IF...

Visnu Purana "One gopi looking at Govinda became extremely joyful and began to repeatedly sing His name "Krsna! Krsna! Krsna!"  She could say nothing else."

This poem was inspired by the power of chanting for transforming the heart, but also to  suggest the need to be active in this process where many micro-results, like the stages of a ripening fruit,have to be achieved in order to steadily adding mature insights to our surrender. 

Caitanya Bhagavata M.L. 28.27 "You all go now, utter the name of Krishna, chant the name of Krishna, do krsna-bhajana.   Don't think of anything else but Krishna."

  

If I do not call out to you

Krishna, Krishna, Krishna,

how could I stop listening

the whispers

      of the weaknesses of my heart?   ⁽¹⁾

while my deluded mind

repeats deceitfully

 "you are just fine".

If I do not cry for You

Krishna, Krishna, Krishna,

feeling helpless,

how could  I place in your hands

                  my days ?               (2)

       and increase my faith     

perceiving Your benevolence

in events and people

fostering Your aid.

If I, within myself,

do not continue chanting

Krishna, Krishna, Krishna,

how could I carry my heart

to the tender of Bhakti?

        while the iron boat of conceit     (3)
sinks into the eerie abyss
of treacherous hedonists ,

where I was again tricked.

If my whole being does not resonate

Krishna, Krishna, Krishna,

how could you, in my heart,

awake me to the emotion

so to accept the truths

about my soul, the creation and You?

         I would have no memory of         ⁽⁴⁾

nor could I make of them any use.

But if my tongue calls

Krishna, Krishna, Krishna,

without your name

resounding in my soul,

it would not desist

from useless talks, 

the Ego's soliloquy

the invective words,

how then could it dance free

to the sweetness of the songs

about your names and forms?

1) There are four kinds of Anartha (Vani Vaibhava of BVThakur) : 1) identifying the body with the self 2) thirst for material enjoyment 3) offensiveness 4) weakness of the heart.

Anarthas produced from weakness of heart.

1) laziness 2) subordination to insignificant objects; 3) bewilderment of heart due to lamentation; 4) distraction from pure devotional service due to false argument; 5) miserliness in offering all one's energy to the cultivation of Krishna consciousness; 6) rejection of humility due to the pride of caste, wealth, education, followers, beauty, and strength; 7) willingness to be misguided by irreligious propensities and instructions; 8) disinterest in rectifying prejudice; 9) abandonment of compassion due to anger, illusion, envy; 10) intolerance; 11) false identification of the self as a Vaisnava due to the desire for name, fame, and the cheating propensity; 12) and the torture of other living entities that arises from the desire to enjoy women, wealth and other forms of sense gratification.

2) Skanda Purana "If a person rises in the morning and chants 'Krishna, Krishna', I shall bestow all welfare upon him." 

When faith become deep (first tender then firm) transforms into steadiness (nishta), taste (ruci), attachment (rati or asakti) and bhava.

3)  ".....boarding a stone boat, and so too are those who blindly follow them. A stone boat would be unable to float and would sink in the water with its passengers. Similarly, those who mislead people go to hell, and their followers go with them. " - Srimad Bhagavatam, Purport, 6.7.14

4) Prema Bhakti-chandrika "Dhyana is another word for smarana "                                     

The Song of Pingala

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_
continue=54&v=NMrRzDJ3Wuc

Uddhava Gita 2.28 "Now please hear from me the song sung by [Pingala] the prostitute ..."

Pingala is a prostitute.  This might rise the query from the reader how one can gain by hearing a poetry describing the greed and miserable life of a prostitute, but 

Pingala's story is told by Lord Krishna to Uddhava and sastra so instruct about this type of narration : Itihasa-samucchaya [SD 3.5.12 Comm.]  "What result can be attained by describing the lust of lusty men and the greed of greedy men, except to sent them into the darkness of a well? In the Mahabharata, lust and greed are described to purify people's hearts, and are moreover condemned by stories with pure meaning.  Otherwise, why would the most merciful and learned Vyasa describe lust and greed, the cause of bondage to terrible material existence?"

