Krsna's Most Intimate Companions

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Krsna's Most Intimate Companions

 

Q & A with Swami B. V. Tripurari

 

"Priyanarma sakhas like Subala taste mahabhava in a way similar to the

gopis. Thus their development of prema exceeds that of devotees in

vatsalya rasa."

 

Q. Where can I find information as to how Gaudiya Vaisnavism refutes

other Vaisnava philosophies? What are the source references wherein

these issues have been specifically addressed?

 

A. The Gaudiya position on all issues of tattva is clearly presented in

Sri Jiva Goswami's sixfold treatise known as Sat-sandarbha. However, as

far as I know, to date only the first essay, Tattva-sandarbha, is

available in English.

 

Gaudiya acaryas have a slightly different angle of vision than those of

Madhva, Ramanuja, Nimbarka, and Visnu Swami. In his writings, Sri Jiva

Goswami has specifically referred to Madhva and Ramanuja as venerable

Vaisnavas. He embraced some of their concepts but not all of them.

Unlike other Vaisnava teachers, Gaudiya acaryas have not attempted to

refute other Vaisnava metanarratives, nor have they put forward

extensive comparisons between their own metanarrative and those of

other Vaisnava traditions. This is because Gaudiyas generally consider

other Vaisnava spiritual worldviews to be particular angles of

devotional vision revealed by God. These worldviews have been

articulated by Vaisnava acaryas as best as possible within the limits

of language, reason, and scripture. A person who looks to the

philosophical essence of these Vaisnava sampradayas' teachings will

find more unity than not.

 

[Editor's note: Further information on Tattva-sandarbha and how to

obtain an edition in English is available at:

http://www.swami.org/sanga/Books/pages/TattvaSandarbha.html]

 

Q. Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami stated, "We are disposed to

accept, as our eternal function, nothing short of the ideal of service

to the milkmaids of Vraja, taught and practiced by Sri Caitanya."

Doesn't this mean that all perfected devotees in the line of

Bhaktisiddhanta will ultimately serve Krsna as milkmaids of Vraja?

 

A. This statement of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura represents

his own sentiment and the main sentiment of the sampradaya--love like

the handmaids of Radha. However, anyone who comprehensively reads his

writings and those of Bhaktivinoda Thakura will clearly see that these

acaryas have acknowledged that other sentiments also have a place in

the Gaudiya sampradaya.

 

Q. Gaudiya Vaisnavas are called Rupanugas, or followers of Sri Caitanya

Mahaprabhu's principal disciple Srila Rupa Goswami, who in Krsna lila

is understood to be Rupa Manjari. Does the fact that Rupa Goswami is

understood to be Rupa Manjari mean that only Gaudiya Vaishnavas who

aspire to serve as manjaris in Krsna lila can truly be called

Rupanugas?

 

A. Those who follow Rupa Goswami in terms of his own sentiment are

Rupanugas in a specific sense. Those who follow him in terms of his

teaching on suddha bhakti but not in terms of his own sentiment of gopi

bhava follow him also, but in a less specific sense. Both are

considered Rupanugas because both follow Rupa Goswami. However the

former also follow Rupa Manjari and can thus be considered a Rupanuga

in every sense of the term. Rupa Manjari is a follower of Lalita sakhi.

It is also worth noting that some priyanarma sakhas are also closely

related to Rupa Manjari in that in terms of the madhurya aspect of

their sakhya bhava they follow the bhava of Lalita Sakhi. Sri Krsnadasa

Kaviraja Goswami writes, nija nija bhava sabe srestha kari' mane

nija-bhave kare krsna-sukha asvadane: "Each kind of devotee feels that

his sentiment is the most excellent, and thus in that mood he tastes

great happiness with Lord Krsna."

