Bhajana Rahasya 5.8: Taking shelter of the mood of the gopis.
Ah, this chapter five. So Bhaktivinoda Thakur has very expertly taken us through the first four chapters and now we are at ruchi. So this is the stage where one starts thinking about the siddha deha. But first one follows in the footsteps of the gopis by hearing their mood and being affected by their words.
I have been through BR before many times, but going through it fairly rapidly from beginning to end like this is revealing the overall path of bhajan very nicely. Bhaktivinoda Thakur did an excellent job, I must say.
I should add that Satyanarayan Dasji started me on a program of daily chanting these verses from the Bhagavatam (i.e. the gopis response to Krishna's testing of their love when he sent them back to their husbands and families. I did a recording of it when we first started, but I think now that I have these verses memorized, i can meditate on them better and also sing them with more feeling than I did then. I am thinking of recording it again.
The Bhagavatam is really a very high level of Sanskrit literature, and these verses are among its finest.
5.8 Taking shelter of the perfected mood of the gopis.
Once again, the gopis reveal their attitude to Krishna—
vīkṣyālaka-vṛta-mukhaṁ tava kuṇḍala-śrī-
Expanded translation: After conquering the moon and the lotus flower, Krishna set out his trap, placing in it the bait of his sweetly smiling lips. The ladies of Vrindavan kept coming, fell into the trap and became Krishna’s maidservants, giving up their shame, their husbands and their homes.
My dear friend! Krishna is behaving just like a hunter. He has no respect for right or wrong, does not care for piety or impiety; but steals the essence from his prey, the women of Vraja, and is always seeking new means to catch them.
Krishna’s dolphin-shaped earrings sparkle and dance on Krishna's cheeks, stealing the minds of all the gopis. Then, He pierces their hearts with the arrows of His sweetly smiling glances. He has no fear of killing women at all.
Krishna’s broad and powerful chest, which is decorated with the marks of Lakshmi and Srivatsa, acts like a highway robber to steal the minds and hearts of thousands upon thousands of damsels, transforming them with great expertise into His slaves.
Krishna’s beautiful arms are like long bolts. They are not arms, but black snakes that creep through the cleavage between the gopis’ mountain breasts to sting their hearts. The gopis then die in agony from the venom.
The palms of Krishna’s hands and the soles of His feet are cooler than a million moons, cooler than camphor, fragrant ushir roots, and sandalwood. Just one touch of those hands and feet, and the poison agony of lust is destroyed. Thus all women’s minds hunger for their touch. (Chaitanya Charitamrita, 3.15.71-76)
I have been through BR before many times, but going through it fairly rapidly from beginning to end like this is revealing the overall path of bhajan very nicely. Bhaktivinoda Thakur did an excellent job, I must say.
I should add that Satyanarayan Dasji started me on a program of daily chanting these verses from the Bhagavatam (i.e. the gopis response to Krishna's testing of their love when he sent them back to their husbands and families. I did a recording of it when we first started, but I think now that I have these verses memorized, i can meditate on them better and also sing them with more feeling than I did then. I am thinking of recording it again.
The Bhagavatam is really a very high level of Sanskrit literature, and these verses are among its finest.
5.8 Taking shelter of the perfected mood of the gopis.
Once again, the gopis reveal their attitude to Krishna—
vīkṣyālaka-vṛta-mukhaṁ tava kuṇḍala-śrī-
gaṇḍa-sthalādhara-sudhaṁ hasitāvalokam
dattābhayaṁ ca bhuja-daṇḍa-yugaṁ vilokya
vakṣaḥ śriyaika-ramaṇaṁ ca bhavāma dāsyaḥ
Once we had seen Your face encircled by curling locks of hair, Your lips full of nectar between the cheeks beautified by Your earrings, Your smiling glance, Your imposing arms bestowing fearlessness, and Your chest, the pleasure garden of the goddess of fortune, we simply had to become Your maidservants. (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.29.39)Expanded translation: After conquering the moon and the lotus flower, Krishna set out his trap, placing in it the bait of his sweetly smiling lips. The ladies of Vrindavan kept coming, fell into the trap and became Krishna’s maidservants, giving up their shame, their husbands and their homes.
My dear friend! Krishna is behaving just like a hunter. He has no respect for right or wrong, does not care for piety or impiety; but steals the essence from his prey, the women of Vraja, and is always seeking new means to catch them.
Krishna’s dolphin-shaped earrings sparkle and dance on Krishna's cheeks, stealing the minds of all the gopis. Then, He pierces their hearts with the arrows of His sweetly smiling glances. He has no fear of killing women at all.
Krishna’s broad and powerful chest, which is decorated with the marks of Lakshmi and Srivatsa, acts like a highway robber to steal the minds and hearts of thousands upon thousands of damsels, transforming them with great expertise into His slaves.
Krishna’s beautiful arms are like long bolts. They are not arms, but black snakes that creep through the cleavage between the gopis’ mountain breasts to sting their hearts. The gopis then die in agony from the venom.
The palms of Krishna’s hands and the soles of His feet are cooler than a million moons, cooler than camphor, fragrant ushir roots, and sandalwood. Just one touch of those hands and feet, and the poison agony of lust is destroyed. Thus all women’s minds hunger for their touch. (Chaitanya Charitamrita, 3.15.71-76)
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