Jagat

<h3>3.12 The appearance of a marriage elsewhere is illusory</h3> If the gopis are Krishna's eternal saktis, then they cannot possibly "belong" to anyone else. The entire event of marriage has been managed by Krsna's yoga-maya, of whom he is said to have taken shelter at the beginning of the rasa dance (x.29.1). In BhP, the gopis' husbands are said to have been bewildered by this Maya and so they did not feel angry with Krishna.(28) Rather they thought, "How could Krishna, who is the very centre of our religion, our meaning, our friends, our dear ones, our hearts, our children, our lives and our souls, possibly do anything inauspicious like accept the wife of another man?"(29) In order to protect Krishna's eternal wives from the sexual approaches of others, she created duplicate forms of them which their so-called husbands saw by their sides. The BhP states that this took place on the night of the rasa dance, but of course, the supremely powerful Yogamaya had been constantly vigilant to protect the gopis from dishonour ever since they were married to the other cowherds.(30) In some editions of KrishnaS, KurmaP (32.513-30) is quoted in full to show how Sita prayed to the household sacrificial fire when she realized that Ravana sought to abduct her. By the fire god's grace, Ravana was not able to abduct the real Sita, but was left with a Doppelgängerin. This was later revealed at the time of her trial by fire after her safe return to Ayodhya. Jiva adds, "As the same rule is seen to take effect for any devoted wife in similar circumstances by the power of her devotion to her husband, then why would Maya, who serves the husband of the gopis, not especially protect them in the way that Rama's fire protected Sita? For Garga said about devotees in general that Krishna's enemies will never overcome those who take shelter of him (x.8.18), what to speak of the gopis who never abandon him even in error."(31) A similar statement is made in Rupa Goswami's LalM by Paurnamasi, the personification of Yogamaya, in answer to questions by Gargi: <blockquote>Gargi: Then surely the marriage of Govardhana and the other cowherds to Candravali and the other gopis was arranged by Maya. Paurnamasi: What else? The gopis are the wives of these cowherds only in the sense that the latter claim possession of them, but that is all. In fact, they rarely even see one another.(32)</blockquote> Thus, when an apparent reference is made to the gopis' children in BhP and elsewhere, it should be otherwise understood, for if such children existed a contradictory sentiment (rasAbhAsa) would result.(33) They might be considered the offspring of other women, such as their sisters-in-law, etc. as in x.29.6 where pAyayantyah zizUn payaH is to be so interpreted, for had these children indeed been the gopis', the words sutAn stanam would have been used. In x.29.20, where Krishna says that "Your mothers, fathers, sons, brothers and husbands are searching for you", it should be taken that Krishna is joking, otherwise there would have been rasAbhAsa in view of the fact that he was about to accept them. <hr><font color=#6f9f9f>NOTES 28. nAsUyan khalu kRSNAya mohitAs tasya mAyayA/ manyamAnAH svapArzvasthAn svAn svAn dArAn vrajaukasaH// BhP x.33.37; 29. tasya mAyayA mohitAH santo nAsUyan tasya sva-nitya-preyasI-svIkAra-lakSaNe katham asAv asmad-dharmArtha-suhRt-priyAtma-tanaya-prANazaya-jIvAtutamaH para-dAra-svIkAra-mangalam angIkarotIti doSAropaM nAkurvann iti. KrsnaS 177, p.101. 30. ibid.; parama-samarthayas tasya mAyayA nija-prabhu-preyasInAM tad-ekAnurAga-svabhAvAnAM maryAdA-rakSanArthaM pariNayam Arabhya sadaiva sAvadhAnatayA yogyatvAt tad-dinam upalakSaNam eveti. 31. ibid. (fn.1); tad evam pati-vratA-mAtrANAM vizeSataH zrI-bhagavat-preyasya prabhave sati, ya etasmin mahAbhAge prItim kurvanti mAnavAh/ narayo 'bhibhavanty etan viSNu-pakSAn ivAsura // iti sAmAnya-viSaye garga-vacane ca sati tadRzInAM bhrame 'pi nitya-kAntam aparityajantInAM nityaM tat-kAntam paricaranti mayA zrI-rAmAvasathyAgnivad api kim rakSAm na kurvIta? Jiva also gives the example of Sita's being saved by Agni in this way in GC ii.32.58. 32. LalM 1.54-5, p.15; Gargi: "nUnaM goaDDhanaigoehim candavali-pahudinam ubbaho maae nivvahido." [nUnaM govardhanAdi-gopaih candrAvalI-prabhRtInAm udvAho 'pi mAyayA nirvAhitaH.] Paurnamasi: "atha kim. patiMmanyAnAM ballavAnAM mamatAmAtravazeSitA tAsu dAratA. yad ebhiH prekSaNam api tAsAM durghaTitam. 33. ibid., p.102; svapatyatve sati vibhava-vaiguNyena rasAbhAsatvam Apadyeta.<small><font color=#f7f7f7> [This message has been edited by Jagat (edited 07-18-2001).]

<h3>Anxious ISKCON awaits court ruling</h3> By Nirshan Perera Rediff On The Net http://www.rediff.com Tuesday, July 17, 2001 The International Society of Krishna Consciousness,better known as the Hare Krishna movement or ISKCON, is anxiously awaiting the outcome of a court ruling which could discreetly put an end to a year of controversy or climactically bankrupt the organization. Seventy-nine former students of the group's gurukulas have joined together in a class action lawsuit seeking $400 million for horrific abuse they suffered in Krishna boarding schools while they were children. Their allegations--which include rape, torture and the brutalization of children as young as 3 years of age-- have not been categorically denied. But ISKCON disputes the extent of the charges and the idea that the organization as a whole is responsible for the crimes of its devotees. The victims' case, filed last year in Texas federal court, is boldly prosecuting the group under the civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute--a legal cudgel usually reserved for the Mafia. Their high-profile lawyer, Windle Turley, is also taking the Catholic Church to task for the sexual abuse allegedly perpetrated by priests. The Krishna case could be approved as RICO litigation any day now, spelling disaster for ISKON, or it could be dismissed, forcing the children to pursue individual abusers who are scattered and mostly penniless. The lynchpin of their case is the argument that there was widespread knowledge of the abuse and an aggressive cover up in the upper echelons of the Krishna hierarchy. "The leadership in ISKCON has long been aware of the mistreatment and abuse inflicted upon little children entrusted to it to raise," Turley declared when he filed his case. "Elements within this new religious movement have attempted to operate outside the child protection laws of a half-dozen states. As a result, a generation of ISKCON children are permanently, and many profoundly, injured." Although Turley could not be reached for comment this week, Krishna spokesperson Anuttama Dasa reiterated the group's stance for rediff.com. He said the organization is aggressively continuing its internal efforts to investigate and remedy the abuses through its child protection office and an independent service agency, called the Children of Krishna. Dasa dismissed the RICO lawsuit as misplaced blame and profiteering on the part of Turley. "I think it's simply a legal maneuver by Mr. Turley to implicate innocent people and punish congregations of devotees in communities for the deviant acts of individuals that were done in gross violation of our principles over 20 years ago," he said. "His claims that there was widespread awareness are absolutely false." Dasa said that while ISKCON has been crushed by the revelations of its gurukula students, ultimately the responsibility lies on the shoulders of individual abusers, neglectful parents and, perhaps, the ignorance of the times. "It's difficult to understand, but there weren't even laws against child abuse until 1977," he said. "People did not know the danger of child abuse, they didn't understand the signs of child abuse or how rampant is was, and they didn't understand how insidious it can be." At its peak ISKCON had 11 gurukulas in the United States and 2 in India, which collectively housed and taught about 2000 students. The last Krishna boarding school in the United States closed its doors in the mid-1990s. Source - http://www.rediff.com/us/2001/jul/17us1.htm

About one week after arriving in India, we were out distributing His Divine Grace’s books, all the time praying for Lord Nrisingha Deva to, if He wished, please save Srila Prabhupada, to please keep him with us. As the sankirtan began we learned how to approach the librarians and present Srila Prabhupada’s complete works to them, which we called a “Standing Order.” It was a wonderful service and we managed to sell so many of Srila Prabhupada’s books. The group of devotees I was with became my best friends and they are still the main prabhujis with whom I am closest. The benefit these prabhus have given me in friendship and association really seems to be eternal. I pay my obeisances to all of them. Matunga Prabhu now lives with his sweet wife in Malibu and he has a very nice family that he has led in Krishna consciousness. Birsingha Prabhu took sannyas a few years back and is now known as Narasingha Maharaj. Narasingha Maharaj has not changed a bit over the years always fixed in distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books. A few years back I ran into him on a very hot (and I mean hot!) Bangkok afternoon. There was Maharaj in sannyas dress, carrying a large book bag and going from shop to shop. He is still doing the same and recently asked me to join him to start preaching in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. He is not called Narasingha Maharaja for nothing. He is fearless to go anywhere to serve His Divine Grace and give Srila Prabhupada in book form. I also recently saw another library party godbrother, Abhinanda Prabhu, who is now back in Shree Vrindavan Dham with our old leader, Garga Muni. Mahaman Prabhu is temple president of Shree Shree Krishna Balaram Mandir and Bhima, also one of our library party godbrothers, is president of Hare Krishna Land, Mumbai. There were also Maha Vishnu Maharaj and Prabhavishnu Maharaj, who together have made such a wonderful temple in Kathmandu, Nepal, for Srila Prabhupada that after one visits there one thinks that here, the old mood has never been affected. This is because of Mahavishnu and Prabhavishnu Maharaj’s great service to Srila Prabhupada for so many years. The small group of devotees there show all the good qualities of fine Vaishnavas. Before re-entering Shree Vrindavan Dham, I enjoy visiting this temple first, staying there for at least a week’s time in order to wash off the Chinese dust and the materialism I have had to associate with while there. Then there is Chanura Prabhu, my dearest friend, whom we would jokingly call Frenchie when we first met. Chanura hails from France and in those days had a very strong French accent. From the day we first met twenty-five years ago to this day we are in almost constant contact. Chanu is now in Korea where he has been for almost as many years as I have been in China. Then there was Mathura Das. Mathura was also a very sweet associate, always engaged in kirtan and preparing very nice prasad for the devotees to relish. Whoever was fortunate enough to have Mathura on his party knew there would always be nice prasad to honor and sweet kirtan to partake in. Unfortunately, I have not seen Mathura over the years, but have heard that he is constantly going back and forth from India to the UK looking for nice sadhus to associate with, kirtan to join, and prasad to prepare and distribute. We also met Satya Narayan Prabhu, but not long after arriving at Hare Krishna Land he was sent to Thailand, Bali and Jakarta to sell to the libraries there. Years later, when Satya Narayan Prabhu and I were both working for Srila Prabhupada’s Charity Trust, he would send me to meet Srila Sridhar Maharaj and later to also meet Srila Narayana Maharaj on "official ISKCON business." He told me, “I want you to meet them so you can have their blessings.” I hold these short meetings very closely to my heart and reflect on them often, like great gifts that never go away. Satya Narayan emailed me just a few weeks ago that the ceremony for the installation of Srila Ananta Deva has just taken place in Bali where he is sponsoring the construction of one of many temples that our godbrother Gaura Mandal Bhumi is building there. This wonderful devotee Gaura Mandal Bhumi has single-handedly translated all of Srila Prabhupada’s books into the Indonesian language, printed them and there are now over a thousand initiated devotees there. He has been able to build a very nice temple in Bali for only $8,000 because of the Indonesian currency’s devaluation. With the strong American dollar, it goes a very long way. At the time of our arriving in Bombay, however, no one was in Indonesia preaching Krishna Consciousness. There was only one lady writing to our Indian BBT asking us to come. We also had the association of Jaya Prabhu, who no one seem to like as he was a bit loud and large but he showed us his love and dedication and we all had to respect him. Later Sriman Kundali Prabhu also joined our party, coming in just after the Iranian revolution. I was just like a flea among so many advanced godbrothers and with their advice and association I was shown what devotional service in India was to be like. Our party was divided into teams of five men each. The team I was on went north into Gujarat. We visited the towns of Baroda, Bharuch, Surat, Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Somnath, Porbandar, Jamnagar and Dwarka. We also found a place known as Chota Uddaripur. It was very captivating seeing the people of Gujarat in their daily lives, which in those days rang with the greeting of “Jai Shree Krishna!” We slept in all kinds of places -- from barns to temples of the Goddess Durga. Sometimes we stayed in guest houses and tourist bungalows (“Gujarati five-star”), but these were very few and far between. We also slept on the porches of rich men’s homes that these pious men offered to us out of charity. Each morning we would always rise at 5 a.m., have mangal arati and chant our rounds as the Sun rose. We would then prepare kriti fruit and papadams, have Srimad Bhagavatam readings and class, and worship His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada, bowing down to his lotus feet and asking for his mercy on us to continue on. By Srila Prabhupada’s mercy we were very successful and everyone seemed to want the books we were selling. Almost everyone took a book; we were really distributing. After travelling for a few weeks I understood that even if all the temples in ISKCON were to go away, one would always able to take shelter in any number of numerous places to preach the glories of Shree Shree Guru and Gauranga. We visited the places where both Lord Krishna and Lord Balaram left this planet. We saw the place where Srimati Tulasi Devi and Shree Shalagram Shila were married. We visited Muchukunda's cave in Giri Mountain, the same mountain that Krishna and Balaram jumped from. In Somnath we saw a major temple to Lord Shiva, Somnath, and travelled on to Dwarka. Then one day Mathura and I received a very mystical communication from an old sadhu sitting in the gateway of a Hanumanji temple. "What are you doing here?" he asked us. "Your Guru Maharaj is about to leave his body. Go to him.” “Yes, you are right.” I said and looked at Mathura. We turned around left that temple and went at once back to the devotees telling them that we had to go at once to be with Srila Prabhupada. That was two weeks before Srila Prabhupada departed because of the mercy of this sadhu I was able to be with Srila Prabhupada those last few days. These last few days with Srila Prabhupada were very sweet and Srila Prabhupada showed that he was completely transcendental to the material situation. His Divine Grace showed us how to leave one body, surrounded by his disciples all chanting the Holy Name. The last few sweet memories of his association become sweeter with time and are like a wealth we try to share. Srila Prabhupada’s awareness and intellect were never defeated. His Divine Grace would often comment on the wonderful nature of the Vrindavan atmosphere. There was a painting of Shree Radha Krishna and one of Shree Krishna Balaram at His lotus feet and Srila Prabhupada would speak about their Lordships. After Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance, ISKCON changed quickly, but at first we did not notice very much. If you place a frog in a pot of cool water and gradually turn on a flame, it never understands that the heat is cooking him. It will not protest or jump from the pot, and so it was like this with myself after Srila Prabhupada left. I continued on and I am still trying to continue on sweeping my dirty heart, for I know that if I stop I will never be able to cleanse it. Haribol, Prabhujis! More later.

About one week after arriving in India, we were out distributing His Divine Grace’s books, all the time praying for Lord Nrisingha Deva to, if He wished, please save Srila Prabhupada, to please keep him with us. As the sankirtan began we learned how to approach the librarians and present Srila Prabhupada’s complete works to them, which we called a “Standing Order.” It was a wonderful service and we managed to sell so many of Srila Prabhupada’s books. The group of devotees I was with became my best friends and they are still the main prabhujis with whom I am closest. The benefit these prabhus have given me in friendship and association really seems to be eternal. I pay my obeisances to all of them. Matunga Prabhu now lives with his sweet wife in Malibu and he has a very nice family that he has led in Krishna consciousness. Birsingha Prabhu took sannyas a few years back and is now known as Narasingha Maharaj. Narasingha Maharaj has not changed a bit over the years always fixed in distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books. A few years back I ran into him on a very hot (and I mean hot!) Bangkok afternoon. There was Maharaj in sannyas dress, carrying a large book bag and going from shop to shop. He is still doing the same and recently asked me to join him to start preaching in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. He is not called Narasingha Maharaja for nothing. He is fearless to go anywhere to serve His Divine Grace and give Srila Prabhupada in book form. I also recently saw another library party godbrother, Abhinanda Prabhu, who is now back in Shree Vrindavan Dham with our old leader, Garga Muni. Mahaman Prabhu is temple president of Shree Shree Krishna Balaram Mandir and Bhima, also one of our library party godbrothers, is president of Hare Krishna Land, Mumbai. There were also Maha Vishnu Maharaj and Prabhavishnu Maharaj, who together have made such a wonderful temple in Kathmandu, Nepal, for Srila Prabhupada that after one visits there one thinks that here, the old mood has never been affected. This is because of Mahavishnu and Prabhavishnu Maharaj’s great service to Srila Prabhupada for so many years. The small group of devotees there show all the good qualities of fine Vaishnavas. Before re-entering Shree Vrindavan Dham, I enjoy visiting this temple first, staying there for at least a week’s time in order to wash off the Chinese dust and the materialism I have had to associate with while there. Then there is Chanura Prabhu, my dearest friend, whom we would jokingly call Frenchie when we first met. Chanura hails from France and in those days had a very strong French accent. From the day we first met twenty-five years ago to this day we are in almost constant contact. Chanu is now in Korea where he has been for almost as many years as I have been in China. Then there was Mathura Das. Mathura was also a very sweet associate, always engaged in kirtan and preparing very nice prasad for the devotees to relish. Whoever was fortunate enough to have Mathura on his party knew there would always be nice prasad to honor and sweet kirtan to partake in. Unfortunately, I have not seen Mathura over the years, but have heard that he is constantly going back and forth from India to the UK looking for nice sadhus to associate with, kirtan to join, and prasad to prepare and distribute. We also met Satya Narayan Prabhu, but not long after arriving at Hare Krishna Land he was sent to Thailand, Bali and Jakarta to sell to the libraries there. Years later, when Satya Narayan Prabhu and I were both working for Srila Prabhupada’s Charity Trust, he would send me to meet Srila Sridhar Maharaj and later to also meet Srila Narayana Maharaj on "official ISKCON business." He told me, “I want you to meet them so you can have their blessings.” I hold these short meetings very closely to my heart and reflect on them often, like great gifts that never go away. Satya Narayan emailed me just a few weeks ago that the ceremony for the installation of Srila Ananta Deva has just taken place in Bali where he is sponsoring the construction of one of many temples that our godbrother Gaura Mandal Bhumi is building there. This wonderful devotee Gaura Mandal Bhumi has single-handedly translated all of Srila Prabhupada’s books into the Indonesian language, printed them and there are now over a thousand initiated devotees there. He has been able to build a very nice temple in Bali for only $8,000 because of the Indonesian currency’s devaluation. With the strong American dollar, it goes a very long way. At the time of our arriving in Bombay, however, no one was in Indonesia preaching Krishna Consciousness. There was only one lady writing to our Indian BBT asking us to come. We also had the association of Jaya Prabhu, who no one seem to like as he was a bit loud and large but he showed us his love and dedication and we all had to respect him. Later Sriman Kundali Prabhu also joined our party, coming in just after the Iranian revolution. I was just like a flea among so many advanced godbrothers and with their advice and association I was shown what devotional service in India was to be like. Our party was divided into teams of five men each. The team I was on went north into Gujarat. We visited the towns of Baroda, Bharuch, Surat, Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Somnath, Porbandar, Jamnagar and Dwarka. We also found a place known as Chota Uddaripur. It was very captivating seeing the people of Gujarat in their daily lives, which in those days rang with the greeting of “Jai Shree Krishna!” We slept in all kinds of places -- from barns to temples of the Goddess Durga. Sometimes we stayed in guest houses and tourist bungalows (“Gujarati five-star”), but these were very few and far between. We also slept on the porches of rich men’s homes that these pious men offered to us out of charity. Each morning we would always rise at 5 a.m., have mangal arati and chant our rounds as the Sun rose. We would then prepare kriti fruit and papadams, have Srimad Bhagavatam readings and class, and worship His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada, bowing down to his lotus feet and asking for his mercy on us to continue on. By Srila Prabhupada’s mercy we were very successful and everyone seemed to want the books we were selling. Almost everyone took a book; we were really distributing. After travelling for a few weeks I understood that even if all the temples in ISKCON were to go away, one would always able to take shelter in any number of numerous places to preach the glories of Shree Shree Guru and Gauranga. We visited the places where both Lord Krishna and Lord Balaram left this planet. We saw the place where Srimati Tulasi Devi and Shree Shalagram Shila were married. We visited Muchukunda's cave in Giri Mountain, the same mountain that Krishna and Balaram jumped from. In Somnath we saw a major temple to Lord Shiva, Somnath, and travelled on to Dwarka. Then one day Mathura and I received a very mystical communication from an old sadhu sitting in the gateway of a Hanumanji temple. "What are you doing here?" he asked us. "Your Guru Maharaj is about to leave his body. Go to him.” “Yes, you are right.” I said and looked at Mathura. We turned around left that temple and went at once back to the devotees telling them that we had to go at once to be with Srila Prabhupada. That was two weeks before Srila Prabhupada departed because of the mercy of this sadhu I was able to be with Srila Prabhupada those last few days. These last few days with Srila Prabhupada were very sweet and Srila Prabhupada showed that he was completely transcendental to the material situation. His Divine Grace showed us how to leave one body, surrounded by his disciples all chanting the Holy Name. The last few sweet memories of his association become sweeter with time and are like a wealth we try to share. Srila Prabhupada’s awareness and intellect were never defeated. His Divine Grace would often comment on the wonderful nature of the Vrindavan atmosphere. There was a painting of Shree Radha Krishna and one of Shree Krishna Balaram at His lotus feet and Srila Prabhupada would speak about their Lordships. After Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance, ISKCON changed quickly, but at first we did not notice very much. If you place a frog in a pot of cool water and gradually turn on a flame, it never understands that the heat is cooking him. It will not protest or jump from the pot, and so it was like this with myself after Srila Prabhupada left. I continued on and I am still trying to continue on sweeping my dirty heart, for I know that if I stop I will never be able to cleanse it. Haribol, Prabhujis! More later.

<h3>3.1 Arguments from the religious texts</h3> To establish the eternal wedded condition of Krishna with his consorts, Jiva is faced with even more problems than he had in establishing the return of Krishna to Vraja. Just as Krishna's return to Vraja is nowhere stated overtly in BhP, his chief source of evidence, neither is there any wedding of Krishna to the gopis. The BhP author's vision of the gopis seems to be ambivalent. On the one hand, certain verses describe the gopis as ignorant sinners who are redeemed by their love for Krishna (Cf. x.47.59), whereas others in Uddhava's eulogy of them show the seeds of an understanding that they are goddesses even more glorious than Lakshmi (Cf. x.47.60ff). Nevertheless, Krishna's chief queen Rukmini is positively identified as Lakshmi and her fortune (and that of the other queens) at having Krishna's constant company is stated to be out of the reach of the gopis.(<u>13</u>) It is doubtful that the puranas and upapuranas of east-Indian provenance such as Brahma-vaivarta or Maha-bhagavata were available at that time in their current form. Jiva, in any case makes no use of any evidence that these works might have provided toward proving his case. He is rather left once again to argue valiantly from whatever weak evidence he finds to confirm his dogma. He felt it necessary to show, not only that Krishna has an eternal relationship with the gopis which is self-evident (svataH-siddha), but that this relation had to be established by ritual means, viz. a wedding, in the manifest lila also after the false relationship with the gopis' so-called husbands had been revealed as a sham. The evidences marshalled together by Jiva can be roughly divided into three categories. First, those that argue that the gopis are eternally united with Krishna in the eternal or aprakata lila, i.e. that they belong to his hladini sakti or pleasure-giving potency and are thus his de facto wives. Next are those evidences that are used to argue that the gopis desired to become his wives and even considered themselves to be such during the course of the prakata lila, when others understood them to be wives of other men. Finally, Jiva argues on the basis of weaker evidence, that after Krishna return to Vraja, he actually did sanctify his relation with the gopis by a wedding ceremony. <hr><font color=#9f6f9f> NOTES 13. Rukmini is named Sri in BhP x.49.46, x.54.60, x.53.37, x.60.9, etc. Cf. KrsnaS 185. BhP i.10.28: nUnaM vrata-snAna-hutAdinezvaraH samArcito hy asya gRhIta-pANIbhiH/ pibanti yAH sakhy-adharAmRtaM muhur vraja-striyaH saMmumuhur yad-AzayAH// Naturally the Gaudiya commentators see praise of the gopis in this verse, a testimony to the depth of their love. Cf. also i.10.30: etAH param strItvam apasta-peSalam nirasta-zaucaM bata sAdhu kurvate/ yAsAM gRhAt puSkara-locanAH patir na jAtv apaity AhRtibhir hRdi spRzan// etc.

Keep reading. I'll be posting here now. Answer: YES.

