A Thief of Hearts

Śrīla Gurudeva took birth in the village of Tiwaripur on the new moon day of the month of Māgha (January–February). According to Vedic astrology, if someone takes birth on the new moon day, or during the dark fortnight when the moon is waning, he becomes a thief. The most prominent example of this is Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who took birth during the dark fortnight on the eighth day of the moon. Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the greatest transcendental thief, for He steals the hearts of His devotees. This is widely celebrated in many scriptures, especially Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. All the incarnations of the Lord and their respective consorts appear during the white fortnight, when the moon is waxing. Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s is the only appearance in the dark fortnight.

Below is a table listing the incarnations of God and the times of Their appearance.

Personality	Month (Vaiṣṇava name)	Month (Indian name)	Month (English name)	Fornight	Lunar day
Līlā-puruṣottama Śrī Kṛṣṇa	Hṛṣīkeśa	Bhādra	August-September	Black fortnight	Eighth day of the moon
sarva-vighna-vināśana Śrī Nṛsiṃhadeva	Madhusūdana	Vaiśākha / Jyeṣṭha	April-May / May-June	White fortnight	Fourth day of the moon
Śrī Viṣṇupriyā-devī	Madhava	Māgha	January-February	White fortnight	Fifth day of the moon
Śrī Advaita Ācārya Prabhu	Madhava	Māgha	January-February	White fortnight	Seventh day of the moon
Śrīmatī Rādhikā	Hṛṣīkeśa	Bhādra	August-September	White fortnight	Eighth day of the mom
Maryādā-puruṣottama Śrī Rāma	Viṣṇu	Caitra	March-April	White fortnight	Ninth day of the moon
Sītā-devī	Madhusūdana	Vaiśākha	April-May	White fortnight	Ninth day of the moon
Śrī Varāhadeva	Madhava	Māgha	January—February	White fortnight	Twelfth day of moon
Śrīman Nityānanda Prabhu	Madhava	Māgha	January-February	White fortnight	Thirteenth day of moon
Śrī Baladeva Prabhu	Śrīdhara	Śrāvaṇa	July-August	White fortnight	Full moon day
Prema-puruṣottama Śrī Kṛṣṇ Caitanya Mahāprabhu	Govinda	Phālguna	February-March	White fortnight	Full moon day

We have included the Vaiṣṇava, Indian and english names of the months; the fortnight (black or white); and the tithi, or lunar day. Both Śrīmatī rādhikā and Śrī Kṛṣṇa appeared on the eighth day of the moon; Śrīmatī rādhikā fifteen days after Śrī Kṛṣṇa, in the white fortnight. Thus, we see that all the incarnations of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Their eternal potencies appear in this world during the white fortnight. Only Svayam Bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appears during the dark fortnight.

It is mentioned in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta:

सर्व महा-गुण-गण वैष्णव-शरीरे
कृष्ण-भक्ते कृष्णेर गुण सकलि सञ्चारे

sarva mahā-guṇa-gaṇa vaiṣṇava-śarīre
kṛṣṇa-bhakte kṛṣṇera guṇa sakali sañcāre

(Madhya-līlā 22.75)

A Vaiṣṇava is one who has developed all transcendental qualities. All the qualities of Kṛṣṇa manifest in Kṛṣṇa’s devotee.

Since the qualities of Kṛṣṇa appear in His devotee, Śrīla Gurudeva, who took his glorious birth in this world on Amāvāsya (the new moon day), must similarly be endowed with Kṛṣṇa’s qualities. Śrī Kṛṣṇa is famous as a transcendental thief.

For example, the Vaiṣṇava saint Śrī Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura beautifully sings:

व्रजे प्रसिद्धम् नवनीत-चौरं गोपाङ्गनानां च दुकूल-चौरम्
अनेक-जन्मार्जित-पाप-चौरं चौराग्रगण्यं पुरुषं नमामि

vraje prasiddham navanīta-cauraṃ gopāṅganānāṃ ca dukūla-cauram
aneka-janmārjita-pāpa-cauraṃ caurāgragaṇyaṃ puruṣaṃ namāmi

Śrī Caurāgraṇya-puruṣāṣṭakam (1)

I offer praṇāma to that foremost of thieves, who is famous in Vraja as the butter thief and as He who steals the gopīs’ clothes. He is also famous for stealing from those who take shelter of Him the sins they have accrued over many lifetimes.

