Another side of Bhaktivinoda 15: Mahaprabhu's teachings to Vamsivadan

There is no other bhakta like Vamsi; Gaurasundar is his siksha guru, and Vishnupriya Devi is his diksha guru. Just before Gauranga took sannyasa, He taught him Krishna's rasa-rāja upāsanā doctrine. These teachings are recorded in Vaṁśī-śikṣā by Premadas Mishra, the great grand-disciple of Ramai Thakura. In this chapter Mahaprabhu will tell what Krishna’s rasa-rāja upāsanā is and also explain how we can perform it. Then we will examine some of Vamsivadan's poetry and his rare book entitled Sri Gaurāṅga-līlāmṛta.

Vaṁśī-śikṣā invocatory verses

abhinna-rasa-rājāya śrī-śacīnandanāya ca
gurave bhakta-rūpāya caitanyāya namo namaḥ
śṛṅgāra-rasa-saṁmagnaṁ śṛṅgāra-rūpakaṁ param
sukhadaṁ śubhadaṁ devaṁ rasarājaṁ namāmy aham

I offer my pranam so the son of Sachi, Who is non-different from Rasa-rāja Krishna, and Who takes the form of a bhakta-guru to teach His Rasa-rāja worship. Rasa-rāja Krishna is deeply fascinated by śṛṅgāra (conjugal love) because He is the supreme devatā of śṛṅgāra-rasa. As He bestows such divine bliss and auspiciousness to all, I offer my pranam to Him.

Premadas Mishra first says that Sachinandana teaches i/n two ways: He externally preaches His sankirtan movement and the Hare Krishna maha mantra. But internally He gives the rasa-rāja upāsanā  Now please listen:

As Krishna is ānanda-cinmaya rasa personified. He can attract everyone. Nevertheless, He especially loves to perform śṛṅgāra-rasa-maya pastimes with His greatest prakriti, the gopis. Although Krishna is atmarama, He enjoys rati keli with all of them. As Srimati Radhika is the hladini sakti, the gopis expand from Her. They discard all other dharma to perform Rasaraj Krishna’s most enjoyable worship. Since Radha is Krishna's dearest consort, She always contests Him in prema keli, a topic that is relished by the rasika bhaktas. Such love exchanges are called śṛṅgāra, and Bharat Muni explains its meaning in the Nāṭya-śāstra:

puṁsaḥ striyāṁ striyāḥ puṁsi saṁyogam prati yā spṛhā
sā sṛṅgāra iti khyāto rati-krīḍādi-kāraṇam

The desire of a handsome man and a beautiful woman to unite is called sringara. Their activities include rati kridah and all of love's other expressions.

In the mood of a bhakta, Gauranga exclaims:

“Let us offer limitless pranams to the param sundar, rasaraja nagar Sri Krishna. For He excites the gopis' minds and awakens their loving desires for Him. This adi-rasa -- the original, most ancient and divine mellow -- is called śṛṅgāra. It has 64 aspects which are experienced between the nāyaka and the nāyikā, the rasa's viṣaya and āśraya."

As Krishna is the gopis' prana ballabha and Braja-mohana. He is the rasa's viṣaya. The pandits declare Him to be the śṛṅgāra-rasarāja, Who can easily defeat Cupid's charm. As a dhīra-lalita nāyaka. His sole activity is to relish romantic adventures with His beloved gopis, who are the rasa's āśraya. Srimati Radhika is mahā-bhāva-cintāmaṇi and Krishna's greatest lover. She bathes three times to increase Her purity for offering Her rati-sevā to Krishna:

1. Radha's karuṇāmṛta-snāna is Her magnanimity and this awakens Her desire to share Krishna’s conjugal love with all of Her sakhis;
2. Her taruṇāmṛta-snāna brings about Her incomparable bodily splendor, which easily devastates Krishna’s mind; and
3. Her lāvaṇyāmṛta-snāna makes Radha's boldly luster increase limitlessly, submerging Krishna in all of Her mādhurya.

