TEXT 16
Humility that is full of self-surrender is described in the Yāmuna-stotra (52):
vapur-ādiṣu yo ’pi ko ’pi vā
guṇato ’sāni yathā-tathā-vidhaḥ
tad ayaṁ tava pāda-padmayor
aham adyaiva mayā samarpitaḥ
O Bhagavān, in this material existence there are the bodily distinctions of male and female, and according to the three modes of material nature (sattva, rajas and tamas) there are the divisions of the four varṇas and four āśramas. In this way humanity is unlimitedly variegated. O Prāṇeśvara, let me take birth in any kind of body or in any condition; it does not matter, because now I am completely surrendered unto Your lotus feet and there is nothing I consider mine.
strī-puruṣa-deha-gata, varṇa-ādi-dharma yata,
tāte punaḥ deha-gata bheda
sattva-rajas-tamo-guṇa, āśrayete bheda punaḥ,
ei rūpa sahasra prabheda
ye kona śarīre thāki, ye avasthā guṇa rākhi,
se ahaṁtā ebe tava pāya
sampilāma prāṇeśvara, mama bali’ ataḥpara,
āra kichu nā rahila dāya
BHAJANA-RAHASYA-VṚTTI
Here humility that is full of self-surrender is expressed. While chanting the holy name, the sādhaka, in a mood of distress, submits a humble petition at the lotus feet of Bhagavān: “O Bhagavān, giving up this false identification with the material male or female body, with social classification and so on, I surrender this body at Your lotus feet. Prāṇeśvara, You only are my life.”
As long as the jīva falsely identifies with the gross and subtle body, he cannot enter pure bhajana. When the living entity is established in the mood of the verse taught by Śrīman Mahāprabhu – nāhaṁ vipro na ca nara-patir nāpi1 – or in other words, when he has become free from all material designations, the door to the realm of bhajana opens.
TEXT 17
An ideal example of sincere humility is given in Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta (30):
nibaddha-mūrdhāñjalir eṣa yāce
nīrandhra-dainyonnati-mukta-kaṇṭham
dayā-nidhe deva bhavat kaṭākṣaṁ
dākṣiṇya-leśena sakṛn niṣiñca
O Deva! O Ocean of Mercy! With folded hands raised to my head, I humbly offer this prayer to You: please, just once, shower me with Your merciful sidelong glance.
mastake añjali bāndhi’ ei duṣṭa-jana kāndi,
niṣkapaṭa dainya mukta-svare
phūkāri’, phūkāri’ kaya, ohe deva dayāmaya,
dākṣiṇya prakāśi’ antaḥpare
kṛpā-dṛṣṭi ekabāra karaha siñcana
tave e-janera prāṇa haibe rakṣaṇa
BHAJANA-RAHASYA-VṚTTI
In this verse Līlāśuka Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura prays in a distressed voice, induced by the humility caused by the feelings of separation (viraha) felt by Śrī Rādhā. When Śrī Kṛṣṇa left for Mathurā, He was separated from Rādhā and lived far away (sudūra-pravāsa). Śrīmatī Rādhikā, agitated by extreme separation, spoke with great humility to a bumblebee (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.47.21)): “smarati sa pitṛ-gehān – O bumblebee, does ārya-putra (the son of a noble person) remember us?” She also asked, “Upon happily returning from Ujjain, will He come to Vṛndāvana?” When Kṛṣṇa disappeared from the rāsa dance, She cried out (Śrīmad-Bhāgvatam (10.30.40)): “dāsyāste kṛpaṇāyā me sakhe darśaya sannidhim – O Lord! I am Your maidservant. Please show Yourself and make Me satisfied.”
Desirous of this kind of humility, Śrī Līlāśuka is saying, “O Kṛṣṇa, make me a traveller on the pathway of Your eyes. Please give me service to You. Only by Your mercy can I serve in Your intimate, secret nikuñja-līlās. Upon attaining this service, the jīva becomes forever successful. If I am unqualified for this service, then let me worship You, immersed in these sentiments. I am an offender; nonetheless, You are an ocean of mercy. I beg You, therefore, do not pay attention to my faults, and please make the creeper of my desire bear fruit. This is my prayer unto You.”
TEXT 18
Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta (29) states:
mayi prasādaṁ madhuraiḥ kaṭākṣair
vaṁśī-ninādānucarair vidhehi
tvayi prasanne kim ihā parair nas
tvayy aprasanne kim ihā parair naḥ
O Kṛṣṇa, kindly bestow Your mercy upon me through Your sweet sidelong glances, which are accompanied by the sound of Your flute. When You are pleased with me, there is no harm if others are not. But if You become displeased, even if others are pleased, what is the use?
