Divisions of Service to Krishna (Part II)

From my daily japa walk in Laval Quebec.

Part I

The third and last subcategory of the āśrita is the sevā-niṣṭha, or one dedicated fully to his service, taking shelter, I would assume, of his service.
c) sevā-niṣṭhāḥ

mūlato bhajanāsaktāḥ sevā-niṣṭhā itīritāḥ |
candradhvajo harihayo bahulāśvas tathā nṛpāḥ |
ikṣvākuḥ śrutadevāś ca puṇḍarīkādayaś ca te ||

Those who are attached to bhajana from the beginning are called "fixed in service" (sevā-niṣṭha) (3.2.29)
The examples are of some lesser known figures kings like Candradhvaja, Harihaya, Bahulāśva, Ikṣvāku, Śrutadeva and Puṇḍarīka. The commentaries make no effort to explain these kings' particular character. Bahulāśva and Śrutadeva figure in 10.86 but I haven't analysed them in order to get an idea of this separate category. Here is the exemplary verse:

ātmārāmān api gamayati tvad-guṇo gāna-goṣṭhīṁ
śūnyodyāne nayati vihagān apy alaṁ bhikṣu-caryām |
ity utkarṣaṁ kam api sa-camatkāram ākarṇya citraṁ
sevāyāṁ te sphuṭam aghahara śraddhayā gardhito’smi ||

Your virtues O Lord! send the ātmārāmas to the assembly of singers,
In the empty garden it makes the birds sing their mendicants' litany;
Having heard with amazement these astonishing excellences of yours,
O destroyer of sin! We have become eager to serve you with faith. (3.2.30)

JG conflates the ātmārāmas with the birds in accordance with SB 10.47.18. bahava iha vihaṅgā bhikṣā-caryāṁ caranti. He and Vishwanath say that the birds here are ascetic yogis. The empty garden would be liberation in the formless void.

3) pāriṣadāḥ.

 

Now we turn to the third category of dāsa in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, the pāriṣadāḥ. In Dvārakā these include Uddhava, Dāruka, Jaitra, [a different?] Śrutadeva, Satrajit, in Vrindavan, Nanda, Upananda [? not father and uncle], Bhadra, etc, I haven't looked through Rādhā-kṛṣṇa-gaṇodde+sa-dīpikā, even though the information given there is not particularly extensive. Like here there are many names that have never appeared in any literature to speak of, other than in such kinds of lists. A lot of the following contains descriptions of Uddhava, as he is the pārṣada par excellence for a number of reasons. Nevertheless, in Priti Sandarbha (84), Sri Jiva says that he has friendship (sakhya) within service.

niyuktāḥ santy amī mantra-sārathyādiṣu karmasu |
tathāpi kvāpy avasare paricaryāṁ ca kurvate |
kauraveṣu tathā bhīṣma-parīkṣid-vidurādayaḥ ||32||

The pāriṣadas are those who are engaged in ministerial duties, charioteers and other such tasks. Even so, if the occasion arises, they also engage in more personal services. Amongst the Kauravas, Bhishma, Parikshit, Vidura and others belong to this category. (3.2.32)

Sri Rūpa now describes their appearance and their devotion to Kṛṣṇa. 

sarasāḥ sarasīruhākṣa-veṣās
tridiveśāvali-jaitra-kānti-leśāḥ |
yadu-vīra-sabhāsadaḥ sadāmī
pracurālaṅkaraṇojjvalā jayanti ||

Victory to the members of the court of the hero of the Yadus, full of rasa and wearing the lotus-eyed Krishna's clothing and copiously decorated with ornaments, their effulgence exceeding that of the heavenly denizens, (3.2.33)

śaṁsan dhurjaṭi-nirjayādi-virudaṁ bāṣpāvaruddhākṣaraṁ
śaṅkā-paṅka-lavaṁ madād agaṇayan kālāgni-rudrād api |
tvayy evārpita-buddhir uddhava-mukhas tvat-pārṣadānāṁ gaṇo
dvāri dvāravatī-purasya purataḥ sevotsukas tiṣṭhati ||

Chanting the panegyrics of Krishna's heroics in defeating Shiva, their words choked from tears,

discounting any drop of the mud of doubt whether from intoxication or from the angry fire of dissolution, having surrendered their intelligence to you , your associates headed by Uddhava are standing at the gates of Dvārakā city before you eager to serve. (3.2.34)

eteṣāṁ pravaraḥ śrīmān uddhavaḥ prema-viklavaḥ ||35\\

The best of all these pāriṣadas is Uddhava, who is overcome with love for Krishna.

