We have to be sharanâgata to attain success in bhakti-sâdhanâVerse 56vishwopaplava-shamanaika-baddha-dikshamvishwâsa-stavakita-chetasan janânâm,prashyâma-pratinava-kânti-kandalârdrampashyâmah pathi pathi shaishavam murâreh.56.TranslationSri Krishna has resolved to wipe out the troubles of all the devotees who have taken His shelter with firm faith. We are seeing That Murâri’s ever-new sweet kaishor drenched in dark blue splendour on every pathway leading to Sri Vrindâvan.56.Srila Krishnadâs Kavirâj Goswâmi says: In these five verses (56 to 60) Sri Lilâshuk has mistaken sphurti for sâkshâtkâr. This means that although he did not really have any darshan, He still thinks he is seeing Sri Krishna. When Srimati Râdhârâni did not get Sri Krishna’s darshan, She was miserable and swooned once more. Her sakhis consoled Her saying, “Dear Râdhe, don’t You remember from how many calamities Sri Krishna has protected us? Therefore He will certainly come along one of these paths and make us happy.” Srimati was soothed by these sweet words of Her sakhis and started glorifying Sri Krishna with a verse from Gopi-geet –“O Best of men! You have protected the Gopas and the cows of Vraja from the poisonous water of Kâlindi and from the grip of Aghâsur who came in the form of a python. You held up Girirâj for seven days and nights and shielded all the Brijwâsis from the torrential rain and thunderbolts of Indra. You have always protected the residents of Vrindâvan from asuras like Vrishâsur and Vyomâsur, and from catastrophes such as the forest-fire.”– (Srimad-Bhâgavatam10.39.3)In this manner, Srimati Râdhârâni sang odes to Sri Krishna and searched for Him on the pathways. She saw Sri Krishna in a sphurti and the poet has expressed Her feelings in this verse.Srimati Râdhârâni told Her sakhis, “I can see Sri Krishna’s most handsome kaishor on the pathways of Sri Vrindâvan.” Here ‘Sri Krishna’s most handsome kaishor’ means ‘Sri Krishna Who is a kishor and He is very handsome’. How is that form? It is dark blue, novel each moment and splendorous. Srimati is assured, “He is supremely compassionate and always dispels the sorrows of His dear ones; He will certainly rid us of our sorrow.”Sri Krishna has taken an oath to rid the Vrajajanas of all misery. Whenever they have faced any trouble, He has firmly fulfilled His vow. When He had stopped the traditional offering to Indra and started Sri Govardhan-pujâ, the king of the demi-gods had expressed his anger by summoning the doomsday clouds. This had resulted in torrential rain, storms and lethal blows of thunder. The Brijwâsis had only Sri Krishna’s lotus feet as their shelter. They had cried –“krishna krishna mahâbhâga tan-nâtham gokulam prabho,trâtum-arhasi devânnah kupitâdbhaktavatsâla.”Meaning – “O Krishna! O Mahâbhâga[1]! O Master! Indra is angry with us. Please save Gokul which is under Your protection alone.”- (Srimad-Bhâgavatam10.25.13)Sri Krishna felt their sorrow and resolved –“I shall protect the surrendered cowherd people for they are dearest to me and they depend only on me with my own transcendental power. I have pledged to protect the ones who have surrendered unto me.” – (Srimad-Bhâgavatam10.25.18)Whenever the Brijwâsis face any difficulty, they seek Sri Krishna’s protection. It is not because they are aware of His majesty, but due to the fact that the all-knowing Sri Gargâchârya had told Sri Nanda Mahârâj during the Naming Ceremony –“O Râjan, this son of yours will bring auspiciousness to the Gopas and Gokul, and cause supreme bliss to all. He shall enable you to get rid of all your troubles and sorrows.”– (Srimad-Bhâgavatam10.8.16)The Brijwâsis are simple. They have firm faith in the words of the sages. Therefore, although they are in a sweet mood, they seek Sri Krishna’s shelter in troubles and tribulations.The same day that Sri Krishna delivered Kâliya Nâg, a terrible forest fire threatened to annihilate Vraja at night. The Gopas woke up from their sleep and finding themselves in the throes of the dreadful fire, they sought refuge of Sri Krishna Who is the Supreme Brahman in the form of a human. They prayed –“O all-powerful Sri Krishna! Please rescue Your friends and relatives from this terrible forest fire. We can never forsake Your lotus feet that grant freedom from fear.”The Brijwâsis have an unshakeable faith that Sri Krishna can deliver them all obstacles. This is their speciality.In the siddha state (as a sakhi) Sri Lilâshuk had a sphurti of the Divine couple and stated, “We can see the sweet kaishor form of Sri Krishna wandering on the pathways, spreading ever new dark blue brilliance all around.”In the sâdhak state, as Sri Lilâshuk approached Mathurâ, he had visions of Sri Krishna everywhere. Indeed, Vrajadhâm is a place that excites visions of Sri Krishna. Loving devotees naturally have sphurtis of Sri Krishna when they come here. In the state of love-delirium, Sriman-Mahâprabhu had sphurti of Sri Vrindâvan, Govardhan and Yamunâ whenever He saw a woodland, hill and river respectively.“When he sees woodland He mistakes it for Vrindâvan; when He sees a hill He thinks it to be Govardhan. Wherever He sees a river, He takes it as Kâlindi, and immediately the Lord dances and falls on the earth crying in love-ecstasy.”