madhura kaṭākṣa-vaṁśī-ninādera saha
āmāke prasāda kari’ tava pade laha
prasanna haile tumi anya-prasannatā
prayojana kivā mora, ei mora kathā
tava prasannatā vinā anyera prasāde
ki kārya āmāra bala kahinu avādhe
ei rūpa niṣṭhā saha karile kīrtana
acire haibe ruci, pābe prema-dhana
pūrvāhna-kālera līlā ei rūpa haya
nāmāśrāya-kāle cintā kara mahāśaya
BHAJANA-RAHASYA-VṚTTI
Remembering Her previous amorous sports (vilāsa) with Śrī Kṛṣṇa in the kuñjas, Śrī Rādhikā becomes restless in separation from Him (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.47.21)): “kvacid api sa kathā naḥ kiṅkarīṇāṁ gṛṇīte bhujam aguru-sugandhaṁ mūrdhny adhāsyat kadā nu – will Kṛṣṇa again place His cooling hand, which is more fragrant than aguru, on our heads?” In this viraha-pralāpa (incoherent talk filled with lamentation, which is caused by separation from Kṛṣṇa), Rādhikā says, “O Prāṇanātha, please enter the kuñja, casting the same sidelong glance as You did before.” What is the nature of this glance? As Kṛṣṇa plays on His flute, His sidelong glance indicates to Rādhā to enter the kuñja. For this reason, the flute is a giver of bliss. Someone may question: “At the time of rāsa-līlā, if Muralīvadana’s sidelong glance signals to Śrī Rādhā alone, what about the other gopīs?” The answer is that by the inconceivable potency (acintya-śakti) contained within His flute and sidelong glance, Kṛṣṇa signals Śrī Rādhā directly and the other gopīs indirectly.
Rādhikā says, “I am only concerned with Your happiness. If all of us gopīs become unhappy but You are happy, then that is My cherished desire. If it pleases You to not appear before Me, then even the gopīs’ endeavours to find You cannot please Me.”
By resolutely performing bhajana with the sentiments described in this third chapter, the stage of ruci will arise and gradually the sādhaka will attain prema.
TEXT 19
The mid-morning pastimes (pūrvāhna-līlā) are described in Govinda-līlāmṛta (5.1):
pūrvāhne dhenu-mitrair vipinam anusṛtaṁ goṣṭha-lokānuyātaṁ
kṛṣṇaṁ rādhāpti-lolaṁ tad abisṛti-kṛte prāpta-tat-kuṇḍa-tīram
rādhāṁ cālokya kṛṣṇaṁ kṛta-gṛha-gamanām āryayārkārcanāyai
diṣṭāṁ kṛṣṇa-pravṛttyai prahita-nija-sakhī vartma-netrāṁ smarāmi
I remember Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who in the forenoon goes to the forest with the cows and His sakhās. Śrī Nanda, Yaśodā and other Vrajavāsīs follow Him for some distance. Restless and hankering to meet with Śrī Rādhā, Kṛṣṇa arrives at the bank of Rādhā-kuṇḍa for Their rendezvous (abhisāra). I remember Śrī Rādhā, who after taking Kṛṣṇa’s darśana at Nanda-bhavana, returns to Her home. Jaṭilā orders Her to worship the Sun-god. Desiring to learn of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s whereabouts, Rādhā sits and looks down the road, waiting for the return of Her sakhī, whom She has sent to gather this information.
dhenu sahacara saṅge, kṛṣṇa vane yāya raṅge,
goṣṭha-jana anuvrata hari
rādhā-saṅga-lobhe punaḥ, rādhā-kuṇḍa-taṭa-vana,
yāya dhenu saṅgī parihari’
kṛṣṇera iṅgīta pāñā, rādhā nija-gṛhe yāñā,
jaṭilājñā laya sūryārcane
gupte kṛṣṇa-patha lakhi’, katakṣaṇe āise sakhī,
vyākulitā rādhā smari mane
Bhajana-rahasya vṛtti
In pūrvāhna-līlā, after Śrī Kṛṣṇa has eaten, He prepares to go to the forest, wearing the attire of a cowherd boy; and Śrī Vṛṣabhānu-nandinī, decorated with cloth and ornaments given by Śrī Yaśodā, returns to Jāvaṭa. They meet halfway. Upon seeing Śrī Rādhā, Kṛṣṇa’s peacock feather falls from His head and the flute slips from His hand. This pastime is described in the following verse from Śrī Rādhā-rasa-sudhā-nidhi (39):
veṇuḥ karān nipatitaḥ skhalitaṁ śikhaṇḍaṁ
bhraṣṭaṁ ca pīta-vasanaṁ vrajarāja-sūnoḥ
Kṛṣṇa arrives at the bank of Rādhā-kuṇḍa for another meeting with Śrīmatī Rādhikā. Not finding Her there, He becomes extremely eager, full of desire and restless. In Jāvaṭa, meanwhile, Jaṭilā encourages Rādhikā to go and worship the Sun-god (sūrya-pūjā). The way in which Rādhikā performs pūjā to Kṛṣṇa at the place where sūrya-pūjā is performed is the wealth that is attained by the performance of bhajana.
Thus ends the Tṛtīya-yāma-sādhana,
Pūrvāhna-kālīya-bhajana, of Śrī Bhajana-rahasya.
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