Another Side of Thakur Bhaktivinoda Chapter 21 : Srimati Vishnupriya`s Glories (Part Three)

As Vishnupriya and Gauranga's svakīyā and parakīyā pastimes in Goloka Nabadwip form a limitless ocean of madhura prema rasa, we hope to relish a few drops of its nectar in this chapter. When speaking about the svakīyā and the parakīyā rasa-relish, however, our Nadia Yugala's pastimes that take on a parakīyā flavor are definitely the most thrilling. And because Vishnupriya is Radha's prakāśa-vigraha, She also has millions of sakhi and dasi followers – just as Radha does. So the exciting adventures that they share with Gaurasundara in their Gupta Vrindavan abode resemble the way in which Radha-Krishna's aṣṭa-kāla līlās unfold – as they include vana-vihāra, holi, jhulan, jala-keli, Mahā-rāsa and the nikuñja-vilāsa pastimes – to mention a few. In the last chapter, Bhakti-ratnākara told that Gauranga can often be seen performing a different activity in various places within His opulent Goloka mansion; in the same way Vishnupriya can be in different places at the same time too. Hence, Prabhu and Priyaji's saṁsāra activities that take place with Their family and friends at the palace can easily go on simultaneously with the parakīyā pastimes that They love to enjoy in the nikunjas.

As Radha performed a vrata to Katyayani devi to get Krishna as Her husband, Her cherished ambition to share a happy and longstanding married life with Him doesn't really begin until She reaches the lotus feet of Her Svami-devata, Śrī Gaura-Govinda, in Goloka Nabadwip. Moreover, Yashoda's desire to have Radha as her beloved daughter-in-law is finally fulfilled when she becomes Vishnupriya-Radha's mother-in-law in the form of Sachi Devi.

What's missing in our Vaishnava world today?

In the last Chapter, our Guru-pūjā to Thakura Bhaktivinoda's paramparā members was completed when we worshipped our sampradaya's foremost acharya, Vishnupriya Devi, as She stood beside Gauranga and was surrounded by Her aṣṭa-sakhīs in Goloka-Nabadwip's yoga-pīṭha. This worship represents the consummation of the yoga-pīṭha worship that Bhaktivinoda established at Śrīdham Mayapur. To enter this supreme realm, however, we will need to take on a divine female form. Because just as Radha-Krishna's madhura sevā is attainable only for the sakhis, Vishnupriya-Gauranga's prema sevā can be attained by Priyaji's sakhis alone, who are the nāgarīs. This brings to mind Sishir Kumar Ghosh's following realization in Amiya Nimai carita:


“When Gauranga was manifest in Nadia, the bhaktas worshiped Him in nāgarī bhāva. But when the Vraja Goswami shastras arrived later in Bengal, everyone started worshiping Radha-Krishna. Thus the main event in Nabadwip gradually became forgotten.” (Volume Six)

Now we can comment: Better than forgetting it, wouldn't it be much wiser to take up Gauranga's main worship in Nabadwip? Because for the members of Thakur Bhaktivinoda's guru-paramparā especially, which begins with Vishnupriya, wouldn't nāgarī bhāva be the appropriate way to worship Gauranga? Hence the necessity arises to revive Gauranga's original worship in today's Vaishnava world.

Sankirtan Mahārāsa

Of all Vishnupriya and Gauranga's gupta Vrindavan pastimes, sankirtan is the foremost, and when the sankirtan turns into Mahārāsa, this is the most spectacular pastime of all. Although Vrindavan's Rasalīlā happens at midnight, in these nikunjas it can happen in the daytime also – as this beautiful abode is always kept hidden from Mahaprabhu's other pastimes. Although from the external point of view this area appears small, as it lies between Vishnupriya's inner quarters and the high golden walls that surround Gauranga's palace, Yogamaya expands this līlā-kṣetra immensely. So when Lakshmipriya, Vishnupriya and their millions of sakhis wander with their Prana-Gaura through these enchanting forest groves, they can never reach the end!

Now we may ask: After the yoga-pīṭha pūjā is completed, what happens next? Well, this is when Yogamaya arranges a miracle: The yoga-pīṭha's central whorl, where Gaura and Vishnupriya were standing, suddenly turns into a gorgeous pushpa-ratha – and the sakhis then see their Nadia-yugal seated upon a majestic singhasan within it – as limitless seva dasis are there to fan Them with chamaras!

Knowing what to do, Vishnupriya's leading sakhi, Kanchana, takes charge – for a kunda parikrama will now begin as the sakhis dance in sankirtan before the Divine Couple. But, Oh my! Suddenly a whole team of seva dasis wearing special vasanti (yellow) saris and lovely pink turbins appear to pull the ratha – and it starts moving! Since it's midday, Kanchana chooses the Kalavati raga as her stirring voice dips into a rasa sagar to begin the kirtan – and instantly countless sakhis are there to back her up. Wow! Their amazing voices and singing talents would surely put the Gandharvas to shame. As the pushpa-rath takes a right turn from the yoga-pīṭha mandir's flower garden and starts heading along the kunda's crystal and emerald laiden pathway, the sankirtan's tumult reaches the fifth scale. The sakhis are dancing in a circle as they display various hand mudras and dramatic poses before Prabhu and Priyaji. But sometimes a very talented nāgarī dances an amazing solo, as she sings a song of her own composition to delight the Yugala-Kishor. In this way, the pushpa-ratha circumambulates the kund four times. Priyaji then calls Kanchana to her side, and says: “Sakhi! Today I want to visit each one of My aṣṭa-sakhīs' kunjas. So please continue the sankirtan as we visit your kunja first.”

When the procession enters Kanchana's immense forest bower (on the Kunda's northern side), the sakhis become elated to see a wonderful Rāsa-chakra ahead. Contoured in gold and precious jewels the chakra rests on a pivot 18 inches above the ground, and it can rotate in a circle. When the pushpa-ratha comes to a halt before the Rāsa-chakra, rasika Gaura-kishora takes Priyaji's hand and joyfully escorts Her from the singhasan to the chakra's center. Then Priyaji's sakhis climb aboard to form three circles around the Divine Couple – as countless sakhi musicians surround the Rāsa-chakra to sing ragas and play four kinds of instruments: ghana (ringing), tata (stringed), anaddha (skinned) and sushira (those to be blown). To name a few of these instruments there are: karatala, kamsa, jaya ghanta, vina, sitar, alavani, kacchapi, mrdanga, tabla, dolaka, muraja, vamsi, pavika, kohala and the svara-mandala.

On Priyaji's cue, the three groups of sakhis begin hallīśaka nṛtya, a type of woman's dancing when they each place their hands on the others' shoulders. Thus the Rāsa-chakra starts rotating like a potter's wheel from the graceful steps of the nāgarī-nitambinīs (a nitambinī means a young woman who has a beautiful buttocks). As the Divine Couple eagerly watch the dancing, They clap Their hands to praise the sakhis' talents. Since the dancing starts off slowly the sakhis sing appropriately with deep emotion as the orchestra's melody is long and drawn out. After a while, however, Rasaraja wishes to increase the Rāsa-chakra's speed. Thus He motions the three circles of sakhis to form one – and expands into many forms to dance beside each nāgarī. Then He starts dancing so swiftly that He appears to be a fire-band. (Govinda-līlāmṛta explains that when a burning stick is rapidly twirled in the air it looks like a circle of fire that is stationary. Yet similarly, Gaura-naṭarāja dances so swiftly that as His dazzling pītāmbara dhoti and chaddor rapidly twirl – it makes Him appear stationary also – although He is moving swiftly amongst all of the nāgarīs!) Then as the Rāsa-chakra swiftly rotates, Rasa-vihari performs another wonder: He dances off the stage onto the ground and dances back up again onto the speeding chakra – while gracefully moving in step with the nāgarīs' dancing! Sometimes Gauranga does this in one murti, and sometimes with many!

Wishing to astonish Her Prana-vallabha, Priyaji motions to Kanchana who can fathom Her desire. Thus without hesitating Kanchana dances off the fast twirling stage, and dances right back up again in such a captivating way that not only outmatches Gauranga's feat – but it leaves His head spinning too! Seeing her amazing prowess awakens Prabhu's thirst to enjoy with her. And upon getting Priyaji's wink of approval, He goes dancing off with her to the private nikunjas. But it's amazing that Kanchana can still be seen dancing with the sakhis too! Thus we learn that as Prabhu and Priyaji can manifest a number of forms, so can the sakhis. Amita Sakhi's Kunja Leaving the puspa-ratha behind, Prabhu and Priyaji ecstatically dance in the midst of Their dancing sakhis, and enter Amita Sakhi's kunja with a desire to relish a more special Rāsalīlā. Located on the kunda's northeastern corner, this wonderful abode resembles Vishakha Sakhi's kunja at Radha Kund, as it also has nine types of campa trees and madhavi kalpa vrikshas. The four madhavi vines which surround the rāsa-mandala have branches that twist and turn upwards in a myriad of interesting shapes that provide cooling shade and a splendid environment for the Rāsotsava.

