Sri Krishna Kathamrita
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Sri Krishna Kathamrita Tav k QaaMa*Ta& TaáJaqvNaMa( tava kathāmta tapta-jīvanam BBBiiinnndududu Issue No. 115 Fortnightly email mini-magazine from Gopal Jiu Publications 12 November 2005 Śrī Utthānā Ekādaśī, 25 Dāmodara, 519 Gaurābda Circulation, 1552 • VISION OF VRINDAVAN A Remembrance of Srila Prabhupada • BHUGARBHA GOSWAMI Prema-vilāsa 7.220–32 Highlights Highlights VISION OF VRINDAVAN “So,PAGE we ONE must TOP first COLLUMN protect TWOthem. Then re- store them to first-class condition, install dei- A Remembrance of Srila Prabhupada ties, and conduct daily āratis. Then many “But why is it, Srila Prabhupada, that here people will come and benefit.” in Vrindavan, Krishna’s devotees also seem to “Why has Krishna allowed His dhāma to de- suffer so?” Gurudas asks. teriorate, Srila Prabhupada?” Gurudas asks. “Suffer? What is that suffering?” “It has not deteriorated,” he replies. Prabhupada says. “Well, you just said that the Goswami “Many don’t have sufficient food. They temples were neglected.” sleep on the streets and ...” “That’s a fact. But Vrindavan has not dete- “Who says there’s not sufficient food? Is any- riorated.” one starving? Just show me one starving man. In “Most Americans would be shocked to see any temple a man can go and take prasādam. And what I saw this morning,” I say. as for sleeping, everyone is sleeping. When you “How’s that?” Prabhupada asks. sleep, do you know whether you’re on a king’s “Well, for one, they’d consider it couch or a stone road? The Goswamis would sleep unhygenic.” under a different tree every night, and then for “Just see. For a materialist, everything is only two or three hours. There’s no problem eat- topsy-turvy because his vision is perverted. ing, sleeping, defending, mating. There’s no lack Beauty and ugliness are in the eye of the seer.” there, no poverty. The only poverty in India to- “But what’s this veneer covering the holy day is lack of Krishna consciousness — that’s all.” dhāma?” “But most tourists are appalled when they “The ugliness that you see here is yoga-māyā,” come here and see the conditions,” Dr. Kapoor Prabhupada says. “It’s Krishna’s covering. says. He is dressed in a spotless white kurta Vrindavan appears this way to drive away the and pajama pants. “It will take more than your atheists and impersonalists, just as New York temple at Raman Reti to change all that.” attracts them. For a devotee, this Vrindavan is “Therefore I’m recommending a general as good as Krishna’s transcendental abode in program of clean-up, preservation, and res- the spiritual sky — Goloka Vrindavan. But you toration,” Prabhupada says. “True, the beau- must have the eyes to see.” tiful temples of the Goswamis — Madana “Transcendental vision,” Dr. Kapoor says. Mohana, Govindaji, especially — are crum- “Yes, Vrindavan hides herself from the ma- bling due to neglect.” terialist,” Prabhupada says. “Sometimes people even use them as stone “You speak of Vrindavan as a person,” I say. quarries,” Dr. Kapoor laments. “In spiritual consciousness, everything next column ! ! Issue One hundred fifteen, Page — 2 é[q k* Z<ak QaaMa*Ta ibNdu top left 2 Top right 2 is personal,” Prabhupada says. “Even the city How great was Bhugarbha Goswami’s love! Who has of Ravana appeared before Hanuman as a the power to describe it? He surrendered everything to gigantic Rakshashi, and Hanuman knocked Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. her down because she challenged him.” — Srila Narahari Chakravarti’s Bhakti-ratnākara 6.396. “Well, I’ve certainly noticed a difference be- kpāmaya bhugarbha gosvāmī kpā kari’ tween the consciousness of Delhi and here,” puna ki āniba mo pāpīra keśa dhari’ I say. “I couldn’t help but feel it. Still, the Will merciful Bhugarbha Goswami kindly grab sin- poverty ... “ ful me by the hair and drag me back to Vraja? “Krishna’s mercy keeps his devotees poor,” — Bhakti-ratnākara 6.478. Prabhupada says. “Their only wealth is jaya raghunātha bha a, sanātana, rūpa Krishna consciousness. Krishna doesn’t want jaya śrī bhūgarbha, lokanātha bhakti-bhūpa them diverted by Maya Devi.” Glory to Raghunath Bhatta, Sanatan Goswami, and “But I still don’t see how this is as good as Rupa Goswami! Glory to Sri Bhugarbha and Goloka Vrindavan,” I say. Lokanath, the great monarchs of bhakti! “Then you must try to rediscover — Bhakti-ratnākara 15.7 Vrindavan,” Prabhupada says. “That you Gaudiya Vaishnava literature discusses very must do. It is a question of consciousness. The little about Srila Bhugarbha Goswami. It’s known real Vrindavan is there in your own heart, that he was a close friend of Srila Lokanath hiding herself from you.” Goswami and that they both lived in Vraja on the “So how do I go about it?” I ask. order of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Lokanath and “Just follow the examples of the elevated vraja- Bhugarbha are said to have been so close that the vāsīs,” he says, smiling. “For instance, the gopīs, two were