May I point out to you, Puru Prabhu, that Bhaktivinoda Thakur, Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati, and even Narayan Maharaj here, are using their own proofs to state their position. Nowhere did Bhaktivinoda Thakur say that this is revealed knowledge. Just so that everyone can fully know the Gaudiya Math position, I will here give you a translation of Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha's article on Prabodhananda Saraswati, which contains Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's entire introduction to Chaitanya Chandramrita. <hr> <font color=#5C3317> <center>tungavidyA vraje yAsIt sarva-zAstra-vizAradA | sA prabodhAnanda-yatir gaurodgAna-sarasvatI ||</center> <blockquote>The gopi Tungavidya, who was most learned in all the scriptures, has today become the sannyasi Prabodhananda, whose words are all used in the glorification of Lord Gauranga. (Gaura-gaNoddeza-dIpikA 163)</blockquote> Venkata Bhatta lived in South India. He held a special position amongst the Brahmins as he was very learned in all the scriptures. <blockquote>There was a Vaishnava of the Sri Sampradaya named Venkata Bhatta who respectfully invited the Lord to his house. (Chaitanya Charitamrita 2.9.82)</blockquote> In his commentary to this verse of the Chaitanya Charitamrita, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur has written: “Venkata Bhatta, Trimalla Bhatta and Prabodhananda Saraswati were previously acharyas of the Sri Sampradaya. Gopal Bhatta Goswami was the son of Venkata Bhatta.” Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur has also commented on the same verse: “Sri Venkata Bhatta was a Brahmin of the Sri Sampradaya who lived in Srirangam. Srirangam is situated in Tamil Nadu, where people do not use the names Venkata and Tirumalai (the name of Venkata’s brother), so it is likely they came from elsewhere. This family had possibly moved to Srirangam not long before Mahaprabhu’s visit there. Venkata Bhatta belonged to the Varagalai branch of the Ramanuja sampradaya. One of his brothers was the tridandi sannyasi, Prabodhananda, who acted as an acharya of the school. Venkata Bhatta’s son was Gopal Bhatta Goswami.” These three brothers were originally worshipers of Lakshmi Narayan, but were later converted to the worship of Radha and Krishna by the grace of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami has described this conversion in his Chaitanya Charitamrita. Srila Prabodhananda Saraswati’s disciple was his own nephew, Gopal Bhatta, one of the six Goswamis. <center>bhakter vilAsAMz cinute prabodhA- nandasya ziSyo bhagavat-priyasya | gopAla-bhaTTo raghunAtha-dAsaH santoSayan rUpa-sanAtanau ca ||</center> <blockquote>Gopal Bhatta, the disciple of Prabodhananda who is dear to the Lord, has compiled these devotional activities to satisfy Raghunath Das, Rupa and Sanatan Goswamis. (HBV 1.2)</blockquote> Srila Prabodhananda Saraswati wrote a number of books, including Vrindavana-zataka, Navadvipa-zataka, Radha-rasa-sudha-nidhi and Caitanya-candrAmRta, which are especially loved by rasika devotees. Some of his other works are Sangita-madhava, Ascarya-rasa-prabandha, Sruti-stuti-vyAkhyA, Gita-govinda-vyAkhyAna and Kama-bija-kama-gayatri-vyakhyana. Is Prabodhananda Prakashananda? In the third chapter of the Madhya-khanda of the Chaitanya Bhagavata, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupada makes the following observation: “Prakashananda was a teacher of the Mayavada doctrine and a sannyasi. During his discourses on the Veda, he would cut the Lord’s divine and transcendental body into pieces. Some simplistic people say that this Prakashananda is the very same person as Venkata Bhatta’s younger brother Prabodhananda, who lived on the banks of the Kaveri. This erroneous belief has found its way into the Sahajiya text Bhakta-mäla and even into the writings of many modern scholars.” (Gaudiya-bhashya, Madhya-khanda, 3.37.) The observations made here by Saraswati Thakur are quite true. In his dictionary, Ashutosh Deb states, “Prabodhananda was a Vaishnava philosopher, whose real name was Prakashananda Saraswati. Chaitanya Deva gave him the name Prabodhananda.” Furthermore, Haridas Das has also written in his Gaudiya Vaishnava Abhidhana: “Some people hold that Prabodhananda is the Vaishnava name given to Prakashananda... It is quite clear from the last verse of the RAdhA-rasa-sudhA-nidhi that Prabodhananda had at one time been a Mayavadi sannyasi.” We would argue that the words to which Haridas Das refers -- mAyAvAdArka-tApa-santapta (“roasted by the burning sun of impersonalism”) – are not acceptable as proof of Prabodhananda’s former adherence to the impersonalist philosophy or of his having been a Mayavadi at one time. Mahaprabhu and all of his followers argued against the impersonalist doctrines as much as they could because of its extreme opposition to devotion. In this spirit, Prabodhananda is simply glorifying Mahaprabhu’s quality as the deliverer of the most fallen and drawing attention to just how far-reaching his mercy is. The Lord’s deliverance of Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya and Prakashananda Saraswati are even greater feats of mercy than the salvation of sinners like Jagai and Madhai. Saraswati Thakur’s introduction to Caitanya-candramrita Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur has given an excellent account of Prabodhananda Saraswati’s life in his introduction to the Chaitanya Math edition of Caitanya-candramrita. Since we feel that we cannot improve on this description, we reproduce it here in full for the benefit of the reader: In 1510 AD, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu went to South India, ostensibly on pilgrimage. In fact, his real purpose was to show his mercy to his devotees. Starting from Puri in Orissa, he travelled southward to the Godavari River and then continued onward through various other holy places. Mahaprabhu found himself in Srirangam on the Ekadasi of the waxing fortnight of the month of Asharh. The sannyasis of the Dashnami order to which he belonged normally follow the Chaturmasya vows, and so the Lord decided to spend this four-month period in the town of Srirangam. Srirangam is the residence of many Vaishnavas of the Sri Sampradaya. The Vaishnavas of this school are strict in their practice, and as a result, the Smarta Brahmins throughout southern India find it difficult to live in villages where they have a strong presence. At the time Mahaprabhu visited Srirangam, it was a holy place inhabited exclusively by Vaishnavas of the Sri Sampradaya. He thus considered it to be a most favorable environment for the execution of his four-month vow and so he spent the period in visiting the temple of Ranganath and preaching about Krishna. Three brothers, Tirumalai, Venkata and Gopalguru had recently come from Mysore to live in Srirangam. They were not Tamils, but either from Andhra or Uttar Pradesh. The Lord was particularly merciful to this Brahmin family and spent the four months of the rainy season in their house. The Vaishnavas of the Sri Sampradaya are devoted to the worship of Lakshmi Narayan. By Mahaprabhu’s blessings, the Bhatta family developed a taste for Krishna rasa. The middle brother, Venkata, had a five-year-old son, Gopal, who later became famous as one of the six Goswamis. The Lord’s conversation with Venkata Bhatta is described in the ninth chapter of the Chaitanya Charitamrita’s Madhya-lélä. Although we know nothing more about Tirumalai, we can surmise that he, like his brothers, was totally devoted to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The third brother, Prabodhananda, was unequalled in his attachment to Sri Chaitanya. It was through his pure teachings that Venkata’s son Gopal Bhatta later became a great acharya of the Gaudiya Vaishnava school. Prabodhananda himself has a particularly elevated position amongst the followers of Sri Chaitanya. Kavi Karnapur identified him as Tungavidya in his Gaura-gaNoddeza-dIpikA. In the Hari-bhakti-vilAsa, he is identified as Gopal Bhatta Goswami’s guru and as extremely dear to Lord Chaitanya. And in the Bhakti-ratnAkara, the following passages about him are found: <blockquote>Everyone glorified Prabodhananda’s virtues and he was thus given the title Sa

As you can see, dear friends, I have taken the honest option of a scholar. How can anyone declare with absolute certainty that Prabodhananda and Prakashananda are one and the same person? If you wish, I can go on with the discussion of Radha-rasa-sudha-nidhi, though some of you may find it a little boring, because there is a great deal of discussion about Sanskrit and poetics and the such, and lots of references, etc. At the end of the other article, I return to the question of why Prabodhananda is not mentioned in Chaitanya Charitamrita. Puru Das has found nothing convincing at all in this presentation. I heartily welcome any proof or argument that would make this discussion more authoritative. Thank you all for your enthusiasm. Your servant, Jagadananda Das.

<hr><font color=#0000FF>This is the last section of the article on Prabodhananda's identity. There is a second article that follows this one, which discusses Hit Harvams' contact with the Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya and the authorship of the Radha-rasa-sudhanidhi. If there is still a thirst for these things, I may post that article as well.</font><hr> <h3>Preliminary conclusions about Prabodhananda</h3> Now that we have looked exhaustively at all the evidence that is available to us, taking into account Prabodhananda Saraswati's own writings, information we get about him in outside sources, both Gaudiya and Radhavallabhi, are there any firm conclusions that can be drawn about this rasika poet so loved by both these sampradayas? It seems certain that Prabodhananda was at one time a sannyasi of the Advaitins' Saraswati order. Attempts to turn him into a "tridandi sannyasi" are unsupported by any evidence whatsoever. Several elements of the story of the conversion of Prakashananda written by Krishna Das Kaviraj have echoes in CCA. Furthermore, the confirmation by Bhagavat Mudita that Prabodhananda was a sannyasi from Kashi, indeed one who was filled with the pride of his own learning like the Prakashananda of CC, leads us to suspect that Prabodhananda was the source of inspiration of Krishna Das' account. On the other hand, the sannyasi Prabodhananda who came to Vrindavan could not have been the same person who is described as a householder in the Prema-vilAsa and other works. These works appear to have been ignorant of Prabodhananda's life and their authors appear to have written about him only on the basis of a few scanty details from the written materials available to them. Of Prabodhananda’s writings, they seem to known only Chaitanya Chandramrita and they furthermore seem to have no knowledge of his life in Vrindavan, for he was considerably older than Gopal Bhatta and died before his nephew came to Vrindavan. It does not seem tenable that there were two different Prabodhanandas, nor that the two versions of his biography are somehow reconcilable. Though it is thus quite possible that Krishna Das was indeed writing of Prabodhananda when he described the conversion of Prakashananda, his account cannot be accepted as entirely true. If Prabodhananda was alive (and functioning) in 1578, then it is not likely that in 1514 or thereabouts, when Mahaprabhu made his visit to Kashi, he could have become the powerful teacher and leader of Advaitin monks that the CC makes him out to be. With doubt cast on this element of the story, nothing much is left to us in the way of concrete information about this part of Prabodhananda's life other than that he was a sannyasi who lived in Kashi who at some time was converted by Chaitanya Deva. Though the correlations are undeniably strong, it cannot be stated with any certainty that he was ever known as Prakashananda, unless we accept the Gaudiya tradition represented by Anandi and Krishna Das (Lala Babu). Unfortunately, we are in a situation where none of the traditions appears to give us an entirely reliable account of Prabodhananda's life and so are forced to do the best with what we have been given. Though Prabodhananda's home base appears to have been in Kashi at one time, he traveled, probably after his conversion, to Puri, visiting Nabadwip also while in the East. He stayed long enough in Gauda and Puri to come into close contact with Chaitanya's followers, of whom Narahari and Svarupa Damodar seem to have most influenced him. He was probably in Puri or Bengal at the time of Chaitanya's death. At this time he wrote his first known work, Chaitanya-chandramrita, which earned him the respect of many of Chaitanya's devotees who showed their appreciation of the panegyric by offering their respects to him in their lists of Mahaprabhu's devotees, specifically mentioning his glorification of the Lord. From the tone of their praises of him and his work, it can be deduced that Prabodhananda was at the forefront of Gaudiya writers on Chaitanya at this early date. Like so many other Gaudiyas, Prabodhananda came to Vrindavan not very long after Chaitanya's death, where he sought the acquaintance of other devotees. It cannot be said, as Bhagavat Mudita does, that he gave up brahmAnanda at this point, for he had already been converted to the devotion of the Chaitanya school. In Vrindavan he may have been persuaded by a disciple of Harivams, Paramananda, to follow the path of nitya-vihAra, a type of devotion that worshipped Radha and Krishna exclusively in their amorous dalliances and ignored all other customary aspects of Krishna's lila. This led him to an association with Harivams, whose songs on the loving affairs of Radha and Krishna particularly impressed him. It does appear, however, again in contradiction to the statements of the Radha-vallabhi sources, that he was senior to Harivams, both in age and in gravitas, and that much of his conception of the erotic devotional mood can be identified as coming from Gaudiya sources, though some differences in taste can be discerned. Nevertheless, it is clear that Prabodhananda shared with Harivams a strong belief in a path of devotion which did not consider the limits of scriptural injunctions, rAgAnugA bhakti according to the Gaudiyas, puSTi-mArga according to the Vallabhis and rasa-mArga according to the Radha-vallabhis. This idea he may have taken to a degree unacceptable to the Gaudiyas, as we shall see in the next sections of this article. The remainder of Prabodhananda's life was spent writing books that defined a devotional attitude somewhat independent of the Gaudiya school. This was apparently done in close contact with the circle of devotees that included Hita Harivams, Swami Haridas, and Hariram Vyas. He continued to be respected by the descendants of Harivams, whom he outlived, even collaborating on a work in Sanskrit by Harivams's son, Krishna Chandra. He probably did not live much beyond 1578, which is when he assisted Krishna Chandra Goswami in writing KarNAnanda. His samadhi, however, is found in Kalidaha in Vrindavan where it is under the aegis of the Gaudiya sect, indicating that his association with Gaudiyas evidently continued to the end of his days. How, when, and where Prabodhananda became spiritual master to Gopala Bhatta remains unanswered. There is, in fact, no reason to believe that Prabodhananda was not a south Indian Brahmin and uncle to Gopala Bhatta. The Radha Raman Mandir accepts this particular tradition, though they do not seem to be able to show any evidence apart from the abovementioned Gaudiya Vaishnava histories for this belief. Another mystery is the silence about Prabodhananda in Krishna Das' CC and the absence of verses from the CCA therein. And why did Krishna Das not give the status of a branch of the Chaitanya tree to either Prabodhananda or Prakashananda, if they be two different persons? Even Lokanath and Gopala Bhatta, who are said to have asked their names not be included in Krishna Das' biography, are still named as branches, so this cannot be given as a valid reason. B. B. Majumdar(<u>79</u>), while denying the Prakashananda = Prabodhananda equation, has also found this a matter to ponder. His conjecture is that perhaps the similarity of some of Prabodhananda's verses to the ideas put forth by Narahari put him in the Gauranga Nagar camp and that this would have made him anathema in the eyes of orthodox Chaitanya followers, for Vrindavan Das writes in the Caitanya Bhagavata that such praises are not permitted for Chaitanya.(<u>80</u>) This conjecture does not seem possible in view of the many other verses in Chaitanya Chandramrita that show another mood. Whether for this reason or any other, it seems that Prabodhananda was independent in his opinions, making him a rather exceptional character who was not necessarily appreciated by those who considered Rupa Goswami to be the supreme authority of the Gaudiya school. Prabodhananda's close friendship with Harivams in particular may not have been looked upon with great favor by the Gaudiya Vaishnavas. Let us now turn to an examination of Harivams' relationship to Gaudiya Vaishnavism. <hr><font color=#9f6f6f> 79. op. cit., 174. 80. ataeva yata mahAmahima sakale/ gaurAnga-nAgara hena stava nAhi bole// Caitanya Bhagavata. It appears that for this reason Vrindavan Das does not mention Narahari Sarkar anywhere in his biography of Caitanya's early life, although it is known that Narahari was an important associate of his in Nabadwip. This ban on Narahari was apparently lifted by Krishna Das, who mentions him with the other devotees from Sri Khanda dancing separately from Chaitanya's other devotees at the Rathayatra festival in Puri (CC, Madhya 13.46). Thus identification of Prabodhananda as a Gauranga Nagar may have caused him not to appear in Chaitanya Bhagavata, it cannot be a valid reason for his absence from Chaitanya Charitamrita.

