Manaḥ ŚikṣāManaḥ Śīkṣā - Verse 3
Manaḥ ŚikṣāManaḥ Śīkṣā - Verse 5

Manaḥ Śikṣā – Verse 4

 

asad-vārtā-veśyā visṛja mati-sarvasva-hariṇīḥ
kathā mukti-vyāghryā na śṛṇu kila sarvātma-gilanīḥ
api tyaktvā lakṣmī-pati-ratim ito vyoma-nayanīṁ
vraje rādhā-kṛṣṇau sva-rati-maṇidau tvaṁ bhaja manaḥ

(“O mind! Reject the prostitute of mundane talk who steals one’s intelligence. Do not listen to talk about mukti, which is like a tigress who will completely devour your very existence. You must even abandon any attachment towards Lakṣmī-pati which leads you to Vaikuṇṭha. You should simply worship Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa in Vraja, who will award you the gem of attachment for Them.”)

 

Bhajana-darpaṇa Bhāṣya

This śloka indicates the obstacles in the attainment of prema:

VERSE MEANING:

he manah! mati-sarva-svaharaṇī asad-vārtā-rūpā veśyā u sarvātma-gilinī mukti-vyāghrīra kathā niścaya-rūpe parityāga kara. ara-u bali, para-vyoma-gati-dāyinī-rūpā lakṣmī-patira sambandhe rati tyāga-pūrvaka sva-ratida śrī-śrī-rādhā-kṛṣṇake vraje bhajana kara. (4)

“O mind! Abandon the prostitute of mundane talks who steals one’s intelligence, and talks about mukti are like a tigress who will devour your very existence. Also, you must even reject any attachment in relation to Lakṣmī-pati leading to Paravyoma (Vaikuṇṭha). You must engage in bhajana in Vraja of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, and the Divine Couple will award attachment to Themselves.”


1) Mati-sarva-svaharaṇī asad-vārtā-rūpā veśyā (The prostitute of mundane talk who steals one’s intelligence):

Just as a prostitute takes away all the wealth of a lusty man, similarly, mundane topics take away one’s intelligence. Intelligence that is used to attain spiritual progress is the jīva’s only wealth. This is everything for a person who has a tendency towards bhajana. Mundane topics simply take that away. Any discussion in relation to temporary objects is asat (pointless). Discussing those śāstra that award trivial benefits, the thirst for wealth, associating with women, associating with persons attached to women etc. are pointless affairs. The practice and desire for such activities is called vārtā (mundane topics or talks). In relation to intelligence, Rāya Rāmānanda says:

kṛṣṇa-bhakti-rasa-bhāvita-matiḥ
kriyatāṁ yadi kuto’pi labhyate
tatra laulyam api mūlyam ekalaṁ
janma-koṭi-sukṛtair na labhyate

(“If that intelligence which is absorbed in the rasa of kṛṣṇabhakti rasa is available anywhere, then let it be purchased. The only price is greed, for it cannot be attained by performing pious deeds even for millions of lifetimes.” – Padyāvali 12.14)


2) Sarvātma-gilinī mukti-vyāghrīra kathā (Talks about mukti are like a tigress who will devour your very existence):

Here, the word mukti refers to brahma-nirvāṇa (union with Brahman) or sayujyā-mukti (liberation by merging into Brahman). Sayujyā-mukti easily extinguishes the ātmā’s existence completely; the existence of Brahman is supported, but it is just like the logic of the kha-puṣpa (a flower growing in the sky). In reality, Bhagavān, who is the possessor of all potencies, is the Supreme Truth (parama-tattva). Bhagavān’s potency is eternal. Therefore, this potency, or cit, manifests Bhagavān’s pastimes (līlā); acit, or māyā, manifests the unlimited universes, as well as both the subtle and gross bodies of the bound jīvas. As the taṭasthā (or jīva-śakti), she manifests all the unlimited jīvas and is constantly expanding and serving Bhagavān.  Those who hate Bhagavān, or who are averse to His most charming divine pastimes, pretend that they have destroyed the results of their karma, extinguished their existence and merged into Brahman. They think they are happy in discussing this – but this is just like a prisoner who commits suicide in order to attain happiness. One should carefully reject talk of mukti of all types, which means discussing various types of mukti-sādhana (methods how to attain mukti), upāsana (methods of worship to attain mukti), as well as rejecting the association of those who are endeavouring to achieve it. Concerning this topic, Śrī Rūpa has said:

bhukti-mukti-spṛhā yāvat piśācī hṛdi vartate
tāvad bhakti-sukhasyātra katham abhyudayo bhavet

(“How can the bliss of bhakti ever arise in the heart while the witch of sense-enjoyment and mukti remains there?” – Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.22)

śrī-kṛṣṇa-caraṇāmbhoja-sevā-nirvṛta-cetasām
eṣāṁ mokṣāya bhaktānāṁ na kadācit spṛhā bhavet

(“Devotees whose consciousness is absorbed in the bliss of service to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa never have any desire for mokṣa.” – Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.25)


3) Vyoma-nayanī lakṣmī-pati-rati (Attachment to Lakṣmī-pati leading to Vaikuṇṭha):

