Upalabdhi – 3- Song One

Text 1

ore mana boli śuno tattwa-bibaraṇa
jāhāra bismṛti-janya jībera bandhana

O my heart, please listen. I will you of the Absolute Truth. Because they have forgotten Him, the conditioned souls are thrown into the prison of the material world.

Text 2

tattwa eka adwitīya atulya apāra
sei tattwa para-brahma sarba sārāt sāra

The Absolute Truth is one. He has no rival. No one is His equal. He has no limit. The Absolute Truth is the Supreme Brahman. He is greater than all who are great.

Text 3

sei tattwa śaktimāna sampūrṇa sundara
śakti śaktimāna eka bastu nirantara

The Absolute Truth is the master of all potencies. He is perfect and complete. He is handsome. The potency and the master of potencies are never different.

Text 4

nitya-śakti nitya sarba-bilāsa-poṣoka
bilāsārtha bṛndābana baikuṇṭha goloka

His eternal potency nourishes all His eternal pastimes. For this purpose the Lord’s potency manifests the worlds of Vṛndāvana, Vaikuṇṭha, and Goloka.

Text 5

bilāsārtha nāma dhāma guṇa parikara
deśa-kāla-pātra saba śakti anucara

For the sake of the Lord’s pastimes, the eternal potency manifests the Lord’s names, abodes, qualities, and associates, all different according to different times, places, and circumstances.

Text 6

śaktira prabhāba āra prabhura vilāsa
para-brahma-sahe nitya ekātmā-prokāśa

The eternal potency thus manifests the Lord’s pastimes. The Supreme Brahman is identical with His potency.

Text 7

ata eba brahma āge śakti kārja pare
je kore siddhānta sei mūrkha e soṁsāre

That Brahman is manifested first and His potency is manifested second is a conclusion held by the fools in this world.

Text 8

pūrṇa-candra bolile kiraṇa-saha jāni
akiraṇa candra-sattā kabhu nāhi māni

I know the full moon always exists with its moonlight. I know the moon never exists without moonlight.

Text 9

brahma āra brahma-śakti-saha parikara
sama-kāla nitya boli’ māni ataḥ para

Brahman is always accompanied by His potency. They are both eternal. This I know. This I say.

Text 10

akhaṇḍa bilāsa-moya para-brahma jei
aprākṛta bṛndābane kṛṣṇacandra sei

The Supreme Brahman enjoys pastimes eternally. He is not material. In Vṛndāvana He is Kṛṣṇacandra.

Text 11

sei se adwaya-tattwa parānandakāra
kṛpāya prakaṭa hoilo bhārate āmāra

The Supreme Brahman, the blissful Absolute Truth, mercifully appeared in our Bhārata-varṣa.

Text 12

kṛṣṇa se parama-tattwa prakṛtira para
brajete bilāsa kṛṣṇa kore’ nirantara

Lord Kṛṣṇa is that Absolute Truth. He is above the world of matter. In the land of Vraja He manifested His eternal pastimes.

Text 13

cid-dhāma-bhāskara kṛṣṇa taṅra jyotir-gata
ananta cit-kaṇa jība tiṣṭhe abirata

Lord Kṛṣṇa is the effulgent sun of the spiritual world. The limitless rays of light always emanating from Him are the individual spirit souls.

Text 14

sei jība prema-dharmī kṛṣṇa-gata-prāṇa
sadā kṛṣṇākṛṣṭa bhakti-sudhā kore’ pāna

These souls love Kṛṣṇa. They have dedicated their lives to Him. Eternally they are attracted to Him. Eternally they drink the nectar of devotional service to Him.

Text 15

nānā-bhāba-miśrita piyā dāsya-rasa
kṛṣṇera ananta-guṇe sadā thāke baśa

They drink the nectar of service to Lord Kṛṣṇa, a nectar mixed with different kinds of ecstatic love. They are overwhelmed by Lord Kṛṣṇa’s limitless transcendental qualities.

Text 16

kṛṣṇa mātā kṛṣṇa pitā kṛṣṇa sakhā pati
ei saba bhinna-bhābe kṛṣṇa kore rati

Kṛṣṇa is their mother. Kṛṣṇa is their father. Kṛṣṇa is their friend or their husband. Kṛṣṇa manifests all these different kinds of loving relationships with them.

Text 17

kṛṣṇa se puruṣa eka nitya bṛndābane
jība-gaṇa nārī-bṛnda rame kṛṣṇa-sane

In Vṛndāvana Kṛṣṇa is the one male eternally. The individual souls, who are all female, enjoy pastimes with Kṛṣṇa.

Text 18

sei to’ ānanda-līlā jā’ra nāi anta
ata eba kṛṣṇa-līlā akhaṇḍa ananta

These blissful pastimes have no end. Therefore Lord Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes are unbroken and endless.

Text 19

je saba jībera bhoga-bachā upajilo
puruṣa bhabete tā’ra joḍe prabeśilo

Any soul in whom the desire to enjoy apart from Kṛṣṇa takes birth will attain a male’s nature and enter the world of matter.

Text 20

māyā-kārja joḍa māyā nitya-śakti-chāya
kṛṣṇa-dāsī sei satya kāra-kartrī māyā

The world of matter is created by Māyā. Māya‘ is the shadow of the Lord’s eternal potency. She is Lord Kṛṣṇa’s maidservant. In truth she carries out Lord Kṛṣṇa’s commands.

Text 21

sei māyā ādarśera samasta biśeṣa
loiyā gaṭhilo biśwa jāhe pūrṇa kleśa

This Māya‘ potency created the material world filled with sufferings.

Text 22

jība jadi hoilena kṛṣṇa-bahirmukha
māyādevī tabe tā’ra jāchilena sukha

When a soul turns his face away from Lord Kṛṣṇa, Goddess Māyā offers her pleasures.

Text 23

māyā-sukhe matta jība śrī-kṛṣṇa bhulilo
sei se abidyā-baśe asmitā janmilo

Intoxicated by Māyā’s pleasures, the soul forgets Lord Kṛṣṇa. In the grip of ignorance, he finds material false ego take birth within him.

Text 24

asmitā hoite hoilo māyābhinibeśa
tāhā hoite joḍa-gata rāga āra dweṣa

From false ego comes rapt meditation on Māyā, and from that come material attraction and aversion.

Text 25

ei rūpe jība karma-cakre prabeśiyā
uccābaca-gati-krame phirena bhramiyā

Entering the wheel of karma, the soul wanders through the high and low species of life.

Text 26

kothā se baikuṇṭhānanda śrī-kṛṣṇa-bilāsa
kothā māyā-gata sukha duḥkha sarba-nāśa

What is the destructive calamity of Māyā’s pleasures and torments? What are Lord Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes, the bliss of Vaikuṇṭha, in comparison?

Text 27

cit-tattwa hoiyā jībera māyābhiramaṇa
ati tuccha jugupsita ananta patana

Tasting Māyā’s pleasures, the spirit soul becomes degraded. His position becomes very horrible and lowly.

Text 28

māyika dehera bhābābhābe dāsya kori’
para-tattwa jībera ki kaṣṭha āhā mori

Serving his material body, the soul forgets his spiritual identity. What a calamity!

Text 29

bhramite bhramite jadi sādhu-saṅga hoya
punarāya gupta nitya-dharmera udoya

If, after wandering and wandering in the material world, the soul attains the association of devotees, his hidden eternal nature is again manifested.

Text 30

sādhu-saṅge kṛṣṇa-kathā hoya ālocana
pūrba-bhāba udi’ kāṭe māyāra bandhana

In the association of devotees there is talk of Lord Kṛṣṇa. The soul’s original nature is again manifested. The bonds of Māyā are cut.

Text 31

kṛṣṇa prati jība jabe korena īkhaṇa
vidya-rūpe māyā kore’ bandhana-chedana

When the soul finally sees Lord Kṛṣṇa, Māyā appears as transcendental knowledge and cuts the soul’s bonds.

Text 32

māyika jagate bidyā nitya bṛndābana
jībera sādhana-janya kore’ bibhābana

To enlighten the conditioned souls, Māya‘ manifests within the material world the eternal realm of Vṛndāvana, which is transcendental knowledge personified.

Text 33

sei bṛndābane jība bhābābiṣṭa ho’ye
nitya-sebā lābha kore’ caitanya-āśroye

Staying in Vṛndāvana, the soul is overcome with spiritual love. Taking shelter of Lord Caitanya, the soul attains eternal service to the Lord.

Text 34

prakaṭita līlā āra goloka-bilāsa
eka tattwa bhinna noya dwibidhā prokāśa

The Lord’s pastimes in Goloka and His pastimes in the material world are identical. They are not different. They are merely manifest twice.

Text 35

nitya-līlā nitya-dāsa-gaṇera niloya
e prakaṭa-līlā-baddha-jībera āśroya

The eternally liberated devotees participate in the eternal pastimes in Goloka. The conditioned souls participate in the pastimes in the material world.

Text 36

ata eba bṛndābana jībera ābāsa
asāra-soṁsāre nitya-tattwera prokāśa

In this way eternal Vṛndāvana, the soul’s original home, is manifested within the horrible material world.

Text 37

bṛndābana-līlā jība koroho āśroya
ātmā-gata rati-tattwa jahe nitya hoya

Taking shelter of the Lord’s Vṛndāvana pastimes, the soul eternally falls in love with Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Text 38

joḍa-rati-khadyotera āloka adhama
ātmā-rati-sūrjodoye hoya upaśama

When the sun of the soul’s spiritual love for Lord Kṛṣṇa rises, the firefly light of love for material things becomes eclipsed.