<h3>Radha-vallabhI doctrines in VMA</h3> The independence of Prabodhananda's ideas has already been alluded to. However, Lalita Charan Goswami's reading of VMA has led him to conclude that either the book was written by a follower of Harivams and that verses dedicated to Chaitanya were later interpolated by some other person, or that Prabodhananda was a convert to Harivams's doctrine as stated by Bhagavat Mudita. (<u>71</u>) His reasoning is based on the four following principal points, the supporting evidence is given in brackets: Radha and Krishna are seen as eternally united in Vrindavan, enjoying their erotic pastimes in the nitya-vihAra (VMA, 6.9, 9.38). Radha has a natural pre-eminence and is worshipped distinctly from Krishna (12.11). Lalita and the other sakhis are pictured as purely devotees of Radha and have no role as nayikas in their own right (9.45). To this, Goswami also adds that Harivams held that there is no competition amongst the various gopis for Krishna's affections, but that they are all followers of Radha, unlike Rupa, who considered those who held this point of view to be a-pUrva-rasika [uN, 9.41]. Prabodhananda's view is that there are three Vrindavans: the cowherd settlement and pastures, the Vrindavan where Krishna enjoys with the gopis, and the kuñja where Krishna relishes erotic sports with Radha alone and where her superiority is uncontested. This last realm is the supreme goal of the rasika devotee. The point of reference from which these doctrines can be identified as those of the Radha-vallabhI sect is, of course, RAdhA-rasa-sudhA-nidhi; if one considers RRSN to be the work of Prabodhananda, the argument becomes circular as Prabodhananda naturally agrees with himself. Indeed, this similarity of mood goes to support our contention that Prabodhananda is the author of that work, but we will deal with this question more fully at a later time. Whether or not the first two of Lalita Charan Goswami’s points can be considered the position of the Gaudiya school at all is one that will also be faced later in this article, when we examine Harivams's life and teachings. The following may be said about the two latter points: (3) First of all, Goswami has quoted a verse that reveals little of the doctrine that he claims it illustrates: jayati jayati vRndaM sat-sakhinAM dvayaikyam. Indeed the last word of this sentence would indicate an equality of the sakhis' feelings towards both Radha and Krishna, that which Rupa Goswami has defined as sama-snehatvam (UN 8.135). VMA and RRSN define zuddha-sakhya ('pure friendship') in terms not dissimilar to the Gaudiyas' mañjarI-bhAva, which is called rAdhA-snehAdhikatvam by Rupa (UN 8.131). Lalita and Vishakha are listed amongst the nAyikAs by some of the PurANas, thus the Gaudiyas give them a special position, even as they do the other sakhis. It is precisely their position as equals to Radha that makes it possible for them to share friendship with her. Radha's friendship with these other gopis is expressed in Azcarya-rAsaprabandha 182-9, where Radha requests Krishna to take numerous forms in order to fulfill the desires of the other gopis to be made love to by him. The dAsIs or kinkarIs (or rAdhA-snehAdhikA sakhis) are distinct from the sama-snehA sakhis and it is they who have taken the firm vow never to engage in any erotic activity with Krishna, even if he should make advances, and even if those advances should be engaged in at Radha's personal request. Examples of this strict vow are given in UN 8.132-3. This determination of the kinkaris is illustrated in VMA where Prabodhananda advises that one should remember the kinkarIs, whose beauty, service and glory he describes repeatedly: “in past, present and future, they know no other desire but to serve Radha.” (rAdhA-pAdAbja-sevAnya-spRhA-kAla-trayojjhitAm, VMA 8.34). A verse describing Radha's incitement of a sexual incident between Krishna and the kinkari is also found in VMA, 16.94: <blockquote>A certain dasi, whose mind was fixed on service to Radha's lotus feet alone, who never thought of bathing herself in the joy of Hari's touch; burst into tears, saying, 'don't do that!' when Krishna forced himself upon her, tearing her cloth and doing whatever it was... Meanwhile, my soul [Radha] stood by and laughed.(<u>72</u>)</blockquote> The Radha-snehAdhikatva spirit is even more apparent in RRSN, where the author clearly prays that whatever service he performs for Krishna is ultimately turned into service to Radha and her favor (257-9). In RRSN 118, one finds a scene in which Krishna rewards the dasi for worshipping Radha with even more affection than he rewards his own devotees, by embracing her, kissing her, giving her the pan from his mouth and the garland from around his neck. But in RRSN 56, the author writes, "Radhe, even if Krishna should kiss me, embrace me, madden me with the sweetness of love, and show me a marvelous increase in affection, all because I am the object of his mistress's mercy, nevertheless, my own pleasure remains fixed in the pleasure of service to your feet." Something similar is also stated in RRSN 88. The author of RRSN further makes it clear that dAsya is superior to sakhya (129, 148). The reward for the pure attitude of the dasis is that they are allowed to serve in the kuñja itself (RRSN, 129). The great reward of the dasis, that they have access to the intimate pastimes of Radha and Krishna in a way that is not accessible to the sakhis is stated as follows: <blockquote>What more can be said [about their good fortune]? Even while Radha is frolicking with her lover in the vine-covered bower, she sits the dasi on her bed and covers her with a cloth.(<u>73</u>)</blockquote> This last verse clearly shows that the Radha known to the dAsIs is not known even to the sakhis. This is stated most pithily by the Gaudiya Raghunath Das in his VilApa-kusumAñjali (16): <blockquote>Other than this service to your lotus feet, I pray for nothing, ever, oh goddess; I bow my head to your friendship, I bow my head. My desire is for your service only, that alone is my pleasure.(<u>74</u>)</blockquote> In VMA 3.107-9, the dasis are pictured wearing prasadi clothes, as they are in RRSN, 53. Another vision, that of Radha's transferring the betel she has herself received from Krishna to her dasi, is found both in VMA, 16.93 and RRSN, 156. Other rewards of the post are that Krishna is obliged to the kinkaris as go-betweens who can change Radha's mind. In VMA he is described as dAsInAm anunetari, 'appealing to the dasis for the favors of Radha,' as he is in RRSN 8, 94, 219. In VMA 16.63, the kinkarIs are seen as subordinate to the commands of the sakhis like Lalita. Despite this primordial distinction, Prabodhananda occasionally uses the term sakhi somewhat indiscriminate manner, as is the case in RRSN. Indeed, Prabodhananda does not write much about the competitiveness amongst the various gopis as does Rupa Goswami, who takes particular pleasure in showing the trickery used by them in their attempts to win Krishna for their yUthezvarI, Radha or Chandravali. There are some exceptions to this: Prabodhananda does describe Chandravali as an adversary of Radha in two verses of VMA (15.10-1). Even there, Radha's reaction to Krishna's infidelities is pictured as rather less ferocious than Rupa would have described it; for the Gaudiyas, Radha is vAmA, i.e. not easily appeased once wronged. All in all, despite the numerous similarities of his ideas of sakhI-bhAva with the Gaudiyas, this particular difference does seem to correspond to an affinity of Prabodhananda with Harivams's school of thought. Considering the commitment that Prabodhananda shows for the kinkari mood, it becomes somewhat difficult to understand Karnapur's identification of him as a sakhi. Haridas Das suggests that Prabodhananda's writings show the dakSiNA prakharA character, which according to the Gaudiya authorities matches that of Tungavidya. The dakSiNA prakharA girl friends were unable to tolerate Radha's pouts, etc., and intervene on behalf of Krishna.(<u>75</u>) (4) Lalita Charan Goswami contrasts the Gaudiya concept of Vrindavan to that vaunted by Prabodhananda whom he sees as a spokesman for the RadhavallabhI school.(<u>76</u>) To this end he has used Karnapur's Ananda-vRndAvana-campU, a work describing Krishna's career in Vrindavan based on the BhAgavata-purANa. The Radha-vallabhI concept of the kuñja, the site of Radha and Krishna's erotic activities (and thus supreme over all other divine lieux) is matched amongst the Gaudiyas by that of Radha Kund in Rupa Goswami's work UpadezAmRta (9-11). Prabodhananda has also written a few verses about Radha Kund (VMA, 5.3-12), though he does not dilate on its supreme status. He seems, like the author of RRSN, to take the kuñja on the shores of the Kalindi as the preferred spot for Radha and Krishna's meeting. For the Gaudiyas, the meeting at Radha Kund takes place at midday, while that by the Yamuna takes place at night. Prabodhananda does show a preference for Radha-Krishna as never separated, nityAviyukta (VMA 15.23). Another area in which the author of VMA shows characteristics true to Harivams's school has not been taken up by Goswami, but is mentioned by SnAtaka. (<u>77</u>) In a work by a RasikottaMsa, Prema-pattana (VS 1695 = AD 1639), both Harivams, as the author of RRSN, and Prabodhananda, as the author of VMA are quoted under the rubric "where irreligion is established as religion." The verses quoted are RRSN, 81 and 82, and VMA, 17.49.(<u>78</u>) This confirms, as Rasikottamsa was evidently aware, that both Prabodhananda and Harivams shared a common attitude towards the external rules, regulations and rituals of religion. Those Gaudiyas who use the RRSN as a religious book interpret the word mahAbuddhayaH (most intelligent) in RRSN 82 as mahA-abuddhayaH (most foolish), even though Prabodhananda uses the term in its clear sense in VMA. The specific rituals rejected there are the painting of the VaiSNava symbols of the conch and wheel, etc., and of marking the forehead with tilaka, and of wearing the tulasI neck beads. The first of these three, though heartily approved by the Hari-bhakti-vilAsa, is not in currency amongst the Gaudiyas; the other two are considered absolutely indispensable. There are no specific statements in VMA about which rituals Prabodhananda considered useless, though he does appear to approve the rejection of the guru if he should interfere with one's determination to live in Vrindavan. <hr><font color=#6f9f9f> 71. op. cit., 563-70. 72. ananya-zrI-rAdhA-pada-kamala-dAsyaika-rasa-dhIr hareH sa+nge ra+nga-snapana-samayenApi dadhatI/ balAt kRSNe kUrpAsaka-bhidi kim apy Acarati kApy udazrur meveti pralapati mamAtmA ca hasati// 73. bahunA kiM svakAntena krIDantyApi latAgRhe/ paryankAdhiSThApitAM vastrair vAcchAditAM kvacit// 74. padAbjayos tava vinA vara-dAsyam eva nAnyat kadApi samaye kila devi yAce/ sakhyAya te mama namo'stu namo'stu nityaM sakhyAya te mama raso'stu raso'stu satyam// 75. Introduction to _Azcarya-rAsa-prabandha, vi. See RAdhA KRSNa-gaNoddeza-dIpikA for the qualities of Tungavidya (88) and UN 8.38 for the dakSiNA qualities: asahA mAna-nirbandhe, nAyake yukta-vAdinI/ sAmabhis tena bhedyA ca dakSiNA parikIrtitA//. 76. op.cit., 285. 77. Prema-pattana, 35. yatrAdharma eva dharmaH sthApitaH. tathaivoktaM zrI-harivaMza-mahAnubhavaiH... tathoktaM tair eva: likhanti bhuja-mUlato na khalu zankha-cakrAdikaM vicitra-hari-mandiraM na racayanti bhAla-sthale/ lasat-tulasi-mAlikAM dadhati kaNTha-pIThe na vA guror bhajana-vikramAt ka iha te mahA-buddhayaH// tatraivoktaM zrI-prabodhAnanda-sarasvatI-pAdaiH: kuru sakalam adharmaM muñca sarvaM ca dharmaM tyaja gurum api vRndAraNya-vAsAnurodhAt// etc.

Regarding the title, "from Benares to Braj." There is ample evidence that Prabodhananda went from Benares to Braj, even if you don't accept his identity with Prakashananda.

<h3>Chaitanya and Harivams in VMA</h3> Prabodhananda names Chaitanya several times in VMA (1.1, 2.95, 4.29, 5.100, 17.1-3, 17.89). Of particular interest is one verse that has been repeated (4.29, 5.100): "Chaitanya is far away, the great age of Kali has manifested itself. How can one attain prema without love for Vrindavan?"(<u>68</u>) It is a well-known conceit of the Bhagavatapurana that the age of Kali could not exercise dominion on the earth as long as Krishna was present. Once he had ascended into his heaven, Kali took hold. This verse would thus appear to confirm that Prabodhananda wrote VMA after the disappearance of Chaitanya. Other verses state that without the mercy of Chaitanya, no one could hope to know this site of Radha and Krishna's sports (17.2), or pray for devotion to the holy names preached by Chaitanya while in Braj. Besides these verses dedicated to Chaitanya, another appears to contain a reference to Harivams, as Snataka has pointed out: (69) <blockquote>To those who are fixed at the feet of Radha-vallabha, whose lives have been spent in pious acts, who have constantly served the dust of the feet of the Vaishnavas, and have reached the limits of renunciation, ah, to those whose minds have entered into the spirit of single-minded devotion, but for whom they yet remain distant, may the merciful glance of Radha be soon encountered in Vrindavan.(70)</blockquote> The name of Radha-vallabha, appearing in this verse for only the second time in the VMA, appears to be a direct reference to Harivams who established the service to the deity of this name. The tenor of the verse would, through the use of the honorific plural as well as the nature of the adjectives, show the respect Prabodhananda evidently had for Harivams. It would seem, however, that Harivams was not in a position of authority over Prabodhananda, but rather a junior to whom blessings could be given. The word dUrataH is somewhat obscure, though the obvious sense would be that though these various good qualities were possessed by the respected individual or individuals in question, nevertheless, he (or they) was (were) still some distance from achieving the spiritual goal he (they) sought. <hr><font color=#9f6f9f>NOTES 68. dUre caitanya-caraNAH kalir AvirabhUn mahAn/ kRSNa-prema kathaM prApyo vinA vRndAvane ratim?// 69. op. cit., 111. 70. rAdhA-vallabha-pAda-pallava-juSAM sad-dharmanItAyuSAM nitya-sevita-vaiSNavA+nghri-rajasAM vairAgya-sImAspRzAm/ hantaikAnta-rasa-praviSTa-manasAm apy asti yad dUratas tad RAdhA-karuNAvalokam acirAd vindatu VRndAvane// VMA, 17.11 Bhagavat Mudita does not draw a connection between this verse and Harivams in his translation, even though accolades to Harivams are found in his preface to VrndAvana-zataka.</font><small><font color=#f7f7f7> [This message has been edited by Jagat (edited 07-16-2001).]

