VMA 2.53-55 : How a certain most fortunate person resides in Vrindavan

In VMA 2.34 (The fortunate, the more fortunate, and the most fortunate of all), Prabodhananda Saraswatipada gave a hierarchy of spiritual attainments in view of the object of worship. In the current set of verses, he has been giving a hierarchy on the basis of their levels of sādhana. After saying in the previous verse that one who has renounced everything to take shelter of Vrindavan is the most fortunate, he now shows the fruits of this good fortune by describing a devotee who is on the stage of bhāva and prema, the two aspects of  sādhya-bhakti, the goal of sādhana. 

no śṛṇvan naiva gṛhṇan sakala-tanu-bhṛtāṁ kvāpi doṣaṁ guṇaṁ vā
vṛndāvana-stha-sattvāny akhila-guru-dhiyā saṁnaman daṇḍa-pātaiḥ |
tyaktāśeṣābhimāno niravadhi caramākiñcanaḥ kṛṣṇa-rādhā-
premānandāśru muñcan nivasati sukṛtī ko'pi vṛndāvanāntaḥ ||2.53||

krandann ārta-svareṇa kṣitiṣu pariluṭhan saṁnaman prāṇa-bandhuṁ
kurvan dante tṛṇāny ādadhad anu karuṇā-dṛṣṭaye kāku-koṭiḥ |
tiṣṭhann ekānta-vṛndāvipina-taru-tale savya-pāṇau kapolaṁ
nyasyāśrūṇy eva muñcan nayati dina-niśāṁ ko'pi dhanyo'tyananyaḥ ||2.54||

muñcan śokāśru-dhārāṁ satatam arucimān grāsa-mātra-grahe'pi
kṣipto baddho hato vā girivad avicalaḥ sarva-saṅgair vimuktaḥ |
naiṣkiñcanyaika-kāṣṭhāṁ gata uru-tarayotkaṇṭhayā cintayan śrī-
rādhā-kṛṣṇāṅghri-paṅkeruha-dala-suṣamāṁ ko'pi vṛndāvane'sti ||2.55||

Neither hearing nor believing any talk
of the faults or virtues of any other living entity,
considering all beings residing in Vrindavan
to be world-teaching gurus and prostrating
flat on the ground to offer them respect,
having renounced pride in any material identity,
and having attained a state of absolute freedom from possessions,
constantly shedding blissful tears of love for Krishna and Radha,
a certain pious person resides in the forest of Vrindavan.

Crying with a voice filled with pain,
rolling about on the ground,
bowing down to his dearmost friend,
placing blades of grass between his teeth,
calling out millions of plaintive prayers for a merciful glance,
staying all alone at the base of a tree in Vrindavan forest,
resting his cheek on his left hand, shedding many tears,
a certain exclusive devotee, a most fortunate person,
passes his day and nights.

Constantly shedding a flood of tears of grief,
without any taste for food, eating only a single mouthful,
remaining unmoved whether thrown, tied up or struck,
unbound by any attachments whatsoever,
having attained the ultimate limit of indifference to having things,
meditating with greater and greater anxious longing
on the great transcendental beauty of the lotus petals
of Sri Sri Radha and Krishna's feet,
a certain person abides in this forest of Vrindavan.

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In VMA 2.34 (The fortunate, the more fortunate, and the most fortunate of all), Prabodhananda Saraswatipada gave a hierarchy of spiritual attainments in view of the object of worship. In the current set of verses, he has been giving a hierarchy on the basis of their levels of sādhana. After saying in the previous verse that one who has renounced everything to take shelter of Vrindavan is the most fortunate, he now shows the fruits of this good fortune by describing a devotee who is on the stage of bhāva and prema, the two aspects of  sādhya-bhakti, the goal of sādhana.

In this verse the prema is shown by the ecstatic symptoms or sāttvika-bhāvas, while bhāva is shown by the other actions or anubhāvas. The distinction between the two is that the former are involuntary, while the latter are voluntary.

The most common of the ecstatic symptoms is tears in the eyes, which is mentioned in all three of the above verses. The person who has attained such a state is said by the Bhagavatam to purify the whole world.

vāg gadgadā dravate yasya cittaṁ
rudaty abhīkṣṇaṁ hasati kvacic ca
vilajja udgāyati nṛtyate ca
mad-bhakti-yukto bhuvanaṁ punāti

He whose voice is broken with emotion and whose mind melts, who cries constantly and sometimes laughts, who shamelessly sings aloud and dances such a person endowed with devotion to Me purifies the entire world. (11.14.24)

See also VMA 1.33 : The most fortunate person residing in Vrindavan.