actually one, only their bodies were dif- the milkmaids of Vrindavan, simply tried to make ferent. In text 187 of Gaura-gaoddeśa-dīpikā, Krishna happy. That is Krishna consciousness: making Krishna happy. When you love some- Srila Kavi Karnapur describes, bhūgarbha- one, you want to make him happy, right?” hakkurasyāsīt pūrvākhyā prema-mañjarī — “Right.” in ka-līlā, Bhugarbha Goswami was previously “In Vrindavan, everyone is trying to please Sri Prema Manjari. Radha Krishna Das Goswami Krishna: the birds, trees, cows, the river, and writes in Sādhana-dīpikā (8.214) that Lokanath all Krishna’s associates. It’s not that Vrindavan Goswami was the son of Bhugarbha’s brother. is only here. We can have Vrindavan every- Srila Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami writes (Cc. ādi where. Krishna is not limited. We should not 8.68) that Bhugarbha Goswami was a disciple of think that because Krishna is far away in Gadadhar Pandit. The verse following that describes Goloka Vrindavan he cannot accept what we that among Bhugarbha Goswami’s disciples were offer him. If you offer food with love, Krishna Chaitanya Das, a priest of the Govinda deity, as well eats. Krishna does not leave Goloka Vrindavan, as Mukundananda Chakravarti and the great devo- but his expansion goes and accepts food. This tee Krishnadas. In ādi 12.82, Kaviraj Goswami says th Vrindavan that just happens to appear in In- that Bhugarbha is the 12 branch of the tree of dia is as worshipable as Krishna. So we can- Gadadhar Pandit. As they were senior by age and not offend his dhāma, his home. If we live in experience to many of the vaiavas in Vrindavan, Vrindavan, we are living with Krishna, be- Bhugarbha and Lokanath Goswamis were regarded cause Vrindavan is non-different from among the principal gosvāmīs of Vraja. Bhugarbha Krishna. There’s no difference between the Goswami was an intimate associate of Rupa and original Vrindavan and this Vrindavan. Sanatan, and on the order of Sri Chaitanya Vrindavan is so powerful.” Mahaprabhu he moved to Vrindavan where he spent — Pages 48-51. Vrindavan Days. By Howard Wheeler, the rest of his life engaged in bhajan and revealing (Hayagriva Swami). Palace Publishing. New Vrindavan, West and excavating the places of Krishna’s pastimes. Virginia. 1990. The following story is from Prema-vilāsa by Nityananda Das, the disciple of Jahnava Mata, BHUGARBHA GOSWAMI the divine consort of Lord Nityananda Prabhu. Prema-vilāsa 7.220–32 Jahnava related to Nityananda Das many sto- kibā gosvamīra sneha! kahite ke pare? ries from the lives of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and śrī ka caitanya samarpilena savāre his associates. On her order, he compiled those ! ! TopSri leftKrishna-kathamrita 3 Bindu top rightIssue 3 One hundred fifteen, Page — 3 stories into the book known as Prema-vilāsa. The sometimes they loudly sang the glories of Krishna, following translation describes something of the and other times they sang the glories of activities of Srila Bhugarbha Goswami. Gauranga. In this way they gradually reached “Go to Vrindavan” the town of Rajmahala. At this point they were uncertain which way to go. They inquired from One day, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu called some passersby, who advised that they not go to for Lokanath Goswami and instructed him, Vrindavan as the roads leading there were filled “Please go to Vrindavan to satisfy me. You with notorious dacoits. Worried that they would should start at once and travel through never reach Vrindavan, they decided to go in Girikunda, Govardhan, Yavat, Barshana, and the direction of Tajpura. Eventually they arrived various solitary kuñjas, and be happy to live in at the village of Puraria, and shortly thereafter those places. Go to your original home and reached Ayodhya. Although the journey had worship the feet of Kishore Kishori. Build a cot- gone well so far, they were frightened that they tage at Chira Ghat and at the Rasasthali [the would not be able to fulfill the Lord’s order to go place of the rāsa dance], which is surrounded to Vrindavan. Nevertheless, they continued. by trees like Tamal, Bakul and Vata. Visit Eventually they arrived in Lucknow, and on the Vamsivat, Nidhuvan, and take rest in Dhir twenty-third day they reached Agra. There they Samir. Bathe in the Yamuna and live on ajācaka- took bath in the Yamuna and accepted some bhikyā — alms that come without asking. Con- prasādam. Two days later they entered Gokul and tinue your chanting and remembrance, and visited the birthplace of Krishna. Finally, on the teach the living entities about Krishna. As an following day, they reached Vrindavan. accomplished devotee, you will get numerous Now I shall explain something wonderful. disciples. Rupa and others will join you later.” Gadadhar Pandit Goswami, the favorite fol- When they met the following morning, lower of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, was the in- Chaitanya Mahaprabhu again instructed carnation of Srimati Radharani.