20230605 Only the Most Fortunate Can Hear the Four Nectarean Sounds

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on June 5th,2023 in Dallas, Texas, USA.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Haribol! So today we are continuing from the compilation of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book. So today's chapter entitled is:

Only the Most Fortunate Can Hear the Four Nectarean Sounds
Under the section: The Bodily Transformations of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 17.40

madhura-vigraha madanamohana: govinda-līlāmṛte (8/5)—

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu continued, “‘My dear friend, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, has a voice as deep as a cloud resounding in the sky. With the tinkling of His ornaments He attracts the ears of the gopīs, and with the sound of His flute He attracts even the goddess of fortune and other beautiful women. That Personality of Godhead, known as Madana-mohana, whose joking words carry many indications and deep meanings, is increasing the lusty desires of My ears.’

Purport: This verse is found in the Govinda-līlāmṛta (8.5).

Jayapatākā Swami: So, this section of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, the final passage called the Antya-līlā, Lord Caitanya came for three reasons. The first reason was to start the saṅkīrtana sacrifice. He did that throughout his life. When the devotees from Bengal would come to Jagannātha Purī for Ratha-yātrā and stay for the four months of the rainy season, at that time Lord Caitanya was doing saṅkīrtana, the congregational chanting of the holy names. But when the devotees went back to Bengal after the Kārtika month, He got fully absorbed in the other purposes of His coming. That, Rukmiṇī Devī had said, although He knew everything, there was one thing He did not know, Rādhārāṇī knew, Rukmiṇī knew, but He did not know. So then He asked what that was. And She told Him, You don’t know how much Your devotees love You. And in what way we love You. He said, He would come in Kali-yuga as a devotee to study these things. So He took the bhāva, the mood of Rādhārāṇī and the color of Rādhārāṇī and He came as Gaurāṅga. So this part is where Lord Caitanya is analyzing the mood of Rādhārāṇī, of the gopīs and their love for Lord Kṛṣṇa. And there are five rasas. Neutral rasa, dāsya-rasa, sakhya-rasa, vātsalya-rasa and mādhurya-rasa. Now this He is focusing on the mādhurya-rasa.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 17.41

ślokārtha; kṛṣṇera kaṇṭha-dhvani-mādhurya varṇana:—

punaryathā rāga:—

“kaṇṭhera gambhīra dhvani, navaghana-dhvani jini’,
yāra guṇe kokila lājāya

tāra eka śruti-kaṇe, ḍubāya jagatera kāṇe,
punaḥ kāṇa bāhuḍi’ nā āya

Translation: “Kṛṣṇa’s deep voice is more resonant than newly arrived clouds, and His sweet song defeats even the sweet voice of the cuckoo. Indeed, His song is so sweet that even one particle of its sound can inundate the entire world. If such a particle enters one’s ear, one is immediately bereft of all other types of hearing.

Jayapatākā Swami: There is a history, how one yogī was meditating in a cave, in the Himalayan mountains. Somehow, he heard the flute playing or the song sung by Lord Kṛṣṇa. And once it entered into his ear, he became like mad, he wanted to hit his head on the rocks, he became very impatient.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 17.42 

kaha, sakhi, ki kari upāya?
kaha, sakhi, ki kari upāya?

kṛṣṇera se śabda-guṇe, harile āmāra kāṇe,
ebe nā pāya, tṛṣṇāya mari’ yāya

Translation: “My dear friend, please tell Me what to do. My ears have been plundered by the qualities of Kṛṣṇa’s sound. Now, however, I cannot hear His transcendental sound, and I am almost dead for want of it.

Jayapatākā Swami: So Kṛṣṇa, He would attract the ears, the minds of the devotees of Vraja, and then when they were deprived of Kṛṣṇa’s association, when He went to Mathurā and freed Devakī and Vasudeva, and He went to Dvārakā, the devotees in Vraja thought they were going to die, they were in such separation.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 17.43

kṛṣṇera nūpuradhvani mādhuryavarṇana:—

nūpura-kiṅkiṇī-dhvani, haṁsa-sārasa jini’,
kaṅkaṇa-dhvani caṭake lājāya

eka-bāra yei śune, vyāpi rahe’ tāra kāṇe,
anya śabda se-kāṇe nā yāya

Translation: “The tinkling of Kṛṣṇa’s ankle bells surpasses the songs of even the swan and crane, and the sound of His bangles puts the singing of the caṭaka bird to shame. Having allowed these sounds to enter the ears even once, one cannot tolerate hearing anything else.

Jayapatākā Swami: The word Kṛṣṇa means all-attractive, the reservoir of all pleasure. Once one has awakened their Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then no other thing which will substitute it.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 17.44

kṛṣṇera vacana-mādhuryavarṇana:—

se śrī-mukha-bhāṣita, amṛta haite parāmṛta,
smita-karpūra tāhāte miśrita

śabda, artha,—dui-śakti, nānā-rasa kare vyakti,
pratyakṣara—narma-vibhūṣita

Translation: “Kṛṣṇa’s speech is far sweeter than nectar. Each of His jubilant words is full of meaning, and when His speech mixes with His smile, which is like camphor, the resultant sound and the deep meaning of Kṛṣṇa’s words create various transcendental mellows.