Pingala's is just one of the sixteen stories that an avadhuta brahmana told to King Yadu. Every story is a lesson about material life and Krishna retells the whole narration to Uddhava ~ in the section of the Bhagavatam (11th Canto) called "Uddhava Gita" ~ during His final instructions before closing up His pastimes on Earth.  Therefore so auspicious and beneficial is hearing and learning from this story.

Disturbances in Vraja

SD 10.22.34  "These trees fulfill one's desires with their leaves, flowers and fruits, their shade, roots, bark and wood, and also with their fragrance, sap, ashes, pulp and shoots."

This sloka is spoken by Krishna to the cowherd boys.  He is describing the pleasure that the trees give to him for their nature of using their life and qualities to serve others.

"Disturbances in Vraja" is the way Bhaktivinoda Thakura called the anarthas, which are the greatest impediment for the conditioned jiva to enter the spiritual world. The tree of the ego that we have grown in lifetimes of vicious activities carries the leaves of bad qualities and egotistical mind set.  So the devotee by sadhana bhakti with faith, devotion and concentration, should let all these leaves to go and transform the tree of envy, the anchor to material life, into one of the trees that give happiness to Krishna, because everyone's happiness is in Krishna's happiness.  This realization can start the process for clearing the anarthas (or anartha nivrtti).

Ripe and ready

for the transforming wind

of the autumn season,

that clears the sky, the waters    

            and the mind,         ⁽¹⁾

I let go the leaves

from the tree of my ego,

I'll not feel pain

letting go the dead leaves

of arguments and conflicts,

growing instead a soft smile within,

while the emptiness of my heart

rustles and is blown away like a dry leaf.

I will look at untruthfulness,

false pretense, hypocrisy

and desire for superiority,

as brown parched leaves

releasing them with joy

into the purifying gusts

of this wind,

feeling peaceful and free

as the leaves of deception

and conceit

drop from my tree;

without hesitation

I will look into layers

of memory

       from where unwanted results       ⁽²⁾

life after life have sprouted,

and now are yellow stale leaves

ready to be detached from the tree

by this wind of mercy.

My heart will rejoice

when finally Krishna,

seated in my heart,

crushes with His weight

of sweetness

the remaining hard-shelled

acorns of pride, vanity

and the stardom-me

then with consciousness filled

with devotion,

in bliss and relieved

that I, like the tree,

now denuded of envy,

am ready to sprout anew,

and give happiness to Krishna

               with leaves, shoots,             ⁽³⁾

flowers and fruits.

1) SD 10.20.32-33 "... the fall season arrived, when the sky is cloudless, the water clear and wind gentle.

"The autumn season, which regenerated the lotus flowers, also restored the various bodies of water to their original purity, just as the process of devotional service purifies the minds of the fallen yogis when they return to it."

2) Literal translation of the word "anarthas".

3) CC Adi Lila 3.63 " [...]His smiling glance at once drives away all the bereavements of the world, and His very words enliven the auspicious creepers of devotion by expanding their leaves."

ARROWS of LOVE

SD 1.9.38 "O Krishna! Let my only goal be Mukunda, Who, afflicted by my sharp arrows, armor broken, covered in blood, rushed towards me, His enemy, with great force, in order to kill me."

As much as this pastime of Krishna and Bhismadeva is meant to bewilder the mundane minds, it gives great ecstasy and inspiration to the devotees. This poem has been inspired by the prism of rasas in the pages of the Bhagavatam, which, just like those that speak of Arjuna, also expose the devotional sentiments of Bhismadeva. Here he drops the 'adherent-to-dharma' character of the Mahabharata and reveals himself as a pure devotee in a mix of service and chivalry rasas.