Radha always lets Krishna relish conjugal love with Her to fulfill all of His desires. Here the poet Vidyapati describes Their fascinating rati utsava:

duhu meli keli bilāsa karu, duhu adharāmṛta duhu mukha bharu
duhu aṅga pulakita bilāse bibhora, binodinī rādhā binodiẏā kora
duhu keli paṇḍita rūpe guṇe sama, bilāsa rabhasa rase keha nahe kama
surata mūrata duhu karu parakāśa, rati pati hṛdaẏete lāgala tarāsa
adabhuta parirambhaṇe dhani lāja, nūpura ruṇu jhuṇu kiṅkiṇī bāja
eka tanu eka mana ekahi parāṇa, duhu tanu eka bhelo bidhi niramāṇa
śrama jale bhijala duhu jana gāẏa, duhu rati sāẏare ora nā pāẏa
duhu dohā cumbi samādhala keli, duhu jana sebane bidyāpati geli

As Radha and Krishna ecstatically kiss, Their bodies reel in horripilation and Their vilasa keli begins. When Rai Vinodini and Vinoda Shyam embrace it appears that they are prema keli pandits of equal talent. As They become steeped in lovemaking, rati takes personified form and Kamadeva flees the battlefield! Krishna is expertly fondling Radha's breasts, but then She topples Him to deliver stealthy blows as Her waist and ankle bells sweetly resound. O, how wonderful to see them merge and become one! Their bodies are soaked in perspiration as they swim through an endless ocean of rati bliss! At last, They share a long kiss and collapse. Then Vidyapati goes in to perform sevā (in his gopi svarūpa).

In His bhakta bhava, Prabhu ecstatically tells Vamsivadan: “When Radha and Krishna's bodies unite in jugal milan Their prema awakens intensely. Then I pray to serve those who unite Them life after life!”

Prabhu then confides in Vamsi, saying: “I have spoken from my heart to reveal this confidential tattva about Krishna’s Rasaraja worship. But many people may take my words to be the raving of a madman. So please protect these teachings from the karmis, the jnanis, the sinful, and from those who are arasika, those who cannot appreciate Krishna’s śṛṅgāra-rasa affairs.”

Rasa Analysis

As we hear about about Mahaprabhu's eagerness to promote Krishna's rasaraja worship, it would appear natural that more and more Vaishnavas would become attracted to it. On the contrary, however, most people are not rasika, therefore they overlook Mahaprabhu’s matchless gift and settle for other forms of worship which are much inferior. If this is the case for us, we should feel ashamed! There is no other Krishna bhajan which surpasses what Mahaprabhu so freely wishes to offer us here.

“O Vamsi!” Prabhu goes on, “To worship Rasaraja Krishna, we will need a special kind of prema which is called piriti, or romantic love. Your father has written about this:

yādṛśī kāmināṁ nātha kāminyām anapāyinī
prasīdeti mamāpy āstāṁ prītir etādṛśī tvayi

Just as a man overwhelmed by kama always thinks about his kamini – O prananatha! I always pray that my mind dwell always in Your piriti.

Chakori Catta (Vamsivadan's father) wrote this verse to demonstrate how bhaktas can dovetail their kama to Rasaraj Krishna and transform it into divine piriti as the gopis do. For the gopis' kama is actually the highest form of prema.