Is Śrī Kṛṣṇa a petty thief, like a common criminal in the material world? No. Then, what kind of thief is Śrī Kṛṣṇa? In the last verse Śrīla Gurudeva of his prayer, the saintly Śrī Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura uses the word caurāgragaṇyaṃ to describe Śrī Kṛṣṇa. This means ‘the biggest thief, the greatest gangster among thieves’.

If Śrī Kṛṣṇa is such a thief, then what kind of a thief is Śrīla Gurudeva?

Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura was a brāhmaṇa from a highly aristocratic brāhmaṇa family, but somehow he became attracted to a prostitute named Cintāmaṇi. He became so much attracted to her that he would regularly come to her house to visit her. When his father passed away, his family, friends, and relatives all came to attend the ritualistic ceremony, but Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura did not care for anyone. He just gathered some sweets and went to Cintāmaṇi, desiring to please her. That night was very stormy and Bilvamaṅgala had to cross the raging river to get to her house. It was very dark and the wind was howling furiously. Seeing something floating on the water, he thought, “Maybe Cintāmaṇi has sent this wooden log for me to cross the river.” Somehow, despite the rain that had inundated the whole area, Bilvamaṅgala managed to cross the river and reach Cintāmaṇi’s gate. There he knocked and knocked, but she could not hear him because of the pounding rain and roaring wind.

Bilvamaṅgala then saw a rope hanging from the wall. Thinking that Cintāmaṇi must have left it for him, he grabbed it and somehow climbed to the top of the wall. However, his foot was wet and slippery, and he lost his balance and fell on the other side with a loud crash.

Hearing the loud noise, Cintāmaṇi went outside to see what was happening, and found Bilvamaṅgala unconscious on the ground. She brought him inside and wrapped him in warm clothes. Gradually he regained consciousness and came out of his delirium. Cintāmaṇi could not believe that Bilvamaṅgala could possibly have come in such a storm. When she asked him how he did it, he told her everything, but she said that she had never arranged for his coming. She led him outside to see the big rope he was talking about and saw a large poisonous snake in the yard. When they went to the river, they saw that what he had thought was a log was actually a human corpse floating in the river.

Cintāmaṇi exclaimed, “You were so bewildered that you thought the snake was a rope and the human corpse was a log. How attached you are to this body of mine which is nothing but a bag full of blood, mucus, puss, urine and stool! If you had that much attachment for Śrī Kṛṣṇa, your life would have been so successful. Go away from here.” In this way Cintāmaṇi became the guru who shows the way to Kṛṣṇa (vartma-pradarśaka guru).

After Cintāmaṇi had sent Bilvamaṅgala out of her house, he came to his senses and understood how depraved his life had become. Purified by genuine feelings of remorse, he immediately started on the long journey to Vṛndāvana on foot. On the way, he saw a beautiful girl fetching water from a well. She was so attractive that Bilvamaṅgala could not control his mind and he followed her to her house. The girl’s husband saw his long hair and beard and asked, “Bābā, how may I serve you?”

Bilvamaṅgala asked, “Who is the lady who just came with the pitcher of water?”

“She is my newly married wife,” replied the gentleman.

“Can you please call her?”

“Yes certainly.” He called his wife, and she came and offered praṇāma to Bilvamaṅgala.

“Bābā, how can I serve you?” she said.

Bilvamaṅgala said, “Please give me two hairpins.”

“Of course,” replied the beautiful lady. She went inside and returned immediately with two hairpins, thinking that Bābā perhaps wanted to use them to remove a thorn from his foot.

Bilvamaṅgala was thinking to himself, “These eyes are the root of all evil. Na rahegā bañsa, na bajegī bāñsuri.^[1] If I have no eyes to view the material world, then I will no longer be attracted to it.” In this mood, standing before the couple, Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura used the two hairpins to pierce his eyes.

Bilvamaṅgala continued on his way to Vṛndāvana. Walking along with great difficulty, he became very exhausted. On one hand, he thought, “How can I travel all the way to Vṛndāvana now that I'm blind ?” On the other hand, he was very happy, “I have no eyes. Now I will no longer be attracted to this material world.” In this way, he was praying to Kṛṣṇa. Soon a young boy came up to him and said, “Baba, where are you going?”

“I am going to Vṛndāvana.”

“Oh! You are going to Vṛndāvana? I am going there too. You can follow me.”

“My dear son,” Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura said. “I am blind. How can I follow you?”