Text 39

joḍa-rati-gata jata śubhāśubha-karma
jībera sambandhe saba aupadhika dharma

Identifying with his external material body, the soul in the material world performs auspicious and inauspicious deeds.

Text 40

joḍa-rati hoite loka-bhoga abirata
joḍa-rati aiśwarjera sadā anugata

From the love of material things material pleasures come. Love for material things follows material opulences.

Text 41

joḍa-rati joḍa-deha prabhu-sama bhāya
māyika biṣaya-sukhe jībake nācāya

Become like his two masters, material love and the material body make the soul dance in the arena of Māyā’s sense pleasures.

Text 42

kabhe tā’re lo’ye jāya brahmaloka jathā
kabhu tā’ra śikhā deya jogaiśwarja-kathā

Sometimes these two masters take the soul to Brahmaloka. Sometimes they teach him about the glories of mystic yoga.

Text 43

jogaiśwarja bhogaiśwarja sakhali sabhoya
bṛndābane ātmā-rati jībera abhoya

The opulences of yoga and the opulences of sense pleasures ultimately place the soul in a fearful position. Only when he lives in Vṛndāvana and falls in love with the Supreme Lord does the soul attain fearlessness.

Text 44

śrī-kṛṣṇa-bimukha-jana aiśwarjera āśe
māyika joḍiyā sukhe baddha māyā-pāśe

Souls who have turned their faces away from Lord Kṛṣṇa, and who yearn for material opulences, are bound by Māyā’s ropes of material pleasures.

Text 45

akicana ātmā-rata kṛṣṇa-rati-sāra
jāni’ bhukti-mukti-āśā kore’ parihāra

But when he is no longer ineterested in material things, when he is attracted to spiritual things, and when he falls in love with Lord Kṛṣṇa, the soul, now situated in true knowledge, rejects all desires for sense pleasure or impersonal liberation.

Text 46

soṁsāre jībana-jātrā anāyāse kori’
nitya-dehe nitya-sebe ātmā-prada hori

Then the journey of life in this world goes very pleasantly and easily. At the end Lord Kṛṣṇa gives the soul an eternal body and eternal devotional service.

Text 47

barṇa-mada bala-mada rūpa-mada jata
bisarjana diyā bhakti-pathe hana rata

Renouncing pride of caste, strength, and handsomeness, the soul thus walks on the path of devotional service.

Text 48

āśramādi bidhānete rāga-dweṣa hīna
eka-mātra kṛṣṇa-bhakti jāni’ samicīna

Then the soul has neither attraction nor aversion for the different āśramas or other arrangements of this world. He knows devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa is the only right path.

Text 49

sādhu-gaṇa-saṅge sadā hari-līlā-rase
japana korena kāla nitya-dharma-baśe

Rapt in performing his eternal duties, the soul passes his time in the association of the devotees and always chanting the nectar of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes.

Text 50

jībana-jātrāra janya baidika-bidhāna
rāga-dweṣa bisarjiyā korena sammāna

Renouncing attachment and aversion, he honors the Vedic injunctions in the journey of his life.

Text 51

sāmānya baidika dharma artha-phala-prada
artha hoite kāma-labha mūḍhera sampada

However, the Vedic injunctions meant for the people in general show how to attain material wealth and, after that, how to attain material sense pleasures. These two attainments are the opulences of fools.

Text 52

sei dharma sei artha sei kāma jata
swīkāra korena dina-jāpanera mata

Accepting these Vedic injunctions, many souls pass their days intoxicated by material wealth and material sense pleasures.

Text 53

tāhāte jībana-jātrā korena nirbāha
jībanera artha kṛṣṇa-bhaktira prabāha

In this way the people pass the journey of their lives. However, the true wealth of this life is the activities of devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Text 54

ata eba liṅga-hīna sadā sādhu-jana
dwandwātīta ho’ye korena śrī-kṛṣṇa-bhajana

Therefore, rejecting everything else, and free from the dualities of this world, the devotees always worship Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Text 55

jānera prayāse kāla nā kori’ jāpana
bhakti-bale nitya-jñāna korena sādhana

The devotees do not struggle to attain knowledge. By the power of devotional service they attain knowledge of the eternal.

Text 56

jathā tathā bāsa kori’ je se bastra pori’
su-labdha-bhojana-dwārā deha rākha kori’

They wear clothing is easily attained, and maintain the body with food that is easily attained,

Text 57

kṛṣṇa-bhakta kṛṣṇa-sebā-ānande matiyā
sadā kṛṣṇa-prema-rase phirena gahiyā

Wild with the bliss of serving Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Kṛṣṇa-devotees always swim in the nectar of love for Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Text 58

nabadwīpe śrī-caitanya-prabhu abatāra
bhakatibinoda gāya kṛpāya tāṅhāra

By the mercy of Śrī Caitanya Prabhu, who descended to this world in Navadvīpa, Bhaktivinoda sings this song.