(Uddhava’s high position is accepted everywhere (See LBh, BBh, KṛṣṇaS, etc.) Indeed it is an important element in the descriptions of the hierarchy of rasa in all the Goswamis' writings. Two nice verses follow, a meditation on Uddhava (36) and his devotion (37) in (aiśvarya-jñāna) but I am not going to translate them here.

4) anugāḥ "followers"

sarvadā paricaryāsu prabhor āsakta-cetasaḥ |
purasthāś ca vrajasthāś cety ucyate anugā dvidhā ||38

Those who are always attached to various kinds of service to the Lord whether in Dvaraka or in Vraja are called anugas (followers). (BRS 3.2.38)

 
This is followed by the names and a brief description of some individuals who belong to these categories. In particular, Raktaka is named as the most notable of the Vrindavan anugas. From the example it is clear that Raktaka is the head of the servants in Nanda's household:

drutaṁ kuru pariṣkṛtaṁ bakula pīta-paṭṭāṁśukaṁ
varair agurubhir jalaṁ racaya vāsitaṁ vārida |
rasāla parikalpayoraga-latā-dalair vīṭikāḥ
parāga-paṭalī gavāṁ diśam arundha paurandarīm ||

O Bakula! Quickly refresh Krishna's yellow silken clothes
O Varida! Immediately scent this water with the best fragrances;
O Rasala! Make a pan bidi with the leaves of tambula;
Get ready, for the clouds of dust from the cows' hooves
is covering the sky in the east.

In other words Krishna is coming back from herding the cows and so things must be made ready for his bath and so on.

Subdivisions of pāriṣada and anuga

The last two categories are further subdivided into three, all of which have some relation to madhura-rasa, and should therefore be considered in relation to the Vrindavan lila, even though the examples given are primarily connected to Dvārakā līlā. 

dhūryo dhīraś ca vīraś ca tridhā pāriṣad-ādikaḥ || 48

(a) dhūryaḥ = eminent; leader, minister, charge d'affaires; (b) dhīraḥ = intelligent, wise, skilful, clever; (c) vīraḥ = hero

(a) dhūryaḥ—

kṛṣṇe’sya preyasī-varge dāsādau ca yathāyatham |
yaḥ prītiṁ tanute bhaktaḥ sa dhūrya iha kīrtyate ||49||

One who has love not only for Krishna but for his wives and servants, given in an appropriate manner is known as a dhūrya.

devaḥ sevyatayā yathā sphurati me devyas tathāsya priyāḥ
sarvaḥ prāṇa-samānatāṁ pracinute tad-bhakti-bhājāṁ gaṇaḥ |
smṛtvā sāhasikaṁ bibhemi tam ahaṁ bhaktābhimānonnata
prītiṁ tat-praṇate khare’py avidadhad yaḥ svāsthyam ālambate ||

Just as our lord appears to me as the object of service, so too do His queens who are beloved to Him. All those who have devotion for Him are as dear to me as my own life. Still I am afraid of that arrogance in people who pretend to be devotees and yet still feel comfortable without offering any affection to anyone, even an ass, that bows down to Him. (BRS 3.2.50)

(b) dhīraḥ—

āśritya preyasīm asya nātisevā-paro’pi yaḥ |
tasya prasāda-pātraṁ syān mukhyaṁ dhīraḥ sa ucyate ||

One who takes shelter of Krishna's beloved queens [or beloved] gopis even though not excessively engaged in service and is still the most prominent recipient of His grace is called a dhīra. (BRS 3.2.51)

Example:

 
kam api pṛthag anuccair nācarāmi prayatnaṁ
yadukula-kamalārka tvat-prasāda-śriye’pi |
samajani nanu devyāḥ pārijātārcitāyāḥ
parijana-nikhilāntaḥ-pātinī me yad-ākhyā ||

O sun that delights the Yadu lotus flowers! I make no special effort to attain the glories of your mercy because I have been designated as a member of the entourage of Devi Satyabhama, whom you have worshiped by bringing her the gift of the Parijata tree [by defeating Indra, etc.] (BRS 3.2.52)

According to JG this verses is spoken by the son of a servant who was given by Satyabhama's father to accompany her after her marriage to Krishna. This means that he was able to engage in a particular kind of joking relationship with Krishna. In well-to-do Indian joint families such kinds of relations would not have been unusual.

(c) vīraḥ—

kṛpāṁ tasya samāśritya prauḍhāṁ nānyam apekṣate | 

atulāṁ yo vahan kṛṣṇe prītiṁ vīraḥ sa ucyate ||

One who takes refuge in Krishna's powerful grace and cares for no other, feeling a deep sense of love for Him is called a vīra. (BRS 3.2.53)

Two examples are given here, including one from the Bhāgavatam.

pralamba-ripur īśvaro bhavatu kā kṛtis tena me
kumāra-makaradhvajād api na kiñcid āste phalam |
kim anyad aham uddhataḥ prabhu-kṛpā-kaṭākṣa-śriyā
priyā pariṣad-agrimāṁ na gaṇayāmi bhāmām api ||54||

Balaram, the enemy of Pralamba may be God for all I care, it means nothing to me. There is no benefit to me from Pradyumna, the prince and incarnation of Kamadeva; What is more, I have been so emboldened by the beauty of my lord’s merciful glance so that I care not even for Satyabhama, the foremost queen in His entourage. (BRS 3.2.54)

From the Fourth Canto—

jagaj-jananyāṁ jagad-īśa vaiśasaṁ
syād eva yat-karmaṇi naḥ samīhitam |
karoṣi phalgv apy uru dīna-vatsalaḥ
sva eva dhiṣṇye’bhiratasya kiṁ tayā ||

O Master of the universe! Surely the Mother of the Universe will be outraged on knowing that I desire to share her service. But you are affectionate to the humble and consider even a petty service to be great. You are always absorbed in Your own pleasure, you have nothing to gain from her. [Being absorbed in Your svarūpa, what need have You of Śrī?] (SB 4.20.28)

This is spoken by King Prithu to Narayana. This verse is discussed in Prīti Sandarbha (175) also but as a case of possible rasābhāsa arising from the apparent admixture of madhura, which occludes the pure sentiment of the servant.

Even though these three verses are set in Dvārakā, if viewed from the lens of Vrindavan, we can see the reflections of sakhī- or mañjarī-bhāva, sakhī-snehādhikā and so on.

Rupa Goswami concludes this section with the following verse:

eteṣu tasya dāseṣu trividheṣv āśritādiṣu |
nitya-siddhāś ca siddhāś ca sādhakāḥ parikīrtitaḥ ||56||

The three kinds of āśrita (which had the subdivisions of śaraṇya, jñāni-cara and sevā-niṣṭha) can further be categorize as eternally accomplished, those who have become accomplished through practice, and those who are still on their way to perfection through practice. Alternatively this could be applying to the three divisions we have just seen of dhūrya, dhīra and vīra.

This is the end of the discussion of the divisions of devotees as the āśrayas or ādhāras of dāsya-rasa in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. Actually it is not complete, since there is another category called lālya, which is described later in the chapter with its separate details. 

We will return to this. In the next post I will look at an earlier chapter of BRS (2.5) where there is a brief summary of dāsya-rasa as a part of the general introduction to sthāyi-bhāva. So we will supposedly get the essential elements there. [and probably belongs in the first article in this series]. And then we will look at Jiva Goswami's descriptions from Prīti Sandarbha for comparison and contrast, and then try to make some kind of evaluation.

Divisions of Service to Krishna (Part I)

Divisions of Service to Krishna (Part II)

Divisions of Service to Krishna (Part III)

Divisions of Service to Krishna (Part IV)

Divisions of Service to Krishna (Part V)