This is the moment that Krishna makes Bhismadeva's greatness, glories and devotion known to the world by coming to his side : -

BRS 2.1.134 [Krishna] "...because of Bhisma's remembrance of Him while laying on the bed of sharp arrows, immediately appeared, beyond His own control. He rushed towards Bhisma while forgetting His position as God, His body bathed in a shower of tears." 

WARRIOR for LOVE

SB 1.15.5  "Arjuna said : O King! The Supreme Personality of Godhead Hari, who treated me exactly like an intimate friend, has left me alone.  Thus my astounding power, which astonished even the demigods, is no longer with me."

 

Arjun remembering Krishna after
His departure

When Krishna decides to leave the planet, Arjuna  is left deeply aggrieved by a sentiment of separation.  Coming back from Dvaraka he speaks to Yudhisthira the pains of his heart now that his dearest friend has left.  Krishna has always enhanced the glories of his devotee and friend and now Arjuna reveals how Krishna was glorious in causing and facilitating all his victories, as he had not that power and ability without his friendship.

Four principles of friendship - 1) Trust; 2) knowledge about the friend; 3) to concede, ability to give out one's opinions and position to comply with friend's; 4) Opening one's heart are imbued in this poetry,as Arjuna speaks about his friendship with Krishna so that one can be inspired in cultivating the devotional service's anga -to become friend with Krishna - in the most personal and desirable way that Krishna appreciates and enjoys.

This is independently of the eternal sakhya-rasa, because friendship is developed during sadhana bhakti is based on respect.

The beauty of this passage in the Bhagavatam is the unveiling of the sakhya rasa of Arjuna in a time of separation revealing all the depth of his loving relationship with Krishna, which in Bhagavad Gita is presented veiled by the dasya mood.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

SD 7.10.10 "I offer respects to the Lord, full of six qualities, the purusa, the great soul, the killer of all miseries, the wonderful lion and man who is Brahman and Paramatma."

Nrsimha-tapani Upanisad ~ rtam satyam param brahma purusam nr-kesari-vigraham
The form of Nrsimha is the Supreme Brahman, the purusa, knowledge and truth.

Aisvarya Kadambini 1.5 "All glories to the most merciful Sri Govinda, the son of Nanda, who appeared from a pillar in the fierce form of Sri Nrsimha to remove the distress of His devotee Prahlada by killing His enemy Hiranyakasipu."

O Lion Lord,

please roar, roar, roar,

very loud,

show your angry eyes

and your ferocious mouth

and with your nails like chisels

cut through those impediments

of evil activities

residue of many lifetimes

inhabiting my mind

causing to the heart

miserliness and weakness

without the qualities

to become a worthy recipient

of the shower of mercy

poured by the saintly teachers.

O Lion Lord,

please roar, roar, roar,

very loud

show your sharp teeth

and  flaring nostrils

with your breath laden

with anger, please blow away

those seeds of aversion

which cause the unwanted

strong pillars of the ego

to boast, ridicule others

harboring the illusions

of superiority, prestige

and power.

O Lion Lord, please let your

deafening laughing roar

reach everywhere, inside and without,

please come, O Killer of miseries,

walk down the road

to the city of dualities,

to scare away the desires,   ⁽¹⁾

the impressions of the subtle body,

that impede me

to give happiness to others

to remove all that is vicious

and to see as You see

with equal vision.

O Lion Lord, please,

as gently as you only can

place your protecting paw

on my head

against the attacks of pretenders,

protect my spiritual and material

achievements

protect the steps of this errant

of karma,

so can walk steadily out

of the dreadful cycle.

1) SD7.10.8 "By the appearance of desire the functions of one's senses, mind, life, body dharma, determination, intelligence, shyness, wealth, strength, memory and truthfulness are destroyed."

Nothing other than LOVE

Sri Sri Prema Samput p. 52    "Only to increase the love of my devotees for me, do I bestow hardship upon them and in so doing incur my own sorrow, yet I welcome that distress."