 

Q. In Srila Rupa Goswami's Ujjvala-nilamani various levels of prema

(spiritual love) are described. Sadharani love is described as having

some self-interest whereas samartha is described as being completely

selfless, with the gopis of Vrndavana being the example. Samanjasa, as

attributed to the queens of Dvaraka, is described as being a

combination of both. This puzzles me because I always thought that all

spiritual love was completely selfless. How can this be understood

properly?

 

A. There is no material selfishness in any expression of transcendental

love of God. However, in the drama of Krsna lila different degrees of

selflessness in love of God are exhibited. For example, Rukmini was

completely in love with Krsna but she still thought of her reputation

and dharma as a princess, thus she never ran away to meet him but

rather secretly sent a letter asking Krsna to kidnap her. On the other

hand the gopis of Vrndavana disregarded social convention and dharma

altogether and met Krsna in the dead of night. Although both Rukmini

and the gopis love Krsna and are completely materially selfless,

Rukmini exhibited a sense of self-concern that is not present in the

gopis. Thus Caitanya Mahaprabhu taught that the gopis' love for Krsna

is the highest expression of selflessness in love of God.

 

Q. Uddhava prays to birth as grass to be able to receive the dust from

the feet of the gopis. Is this prayer an expression of his desire to be

in madhurya-rasa?

 

A. Uddhava is not praying to change his spiritual sentiment. He is

praying to serve Krsna with the same intensity the gopis have. He wants

to be blessed by them, but he does not want to be a gopi. Nevertheless,

eternal associates of the Lord may serve him in different capacities in

different lilas. For example Sridama, Krsna's strong cowherd friend who

often wrestles with Krsna, resulting in Krsna having to carry him on

his shoulders, expands to serve Krsna in other lilas as Garuda, Krsna's

bird carrier. Another example is Narada, who bathed in Vraja and came

out with a gopi deha. Siva was also granted a gopi deha. However, these

examples do not pertain to the prospect of the baddha-jivas (materially

bound souls), who enter the lila in a specific sentiment through

spiritual practice (sadhana) or special mercy.

 

Q. In the scriptures there are pastimes in which people are ridiculed

and derided such as in the pastimes of Garga Muni being ridiculed by

the Yadavas and Pradyumna chastising his chariot driver. It seems

callous and inappropriate for such transcendental personalities to

engage in such derision and joking at the expense of others. How should

this be understood?

 

A. There are many things that take place in Krsna lila that do not

serve as examples of saintly character. Therefore we follow the example

of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and more, the example of Sri Rupa and the Six

Goswamis of Vrndavana. First become a saint by honoring all, and then

you can enter the lila with a pure heart and understand the nature of

the interactions that take place therein.

 

Q. You wrote that Balarama manifests the forms of the parsadas (eternal

associates) of Sri Krsna in all the rasas other than srngara (conjugal

love). Does this mean that Mother Yasoda in vatsalya rasa is considered

a manifestation of Balarama?

 

A. Actually all forms of the parsadas of Sri Krsna are manifestations

of Balarama because he presides over the sandhini sakti. This sakti

expands the dhama and all forms therein. Even Krsna's form is a

manifestation of the sandhini sakti. However even though their forms

are constituted of his sandhini sakti, the principal gopis are

nonetheless manifestations of Radha's desire to serve Krsna.

 

In addition to Balarama's presiding over the sandhini sakti, he

presides over vatsalya, sakhya, and dasya rasa and serves Krsna in all

of these sentiments, as guru, friend, and servant--kabhu guru, kabhu

sakha, kabhu bhrtya-lila purve yena tina-bhave vraje kaila khela.

 

Q. The Vallabha sampradaya seems to emphasize parental love for Krsna

(vatsalya rasa) much more than the Gaudiya sampradaya does. Why is this

and where does the spiritual sentiment of dasya bhakti fit into Gaudiya

Vaisnavism?

 

A. Vallabhacarya was a contemporary of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Sri Rupa

Goswami acknowledges the Vallabha sampradaya twice in his

Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, saying that Vallabha's teaching of maryada and

pusti are similar to the Gaudiya teachings of vaidhi and raganuga. At

one time these two sampradayas were more interactive and generally it

is believed that Caitanya Mahaprabhu ultimately blessed Vallabha to

continue his own sampradaya--an extension of the Visnu Swami

sampradaya.

