Locan Das's Dhāmāli (from Gadadhar Pran Das) Part I (Introduction)

It is my great pleasure to post this revised and updated edition of Gadadhar Pran's translation and commentary on Lochan Das Thakur's Dhāmāli. 

More than twenty years ago our first edition of Locana das Thakura’s Dhāmāli came out. But since then our understanding of the topic has grown considerably. We have also strived in many ways to improve our first presentation in this second edition. Thus we sincerely hope that the Vaishnavas will get pleasure in reading this.

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Lochan dasa Thakur’s
Dhāmāli
Second Revised Edition

Translation and commentary by
Gadadhar Pran Das, whatsapp/email +91-7501237557

than twenty years ago we published the first edition of Lochan das Thakur’s Dhāmāli. Since then, however, our understanding of the topic has grown considerably. We have also strived in many ways to improve over our first presentation in this second edition. Thus we sincerely hope that the Vaishnavas will get pleasure in reading this.


What is Dhāmāli?

After completing Gauranga’s biography in Caitanya maṅgala, Lochan Das Thakur's desire remained unfulfilled, for he couldn’t focus there on the intimate, madhura pastimes that his gurudeva Sri Narahari Sarkar Thakur loved so much. Thus to delight his gurudeva and Gaura’s other rasika bhaktas, Lochan composed Dhāmāli.

Now, since the word dhāmali means raṅga-rasikatā, or "playful romanticism", it shouldn’t be surprising that here the playful romantic in question happens to be our Nadiya-vinoda Sri Gorachandra. And moreover, because his irresistibly captivating beauty is just like that of Vrindaban’s Madanmohan, all the pretty girls are simply mad after him!

Although many other Gaudiya Mahajanas have portrayed Gauranga in this way, Lochan’s colloquial style of Bengal poetry is especially pleasing to the heart. Thus, it is not unlikely that after sampling these poems one would become attracted to worshiping Gauranga-sundara in Narahari’s rasika mood.

Our commentary entitled Gaura-kṛpā-kaṇikā (a morsel of Gaura’s kṛpā) has been included here.

Introduction

Dhāmāli and Thakur Bhaktivinoda

Who can fathom the mādhurya or beautiful sweetness of Srimati Vishnupriya devi’s compassion, which is so seldom attained in our world? Nevertheless, because she happens to be the leader and foremost Acharya of Bhaktivinoda’s guru parivāra, a relevant question arises:

How can the members of this parivāra or anyone else for that matter become eligible to serve in Vishnupriya’s astakala Goloka pastimes with Sriman Gaurasundar?

Will we not need to have a divine and beautiful female form to enter this realm—just as we require a gopī-svarūpa to serve Radha Krishna in Goloka Vrindaban?

Furthermore, upon discovering that Vishnupriya’s limitless sakhi followers are all Nadiya nāgarīs, would we not be correct to conclude that Bhaktivinoda’s guru parivāra culminates in nāgarī-bhāva?


(2)
Like Thakur Narahari, Thakur Bhaktivinoda staunchly worshiped Gaura and Gadadhar. But what does such worship entail? Dhāmāli itself provides the ideal response, for Gaura Gadadhar bhajan essentially means GaurāGga-nāgarī-bhajana. Gadadhar’s cousin and intimate disciple Sri Nayanananda Mishra captures this mood in his padāvalī or Bengali song:

paṇḍita maṇḍita bhela gaura naṭarājadūra saiẏe dekhe saba nāgarī samājanadiyā nāgarī gaṇa bujhila marameyāra prasāde pāẏa prema ratanegadādhara prema baśe gaura rasiẏākahaẏe nayanānande ei rase bhāsiẏā

“Aho! When the great dancer Gaura naṭarāja embraces Gadadhar Pandit, the nāgarīs all watch from a distance! Because the Nadiya nāgarīs can fathom what is going on, only by their mercy can we understand these intimate pastimes, and only by their mercy can we attain such a jewel of prema. On seeing rasiẏā Gaurasundar completely subjugated by Gadadhar’s prema, Nayanananda is floating in the rasa.”