<center>LESSON SEVEN</center> <hr><font color=#0000FF>This verse is pretty straightforward. If you know your nominative and accusative cases, you should be well on your way. There are three clauses in this sentence, with a present participle, a gerund and, finally, a finite verb.</font><hr> <center> tasya sañjanayan harSaM kuru-vRddhaH pitAmahaH | siMha-nAdaM vinadyoccaiH zankhaM dadhmau pratApavAn ||12||</center> ANVAYA: pratApavAn kuru-vRddhaH pitAmahaH tasya (duryodhanasya) harSaM sañjanayan, siMha-nAdaM vinadya zankhaM uccaiH dadhmau ||12||</center> GRAMMATICAL COMMENTS <font color=#5F9F9F>1. pratApavAn. By now you are familiar with nouns with the suffix -vat or vAn. The usual meaning is “possessing” the quality named beforehand, in this case pratApa or “valor.” This is not to be confused with vat which can also be tacked onto a noun to mean “like, as.” 2. sañjanayan. This is another new form, the present participle. It is an active form, “producing.” (from the verb root /jan, which brings us such famous nouns as jana, janma, jAti, jananI, janaka, etc.). These participles are also declined very much like nouns and adjectives ending in consonants, especially like -vat words. So this declension will be an important one to learn. This is the nominative masculine form here. Another thing about this verb. Notice that -ay that immediately precedes the ending -an. That is a causative marker. Sanskrit and most Indian languages have a way of creating causative forms. Whereas in European languages we usally “make” someone do something, in Sanskrit we have a form of the original verb that has the meaning of making someone else do that action. That was clear, wasn’t it? Examples: <ul>[*]karoti “he does”, kArayati “he makes someone else do.” [*]smarati “he remembers,” smArayati “he makes someone else remember, he reminds.” There are rules for how to do this – You lengthen (vRddhi) the first vowel and add the –ay before the verb endings. I should tell you what vRddhi is, but I don’t want to overburden you at this point. And of course there are many irregular forms. tasya harSam is the object of the participle in this phrase. 2. vinadya is one of those gerunds, a lyap to use the Sanskrit technical term. It ends in ya because there is a prefix vi-. The difference between the gerund and the present participle: <ul>[*]The g. is indeclinable. It is always the same. The p.p. has to agree in number and gender with its subject. [*]The g. indicates that an action has been completed, while the p.p. indicates the action is continuous; so technically vinadya means “having sounded” while sanjanayan means “creating.” So here Bhishma makes the lion’s roar, which brings Duryodhan joy, BEFORE blowing his conch shell. The two actions are separate, but some commentators seem to take them as one. As Baladeva says, <center> mukhataH kiñcid anuktvA zankha-nAda-mAtra-karaNena jaya-parAjayau khalv IzvarAdhInau tvad-arthe kSatra-dharmeNa dehaM tyakSyAmIti vyajyate</center> <blockquote>“Without saying anything verbally (mukhataH), by simply blowing his conch Bhishma announces that victory and defeat are under the control of the Supreme Lord, but for Duryodhan’s sake he is ready to give up his life because that is his duty as a kshatriya.”</blockquote> 3. uccaiH is a familiar adverb meaning “loudly.” In fact, it is an instrumental plural of the adjective ucca meaning “high.” I am not sure how that happened, but there you have it, uccaiH means loudly. It is used quite frequently. 4. dadhmau. There are at least six different ways of expressing the past tense in Sanskrit and there is not all that much to distinguish them in terms of meaning. In English we have past continuous, perfect, imperfect, pluperfect, etc., that have different meanings in terms of time. These distinctions may once have existed in Sanskrit, but generally they have been lost. When it is absolutely necessary to convey a pluperfect meaning (an action completed in the past) we tend to use a gerund, or a continuous action in the past, a present participle, combined with another verb to show clearly the time relation. Why this preamble? Because our noble Sanskritists of the European persuasion decided to call the verb forms like dadhmau the perfect tense, because it resembles the perfect tense formation in Greek. Panini called it liT. In English perfect tenses have the auxiliarly “have”. “I have blown.” You can see in this verse that if I translated “Bhishma has blown his conch shell after making a lion’s sound bringing pleasure to Duryodhan”, it woulddn’t make much sense. dadhmau comes from the root dhmA. Verb roots that end in –A are conjugated somewhat differently from most other verbs. In the perfect tense that means a third person singular ending in -au. Most third person singulars end in -a after the reduplication of the verb stem. In this case that means the addition of da before dhm. There are not many examples of perfect tenses in the Bhagavad-gita: The ubiquitous uvAca is a perfect tense. babhUva (2.9), cakAra are others. There are not many past tenses in the Gita at all, so the other past forms are not all that well-represented, either. There are more imperfects than anything else, as far as I can see. As soon as you get into narrative, however, you will come across many of all forms of the past tense.

Dear Sudevi, The best starting point is a Bengali doctoral dissertation... NOw I just went searching through my library and I found my photocopied version of the thesis, which was published by the University of Calcutta around 20-25 years ago, but it is incomplete and I don't have the title page! A great help I am. You might be able to find a reference in one of David Haberman's books. Anyway. I think that what would be interesting to look into for the second generation leaders of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, is their involvement in the spreading of lila kirtan. In the Gaudiya Math, one often hears that Mahaprabhu discussed intimate topics of Radha-Krishna lila in private, while speaking on the Holy Name and other, more general matters amongst the wider public. Yet it is my impression that Narottam, etc., deliberately used lila kirtan to attract people into the fold. I have the impression that this might be be a difficult topic to research, but it would be very fruitful. Donna Wulff is, as far as I know, the Western scholar with the greatest knowledge of lila kirtan. So if you are at all musical, I suggest you check this topic out. Good luck, Your servant, Jagadananda Das.

<h3>The Taliban orders all men to wear blindfolds</h3> Kabul, Aug. 6, 2002 (AP) -- The Afghani High Council, led by Mukhtar Sayyed Ali Pashtu, decided today that the only solution to the problem of being tempted by women and other immoral things was to have everyone wear a blindfold. Pashtu proudly claimed that this was the most Islamic solution, as the alternatives were to either poke everyone's eyes out or generalized castration for all men and the sewing up of all the women's vaginas. Other proposals included digging a big hole in the middle of the Himalayas and everyone going to live underground, which would prevent outside influences from entering the Afghani people and just blowing the whole damn place up and committing mass suicide, which would have ended the problem once and for all.

<h3>Prabodhananda as a Brahmavadin</h3> Prabodhananda's background as a Brahmavadin is indicated in VMA as it was in CCA. At the very beginning of the work he says, <blockquote>Oh forest of Vrindavan, make your own real form blossom in my heart, [that form, which is] the secret knowledge of supreme bliss coming from your extremely wonderful nature; for if even the UpaniSads shy from describing the ambrosia of the Supreme Brahman, saying only it is not this, and not that, then how can one describe this place [which is beyond even Brahman]? (<u>64</u>)</blockquote> He shows a great affection for the conceit used by Bilvamangala in his Krishna-karNAmNta in which words such as jyotis, mahas, dhAman, tejas (meaning 'light, effulgence', etc.), generally used to indicate the Brahman of the brahma-vAdins, as a reference to Krishna (See KKA 4, 5, 11). That this is more than just the adoption of a conceit is clear from 7.56-60(<u>65</u>) where he describes the jyotis in a language familiar to the brahma-vAdin, but then goes on to talk of further jyotis beyond this one, finally coming to Vrindavan, where everything is tejo-maya (as stated in the Padma-purANa). This concept, where Vrindavan is described as an island in the ocean of the spiritual light, is repeated frequently.(<u>66</u>) Key advaita philosophical terms such as adhyAsa (2.8), svapna-kalpaM vihAtum (1.72), bheda-traya-rahitam (2.97),(<u>67</u>) etc. are found sprinkled through the work, further indicating Prabodhananda's familiarity with those doctrines. The inaccessibility of Vrindavan to the Vedanta and Upanishads is another recurring theme. Prabodhananda's statements urging that one should stay away from "the madding crowd" (1.31-33, 1.58, 1.64-74, 2.18, etc.) indicate the lifestyle which he chose for himself while living in Vrindavan. He advises his reader not to seek to please people. One verse at least may be said to contain a reference to Rupa, SanAtana and RaghunAtha, all of whom reputedly gave up great material wealth and power to dedicate themselves to life in Vrindavan (1.76). His frequent admonishings of those who would criticize the residents of the holy abode (1.13, etc.) might be taken as an indication of frustration with sectarian backbiting. He also speaks of his determination to remain in Vrindavan despite the criticisms to which he might personally be subjected (4.24) In spite of this, there is little to indicate that Prabodhananda is a sannyAsin other than his recurring calls to renunciation; he does not curse his ashram as he did in CCA. There is rather more about giving up wife and children which reminds one of Hariram Vyasa's statement that he gave these up to reside in Vrindavan. In the knowledge from numerous other sources that Prabodhananda was in fact a sannyasin, it would appear that Vyasa was not fully conversant with Prabodhananda's life history, but rather knew him from the VMA. <hr><font color=#9f6f9f>NOTES 64. zrImad-vRndATavI mama hRdi sphorayAtma-svarUpam atyAzcarya-prakRti-paramAnanda-vidyA-rahasyam/ pUrNa-brahmAmRtam api hriyA vAbhidhAtuM na neti brUte yatropaniSada ihAtratyA vArtA kutastyA // VMA, 1.3. 65. uccAvacAvagaNitabrahmANDAvalimaNDitAm/ tri-guNAM prakRtiM tIrtvA jaDa duHkhAnRtAtmikAm// apArAvAravistAram ekam Ananda-sAgaram/ svaprakAzamahA-svaccha-jyotIrUpaM paraM padam// caitanya-mAtra nirbhAsaM nistarangaM nirAkulam/ nirastA-jñAnatatkAryaM paraM brahmeti yad viduH// tad-antaH param AzcaryaM jyotir aizaM vicintaya/ carvaNIyamahAnandA-sAndrAbdhim ati nirmalam// mahA-suvistIrNatamaM mahojjvalatamaM param/ lokAdibhir ghanI-bhAvair mahitaM mahad adbhutam// tadantare tato 'py atyAzcaryaM jyotir anusmara/ kArSNyaM mahAsvacchatamaM pArAvAravivarjitam// etc. 66. Bilvamangala is usually portrayed as having been a Brahmavadi at one time before becoming a Vaishnava. 67. bheda-traya-rahitam asti brahma mahAnanda-sAndraM yat/ tat-savizeSa-camatkRti-tatir iha VRndAvane gatA kASThAm// "That Brahman which is the essence of great joy, devoid of the three differentiations (svajAtIya, vijAtIya and sva-gata), has attained its supreme form in Vrindavan, where it is at its most wonderful."<font color=#dedfdf><small> [This message has been edited by Jagat (edited 07-13-2001).]

<h3>Prabodhananda in the Vrindavana-mahimamrita, etc.</h3> Since Prabodhananda is principally known to the Radha-vallabhis as the writer of a work glorifying Vrindavan, it may be worthwhile to continue our investigation by looking at VMA. Containing 1767 verses in 17 satakas, VMA glorifies Vrindavan in the style of the stotra-kAvya. Its emphasis is on renunciation and remembering Radha and Krishna while residing in Vrindavan. Recurring themes are descriptions of the glories of the flora and fauna of Vrindavan, statements of the author's determination to live in Vrindavan despite any difficulties including those presented by 'woman', descriptions of Radha and Krishna following their erotic desires in the kuñjas on the banks of the Kalindi (dhyAyAmi smara-keli-narma-nirataM zrI-rAdhikA-mAdhavam). Another important element of the work is the extended descriptions of Radha and her kinkarIs or “hand maidens.” There are also occasional verses of the "miniature" type found in the anthologies, giving a description of a particular lIlA. As with CCA, there is little overall continuity to the work. On occasion, sequences of verses might show some thematic unity, such as the development of ideas leading to the description of Vrindavan, Radha's beauty and qualities and then those of her dAsIs from 7.59 - 8.43; but equally, verses of quite different emphasis might be found juxtaposed. In mood and theology, Prabodhananda shows a certain degree of independence from both the Gaudiya school as well as that of the Radha-vallabhIs. The use of the word tattva in reference to the spiritual body (3.90 and elsewhere), for instance, seems to be unique to this work of Prabodhananda's and is not found elsewhere in his corpus, in which, for the sake of this discussion, we include RRSN. The frequent use of the epithets GAndharvA for Radha and MuralIdhara for Krishna in VMA is unusual in Prabodhananda's writings, but can be found in Gaudiya works. Other preferred epithets used are MAdhava and Madhubhit, etc., for Krishna, IzvarI, svAminI, etc. for Radha. Another feature of the work not found elsewhere in Prabodhananda's writings is the recurring misogynous verse. Despite these idiosyncratic characteristics, VMA is recognizable as a work of the same author who wrote the CCA and, as will be demonstrated in a later portion of this article, RRSN.

