VMA 1.21: Vrindavan enchants everyone

The forest of Vraja at Govardhana. (From http://www.travelingmonk.com/)

gāḍhāsaktimatām apīha viṣayeṣv atyanta-nirvedato
dṛk-pāte’py asahiṣṇutātiśayināṁ yoge samudyoginām|

brahmānanda-rasaika-līna-manasāṁ govinda-pādāmbuja-
dvandvāviṣṭa-dhiyāṁ ca mohanam idaṁ vṛndāvanaṁ svair guṇaiḥ ||
By its own virtues, this Vrindavan
enchants the minds even of those
who are deeply attached to sense objects,
of those who valiantly practice yoga
due to being completely disgusted with sense enjoyment
and have become intolerant
of even the briefest thought of such pleasures,
of those whose minds have become
totally absorbed in the one undifferentiated taste
of Brahman ecstasy,
and most of all -- of those whose intelligence is fixed
on the lotus feet of Govinda Deva. (1.21/)
Commentary

 When in Braj, you can lie around and do nothing, and bhakti emanates from the ground itself. You absorb bhakti in the air and water. If you are fortunate enough to be able to penetrate the superficial obstacles presented by material discomforts, it will enter you by a process of osmosis. Braja-vāsa comes only with tremendous good fortune and a natural vairāgya. As Ramesh Baba says, “You go to sleep and when you wake up, you are still in Braj.”

Outside of Braj, I am afraid you have to be a little more careful. Associate with devotees. Without the community of devotees, there is little chance that you will be able to experience rasa of any sort. And this is indeed a problem, because good devotional association is a rare jewel that is so precious it must be treated with great care.

A devotee, even a lowly kaniṣṭha, is a precious jewel. If you are so advanced that you can see their limitations, be merciful, be prudent, be strong in the highest ideals of prema bhakti. The highly advanced bhakta is the kohinoor diamond of devotional association.

aye vṛndāraṇya tvaritam iha te sevana-parāḥ
parām āpuḥ ke vā na kila paramānanda-padavīm|
ato nīcair yāce svayam adhipayor īkṣaṇa-vidher
vareṇyāṁ me cetasy upadiśa diśaṁ hā kuru kṛpām||
O Vrindavan forest, was there ever anyone in this world who did not quickly attain the highest state of divine bliss by serving you? Therefore I surrender to you and most humbly petition you: Be kind and personally disclose to me the best way to receive the darshan of your worshipable Lords, Sri Sri Radha and Krsna. Please be merciful. [Utkalikā-vallarī 2, by Srila Rupa Goswami]


 Ten Previous posts

VMA 1.20 : The gold and black jewel light
VMA 1.19 : Who's mind will not be stolen?
VMA 1.18 : How to meditate on Vrindavan
VMA 1.17 : Grant me residence here until the end of life
VMA 1.16 : A prayer for the siddha Vrindavan to manifest
VMA 1.15 : Rolling in the dust of Vrindavan
VMA 1.13 : Offenses to the residents of the Dham break my heart
VMA 1.12 : The Upanishads take birth as cows in Braj
VMA 1.11 : The defects we see in the Dham are not real.

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