SRI KRISHNA, THE CENTRAL FIGURE OF ALL LOVE
By
His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad 108 Tridandi Swami Sri
Srimat Bhakti Sravan Tirtha Goswami Maharaj
Heart is the seat of love. As love is Godhead Himself, so the God of love dwells eternally in our heart of hearts. So we should love god and all beings with all our heart. We do not say, “I love you with all my intellect” but we say, ‘I love you with all my heart’.
The brain is the seat of the intellect. It leads us to polemnic discussions without arriving at any definite conclusion. On the contrary, it leads us to endless dry reasoning resulting in agnosticism. It is the Vaishnavas who are Godloving in their element and possess the qualities of head and heart simultaneously, because without the knowledge of Godhead, Sri Vishnu or Sri Krishna, there is no love for Him. So sambandha-jyana is indispensably necessary for releasing Kris
hna-Prem.
The three qualities which are characteristic traits of pure love are :
1) Eternal qualities after the entire satisfaction of the Object of Love (Sri Krishna).
2) Eternal searching after the happiness of the Object of Love (Sri Krishna) despite all
obstacles standing on the way.
3) Self-delight in consequence of the unmixed happiness of the Object of Love (Sri
Krishna). In other words, when the Object of Love is delighted, the lover gets soul
delighted automatically. When the Paramatma or All Pervading Soul is delighted, the
as part and parcel of the same is similarly delighted. When the Whole is satisfied, the
parts included in the Whole are also satisfied, example, when the root of a tree is
watered, the whole tree is fed and nourished (Bhag. IV. 13. 14). absolute surrender of
everything namely-body, mind, soul properties, both movable and immovable to Sri
Krishna.
4) complete renunciation of all desires of Krishna’s sake and pleasure
5) complete reliance on Sri Krishna for the maintenance of life and none else.
‘The Supreme Lord Sri Krishna who is the creator, sustainer and destroyer of this world dwells in it as Jeevatma and Paramatma, inseperably connected with the tie of divine love. Who is the material as well as the efficient cause of Prakriti and Purusha. Who preserves this world as the seat of enjoyment or suffering for the Jeevas, and they are absolved from all sins when they take absolute shelter at his Lotus Feet wherein they rest as if sleeping with ceaseless innumerable prostrated obeisances or as a man when asleep does not see his own self but sees other embodied but does not see his own real self. So the Supreme Lord Who is the witness of all actions of animate and inanimate beings. Who is the giver of assurances of safety or fearlessness to all Jeevas and Who is the bestowever of Divine Love to His own faithful and loving devotees, should always be meditated upon’ (Bhag. X. 87. 50).
Supremacy of Gopees sentiments are spoken of by Sri Udhava Maharaj : ‘O how blessed I should be if I could live in Vrindavan as a creeper, herb, plant or brush that comes in contact with the dust of the feet of the Gopees. Blessed are the Gopees who abandoning their friends and relations and all propriety of conduct, the standard of ethics of Aryas, have resorted to the Lotus Feet of Mukunda (Sri Krishna) sought after by the Vedas, but not reached by them. Blessed are the Gopees who embraced the Lotus Feet of the Glorious Sri Krishna and Who have placed Those Feet on their bosom during the Rasa-Dance quenched their fire of separation, the Feet which are worshipped by Sri Laxmi, the Goddess of Wealth and are meditated upon by Brahma and other great Yogis in their heart of hearts, but hardly found by them. I salute again and again the dust of the feet of the Milk Maids of Nanda’s Vraja whose constant singing of Sri Krishna’s qualities and deeds purifies the three ‘Sudarshan’ means spiritual vision of the whole including Jiva-Souls as the only object of enjoyment of the Supreme Lord Krishna. In other words, to see things or persons in relations to Sri Krishna is known as ‘Sudarshan’ or ‘Samadarshan’, while to see things or persons with an enjoying mood or Purushabhimana is known as ‘Kudarshan’ or ugly vision, that is seeing the physical structure of the thing or person bereft of the soul, which is the characteristic feature of a fallen soul. He sees things or persons with his material eyes and is attracted by their physical charm. But a true Vaishnava sees things or persons with his spiritual ears and eyes opened by his Gurudeva, his Divine Master. Hence to see things with listening ears is the characteristic feature of a true Vaishnava (Bhag. VII 5. 23.24.). Of the nine methods of pure devotion, hearing and chanting the Holy Names of Vishnu or Sri Krishna are the most important factors. Without hearing, no chanting is possible. Hence he who does not hear is a deaf and dumb person, although endowed with a material tongue.
By listening to and singing the glories of Sri Krishna, a spontaneous inclination of love for Him is created. It is supreme object of attention, the height of what can be achieved by man. This feeling of affection (Rati) when intensified is know by the name of love. This love is the goal, the repository of All-Bliss.
The bhakti or devotion spoken of in the Gita is Vidhi-bhakti, a form of discipline (Cf. Gita Ch. XII. 13-19). When this Vidhi-bhakti reaches its full growth, it becomes Shudha-bhakti or pure devotion. Love of God involves ‘Mamata’ or ‘Mineness’ in relation to Sri Krishna. The last sloka of the Gita gives us a clue as to how to love God, “And let go these rites and writ-duties. Fly to Me alone. Make Me thy single refuge. I will free thee from all sins. Be of good cheer, O Arjuna. Arise ! Awake and stop not till the Supreme Lord, the highest goal, is attained” (Kathopanished, 1. 3. 14).
The five plenary requisites constituting the love-sentiments of Sri-Krishna are :
1) completeness of transcendental knowledge about Sri Krishna
2) feeling of Sri Krishna as the nearest and dearest object of love satisfaction of Sri
Krishna, the most beloved of their hearts.
When such s state is reached i.e. when a devotee gives up all thoughts of status, breeding, shame, fear, honour, dishonour, virtue, vice and welfare in this life or after, he shouts like a madman – ‘O Dearest, O Light of my life, O Enchanter of my heart, I cannot live for a moment more without Your Sight, a moment now appears to me like an age’. He then begins his pursuit for Sri Krishna. This Bhava (ecstatic state of love) is constant among the Gopees of Vraja and it reaches it’s climax in Radharani who is the embodiment of mahabhava sentiment (supreme ecstasy), casting of all bonds of family, sense of decorum, modesty and fear, on hearing the soulstirring melody of Sri Krishna’s flute. She offers her life, her youth, her mind, senses and all to Sri Krishna and says :- ‘Whether He clasps me to His Bosom or tramples me under His feet, whether He inflicts agony on me, by denying me His presence, let Him do whatever He likes : nevertheless, it is certain that no other than He is the Lord of my heart’. Having given up her all to Sri Krishna, she says, ‘O Love, in the ocean of the bliss of Your love, my family honour, decorum and modesty, all are drowned. What else shall I give You ? I trouble my head with this question. The wealth that I shall offer You, that very wealth of mine are You. O Love ! What more shall I say ? In death, in every life to come, by You the Lord of my life !’.
When the fire of anguish of separation from Sri Krishna burns her, she says :-
Each moment of my life is turned into eternity.
My eyes are turned into clouds of rain.
The separation from Govinda has made the whole world a void for me,
The days in anguish do not pass.
Each moment appears to have lengthened into an age.
Tears come out of my eyes like torrents of rain.
The separation from Govinda has made the three worlds a void.
The body is burning through a slow fire.
worlds’ (Bhag. X 47.61-63)
The women of Mathura say : ‘Blessed are the Gopees who minds are completely absorbed in Sri Krishna, whom while attending to their various household duties such as milking the cows, husking the paddy, churning the curds, clearing the courtyard and smearing it with cowdung, swinging the children, singing lullabies to them or sweeping the rooms, sing songs in praise of Sri Krishna with a heart full of love and eyes moist with tears in a voice choking with emotion’ (Bhag. X. 44. 15-16).
When the Madhura-sentiments is cultivated, the devotees casts off the manly feeling of Purushabhimana and becomes a spiritual Prakriti (woman) and addresses the Lord as such :-
Sweet than sweet art Thou, O Lord of my heart :
Make me serving-mind of Thy Feet.
I shall not ask Thee anything in return, but shall only serve Thy Feet;
‘Grant me this boon, O my Lord’.
- Kavi Krishnadas
The heart of the Gopees repeat the following sentiments : ‘How are the wishes of our Beloved Sri Krishna to be satisfied ? How are our homes and possessions, body, mind ‘heart’ soul and senses to be utilized so that they may contribute to Sri Krishna’s happiness ? Hallo ! Are not these things already His ? If they are His, what is the meaning of the desire that He should accept them for His service and make Himself happy through them ? We could offer Him things which actually belonged to us, but here all things are His anyway. Does He not exercise undisputed sway even over us ? Then how are we to say, You accept us and make us your slaves ? Yes, this is the truth. Now we shall say no more. O Lord ! You are the showman in the puppet-play and we are the puppets, we are instruments in Your Hands. Do whatever You like with us, whatever You like’. The Gopees cut through the eight-shackles to which men of the world are tied to and therefore cannot advance towards Sri Krishna. The Gopees freed themselves from these octopus knotty ties. That is how they renounced everything, turning all their thoughts, words and deeds for the Yet life does not depart’.
Says Sri Krishna to Narada – ‘There is one more secret, Oh Narada. It is this, over and above all other efforts, let one worship Sri Radha for the attainment of the Gopees-sentiment. O Narada, if you desire to capture Me, seek the favour and patronage of My dearest consort Sri Radha’ (Vide ‘Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’ App. II P. 58).
Thirst for this world and hunger for worldly enjoyment is thirst for misery and hankering after death. But thirst for Sri Krishna’s Grace and hankering after love for him is thirst for eternal peace and eternal bliss.
He is our father, mother, husband, friend and brother who bestows upon us loving devotion at His Lotus Feet.
Holy shrines and holy images purify the worshipper for many years, but the very sight of a true devotees of Sri Krishna removes all evil at once and enkindles love for Sri Krishna.
Parents, husbands, friends and relatives are available in every birth but not so is Guru Krishna in all births.
He is the foremost among the true devotees who does not forget even for half a second, even at the attainment of the sovereignty of the three worlds the Lotus Feet of Supreme Lord Sri Krishna. Who is worth the trouble of search by the Gods whom have dedicated their lives unto Him (Bhag. XI 2. 53). This is the real nature of a true devotees.
Just as the heat of the sun is removed by the rising of the moon, so is the suffering of the devotees from the threefold afflictions which cease to operate on them when their hearts are illumined with the moon beams emitting from the Nails of the Lotus Feet of the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna (Bhag. XI 2. 54).
By
His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad 108 Tridandi Swami Sri
Srimat Bhakti Sravan Tirtha Goswami Maharaj
Heart is the seat of love. As love is Godhead Himself, so the God of love dwells eternally in our heart of hearts. So we should love god and all beings with all our heart. We do not say, “I love you with all my intellect” but we say, ‘I love you with all my heart’.
The brain is the seat of the intellect. It leads us to polemnic discussions without arriving at any definite conclusion. On the contrary, it leads us to endless dry reasoning resulting in agnosticism. It is the Vaishnavas who are Godloving in their element and possess the qualities of head and heart simultaneously, because without the knowledge of Godhead, Sri Vishnu or Sri Krishna, there is no love for Him. So sambandha-jyana is indispensably necessary for releasing Kris
hna-Prem.The three qualities which are characteristic traits of pure love are :
1) Eternal qualities after the entire satisfaction of the Object of Love (Sri Krishna).
2) Eternal searching after the happiness of the Object of Love (Sri Krishna) despite all
obstacles standing on the way.
3) Self-delight in consequence of the unmixed happiness of the Object of Love (Sri
Krishna). In other words, when the Object of Love is delighted, the lover gets soul
delighted automatically. When the Paramatma or All Pervading Soul is delighted, the
as part and parcel of the same is similarly delighted. When the Whole is satisfied, the
parts included in the Whole are also satisfied, example, when the root of a tree is
watered, the whole tree is fed and nourished (Bhag. IV. 13. 14). absolute surrender of
everything namely-body, mind, soul properties, both movable and immovable to Sri
Krishna.
4) complete renunciation of all desires of Krishna’s sake and pleasure
5) complete reliance on Sri Krishna for the maintenance of life and none else.