<h3>3.0 The svakiya-parakiya controversy: background</h3> The term parakiya arises from the literary critical tradition rather than the puranic. The word means "belonging to another" and generally indicates "the wife of another", the equivalent of para-dAra (in Kama-sutra), para-yoSit, para-kalatra, etc. According to the KavyAlaMkara of Rudrata, the first extant work which makes the division of the nAyikA into parakIyA and svakIy, it includes both unmarried virgins (kanya) and adulteresses (paroDhA).(1) Though it is clear that the gopis were always conceived of as being parakIyA, there is some uncertainty about which of its two categories they belonged to. The earliest epic/puranic source, Harivamsa, and the earliest secular source, Hala's Gahasattasai, make no definitive clarification of the matter, though in a verse pertaining to the Sattasai tradition, the gopis are depicted as still hoping for marriage to Krishna, thus indicating they are kanyas.(2) In Bhasa's Balacarita, another early source which mentions Krishna's comparatively innocent dancing with the gopis, they would appear to be young unmarried girls. By the time of the ViP, however, it is clear that at least some of the gopis were considered to be married (v.13.59, 24.16) and at around the same time, Magha's Sisupala rails against Krishna's being a lover of the wives of other men.(3) The secular poetic tradition, meanwhile, gingerly delved into some aspects of the paroDhA relationship. Hala has a few humorous verses in which an adulterous woman (Pkt. asaI) advertises her availability to a stranger(4), or cleverly deceives her husband as he catches her red-handed with her lover.(5) There are also some wistful verses in which the asaI is seen in a more positive light and her activities are taken as serious expressions of love. In the later poetic tradition as found in the Sanskrit anthologies, the asati is most often described either in her role as a serious flirt or as an anxiety-ridden but beautiful abhisArikA on her way to the trysting place. It would appear, surprisingly, that these themes only gradually found their way into writing about Krishna, and furthermore that Krishna's love affairs were not taken up seriously as a literary subject to any great extent by poets of stature. Only a handful of muktakas (individual verses not belonging to any larger work) are found in the early Sanskrit anthologies in which the gopis are described in accordance with the abhisArikA theme, etc., but no complete work of literature with such a relation as its basis and dating from the pre-Chaitanya period survives to the present day. In general the poeticians or dramatic theoreticians did not consider the parakIyA nAyikA to be a relishable topic for literature or drama. The critics and the poets using the Sanskrit medium, starting with Bharata, themselves had roots in a courtly tradition steeped in its own peculiar tastes and values. The overwhelming number of heroes in Sanskrit dramas are kings, of whom only Rama is monogamous. The parakIyA woman was avoided, even when, as in Krishna's case, theological considerations might have absolved the author of fault. The ambivalence to the subject was so strong in the courtly circles, that in the 14th century, Vishwanath gave an example of an exchange between Krishna and a gopi as an example of rasAbhAsa, even while including the benedictory formula, hariH pAtu vaH.(6) Though the South-Indian Alvar Vaishnavas who promoted the erotic spirit in devotionalism were primarily interested in the mood of the young virgin who seeks a marital relation with Krishna, when their traditions were joined to that of the ViP in BhP, the parodha relation was wholeheartedly adopted. In addition to the parodha in BhP, however, the kanya mood of Kotai also finds a place (in x.22) and other Alvar themes are also used in the descriptions of the sentiments of the queens of Dvaraka (x.52, x.90). The court of the Bengal Sen dynasty, whose roots were in Karnataka, also cultivated Krishnaite eroticism. The verses about Krishna in Sridhara's Sad-ukti-karnamrta contain some of the most unambiguous parodha material. At the same time and place, however, Jayadeva's Gitagovinda appears to reflect the idea of a transcendental Krishna, one who incarnates in ten avataras, but whose original form is engaged in an eternal cycle of love-games with Radha in a world which has no place for other men; Krishna is the only male in the Vrindavan of Gitag. In this unreal world there is no need for a formal marital relationship. We are occasionally reminded of the activities of Krishna's other incarnations in which existed the parakiya relation to Radha (1.1) or the married relation to Laksmi (12.25). Though some find evidence in the Gitag for the parakiya mood,(7) it is not strong, while the words pati and dampati can also be found referring to Krishna's relation with Radha.8 Thus it would appear that the dichotomy of the prakata and aprakata relations was intuited by Jayadeva, if it were not already a matter of dogmatic belief amongst the Vaishnavas of the day. Jayadeva's vision of Radha and Krishna had an all-pervasive influence in both the secular and devotional worlds, but probably more in the latter than the former. Poets such as Surdas and Hit Harivams seem to have visualized the relationship of the divine Radha and Krishna in terms not dissimilar to his. There are a few isolated examples of later works, secular in character, in which Krishna is said to have been married to Radha.(10) On the other hand, those puranic sources which discuss Radha's marriage to Ayana or mention Krishna's marriage to Radha, all appear to be of eastern Indian provenance and very late in their composition. They were most likely unknown to Jiva.(11) The popularity of the Radha-Krishna theme in the vernacular song-writing and literature of eastern India in the 15th century gave particular impetus to the parakiya conception. Badu Chandi Das seems to have been the first to record the name of Radha's husband and his relation to Krishna's mother, adding a further forbidden dimension to their liaison. At the same time, another Chandi Das poignantly expressed the emotional dimension of such forbidden love. Paradoxically, though it is generally thought that Chandi Das used Radha and Krishna as a metaphor for his own deeply-felt love for a married woman, he was responsible for respiritualizing that which to a great extent had lost its spiritual dimension. In this period of flourishing Bengali culture, the BhP seems to have made a sudden appearance. Whether or not the BhP in its present form was current in Bengal prior to this period cannot be stated with absolute certainty. We know that Lakshman Sena's work Adbhuta-sara (late 12th c.) contains a few verses from BhP iii, but other than this, the learned works of the early medieval period show a complete ignorance of this purana.(12) Those aspects of BhP which are the most profound are only marginally influential on the vernacular works referred to above. In the late 15th century, however, translations of BhP started to appear in Bengali and this purana became the main religious text for the bhakti revival of Chaitanya. Rupa Gosvamin was the first to write in Sanskrit to any great length about the parodha relationship, and certainly the first to have made Krishna the centrepiece of an entire drama, Vidagdha-Madhava, that is filled with parodha themes. Furthermore, in his influential theoretical works, Rupa glorified the parakiya loves of the gopis in terms which rendered anti-climactic the existence of any svakiya relation with them. Nevertheless, Jiva was not only convinced that scripture supported the view that Krishna was married to the gopis, but that Rupa Gosvamin also supported it. Jiva's arguments can be divided into two categories as they were for the establishment of Krishna's return to Vraja: those based entirely on revealed statements from BhP and other puranas, and those based on the divine esthetics and writings of Rupa Gosvamin. <hr><font color=#6f9f9f> NOTES 1. Kavyalamkara 12.30: parakIyA tu dvedhA kanyoDhA ceti. The virgin is included somewhat artificially under the parakiya rubric ostensibly because she is under the protection of her father. Cf. Dhanika's Avaloka to Dazarupaka 2.20: kanyakA tu pitradyayattatvAd apariNItApy anya-strIty ucyate. Bharata in Natya-sastra, 22.154, uses different terminology for slightly different categories of nayika. bahiranga, etc. Kamasutra also clearly distinguishes the kanya from the paradara; the former is in fact discussed as a sviya nayika for men expected to wed a virgin. 2. Hala 435. 3. Sis 16.8; Krtagopavadhurater ghnato vrsam ugre narake 'pi samprati/ pratipattir adhahkrtainaso janatabhis tava sadhu varnyate// The verse has a double meaning: Sisupala intends to insult Krsna, but the poet protects him from the blasphemy. Thus despite Krsna's engagement in what is universally accepted as sinful activity, e.g. adultery and cattle slaughter, he was not adversely affected by such activity. 4. Hala 669, ettha nimajja‹ atta ettha aham, ettha pariano sayalo/ e pahiya rattiyandhaya ma maha sayane nimajjihisi// [i.e. ito nivasati svasrur atraham atra parijanah sakalah/ he pathika ratryanda ma mama sayane nimanksyase//] 5. ibid. 397, 401. 6. SahD 3.82. 7. Lee Siegel writes in Sacred and Profane Traditions of Love in Indian Traditions, Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1978, 119. "Radha is clearly a parakiya nayika - her love-making with Krsna is in defiance of Nanda, Krsna's foster father, who as a representative of authority exemplifies the social order, the ideal of dharma." But later, "Jayadeva avoids clarity; the relationship is ambiguous." (ibid., 120) 8. Gitagovinda 5.19: dampatyor iha ko na ko na tamasi vri.davimisro rasah; 12.13: patyur manah kilitam; 9. J. S. Hawley, "A Vernacular Portrait: Radha in the Sur Sagar", in (ed.) Hawley, The Divine Consort, p.53. "If anything, Sur seems to relish the ambiguity of Radha's position somewhere between wife and mistress. Its lack of definition adds to her fascination and ... acts as a factor that makes her ultimately worthy of worship.... It is not her position that matters but her feeling, and the ambiguity of her position serves to underscore that effect." 10. Pancatantra, (ed.) D. D. Kosambi, Bombay: Nirnayasagara Press (9th edn.), 1950, p.54: Radha nama me bharya gopakulaprasuta prathamam asit, sa tvam avatirna. Campubhagavata 6.67ff. 11. Of these Brahmavaivartapurana is perhaps the most significant and has had the widest appeal. Radha is Krsna's wife: BVP ii.48.47: svayam Radha Krsnapatni Krsnavaksahsthalasthita/ pranadhisthatrdevi ca tasyaiva paramatmanah// Brahma conducts Krsna and Radha's wedding ceremony in rather unusual circumstances: BVP ii.49.37-43, iv.15.119-131. This same story is retold in Gargasamhita, Golokakhan.da, ch. 16. On the other hand Radha's marriage to Ayana is spoken of in BVP ii.51.34: tam Radham upasamyamy ayanagopo mahamune/ klibatvam sahasa prapa sambhor icchanusaratah// Different combinations of these elements, apparently derived from BVP are to be found in Maha-bhagavatapurana, Brahman.dapurana, Devibhagavatapurana. Cf. R. C. Hazra, Studies in the Upapuranas, (Calcutta University, 1969), for the eastern Indian provenance of these works. PadP iv.82 contains material on the 24 hour day of Krsna which follows closely that of Govindalilamrta. This entire section of PadP (iv.69-83) is almost certainly an interpolation by someone influenced by Gau.diya Vaisnava ideas. Most notably, comp. BRS i.2.22 and PadP iv.77.62 or Pv 83 (= CC ii.19.106) and PadP iv.77.52. Major citations found frequently in Gaudiya works, such as PadP iv.81.54 (Brhad-gautamiya-tantra, GC i.15.14), iv.76.8-12 (ibid., GC i.1.18), iv.69.23 (BrS 5.2, GC i.1.21) etc., etc., are never attributed to PadP. 12. Cf. Sukumar Sen, Bangla Sahityer Itihas, ii.1 (1978), 98-9.

Just checking aparyAptam in the various commentaries. Ananda Giri like Baladeva comes out on the side of aparimitam. On the other hand, Hanuman and Sridhar have asamartham ("incapable"). Nilakantha is original here, pariveSTitam "surrounded." He is saying that we can surround them but they can't surround us. Zaehner translates "Imperfect are those our forces, though Bhishma protects them, but perfect are these their forces which Bhima guards." He comments, "This appears to be what the text means. The words are spoken by Duryodhan who is much given to boasting and come somewhat unnaturally from his lips. Hence, Radhakrishnan, following some ancient and modern commentaries, translates aparyAptam as "unlimited" and paryAptam as limited. He does not, however, quote any parallel for such a use of the word. Some MSS reverse the order of Bhishma and Bhima, thus giving the required sense (!). Vishwanath Chakravarti has paripUrNam. His gloss translates in the following way, "Even though our army is protected by Bhishma, who is of sharp intellect, it is incomplete in comparison to the Pandavas' army, though it is protected by the less intelligent Bhima. We are thus no match for them." So Vishwanath takes Duryodhan as having a premonition of defeat, while the others see him as a boaster.<small><font color=#f7f7f7> [This message has been edited by Jagat (edited 07-12-2001).]

