VMA 1.47 : What can Vrindavan give you?

P.C. Kals Pics. 

śrī-kṛṣṇaikānta-bhāvaṁ kva nu sakala-jano’vaśyam āpnoty ayatnāt

kṛṣṇasyāścarya-sīmā parama-bhāgavataḥ kutra līlārtha-mūrtiḥ |

kutratyā kṛṣṇa-pādāmbuja-bhajana-mahānanda-sāmrājya-kāṣṭhā

bhrātar vakṣye rahasyaṁ śṛṇu sakalam idaṁ śrīla-vṛndāvane’tra ||

Where else can everyone with all certainty
get single-minded devotion to Krishna,
without making any effort?

Where else can one find this exclusive
supreme form of God in his personal manifestation,
Krishna, the ultimate limit of wonder,
who is inclined to love dalliance alone?

And wherefore can you attain
the highest manifestation of the empire
of great joy that is bhajan to Krishna’s lotus feet?

Oh brother! Listen, I will tell you a secret:
all these things can be found here
in this divine land of Vrindavan. (1.47)

Commentary

After asking questions about the nature of Vrindavan in the previous verse, Prabodhananda now asks rhetorically about the beneficial effects of living there. What gifts can Vrindavan bestow upon you? The first thing that he offers as a benefit of living in Vrindavan is getting single-minded devotion to Krishna. Ekānta-bhakti is also called kaivalya-bhakti, akiñcana-bhakti, ātyantika-bhakti or nirguṇa-bhakti. It means that one is exclusive in his devotion and desires nothing else but service to the Lord.

One-pointedness is, of course, the sine qua non of spiritual life in every discipline. One has to choose one’s discipline and goal, and stick to it. Nevertheless, bhakti alone is the king of all spiritual disciplines, since the single-minded devotee attains everything that all other disciplines can give, though the gains of bhakti cannot be had through any other yoga system.

na kiñcit sādhavo dhīrā bhaktā hy ekāntino mama |

vāñchanty api mayā dattaṁ kaivalyam apunar-bhavam||

My saintly, wise and single-minded devotees desire for nothing. Nevertheless, I still bestow all these rewards on them, up to and including even liberation and freedom from rebirth. (11.20.34)

Though here it is said that residence in Vrindavan leads to becoming an ekāntin, in fact, the ekānti devotee naturally gravitates to life in Vrindavan. An ekāntin is no longer interested in karma, so naturally it would not be surprising if there is a decrease in his economic activity. Vrindavan is full of ashrams with renounced devotees, widows, retired people and others who have turned away from worldly goals and wish only to engage in the activities of devotion. They come precisely because it is the best place for them to fulfill their desire, and in turn they rejuvenate Vrindavan with their own determination to perfect their bhajan.

prabhāte cārdha-rātre ce madhyāhne diva-saṅkṣaye

kīrtayanti hariṁ ye vai na teṣām anya-sādhanam

evam ekāntināṁ prāyaḥ kīrtanaṁ smaraṇaṁ prabhoḥ

kurvatāṁ parama-prītyā kṛtyam anyan na rocate

The single-minded devotee who chants the Holy Names of the Lord in the morning, in the middle of night, at noon and at the end of the day, has absolutely no need for any other spiritual practice. Exclusive devotees engage in practically nothing other than chanting the Holy Name and remembering Krishna’s pastimes. Doing this with supreme love, they have no taste for any other activity. (Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 20.379, 382)

In the modern world, where economic development is thought to be the only certain source of happiness, this might seem like a recipe for disaster. But we firmly believe that, as has always been the case, the economy of Vrindavan should be centered around the ekānti devotees, the bhajanānandi Vaishnavas.

All the Vaishnavas are ekāntis but for which form? Krishna’s form is the līlārtha-mūrtiḥ, the very limit of the various forms of Bhagavan, which is meant exclusively for his dalliances in the madhura-rasa. There are many verses that give the hierarchy of ekānta devotees, but the following one from the second chapter of the Mahimāmṛta shows Prabodhananda Saraswati’s way of thinking.

dhanyo loke mumukṣur hari-bhajana-paro dhanya-dhanyas tato’sau

dhanyo yaḥ kṛṣṇa-pādāmbuja-rati-paramo rukmiṇīśa-priyo’taḥ |

yāśodeya-priyo’taḥ subala-suhṛd ato gopī-kānta-priyo’taḥ

śrīmad-vṛndāvaneśvary-atirasa-vivaśārādhakaḥ sarva-mūrdhni ||

Glorious are those persons who desire to climb
out of the well of material existence and attain liberation;
Even more glorious are those who have dedicated themselves
to the service of the Lord.
More elevated again are those who have made love
for Sri Krishna’s lotus feet their all-in-all.
Those who love the husband of Queen Rukmini
are superior again to such devotees,
while more praiseworthy yet are those
who are dear to the son of Yashoda.
More glorious than they are those
who have made friends with Subala,.
and superior to them again are those
who are dear to the Lover of the Gopis.

Yet, standing at the head of all devotees in the creation 
are those whose thoughts have been washed away 
by the flood of sacred rapture emanating 
from the daughter of King Vrishabhanu, Radha, 
and worship her above all. (VMA 2.35)

So this is the rahasya or secret of Vrindavan. Radha is the queen of Vrindavan, and service to Radha is therefore the supreme secret, the rasa-rahasya. That is also stated in Sudhā-nidhi:

yan nāradājeśa-śukair agamyaṁ

vṛndāvane vañjula-mañju-kuñje |

tat kṛṣṇa-ceto-haraṇaika-vijñam

atrāsti kiñcit paramaṁ rahasyam||

Here in the beautiful bowers of the Vrindavan forest resides a supreme secret, one that is unknown to Narada, Brahma, Shiva and Shukadeva, the only one that knows how to steal Krishna’s heart. (RRSN 239)

VMA 1.46 : Vrindavan: The ripe fulfillment of Krishna prema
VMA 1.45 :: Vrindavan, worshiped by munis, gods and divine beings
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