Krishna's Rasaraja Upasana is kāntā-bhāva Worship

Mahaprabhu next tells Vamsi: “Although the shastras describe many kinds of prema, kanta piriti is the essence:

sei sambandha braje caturvidha haẏa, prabhu sakhā putra kāntā mahājane kaẏa
kṛṣṇa prati ei cāri sambandha uttama, vicāra karile kintu āche taratama
sambandha uttama kāntā sambandha bakhāni, yāra antarbhūta sadā trisambandha jana
ei lāgi bhagyavān jīve samudaẏa, rasarāja kṛṣṇe kāntābhābete bhajaẏa
ei saba niguṇa kathā bala nāhi jaẏa, sambandhādi tattba sadā karibe śikhām
tāhāra pramāṇa kahi karaha śrabaṇa:
“The Mahajanas say that there are four ways to worship Krishna in Vraja: As our prabhu, sakha, putra, and kanta. Each of these methods is great, but after analysing each of them, we can discover that kāntā-bhāva is the best. Therefore those worshipping rasaraja Krishna in kāntā-bhāva are the most fortunate. This topic cannot be discussed openly, for we need to hear about Krishna's piriti tattva from a rasika bhakta guru. Let me now explain why:

By taking shelter of a rasika bhakta we can learn about Krishna’s piriti rasa. Those who are not rasika, however, often criticize the rasika bhaktas and remain attracted to inferior methods of worship. O Vamsi, your father tells about this:

vidagdhaṁ bharato bhaktaṁ jñātum śaknomy ahaṁ yathā
svarṇa-vanig iva svarṇaṁ kuru prasādam ity api

Just as an experienced jeweler can detect real gold, we can recognize Krishna's rasika bhakta by Rasaraj Krishna's mercy alone.

Rasa Analysis

Gauranga's desire to promote Rasaraj Krishna’s kāntā-bhāva bhajan through Vamsivadan is a magnanimous contribution to the Vaishnavas. Because Krishna’s rasika bhaktas are scarce, however, this worship has almost become lost today. When Mahaprabhu's Nabadwip Lila was manifest, kāntā-bhāva was in vogue and it was widely practiced. Hence, the teachings of Gauranga's nitya siddha parshadas in Nabadwip provide the ideal path to follow, as they were all rasika bhaktas.

When we say rasika bhaktas we refer to those whose hearts are steeped in divine romanticism, which is called pirīti. Prema and pirīti are two different things. To serve Radha-Krishna as a manjari gopi, we will require prema. But when we speak about a romantic relationship with svayam Bhagavan that includes embracing, kissing, and rati keli, this is called pirīti. And from Gauranga’s teachings to Vamsivadan in Vaṁśī-śikṣā, we learn that pirīti is the very essence of prema, and that we should learn about svayam Bhagavan's pirīti-rasa from a rasika bhakta.

Vamsivadan's Key Role

Now speaking of rasikas, who could be more so than Vamsi? To give a clear idea, let's picture a scene which will explain why Mahaprabhu chose him to be His Rasaraj upasana's adi acharya:

It's nighttime and everyone is getting ready to go to bed. Suddenly the gopis hear the Vamsi’s sweet vibration – and each gopi surmises that Krishna is personally calling 'her.' Aho! Millions of Vraja sundaris leave everything and come running like mad women to unite with Madan-mohan. This is the Vamsi's akarshini sakti which allures every gopi to surrender herself to Govinda for His sringara rasamaya pleasure. Hence Vamsivadan is Gaura and Govinda's greatest rasika bhakta.

Gaurasundar Performs the Same Pastimes

Vaṁśī-śikṣā began with this introduction: abhinna-rasa-rājāya śrī-śacīnandanāya ca, "Sacinandana is non-different from Rasaraja Krishna." Now what does Advaita Acarya say about this?

vidagdha-nāgarī-bhāva-kalā-keli-manoramam |
gadādhara-prema-bhāva-kalākrānta-manoratham |
narahari-prema-rasāsvāda-vihvala-mānasam ||
sarva-bhāgavatāhūta-kāntābhāva-prakāśakam |
prema-pradāna-lalita-dvibhujaṁ bhakta-vatsalam ||

“Hey Gaurasundar! The exciting bhavas and prema keli You enjoy with Your clever and rasa-skilled Nadiya nagaris is simply enchanting. Although Gadadhara's prema bhavas and rasika talents captivate You the most, Narahari's prema rasa also enslaves You. What is more, at the slightest hint You become the kanta (amorous hero) of Your Bhagavat bhaktas. Thus while embracing them with Your lovely arms, You truly become bhakta-vatsala for sharing madhura prema with every one of them.” (26-28)