<center>LESSON SIX VERSE 11</center> <hr><font color=#0000ff>Lots of new things today. So get ready.<hr></font> <center> ayaneSu ca sarveSu yathA-bhAgam avasthitAH | bhISmam evAbhirakSantu bhavantaH sarva eva hi ||11||</center> ANVAYA : sarve eva hi bhavantaH ayaneSu ca sarveSu yathA-bhägam avasthitäH bhISmam eva abhirakSantu | GRAMMATICAL COMMENTS <font color=#5F9F9F>1. sarve bhavantaH. “All of you.” These are masculine plurals in the nominative case. We have already seen sarve and we know that it becomes sarva in front of eva because of vowel sandhi, or at least we do now. bhavantaH is an interesting word. bhavAn is the masculine singular, bhavatI the feminine singular. It is a polite form of address. Instead of saying “you” in the second person, one uses the respectful pronoun bhavAn and follows it with third person verb endings. The plural ending of nouns that end in vat, like bhagavat, etc., is vantaH. So plural for bhagavAn is bhagavantaH. 2. ayaneSu sarveSu. Here we have the familiar Su ending that indicates the locative plural. Because of the consonant sandhi rules, after a or A, this is su. Thus Atmasu or karmasu or rAdhAsu (if there could be many of her!). ayanam is military terminology for sainya-praveza-vartma “the entry points into the military formation.” The locative can mean “in” or “at.” 3. ca is a lot like tu, which we discussed in the last verse. We usually translate as “and” and for the most part that works. But here, what two things are being joined or added? So it’s a little difficult to translate. Most commentators have just skipped over it here, but Ananda Giri says kartavya-vizeSa-pradyotI ca-zabdaH, “The word ca here emphasizes that this is a special duty.” That sounds like he’s pushing it a little. ca can sometimes function like api, which can mean either “even” or “also.” But that is hard to fit into this verse also. So let’s leave it there for now. 4. yathA-bhAgam. This is a particular kind of adverbial compound known as a karma-dhAraya. Forget I told you that. yathA is an important adverb that means “as” or “according to”. You follow that with a noun in the accusative case and you have your compound. Here it is “as divided” or “as appointed.” As an adverb it modifies a verb (or verb derivative), in this case avasthitAH, “situated.” This first part of the verse ayaneSu ca sarveSu yathA-bhAgam avasthitAH means, “all of you situated according to the way that you were assigned positions in all the specific locations within the military phalanx” or something like that. 5. bhISmam is in the accusative case, so it is the direct object of the verb, which is abhirakSantu. 6. abhirakSantu introduces the imperative mood. Since our subject is bhavantaH, this verb is in the third person. Still, it’s just a polite way of saying, “Do it!” “Protect Bhishma” (on all sides). The present tense would have been abhirakSanti, just as the respective singular forms are abhirakSatu and abhirakSati. 7. eva hi are both emphatic particles. Here they are used for emphasizing sarve. We could exaggerate in translating and say “every dang-blast last one of you”, but that is probably unnecessary. Some people think that a writer might use too many of these single syllable words in order to fill out a verse. This does indeed happen a lot in anustubh composition, where the narrative is often more important than the finely tuned turn of a phrase.</font> TRANSLATION: Therefore stand in your respective positions in the strategic points of the formation and protect Bhishma on all sides.

<h3>2.6 Reunion in the prakaTa-lIlA</h3> In his commentary on BRS 3.4.76, an example of parental love in union, Jiva is at pains to show that Rupa too supported the idea of Krishna's return to Vraja. He states that Rupa wrote for devotees of various tastes, those who worshipped the cowherd Krishna, others who worshiped Krishna the Yadu, and others again without specified tastes (taTa-stha). He thus described all of Krishna's activities, whether in Vraja, in leaving Vraja or outside of Vraja, even though only the two latter groups can really find pleasure in stories of Krishna's leaving Vraja and his subsequent life, which bring no happiness to the Vrindavan devotees because of the separation they entail. Since by Rupa's own admission, the Vraja devotees are of the highest order, the pleasure of those devoted to the Vraja pastimes should be considered the highest priority. When he considered this priority, Rupa showed that his own heartfelt sentiment was in seeing the return of Krishna to Vraja and he says as much in LBhag (i.4.479) where he quotes PadP in support of this idea.(54) In seeking a solution for the tension between the desire for physical union on the part of the devotee and a philosophical state of union, in whatever terms it is expressed, Jiva argues for the integration of the two planes of Krishna's activity: prakaTAprakaTa-lIlA-samanvaya. This must take place twice in the course of Krishna's incarnation: once for the Vrindavan cycle and again for the Dvaraka. The manner in which Krishna and his retinue depart from Dvaraka to return to his eternal abode is written of in BhP and MBh, but nothing is said anywhere of any ascension into heaven of the Vrndavana group of associates. Krishna is said to have returned to Vraja, etc., in an idiosyncratic (and thus probably interpolated) prose passage towards the end of the huge and overwhelmingly versified PadP (6.279.18-27). This provides the Gaudiya theologians with all the evidence they need. To quote part of the passage, it is said that after coming to Mathura to kill Dantavakra, <blockquote>Krishna crossed the Yamuna and went to the cowherd settlement of Nanda. There he honoured his eager parents and gave them assurances; he was embraced by them choked with tears; he then bowed to all the senior cowherds and gave them assurances as well. He then satisfied everyone with gifts of cloth and jewellery. <blockquote>On the banks of the Yamuna, covered with pious trees, Kesava frolicked constantly with the cowhered women; the Lord, wearing the clothes of a cowherd, spent two months there, enjoying pleasant sports with much of the flavour of love.</blockquote> Then all the residents of the Vraja, Nanda and all the others, their sons and wives, all the birds and animals too, took on divine forms by the grace of Vasudeva, climbed on to celestial vehicles and went to the supreme Vaikuntha realm. Krishna, however, having granted the supreme destination of his own abode, entered Dvaraka while being praised by the gods in heaven.(55)</blockquote> From BhP, Jiva finds support for these events only in a verse from its first book (i.11.9) which is spoken by the residents of Dvaraka upon Krishna's return there after the battle of Kuruksetra: "When, oh lotus﷓eyed one, you go to the land of the Kurus or Madhus to see your friends..."(56) The land of the Madhus is interpreted to mean Vrindavan, which lies within the district of Mathura, for all the friends from the city itself had been moved to Dvaraka long before. Other verses (BhP x.82.44, 83.1, xi.12.8﷓19) are also given as further proofs that the desires of the residents of Vraja, in this case of the gopis in particular, were fulfilled. Elsewhere, Jiva states that to conceive of any other end for the lila is impossible. He refers to the statement of Brahma of the extent to which Krishna is indebted to the residents of Vraja for their love for him. If even Putana the witch could attain a liberation in which she became Krishna's eternal nurse, just by having imitated one such, what could he do for them who had sacrificed their souls and everything they possessed out of a genuine love for him alone. Their desires for union with him must be fulfilled.(57) <hr><font color=#9F5f9F> NOTES 54. BRSc iii.4.76: kim cAtra granthe lIlA-varNanAs trividhAH, vraja-lIlAmayyo, vraja-tyAga-mayyah, pura-lIlAmayyaz ceti. zrotAraz ca trividhAH vraja-janAnugAH purajanAnugAs taTasthAz ca. sarveSAM sukha-poSArtham eva ca tA nirdiSTAH. tatra taTasthAnAM sarva eva sukha-poSikA bhavanti, zrI-kRSNa-mAtra-tAtparyakatvAt. purajanAnugAnAM vraja-lIlAz ca sukha-poSikA bhavanti, asmadIyAH zrImad-anakadundubhi-nandanas tatra vraje sthitvA vicitra-lIlA vidhAya puram Agatya tAsAm upadhAraNayA zrImad-anakadundubhInAM sukha-poSikA jAtA iti bhAvanayA. tasmAd AsatAm tAvad anye dve lIle. vraja-janAnugAnAM pura-sambandhinyaH sukha-poSikA na bhavanty eva, pratyuta duHkha-poSikAH, punas tasya vraja-gamanAnuTTankanAt. tataz ca vraja-lIlAmayyAz ca duHkha-datvenaiva paryavasitAH, kim uta vraja-tyAga-mayyAH. sarveSAm eva ca sukham poSTum icchadbhir grantha-kRdbhiH sarvA lIlA varNitAH. vizeSataz ca, alaukikI tv iyam kRSNa-ratiH sarvAdbhutAdbhutA/ tatrApi vallavAdhIza-nandanAlambanA ratiH/ sAndrAnanda-camatkAra-paramAvadhir iSyate//(BRS 2.5.108-10) iti spaSTokter vraja-janAnugAnAm eva sarvAdhikaM sukhaM poSTavyam. tasmAd ukta-rItyA svayam eva samkSepa-bhAgavatAmRte likhitaM zrI-kRSNasya punar vraja-gamana-pUrvakaM pura-gata-tat-tad-vijaya-zravaNAd api puSTa-sukhAnAM vraja-janAnAM madhye nityAvasthAnam eva grantha-kRtam hRd-gatam. tena tac-chravaNena vraja-janAnugA api puSTa-sukhAH syuH. parokSa-vAdA RSayaH parokSam ca mama priyam (BhP xi.21.32) itivat. prakaTaM tu tan na paThitam iti jñeyam. 55. kRSNo 'pi taM hatvA yamunAm uttIrya nanda-vrajaM gatvA sotkaNThau pitarAv abhivAdyAzvAsya tAbhyAM sAzru-kaNTham AlingitaH sakala-gopa-vRddhAn praNamyAzvAsya bahuvastrAbhAraNAdibhis tatrasthAn sarvAn santarpayAmAsa. kAlindyAH puline ramye punya-vRkSa-samAcite/ gopa-nAribhir anizaM krIDayAmAsa kezava// ramya-keli-sukhenaiva gopa-veza-dharaH prabhuH/ bahu-prema-rasenAtra mAsa-dvayam uvAsa ha// Moer information is given above, see note 12. 56. yarhy ambujAkSApasasAra bhavAn kvacit kurUn madhUn vAtha suhRd-didRkSayA, etc. 57. Locana-rocanI to BRS 3.4.76; nityAvasthAM cAtra kaimutyena gaty-antara-svIkAreNa ca zrImad-bhAgavate darzitam, eSAM ghoSa-nivAsinAm uta bhavAn kiM deva rAteti naH (x.14.35) etc. ..tasya teSu nitya-prAptes teSAm tat-praptez cAnAdi-kalpa-paramparA-prAptatvAn nityAvasthAnAm avagamyate...

