SRI BRHAD BHAGAVATAMRTA verse 6

VERSE 6

param gopyam api snigdhe sisye vacyam iti srutih

tac chruyatam maha-bhaga goloka-mahimadhuna

O most fortunate one, it is the conclusion of the Vedas that the spiritual master can describe to an affectionate disciple even the most confidential truth.  Therefore, now you also should hear the glories of this Goloka.

DID-DARSINI-TIKA:  "Although this is the most confidential subject matter, still, I shall reveal it to you."  With such intention, Sril Jaimini speaks this verse beginning with param.  In the phrase,  "O maha- bhaga!" the adjective maha-bhaga, meaning 'most fortunate,' indicates that Janamejaya is a fit candidate to hear these confidential topics.  Sri Jaimini says,  "In particular, you have already heard from me about the glories of the Lord's dear most devotees (priyatama-jana).  Now, hear from me about the glories of their abode,  Sri Goloka.  since the glories of Goloka amount to nothing less than the glories of Sri Bhagavan and His most exalted devotees, this narration is indeed like nectar extracted from Srimad-Bhagavata."

VERSE 7

sri-krsna-karuna-sara-patra-nirdhara-sat-katham

srutvabhut paramananada-purna tava pitamahi

When your grandmother, Sri Uttara-devi, heard the excellent story about the quest to ascertain the topmost recipients of the essence of Sri Krsna's mercy, she experienced supreme pleasure. 

DIG-DARSINI-TIKA: Sri Jaimini says, "The recipient of the essence of Sri Krsna's mercy means the most exalted recipient of Sri Krsna's mercy.  Your grandmother, Sri Uttara-devi, became overjoyed upon hearing the super-excellent story about determining the identity of those recipients of mercy."

VERSE 8-9

tadrg-bhakti-visesasya gopi-kanta-padabjayoh

srotum phala-visesam tad-bhoga-sthanam ca sattamam

vaikunthad api manvana vimrsanti hrdi svayam

tac canakalayanti sa papraccha sri-pariksitam

Sri Uttara-devi had heard that the gopis' uncommon and indescribable devotion for the lotus feet of Sri Gopikanta, the Lord who is their beloved, yields a distinctly special fruit: an abode of enjoyment even superior to Vaikuntha.  Althoufh she tried to analyze this by her intelligence, she could not ascertain why this abode is the best of all.  She thus inquired from her son, Sri Pariksit.

DIG-DARSINI-TIKA:  Sri Jaimini says,  "Your grandmother, Sri Uttara-devi, was eager to hear about the specific result of performing extraordinary, ineffable bhakti (devotional service) to the lotus feet of Sri Gopikanta.  considering the place where that particular fruit is enjoyed (bhoga-sthana) to certainly be far superior to Sri Vaikuntha, she was eager to hear the glories of that pleasure ground.  'What kind of place is it?'  thinking this, your grandmother was unable to determine the nature of that abode, despite thorough investigation and reflection.  She therefore inquired from her son, Sri Pariksit, as follows."

 forgive me. i am an insignificant blogger who is blatent enough to add 2 cents to this great literature. i don't know, maybe i'm comic relief for the GREAT ONES, at any rate when you see BLUE that's the humble or rather audacious commentary of an aspiring sadhaka.

the thing is i love Srimad Bhagavatam. and by the mercy of my Gurus especially nitya lila pravista om visnupada astottara-sata Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja, i have been introduced to Sri Brhad-Bhagavatamrta.  There is a magic in reading the two books at the same time. i think it can't be explained but rather experienced.

but just see in these very early verses, immediately the subject is going straight to Goloka Vrndavana and the glories of the gopis.  so this is secret stuff and not for everybody but this is our gosvami's path. anyone following Sri Rupa and Sanatana Gosvami are in this line. 

We've heard from our acaryas that Srimad Bhagavatam is essentially a glorification of the gopis, especially one gopi. but how can we see that? it is Sri Brhad-Bhagavatamrta that makes that glorification more clear! :)

SRI BRHAD BHAGAVATAMRTA *verse 5*

verse 5

krsna-bhakti-rasambhodheh prasadad badarayaneh

pariksid-uttara-parsve nivisto 'srausam anjasa

By the mercy of Sri Sukadeva, who is an ocean of the nectar of devotion for Sri Krsna, I sat near Sri Uttara-devi and Sri Pariksit and listened to their conversation with one-pointed attention.

