VMA 1.51 The intelligence of recognizing Vrindavan

Rathayatra in Vrindavan, July 6, 2019. P.C. Jagannath Poddar

śrī-vṛndākhyam ananya-bhakti-rasadaṁ govinda-pādāmbuja-
dvandve manda-dhiyo vidanti nahi tad vāsaṁ ca nāśāsate |
sāndrānanda-rasāmbudhir niravadhir yatrāvirasti dhruvaṁ
no majjanti kubuddhayo bata samudvignāḥ suduḥkhair api ||
People of feeble intelligence
do not know that Vrindavan gives a taste
for exclusive devotion to Govinda’s lotus feet,
and so they do not aspire to live there.

Those of distorted intelligence
even though disturbed by great suffering
do not immerse themselves in Vrindavan,
where the ocean of the essence of intense joy
appears constantly and in permanence. (1.51)

Commentary

It has already been stated that faith is the basis of the devotional life. In spiritual life, intelligence is faith.

Intelligence means the ability to discriminate and to make decisions for action on that basis. In the Gītā, Krishna gives a discourse on intelligence that is the basis for the entire yogic world view. After telling Arjuna that the vision of the insightful individual is to focus on Reality, which is beyond the body and the world of duality in which it is based, he says that one must be focused on that Reality in all one's actions. This is intelligence, and the failure of intelligence is symptomized by its dispersal into many directions.

vyavasāyātmikā buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana
bahu-śākhā hy anantāś ca buddhayo'vyavasāyinām
The resolute intelligence of those on this path is singular, O scion of the Kuru dysnasty. The intelligences of the irresolute are many branched. (Gītā 2.41)
Radhakrishnan says, "Human life finds its fulfillment through self-devotion to a commanding end and not in the unfettered pursuit of endless possibilities." This is the general understanding on which all yogis, regardless of their particular discipline, are agreed. But the exact nature of the Absolute is not perceived in the same way by everyone.

The Vaishnavas, Prabodhananda Saraswati included, believe that recognizing the personal nature of the Absolute, is also a matter of intelligence. When personality and all that it has achieved are the highest manifestation of Creation, how could these features not be present in the Creator? And in the hierarchy of understanding, this insight leads to belief in the Absolute as the acme of Love, and the lilas of Love manifest in their perfection in his world of Love, Vrindavan.

Only the most fortunate can be blessed by the grace of this understanding, the height of spiritual insight.

The vyavasāyātmikā buddhi is also called niṣṭhā. When a student of spiritual life is initiated his specific path is determined. When he recognizes this grace, he becomes fixed in his determination on the particular path he was assigned by that union with the guru. When one recognizes the goal, one has to engage in the appropriate action, which in this case is bhakti.

The path of bhakti is long and as one's perception deepens, one's practice also broadens. The five principal devotional activities culminate in residence in Braja.

śraddhā viśeṣataḥ prītiḥ śrī-mūrter aṅghri-sevane |
śrīmad-bhāgavatārthānām āsvādo rasikaiḥ saha ||
sajātīyāśaye snigdhe sādhau saṅgaḥ svato vare |
nāma-saṅkīrtanaṁ śrī-mathurā-maṇḍale sthitiḥ ||

"(1) Faith and affection for serving the Lord in his deity form; (2) relishing the topics of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam in the association of rasika devotees; (3) keeping the company of saintly persons who share the same spiritual mood, who are affectionate and more advanced than oneself; (4) chanting the names of the Lord, and finally, (5) residing in the region of Mathura." (BRS 1.2.90-91)

Prabodhananda here asks how can the intelligence of one who has not understood the benefits of living in Vrindavan, who cannot understand that the highest perfection of spiritual life comes of residing there, be considered adequate to the purpose of human life? And if one refuses to recognize it even when facing the conditions of suffering that are our lot in life, is that not further evidence of our lack of intelligence?


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

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