 

The Vallabha sampradaya emphasizes vatsalya rasa and gopi bhava

following the gopi Candravali, whereas the Gaudiya sampradaya follows

gopi bhava with emphasis on Sri Radha. It seems that Vallabha, with the

blessing of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, provides a more direct channel to

vatsalya prema than the Gaudiya sampradaya does, as he also does for

certain types of gopi bhava other than Radha-dasyam. In Krsna lila

Candravali and Radha are competitors in service to Sri Krsna.

 

As for dasya bhakti (servitorship), in Vraja this emotion is tinged

with sakhya (friendship). At least it is much different than the dasya

bhakti of Vaikuntha. Thus it is sometimes said that Vraja prema begins

with sakhya. The Gaudiya sampradaya emphasizes sakhya and madhurya, and

a type of sakhya that is tinged with madhurya (priyanarma sakha) has

been emphasized over the other varieties of sakhya rati.

 

Q. Vatsalya-rasa is often listed as superior to sakhya-rasa, yet we see

in the writings of the Goswamis many instances in which the

priya-narma-sakhas serve Radha and Krsna in very intimate pastimes of

conjugal love that is not offered for those in vatsalya-rasa. How can

this be understood? Would sakhya-rasa mixed with madhurya-rasa be

considered superior to vatsalya-rasa?

 

A. When sakhya rasa is mixed with madhurya rasa, it affords one

aesthetic experience not found in the highly exalted parental love of

God, vatsalya rasa. Priyanarma sakhas like Subala taste mahabhava in a

way similar to the gopis. Thus their development of prema exceeds that

of devotees in vatsalya rasa. In this regard Mahaprabhu instructed Sri

Sanatana Goswami, sakhya-vatsalya-rati paya 'anuraga'-sima, subaladyera

'bhava' paryanta premera mahima:

 

"After the mellow of servitorship, there are the mellows of friendship

and parental love, which increase to subordinate spontaneous love

(anuraga). The greatness of the love found in friends like Subala

extends to the standard of ecstatic love of Godhead (bhava/mahabhava)."

 

Furthermore, Srimad-Bhagavatam (9.24.65) states: "No one in Vrndavana,

male or female, who drank in the festival of the eyes that is Krsna's

beautiful face, with its playful smile and cheeks adorned with

dolphin-shaped earrings was satisfied. Though they felt joy, it was

mixed with anger arising from the momentary blinking of their eyes."

 

Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti comments, "This verse shows how, among the

Vrajavasis, the gopis and Krsna's priyanarma sakhas have the most

intense experience of Krsna's beauty. Of all the parts of the body, the

face is the seat of greatest beauty. The face is divided into the upper

and lower half, of which the lower, where the supreme sweetness of

Krsna's smile radiates, is the greater beauty. Anyone who sees the

Lord's smile, with His glowing cheeks made even more splendorous by the

dolphin earrings dangling beside them, is enchanted. The effulgence

emanating from his body extinguishes all the world's miseries. The

devotees' minds are like the cakora birds that are nourished by the

moon's rays. Thus it is no surprise that his beauty stirs up sensual

desires in the gopis, driving them so mad that they are ready to

sacrifice their duty, their families, and their lives in their

impatience to be with him. Drinking in this beauty, they are left

unsatiated. Unable to tolerate even the interruption that comes of

blinking, they become angry. This is one of the signs of the highest

reaches of love, known as mahabhava, which is only found in the gopis

and nowhere else except perhaps in Krsna's most intimate companions

like Subala."

 

Questions or comments may be submitted at the Q&A Forum

http://www.swami.org/sanga/ or email sangaeditor (AT) swami (DOT) org.

 

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Wednesday, June, 8, 2005, Vol. VII, No. 8

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