This is an amazing discovery. Moreover, since it is coming from Advaita Acharya, we can know that this is an accurate account. These verses appear in Advaita's Śrī-Gaurāṅga-pratyaṅga-varṇanākhya-stava-rājaḥ where He lucidly describes every one of Gauranga's beautiful bodily limbs. Yet, in the following poem we can find Vamsivadan Thakur viewing Gauranga in a similar mood:

ālo soi soi nadiẏā mājhāre o nā rūpa, soṇāra gaurāṅga nāce ati aparūpa
alaka tilaka sohe mukhu paripāti, rase ḍhubu ḍhubu kare raṅga ākhi duṭi
adhare īṣat hāsa madhura kathā kaẏa, gribarbangima dekhi prankotha ray
haijardolame dole bakula phulāra mālā, hata rāsa-līlā jāne kata rasa kalā
baṁśībadane kaẏa śundo ājuli, tumi na jāna gorā nagara banamālī

“O sakhi, sakhi, look! Here in Nadia our Sonar Gauranga captivating dancing form is incomparable! O look at those beautiful tilaka designs painted over His forehead… and His reddish lotus eyes appear intoxicated in the stupor of madhura piriti. O what sort of rasa katha is He murmuring as He softly smiles at us? O sakhi, have you noticed how that bokula mala swinging over His chest matches the rhythm of His madhura dancing steps? But sakhi, as we look upon His incomparable beauty, wouldn't you guess that He is a true romantic Who knows all about romantic affairs?” Vamsivadan replies: “O Ajuli! Haven't you recognized our Gora? He's that Nagar Vanamali of Braja!”

Rasa Analysis

What Advaita and Vamsivadan are revealing shouldn't be difficult to understand: that our rasamaya Krishna, Who enjoys the rāsa-līlā with the gopis, had advented to go on relishing those same pastimes which are Svayam Bhagavan’s greatest source of pleasure. So when Advaita says, sarva-bhāgavatāhūta-kānta-bhāva-prakāśakam, “That Gauranga becomes the amorous hero (kānta) with every one of His bhaktas, the Bhagavatas,” let's try to envision this picture:

The kirtan at Srivasa Angan is going on all night with incredible wonder! Mahaprabhu's greatest bhaktas are all present. Mukunda leads the sankirtan, and his beautiful songs describe the rāsa-līlā's splendor. As Mahaprabhu becomes overwhelmed in the rāsa-līlā, His bodily splendor attracts every bhakta. Then His incomparable dancing also devastates everyone's mind. This is when something wonderful happens:

piriti phula sore marame bhedalo
bhave sahacora bhora re*

“Gauranga's loving glance of piriti pierces everyone’s heart, just like Cupid’s flower arrows!”

Thus, every bhakta becomes overwhelmed with deep feelings of romantic love for Gaurasundar. Then by Yogamaya's arrangement the bhaktas' nagari svarupas manifest, and each bhakta perceives that Gaurasundar is dancing by their own side. In other words, Mahaprabhu simultaneously manifests a prakasa murti beside each bhakta along with His splendid kāntā-bhāva.

Līlā-prakāśa Bheda : The Mystery of Many Lila Realms

Advaita is revealing an inner world in Goloka Nabadwipa called Gauranga's Rasaraj līlā-prakāśa. This is the matching counterpart of Krishna’s madhura pastimes with the gopis. Just as a television has many channels, in Goloka Nabadwipa there are limitless līlā-prakāśa in which Yogamaya arranges for the Lord and His bhaktas to take part. Each prakāśa forms a separate world from the others, as well.

