was very exhausted the Supreme Lover could not tolerate it. Driving away the black bee, He said,”Priya, Madhusudan[3] has gone away. Don’t be scared now.” Priyaji had to just hear this sentence and she fainted in His embrace. Krishna could not understand what had happened. He tried very hard to bring Her back to consciousness but it did not work.


 
Sakhi Lalita Helps out Shri Radha-Krishna

Ultimately Krishna called out to dear sakhi Lalita and she immediately presented herself. On hearing Him out she grasped the entire situation. Softly she whispered in beloved Radha’s ears,”Ladli, get up!Dark-hued Krishna has come back and is sitting right next to you. Keeping your head on His strong soft thigh, He is playfully caressing your hair.” Beloved Radha opened Her eyes on hearing these words and saw Krishna bending over Her lotus face. A new wave of love gushed forth, leading to a fresh romantic dalliance. Observing them with a graceful glance, Lalita ran out of the kunja, letting them soak in the passionate dalliance of rasa.   



Rasa Pervades the Realm of the Supreme Lover & His Beloved

Such is the rasa of that realm. Even on being embraced by Krishna’s, just by hearing ‘Madhusudan has gone away’ Shri Radha fainted, pained by the agony of separation. Now if that Beloved says,” The Supreme Lover is harsh and torments me, He goes away after meeting me’ in which way is it a valid complaint. In reality, the anguish of separation is as depicted in the above episode and it sets the stage for a more passionate romantic dalliance.

 
A Cowherdess Bearing the Agony of Separation

How far is some cowherdess living in this prakritik world and keeping the bond of prakriti intact, correct in trying to prove that she is suffering the agony of separation due to some love realization;  without meeting the Supreme Lover, without reaching that divine realm, without once being bound in that tight embrace. 


 Taking Refuge in Supreme Lover Krishna's Embrace

 By taking absolute refuge in the embrace of that Supreme Lover once she will become the woman suffering the anguish of separation in the realm of infinite joy. The one who is in union with Krishna is the one who suffers the pangs of separation.

 
Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu with Krishna

sangam virah vikalpe varmih viraho na sangamastasya
ek ev sange virahe tanmayam jagat ||

There is eternal union in the state of separation says Shri Mahaprabhu Chaitanya Dev .


A River Merging Into the Ocean

Love is the ocean and love is the river in the realm of prema. Have you ever heard about the anguish of separation on the river merging into the ocean? Similarly that cowherd maiden, the river, merged into the broad chest of Krishna, the blue ocean, and remained there. The merging [4]of the river and ocean is seen as the great union. There is no question of union and separation here! The flood and ebb tides of love play began to rise and fall and continued doing so.

Waves of Union & Separation Coexist in the Divine Realm

Rippling waves of union and separation kept rising and falling, she had become a beautiful part of that sweet realm. Romantic Dalliance, dalliance, dalliance. Smitten by Krishna’s madhurya and sidelong glance of those moments of sweet union she did not bother about the social constraints of her household. A traveller of the nikunja path, she kept beautifying the embrace of the Supreme Lover. Then why are you bent on blaming Him for no reason or are you putting this allegation on the Supreme Lover so that He can do something to erase this complaint of yours. 



Maan Lila

Or have you entered the state of some maan lila [5] that you are putting an allegation on Him in your sulky mood of affectionate jealous anger. 

 
Supreme Lover Krishna

Supreme Lover Krishna would merely be laughing on hearing this accusation.

                                                                  Jai Radhe

Yours Manohar Das


[1] Chakor: ([1]a type of partridge trad supposed to live on moonbeams)
[2] Pitambar: yellow coloured garment, worn by Krishna
[3] Madhusudan: the word madhu has come to refer to both the bumblebee and Krishna. Just as bees tend to enjoy the honey of the lotus, Krishna enjoys the honey of His devotees’ love.
[4] Merging: Just as the river keeps flowing forever towards the ocean, the devotee’s consciousness keeps flowing forever towards the Lord. This emphasis on the flow aspect helps us see the union aspect in a new light. The union is not a merger of beings, but a meeting of hearts. When two hearts unite in love, they remain two and yet become one. That is the mystery of love, a mystery that finds expression and resolution in the teachings of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.






[5] Maan lila: One of the ways in which Radhika pleases Krsna is by entering into the loving stage called maan, Her sulky mood of affectionate jealous anger towards Him. Sometimes Her maan has no external cause, and sometimes it has a cause.

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