VMA 1.50 :: “Do you know the secret of defeating death?”

O Brother,
Do you know for certain when you will die?
Do you know some great magic spell
that will check almighty death?
Do you think that death will patiently wait
and allow you to die at the time you prescribe?
Is it for these reasons that again and again
you fearlessly leave Vrindavan to go elsewhere? (1.50)

bhrātas te kim u niścayena viditaḥ svasyānta-kālaḥ kim u

tvaṁ jānāsi mahā-manuṁ balavato mṛtyor gati-stambhane |

mṛtyus tat-karaṇaṁ pratīkṣata iti tvaṁ vetsi kiṁ vā yato

vāraṁ vāram aśaṅka eva calase vṛndāvanād anyataḥ ||

Commentary

Here Prabodhananda brings us back to basics. He speaks to his mind, and his mind represents all aspirants for pure devotion and residence in the Dham. When he says, "You fearlessly leave Vrindavan to go elsewhere," he means not only leaving physically, but leaving mentally also. This verse thus continues the theme of the previous one (1.49)

Saraswatipada begins by reminding us of the fleeting nature of human life. Without awareness of the imminence of death, how can one take any interest in spiritual life? What is this human form of life for anyway? As Rishabhadeva said to his sons:

nāyaṁ deho deha-bhājāṁ nṛ-loke

kaṣṭān kāmān arhate viḍ-bhujāṁ ye

tapo divyaṁ putrakā yena sattvaṁ

śuddhyed yasmād brahma-saukhyaṁ tv anantam

"My dear boys, of all the living entities who have accepted material bodies in this world, one who has been awarded this human form should not work hard day and night simply for sense gratification, which is available even for the dogs and hogs that eat stool. One should engage in penance and austerity by which one’s heart is purified, and by which one attains eternal, blissful life." (SB 5.5.1)

This eternal, blissful life finds its fullness in devotion to Radha and Krishna, in the mood of Vrindavan.

Only the most fortunate persons can make the vow to never leave Braj, like Ramesh Baba who never leaves the boundaries of the Caurasi Kos. He tells the following story of Kumbhan Dasji:

Once the emperor Akbar summoned Kumbhan Dasji, one of the Ashtachap poets of the Vallabh sampradāya, to his palace in Agra. Kumbhan never went outside of Braja. Though he always went barefoot in the Dham, he put shoes on and walked all the way to Agra.

Akbar had heard that Kumbhan Das was a great singer, so when he arrived in the court, he asked him to sing something. Kumbhan asked the emperor, “What should I sing?”

All the courtiers were expecting him to sing something in glorification of the King, but Kumbhan began to lament, “What kind of devotee am I? I have left Braj to be with you in Agra, and you are not even a devotee of my Lord!”

Kumbhan Dasji had walked all the way from Govardhan to Agra, more than forty miles. He said, “While I was coming here on foot, the one thing I noticed was that the name of God was missing. There was no sphūrti, no remembrance of the Lord. To see the face of a king or a materialistic person is not good for one’s spiritual life.”

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said something similar when he was asked to see the King Prataparudra, who was a great devotee of Jagannath but had the flaw of being a king:

niṣkiñcanaṣya bhagavad-bhajanonmukhasya

pāraṁ paraṁ jigamiṣor bhava-sāgarasya

sandarśanaṁ viṣayiṇām atha yoṣitāṁ ca

hā hanta hanta viṣa-bhakṣaṇato’py asādhu

"Alas, for one who desires to cross over the ocean of material suffering, who has renounced the world and turned to the worship of the Supreme Lord, the sight of materialistic persons or women is even more harmful than drinking poison." (Caitanya-candrodaya Nāṭaka 8.23)

Kumbhan Dasji was very courageous to speak to such a powerful person like Akbar in this way. But as Ramesh Baba points out, so many devotees become flattered and proud when they are invited to go outside Vrindavan to preach.

It is not that there is something wrong with preaching, going here and there to encourage the unfortunate to take up spiritual life. It is no doubt a great honor to be able to speak on the glories of Radha and Vrindavan Dham to the people of the world, who are in such need of learning even the basics as stated in Prabodhananda’s verse.

But Vrindavan and Braj are the vortex of devotion to Radha and Krishna. This is the place where single-minded devotees of the Divine Couple go in full commitment to becoming absorbed in the purest mood of devotion, to bhajan in the spirit of madhura-rasa.

Those people who become convinced or attracted to devotion to the Divine Couple by those preachers then come to Vrindavan in search of such high association, devotees who have realized the true power and meaning of Vrindavan. So for the preaching to have any value, there must be individuals who are fully dedicated to life and bhajan, who follow the example of the founding acharyas of Vrindavan’s rasika schools, like the Six Goswamis and Prabodhananda Saraswati.

What is the point of preaching if the soul of the bhakti world, the very abode of Radha and Krishna, is neglected? And the fully dedicated niṣkiñcana, bhajanānandi devotees are the very soul of the Dham. They are the ones who preserve the essence of Braj culture and they should be supported.

It is a great good fortune to be able to find shelter in the Dham. The greatest feature of the Dham is the association of committed, senior, bhajananandi devotees. Those devotees never leave.

VMA 1.49 : Even while in Vrindavan, you wander about in externals!
VMA 1.48 : Never leave Vrindavan
VMA 1.47 : What can Vrindavan give you?
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