Gaura-kṛpā-kaṇikā
Nayanananda is the ideal person to accurately narrate Gaura and Gadadhara’s madhura pastimes since he direct witnessed them. Here he establishes an important siddhānta: Bhaktas desiring to understand and participate in these intimate līlās will certainly need to take shelter of the nāgarīs, as they alone can award us the jewel of nāgarī prema that will enable us to enter the beautiful world of Gauranga’s romantic pastimes. Though as Radha is Krishna’s supreme consort from whom every gopi expands, let us remember that in his nāgarī form Gadadhar’s is Gauranga’s topmost consort and the source from whom all the other nāgarīs expand.


(3)
The madhura topics described in Dhāmāli are also found in the writings of Vishnupriya’s disciple Vamsivadana, who is the second member of Thakur Bhaktivinoda’s guru parivāra. This can be discovered in Mahaprabhu’s rasarāja teachings to him that are recorded in the Baṁśī-śiksā of Premadasa Mishra, who also belongs to this parivāra. For herein Prabhu offers Vamsi this invaluable instruction:

sei sambandha braje catur bidha haẏa,
prabhu sakhā putra kānta mahājana kaẏa
kṛṣṇa proti ei cāri sambandha uttama,
vicāra karile kintu āche taratama
sambandha uttama kāntā sambandhi bakani,
yāra antarbhūta tri sambandha jāni
ei lāgi bhāgyabān jīva samudaya,
rasarāja kṛṣṇe kānta-bhābete bhajaẏa

The Mahajanas say that there are four ways to worship Krishna in Braj: as one's master, friend, child or lover (kānta). Although each method is great, kāntā-bhāva or consorthood is the best, as the three other moods are contained within it. Therefore those worshiping rasarāja Krishna in kāntā-bhāva are the most fortunate.

When Baṁśī-śiksā begins, however, it is stated that Sachinandan and Rasaraja Krishna are non-different (abhinna-rasarājāẏa śacīnandanāẏa ca). From this we can understand that Gauranga can also be worshiped as one's lover, or kānta. Baṁśībadan’s poetry lucidly depicts this mood:

olo soi nadiyā mājhāre onā rūpa,
sonāra gaurāṅga nāce ati aparūpa
alaka tilaka sohe mukha paripāṭī,
rase ḍhubu ḍhubu kare raṅga ākhi dūṭī
adhare īṣat hāsa madhura kathā kaẏa,
grībāra baṅgimā dekhi prāṇa kothā raẏa
hiẏāẏa ḍolane ḍole bakula phulera mālā,
kata rasa līlā jāne kata rasa kalā
baṁśībadana kaẏa śuna lo ajuli,
tumi nājāna gorā nāgara banamālī

O sakhi, look! Here in Nadiya our Sonar Gauranga’s dancing form is simply magnificent! Just look at his glowing face covered with artistic tilaka designs and bordered by locks of hair! See his moist restless, roaming eyes submerged in an ocean of prema. His lips smile slightly as he speaks sweet loving word, and when we see his neck bend slightly, we cannot say where our life airs have gone! But have you noticed the garland of bakula flowers swinging over his chest? Its rhythm matches his sweet dancing steps. Upon viewing his incomparable beauty I would guess that he is a true romantic who knows all about loving affairs.”

Baṁśībadan states: “O Ajuli! Can’t you recognize our Gora? Do you not know that he is that same forest-flower garlanded nāgara from Braj?

