VMA 1.44 :: Vrindavan, worshiped by munis, gods and divine beings

These guys don't look so menacing. They look a bit wistful at their condition as troublemaking beasts in the Dham. P.C. Hello Jammu News

By her amazing potency and her own blessings,
may that Vrindavan forest,
which is worshipable by the greatest of the munis,
by the gods, as well as by all
the purest spiritual entities of the divine world,
turn even contemptible animals like myself
into servants of her lotus feet. (1.44)

vṛndāṭavī vimala-cid-ghana-sattva-vṛnda-

vṛndāraka-pravara-vṛnda-munīndra-vandyā |

nindyān api sva-kṛpayādbhuta-vaibhavena

mādṛk-paśūn sva-caraṇānucarān karotu ||

Commentary

Sri Prabodhananda Saraswati, in the true humility of a great devotee, draws the contrast between the magnificent opulence of Vrindavan, worshiped by those who know the highest truths of the material and spiritual worlds, and himself. He compares himself to an animal, a paśu, a creature helplessly bound by the ropes of material nature. But Vrindavan is worshiped because of her compassion and amazing glory, by which she has the power to transform and liberate even the lowliest of conditioned souls and grant them service to herself.

Lord Brahma prayed for birth in Vrindavan, as is well known from the Bhāgavatam, but in fact, Vrindavan is beyond the understanding of even these great personalities who are still conditioned to thinking of God only in terms of divine power and the ability to grant liberation and worldly boons.

Service to Vrindavan is service to the Divine Couple. Indeed, simply participating in the ecstatic mood of love in this world, of prema, is the highest service to Vrindavan, because by it one pleases all the creatures living there.

As we saw in a previous verse (1.42, vṛndāvane sakala-pāvana-pāvane’smin), the power of Vrindavan to purify the aspiring devotee by merging him into her own existence, the purifier of all other purifying tirthas and holy places of all religions and countries, the original holy place, the Dham of the Divine Couple, naturally transforms everyone who takes up residence there.

By saying he is an animal, Prabodhananda admits the limits of his understanding. That is the situation of every sādhaka. We are bound by the limits set by our mundane mind and intelligence, which tell us that such a place could not exist, and our senses seem to confirm it. Yet, Prabodhananda’s faith is in Vrindavan and he begs for the ambrosial fruit of residence there to be granted him.

We do the same, for we follow in the footsteps of Prabodhananda Saraswati, whose general concept is expressed by Rupa Goswami:

tan-nāma-rūpa-caritādi-sukīrtanānu-

smṛtyoḥ krameṇa rasanā-manasī niyojya

tiṣṭhan vraje tad-anurāgi- janānugāmī

kālaṁ nayed akhilamity upadeśasāram

The essence of all instruction is to remain constantly, until the end of one’s life, in Vraja, following the guidance of an anurāgi devotee of the Lord, progressively engaging the tongue in glorifying the Divine Couple’s names, forms and pastimes, and the mind in remembering them.

This is the primary characteristic of serving Vrindavan and one may consider his devotional practice complete when he has attained Vraja-vāsa in this spirit. But serving Vrindavan is something that everyone can do according to the inspiration provided by the Divine Couple and according to one’s adhikāra.

The current situation in Vrindavan is that there are too many animals in human form (dvipada-paśu) upon whom the Dham has not yet worked its magic fully. The only cure for this is the active faith of devotees who will study and develop the concepts of bhakti and defend it from being inundated by the materialistic concept of progress.

jñeyo loke sa puruṣo bhajate yo hariṁ sadā |

tad anyaḥ khuraśṛṅgādi-varjito dvipadaḥ paśuḥ ||

In this world, one who worships Hari constantly is a human being; other than that one is an animal with two legs, but devoid of hooves, horns and tails.

So our prayer is not only that our own animal proclivities are removed, but that we can serve Vrindavan Dham by making her true form visible to others, so that she can not only do her work of purifying their hearts, but become a glorious beacon of prema to the world.

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I have decided to use the feminine pronoun for Vrindavan. I don't think I am consistent about it yet. But it makes sense.

• First of all, Vrindavan is simply a form of Vrinda Devi, who is a sakhi of the Divine Couple.
• Secondly, Vrindavan is the direct manifestation of the Divine Prakriti. Vrindavan consciousness means to see the world as Nature fulfilling its purpose as a provider of pleasure to the Divine Couple, as a facilitator of their lilas.
• Third, Prabodhananda himself addresses Vrindavan several times as "mother."

VMA 1.43 :: Those who die in Vrindavan are the greatest Vaishnavas
VMA 1.42 :: The Abode of the King of Rasa
VMA 1.41 :: The treasure house of the flavors of devotion
VMA 1.40 :: Only after lifetimes of piety can one live in Vrindavan
VMA 1.39 : May Vrindavan protect and transform me.
VMA 1.38 : Vrindavan can destroy the seed of sin.
VMA 1.37 : Vrindavan is the Light of the Self
VMA 1.36 : One speck of Braj dust has such glory
VMA 1.35 : The unlimited mine of nectar
VMA 1.34 : The Vrindavan Desire Tree
VMA 1.33 : The most fortunate person residing in Vrindavan