These characteristics of a devotee with bhāva are given by Rupa Goswami in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. These are here called anubhāvas, using the rasa-śāstra terminology. Anu means "after, upon," so anubhāvas are the actions that follow one's internal moods.

kṣāntir avyartha-kālatvaṁ viraktir māna-śunyatā |
āśā-bandhaḥ samutkaṇṭhā nāma-gāne sadā ruciḥ ||
āsaktis tad-guṇākhyāne prītis tad-vasati-sthale |
ity-ādayo 'nubhāvāḥ syur jāta-bhāvāṅkure jane ||

When the seed of feeling for Krishna sprouts, the following nine symptoms manifest in one's behavior:

1. forbearance (kṣānti),
2. concern that time should not be wasted (avyartha-kālatva),
3. detachment from everything not connected to his Beloved (virakti),
4. complete absence of false prestige (māna-śunyatā),
5. unbreakable hope (āśā-bandha),
6. total eagerness for bhajan and for attaining union with the Beloved (samutkaṇṭhā),
7. a taste for constantly chanting the Beloved's name (nāma-gāne sadā ruciḥ),
8. attachment to hearing the transcendental qualities of the Beloved (āsaktis tad-guṇākhyāne),
9. and affection for those places where the Beloved resides (prītis tad-vasati-sthale). (BRS 1.3.25-26)

According to Rupa Goswami, even at the stage of bhāva, there is a melting of the mind which results in some ecstatic symptoms being manifest (svalpa-mātrāḥ syuḥ). But there is a warning that such manifestations in someone who does not have devotion are the result of something different.

vyaktaṁ masṛṇateva antarekṣyate rati-lakṣaṇam
mumukṣu-prabhṛtīnāṁ ced bhaved eṣā ratir na hi

If symptoms of rati such as softness of the heart are seen in people who have desires other than loving service [such as liberation], then these symptoms do not indicate real rati [but only its semblance or shadow]. (BRS 1.3.41)

The ninth characteristic of the bhāva-bhakta listed by Rupa Goswami is a strong love for residence in the Dham. He cites the following verse from Padyāvalī as an illustration of the way he envisioned such a devotee residing in Vrindavan.

atrāsīt kila nanda-sadma śakaṭasyātrābhavad bhaṣjanaṁ
bandha-ccheda-karo’pi dāmabhir abhūd baddho’tra dāmodaraḥ |
itthaṁ māthura-vṛddha-vaktra-vigalat-pīyūṣa-dhārāṁ pibann
ānandāśru-dharaḥ kadā madhu-purīṁ dhanyaś cariṣyāmy aham ||

"Here was the house of Nanda, and the breaking of the cart took place right her. Damodar, who puts an end to all material bondage, was bound here with ropes by Yashoda." Drinking such words of ambrosia flowing from the mouths of elderly residents of Braj, when will I be so fortunate as to wander in the land of Mathura, my eyes filled with torrents of tears.

There is another verse in the Padyāvalī, composed by Rupa Goswami cites a verse of his own in a similar mood.

kadā vṛindāraṇye mihira-duhituḥ saṇgamāhite
muhur bhrāmaṁ bhrāmaṁ carita-laharīṁ gokula-pateḥ |
lapann uccair uccair nayana-payasāṁ veṇibhir ahaṁ
kariṣye sotkaṇṭhaṁ niviḍam upasekaṁ viṭapinām ||105||

When will I wander through Vrindavan forest by the banks of the Yamuna, singing with anxious longing in a loud voice the waves of pastimes performed by the master of Gokula? So doing, when will I sprinkle the trees with the tears streaming from my eyes?

Some of the other characteristics mention in Rupa Goswami's verses can be detected in Prabodhananda's description.

