Our Prospect is Through Gaura Lila
By B. R. Sridhara Deva Goswami
By B. R. Sridhara Deva Goswamivadanti tat tattva-vidas
tattvam yaj jnanam advayam
brahmeti paramatmeti
bhagavan iti sabdyate
“Those who are seers of the truth speak of the undivided Absolute Truth in three phases—Brahman, Paramatma, and Bhagavan.”1
All-permeating, all-comprehensive, and all-controlling—the three phases of the Absolute. Then Mahaprabhu gave the fourth phase: that is the Krishna conception. Sundaram—that loveliness of the Absolute, to attract everyone for his service toward him. Neither the controller, nor the accommodator, nor the innermost substance is the highest conception of the Absolute, but it is the capacity of attracting everyone, to concentrate the center of interest of everyone by beauty and natural love. Not by forceful control; to attract every atom towards him for the fulfillment of our existence: that is the highest aspect of the Absolute, and that was given by Mahaprabhu. The natural attractor of all, giving them all possible fulfillment. Who can give fulfillment of the inner aspiration of everyone? That aspect is the highest and that fulfillment is possible by anandam, rasam—beauty, love, and affection. Neither the controlling, nor accommodating, nor permeating aspects of Paramatma, Brahman, and Bhagavan, but svayam Bhagavan; the God of God, the God of all gods.
There is an aspect that is drawn to his own beauty and also distributes that beauty. Just as in the heart we find that blood is circulated to every corner and from there, the blood is again drawn towards heart for purification. Giving and taking, all-attracting and distributing to all: that is Sri Caitanyadeva. There the combined effort of the positive-negative is together. In Vrindavana, the positive and negative are separate with their own paraphernalia and they are continuing their pastimes. In Svarupa-damodara’s sloka we find:
radha krsna-pranaya-vikrtir hladini saktir asmad
ekatmanav api bhuvi pura deha-bhedam gatau tau
caitanyakhyam prakatam adhuna tad-dvayam caikyam aptam
radha-bhava-dyuti-suvalitam naumi krsna-svarupam2
Svarupa-damodara refutes the idea that first there is Krishna and then Mahaprabhu. Both are eternal. When they are combined—radha-krsna-pranaya-vikrtir. Who is Radha? She is not separate from Krishna. Krsna-pranaya—the beauty or the love that is in Krishna—that is Radha and so that cannot exist separately. They are both one but they are separated for a particular practice in Vrindavana. They are one divided into two halves, positive and negative, with their own paraphernalia. They showed their very beautiful pastimes there. And again, they become one in Sri Caitanya—radha-bhava-dyuti-suvalita—the color and the mood of Radharani within Krishna. I have mentioned in my Prema-dhama-deva Stotram:
atma-siddha-sava lila puma-saukhya-laksanam
svanubhava-matta-nrtya-kirtanatma-vantanam
advayaika-laksya-puma-tattva-tat-paratparam
prema-dhama-devam-eva naumi gaura-sundaram
“This is the all-conquering conclusion: the highest conception of the ultimate reality must also be the highest form of ananda, ecstasy. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Krishna, ecstasy himself, tasting his own sweetness and dancing in ecstatic joy. His own holy name is the cause of his ecstasy, expressed as dancing, and the holy name is the effect of his ecstasy, expressed as chanting. The cause is the effect. The dynamo is creating ecstatic energy which makes him dance, and his chanting distributes that ecstasy to others. I offer my obeisances to that beautiful Golden Lord, Gauranga-sundara, the divine form of Krishna prema.”3
Matta-nrtya—just as a madman, without any object, dances. This example is given by the philosophers, matta-nrtya. A madman is dancing. What is the cause? He has got no idea, but he is dancing. So the Absolute, in ecstasy of his joyfulness, is dancing. And when he is chanting he distributes himself to the public. I have pointed out in this verse that dancing is the symptom of the fullness of ecstatic joy and kirtana means to distribute himself to the outside, to the environment. When these two signs are found in full then he cannot but be the Absolute. The Absolute Truth has got his own fulfillment and he is also dynamic in character, distributing that fulfillment to others. That is found in Sri Caitanyadeva—the highest type of Absolute.
Madhurya in Vrindavana and audarya in Navadvipa. They are two compartments on the same level. On the highest level of ontological conception there are two compartments. One is confined within himself, and another distributing that to other quarters; attracting everyone towards them and distributing everything towards all. Two phases of lila are generally found there. To us, Gaura lila is more useful because our prospect is there. Through Mahaprabhu only can we have entrance into the other aspect of his lila—when it is given by him, by his given method. If we approach him, we are sure to have entrance into that lila.
yatha yatha gaura-padaravinde
vindeta bhaktim krta punya-rasih
tatha tathot-sarpati hrdya-kasmad
radha-padambhoja-sudhambu rasih
“As devotion unto the lotus feet of Sri Gaurasundara is attained by a greatly pious person, inevitably the ocean of nectar which is the service of the lotus feet of Sri Radha is accordingly born within his heart.”4
As much as we are able to connect ourselves with Gaura lila, automatically we find that without any trouble we are already present in Krishna lila. We are carried to the camp of Radharani in Vrindavana. We have to cover this ontological aspect.
Percolated by the mercy of Sri Gauranga, try to approach Srimati Radharani. Then there will be no possibility of any contamination entering our heart and disturbing us in that plane. Sri Gauranga will impede that contamination. If we have the shelter of Gauranga we can be sure that we will very safely, smoothly, and intimately attain the service of Srimati Radharani.
The above article was adapted from Krishna Talk 156, available here.
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This is just so deep!
So high realizations about the tattva of Lord Caitanya!
All glories to Srila B.R. Sridhara Maharaja!