Para-vyoma (Vaikuṇṭha) is the dhāma of Bhagavāṇ, where Nārāyaṇa resides and aiśvarya (the mood of awe and reverence) predominates. By service to Lakṣmī-pati, the four types of liberation are attained, namely sāmīpya (associating with the Lord), sārṣṭi (having the same opulence as the Lord), sālokya (residing on the same planet) and sārūpya (having a similar form as the Lord). In this regard, Śrī Rūpa says:

atra tyājyatayaivoktā muktiḥ pañca-vidhāpi cet
sālokyādis tathāpy atra bhaktyā nāti virudhyate

sukhaiśvaryottarā seyaṁ prema-sevottarety api
sālokyādir-dvidhā tatra nādyā sevā-juṣāṁ matā

kintu premaika-mādhurya juṣa ekāntino harau
naivāṅgī kurvate jātu muktiṁ pañca-vidhām api

tatrāpy ekāntināṁ śreṣṭhā govinda-hṛta-mānasāḥ
yeṣāṁ śrīśa-prasādo ’pi mano hartuṁ na śaknuyāt

siddhāntatas tv abhede ’pi śrīśa-kṛṣṇa-svarūpayoḥ
rasenotkṛṣyate kṛṣṇa-rūpam eṣā rasa-sthitiḥ

(“Although the five kinds of mukti have been described as worthy of abandoning, sālokya, etc. are not antagonistic to bhakti. There are two types within these kinds of liberation: sukhaiśvaryottarā, predominated by awe, and prema-sevottarā, predominated by prema. The first is not accepted by those who are desire to serve the Lord. But those who are exclusively attached to Kṛṣṇa who enjoy the sweetness of prema never accept the five types of mukti at all. Among those exclusive devotees, those whose hearts have been stolen by Govinda are the greatest. Even the mercy of Śrīśa (Narāyaṇa) cannot steal their minds. According to siddhānta, the forms of Śrīśa and kṛṣṇa are non-different, yet according to rasa, Kṛṣṇa’s form is superior. That is the nature of His rasa.” – Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.55-59)

In this regard, Śrī Hari Dāsa has said:

alaṁ tri-diva-vārtayā kim iti sārvabhauma-śriyā
vidūratara-vārtinī bhavatu mokṣa-lakṣmīr api
kālinda-giri-nandinī-taṭa-nikuñja-puñjodare
mano harati kevalaṁ nava-tamāla-nīlaṁ mahaḥ

 (“Enough! What use is talk about the celestial abode or sovereignty over this earth! Even mokṣa and Lakṣmī are distant to me! My mind is only captivated by that cluster of bluish effulgence whose hue resembles a young tamāla tree and who resides within a nikuñja situated on the shore of the Yamunā.”)


4) Sva-ratida (The Divine Couple award attachment to Themselves):

They award attachment to Themselves. Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa are the ātmā of all ātmās, and the natural constitutional position of the finite conscious jīva, who is eternally kṛṣṇa-dāsa, is ātma-rati (attachment towards the Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme ātmās). Although this rati is the eternal dharma of the jīva, in the state of bewilderment caused by māyā, he is covered with various desires caused by ignorance. In relation to this, Śrī Iśvara Purī has said:

dhanyānāṁ hṛdi bhāsatāṁ girivara-pratyagra-kuñjaukasāṁ
satyānanda-rasaṁ vikāra-vibhava-vyāvṛttam antar-mahaḥ
asmākaṁ kila vallavī-rati-raso vṛndāṭavī-lālaso
gopaḥ ko ’pi mahendranīla-ruciraś citte muhuḥ krīḍatu

(“Those fortunate persons residing in the forests of the great mountains may experience transformations within their hearts due to the manifestation of a great festival of the mellows of truth and bliss. But for us, that cowherd boy, who has the effulgence of a great sapphire, who displays pastimes in the forest of Vṛndā with the cowherd maidens who are imbued with attachment and divine mellows, sports within our hearts and minds.” – Padyāvali 75)

Śrī Mādhavendra Purī:

rasaṁ praṣaṁsantu kavitva-niṣṭhā
brahmāmṛtaṁ veda-śiro-niviṣṭāḥ
vayaṁ tu guñjā-kalitāvataṁsaṁ
gṛhīta-vaṁśaṁ kam api śrayāmaḥ

 (“Let those attached to poetry glorify mundane rasa. Let those devoted to the best of the Vedas praise the nectar of Brahman. However, we will simply take refuge in He who holds the flute and wears a necklace of guñjā berries.” – Padyāvali 76)

Śrī Kaviratna:

jātu prārthayate na pārthiva-padaṁ naindre pade modate
sandhate na ca yoga-siddhiṣu dhiyaṁ mokṣaṁ ca nākāṅkṣate
kālindī-vana-sīmāni sthira-taḍin-megha-dyutau kevalam
śuddhe brahmaṇi ballavī-bhuja-latā-baddhe mano dhāvati

(“I never pray for the position of an earthly monarch, and the position of Indra does not please me. My intelligence is not fixed upon attaining yogic perfections, nor does not desire liberation. My mind runs after that pure Brahman who is entwined by the vines of the gopīs arms, who appears like a dark raincloud imbued with a lightning flash within the forests on the bank of the Yamunā.” – Padyāvali 78)

Śrī Mādhavendra Purī:

 anaṅga-rasa-cāturī-capala-cāru-netrāñcalaś
calan-makara-kuṇḍala-sphurita-kānti-gaṇḍa-sthalaḥ
vrajollasita-nāgarī-nikara-rāsa-lāsyotsukaḥ
sa me sapadi mānase sphuratu ko ’pi gopālakaḥ

(“May a particular cowherd boy, who is most expert in the rasa of the god of love, who casts glances from the corners of His beautiful restless eyes, whose cheeks reflect the effulgence of His trembling makara-shaped earrings, and who is anxious to enjoy the rāsa dance with a multitude of splendorous girls of Vraja, soon appear within my mind.” – Padyāvali  97)

Only through bhajana of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa in Vraja can the inherent jewel of perfected attachment reawaken, and upon attainment and nourishment, the stage of mahā-bhāva is eventually achieved.

Manaḥ ŚikṣāManaḥ Śīkṣā - Verse 3
Manaḥ ŚikṣāManaḥ Śīkṣā - Verse 5

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