Bhajana-Rahasya

by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura Mahasaya | 2010 | 123,965 words

The Bhajana-rahasya Text 12, English translation, including commentary (vritti). The Bhajana-rahasya is a compilation of verses describing the mercy of the eight pairs of names (Yugala-nama) of the Maha-mantra. This is text 12 belonging to the chapter “Saptama-yama-sadhana (Pradosha-kaliya-bhajana–vipralambha-prema)” representing from six dandas of the night until midnight: approximately 8.30 p.m.–00.00 a.m.

While Śrī Rādhā suffers from the scorching poison of viraha, She expresses Her transcendental emotions, as described in Jagannāthavallabha-nāṭaka (3.9):

प्रेम-च्छेद-रुजो’वगच्छति हरिर् नायं न च प्रेम वा
   स्थानास्थानम् अवैति नापि मदनो जानाति नो दुर्बलाः
अन्यो वेद न चान्य-दुःखम् अखिलं नो जीवनं वाश्रवं
   द्वि-त्राण्य् एव दिनानि यौवनम् इदं हा हा विधे का गतिः

prema-ccheda-rujo’vagacchati harir nāyaṃ na ca prema vā
   sthānāsthānam avaiti nāpi madano jānāti no durbalāḥ

anyo veda na cānya-duḥkham akhilaṃ no jīvanaṃ vāśravaṃ
   dvi-trāṇy eva dināni yauvanam idaṃ hā hā vidhe kā gatiḥ

Śrī Hari does not understand the pain of separation in prema. In fact, prema does not know anything about who is deserving of it and who is not. Kāmadeva also torments us, knowing us to be weak. It is impossible for anyone to understand another’s misery. Life is so f leeting–it has no certainty–and youth remains only two or three days. Alas, alas! What kind of arrangement of Vidhātā (the Creator) is this?

सखी बले धैर्य धर, आसिबे नागर-वर,
व्याकुल हैले किवा फल
राधा बले ओहे सखि, पथ आर नाहि लखि’,
प्रेम-च्छेद रोग ये बाडिल

sakhī bale dhairya dhara, āsibe nāgara-vara,
vyākula haile kivā phala
rādhā bale ohe sakhi, patha āra nāhi lakhi’,
prema-ccheda roga ye bāḍila

लता वाङ्चाइते हरि, ना आसिल मधुपुरी,
प्रेम ना बुझिल स्थानास्थान
निठुर कानुर प्रेमे, प’डे गेलाम् महाभ्रमे,
मदन ताहाते हाने बाण

latā vāṅcāite hari, nā āsila madhupurī,
prema nā bujhila sthānāsthāna
niṭhura kānura preme, pa’ḍe gelām mahābhrame,
madana tāhāte hāne bāṇa

दुःख ना बुझिल सखि, जीवन चञ्चल लखि,
ताते ए यौवन-शोभा याय
आर कि नाग-रमणि, ए व्रजे आसिबे धनि,
हा हा विधि! कि हबे उपाय

duḥkha nā bujhila sakhi, jīvana cañcala lakhi,
tāte e yauvana-śobhā yāya
āra ki nāga-ramaṇi, e vraje āsibe dhani,
hā hā vidhi! ki habe upāya

Commentary: Bhajana-rahasya-vṛtti:

Śrī Rāya Rāmānanda gives the following description in his Jagannātha-vallabha-nāṭaka. Once Śrī Rādhā and Her sakhīs entered the Vṛndāvana forest. The sakhīs began to describe the sweetness of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s beauty with verses appropriate for pūrvarāga, such as so’yaṃ yuvā yuvati-citta-vihaṅga-śākhī (Jagannāthavallabha-nāṭaka 1.50). Śrī Kṛṣṇa spotted Rādhā from a distance and They both became extremely restless to meet each other. Rādhā sent a love-letter to Śrī Kṛṣṇa through Śaśimukhī Sakhī. Although Śrī Kṛṣṇa became overwhelmed with emotion upon reading it, He concealed His emotion and disrespected Rādhā and the gopīs with words of indifference: “It is improper for women from good families to forsake their family honour to love Me like this.”