Sri Sri Prema Samput p.48 "He is not lacking anything. What do the living entities have to give Him other than their love?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=56&v=-h_9ixUreNI

In the imaginary scene of the poem Krishna is speaking confidentially to a friend sometime after Kurukshetra, in a mixture of reminiscences and emotions,  from Dwarka, to the rasa dance, to the meeting in Kurukshetra.  In doing so Krishna reveals the secret depths of his love. Krishna never puts his devotees through something which He does not take also upon Himself.

SD 32.21 "Even when I removed Myself from your sight by suddenly disappearing, I never stopped loving you."

GC 23.39 "O dearest Gopis!  The first separation has been most difficult for me."

My solitude nestled

in the recesses of the night,

and like shadows that come forth

with brighter light,

its agony too appeared,

by moonlit memories

of their love for Me.

With the ardent desire

for a tidal wave

of this ocean of their love and my love,

to flood the hearts and the stars,

I disappeared,

causing their lamentation,

and thirstily I drank from the same                               ⁽¹⁾

chalice of longing emotions

welling up from purest love.

Spying unseen

upon their absorption and tribulation

while they searched for Me,

with breathless glances,

in incessant meditation

unwavering, on Me only,

I also endured separation,                                     ⁽²⁾

and could wait no more

for their embraces                                        ⁽³⁾

as the tears of love,

furrowing their faces,

were gushing like ecstatic rivers

of their sweetest love.

And impatient,                   

covetous of the mellows

flourishing in their hearts,

in that innermost hollow I stood,

a restless spectator of their total love,

incapable of repaying

the wealth of devotion

of my most beloveds.

In the most famous and also infamous                          ⁽⁴⁾

state of Godhood of being self-satisfied,

no one could fathom why I cried,

why my heart sighed,

breathless from feeling separation,

dragged and dependent on

their selfless adoration.

I smiled anew

to soothe their hearts,

and hiding my anguish,

asked for forgiveness.

They offered their fragrant ghee of love,                          ⁽⁵⁾

and the dense honey

of sulkiness,

thus plundering my love,

so that I, delighted, sold myself.                                    ⁽⁶⁾

1) GC 23.46 "Bhakti to me produces nectar".

2) Sri Sri Prema Samput pg.50 "He is also filled with sadness as he remains hidden from his devotees, [...] on top of that he then has to tolerate the slander that he is indifferent to those who love him."

3) GB 12.7 Comm. "Not after a long time, but very quickly, since I am not able to bear delay in meeting them, I, putting them on the shoulders of Garuda, bring them to My dhama."

4) SD 82.44 Comm. "But my dear girlfriend - Krishna replied - if this is true, I must be God, but still I am conquered by your love and devotion."

Godhood is also infamous to Krishna because in His qualities as the Absolute (Controller, Self-satisfied etc) which are revered but also commonly misunderstood, His sweetness and eagerness to love as Nanda Kishor is thwarted.

5) AVC Pg.279 (Rasa Dance Begins) "He (Krishna) wanted to create unity among the opposing parties of Radha and Candravali."

6) KS Anu 170 "I have come now.  Please experience me directly at every moment."

AKRURA CAME

Lalita Madhava - Act Three "Vrnda : (After remaining silent for a few moments, she exhales hot air and speaks in confusion.)

If Akrura takes Krsna to Mathura, why should I prepare new bowers in the forest?

Why should I attractively prepare flower beds? Why should I make the fragrant creepers bloom out of season?"

SBB Vol.III 5.164 "Somehow or other the wise Akrura, desiring to promote the welfare of the Yadus, took Him from Vraja to Madhupuri as if by force."

IN the CAVERN OF the HEART - Prayers of Mucukunda

Comment by Visvanath Cakravarti Thakura to SB 10.51.29 : "Mucukunda said, "With Your effulgence You dispel the darkness of this mountain cave, and with Your jewel-like knowledge You destroy the darkness of ignorance in my heart."  In Sanskrit, the heart is sometimes metaphorically referred to as guha "cavern" a deep and secret place."