The boy had a very sweet nature, and he said, “You can hold on to my stick. I can lead you to Vṛndāvana.”

Bilvamaṅgala agreed. He took hold of the stick, and slowly followed the boy. As Śrī Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura was walking, in his devotional ecstasy, he sang many ślokas and prayers to Kṛṣṇa. These were so attractive that Kṛṣṇa experienced nectar through His ears. These prayers and ślokas became a book called Śrī Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta, which means, “That which gives nectar to the ears of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.”

After a few hours, the little boy said, “Bābā, we have arrived in Vṛndāvana.”

“Vṛndāvana? So quickly?”

“Yes,” the boy replied sweetly, and then he was gone. Bilvamaṅgala found himself alone. He called out to the boy for a long time, but there was no answer. Finally he thought, “How is it that we have arrived in Vṛndāvana so quickly? It must be by the influence of that black cheater. That black fellow came to me and said, ‘I am also going to Vṛndāvana’, and brought me here very quickly.

If He does not give me darśana again, I will not eat or drink;

I will fast to death.”

If an advanced devotee such as Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura has a wish, Kṛṣṇa is bound to fulfill it, so Kṛṣṇa felt obliged to give him darśana. He came before him again, but this time He was not alone. He was with His internal potency, His svarūpa-śakti, Śrīmatī rādhikā. The sweet young couple came very close to Bilvamaṅgala, and at a certain point, Kṛṣṇa said to rādhikā,

“Don’t go any closer.”

“Why not? What is the harm? What will he do?” She asked.

“He will catch you.”

“How will he be able to catch me? He’s a blind fellow.”

“Yes,” replied Kṛṣṇa, “he is blind, and blind people have very sharp hearing. They can understand how close a person is by the sound they make, so don’t go too close.”

“It’s all right. I’m still far enough away. He can’t catch hold of me.”

Through this exchange with Śrīmatī rādhikā, Śrī Kṛṣṇa was conveying a message to Bilvamaṅgala. He was moving closer to him, and at the same time telling rādhikā, “No, no! Don’t go too close. You’re almost within his reach. He’ll catch You!” Śrī Kṛṣṇa was actually telling Bilvamaṅgala, “We are very close to you, and you can catch hold of Śrīmatījī.”

Bilvamaṅgala immediately caught Śrīmatī rādhikā’s lotus feet.

“Thief! Thief! Let me go! Let me go!” She cried.

Kṛṣṇa said, “What did I tell You? I warned You not to go so close. Blind people are so expert at hearing. Now, what can be done?”

“I will not give up Your lotus feet,” said Bilvamaṅgala.

“What do you want?” asked Śrīmatī rādhikā. “I want to have darśana of both of You.”

rādhikā then put Her hand on Bilvamaṅgala’s head, and his sight was restored. Seeing the beauty of Śrī rādhā and Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Bilvamaṅgala wept and continued to hold on to Śrīmatījī’s lotus feet.

She said, “You can let go of My feet now.”

“No, I will not.”

“Oh! Why not? What more do you want?”

“Please make me blind again.”

“Make you blind again? Why do you want that?”

“Now I have seen the beauty of You two. especially, Śrīmatī,

I have seen Your lotus feet, and Your beauty. Now I do not wish to see anything else in this world. I want to keep Your lotus feet always in my memory and the beauty of Your beloved in my heart. I do not want anything else.”

Bilvamaṅgala became blind again. He wrote to Kṛṣṇa:

व्रजे प्रसिद्धम् नवनीत-चौरं गोपाङ्गनानां च दुकूल-चौरम्
अनेक-जन्मार्जित-पाप-चौरं चौराग्रगण्यं पुरुषं नमामि

vraje prasiddham navanīta-cauraṃ gopāṅganānāṃ ca dukūla-cauram
aneka-janmārjita-pāpa-cauraṃ caurāgragaṇyaṃ puruṣaṃ namāmi

I offer praṇāma to that foremost of thieves, who is famous in Vraja as the butter thief and as He who steals the gopīs’ clothes. He is also famous for stealing from those who take shelter of Him the sins they have accrued over many lifetimes.

There are millions of gopīs in Vraja. Some of them are bodily manifestations of Śrīmatī rādhikā and eternal associates of the Divine Couple. But others entered Vraja at some point in time, like those who were the golden deities of Śrī Sītā in Tretā-yuga.

