Pyari ji....Gyan, karam, yog and bhakti (part 5)

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continued...

 

AsAmahO carana renu jushamahaM zyAM

vRndAvane kimapi gulma latauSadhI nAM

yA dustyajaM svajana mArya pathaMca hitvA

bhejur mukunda padavIM zRti bhirvi mRgyAM

 

Bhagavatam 10.47.61

 

The great Jnani devotee Uddhava, the dedicated friend

of Sri Krishna prayed-

 

"O Sri Krishna!

How fortunate I would be, to become a grove, a creeper,

or a plant in the forest of VrindAvana, in order to be

blessed with the "foot-dust" of the Gopis,

who have cut off all bonds of worldly attachments and

attained the Highest state of Transcendental Bliss of Divine love,

which is being searched in Vedas, from time immemorial (but invain)!

 

Can any jnani of modern times even imagine to be as advanced as

the perfect jnani saint, Uddhava!

 

Of course in Kaliyuga, the prophet of Divine Name, Lord Caitanya deva

and his associates have given a thourough understanding of these

subtle facts to ordinary guillable seekers.

 

Sri Ropa said in BRS:

 

bhukti muktispRhA yAvat pizAcI hRdi vartate

tAvad bhakti sukhasyAtra katham abhyudayO bhavet

 

"So long as the two WITCHES in the form of 'bhukti'

and 'mukti' reside in the HEART of the individual soul,

the Goddess of Devotion CAN NOT manifest Herself."

 

Sri Krishnadas Kaviraja stated in CC. 1.7.85 :

 

paJcama purusSArtha premAnandAmRta-sindhu

moksSAdi Ananda yAra nahe eka bindu

 

For a devotee who is actually situated in the blissful ocean of

ultimate fifth spiritual pursuit of Prema Bhakti, the nectar of Divine

love, the pleasure derived from the lower four pursuits, like dharma,

artha, kama and mokSa, does not equal even to an insignificant drop."

 

Gauranga Mahaprabhu taught His devotees:

 

Selfless Divine Love devotion in its HIGHEST stage is greater than

Mukti or LIBERATION from the world of Maya.

 

As Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa would quote a Vaishnava dictum:

 

Lord declaring-

 

"I am NOT stringent in giving Liberation, but I am SO in case of Prema

Bhakti, selfless Divine Love."

 

An intimate associate of Lord Caitanya,

who was a Brahmanandi prior to his meeting of His

Beloved Lord, wrote in 'Caitanya Candramrita':

 

tAvadbrahmakathAvimuktipadavI tAvanna tiktIbhavet

tAvaccApi vizRnkhalatvamayate na lokavedasthitih//

tAvacchAstravidAM mitha kalakalo nAnA bahirvartmasu

zrIcaitanyapadAmbujapriyajano yAvanna dRggocarah//

 

The talks of Brahman and liberation will not become bitter;

the chains of worldly and vedic convention will not slacken;

the scholars will not give up wrangling over the holy writ,

and time will still be wasted in various extrenuous persuits,

as long as, within the range of one's vision, there is no votery

who is ever fondly attatched to drinking to excess the nectar

of Sri Caitanya's lotus-like beautiful feet.

 

Caitanya Candramrta 20

Sri Prabodhananda Saraswati

 

Jaya Sri Radhey!