Śaśimukhī returned to Śrī Rādhikā, and relating all this to Her, advised Rādhā to place Her attention elsewhere. This made Śrī Rādhā attain an unbearably severe state of separation, and She conveyed Her sentiments in this Text 12. Śrī Rādhā said to the gopī Madanikā, “Attracted by the incomparably beautiful form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, I was unable to remain calm, so I sent a letter to Him. O sakhī, what was My fault in doing that? He is certainly crooked, as His sole intention was to give Me a punishment equal to death. First, He attracted Me with the sweetness of His form and now He is rejecting Me. O sakhī, you may ask, ‘Why do You feel affection for Śrī Kṛṣṇa when He is very competent in killing women?’ but what can I say? Hā hā vidhe kā gatiḥ. It is very difficult to understand why Vidhātā gives a particular punishment to someone. I loved Kṛṣṇa for pleasure, but instead of Vidhātā giving Me pleasure, he gave Me sorrow, and because of this My life air is now leaving Me.”

This is also described in Śrī Caitanyacaritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 2.20) as follows:

सखि हे, ना बुझिये विधिर विधान
सुख लागि’ कैलुङ् प्रीति, हैल विपरीत गति,
एबे याय, ना रहे पराण

sakhi he, nā bujhiye vidhira vidhāna
sukha lāgi’ kailuṅ prīti, haila viparīta gati,
ebe yāya, nā rahe parāṇa

My dear friend, I do not understand the regulative principles given by the Creator. I loved Kṛṣṇa for happiness, but the result was just the opposite. I am now in an ocean of distress. It must be that I am now going to die, for My vital force no longer remains. This is My state of mind. *

Śrī Rādhā continues, “Sakhī Madanikā, the movement of prema is crooked, like that of a snake, and it is foolish. It does not consider whether the place is suitable or unsuitable, or if the object is fit or unfit. This prema moves in a crooked way and has tied My hands, feet and neck with the ropes of that wicked one’s beauty and virtues. I am unable to untie that knot.”

Śrī Rādhā is so captivated by Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s qualities that it is impossible for Her to abandon the hope of meeting Him. Her condition is similar to that of a person who relishes the sweetness of hot sugar cane so much that he cannot give up chewing it, even if his mouth is burning. Moreover, She says, “Observing My helpless condition, Madana (Cupid) torments Me with his five arrows, thus exhausting My entire body.”

The sakhī says, “O Rādhā, take revenge on Kāmadeva (Cupid).”

Rādhā answers, “O sakhī, Kāmadeva has no body, so how can I retaliate? He tears My body asunder with His five arrows, causing Me agony, but these arrows do not take away My life.”

Svāminī, since Śrī Kṛṣṇa is an ocean of mercy, He will certainly bestow mercy upon You. Have patience.”

Śrī Rādhā replies, “Dvi-trāṇy eva dināni yauvanam idam. Life is momentary. Who can remain alive until then? The lifespan of the living entity in a human body is one hundred years, but youth only lasts a few days. Without youth, how will I serve Him? My youth only is the cause of His happiness.”

In reality, Śrī Rādhā is the eternal beloved of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. She is not an ordinary māninī, or a woman who has been offended by Her lover–She is the personification of viśuddha-sattva. By her power, Yogamāyā has manifested these pastimes on the surface of the Earth for the purpose of accomplishing Kṛṣṇa’s nara-līlā.

Śrī Caitanyacaritāmṛta (Ādi-līlā 4.29–30) confirms this with the following words:

मो-विषये गोपी-गणेर उपपति-भावे
योग-माया करिबेक आपन-प्रभावे

mo-viṣaye gopī-gaṇera upapati-bhāve
yoga-māyā karibeka āpana-prabhāve

आमिह ना जानि ताहा, ना जाने गोपी-गण
दुङ्हार रूप-गुणे दुङ्हार नित्य हरे मन

āmiha nā jāni tāhā, nā jāne gopī-gaṇa
duṅhāra rūpa-guṇe duṅhāra nitya hare mana

The influence of Yogamāyā will inspire the gopīs with the sentiment that I am their paramour. Neither the gopīs nor I shall notice this, for our minds will always be entranced by one another’s beauty and virtues. *

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