SB 3.29.5 [Devahuti said] "My dear Lord, You are just like the sun, for You illuminate the darkness of the conditional life of the living entities.  Because their eyes of knowledge are not open, they are sleeping eternally in that darkness without Your shelter, and therefore they are falsely engaged by the actions and reactions of their material activities, and they appear to be very fatigued."

I was inspired to write this poem by an article written by my friend and writer HG Vishoka das Prabhu and with whom I found to have an affinity for the pastime of King Mucukunda.
https://vishoka.wordpress.com/2015/03/31/bad-to-the-bone-bugsy-and-bubbles-in-the-sea/.  

Debt of Love

CC Antya Lila 7.43 "The conjugal love of the gopīs is the most exalted devotional service, surpassing all other methods of bhakti. Therefore Lord Krishna is obliged to say, 'My dear gopīs, I cannot repay you. Indeed, I am always indebted to you."

Prema-vilas - Ch 7. Text 126-127  by Srila Nityananda Das

"Feeling separation from Me, Radha and the gopis have given up Their lives.  Now I shall also give up My life for her.  You will see me in that condition, O Lokanath."

Excerpted from Sri Krishna Kathamrita Bindu Issue No134

"With that prema they [gopis] have given up everything. [...] By their love, Krishna's promise was broken. His pormise is -'As someone approaches me I reciprocate accordingly' {Bg 4.11} Krishna never becomes indebted, He always repays his debts. But this promise of his was broken by the gopis, because the gopis do not want anything, how will he repay them?

[...] {Bhag. 10.32.22} "I have become completely indebted to you. I cannot pay you back, because you don't want anything. What shall I do?"

To pay back his debt he became Gaura, assuming the mood of Radharani is crying and feeling acute pangs of separation from Krishna. This is Gaura. [...] As Radharani is crying, crying, crying and drowning herself in this unfathomable ocean of separation, similarly Gaura is burning himself with the fire of separations from Krishna."

ENCAGED

Prasna Upanisad 4.9  "The conscious atma (jiva or individual soul) alone is the seer, toucher, hearer, taster, smeller, thinker, knower and agent." 

Gita Bhusana 3.17 "The human who is attracted to the atma, satisfied in the atma, and completely please with atma alone because of its qualities, has no need of performing prescribed duties for seeing the atma."

SB 3.25.17 "At that time the soul can see himself to be transcendental to material existence and always self-effulgent, never fragmented, although very minute in size"

SB 3.27.10 "Thus realizing freedom from false ego, one should see his own self just as he sees the sun in the sky."

SB 3.27.19  "Hence even though he is the passive performer of all activities, how can there be freedom for the soul as long as material nature acts on him and binds him?"

When I look at the horizon,

and far and deep

into the distant sky,

behind the inflamed clouds

while the sun sets down,

I sense this cage around

and I want to fly - free,

I want to stretch my hand and touch 

the infinite

there outside,

yet knowing at the same time

to be also within me.

But I cannot fully

grasp what it is,

though I know it arises from the real me,

the one who sees,

who owns the desire to be free,

content and luminous

in the easiness of just being,

weightless, unburdened,

as I once felt in a dream,

walking in waters of joy ~

that it is the infinitesimal divine me.

I know, 

it is causing this existence, 

is rooted in the soul, the eternal me,

but this truth I can rarely perceive

as it is caged

in a netted mentality, 

in ego-patterned thoughts,

in the intrinsic dualities

entangling this life,

but there,

somewhere,

behind,

it is I, the Self, confined.

Only when released 

from illusory beliefs,

this conscious free being

will be able to see,

what I now believe to be the self, 

 as alien to me,

as a hat 

blown off by the wind is

            to the onlooking bare head.          ⁽¹⁾

The flock of thoughts

into the blueness, scatters,

and a prayer goes up to the Lord,

with my heart I ask

to be seen by Him,

that He removes the bars

of the false "me",

to have only one bond

with Him,

of love.

1) SB 3.27.10 "Thus realizing freedom from false ego, one should see his own self just as he sees the sun in the sky."