Vrindavan Bhagavata speakers: Vaishnavacharya Sri Pundrik Goswami

So after my post on Rajendra Das, where I mentioned Pundrik Goswami's name in connection with his visit to Montreal earlier this year, Pundrik himself (or whoever is in control of his FB page) sent me a link to a lecture he gave in 2018 when he was given a "Valmiki award" by the most renowned Ramayana speaker Morari Bapu.

I have seen Pundrik Goswami speak on a couple of occasions.and I even wrote an article about him on Vrindavan Today in 2011 because even then I had been very impressed by him. At the time he was only 21 years old and newly risen to the gaddi of the Vaijayanti Ashram after his father Sribhuti Krishna Goswami had entered the dust of Vrindavan.

Since then I have not had much contact with Pundrik Goswami Prabhu, so I listened to his lecture with some interest. There are a number of points that I would like to highlight about it.

First of all, besides being well-educated in his metier as a Bhagavata speaker, Pundrik is extremely clever, which is something I already noted in the Sant Sammelan article. In this lecture he uses the Bhagavatam and Ujjvala-nilamani to make comparisons between Krishna lila and Rama lila, especially as it pertains to the tattva of union and separation (samyoga-viyoga). He is speaking to an audience of predominantly Rama bhaktas, especially Morari Bapu, who have evidently been impressed by Pundrik's lectures on Valmiki Ramayana, and for good reason.

But the test of any speaker is how he performs in front of an audience of the educated and experts in his own field. Just watch how he plays this audience and gives them joy, sometimes with humor, but mostly through the inspired realizations and the incomparable language of his expression. Watch Morari Bapu feel the rasa, especially when Pundrik really breaks into his stride. Just watch the reaction shots.

The nature of the occasion means that he has to start slow. He even mentions that some people in Vrindavan ask him what's this about a Valmiki award, isn't that a step down for a Brijbasi Radha bhakta. But that is only the stepping off point. He talks humbly about himself, saying he has received many awards in this life, starting with the human form of life itself. But then he goes on to mention the fact that he was born in Braj in a Goswami family and been awarded the association of many gurus, including his own father and grandfather, both of whom were great speakers on the Bhagavatam and very influential on the Vrindavan scene.

But then he slowly moves into his subject. He hits his stride and then builds and builds to numerous climaxes and then ending with the appropriate pranams to his gurus and to his audience. One of the incredible aspects of this lecture is its integrity and consistency.

There is a particular high point at around the 46 minute mark (from here climaxing here) when he describes the beauty of Radha/Sita ("Kishoriji") and uses verses from Kaviraj Goswami and Radha-rasa-sudha-nidhi, not in the stepping-stone way verses are usually used but as a climactic way of finishing off the exciting description. He does not use throwaway verses as space fillers, but finds rare and delightful verses to heighten the rasa.

gaurāṅge mradimā smite madhurimā netrāñcale drāghimā
vakṣoje garimā tathaiva tanimā madhye gatau mandimā |
śroṇyāṁ ca prathimā bhruvoḥ kuṭilimā bimbādhare śoṇimā
śrī-rādhe hṛdi te rasena jaḍimā dhyāne’stu me gocaraḥ ||75||

Hey Sri Radhe!
May these things always be perceptible in my heart –
the softness in your golden limbs,
the sweetness in your smile,
the elongated breadth of your eyes,
the density in your breasts,
the fragile thinness of your waist,
the slow dignitiy of your movements,
the broadness of your hips,
the curve of your eyebrows,
the redness of your bimba-fruit lips,
and the coolness of the nectar in your heart.

Although I know that Pundrikji uses musical interludes like all other Bhagavata speakers of our day, in this lecture he shows how it was done in the old days when those were not considered necessary and depends entirely on the vachaka's mastery of the language. Pundrikji has total control over the poetic use of Sanskritized Hindi. You want to learn Hindi? This is Hindi at its very best, used for the purpose it was meant -- the glorification of the Divine Person.

Another thing is that Pundrikji is not afraid to glorify Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and bring him into the picture, just as he did when he was his father's apprentice, a prodigy at the age of 11. That prodigious beginning means that he is fearless even in the intimidating circumstance of speaking before the very best.

Another thing is something I noticed in the Sant Sammelan article. It is the establishing of an intimate and playful relation with his audience, directly speaking to "Maharaj" (Bapuji) and the learned listeners.

Without a number of original and inspired insights into the lila and the personalities of the Divine Nayika. There is just so much in this lecture that I could not do it justice without listening to it numerous times. Along with all the clever work plays. (Valmiki took Sita's tears of shoka to write the shlokas of the Ramayana!) It is really amazing divine entertainment, incomparable.

Anyway, if any unbiased student of Vaishnava dharma -- which begins with Shravanam Kirtanam -- has any doubts of the benefits of being born in Braj in a Vaishnava Goswami family and of the benefits of learning Hindi and Sanskrit, just watch this video -- even without understanding anything. Just listen to the sounds and rhythms of the language and weep.