‘The Supreme Lord Sri Krishna who is the creator, sustainer and destroyer of this world dwells in it as Jeevatma and Paramatma, inseperably connected with the tie of divine love. Who is the material as well as the efficient cause of Prakriti and Purusha. Who preserves this world as the seat of enjoyment or suffering for the Jeevas, and they are absolved from all sins when they take absolute shelter at his Lotus Feet wherein they rest as if sleeping with ceaseless innumerable prostrated obeisances or as a man when asleep does not see his own self but sees other embodied but does not see his own real self. So the Supreme Lord Who is the witness of all actions of animate and inanimate beings. Who is the giver of assurances of safety or fearlessness to all Jeevas and Who is the bestowever of Divine Love to His own faithful and loving devotees, should always be meditated upon’ (Bhag. X. 87. 50).
Supremacy of Gopees sentiments are spoken of by Sri Udhava Maharaj : ‘O how blessed I should be if I could live in Vrindavan as a creeper, herb, plant or brush that comes in contact with the dust of the feet of the Gopees. Blessed are the Gopees who abandoning their friends and relations and all propriety of conduct, the standard of ethics of Aryas, have resorted to the Lotus Feet of Mukunda (Sri Krishna) sought after by the Vedas, but not reached by them. Blessed are the Gopees who embraced the Lotus Feet of the Glorious Sri Krishna and Who have placed Those Feet on their bosom during the Rasa-Dance quenched their fire of separation, the Feet which are worshipped by Sri Laxmi, the Goddess of Wealth and are meditated upon by Brahma and other great Yogis in their heart of hearts, but hardly found by them. I salute again and again the dust of the feet of the Milk Maids of Nanda’s Vraja whose constant singing of Sri Krishna’s qualities and deeds purifies the three ‘Sudarshan’ means spiritual vision of the whole including Jiva-Souls as the only object of enjoyment of the Supreme Lord Krishna. In other words, to see things or persons in relations to Sri Krishna is known as ‘Sudarshan’ or ‘Samadarshan’, while to see things or persons with an enjoying mood or Purushabhimana is known as ‘Kudarshan’ or ugly vision, that is seeing the physical structure of the thing or person bereft of the soul, which is the characteristic feature of a fallen soul. He sees things or persons with his material eyes and is attracted by their physical charm. But a true Vaishnava sees things or persons with his spiritual ears and eyes opened by his Gurudeva, his Divine Master. Hence to see things with listening ears is the characteristic feature of a true Vaishnava (Bhag. VII 5. 23.24.). Of the nine methods of pure devotion, hearing and chanting the Holy Names of Vishnu or Sri Krishna are the most important factors. Without hearing, no chanting is possible. Hence he who does not hear is a deaf and dumb person, although endowed with a material tongue.
By listening to and singing the glories of Sri Krishna, a spontaneous inclination of love for Him is created. It is supreme object of attention, the height of what can be achieved by man. This feeling of affection (Rati) when intensified is know by the name of love. This love is the goal, the repository of All-Bliss.
The bhakti or devotion spoken of in the Gita is Vidhi-bhakti, a form of discipline (Cf. Gita Ch. XII. 13-19). When this Vidhi-bhakti reaches its full growth, it becomes Shudha-bhakti or pure devotion. Love of God involves ‘Mamata’ or ‘Mineness’ in relation to Sri Krishna. The last sloka of the Gita gives us a clue as to how to love God, “And let go these rites and writ-duties. Fly to Me alone. Make Me thy single refuge. I will free thee from all sins. Be of good cheer, O Arjuna. Arise ! Awake and stop not till the Supreme Lord, the highest goal, is attained” (Kathopanished, 1. 3. 14).
The five plenary requisites constituting the love-sentiments of Sri-Krishna are :
1) completeness of transcendental knowledge about Sri Krishna
2) feeling of Sri Krishna as the nearest and dearest object of love satisfaction of Sri
Krishna, the most beloved of their hearts.
When such s state is reached i.e. when a devotee gives up all thoughts of status, breeding, shame, fear, honour, dishonour, virtue, vice and welfare in this life or after, he shouts like a madman – ‘O Dearest, O Light of my life, O Enchanter of my heart, I cannot live for a moment more without Your Sight, a moment now appears to me like an age’. He then begins his pursuit for Sri Krishna. This Bhava (ecstatic state of love) is constant among the Gopees of Vraja and it reaches it’s climax in Radharani who is the embodiment of mahabhava sentiment (supreme ecstasy), casting of all bonds of family, sense of decorum, modesty and fear, on hearing the soulstirring melody of Sri Krishna’s flute. She offers her life, her youth, her mind, senses and all to Sri Krishna and says :- ‘Whether He clasps me to His Bosom or tramples me under His feet, whether He inflicts agony on me, by denying me His presence, let Him do whatever He likes : nevertheless, it is certain that no other than He is the Lord of my heart’. Having given up her all to Sri Krishna, she says, ‘O Love, in the ocean of the bliss of Your love, my family honour, decorum and modesty, all are drowned. What else shall I give You ? I trouble my head with this question. The wealth that I shall offer You, that very wealth of mine are You. O Love ! What more shall I say ? In death, in every life to come, by You the Lord of my life !’.
