20231129 Chapter 7 Firm Devotion to the Worshipable Object (Part 4)

The following is a Śrī Caitanya-candrāmṛtam class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja, on November 29th,2023 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India.

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

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Hare Kṛṣṇa! Dear Devotees! Today we will be continuing with comentation of the Śrī Caitanya Chandrāmṛtam. We will continue chapter 7. Chapter entitled:

upāsya-niṣṭhā – Firm devotion to the worshipable object

gaura-bhakti binā rādhā-rati asambhava

Without Gaura-bhakti there is no possibility of attraction to Rādhā

kadā śaure gaure vapuṣi parama-prema-rasade
sad-eka-prāṇe-niṣkapaṭa-kṛta-bhāvo’smi bhavitā
kadā vā tasyālaukika-sad-anumānena mama hṛdy
akasmāt śrī-rādhā-pada-nakha-maṇi-jyotir udagāt

He śūra-vaṁśāvataṁsa kṛṣṇa, unnata-ujjvala-premarasa-pradātā rasika-bhaktagaṇera ekamātra prāṇasvarūpa tomāra gaurakalevare kabe āmāra niṣkapaṭa rati haibe? Kabei vā sei niṣkapaṭa-ratira adhokṣaja yāthārthyānubhūti dvārā śrī-rādhikāra padanakhamaṇira jyotiḥ akasmāt āmāra hṛdaye udita haibe?

Oh the crest jewel of the Śūra dynasty (Lord Kṛṣṇa), when will I be attracted without duplicity to your golden body, the bestower of the most sublime and radiant mellow of devotional service, the mellow of conjugal love and which is the only life of the pure devotees who relish rasas? Or when by the perception beyond the of material senses (by the proper conjecture, i.e., by the logic that in the place where the toe nail of Rādhā arise, in that very place is the mood related to Gaura is present) the splendor from the jewel like toenails of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, will suddenly arise in my heart?

Jayapatākā Swami: The author is appreciating how Kṛṣṇa as Gaurāṅga has a golden body. And how He distributes a brilliant and radiant love of Kṛṣṇa, especially that which is in the mood of conjugal love. So, all the devotees, they relish this confidential love of Kṛṣṇa because they see that it has various rasas. So, this is beyond the material senses. So, the place where Rādhārāṇī is present, Lord Caitanya appears in that place to give that love for Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya, He How by seeing the jewel like toenails of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, one can have the realization of Lord Gaurāṅga, and when will these arise in my mind? Since Lord Caitanya had taken the mood of Rādhārāṇī, if we want to understand Rādhārāṇī, we have to have that mood of Lord Caitanya, in his heart the mood of Rādhārāṇī will arise.

Śrī Caitanya-candrāmṛtam Chapter 7.69

śrī-caitanyera dhyāna-

Meditation on Śrī Caitanya

uddāma-dāmanaka-dāma gaṇābhirāmaṁ
ārāma-rāmam avirāma-gṛhīta-nāma
kāruṇya-dhāma kanakojjvala-gaura-dhāma
caitanya-nāma paramaṁ kalayāmi dhāma

Praphulla-damanaka-kusumamālā-suśobhita, janasamūhera pūrṇānanda-dāyaka,karuṇāra ādhāra, kanakera nyāya ujjvala gaura-kānti ‘caitanya’- nāmaka paramadhāna arthāt sarva-śreṣṭha āśrayake āmarā dhyāna kari৷

We meditate upon the one who is decorated with a large garland of blossomed dāmanaka flowers, who pleases all the people in all respects, who experiences His own happiness staying in a secluded place, who constantly chants the names such as ‘Hare Kṛṣṇa’, who is the reservoir of mercy, golden complexioned like gold, who is known by the name ‘Caitanya’ and who is best of all shelters.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya, He would have a very beautiful garland and His activities would be very attractive. He would enjoy His own transcendental happiness in a secluded place. He constantly chants the name of Kṛṣṇa like Hare Kṛṣṇa! He would be the reservoir of golden color and He is known by the name of Caitanya, the best of all shelters.