(4)
As the third Acharya in Thakur Bhaktivinoda’s guru parivāra (coming after Vishnupriya and Baṁśībadan), Jahnava Thakurani has another contribution to make: Just as Radha’s younger sister Ananga Manjari is a yūtheśvarī in Vrindaban having countless sakhis assisting in her madhura pastimes with Krishna, so do those same sakhi followers join her in her loving pastimes with Gaurasundar. Jahnava’s adopted son and disciple Sri Ramai Thakur confirms this:

caitanya ballabha tumi jagat- īśbarī
tomāra dāsānudāsa hate bāñchā kari

O gurudevi! You are Gauranga’s ballabhā (dearly beloved) and the goddess ruling the entire universe (jagadīśvarī). I therefore desire to always remain the servant of your servants. (Muralī-bilāsa, 4)

Gaura-kṛpā-kaṇikā
Although Jahnava is Nityananda’s wife and internal shakti, her beautiful body becomes the loving abode by means of which Nitai is able to offer madhura loving sevā to Gaura. In other words, just as Ananga Manjari is Balarama’s shakti and Krishna’s consort, Jahnava is Nityananda’s shakti and Gauranga’s consort.

In the fourth wave of his Anaṅga Mañjarī Sampuṭikā, Ramai describes Jahnava as follows:

ambujākṣi sumadhura, bidagdhā rasikā dhīra

mṛdu smita madhura mūrati

nityānanda guṇollāsī, pūrṇānandāmṛta rāśi

caitanya priyatamā ati

“Jahnava has beautiful lotus eyes. She is:
sumadhura (very attractive in conjugal loving pastimes),
vidagdhā (expert in the romantic arts),
rasikā (she has lots of desire for rati keli),
mṛdu-smitā (she has a lovely smile),
madhura mūrati (her body is ideally contoured for awarding conjugal pleasure),
nityānanda guṇollāsī (she loves to hear Nityananda’s glories) and
purnānandāmṛta rāśi (the very form of complete ānanda and amṛta)."

After mentioning these qualities, which are all ideally suited for madhura rasa, however, Ramai concludes by saying: caitanya priyatamā ati ("She is Gauranga’s most dearly beloved").


(5)

Jahnava’s husband, Sri Nitāicānda Prabhu, is also worshiped in this parivāra, as he is the samaṣṭi guru or supreme guru of all. Because his nāgara and nāgarī tattva, līlā and rasa are very extensive, however, we will wait until later in this book to discuss them more fully.

Nāgarī bhāva and Thakur Bhaktivinoda

We once read an article that appeared in Sri Haridasa Goswami’s Gambhīrāẏa Biṣṇupriẏā entitled Nadiyā nāgarī-bhāva and Thakur Bhaktivinoda. The article’s author, Sri Madhusudan Goswami, was an illustrious scholar and sevāyat of Gopal Bhatta Goswami's Radha-raman temple in Vrindaban. He was also a personal friend of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur and therefore had intimate knowledge of the Thakur's way of thinking.

In his article, the Goswami informs us that Bhaktivinoda was never averse to Nadiya nāgarī-bhāva as many of his followers mistakenly assume. As supporting evidence he shows that on a number of occasions Bhaktivinoda printed nāgarī-bhāva poetry in his personally edited journal Sajjana Toṣaṇī. Madhusudan Goswami quotes these examples and comments upon them.

One may protest that here in these introductory words to Dhāmāli we have taken this matter a step too far, for we have shown above from the evidence provided from the leading acharyas of Thakur Bhaktivinoda’s guru-parivāra that they accepted the authenticity of nāgarī-bhāva bhajan and indeed practiced it. Remember too that they were all nitya-siddha Gaura parikāras.

Hence we may comment that because Bhaktivinoda’s original guru parivāra and nāgarī-bhāva bhajan are very rarely known in our Vaishnava world today, both of these exalted topics truly deserve more exposure amongst the bhaktas.

The paramparā descends as follows:

1) Srimati Vishnupriya devi
2) Sri Baṁśībadan Thakur
3) Srimati Jahnava Thakurni
4) Sri Ramai Thakur
5) Sri Rajaballabha Goswami
6) Sri Keshava-candra Goswami
7) Sri Rudresvara Goswami
8) Sri Dayarama Goswami
9) Srimati Mahesvari Goswamini
10) Srimati Guna Manjari Goswamini
11) Srimati Ramamani Goswamini
12) Sri Yajnesvara Goswami
13) Sri Vipinavihari Goswami
14) Sri Bhaktivinoda Thakur
15) Sri Lalitaprasada Thakur

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