Jayapatākā Swami: We cannot imagine the speech of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He speaks, He is a person, and He is so attractive that His voice, His ankle bells, ornaments, everything, attracts one’s mind. So the devotee, especially the vraja-vāsīs, they appreciate Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental beauty and they are never satiated by it. So they can speak, remembering all the aspects of Kṛṣṇa’s speech, His threefold bending form, everything about Kṛṣṇa, they love Him. And in this love, they feel the most intense, natural ecstasy.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 17.45

se amṛtera eka-kaṇa, karṇa-cakora-jīvana,
karṇa-cakora jīye sei āśe

bhāgya-vaśe kabhu pāya, abhāgye kabhu nā pāya,
nā pāile maraye piyāse

Translation: “One particle of that transcendental, blissful nectar is the life and soul of the ear, which is like a cakora bird that lives in hope of tasting that nectar. Sometimes, by good fortune, the bird can taste it, but at other times he unfortunately cannot and therefore almost dies of thirst.

Jayapatākā Swami: The cakora bird is a bird that only drinks rainwater from a cloud, and if there is a drought and no rain cloud, then he gets no water, and he almost dies of thirst, of starvation. So, the comparison is given that a devotee who tastes the nectar of Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental sounds, they are like a cakora bird, they want to hear more and more! Being deprived of that, they almost die of thirst.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 17.46

veṇudhvani-mādhuryavarṇana:—

yebā veṇu-kala-dhvani, eka-bāra tāhā śuni’,
jagan-nārī-citta āulāya

nīvi-bandha paḍe khasi’, vinā-mūle haya dāsī,
bāulī hañā kṛṣṇa-pāśe dhāya

Translation: “The transcendental vibration of Kṛṣṇa’s flute disturbs the hearts of women all over the world, even if they hear it only once. Thus their fastened belts become loose, and these women become the unpaid maidservants of Kṛṣṇa. Indeed, they run toward Kṛṣṇa exactly like madwomen.

Jayapatākā Swami: So this one chapter is just explaining Kṛṣṇa’s sound! Different aspects of Kṛṣṇa are explained in different chapters. This chapter is focusing how wonderful are the sounds that come from Kṛṣṇa. His voice, His flute, His ornaments, and in Vraja, the women, are especially there because of their eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa had no desire, He is transcendental, but He satisfies His devotees by giving His transcendental association.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 17.47

lakṣmīrao kṛṣṇamādhuryāsvādane lobha kintu asāmarthya

yebā lakṣmī-ṭhākurāṇī, teṅho ye kākalī śuni’,
kṛṣṇa-pāśa āise pratyāśāya

nā pāya kṛṣṇera saṅga, bāḍe tṛṣṇā-taraṅga,
tapa kare, tabu nāhi pāya

Translation: “When she hears the vibration of Kṛṣṇa’s flute, even the goddess of fortune comes to Him, greatly hoping for His association, but nevertheless she does not get it. When the waves of thirst for His association increase, she performs austerities, but still she cannot meet Him.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lakṣmī is the eternal consort of Kṛṣṇa’s form as Nārāyaṇa. And therefore, she always has, from a point of vision is very opulent. In Vraja the devotees they may or may not know that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But it is not very important to them. Their love for Kṛṣṇa is unconditional and since Lakṣmī as has this opulent vision, she did not fit in. She could not achieve Kṛṣṇa’s association, even when she did tapasyā to get it. This shows that Nārāyaṇa is a part of Kṛṣṇa. Because if He was the Supreme, whatever Lakṣmī wanted, she could get. But Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme, then Lakṣmī was refused.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 17.48

kṛṣṇasevāvihīna karṇera gahaṇa:—

ei śabdāmṛta cāri, yāra haya bhāgya bhāri,
sei karṇe ihā kare pāna

ihā yei nāhi śune, se kāṇa janmila kene,
kāṇākaḍi-sama sei kāṇa”

Translation: “Only the most fortunate can hear these four nectarean sounds — Kṛṣṇa’s words, the tinkling of His ankle bells and bangles, His voice and the vibration of His flute. If one does not hear these sounds, his ears are as useless as small conchshells with holes.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the real purpose of ears is to hear these four transcendental sounds. And by practicing bhakti-yoga, by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, gradually one awakens their desire to be with Kṛṣṇa. They could hear these four things, Kṛṣṇa’s words, tinkling of His ankle bells and bangles, His voice, and the vibration of His flute. So here, the author is saying if we are not hearing these things, then our ears are not fulfilling their actual purpose.

Thus ends the chapter entitled, Only the Most Fortunate Can Hear the Four Nectarean Sounds
Under the section: The Transcendental Madness of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu