Prakirnaka


These verses were posted by me in 2003 on Gaudiya Discussions, "Pearls of Wisdom". I came across them as the result of a Google search (in fact, some of them I had completely forgotten), so I am just crossposting them here for the record, as they are so nice, with a few editing changes.

A nice simple prayer. I believe it may be Haridas Shastri's own composition.

vaiṣṇave prītir āstāṁ me prītir āstāṁ prabhor guṇe
sevāyāṁ prītir āstāṁ me prītir ārtiś ca kīrtane
āśrite prītir āstāṁ me prītiś ca bhajanonmukhe
ātmani prītir āstāṁ me kṛṣṇa-bhaktir yathā bhavet
May I have love for the Vaishnavas.
May I have love for the Lord's qualities.
May I have love for service.
May I have love and enthusiasm for Harinam Kirtan.
May I have love for those who have taken refuge in the Lord.
May I have love for those who even have a desire to engage in bhajan.
May I have love for my own eternal self,
by which devotion to Krishna comes about.
aiśa-buddhi-vāsitātma-loka-vṛnda-durlabhā
vyakta-rāga-vartma-ratna-dāna-vijña-vallabhā
sa-priyāli-goṣṭha-pāli-keli-kīra-pañjarī
mām urīkarotu nitya-deha-rūpa-mañjarī
May Rupa Manjari accept me in the eternal pastimes! It is difficult for anyone whose mind is contaminated by the majestic concept of God to attain her, yet she has made herself dear to the wise by giving them the jewel of the path of raganuga bhakti revealed. She is like the cage that holds the mynah bird of dalliances engaged in by Radha, the protector of the cowherd community, with all her sakhis. (Sadhana-dipika)

Srila Govardhana Bhatta Gosvami was the grandson of Sri Gadadhara Bhatta Gosvami, a disciple of Srila Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami. He wrote one booklet about Holi pastimes, named Madhu-keli-valli. The descendants of Sri Govardhana Bhatta Gosvami are still living in Vrindavan, opposite the Radha Vallabha temple in a beautiful place called New Madan Mohan Temple. (Information contributed by Advaita Das.) He wrote the following three verses:

hitvā rūpa-padāmbujaṁ bhavati yo rādhāṅghri-dāsyotsukas
tuṅgaṁ geham asau tanoti na kathaṁ ramye sthale saikate
bāhubhyāṁ tridivaṁ spṛśen nahi kathaṁ no vā kathaṁ cchādayet
tūrṇaṁ bhūri-rajobhir ambara-maṇiṁ paṅguṁ na kiṁ cālayet
Anyone who abandons Rupa Gosvami's lotus feet
and still hopes to attain Radharani's service
may as well try building a skyscraper
on a beautiful sandy beach.

He may as well try to touch the heavens with his upraised hands,
or try to cover the sun by throwing up fistfuls of dust,
or try to make a lame man walk.
Why not? He has just as much chance of success.
kaḥ śrī-bhāgavatasya tattvam amalaṁ boddhuṁ kṣamo bhūtale
ko vṛndāvana-mādhurīṁ kalayituṁ vaktuṁ ca dhatte matim
goṣṭhendrāmala-rūpam adbhutatamaṁ ko vā nayen mānasaṁ
śrīmantaṁ karuṇākaraṁ guṇanidhiṁ rūpaṁ sa-bandhuṁ vinā
Who on this earth could ever understand
the pure essence of the Srimad Bhagavatam,
perceive the sweetness of Vrindavan,
or inspire anyone else to speak of it?