...the dig-Darsini-tika is sooo beautiful. so i hope all have this book and if you don't get it quick!

**here is another amazing aspect of out philosophy - it's not WHAT you know, rather WHO you know on this path. it's more important in the process of bhakti yoga because bhakti comes from bhakti.

  "As in the Bhagavad-gita, mat-prasadat param santim...mat-samstham adhigacchati...(BG 18.62), Krsna Himself speaks of His prasada, or mercy , as the means to attain supreme peace and His eternal abode.  This prasad takes the form of the Lord giving His devotee the power to confer the Lord's own krpa-sakti or mercy.  In other words, one receives the Lord's mercy through the mercy of the devotee who bestows it..." - Madhurya Kadambini by Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura - **

Sage Jaiamini gives all credit to his gurudeva, Sri Sukadeva Gosvami for allowing him to understand this conversation, SBB, and for allowing him to be in proximity of Pariksit and Uttara when they spoke.

when i get some little understanding on this path i have to admit i think i am getting it. but it is only by the mercy of my gurus that i can even put one foot in front of the other on this path...

...so. please Lord let me remember that their (my gurus) mercy is all that i am made of!

                                                                                                 ...this is bhakti's way!

SRI BRHAD BHAGAVATAMRTA *verse 4*

verse 4

 sri-jaiminir uvaca

naitat sva-saktito rajan vaktum jnatum ca sakyate

sarva-jnanam ca durjneyam brahmanubhavinam api

Sri Jaimini said"  O King, it is not possible to describe or understand that conversation by one's own power.  Even the crest jewels of omniscient personalities and even those who have realized Brahman find it hard to comprehend.

DIG-DARSINI-TIKA:  No one is capable of grasping this conversation by the power of mind and words.  to convey this idea, Sri Jaimini speaks this verse beginning with na.  He says,  "This narration of the glories of Goloka  (goloka-mahatmya) is the essence of the nectarean ocean of Srimad Bhagavatam.  It is incomprehensible even for perfected beings who are trikala-jna - who know past, present, and future - and even for liberated souls who have realized Brahman."  This statement indicates the rarity of knowledge about the glories of Sri Bhagavan and His eternal associates.

...i just read a verse in Bhagavatam 3.6.40:  Words, mind and ego, with their respective controlling demigods, have failed to achieve success in knowing the Supreme Personality of Godhead.  Therefore, we simply have to offer our respectful obeisances unto Him as a matter of sanity.

this is spoken by the great sage Maitreya to Vidura.  Maitreya is trying to convey to Vidura what he heard from Lord Krsna just before His departure.  Here he's showing a wonderful aspect of our philosophy, that the glories and attributes of the Lord can not be comprehended by our pea-brains, so we offer pranams to Him in any way that we can and follow our Gurudevas to develop pure love for This Amazing Personality.

Srila Prabhupada says in the purport to this Bhagavatam verse ...The only method for understanding the Supreme truth is devotional service...BG 18:55, bhaktya mama abhijanati yavan yas casmi tattvatah tato mam tattvato jnatva visate tad-anantaram - It is only through bhaki that one can know the tattva of My glories and svarupa.  One then enters My eternal pastimes through that tattva on the strength of prema-bhakti.

...this is the goal of bhakti yoga

                               ...this is the bhakti way

                                              ...today, how can i serve my Lord?

 

SRI BRHAD BHAGAVATAMRTA *verse 3*

verse 3

tan-mata-putrayor vidvan samvadah kathyatam tayoh

sudha-saramayo 'nyo 'pi krsna-padabja-lubdhayoh

Therefore, O best of sages, please narrate more of the nectarean conversation of both mother and son, who were greedy for the honey of Sri Krsna's lotus feet.

DIG-DARSINI-TIKA:  Sri Janamejaya says,  "Mother and son were greedy for the honey of Sri Krsna's lotus feet.  Please narrate their nectarean conversation, which is filled with many sweet stories and sub-stories.  Why?  Because you are the person most conversant with the topic discussed by these rasika devotees, who are skilled in relishing the transcendental mellows of loving relationship with the Lord."

...here is the essence of the human predicament.  really what we're interested in is loving relationships.  and as we progress in the yoga process we are eager to purify our interest in loving relationships and to ultimately direct out love and devotion to the Supreme and His associates...

Once, in Badger, Srila Gurudeva asked us what it is that we need to survive?  well we scrambled and hemed and hawed and came up with, uh, sadhu sanga? hmm, your instructions?  Guru seva? 

and Gurudeva said, No. wrong.

you need food.

oh, yeah, we thought.

and Gurudeva said, yes. we could not live long without food. and what else is a neccessity?

now we got the way this conversation was going and we said, Water!

Yes, gurudeva said, you can only live about 3 days without water. and what else do you need?

Air! its Air!  yes, said srila gurudeva you can only live a few minutes without air. You see the body is made from earth so it needs food that is from the earth.

and the body is  3/4 s  water so it needs water.

and there are so many airs in the body  so it needs air.

but the soul is made of another substance.

the soul is made of prema.

so prema is required.

love and affection are required

and

without love,

we

wouldn't

last a moment!

...that is the way of bhakti....

SRI BRHAD BHAGAVATAMRTA **verse 2**

verse 2

srimad-bhagavatambhodhi-piyusam idan apiban

na trpyami muni-srestha tvan-mukhambhja-vasitam

O topmost sage, despite heartily drinking the nectar of this great ocean of Srimad-Bhagavatam, which is scented with the fragrance of your lotus mouth, I am still not satiated.

...so this is King Janamejaya (the son of Parisit Maharaja), speaking to his guru, Jaimini (a prominent disciple of Vyasadeva).  and he's saying that even though he's heard now so much nectar from the ocean of Srimad Bhagavatm from the first canto of Bhagavatamrta and yet he still wants to hear more.

If you have read the first canto of Bhagavatamrta, http://www.purebhakti.com/resources/ebooks-a-magazines-mainmenu-63/cat_view/53-bhakti-books-download/31-english.html, you will remember that Sri Narada Muni is going from personality to personality asking who is the greatest recipient of Lord Krsna's mercy.  It is a delightful pastime where each personality like Hanuman is aghast thinking that anyone would think he is the greatest recipient of Krsna's mercy and telling Narada, 

"O best of sages why do you make this poor person, suffering due to separation from the lotus feet of Sri Raghunatha, cry by reminding me of his cruelty to me?  If I am really his servant, then why did he abandon me when he took his beloved devotees such as Sugurva and the residents of Ayodhya with him!  When soft hearted mahatmas like you see that I had the good fortune to serve Sri Raghunatha directly, you consider that he was very merciful to me, but it is not so.  

Now he has assumed an incarnation and descended in Mathura, exhibiting the pinnacle of his opulence.  The mercy that he gives the Pandavas is like the great Mt. Sumeru, and in caparison the mercy that he gave me is like a pebble.  By sending them so many troubles  since their childhood, Sri Krsna has broadcast to the world their patience, adherence to religious principles fame, transcendental knowledge, pure devotion and divine love." (Sri Hanuman)

so in this way these great devotees are sending Narada to higher and higher personalities culminating of course in the gopis.

that is the first canto. king Janmejaya is not saying that the first canto is insufficient in any way rather that he is anxious to hear more and more. this is the sign of a devotee. he can never hear enough about his sweet Lord!

SRI BRHAD BHAGAVATAMRTA *verse 1*

By the mercy of Sri Guru and Gauranga we now have the Second canto part 1 of Sri Brhad Bhagavatamrta by Srila Sanatana Gosvami and translated by nitya-lila-pravista om visnupada Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja.  As the Srimad Bhagavatam is the essence of Vedic literature, Sri Brhad Bhagavatamrta is the essence of Srimad Bhagavatam. So while reading Bhagavatam at top speed in http://oneyearbhagavatam.blogspot.com/ i thought it would be a powerful addition to read Sri Brihad Bhagavatamrta very slowly verse by verse.  

so...

om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya caksu unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah.

First of all i offer my heartfelt dandavat pranams unto the lotus feet of my spiritual master, nitya-lila-pravista om visnupada Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja and the same heartfelt dandavat pranams i offer unto the lotus feet of my siksa guru, nitya-lila-pravista om visnupada Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja. 

dandavat pranama unto all our Guru varga especially Srila Sanatana Gosvami to whom Sri Brhad Bhagavatamrta manifested, and unto all the devotees in the past, present and future, dandavat pranams.  

please excuse my innumerable  faults.

 i am reading and writing only for my own purification.

if i say anything inspiring that is what i've heard from my gurus and vaisnavas, if i say anything rotten that is from my own heart and i am asking you my dear readers to kindly correct me...

Srila Sanatana Gosvami is the elder brother of Sri Rupa Gosvami.  This Sri Brhad Bhagavatamrta is the first of all gosvami literatures.  All gosvami literature expands from this book.  This scripture is endowed with immense power to explain the different stages and places in the universal workings to bring one to Goloka Vrndavana Dhama. 

The first canto, Purva-khanda is called Sri Bhagavat-krpa-sara-nirdharana khanda, ( Ascertaining the Essence of the Mercy of the Supreme Lord). And the second canto is called Uttar-khanda, Sri Goloka-mahatmya-nirupana khanda, (Ascertainig the Glories of Sri Goloka).

The second canto part one has four chapters, (1)  Vairaya - Renunciation,  (2)  Jnana - Knowledge, (3) bhajana - Devotional Service and (4) Vaikuntha - The Spiritual World.  

The two cantos are separate histories. but as Srila Gurudeva writes, "Our worshipful author has not merely written two histories.  Rather, for facilitating the worship of the divine couple,  Sri Sri Radha-Krsna,he has thoroughly analyzed their Lordships' fundamental reality and nature."

Before beginning his commentary on his own book, Srila Sanatana Gosvami gives this mangalacarana,

srimac-caitanya-devaya tasmai bhagavate namah

yad-rupa-manim asritya citram nrtyatay ayam jadah

"I offer obeisances to the Supreme Lord, Sri Caitanya-deva.  By taking shelter of the jewel of His rupa (meaning both His beautiful form and Srila Rupa Gosvami), even a dull person like me can also dance astonishingly on the dais of the narration of this book."

Sri Brhad Bhagavatamrta: Canto 2, verse 1:

Sri Goloka-mahatmyam

The glories of Sri Goloka

namah sri-drsnaya bhagavate sri-radhika-ramanaya

"Abandoning any mood of  'I and mine,' I offer obeisance before Sri Krsna, the all-attractive reservoir of pleasure and the reservoir of limitless opulence, who brings delight to Srimati Radhika." 

FIRST CHAPTER 

VAIRAGYAM:  Renunciation

1.

sri-janamejaya uvaca

satyam sac-chastra-vargartha-sarah sangrya durlabhah

gudhah sva-matre pitra me krsna-premna prakasitah

Sri Janamejaya said:  O Gurudeva, truly, my father Sri Pariksit, who was overwhelmed with love for Krsna, gathered the confidential and rare essence of Srimad-Bhagavatam and all other scriptures that propound devotional service to Bhagavan.  He narrated this to his mother, Sri Uttara-devi.

King Janamejaya is the son of the great devotee, Maharaja Pariksit. Here he is inquiring from his guru, Jaimini.  Maharaja Pariksit heard the Srimad Bhagavatam from Sukadeva Gosvami in seven days and seven nights. In the space of time after the recital of Srimad Bhagavatam and the arrival of Taksaka the snake bird, Uttara, the mother of Maharaja Parkiksit asked him to explain the essence of what he had just heard.. This conversation between mother and son is this Bhagavatamrta.

Srila Sanatana Gosvami says,  " In the verse, the term sat-sastra, or transcendental scriptures, indicates the collection of scriptures such as Srimad-Bhagavatam that teach loving devotion to the Lord.  Janamejaya says,  'These books describe devotion to Sri Bhagavan and His eternal associates, which is the process by which the ultimate goal is achieved.  That devotion and the essential means to achieve it - are extremely rare...He (Pariksit) narrated this essence of all the devotional scriptures to his mother, Sri Uttara devi.  Although these topics are highly confidential, it is true that nevertheless, my father revealed them.  The cause of this revelation of truth is the love that my father, Sri Pariksit and his mother Sri Uttara devi, cherished for Sri Krsna.'"

Maharaja Pariksit is "overwhelmed with love for Krsna" and he will transmit this love to his mother.  This conversation is called Sri Brhad Bhagavatamrta, (the Essential Nectar of the Bhagavatam). Bhakti comes from bhakti.  As Maharaja Pariksit is overwhelmed with love for Radha and Krsna, he gives this pure love to his mother by means of this conversation. She recieved this message with pure love and our guru parampara is now allowing us a glimpse of this love laden literature called Sri Brhad Bhagavatamrta!

Stickle Burrs

they stick to you.
in Vrndavana,
L.A.,
Badger,
they stick to you.
it is there nature.
to stick.
i am praying to Srila Gurudeva and all acaryas that i can have that nature too and stick to this bhakti path and to stick closely to our great generals of Bhakti
at this time and all times
and that something
anything
of Their Divine Love,
may stick in my heart!

ys, gopa

Piano Lessons

Once upon a time, a long time ago, I took piano lessons.  I was a very little girl with very little discipline and the lessons were a struggle for me.  My teacher, Miss Bruni, was very, very old, had never married, and playing the piano was her life and soul and her everything.

I don't know what unfortunate karma my Miss Bruni possessed to have me as a student, but every week she came to my house and i hacked away at the lessons.  In the beginning there were scales.  Hours of scales:  one handed, two handed, major scales, minor ones, front ways, backwards, upside downwards ( no, not that last one.).  It was all very tedious and I wondered what any of it had to do with music.  Sometimes, usually on rainy days, she would feel sorry for me and ask me to switch places with her on the bench. And she would play her heart out.  Expertly she would play the most beautiful masterpieces: Mozart, Beethoven, Bach.  Crashing crescendos and tiny, tiny harp flutters; I saw her lost, completely absorbed.  I was mesmerized by the music and also relieved to get a break from the infernal scales...and when the hour was done she would write another practice scale in my lesson book, to be mastered by the next week...

So when I try to crystallize the greatest gift my siksa guru, Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja has given me, I am reminded of learning the piano. Scales are like sadhana or practice.  Sometimes all the rules and regulations on the bhakti path are so difficult to master.  So many anarthas and bad habits are in the way of bhakti.  Enthusiasm, patience, tolerance, humility, all good habits have to replace the old.  Even there may be no taste yet, as in a more advanced stage, but if we want to reach our goal, great endeavor must be made.

But then, sometimes, maybe when we're a little discouraged, maybe when we see ourselves making very little progress, or maybe when we've messed up real bad,  (the rainy days of our lives), then out of compassion Sri Guru may show us a little glimpse of what pure bhakti really is. Then again we are inspired to take up the process with full energy.

Sri Guru knows exactly what lessons (scales) we are to learn and prescribes them in a customized way for each disciple's progress.


Then one day Miss Bruni put a real piece of sheet music in front of me.  It was a simple classical piece by Schubert of Beethoven, can't remember, but I was completely absorbed in learning it. It took about a month, it was way too hard for me, but it was so beautiful...my fingers were strong and quick because of all the scales but the notation was so intricate that i had to memorize it stanza by stanza.

So when we finally get the sheet music, this is like following in the footsteps of the acaryas.   We aren't yet making music on our own but following very carefully those who are master musicians.  Sometimes my teacher would play a duet with me.  She would play the difficult part and I would get the easy one.  This is like when the spiritual master gives us some little service.  He's doing everything, even offering it to Krsna but we get to participate by following his instruction.

Finally, musically, (this I only know in theory as I never reached this stage), one can play music of one's own composition, spontaneously, as if flowing from the heart. And as far as my silly analogy can take us, this perfection compares to pure devotional service.

So as I try to fathom the enormity of the impact that our Srila Gurudeva has made in my life somehow i am reminded of piano lessons.  Sri Guru is the greatest of teachers because his instructions and even chastisements are given with implicit love...

So on this day so soon after his departure I am praying to him and all my gurus, that I may serve them lifetime after lifetime, that i may become a qualified, that I may practice sadhana and bhajana with full enthusiasm, (not like I did with piano) and that he will always show me the way, the bhakti way. ys, gopa