- (Sri Chaitanya-Charitâmrita.Madhya.17.52-53)When the Lord went to Sri Vrindâvan, He expressed special symptoms of prem –“In Neelâchal, the Lord was immersed in prem. However, on the way to Vrindâvan His prem increased a hundred fold. When He beheld Mathurâ, His prem amplified a thousand times and ten million times when He roamed in the woods of Vrindâvan. As long as He was in some other place, He only experienced prem surging through Him at the very mention of Vrindâvan. We can imagine how much then, actual darshan of Vrindâvan must have affected Him.” – (Sri Chaitanya-Charitâmrita.Madhya.17.212-214)As Sri Lilâshuk approached Mathurâ he had sphurti of Sri Krishna and said, “Dear Govinda, You have pledged with Your holy lips, ‘my devotee never perishes’. I keep on remembering this oath and continue to survive.”Sri Krishna has also vowed –“Those who seek shelter unto my feet saying, ‘O Krishna, I am Yours’, I always grant them asylum – this is my pledge.”The poet is saying, “The One Who has vowed like this to protect His surrendered devotees, we are seeing His ever-new dark blue splendour spread sweet brilliance on the paths to Sri Vrindâvan.”We may classify the surrendered devotees into two types.Sri Govinda’s near ones – they have no desire for sense-gratification at all. They are extremely greedy only to relish Sri Krishna’s sweetness. When anything stops them from relishing this sweetness, they seek refuge at Sri Govinda’s lotus-feet. They love Kishor-Krishna and they find His beautiful brilliance ever new and very soft.There is another class of devotees. They take refuge of Sri Krishna’s holy feet to get rid of their obstacles. They never run to anyone else. They are fully convinced that Sri Krishna alone is capable of destroying all types of suffering. They have the firm faith that Govinda always protects His devotees and never lets them perish.Sharanâgati is the soul of bhakti-sâdhanâ. We should perform bhajan along with self-surrender. If sharanâgati is not deep-rooted in our hearts, we will never be able to adore Sri Bhagavân. Even if we do not feel sharanâgati now, we should continue with our bhajan. When we advance in bhajan, our feeling of sharanâgati too will become firm. Then we will be able to put all our responsibilities on Sri Govinda and rest in peace. One day Sriman-Mahâprabhu had told Srivâs Pandit –“(The Lord said) – I see you do not go anywhere. I do not know how you are managing your day-to-day life. I do not understand how you will manage in the future either. Srivâs replied, ‘My Lord, I tell You I do not feel like going anywhere.’ The Lord said, ‘You have a large family. How will you support all of them?’ Srivâs said, ‘Well, whatever luck has in store for me, will happen. I will get that much only.’ Prabhu said, ‘In that case, you accept sanyâs.’ ‘No, my Lord, I cannot do that’, said Srivâs.The Lord said, ‘What is this? You will not become a sanyâsi, neither will you approach anyone for any means – how will you sustain your family? I do not understand you. Nowadays, if you do not move around, a single paisa will not arrive at your doorstep on its own; and if you do not get any money what you will do, you just tell me that. Srivâs clapped thrice saying ‘one, two, and three’. Prabhu asked, ‘what do mean by clapping and saying, one, two, three’. This is my decision; I shall fast for three days and still after that if I do not get any food, then I have vowed to tie a pitcher round my neck and surely enter the Gangâ.’When Lord Shachinandan heard Srivâs speaking in this manner He stood up and roared, ‘what did you say, Pandit Srivâs? Am I going to let you fast for lack of food? Even if some day, Laxmi Devi is forced to beg from door to door you will never face poverty. How could you forget my pledge in Bhagavad-Gitâ –ananyâshchintayato mâm ye janâh paryupâsate,teshâm nityâbhiyuktânâm yogakshemam vahâmyaham.(B.G.9.22)(Then Prabhu translated the verse)- Whosoever meditates on me with a single mind, I provide him with all necessities by carrying them on my head. If one does not approach anyone to fulfil his material needs and only meditates on me – all fulfilments come to him on their own.Why should my servant worry about food when I am there to take care of him? Srivâs, you remain happily at home. All that you need will come to your doorstep by themselves.”This is a brilliant example of the devotee’s self-surrender and Sri Bhagavân’s promise to support His devotee.Srila Bhatta Goswâmipâd says Sri Krishna’s adolescent beauty is so rare that even the devatâs are not able to see it. Yet Sri Lilâshuk had darshan of His mischievous ways and other sweet pastimes, and described them from his own experience. I can see Murâri’s naughty and playful activities on the pathways of Vrindâvan. Here the poet is indicating that His mischievousness is appearing all the more sweet due to His budding youth. How is His shaishav (soft adolescence)? It is “vishwopa-plava-shamanaika-baddha-deeksham vishwasâtavakita-chetasâm janânâm” – Sri Krishna has firmly vowed to get rid of all the obstacles from the path of His devotees who always feel happy and believe strongly that He is most merciful. Sri Krishna is “prashyâma-pratinava-kânti-kandalârdram” – clearly dark bluish and His splendour increases every moment. It is full of ras.Srila Chaitanyadâs Goswâmi has written that the poet has a sudden sphuran of Sri Krishna. He is saying in this verse – I am seeing Murâri’s soft adolescence in every path of Vrindâvan. We can get His darshan by His mercy alone. He fulfils all the desires of those who believe in Him. If our heart is lit with this firm faith then He will deliver us from all suffering. The poet experienced Sri Krishna’s sweetness and said, “He is clearly dark bluish and drenched with a brilliant ras that is ever new.”
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