Lord rāma performed fire sacrifices every year, and since he was the king, he was obliged to have his wife next to him. However, He had already sent Sītā into exile. Vaśiśṭha Muni requested Lord rāma either to bring Śrī Sītā back to perform the sacrifice, or else, to take another wife. However, rāma had already determined in His mind that Sītā would remain in exile, and that He would not take another wife. Therefore, He asked Vasiṣṭha Muni to make another arrangement for His aśvamedha-yajña.^[2]

Accordingly, every year at His aśvamedha-yajña, He made a golden statue of His wife, Śrī Sītā, and performed prāṇapratiṣṭhā, installing Her next to Him. After the golden statues of Sītā had served the purpose of supporting Lord rāma during His annual sacrifices, they all wanted to remain with Him, but Lord rāma refused, “Only Śrī Sītā, the daughter of Janaka Mahārāja, can be with me. I will not have any other woman.”

When a woman is forever denied the company of her beloved, she feels all is lost. “What then, will I do?” each golden statue asked Lord rāma.

Lord rāma appeased them, “When I appear in Dvāparā-yuga as Śrī Kṛṣṇa, I will fulfill your desires.”

The golden statues later took birth in the families of gopīs and happily joined Kṛṣṇa in His transcendental pastimes in Vraja.

The Daṇḍakāraṇya ṛṣis from the same period also appeared as gopīs in Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes in Vraja.

At the time of rāma’s pastimes, they were performing bhajana in the Daṇḍaka forest, but their bhajana had begun to decrease a little. At this time, they saw Lord rāma wandering through the forest while He was in exile. Seeing His beauty, they became inspired to enjoy conjugal pastimes with Him. Lord rāma gave them the benediction: “I will fulfill your desires in the next Dvāparā-yuga.”

As a result of Lord rāma’s benediction, those ṛṣis appeared in Vraja in the forms of gopīs and thereafter performed the month-long worship of the goddess Kātyāyanī (kātyāyanī-vrata) to get Śrī Kṛṣṇa as their husband. On their last day of worship, these gopīs invited Śrīmatī rādhikā, Lalitā, Viśākhā, Candrāvalī, and other eternal associates of the Divine Couple to join them. As they took their bath in the river Yamunā, Kṛṣṇa crept up and stole their clothes from the river bank.

That is why Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura refers to Kṛṣṇa as “He who steals the clothes of the gopīs.”

Here is Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura’s Śrī Caurāgragaṇyapuruṣāṣṭakam:

व्रजे प्रसिद्धं नवनीत-चौरं गोपाङ्गनानां च दुकूल-चौरम्
अनेक-जन्मार्जित-पाप-चौरं चौराग्रगण्यं पुरुषं नमामि

vraje prasiddhaṃ navanīta-cauraṃ gopāṅganānāṃ ca dukūla-cauram
aneka-janmārjita-pāpa-cauraṃ caurāgragaṇyaṃ puruṣaṃ namāmi

(1) I offer praṇāma to that foremost of thieves, who is famous in Vraja as the butter thief and as He who steals the gopīs’ clothes. He is also famous for stealing from those who take shelter of Him the sins they have accrued over many lifetimes.

श्री राधिकाया हृदयस्य चौरं नवाम्बुद-श्यामल-कान्ति-चौरम्
पदाश्रितानां च समस्त-चौरं चौराग्रगण्यं पुरुषं नमामि

śrī rādhikāyā hṛdayasya cauraṃ navāmbuda-śyāmala-kānti-cauram
padāśritānāṃ ca samasta-cauraṃ caurāgragaṇyaṃ puruṣaṃ namāmi

(2) I offer praṇāma to that greatest of all thieves, who steals Śrīmatī rādhikā’s heart, who steals the dark luster of a fresh raincloud and who steals all the sins and sufferings of those who take shelter of His feet.

अकिष्चनी-कृत्य पदाश्रितं यः करोति भिक्षुं पथि गेह-हीनम्
केनाप्य् अहो भीषण-चौर ईदृग् दृष्टः श्रुतो वा न जगत्-त्रये’पि

akiṣcanī-kṛtya padāśritaṃ yaḥ karoti bhikṣuṃ pathi geha-hīnam
kenāpy aho bhīṣaṇa-caura īdṛg dṛṣṭaḥ śruto vā na jagat-traye’pi

(3) He turns His surrendered devotees into paupers and wandering, homeless beggars. Aho! Such a fearsome thief has never been seen or heard of in all the three worlds.

