GEMS FROM VRAJA

GEMS FROM VRAJA

Sri Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya Lila 8.181  

"Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is a mine filled with valuable jewels of love for Kṛṣṇa. Her transcendental body is complete with unparalleled spiritual qualities."

My friend has come from Vraja

with a casket of jewels

given by Radha,

at times she opens it,

takes a coloured gem in her hand

and thus walks the dusty streets

of that magic land.

In a whisper

and with pearly tears in her eyes

she opens the box

with the key of her desire.

One stone with its halo of green

envelopes us in the mist

of a forest of sentient trees, ⁽¹⁾

sweetness pervades the air

and

what is to be said there, 

must be spoken as a prayer;

when our eyes melt with tears

the jewel oozes sugarcane

that falls on our tongues

in the form of the Holy Name.

Once again she takes a gem ~

the shimmering prism of colours

mesmerizes her,

as she holds it in her hand,

rivers of enchanting pastimes

flow from her tongue

~ cannot stop ~

the more of the fluid nectar I hear

the more and more

drizzle of glittered saffron dust ⁽²⁾

floods my cupped ears ~

it is only about this land

that I wish to hear,

in this way the drizzle

grows into gems, deeply  sown

in the cavern of my heart,

where, once studded with jewels of love

 might become like the Dham,

brilliant and shining, ~

so that from my tongue

 will appear many songs

to which I will dance,

blissful and mad.

____________________________________________________

1) Ter Kadamba

2) SB 4.20.25 "My dear Lord, You are glorified by the selected verses uttered by great personalities. Such glorification of Your lotus feet is just like saffron particles. [...]  "

The Canticle of Union

The Canticle of the Creatures written by St Francis in 1225 AD is an ode to theCreation in praise of the Lord as the Creator of the universe. It is poetry of bhakti where St Francis expresses his love for the Lord by revealing his perception of Him in the amazing  harmony of the universe.  This juxtaposition of the Lord of the Universe to the theme of creation in the ode, has inspired this combination between this pastime  of Lord Jagannath, His abode and activities with hints about the esotericism of creation in a wholly Vaisnava flavor.   Since Krishna, in this mood and form as Lord Jagannath - of supreme overflowing Divine Love - reveals that He is the Personality exchanging and  reciprocating the love of the devotees in whatever form they most cherish in their hearts, He is addressed as the Lord of the Universe.

SBB Vol.III 5.211 "His transcendental form, the one source of all incarnations, expands all of His various pastimes.  Whichever of His forms a devotee finds attractive, that form the Lord shows him."

  The Creation is an act of love and therefore is pervaded by His love and attraction for Radha, and expresses metaphysically Their union.  

The heart is not a shore

for the ocean of longing,

the body swayed drunk,

He could not give up

thinking of the dying swan,

of Her agony

as He once saw while she sat

on His lap; ⁽¹⁾

dazed He crossed the night

to the doorway at her bedside,

floating in waves of love,

His eyes opened wide

and full of both joy and surprise

He fainted, mesmerized ~

His love so intense,

that His limbs lignified.

A waft of scent from His cloud-like skin

awoke the Lover,

 touching Her dreams ~

Krishna Krishna!

By seeing the lotus of His face,

at once, of that burning agony

there was no trace,

Radhe Radhe!

the scented breeze roused Him,

Their eyes embraced,

and in rivers of Prem

Their union took place …

and from His mind

reflecting His desire

 it pervaded the universes

in the way all beings unite,

and just as one serves another

as trees give fruits and flowers,

similarly this mood of service

 binds together all lovers.

Union happened that night,

and when the cooing announced

that the sun would shortly rise,

the Sakhis, drumming

and plucking strings, started to sing

the canticle of this Love,

cause and true origin of everything ~

 is the attraction binding the atoms ⁽²⁾

and the variety that attracts all beings.

O languishing souls,

take up this song

chant the names,

of Radha and Shyam

reuniting in Nidhuvan;

it's all about love,

coming in waves, 

into the heart,

 opening wide 

'The Door Ajar' into Puri Dham. ⁽³⁾

^(1) Ref. Pastimes at Prema Sarovara

⁽²⁾ Sri Krishna Samhita 5.18  "In the spiritual world the ever existing attachment extends love up to mahabhava, and in the material world the reflection extends as an inconceivable material attraction that creates variegatedness." 

⁽³⁾ Gopala Campu  ^"As many petals as has a lotus so many are the doors into Vraja Dhama." 

SBB Vol III 5.212 "Eternally as dear to Sri Krsnadeva as His beautiful Mathura-   dhama is that Purusottama-kshetra.  There the Lord displays His supreme opulence and yet charms His devotees by acting like an ordinary person of the world."

~~~

The Story of the First Ratha Yatra – excerpted from the booklet on a lecture of Sri Gour Govinda Maharaja titled “Three logs of wood”.

Krishna in Dwarka feels terrible pains of separation from the Gopis and Radha.  Once He fell unconscious and Narada and Uddhava came to His aid.  Then with Balarama and Subhadra they decided, before Krishna was to regain consciousness, to prepare His chariot to ride Him to Vraja, but Subhadra went ahead in Her chariot followed by Balarama’s to inform the Brijibasis of His arrival.  Radha is on the verge of death, laying on a bed of petals in a secluded place on the banks of the Yamuna.  Krishna came back to His senses by the music of Narada and knowing in His heart the deep pains of love of Radha, intoxicated by love He could barely walk, so is put on the chariot by Uddhava and Narada. He suddenly arrived at the doorway where Radha was lying feebly breathing. He sees her and submerged by love was stunned and fainted like a piece of wood.  But the scent of Krishna reached Radha’s nostrils and Lalita whispered in Her ears : Krishna has come! 

She awoke and seeing Krishna she immediately forgot all her pains, and then Krishna was brought back to consciousness by whispering in His ears :”Radhe Radhe. They looked  in each other eyes and finally there was union.