And who could bring the mind to meditate
on the son of Nanda's most wondrous beauty?
Without the blessings of the most merciful and virtuous
Rupa Goswami and his associates, no one.
vairāgyaṁ vidhi-rāga-bhaktim amalān nānā-rasān dvādaśa
premānaṁ vraja-vāsināṁ śuka-mukhair viprarṣibhiḥ saṁstutam
gopīnāṁ paramāṁ lasat-para-mahā-bhāvāṁ samarthāṁ ratiṁ
rādhāyām iha mādanaṁ vada sakhe ko vetti rūpaṁ vinā
And, my friend, pray tell,
who would know anything about renunciation,
devotion on either the vidhi or raga paths,
the twelve holy rasas,
the love of the residents of Vraja glorified by Shuka and other seers,
the supreme spirit of Mahabhava found in the gopis,
or their competent affection,
or Radharani's madanakhya-mahabhava?
If it weren't for Sri Rupa?
The following verse from Gopala Champu (Gopala Champu 2.31.46) is fairly well known--

gopeśau pitarau tavācaladhara śrīrādhikā preyasī
śrīdāmā subalādayaś ca suhṛdo nīlāmbaraḥ pūrvajaḥ
veṇur vādyam alaṅkṛtiḥ śikhi-dalaṁ nandīśvaro mandiraṁ
vṛndāṭavy api niṣkuṭaḥ param ito jānāmi nānyat prabho
O my lord, O lifter of the mountain,
I know of nothing other than you,
whose parents are the king and queen of the cowherds,
whose beloved is Radha,
whose friends are headed by Sridama and Subala,
whose older brother is Balaram,
whose musical instrument is the flute,
whose ornament is the peacock feather,
whose home is in Nandisvara,
and whose playground is Vrinda's forest.
The one that precedes it (Gopala Champu 2.31.45) is much less widely quoted, for reasons that will be clear--

nāma śrīmati rādhikā tava pitā bhānuḥ prasūḥ kīrtidā
śvaśrur nanda-vadhuḥ sakhī ca lalitā sārdhaṁ viśākhādibhiḥ
ārāmaḥ kila kṛṣṇa-kānana-tatiḥ kāntaḥ sa kṛṣṇaḥ sadā
nāhaṁ kiñcid avediṣaṁ tad aparaṁ no vedmi vetsyāmi na
O you whose name is Radhika,
whose father is Vrishabhanu
whose mother is Kirtida,
whose mother-in-law is Nanda's wife,
whose chief friend is Lalita, accompanied by Visakha and others,
whose playground is Krishna's forest,
and whose eternal husband is Krisha.
I have never known anything but you,
I know nothing but you, nor will I ever know anything but you.
KAnta translated as "husband", according to Jiva's usage. Preyasi in the first verse should therefore also be translated as "wife."

=============================================================

kasmād vṛnde priya-sakhi hareḥ pāda-mūlāt kuto 'sau
kuṇḍāraṇye kim iha kurute nṛtya-śikṣāṁ guruḥ kaḥ
tvaṁ tvan-mūrtiḥ prati-taru-lataṁ dig-vidikṣu sphurantī
śailūṣīva bhramati parito nartayantī sva-paścāt
- Where are you coming from, Vrinda?
- I was just with Krishna.
- Where is he?
- In the woods over by your pond.
- What is he doing there?
- He is learning to dance.
- And who is teaching him?
- It is You! It is your form,
which he sees manifest in every tree and vine,
which he sees whirling in every direction like a teacher of the dance,
which is making him dance as he tries in vain to catch it.
(Govinda lilamrita 8.77)
prāsāde sā diśi diśi ca sā pṛṣṭhataḥ sā puraḥ sā
paryaṅke sā pathi pathi ca sā tad-viyogāturasya
haṁho cetaḥ prakṛtir aparā nāsti me kāpi sā sā
sā sā sā sā jagati sakale ko'yam advaita-vādaḥ
When I am at home, she is there. But she is everywhere I go.
She is behind me, She is in front of me.
She is on my bed when I try to sleep,
on every path that I walk. Ah, but I am suffering in her separation!

O my mind! There is no other woman for me but she--
She she she she--everywhere, in every nook of the universe--
Is this what is the philosophers mean when they say, "All is one"? (Amaru 105)
saṅgama-viraha-vikalpe
varam iha viraho na tu saṅgamas tasya
ekaḥ sa eva saṅge
tribhuvanam api tanmayaṁ virahe
Were I made to choose between union and separation
I would verily take separation and not union with him.
For, when united in his company, he is but one man,
whereas when separated, the entire universe is saturated with him.
(Padyavali 239)

Comments

Vraja said…
Can you tell me if this verse is translated accurately?

vaikuNThasya bhagavato jyotir-aMza-bhUtA vaikuNTha-loka-zobha-rUpA yA anantA mUrtayas tatra vartante, tAsAm ekayA saha muktasyaikasya mUrtir bhagavatA kriyata iti vaikuNTasya mUrtir iva mUrtir yeSAm ity uktam | PrItiS 10 |

"In the spiritual world, the Supreme Lord has unlimited spiritual forms, all are expansions of himself illuminating that world. With each one of those forms, the Lord enjoys pastimes with a single individual liberated soul."
Jagadananda Das said…
It is not exactly a literal translation. Literal:

The Lord of Vaikuntha (or "the Lord known as Vaikuntha") (vaikuNThasya bhagavato) there has (tatra vartante) infinite spiritual forms (anantA mUrtayas) which come out of a fragment of his light (jyotir-aMza-bhUtA) and which beautify the Vaikuntha world (or are the ornament of the people in Vaikuntha (vaikuNTha-loka-zobha-rUpA). With one of those forms (tAsAm ekayA saha), a form of a single liberated soul (muktasyaikasya mUrtir) is created by the Lord (bhagavatA kriyate). Thus (iti) it is said (ity uktam) "whose form is like Vaikuntha's form."

Jiva is here glossing the words sarve vaikuNTha-mUrtayaH from Bhagavata 3.15.14., in which context it must be seen.

The impression that there is a one-to-one correspondence of a bhagavat form to one mukta form is not quite as evident in the original as in the first translation, but still arguable I should think.
Vraja said…
Thanksfor your time and effort Jagat. In this part:

"With one of those forms (tAsAm ekayA saha), a form of a single liberated soul (muktasyaikasya mUrtir) is created by the Lord (bhagavatA kriyate)"

Is there another accurate way to translate that? The way that is worded seems to give an ambiguous meaning to the text. The way you translate "bhagavatA kriyata", if it does imply "created by", then the previous part makes little sense. Saying that one of the infinite forms of God in Vaikuntha creates the form of a single liberated soul, seems like a strange thing to say. I've seen kriyata translated as "acts with or upon" and "performs with" or variations of that. To me that makes more sense in the context of what precedes it. So instead of:

"With one of those forms (tAsAm ekayA saha), a form of a single liberated soul (muktasyaikasya mUrtir) is created by the Lord (bhagavatA kriyate)"

We get:

"With one of those forms (tAsAm ekayA saha), a form of a single liberated soul (muktasyaikasya mUrtir) performs with the Lord (bhagavatA kriyate)"

What do you think?
Jagadananda Das said…
kriyate is a passive form (3rd person singular) of the verb kri, "to do." So the root mean is "is done" or "is made." I checked the text to see if a mistake had been made for "krIDati" or something similar, which would indeed be play. But the essential point does not really change, "with one of those unlimited forms, the Lord (in a passive construction, the subject is placed in the instrumental, so you have bhagavatA), and the object is in the nominative case (mUrtir).

With one of those unlimited forms, of one liberated soul a form by the Lord is made. (Word for word literal.)
Vraja said…
Thanks Jagat, I think the translation I first gave is from Madhavananda, I think, since he has quoted it a few times. If what you say is true then why is kriyate translated differently in many places?
Jagadananda Das said…
Who knows? It may even have been me! Sometimes we think we see something that is not there. That is why we keep revisiting things.
Anonymous said…
May one ask if any of Sri Haridasa Shastri Maharaja's work has been translated into English?
Jagadananda Das said…
Haridas Shastri did not write much original or independent commentary. Satyanarayana Dasaji is translating the Sandarbhas but not basing it purely on HDS's translation. He did however do a couple of books that are HDS's words, mostly conversations, etc. You can get from jiva.org
Anonymous said…
Thank you, one will.

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