यदीय नामापि हरत्य् अशेषं गिरि-प्रसारान् अपि पाप-राशीन्
आश्चर्य-रूपो ननु चौर ईदृग् दृष्टः श्रुतो वा न मया कदापि

yadīya nāmāpi haraty aśeṣaṃ giri-prasārān api pāpa-rāśīn
āścarya-rūpo nanu caura īdṛg dṛṣṭaḥ śruto vā na mayā kadāpi

(4) Merely uttering His name purges one of a mountain of sins. I have never seen or heard of such an astonishingly wonderful thief anywhere!

धनं च मानं च तथेन्द्रियाणि प्राणांश् च हृत्वा मम सर्वम् एव
पलायसे कुत्र धृतो’द्य चौर त्वं भक्ति-दाम्नासि मया निरुद्धः

dhanaṃ ca mānaṃ ca tathendriyāṇi prāṇāṃś ca hṛtvā mama sarvam eva
palāyase kutra dhṛto’dya caura tvaṃ bhakti-dāmnāsi mayā niruddhaḥ

(5) O Thief! You have stolen my wealth, my honour, my senses, my life and everything that is mine. But where can You run to? I have caught You with the rope of my devotion.

छिनत्सि घोरं यम-पाश-बन्धं भिनत्सि भीमं भाव-पाश-बन्धम्
छिनत्सि सर्वस्य समस्त-बन्धं नैवात्मनो भक्त-कृतं तु बन्धम्

chinatsi ghoraṃ yama-pāśa-bandhaṃ bhinatsi bhīmaṃ bhāva-pāśa-bandham
chinatsi sarvasya samasta-bandhaṃ naivātmano bhakta-kṛtaṃ tu bandham

(6) You cut the terrible noose of Yamarāja, You sever the dreadful noose of material existence, and You slash everyone’s material bondage, but You cannot cut the knot fastened by Your own loving devotees.

मन्-मानसे तामस-राशि-घोरे कारागृहे दुःख-मये निबद्धः
लभस्व हे चौर! हरे! चिराय स्व-चौर्य-दोषोचितम् एव दण्डम्

man-mānase tāmasa-rāśi-ghore kārāgṛhe duḥkha-maye nibaddhaḥ
labhasva he caura! hare! cirāya sva-caurya-doṣocitam eva daṇḍam

(7) O You who have stolen everything that is mine! O thief! Today I have imprisoned You in the miserable prison-house of my heart, which is very fearful because of the terrible darkness of my ignorance. You will remain there for a very long time, receiving appropriate punishment for Your crimes of thievery!

कारागृहे वस सदा हृदये मदीये मद्-भक्ति-पाश-दृढ-बन्धन-निश्चलः सन्
त्वां कृष्ण हे! प्रलय-कोटि-शतान्तरे’पि सर्वस्व-चौर! हृदयान् न हि मोचयामि

kārāgṛhe vasa sadā hṛdaye madīye mad-bhakti-pāśa-dṛḍha-bandhana-niścalaḥ san
tvāṃ kṛṣṇa he! pralaya-koṭi-śatāntare’pi sarvasva-caura! hṛdayān na hi mocayāmi

(8) O Kṛṣṇa, thief of everything that is mine! The noose of my devotion will remain tight forever, so You will continue to reside in the prison-house of my heart, because I will not release You for millions of aeons.

I have already pointed out that since Kṛṣṇa’s qualities are infused in His devotee, this quality of being a thief must also be infused in Śrīla Gurudeva’s heart. So, what is Śrīla Gurudeva stealing in this world?

Śrīla Gurudeva says; “Give me your heart as if it is a flower and I’ll make it pure and fragrant, and offer it to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and the Divine Couple, Śrī Śrī rādhā-Kṛṣṇa.”

The worldwide community of devotees is witnessing how, if anyone sees or listens to Śrīla Gurudeva even once with faith (śraddhā), that person becomes a devotee and a dedicated disciple or follower. This is because of Śrīla Guradeva's supernatural ability to steal hearts like a thief and offer them to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Śrī Śrī Gaura-Gadādhara, and Śrī Śrī rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. Śrīla Gurudeva is a transcendental thief, like his master, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. He has no interest in material possessions or achievements. He is only interested at capturing the hearts of the devotees, and in this, he is very expert.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

It is an adage which means that if the cause is removed, then the effect would also not be there.

[2]:

Aśvamedha-yajña is a special type of fire sacrifice the kings would perform.