Rasa Analysis

Before we attempt to briefly describe the midday's Mahā Rāsa festival, we must first admit defeat, and say that this is impossible to do in such a limited space. Here we shall only try to give some indication of its direction. Svayam Bhagavan's Rāsa-līlā, whether it be with Krishna or with Gauranga, is Their Līlā-mukuṭa-maṇi, the crown-jewel of Their madhura pastimes; no other līlā can compare with this. It is the akhora-sthana, original source, wherefrom all the arts of singing, dancing and music combine with the highest form of divine beauty and romantic love. It is also the highest realm where a divine union between the bhaktas and Svayam Bhagavan takes place. So kind readers, as we bear this in mind, please forgive our inability to properly describe the Rāsa's incredible līlā-mādhurī.

When Gaurasundara ascends upon the Rasa-mandala with Priyaji and His parama-sundarī nāgarīs, the dancing begins with numerous tālas and prabandhas. Tālas are the music's beat, and a prabandha means the recital of those beats by the person who dances them out upon the stage. Here is the first prabandha: When dancing into the limelight and seeing that everyone's eyes are upon Him – Gaura-nataraja suddenly leaps foreward with great excitement to robustly recite: “tho dika dam dam – kita kita kana jhom – thoku tho dika are jom! kiti kiti kiti dham – jhonku jhom jhonku jom – jom jom! tho dika dam dam – drimi drimi dham – kanku jhom jhom – kanku jom!”



As Gaura recites this prabandha and dances out the bolas, His bhuvan mohan captivating body speedily moves with so many twists, turns and elegant poses that He instantly steals all of the nāgarīs' hearts! Yet after His amazing performance, it's not surprising that pride overtakes Him. So in wishing to dispell this, Amita requests Priyaji to dance. Although She feels shy and hesitates, Her sakhi orchestra members eagerly bring the music's beat to a fast rolling crescendo – leaving Her with no other choice but to go for it. Thus as a royal swan lifts its wings and goes into flight – Priyaji takes to dancing upon the stage, and boldly recites this prabandha: “dham dham drka drka cham cham – ninam nam ninam nam ninam – tuka tuka tum tum – guru guru dram guru dram guru dram – dekha dekha dho dho – kiriti kiriti dram drimi dram drimi dram!” What an enchanting scene! Rasesvari Vishnupriya is Nabadwip's vinodini Radha – thus Her dancing is sarvottama, the best of all. And moreover she is Gaurasundara's manoranjan-karini (mindstealing enchantress). So as She leaps into the centerstage like a streak of lightening, Prabhu is watching Her with unblinking eyes! The tinkling of Her waistbells, bracelets and armlets produce an enchanting resonance. Yet the amazing concert of Her nupura (golden ankle bells) create never and never raga and raginis as She dances out the bolas of Her prabandha. Then on the last beat She suddenly pelts Gaura with a stunning eye glance that completely devastates Him!

Amita, Candrakala and Manohara next take their turns to ecstatically sing out the bolas of their prabandhas as they dance before Gaura, Vishnupriya and all of the sakhis. Then as the dancing progresses, the rasika nāgarīs sing with their mouths, enact dramas with their hands, keep the tala moving with their feet, shake their neck, waist and nitambas, and move their eyes to the right and to the left. Thus with their attention fixed on their Prana Gaura's moon-face they enjoy great erotic rapture. As the sundari nāgarīs play their mohan mrdangas they resound tā dhik, tā dhik, tā dhik to spite the heavenly devis dancing which cannot compare with their skill. Although tā dhik is a mrdanga bol, it also means “shame on them!”

Being the greatest sangita acaryas, Vishnupriya Thakurani and her sakhis display a unique standard of raga and raginis, talas, murchanas, srutis and gamakas. Hence their Rasa-ranga-sthali is the most amazing stage for music, singing and dance within the three worlds! So as Urvasi, Menaka, Rambha, Tilottama and other leading sangita acaryas of heaven watch the Rasa's spectacle from the clouds, the nāgarīs mrdangas point to them and resound tā dhik, tā dhik, tā dhik – to proclaim the Nadia sundaris' glories. While displaying inconceivable dancing prowess, Gauranga enjoys viewing the nāgarīs bodily splendour, kissing them, and petitioning them for rati. He also fondles their breasts to become their Raman. Then Vishnupriya disappears from the Rasa-mandala! In a short time, however, when Prabhu realizes that Priyaji has left, He leaves millions of nāgarīs behind to go searching for his Prana-priyatama, most dearly beloved. And in a very short time He finds Her. For Priyaji's exceptionally alluring aGga-padma-gandha (bodily lotus fragrance) gives Her away.

Rasa Analysis

In the Rāsa-līlā narration that we read about in the Bhāgavatam or in Gīta-govinda, Radha leaves the Rāsa-maṇḍala due to māna, Her jealousy in seeing Krishna giving equal attention to the other gopis, as He overlooks Her supreme exalted position. In discovering Radha's departure, Krishna then leaves millions of Vraja-sundaris behind to suffer in His separation as He goes searching for His topmost kāntā Radha. But here, although Vishnupriya is the Raseshwari, or Queen of Gaurasundara's Rāsa-festival, She hasn't left due to māna. Rather, She eagerly wants to watch how Gaura enjoys sambhoga pleasure with all of Her plenary expansions, the nāgarīs. And this gives her more pleasure than when she enjoys with Him Herself. In fact, She relishes millions of times more pleasure at such times owing to Her magnanimous disposition. Because when seeing Gaura happily enjoying with her nāgarīs, and seeing all of them happily enjoying with him – Priyaji's happiness truly becomes boundless! With this in mind, Gaura hasn't left the Rāsa-maṇḍala – He is still dancing with millions of nāgarīs in millions of prakāśa-mūrtis, as His svayaṁ-rūpa (original form) now stands beside Vishnupriya. This special feature of Svayam Bhagavan's līlā-mādhurī is available in His Goloka pastimes. For here no one has to suffer His excruciating viraha distress – as Goloka Dham is the abode where the Lord's sambhoga-rasa reigns supreme. Yet in His bhauma-līlā-prakāśa the viraha-rasa manifests much more strikingly.

Rati-keli

After the Rāsa-līlā, rati-keli begins. This is scheduled to happen in Sukeshi Sakhi's kunja on the eastern side of Vishnupriya Kund. Here in the kunja's center is Vishnupriya and Gauranga's beautifully decorated vilāsa-kuñja. But now a relevant question arises: How is it possible that He enjoys rati-keli with millions of sundari nāgarīs in this open area which is limited in size, and which doesn't have the privacy of millions of separate vilāsa-kuñjas?

In his Śrīmad Bhāgavatam commentary 10.29.44-45: Vishwanath Chakravarti answers this question in context with Krishna's rati pastimes with the gopis. Now we shall present this commentary as it applies to Gaura līlā: “Just as Svayam Bhagavan Gaurasundara is limitlessly powerful, so is His transcendental dham Goloka Nabadwip. For even a small particle of dust (the size of a sesame seed) can expand into a vast area which contains private pleasure kunjas, along with fragrant flowerbeds, betel nuts, sandalwood paste, perfumes, cold drinking water – and everything else needed for Gaurasundara's rati pastime. Yogamaya makes all of these things possible. And after Gaurasundara's rati līlā she withdraws everything as it was before. In this way Yogamaya increases Gaurasundara and the nāgarī's pleasure.

Jala-keli

After the rati-keli comes jala-keli, or water sporting. The site of this wonderful pastime is the elegant bathing ghata that decorates the water's edge in Candrakala Sakhi's kunja. And here in the Kunda's southeastern corner is a candra-kānta-maṇi bathing pavilion where Prabhu and Priyaji get ready for the water combat: As two sakhis remove Śrīmati's clothes and ornaments, put on Her thin white snana vastra, tie Her hair into a bun, and massage Her body with oil – the other sakhis offer the same seva to Gaura. But because the jala-keli often progresses into rati-keli – it's amazing that countless padma keli mandirs can instantly appear right out of the water to facilitate this enchanting pastime.

Vesa bhusana (Dressing and Decorating)

After the jala-keli, everyone comes onto the shore in Manohara Sakhi's kunja which is in the Kunda's southern direction. Here there are many jeweled pavilions with sringara mandapas where Vishnupriya, Gauranga and the sakhis are attractively attired in flower dress and flower ornaments.

Vana-bhojan, Sayana and Pāsa-khelā

On the southwestern banks of Priyaji's Kunda is Sakhi Vishnupriya's kunja, the site for vana-bhojana, forest picnicking. And here Sakhi Vishnupriya and her assistants serve everyone a large variety of sliced fruits, fruit drinks and sweet confections that are out of this world. After bhojan, everyone retires to take rest in Premalatika Sakhi's kunja on the Kunda's western shore. But Gaura doesn't take rest with Vishnupriya alone, He expands into limitless murtis to rest beside all of the sakhis too – in a flower decorated sayana mandira that Yogamaya arranges for each one of them. After a brief rest, pāśa-khelā begins in Sura-sundari Sakhi's kunja in the Kunda's northwest corner. Pāśa-khelā is a game played with dice where one's playing pieces move over the playing board according to the number thrown on the dice. And when bets such as embracing and kissing are placed up for the wager – this adds more fun to the competition – because even the loser gets to experience lots of bliss!

Rasa Analysis

In this chapter we could only give some hint about Vishnupriya and Gauranga's parakīyā pastimes with their sakhis – for they are endless and infinitely varigated. Similarly, our Vraja Goswamis often wrote in sūtras or codes to leave the finer details of their teachings for the bhaktas to discover in their personal meditation. And this gives readers much more scope to envision the līlā according to their own personal ruci.

As Chapter Two described how the guru can award ekādaśa-bhāva so that we can properly take up Radha-Krishna's nikuñja-sevā in mañjarī-bhāva, gurus in this paramparā can also award a suitable nāgarī-svarūpa to one who sincerely wishes to take up Vishnupriya and Gauranga's prema-sevā. Haridas Goswami tells about this in his Viṣṇupriyā maṅgala: “It isn't easy to fathom the nāgarīs' loving affairs with Gauranga because they are hidden. By Priyaji's mercy, however, if one follows in Her sakhis' footsteps, the secrets of this prema-sevā can be learned from one's guru-rūpa-sakhī.” (Śrī Śrī Viṣṇupriyā-Gaurāṅgera Svakīyā Līlā)

When discussing Prabhu and Priyaji's svakīyā and parakīyā pastimes in Goloka-Nabadwip, we need to understand how they are two different līlā-prakāśas which unfold simultaneously side by side. For example, just as two different television channels form two separate worlds where the actors on one channel don't know what is going on in the other – the same thing is happening here: the saṁsāra activities that Vishnupriya and Gauranga perform at the palace with Their family members and the bhaktas are a whole separate world that cannot be seen from the perspective of Their parakīyā pastimes, and visa-versa. Yet when those taking part in the saṁsāra pastimes step into the garden where Priyaji's Kunda and Her aṣṭa-sakhīs' kunjas are located – they will see instead another kunda that is distinctly different with a landscaping of its own. In this way Yogamaya arranges everything so that the Lord and His bhaktas can relish a variety of different transcendental mellows that will never overlap to cause rasa-ābhāsa. Since our Gaudiya Mahajans describe Goloka Nabadwip's pastimes in aṣṭa-kāla sequences, we shall follow this pattern to present a synopsis of Vishnupriya and Gauranga's daily affairs in svakīyā-rasa.

Niśānta Līlā (3:36 a.m. – 6:00 a.m.)

In his Gaura-carita-cintāmaṇi, Narahari Cakravarti says:
niśi śeṣe rasa lampaṭa rasika śiromaṇi gorā rasera bhore
biṣṇupriẏā debī saha bilāsaẏe sulalita naba palaṅkopare!

“At the night's end that loving debauchee and king of the rasika's Gora passionately enjoys love-sporting with Vishnupriya Devi upon Their gorgeously decorated bedstead.”

After rati-keli, Priyaji's dasis dress Sri Yugala-kishora. As the sakhis arrive, however, they cannot help but smile broadly! Seeing the Yugaladarshan's incomparable splendor awakens loving rapture within their hearts. Then Kanchana performs Vishnupriya-Gauranga's mangala arati as the nāgarīs sing, blow conchshells, ring bells and toss flower petals over the Divine Couple. (On some days Amita brings Lakshmipriya, and then she performs the mangala arati to Lakshmipriya, Gaura and Vishnupriya.)

After mangala arati, Priyaji goes with Lakshmipriya and their sakhis to relish the rasa of their previous night's affairs (rasodgara), and Gauranga goes to meet his mother and the bhaktas.

Pratah Līlā (6:00 a.m. – 8:24 a.m.)

In the early morning Sita Thakurani, Malini Devi and Mother Sachi come to greet Vishnupriya and bless Her. Priyaji then leaves with Sachi and Her sakhis to bathe in the Ganga. After performing Ganga pūjā, She enjoys jala-keli with Her sakhis and returns home. (On some days, however, Lakshmipriya comes with her sakhis to bathe and compete in water sporting with Vishnupriya and Her sakhis.) Arriving back, Priyaji is elegantly dressed. Then She goes to Sri Narayana's mandir to prepare everything that her husband will need for the morning pūjā. Entering the kitchen with Her sakhis, Vishnupriya then joins Sachi, Malini, Sarvajaya and Lakshmipriya to help prepare the prātaḥ-bhojana for Mahaprabhu and His bhaktas.

When returning from His Ganga snana , Gaura is nicely dressed. Then He comes to hear Gadadhara's Bhagavat path with the bhaktas in the nāṭa-mandira. After the bhoga is offered to Narayan, and arati is performed, Mahaprabhu takes prasad with His bhaktas as Vishnupriya and Her sakhis watch from the kitchen window. Sachi and other elderly ladies joyfully serve the meal. After relishing Her husband's adharamrita (prasad remnants) Priyaji then enters His bedroom to massage His lotus feet.

Pūrvāhna Līlā (8:24 a.m. – 10:48 a.m.)

While Gaura is resting in His luxurious bedroom at the palace, Vishnupriya enters the garden with Her sakhis to pick flowers for the noon-time pūjā. Upon awakening and not seeing Priyaji, however, Prabhu comes serching for Her. Then a splendid Yugala-milana takes place in the garden as They enjoy prema-vilāsa in a beautiful keli mandir. After this, Gaura goes to visit His bhaktas' homes, and Priyaji bathes in the sarovar with Her sakhis. Then they join Sachi and Lakshmipriya in the kitchen to help prepare Śrī Narayan's midday bhoga offering.

Madhyahna Līlā (10:48 a.m. – 3:36 p.m.)

When Vishnupriya and Her sakhis bring the wonderful bhoga naivedya into Śrī Narayana's mandira, Nimai offers it according to sastra vidhi. The bhaktas then sing bhoga-kirtana as Gadadhar performs the arati. Prabhu usually takes prasad with the bhaktas at this time. But today after personally distributing Narayan's prasad to them, He comes to privately enjoy His meal. When Priyaji carefully serves the prasad with Lakshmipriya, Mother Sachi fans Him with a camara. And afterwards when He goes to take rest, Priyaji follows him to offer pan and massage His lotus feet. Sometimes Lakshmipriya takes up this seva. When Lakshmi and Priyaji go to serve Sachi and Jagannath's midday meal, they request that they sit down together. And when they take rest, Lakshmi massages Jagannath Mishra's lotus feet, and Priyaji massages Sachi's. Upon Gaura's rising, Priyaji goes to meet Him – and Her sakhis can't help but blush seeing how tightly He embraces and kisses Her! When everyone heads for the garden – Lakshmipriya comes along too with her sakhis. Some days both groups enjoy together, and on other days they enjoy separately. Seeing their Yugal Kishora seated upon an opulent singhasan in a jeweled forest pavilion – the sakhis become spellbound! They fan Them with chamaras, offer pan, sing and play various instruments. Then rati-keli begins. But before Prabhu slips back to the palace, light refreshments are served. Then Priyaji goes with Her sakhis to bathe in the sarovar, and afterwards they pick lots of flowers. Mother Sachi requests: “Gaura and Nitai will soon dance in nagara sankirtan, so prepare as many garlands as you can.” After Priyaji makes a few malas Herself, She sits down beside Śrī Narayana's mandira to prepare āguru-candana.

Aparahna Līlā (3:36 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.)

A crowd is assembling outside Sachi's angana. As the bhaktas play mrdangas and kartals everyone shouts Haribol! Gadadhar selects the two best malas and places them around Gauranga's neck, and anoints His forehead with candan. The ladies make tumultuous u l u vibrations as conchshells blow and the people cheer! Vishnupriya and Her sakhis first view Gaurasundara's bodily splendor from the doorstep. And as they next ascend to the candrasala (the high turret above the palace) they watch His enchanting dancing from there. This forms an unforgettable picture in their hearts. But when the sankirtan gradually moves out of sight, they come downstairs to braid their hair and discuss Gaura katha. Vishnupriya then goes to Narayan's mandir and performs dhupa arati. As She gracefully walks through the palace with an urn of burning aguru incense its lovely scented smoke sanctifies every room.

Sayahna Līlā (6:00 p.m. – 8:24 p.m.)

Everyone is eagerly waiting for Nimai's nagara sankirtan to return, and upon hearing its tumultuous vibration, a large crowd rushes to the roadside! At first Ishan washes Prabhu's feet, then Mother Sachi offers an arati to Him. When Gaura goes to take rest, Sachi distributes maha prasada to the bhaktas. Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Lashmipriya, Vishnupriya and their sakhis are busy preparing Śrī Narayan's sandhya bhoga offering. When Gaura returns, He sits down with His mother to discus saṁsāra matters. Then when Lakshmi, Vishnupriya and the sakhis bring the bhoga offering to the mandira, Nimai offers everything with bhakti to the Thakur. As the sandhya arati begins, the bhaktas dance in sankirtan. And when the maha prasada is ready – many relatives, friends, guests and bhaktas all come to sit down with Jagannath Mishra to honor it – as Sachi, Malini and Sarvajaya serve. (Sarvajaya is Nimai's aunti, Saci's younger sister, and the wife of Chandrashekhar Acharya.) When Nimai praises Vishnupriya's cooking to His mother she feels boundless joy. After prasad, Prabhu enters His bedroom and Priyaji goes to massage His lotus feet.

Pradoṣa Līlā (8:24 – 10:48 p.m.)

When the bhaktas anxiously arrive to bring Prabhu to Shrivas Angan, He awakens from His rest. Gadadhar and Narahari enter his bedroom to attractively dress Him for the Rāsotsava. After watching Him leave, Priyaji and Her sakhis sit down to savor His prasad remnants. And when they rise from a brief rest, they are overjoyed to hear that Ishan will escort them all to Shrivas Angan.

Niśā -Līlā (10:48 P.M – 3:36 )

Upon arriving at Shrivas Angan, Sachi, Vishnupriya and her sakhis are affectionatly greeted by Malini. Then she seats them in a select place wherefrom they can view the Rāsotsava to their full satisfaction. As the festival is breathtaking, everyone becomes spellbound upon viewing it! When Prabhu and the bhaktas go to bathe in the Ganga, Ishan then escorts Sachi, Priyaji and Her sakhis back home so they can prepare Prabhu's late evening bhojan. When Gaura arrives, Mother Sachi serves the meal as Priyaji fans Him with a chamara. Nimai then goes to take rest and Vishnupriya offers Him pan and gently massages His lotus feet. Then She returns to Sachi and they enjoy their late evening meal together. Afterwards, Priyaji massages Saci's lotus feet until she falls asleep. But before going to Her Husband, she exchanges rasamaya katha with Her sakhis. Then, at last, Vishnupriya enjoys prema-vilasa with Her Prana-vallabha until They fall asleep in a tender loving embrace.

Rasa Analysis

Just as Vishnupriya serves Her Husband throughout the aṣṭa-kāla, we can know that Lakshmipriya enjoys the same priviledge. As we focused mostly on Vishnupriya, we couldn't explain how equally rewarding and loving Lakshmi's relationship is with Gaura. But it is Lakshmipriya's sakhis and dasis who will see this. Now a question arises: As Vishnupriya and Lakshmipriya were previously Radha and Chandravali in Vraja, who were great rivals, how can they live so compatibly together in this Goloka Nabadwip setting? One reason is this:

In the bhauma līlā these two Gaura-vallabhas both suffered greatly the viraha's excruciating pain. So now they are very sensitive, and can vividly know about the pain that the other went through. For as the flaming fire of Gaura-viraha melted their hearts, they have attained an impeccable state of purity – just as when gold is repeatedly melted its purity increases immensely. Thus they both share a deep admiration for the other's great strength of character that the viraha has built within them. Another factor which greatly contributes to their present campatability is that in Goloka Nabadwip the līlā is multi-dimensional. And here Yogamaya arranges that they both enjoy sambhoga pleasure with Gauranga at the same time so that no one gets left out. And for this reason consorts are much less prone to jealousy. In other words, by Yogamaya's amazing influence everyone is so busy with their own affairs with Gaura that they hardly have time to witness the līlās of others. Another matter we should mention is that Vishnupriya and Lakshmipriya's līlās with Gauranga are internal and external. The Rāsalīlā, nikunja-vilāsa and other intimate affairs are internal – and at such times only the sakhis can take part. On the other hand, the svakīyā pastimes are external because their family members, the bhaktas and even the dhāma-vāsis are all able to see and participate in them. Let us conclude by saying that when Vishnupriya goes with Ishan, Sachi and Her sakhis to Shrivas Angan to view Gaurasundara's sankirtan with the bhaktas – the Rāsalīlā which manifests when Gauranga's bhaktas change over to their internal nāgarī-svarupas remains hidden to them. They can only see that Gauranga and His bhaktas are singing and dancing wonderfully together. On the other hand, the bhaktas cannot see the intimate Rasalīlā that Vishnupriya and Her sakhis enjoy with Gaurasundara. Therefore, we can be happy to know that in Goloka Nabadwip everyone's desires can be completely fulfilled by Yogamaya's expert arrangement.

Some readers' comments

Pavan Gauranga das:

While many of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Thakur's deeply spiritual desires have been famously fulfilled throughhis son, Bimala Prasad (also known as Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati), the Thakur's most confidential teachings were entrustedto his less famous son and initiated disciple, Śrīla Lalita Prasad Thakur. Indeed, it is he who is the conduit through which his father's sacred lessons are finally being disseminated, over a century later. “Another Side of Bhaktivinoda Thakur” is now being so nicely presented to an unsuspecting world, directly in need of these esoteric revelations to purify the population in this dark time. In doing so, the author is fulfilling the Thakur’s inner-most aspirations: to bring the incomparably sweet, romantic love of Gauranga Mahaprabhu to the devout spiritualist. As the zenith of our golden Lord's affection lies in His unparalleled pastimes with Śrīmati Vishnupriya, it behooves us to seek our eternal service to our beloved Mahaprabhu through a paramparā that originates with Her grace and inspiration. After reading these chapters about Priyaji’s glories, how can anyone's heart not be melted and a desire to becomes Her maidservant not manifest?

Ramananda Das

It is said that a true woman does not talk about her intimate encounters.

I think this is true and applies no less to the ultimate expression of the feminine principle Vishnupriya Devi Herself. Unless of course She is sharing confidentially with Her expansions.

For this reason it is quite understandable that information about Vishnupriya Devi and Her madhurya pastimes with Śrī Gaurasundar have been suppressed, quite possibly by Her own intervention.

I am grateful to Gadadhar Pran das for making these quite confidential sastras available to bhaktas in a way that has been presented so sensitively and delicately.

With Vishnupriya’s grace may these chapters be the basis for further bhajan and realisation of one’s true identity with seva to Vishnupriya and Her prana ballabha Śrī Gaurasundar being the ultimate goal.

Anonymous


Another Side of Bhaktivinod Thakur is a modest title for such a book as this. Seeing just the title, one might think that the "other side" refers perhaps to some little known aspect of the Thakur's biography or personality. However, the book is far more than that. By the time a reader reaches the culminating chapters on Śrīmati Vishnupriya's glories, it has become clear that the "other side" is in fact an entire world of divine pastimes and devotional participation. Though they are not widely known, the glories of Vishnupriya Devi are shown to be grounded in scripture and rooted in paramparā, and the realms of lila and sadhana that are opened up are vast and inviting, with all the intoxicating attractiveness of the Divine Couple Themselves.

Another Side of Takur Bhaktivinoda: Table of Contents