• (kṣānti) "remaining unmoved whether thrown, tied up or struck, unbound by any attachments whatsoever"

Rupa Goswami uses the example of Maharaj Parikshit as an example of forbearance:

taṁ mopayātaṁ pratiyantu viprā
gaṅgā ca devī dhṛta-cittam īśe |
dvijopasṛṣṭaḥ kuhakas takṣako vā
daśatv alaṁ gāyata viṣṇu-gāthāḥ ||

O brahmins, may you as well as Goddess Gaṅgā know me as a surrendered soul, whose mind is fixed on Bhagavān. Let the treachery conjured by the brahmin consume me, or let the snake Takshaka bite me, just go on singing the glories of Lord Vishnu. (SB 1.19.15, BhaktiS 86)

• (avyartha-kālatvam) "passes his day and nights."

vāgbhiḥ stuvanto manasā smarantas
tanvā namanto’py aniśaṁ na tṛptāḥ |
bhaktāḥ sravan-netra-jalāḥ samagram
āyur harer eva samarpayanti ||

Praising with words, remembering with my mind
using my body to pay my obeisances,
and despite it all, never feeling that it is enough.
The devotees offer up their entire life
to the Lord alone, their eyes swimming in tears. (BRS 1.3.29)

• (virakti) "without any taste for food, eating only a single mouthful, ṇeither hearing nor believing any talk of the faults or virtues of any other living entities"

Virakti means to feel no interest or attraction for the sense objects. Rupa Goswami's example -- that of the king Bharata -- is again taken from the Bhagavatam, :

yo dustyajān dāra-sutān suhṛd rājyaṁ hṛdi-spṛśaḥ |
jahau yuvaiva malavad uttamaḥśloka-lālasaḥ ||

That Bharata, even though still only a young man, out of his ardent desire to attain the glorious Lord, gave up all those things that everyone holds dear and hard to give up—wife, sons, friends and kingdom—as though they were nothing more than excrement. (BhP 5.14.43, BRS 1.3.31)

• (māna-śunyatā): "considering all beings residing in Vrindavan to be world-teaching gurus and prostrating flat on the ground to offer them respect, having renounced pride in any material identity, rolling about on the ground, bowing down to his dearmost friend. placing blades of grass between his teeth"

Rupa Goswami's example is that of King Bhagiratha, taken from Padma Purana:

harau ratiṁ vahann eṣa narendrāṇāṁ śikhā-maṇiḥ |
bhikṣām aṭann ari-pure śvapākam api vandate ||

Out of love for the Lord, this best of all kings (Bhagiratha) wanders in the city of his enemies, begging for food and offering respect to even those in the lowest stations of society. (BRS 1.3.33)

• (āśā-bandha) "calling out millions of plaintive prayers for a merciful glance"

To be bound with hope means the firm belief that attaining the Lord is possible, despite one's disqualifications. The verse given as an example is written by Sanatan Goswami:

na premā śravaṇādi-bhaktir api vā yogo'thavā vaiṣṇavo
jñānaṁ vā śubha-karma vā kiyad aho sajjātir apy asti vā |
hīnārthādhika-sādhake tvayi tathāpy acchedya-mūlā satī
he gopī-jana-vallabha vyathayate hā hā mad-āśaiva mām||

I have no prema. Nor do I engage in hearing and chanting, the practices that lead to prema. I have not the self-discipline befitting a Vaishnava. Nor do I have wisdom, nor, alas, pious works. I am not even of good birth. O Gopijanavallabha!You are said to bring fulfillment to those who are most unworthy, yet the hope for your mercy, which is pure and holy, and so deeply rooted within me that I cannot cut it out, brings me nothing but pain. (BRS 1.3.36)

• (samutkanthā) "meditating with greater and greater anxious longing on the great transcendental beauty of the lotus petals of Radha and Krishna's feet."

Rupa Goswami's example is taken from Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta (54)

ānamrām asita-bhruvor upacitām akṣīṇa-pakṣmāṅkureṣv
ālolām anurāgiṇor nayanayor ārdrāṁ mṛdau jalpite |
ātāmrām adharāmṛte mada-kalām amlāna-vaṁśī-svaneṣv
āśāste mama locanaṁ vraja-śiśor mūrtiṁ jagan-mohinīm ||

My eyes pine for the vision
of the world-enchanting form of that child of Braja:
his black brows slightly curved,
his eyelashes long,
his eyes flickering,
moist with soft speech,
copper red from the nectar of his lips
maddened with the arts of bright sounds from his flute.

Though the other two characteristics are not directly mentioned in the verses, they can be inferred. Jai Radhe!

VMA 2.52 : Most fortunate is the one who has given up everything to take shelter of Vrindavan
VMA 2.51 : The wealth, intelligence and praiseworthiness of the Vrindavan sadhaka
VMA 2.50 : Respect for the residents of Braj, even from afar, leads to the greatest benefit
VMA 2.47-49: May that pair of adolescent lovers manifest before my eyes
VMA 2.44-46: Vrindavan is the celestial stage for the Divine Couple's dance of love
VMA 2.41-43: The service activities of the manjaris.