Śrī Caitanya-candrāmṛtam Chapter 7.70

śrī-nīlācala-sthita mahā-bhāvamagna gauraharira dhyāna-

Meditation on Gaurahari who is absorbed in mahābhāva in Nīlācala

sadā raṅge nīlācala-śikhara-śṛṅge vilasato
harer eva bhrājan-mukha-kamala-bhṛṅgekṣaṇa-yugam
samuttuṅga-premonmada-rasa-taraṅgam mṛga-dṛśām
anaṅgaṁ gaurāṅgaṁ smaratu gata-saṅgaṁ mama manaḥ

Utsavapūrṇa nīlācala-śikhara-deśe anukṣaṇa līlā-vilāsa-rata jagannāthadevera sudīpta vadana-kamale yāṅhāra netrayugala bhṛṅgarūpe vartamāna rahiyāche, mahā-bhāvarūpa paramamahān preme yāṅhāra harṣa-garbādi rasataraṅga pravāhita haiteche, evaṁ yini saundarye mṛganayanī yuvatīdigera sambandhe Kandarpa-svarūpa, sei paramavirakta (arthāt strī-darśana prabhṛti sambhoga-rase atyanta virakta ācārya-līlābhinayakārī) śrī-gaurasundarake āmāra mana smaraṇa karuk.

He whose two eyes have become like bumble bees on the shining lotus face of Śrī Jagannātha (Jagannātha, the enjoyer on the crest of the peak of Nīlācala that is filled with festivals), whose waves of ecstatic mellows (trembling, perspiration, jubilant tears, shock, fading of the bodily luster, disappointment, moroseness, loss of memory, pride, joy and humility) flow in the great love in the form of mahābhāva, who in beauty is like a cupid in relation to the doe-eyed damsels and who is supremely detached (i.e., who is extremely detached from sambhoga-rasa, that of seeing a woman and so on, playing the pastime of an ācārya), let my mind remember that Gaurāṅga.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya is feeling the highest love with tears and He is experiencing waves of ecstatic mellows, asṭa sāttvika-bhāva – so His ecstasy was in the mood of mahābhāva and He was experiencing this ecstasy every moment. So, he is just praying that he should always remember Lord Gaurāṅga. He is having the joy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and always thinking of Lord Caitanya. He was always feeling the mood of separation from Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Śrī Caitanya-candrāmṛtam Chapter 7.71

uddīpta sāttvika-bhāva-yukta gauraharira smaraṇa-

Remembrance of Gaurahari who is with intensely inflamed ecstasy (uddīpta-sāttvika-bhāva)

alaṅkāra-paṅkeruha-nayana-niḥsyandi-payasāṁ
pṛṣadbhiḥ san-muktāphala-su-lalitair yasya vapuṣi
udañcad-romāñcair api ca paramā yasya suṣamā
tam ālambe gauraṁ harim aruṇa-rociṣṇu-vasanam

Yāṅhāra basana aruṇa-varṇa, nayana-padma-viniḥsṛta muktā-phalasadṛśa manohara aśrubindu yāṅhāra śrī-aṅgera alaṅkāra-svarūpa haiyāche evaṁ mahā-bhāvotha-romāñca prabhṛti uddīpta sāttvika-bhāva-samūhao bāṅhāra aṅgera śobhā sampādana kariteche, sei gaurāṅga śrī-harike āśraya kari৷

Whose cloth is red color, whose pearl like tears flowing from this lotus eyes have become like ornaments on his divine body and decorated by the various intensely inflamed ecstasies his body is also beautified, I take shelter of that Śrī Gaurāṅga Hari.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Gaurāṅga Hari, He was constantly thinking of Gaurāṅga Hari! And the author, he was always trying to think of Lord Caitanya but he was always thinking of this transcendental pastime. He describes how the tear drops fall from His eyes and these are like pearls and He is always feeling transcendental ecstasy, thinking of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So, we can take that special mood of Lord Caitanya and Lord Caitanya is experiencing inflamed ecstasies. So, in that way His body was also beautified, I take shelter of that Lord Gaurāṅga Hari!