<h3>Prabodhananda in the works of the Radha-vallabhi school</h3> Rather unexpectedly for those who only know Prabodhananda in the light of the Gaudiya school and CCA, much light is shed on his identity in the primarily Brajabhasha works of authors of the Radha-vallabhi sect. Hariram Vyas of Orcha, a contemporary of Harivams who had connections to the Gaudiya school through Madhavendra Puri, but whose devotion to Harivams far outstripped that which he felt for Rupa, Sanatan or Chaitanya,(<u>52</u>) poem in praise of Prabodhananda. There he is described as he is best known to the Radha-vallabhi school -- the author of a number of rasika works on devotion to Radha and Krishna in Vrindavan. Vyas indicates that the particular name of the deity to whom Prabodhananda was devoted was Radha-vallabha, the iSTa of Harivams. (<u>53</u>) He is described as giving up his wife and family to become the slave of ravi-sutA Radha. (<u>54</u>) The next reference to Prabodhananda found in Radha-vallabhi sources is in a commentary written by Harivams's son Krishna Chandra on his own work, KarNAnanda, which was completed in 1578. He writes that the work he had undertaken was finished by Prabodhananda. (<u>55</u>) Bhagavat Mudita is another author who, like Hariram Vyas, lived on a hazy, ill-defined line between the Gaudiya and Radha-vallabhi schools. He was the son of Madhava Mudita, divan of Agra's subedar, Shuja al-Mulk. The commentator on Nabha Das’ Bhakta-mala states that he was the disciple of Haridas, the head priest of the Govinda temple in Vrindavan and that his father was a disciple of Nityananda (which is rather unlikely). (<u>56</u>) His relation to the Gaudiya school is confirmed in his own Rasika Ananya Mala (dated between 1650-1665), (<u>57</u>) which starts with obeisances to Chaitanya and Nityananda. In spite of this, it is clear that Bhagavat Mudita's affections lie with Harivams and the Radha-vallabhi holy men, whom he chose to glorify in this work, the first real history of the Radha-vallabhi school. Bhagavat Mudita also rendered a portion of Prabodhananda's work VMA into Brajabhasha as Vrindavan sataka (AD 1651). This version faithfully translates the four verses in which Chaitanya's name is to be found (1-3, 89), indicating beyond any doubt that the Prabodhananda who was devoted to Chaitanya and this Prabodhananda are one and the same person. (<u>58</u>) We give here a full translation of Bhagavat Mudita's biography of Prabodhananda as given in the Rasika Ananya Mala(<u>59</u>) : <blockquote>(dohä) Hearing Harivams's songs, Prabodhananda went to him. From him he learned the pleasure of the nitya-vihAra and he gave up the joys of Brahman. Prabodhananda was a sannyasin who was initiated in the impersonal philosophy. Though a second Saraswati who conquered all directions with his learning, he was a scholar who lacked humility. He came to Vrindavan from Kashi and stayed there for one month in great happiness. He visited all its temples and spiritual leaders, and though he heard them speak, he was not convinced by any of them. Then one day he met Paramananda, a rasika devotee, [a wealthy disciple of Harivams who lived in Mathura] and in their discussions both felt their minds to blossom. When they discussed the concept of nitya-vihAra, however, Prabodhananda could not accept it. Paramananda cited evidence from the Sruti, Smriti and itihasas. Then, citing the Sanaka-samhita and Brihad-Vamana-Purana, he told him that Man Sarovar was a fitting place to go if one wished to experience the nitya-vihAra. When Prabodhananda heard these things, he started to develop some faith and affection for the concept. Thus, on the full moon day of Vaishakh, he went to Man Sarovar and started to meditate with concentration. On seeing the cows there he was very pleased, but soon afterwards he became depressed [at not getting any visions of Krishna lila]. In middle of the night the deserted area became a frightening place, with lions and lionesses roaming all about, and Prabodhananda started to become anxious on hearing them roar. He also saw male and female cobras, but was not afraid though they tried to frighten him off. The wind started to blow and then it began to rain. Then a cool, gentle and sweet-scented breeze came, bringing pleasure to his entire body. Finally Prabodhananda fell asleep, and in his deep slumber he forgot his body entirely. Kunja Bihari Krishna thought, “This man has no right to be here; he still has a great deal to accomplish, for without the association of rasikas, one's erroneous ideas do not go away. Though he has come as far as this cottage in Mathura, he is not worthy of staying at Man Sarovar." When Prabodhananda awoke in the morning, it came to him that the nitya-vihAra is truly joy-bestowing. He knew Paramananda's words to have been true and his own stubbornness to have been falsely based. So he went to see Paramananda and told him of his experience at Man Sarovar. “Everything that you said was true; please bestow the joy of the nitya-vihAra on me'. Paramananda then thought that he should tell Prabodhananda who really could bestow such rasa on him. “If you serve the feet of Harivams, you will learn the secrets of this rasa.” Upon hearing this, Prabodhananda went to Vrindavan and was introduced to Harivams, which gave him great pleasure. Though Paramananda spoke well of Prabodhananda, Harivams thought to himself, “This man is a renunciate and I am a householder; nevertheless his affection attracts my mind.” Prabodhananda served Harivams and thus he became even stronger in his faith, and soon he took instruction from him about the nitya-vihAra. He wrote a song of praise in eight verses about Harivams and always fixed his mind in meditation on his feet. When he heard these verses, Harivams became kind to him and told him the ways of the eternal love (riti) and decided to fulfill his desires. He recounted to him all about the joys of nitya-vihAra and revealed that ocean of happiness to his eyes just as one candle lights another. Prabodhananda no longer had any doubts about this principle. He began to meditate seriously and wrote Vrindavan sataka. His mind was ever fixed on the wealth of joy of the conjugal duo of Radha-Krishna (dampati) and his pleasure was in the spiritual master, his chosen deity and the saintly persons. Learning the ways of exclusive devotion he took to the path as set forth by Harivams. In his desire to attain to Radha-vallabha, he took a vow to remain in Vrindavan. He described the rasa of the nitya-vihAra in a way that drenches the hearts of the devotees. He constantly sang of the intimate dalliances of Radha and Krishna and kept a firm faith in the land of Vrindavan. He wrote many books on the mysteries of the groves (kunja) [of Braj] the essence of which only experienced rasika devotees can understand. (dohä) Bhagavat Mudita says that the teaching of Prabodhananda is as authoritative as the Veda, giving joy to the exclusive rasika devotees.</blockquote> Snataka suggests the date of 1539 for Prabodhananda's arrival in Braj, but does not state the basis for this conjecture. (<u>60</u>) Two things stand out in Bhagavat Mudita's account in view of what we already know about Prabodhananda: The first is his identification as an impersonalist sannyasi coming from Kashi. The second is that it does not tell us anything about Prabodhananda's previous relation with Chaitanya! In view of Bhagavat Mudita's translation of Vrindavan sataka, where four verses are dedicated to Chaitanya, this seems most astonishing and certainly requires an attempt at at least a hypothetical explanation. It would appear that this book, written for the benefit of the Radha-vallabhis, deliberately suppressed any mention of Chaitanya’s influence on Prabodhananda in order to place Harivams in a more glorious light. Prabodhananda's aSTaka glorifying Harivams(<u>61</u>) is the first external evidence attesting Harivams's existence. (<u>62</u>) It shows that Prabodhananda was primarily impressed by Harivams's songs, particularly those concerning Krishna's lila, and by his voice (verses 1, 2, 3), even describing him as the incarnation of Krishna's flute, which is of course an interpretation of the name Harivams itself. According to Prabodhananda, devotion to Radha and Krishna could be had from Harivams (5); the moons of Radha's toenails (nakhara-pada-candrAM) illuminate the sky of his heart and, in the form of a girlfriend “attained by feeling” (bhAva-labdhAlI-mUrtiH), he is present in Radha's pleasure grove (6) where he serves Radha and Krishna by their direct order (8). Though Prabodhananda does indicate that Harivams was “like a thunderbolt that easily beheads the mountain of pride” (7), indicating perhaps an element of truth in Bhagavat Mudita’s biography, the overall mood of this aSTaka is rather more reserved in its glorification of Harivams than that of Chaitanya found in Chaitanya Chandramrita. There is no evidence within these verses that Prabodhananda considered Harivams to be his own spiritual master. In later works of the Radha-vallabhi school, Prabodhananda is given considerable importance, particularly as one who demonstrated dedication to residing in the holy abode of Vrindavan. In terms of biographical information, however, they add nothing at all to Bhagavat Mudita's account. (<u>63</u>) <hr><font color=#9f6f9f>NOTES 52. Hariram Vyas was initiated by his own father Shukla, a disciple of Madhava Das, a disciple of Madhavendra Puri. Thus he was already a follower of the principles of madhura-rasa or sakhi bhajan before coming to Vrindavan where he met Harivams, which he probably did shortly after arriving there, i.e., circa 1540. He makes no reference to Prabodhananda's connection to Chaitanya, but he also wrote verses in praise of Rupa and Sanatan without mentioning their sectarian affiliation. He also wrote praises of Swami Haridas, another Vaishnava luminary of the same period, but appears to have had the greatest respect for Harivams, whom he refers to as his guru on more than one occasion. Cf. Vasudeva Gosvami, Bhakta kavi Vyasji(Mathura: Agrawal Press, 1953). 53. jin rAdhA-vallabh kI lIlA-ras men sab ras ghore etc, (ibid, 195). 54. (ibid.) jAyA mAyA gRha dehI soM, ravi-sutA bandhan chore. This should not be taken to mean that he did so after encountering Harivams. 55. karNAnandAbhidho granthaH kRSNa-dAsena nirmitaH/ taT-TIkA ca tad-ArabdhA zrI-prabodhena pUritA//; Lalita Charan Goswami, op. cit., 558. 56. chappay 198. He may have been the disciple of a descendant of Nityananda's. 57. Rasika ananya mAla, (ed.) Lalita Prasad Purohit (Vrindavan, 1961), 7. 58. (ed.) Vamshi Das Baba (Vrindavan, no date), 1-3, 63. Bhagavat Mudita confirms. that he was the disciple of a HaridAsa, servant of Govinda (ibid., 90-1). 59. (ed.) Lalita Prasad Purohit (Vrindavan, 1951), 25-27. 60. Vijayendra Snataka, RAdhA-vallabha-sampradAy: siddhAnta aur sAhitya, 2nd ed. (Delhi, National Publishing House, 1968), 118. 61. Published in Rasika ananya mala, 99-100. 62. Cf. Snell, op.cit., 5. 63. Hita DhruvadAsa's Bhakta-nAmAvali, 29: yugala-prema rasa-avadhi meM paryau mana jAi/ vRndAvana rasa-mAdhurI gAI adhika laRAi//; Chacha Hit Vrindavan Das's Rasika-ananya-paracAvali, 125: zrI harivaMza udAra gopya rasa-rIti bakhAnI/ tAhI mata ArUDha gUDha guna keli ju gAnI// sarva dharma saba dhAmaziromaNi yaha vana-rasa hai/ binA bAsa rasa parasi bhaye binu manu nara pasu hai// jauM kInhau kathana kRpAlu hvai vRndAvana mama hohu gati/ mahA madhura rasa meM rasika bhaye prabodhAnanda ati//; Cf.also Govinda Aliji's Ananya-rasika-gAthA, 69. etc.</font>

Please read again. It can mean both, at least according to Baladeva: nanv ubhayoH sainyayos taulyAt tavaiva vijayaM katham ity Azankya sva-sainyAdhikyam Aha aparyAptam iti | aparyAptam aparimitam asmAkaM balam | tatrApi bhISmeNa mahA-buddhimatAtirathenAbhirakSatam | eteSAM pANDavAnAM balaM tu paryAptaM parimitam | tatrApi bhImena tuccha-buddhinArdharathenAbhirakSitam | ataH siddha-vijayo’ham ||10||

Narayan Maharaj may accomplish a coup-d'état, but what then? What happens when he dies? Same thing. There is NO chance of his being successful. Believe it or not, Iskcon has made certain institutional progress since 1977. Spiritual progress is another matter. Jagat

<h3>The nature of the devotion imbibed by Prabodhananda from Chaitanya </h3> Prabodhananda apparently came to appreciate the supremacy of Radha from Caitanya, for he says that Hari, in his form as Gaura, exhibited his devotion to the feet of Radha: svayaM vitanute rAdhA-padAbje ratim (87). As one progresses in devotion to Mahaprabhu, a pious person suddenly gets a vision of Radha's feet, which are an ocean of nectar (89). He prays for the time when by Chaitanya's mercy, upon attaining a pure, sincere love for Chaitanya, the light from the jewel-like toenails of Radha's feet will illuminate his heart. As we shall see later, the words “the light of the nails of Radha's feet would arise” (zrI-rAdhA-pada-nakha-jyotir udagAt; 86), “the ocean of the ambrosia of love [filled with] the new flavor of condensed brightness” (sAndrojjvala-nava-rasa-prema-pIyUSa-sindhoH, 88), “the ocean of nectar of Radha's lotus feet” (rAdhA-padAmbhoja-sudhAmbu-rAziH, 89) are all particularly redolent of the language found in RRSN and VMA. Furthermore, in a verse that bears close resemblance to a well-known Bengali song by Narahari Sarkar(<u>48</u>), Prabodhananda indicates that he takes Chaitanya to be the source of this type of devotion: <blockquote>Who'd have heard that the wonderful purpose of life is preman? Who would have known the glories of the names (of Krishna)? Who would have been able to enter into the tremendous sweetness of the forests of Vrindavan? And who would have known the extent of the amazing glories of the supreme rasa that is Radha? Chaitanya alone revealed all these things by his supreme mercy. (<u>49</u>)</blockquote> By the same token, different associates of Chaitanya developed different relations with Krishna through Chaitanya: the four chief relationships are listed, but those who were the luckiest attained “the sweet ocean of Radha-rasa” (anye dhanyatamA dhayanti madhuraM rAdhA-rasAmbho-nidhim; 113). Something similar to this is stated in the RRSN. (<u>50</u>) These verses show a knowledge of Rupa Goswami's gradation of the five rasas (BRS 2.5.6, etc.) Finally, it needs to be pointed out here that Prabodhananda showed a great enthusiasm for the antinomianism that was an apparent feature of Chaitanya's democratic religion. This, of course, was very much the mood of the early stages of the devotional movement as described in Chaitanya Bhagavata, etc. Chaitanya's merciful glance was sufficient to give what hundreds of years of spiritual practice might or might not give. As the movement became sanskritized, the necessity of various forms of sadAcAra became integral to the practice of devotion. Prabodhananda's insistence on bhakti's transcendence to any other practice, its independence from any kind of karman is evidenced by many verses in both this and other works, such as the one glorifying Vrindavan (e.g. VMA, 2.1, etc.). (<u>51</u>) In summary, the reputation enjoyed by Chaitanya Chandramrita in the Gaudiya world in the early 16th century was well-deserved. It was the first Sanskrit work that dealt with many aspects of Mahaprabhu’s personality and teachings that only much later were made current in Bengali through the Chaitanya Charitamrita. Since Krishna Das could conceivably have made use of this work to support many of his own ideas in the way that he made use of Karnapur, Raghunath Das, Rupa Goswami and Svarupa Damodar, the absence of any such reference in Chaitanya Charitamrita is all the more remarkable. <hr><font color=#9f6f9f>NOTES 48 Compare Narahari: gaurAnga nahita ki mene haita, kemane dharitAm de? rAdhAr mahimA prema-rasa-sImA jagate jAnAto ke? madhura vRndA vipina madhura, pravez cAturI sAr/ vrajer yuvatI-bhAver bhakati zakati haito kAr? This pada has often attributed to Basu Ghosh, but H. K. Mukhopadhyay has, presumably on the basis of reliable MSS, identified it as Narahari's. VaiSNava-padAvalI, 150-1. 49. premA nAmAdbhutArthaH zravaNa-patha-gataH kasya nAmnAM mahimnaH ko vettA kasya vRndAvana-vipina-mahA-mAdhurISu pravezaH/ ko vA jAnAti rAdhAM parama-rasa camatkAra-mAdhurya-sImAm ekaz caitanya-candraH parama-karuNayA sarvam AvizcakAra// 50. kecid dAsyam avApur uddhava-mukhAH zlAghyaM pare lebhire zrIdAmAdi-padaM vrajAmbuja-dRzAM bhAvaM ca bhejuH pare/ anye dhanyatamA dhayanti madhuraM rAdhA-rasAmbonidhiM zrI-caitanya-mahAprabhoH karuNayA no kasya kAH sampadaH// CCA, 113. dUre snigdha-paramparA vijayatAM dUre suhRn-maNDalI bhRtyAH santu vidUrato vraja-pater anyaH prasangaH kutaH/ yatra zrI-vRSabhAnujA kRta-ratiH kuñjodare kAminA dvAra-sthA priya-kinkarI param ahaM zroSyAmi kAñci-dhvanim// RRSN 74. dUre spRSTy-Adi vArtA na kalayati manAM nAradAdIn svabhaktAn zrIdAmAdyaiH suhRdbhir na milati ca hareH snigdha-vRddhiM sva-pitroH/ kintu premaika-sImAM madhura-rasa-sudhA-sindhu-sArair agAdha.m zrI-rAdhAm eva jAnan madhu-patir anizaM kuñja-vIthIm upAste// RRSN, 236. 51. CCA, 1: ati-vimaryAdA. See also verses 6, 7, 20, 23, 25, 50, 60, 61, 63, 64, et passim. VMA, 2.1: “Better that I should live here devoid of any devotion to Hari's feet and greedy for the most insignificant purposes than live elsewhere, even in the happiness of being initiated in the service to the feet of the lover of the gopis.”