When the fire of anguish of separation from Sri Krishna burns her, she says :-
Each moment of my life is turned into eternity.
My eyes are turned into clouds of rain.
The separation from Govinda has made the whole world a void for me,
The days in anguish do not pass.
Each moment appears to have lengthened into an age.
Tears come out of my eyes like torrents of rain.
The separation from Govinda has made the three worlds a void.
The body is burning through a slow fire.
worlds’ (Bhag. X 47.61-63)
The women of Mathura say : ‘Blessed are the Gopees who minds are completely absorbed in Sri Krishna, whom while attending to their various household duties such as milking the cows, husking the paddy, churning the curds, clearing the courtyard and smearing it with cowdung, swinging the children, singing lullabies to them or sweeping the rooms, sing songs in praise of Sri Krishna with a heart full of love and eyes moist with tears in a voice choking with emotion’ (Bhag. X. 44. 15-16).
When the Madhura-sentiments is cultivated, the devotees casts off the manly feeling of Purushabhimana and becomes a spiritual Prakriti (woman) and addresses the Lord as such :-
Sweet than sweet art Thou, O Lord of my heart :
Make me serving-mind of Thy Feet.
I shall not ask Thee anything in return, but shall only serve Thy Feet;
‘Grant me this boon, O my Lord’.
- Kavi Krishnadas
The heart of the Gopees repeat the following sentiments : ‘How are the wishes of our Beloved Sri Krishna to be satisfied ? How are our homes and possessions, body, mind ‘heart’ soul and senses to be utilized so that they may contribute to Sri Krishna’s happiness ? Hallo ! Are not these things already His ? If they are His, what is the meaning of the desire that He should accept them for His service and make Himself happy through them ? We could offer Him things which actually belonged to us, but here all things are His anyway. Does He not exercise undisputed sway even over us ? Then how are we to say, You accept us and make us your slaves ? Yes, this is the truth. Now we shall say no more. O Lord ! You are the showman in the puppet-play and we are the puppets, we are instruments in Your Hands. Do whatever You like with us, whatever You like’. The Gopees cut through the eight-shackles to which men of the world are tied to and therefore cannot advance towards Sri Krishna. The Gopees freed themselves from these octopus knotty ties. That is how they renounced everything, turning all their thoughts, words and deeds for the Yet life does not depart’.
Says Sri Krishna to Narada – ‘There is one more secret, Oh Narada. It is this, over and above all other efforts, let one worship Sri Radha for the attainment of the Gopees-sentiment. O Narada, if you desire to capture Me, seek the favour and patronage of My dearest consort Sri Radha’ (Vide ‘Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’ App. II P. 58).
Thirst for this world and hunger for worldly enjoyment is thirst for misery and hankering after death. But thirst for Sri Krishna’s Grace and hankering after love for him is thirst for eternal peace and eternal bliss.
He is our father, mother, husband, friend and brother who bestows upon us loving devotion at His Lotus Feet.
Holy shrines and holy images purify the worshipper for many years, but the very sight of a true devotees of Sri Krishna removes all evil at once and enkindles love for Sri Krishna.
Parents, husbands, friends and relatives are available in every birth but not so is Guru Krishna in all births.
He is the foremost among the true devotees who does not forget even for half a second, even at the attainment of the sovereignty of the three worlds the Lotus Feet of Supreme Lord Sri Krishna. Who is worth the trouble of search by the Gods whom have dedicated their lives unto Him (Bhag. XI 2. 53). This is the real nature of a true devotees.
Just as the heat of the sun is removed by the rising of the moon, so is the suffering of the devotees from the threefold afflictions which cease to operate on them when their hearts are illumined with the moon beams emitting from the Nails of the Lotus Feet of the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna (Bhag. XI 2. 54).
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