In Kṛṣṇa-sandarbha, Sri Jiva Goswami tells how Krishna performs different Lila’s (Lila bheda), in different places (prakāśa-bheda), in different forms (svarūpa-bheda), and with a different mentality in each form (abhimāna-bheda) – to relish many different flavors of transcendental rasa – all at the same time.

Jiva next says that because Krishna's nitya siddha bhaktas are part of His cid sakti, they can do these things, too. Now why have we explained all this? Because we can have numerous svarupas.

For example, this essay's first four chapters tell about our manjari svarupa in Vrindavan. Then we discussed our kishora brahman svarupa in Goloka Nabadvipa. Mahaprabhu's teachings to Vamsivadan reveal how we can worship Krishna as a sakhi in kāntā-bhāva. Even more fascinating, however, is Advaita's testimony: when He informs us that Gaurasundar is eager to share His kāntā-bhāva with all of His bhaktas.

*These lines appear in Nayananda Mishra's Adivasa Kirtan song. He is Gadadhara Pandit’s nephew and disciple.

Now, which of these transcendental rasas will be the most suitable for us? That is something that every bhakta can decide according to his or her individual ruci. From personal experience I would say, why not try them all? As each one of these divine rasas has a wonderful relish of its own.

Śrī-Gaurāṅga-līlāmṛta

Vamsivadan has written a Gaura-carita mahā-kāvya entitled Gaurāṅga-līlāmṛta, which narrates Gauranga's madhurya-maya Nabadwip Lila. Although this invaluable shastra was voluminous, only a small portion of it has been recovered. Here in the first selection, a Nadiya nagari describes Gauranga’s rupa madhuri to her intimate girlfriend:

“Hey sakhi! I bet those artistic tilaka designs painted over Gauranga's forehead will certainly steal away every beautiful young woman’s mind. Yet, you had better watch out for His lurking eyebrows which defeat the might of Cupid's bow. Sakhi, doesn't His raised nose resemble the elegant cover of a sesame flower? And look at that kaustubha jewel resting over His broad chest. As I view His vaijayanti mala gently swinging over His lotus feet, I am mesmerized! O surely He must be Gokula's natabara, that stunning youth Who sports with the gopis… for now He appears as Saci's son.”

Here is another scene that Vamsi describes in Gaurāṅga-līlāmṛta:

As the Son of Saci comes walking down the main road, a commotion is stirred: all of the chaste young housewives become like wounded deer… for the arrows of Gauranga’s loving glances have pierced them and they regret that they cannot meet with Him! But O Ma! His loving glance falls upon them again!

Thus we wonder what will happen next? In the following two poems, Vamsivadan tells something about Gaura and Gadadhara's madhura pastimes:

Pasa Khela (An Amusing Dice Game)

During the pasa khela competition Gauranga says: “Hey Gadadhara, just place the first bet!” 

He replies: “If I win, I'll fall at Your feet, but if I loose, You may embrace Me, or do whatever You choose.” 

Gauranga smiles, and takes the first throw – and He wins – by a marvelous show! Then Gaura cheers, with a big, smiling face. “O comes Gadadhara! It's time that We embrace.”

Gadadhara's Flute LessonThe Baghnapara Sampradaya's Nabadvipa Yogapitha Worship

The yoga pith is mantramayi upasana, as it forms a mandala that we worship in mantra meditation.

In Dr. Kanan bihari Goswami's acclaimed book, The Baghnapara Sampradaya and Vaishnava Sahitya, he tells how's the Baghnapara Goswamis traditionally worship the Panchatattva in the center of the Yoga Pith formation: They include Vamsivadan, thus converting it into a Sat-tattva puja. Herein, Mahaprabhu is worshiper first in the formation's center. Then comes Nityananda's puja on Gaura's right side. Next comes Advaita's puja on Nitai’s right side. Then comes Gadadhar’s puja on Gaura's left side. Next comes Vamsivadan’s puja on Gadadhar's left side. Shrivasa's puja follows, as he holds an umbrella standing behind Mahaprabhu. Here's how the formation looks: