Chapter 3: Kṛṣṇa’s Transcendental Flute
tri-jagan-mānasākarṣi-muralī-kala-kūjitaḥ
“He attracts the minds of all three worlds by the melodious vibration of His flute.”
The third quality mentioned by Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī as belonging exclusively to Kṛṣṇa and not to any other form of the Lord is that Kṛṣṇa is the player of the transcendental flute: tri-jagan-mānasākarṣi-muralī-kala-kūjitaḥ.
The transcendental sound that comes from Kṛṣṇa’s flute is so sweet it attracts all the universes, and there are millions and millions of universes in the sky. Everyone becomes half-mad and crazy when they hear the sweet sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute. The courtyard looks like the ocean, and the ocean like the courtyard. No one can conceive where this very sweet sound vibration is coming from. Brahmā and others, who are all expert about śabda, sound, are stunned to hear the miraculous sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute.
Service attraction
The transcendental sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute attracts His dear servitors’ hearts according to their own service mood. From only one sound, His various servitors get a variety of inspirations. Mother Yaśodā hears, “O Mother, I am hungry. Give Me some milk and butter, etc.” Yaśodā śūnye nanī dei mā bale, haila goṣṭhera belā śunaye rākhāle. The cowherd boys hear, “Kṛṣṇa wants to play with us. He wants our association.” Rādhārāṇī hears something else, and others hear something different. Everyone hears the same sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute according to their own service mood, and everyone is simply astonished and amazed to hear the miraculous sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute.
The original song is the sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute
Once, a lady from Russia asked me if it was all right to play music for Kṛṣṇa. She was very creative, but she said she never used the Name of Kṛṣṇa in her music. She wanted to know if it is possible to make advancement in Kṛṣṇa consciousness by playing music for Kṛṣṇa even though she never mentioned Kṛṣṇa’s Name.
I told her in order to get the highest benefit of life, it is necessary to make contact with the original sound vibration, and that sound is the sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute. I quoted the following śloka of Dhruva Mahārāj:
sthānābhilāṣī tapasi sthito ’haṁ
tvāṁ prāptavān deva-munīndra-guhyam
kāchaṁ vichinvann api divya-ratnaṁ
svāmin kṛtārtho ’smi varaṁ na yāche
When Viṣṇu asked Dhruva Mahārāj to accept a boon from Him, Dhruva Mahārāj said, “Why should I accept a boon from You? You are like a jewel standing before me, and I have come searching for a broken piece of glass. When I see You standing before me, You appear like a jewel. Why should I accept a broken piece of glass?”
This is the real song, and this is the sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute. All vibrations in this material world come from Kṛṣṇa’s flute, and that vibration travels everywhere. It is not only in this world, but it is in the transcendental world as well. All songs in this world are illuminated and activated by the sweet sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute.
Illumination and activation
Through the effulgence of light, we can see everything, but we can’t see the effulgence’s source, the original light. When we are connected with the original light, we automatically see the effulgence. It is not necessary to try and see only the effulgence separately from the original light. This idea is stated in another way in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.20.19):
na rarājoḍupaś chhannaḥ sva-jyotsnā-rājitair ghanaiḥ
ahaṁ-matyā bhāsitayā sva-bhāsā puruṣo yathā
“When a cloud covers the moon, we cannot see the moon, but we see the cloud because of the effulgence of the moon.”
The original sound is the sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute in the transcendental world, and because of this, all songs in this world are illuminated and activated. Everything in this world is activated by the sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute.
When we get a connection with the original sound, the sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute, everything in this world becomes sach-chid-ānandamaya — perfect. Sometimes we try to get pleasure here through songs, and we may get ecstatic feelings, but they are nothing compared to the feelings that come from the transcendental song of Kṛṣṇa’s flute. Once we get that connection, any song we sing must be for the glorification of Kṛṣṇa because the original song of everything comes from Kṛṣṇa’s flute.
Tānsen’s Guru
Once there was a famous singer in India named Tānsen. When he sang, a cloud would form in the sky, fire would manifest, and rain would fall. He was the king’s musician and a great singer. His Guru was Haridās. King Akbar asked Tānsen where he had learned to sing so nicely.
Tānsen said he had not really learned anything but had only learned a small percentage from his Guru, Haridās. He said, “If you hear my Guru sing, you will never forget it.”
Akbar asked Tānsen if he could bring his Guru to him, but Tānsen said his Guru would never come to a king’s assembly because he did not live within the jurisdiction of a king. He lived within the Lord’s jurisdiction.
Akbar was very intelligent and said, “I want to see your Guru at least one time. Can you take me to him?”
Tānsen said, “You can see my Guru, but you can’t hear his song. His song is a transcendental song, and you are not qualified to hear that song. His mercy has given me some power, and through that everything is revealed to me.”
Still, Akbar wanted to hear Haridās sing.
Haridās sang early in the morning. He glorified Kṛṣṇa and lived in a thatched hut, so Akbar dressed in ordinary clothes and went to hear him sing. After Akbar heard Haridās sing, he was stunned. He fell at Haridās’ feet.
Later Haridās’ Guru, Śivajī, gave his entire kingdom to Haridās. Haridās said he had taken his kingdom because he was Śivajī’s disciple, and Śivajī wanted him to take it. Haridās asked Akbar to try and protect everything nicely.
This is a long story but the meaning is that through the light of the transcendental sound vibration, everything in this world is activated. All songs in this world are activated by the sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute. All sounds are transmitted through ether, and ether is mundane. If we can connect our songs with the transcendental song, which means the transcendental sound vibration of Kṛṣṇa’s flute, our songs will become transcendental.
Sound: shadow and reality
It is said in the Vedic Scriptures that sound is śabda-brahma — it is a spiritual vibration. It exists on the borderline of Goloka. When sound in this world gets a connection with the spiritual world, it must go to Kṛṣṇa. Here all sounds come through the flute of Kṛṣṇa, but they are shadow sounds. When the shadow takes form, it becomes reality. It has pure form. Since the mere shadow can give us so much pleasure, how much pleasure can the real song give us? Because of this we need to search for that reality.
It is also said in the Vedas that sound is the origin of the Vedas, and that the Vedas are a transcendental sound vibration, not a mundane vibration. They are called sat-guṇa or veda-guṇa. Everything in this world comes through transcendental vibrations, and everything here is activated by those vibrations which come from Kṛṣṇa’s flute.
Kṛṣṇa’s flute is the original song and the life of the whole creation. Song is good no doubt, and if it is good here, it must be even better there. We can say Kṛṣṇa’s flute song is the super-most excellent song.
Stunned by sound
Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī has composed many ślokas glorifying the sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute.
rundhann ambu-bhṛtaś chamatkṛti-paraṁ kurvan muhus tumburuṁ
dhyānād antarayan sanandana-mukhān vismāpayan vedhasam
autsukyāvalibhir baliṁ chaṭulayan bhogīndram āghūrṇayan
bhindann aṇḍa-kaṭāha-bhittim abhito babhrāma vaṁśī-dhvaniḥ
“The sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute travels throughout the entire transcendental and material worlds. It encompasses everything with joy, ecstasy, beauty, and charm. Everything takes form from that wonderful sound. When Lord Brahmā hears the sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute, he wonders where it comes from. Everyone is astonished to hear the sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute. Anantadev, who holds the rarth on his head, turns his head after hearing the sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute.”
Gāyatrī, the flute-song
When Lord Brahmā took birth from the lotus flower born from the navel of Lord Viṣṇu, he saw everything was dark. He tried to remember who he was and where he had come from, but he couldn’t understand anything. Then he heard one sound, and that was tapa. He was awakened by that sound and began to search where it had come from and which sound he should meditate on. Then, he heard the sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute, and that was the sound of the gāyatrī-mantram.
Guru Mahārāj said, gāyatrī muralīṣṭa-kīrtana-dhanaṁ Rādhā-padaṁ dhīmahi. The gāyatrī-mantram is the original song of Kṛṣṇa’s flute. We should try and connect with that song. Songs are good here, but if we are addicted to mundane songs, we will be cheated. When we know that songs are very beautiful, tasteful, and charming here, we should try and connect with the original song.
The flute sings the glories of Śrī Rādhā
The extreme explanation of Kṛṣṇa’s flute is given by Om Viṣṇupād Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj. He said, “Everything comes from the flute of Kṛṣṇa. All mantras including the whole gāyatrī-mantram come from Kṛṣṇa’s flute. Gāyatrī muralīṣṭa-kīrtana-dhanaṁ Rādhā-padaṁ dhīmahi. What is the heart of the sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute? The heart of that sound is Rādhārāṇī because without Rādhārāṇī, Kṛṣṇa cannot think of anything.
rāya kahe, “kṛṣṇa haya ‘dhīra-lalita’
nirantara kāma-krīḍā — yā̐hāra charita”
Kṛṣṇa is always playing with Rādhārāṇī, so without Rādhārāṇī, He cannot think of anything. Therefore, Śrīla Guru Mahārāj said, “If you want to meditate on the gāyatrī-mantra, take shelter of the lotus feet of Rādhārāṇī. You need to meditate on the gāyatrī-mantra to fulfil your spiritual desires. You will be supremely benefited if you try to understand the meaning of the gāyatrī-mantra.”
Gāyatrī muralīṣṭa-kīrtana-dhanaṁ. Muralī means flute, and iṣṭa means “what one wants to express”, and that is the glories of Rādhārāṇī; the beauty of Rādhārāṇī and everything concerning Rādhārāṇī. Everything about Rādhārāṇī has come from the flute-song of Kṛṣṇa. The gāyatrī-mantra has simultaneously come from the sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute. The whole gāyatrī-mantra has given us this inspiration.
Prachodayāt means what you meditate on must go to the lotus feet of Rādhārāṇī. Go there. Go where you will get gold and diamonds. Go to the gold mine for gold. Go to the diamond mine for diamonds. Don’t go to the coal mine to search for gold. If you want gold, go to the gold mine. You won’t get it in the market. It is in a special and protected area guarded by Śrīla Jīva Goswāmī and others.
Śrīla Guru Mahārāj said:
śrī-gaurānumataṁ svarūpa-viditaṁ rūpāgrajenādṛtaṁ
rūpādyaiḥ pariveśitaṁ raghu-gaṇair āsvāditaṁ sevitam
jīvādyair abhirakṣitaṁ śuka-śiva-brahmādi-sammānitaṁ
śrī-rādhā-pada-sevanāmṛtam aho tad dātum iśo bhavān
If you want the property of service to Lord Kṛṣṇa, service to your lover Kṛṣṇa, surrender to Rādhārāṇī and go there.
How to approach Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī
When Kṛṣṇa would enter the forest of Vṛndāvan playing His flute, He would beautify it with the marks of His footprints. He had a peacock feather ornament on His head, blue karṇikāra flowers on His ears, a yellow garment as brilliant as gold, and a garland made of Vṛndāvan wild flowers.
As He would play His flute, birds would rise to the top of the trees, stop their singing, and simply listen to Him playing His flute.
prāyo batāmba vihagā munayo vane ’smin
kṛṣṇekṣitaṁ tad-uditaṁ kala-veṇu-gītam
āruhya ye druma-bhujān ruchira-pravālān
śṛṇvanti mīlita-dṛśo vigatānya-vāchaḥ
When I first came to the Maṭh, I would sometimes do exercises as I had a lot of energy. Guru Mahārāj told me it wasn’t necessary to do exercises. He said if I took a shovel and worked in the garden, I would get plenty of exercise.
I planted many fruit trees — mango, guava, papaya, jackfruit, fig, chico, and many banana trees. Then, so many birds came, and they are still there. There are so many different varieties, and they are always singing beautiful songs. I can see them all day long from my veranda. They play happily all day and live in the peaceful environment of the Maṭh. They never quarrel, and even sometimes they are completely silent. I think this is all the mercy of Guru Mahārāj.
As Kṛṣṇa would wander, the gopīs would lament that the bamboo flute was enjoying the nectar of Kṛṣṇa’s lips, which was meant for them, gopyaḥ kim ācharad ayaṁ kuśalaṁ sma veṇur Dāmodarādhara-sudhām api gopikānām (SB: 10.21.9), and the peacocks would dance madly when they heard the sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute.
vṛndāvanaṁ sakhi bhuvo vitanoti kīṛtiṁ
yad devakī-suta-padāmbuja-labdha-lakṣmi
The deer would come and worship Kṛṣṇa when they would hear the sweet sound of His flute.
dhanyāḥ sma mūḍha-gatayo ’pi hariṇya etā
yā nanda-nandanam upātta-vichitra-veśam
And the cows and calves would drink the nectar flowing out of Kṛṣṇa’s flute.
gāvaś cha kṛṣṇa-mukha-nirgata-veṇu-gīta
pīyūṣam uttabhita-karṇa-puṭaiḥ pibantyaḥ
nadyas tadā tad upadhārya mukunda-gītam
āvarta-lakṣita-manobhava-bhagna-vegāḥ
āliṅgana-sthagitam ūrmi-bhujair murārer
gṛhṇanti pāda-yugalaṁ kamalopahārāḥ
When the rivers of Vṛndāvan would hear Kṛṣṇa’s flute, their minds would become agitated, and the flow of their currents would break. Their water would rush in whirlpools, and with outstretched arms, they would try to embrace Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet with offerings of lotus flowers.
Gāyatrī-mantram, the original song of Kṛṣṇa’s flute
This morning when I went down to attend ārati, I saw our Maṭh’s logo written on the Temple. I noticed how nicely it was decorating the Temple. In the center is a lotus flower (the disciple) which is sheltered in the water of Śrī Gurudev from the shining sun of Om, or Kṛṣṇa. Below is the flute of Kṛṣṇa with its divine sound, the song of liberation, descending into this world. Around the outside there is one line from Śrīla Guru Mahārāj’s explanation of the gāyatrī-mantra: Gāyatrī muralīṣṭa kīrtana-dhanaṁ Rādhā-padaṁ dhīmahi.
Singing, dancing, liberation
Gāyatrī means gānāt trāyate iti gāyatrī, which means a type of song which if you sing, you will get liberation. This is such a nice process. Simply by singing and dancing, you will get liberation! This is the gāyatrī-mantra, and this is the original sound, the sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute: gānāt trāyate.
Nowhere else in the material world has anyone ever given such a nice explanation of the transcendental sound vibration coming from Kṛṣṇa’s flute. No religion can make this statement: simply chant and dance and you will get liberation!
Gāyatrī: Rādhā-dāsyam
What is the form of the gāyatrī-mantra? Guru Mahārāj said, muralīṣṭa kīrtana-dhanaṁ. Muralī means the flute of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa’s flute is for singing. It is not for blasting or for making violence. It is for making the heart peaceful — and a very sweet sound has come from Kṛṣṇa’s flute.
What does Kṛṣṇa’s flute sing? If you sing, you must have a purpose, a target, a meter, or a regulated flow, and that target is the Name of Rādhārāṇī. No other sound comes from Kṛṣṇa’s flute, only “Rādhe, Rādhe, Rādhe, Rādhe, Rādhe”, and that sound comes in a variety of different ways.
We can conceive something about the character of Kṛṣṇa’s flute from Raghunāth Dās Goswāmī’s character. Every day in Vṛndāvan he sang:
rādhe vṛndāvana-vilāsinī rādhe rādhe
rādhe kanu-mano-mohinī rādhe rādhe
rādhe aṣṭa-sakhīra śiromaṇi rādhe rādhe
Vṛndāvana-vilāsinī Rādhe Rādhe, Rādhe kanu-mano-mohinī, Rādhe Rādhe. The last words are Rādhe, Rādhe. Every day in the Rādhā-Dāmodar Temple in Vṛndāvan, they sing this song. Every day while walking on the road or sitting at his bhajan place, Śrīla Gaura Kiśor Dās Bābājī Mahārāj would sing this song. This sound is the only sound that comes from Kṛṣṇa’s flute, and it has manifested itself and spread itself all over the transcendental and material worlds. We get this information from the Rāsa-līlā of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam.
The original call of Kṛṣṇa’s flute is a call for everyone
When Kṛṣṇa wants to begin the Rāsa dance, He first calls the gopīs by playing His flute. Only one call comes from Kṛṣṇa’s flute, and that is a clarion call.
Once a Vaiṣṇava used the term “clarion call”. What does this term mean?
Devotee: It was a term used in the Middle Ages to wake the troops up for battle. It isn’t used much anymore. It also means a loud and clear call. Any call that is loud and clear is a clarion call.
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj: Very good! What is its origin?
Devotee: It comes from the Christian tradition.
Śrīla Govinda Mahārāj: That is very nice, but it is not their father’s property. It is the property of all the jīva-souls. It is not the property of Hindus or Christians or anyone. It is the property of all the jīva-souls. The original clarion call of Kṛṣṇa’s flute is a call for everyone.
How can we understand this? We understand this through Śrīla Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur. Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur wrote in one song, jīva jāga jīva jāga Gaurachā̐da bale. Is this the clarion call or not? Kata nidrā yāo māyā-piśāchīra kole. We are asleep, and the clarion call comes and says, “Wake up, wake up you sleeping soul! You are sleeping in the lap of illusion.”
The Upaniṣads also say, “Uttiṣṭhata jāgrata prāpya varān nibodhata: wake up, arise, and search for Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Reality the Beautiful, where you will get love for Kṛṣṇa!” The Upaniṣads, Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur, and Kṛṣṇa’s flute, all — the gist of that sound is muralīṣṭa kīrtana-dhanaṁ. Kṛṣṇa is attracted only by His Divine Potency. She is Rādhārāṇī. She is serving Kṛṣṇa wholeheartedly and very extensively with Her associates; therefore, Kṛṣṇa is always thinking of Her.
But the sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute is not only meant for madhura-rasa, where the chief is Rādhārāṇī, but for all the other rasas as well. All other rasas are maintained by madhura-rasa, and maintaining means preserving, so the sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute is preserving and maintaining all the other rasas.
Kīrtana-dhanam — the real wealth of our life
Generally we refer to the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahāmantra, or any devotional song, as either kīrtan or saṅkīrtan. We use these terms interchangeably, but there is a little difference between them. Kīrtan means when one person is glorifying the Lord, and saṅkīrtan means, bahubhir militvā yat kīrtanaṁ tad eva saṅkīrtanam: when a group of devotees gather together for kīrtan, what comes from their melted hearts, that is saṅkīrtan. Saṅkīrtan is congregational chanting with the mood of tolerance, humility, and giving honour to others.
But here our Śrīla Guru Mahārāj has specifically mentioned kīrtana-dhanam. It is a very particular word. Kīrtan is not only meant for everyone, but kīrtana-dhanam means it is the “wealth of our life”. Through kīrtan we will get everything. Through kīrtan, we will get full and complete entrance into the Rāsa-līlā where Kṛṣṇa is playing and chanting and dancing with the Vraja-gopīs. This is the real wealth of our life, and this is the wealth for all the liberated jīva-souls as well. This is why Śrīla Guru Mahārāj said not only kīrtan, but kīrtana-dhanaṁ when he gave his explanation of the gāyatrī-mantra. Kīrtan is the wealth of our life.
Kṛṣṇa’s flute has its own freedom
Then Guru Mahārāj said, gāyatrī muralī. Kṛṣṇa’s flute is not only a bamboo stick. It is not just made of metal, but it has its own life. It is chetan; it has a conscious form. It is a conscious living being.
Kṛṣṇa’s flute has its own desire and its own freedom for service to Him. Everyone has freedom. Kṛṣṇa has given freedom to everyone, so Kṛṣṇa’s muralī has iṣṭa kīrtana-dhanaṁ. Iṣṭa kīrtan means a desirable kīrtan. His flute has freedom to perform its own kīrtan, and this is how Kṛṣṇa’s flute will be happy.
sakhi murali viśāla-chchhidra-jālena pūrṇā
laghur ati-kaṭhinā tvaṁ granthilā nīrasāsi
tad api bhajasi śaśvach chumbanānanda-sāndraṁ
hari-kara-parirambhaṁ kena puṇyodayena
This śloka of Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī praises Kṛṣṇa’s muralī because Kṛṣṇa’s muralī has its own life. It is performing its own iṣṭa kīrtan. Iṣṭa kīrtan means a desirable and palatable song, and I can see this everywhere. I can see this in everyone’s eyes.
Śrī Garga-saṁhitā fully describes the glories of Rādhārāṇī. Whenever I open the Garga-saṁhitā, I immediately see this, and I am sure this must be the mercy of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj. When I stand in the ārati ceremony and see gāyatrī muralīṣṭa-kīrtana-dhanaṁ written in our Maṭh logo, my brain is working.
The word dhīmahi in gāyatrī is very famous in Sanskrit literature. Two words are present most in gāyatrī-mantrams: dhīmahi and prachodayāt. The last word of the meditation is prachodayāt. It’s not that we will only meditate, but the mantram will pressure us to serve Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.
We need to know the spiritual regulations and injunctions, chodanāṁ pratichodanām. That scriptural advice is found in the Vedas, Upaniṣads, Bhagavad-gītā, Mahābhārata, etc.
Śruti and smṛti: Bhagavad-gītā is smṛti, and śruti is Vedānta, Upaniṣads, etc. But here chodanām means preraṇa, inspiration. What kind of inspiration? Forceful inspiration — inspiring forcefully. The mantram’s nature is like that: to capture the jīva-soul’s mind through inspiration and forcefully engage one in the service of Rādhārāṇī. This is the extraordinary meaning Śrīla Guru Mahārāj has given of the gāyatrī-mantra: gāyatrī muralīṣṭa-kīrtana-dhanaṁ Rādhā-padaṁ dhīmahi.
Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s hidden glories
The glories of Rādhārāṇī are fully expressed and exposed in the Garga-saṁhitā. I have seen this in Śrī Garga-saṁhitā at least a thousand times.
Śrī Garga-saṁhitā was written by the great sage Garga Ṛṣi who is the Guru of the Yadu-kula (Yadu dynasty, Kṛṣṇa’s dynasty) and a friend of Paraśurām as well as of many other big exponents of Vedic mantras such as Atri, Chyavan, Śaradvān, Ariṣṭanemi, Bhṛgu, Vaśiṣṭha, Parāśar, Viśvāmitra, Aṅgirā, Dvaipāyan Vyās, and Bhagavān Nārad. All these old ṛṣis were present when the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam was spoken to Parīkṣit Mahārāj. Vedavyās himself said this.
atrir vaśiṣṭhaś chyavanaḥ śaradvān
ariṣṭanemir bhṛgur aṅgirāś cha
parāśaro gādhi-suto ’tha rāma
utathya indrapramadedhmavāhau
medhātithir devala ārṣṭiṣeṇo
bhāradvājo gautamaḥ pippalādaḥ
maitreya aurvaḥ kavaṣaḥ kumbhayonir
dvaipāyano bhagavān nāradaś cha
Even though all these senior ṛṣis were present at the meeting of Mahārāj Parīkṣit when the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam was spoken, Śukadev Goswāmī did not fully expose Goloka Vṛndāvan and the glories of Rādhārāṇī. They were all friends of Garga Ṛṣi, but Vedavyās didn’t expose very much of Rādhārāṇī’s glories. He only exposed a small amount of Her glories. He didn’t give Her glories the way Mahāprabhu did.
Śrī Garga-saṁhitā
I was very surprised when I opened the Garga-saṁhitā and found the word Rādhāpati. I have never seen this word anywhere except in the Garga-saṁhitā. We have heard many stories of Kṛṣṇa-līlā from our childhood, and now I see they have all originated from the Garga-saṁhitā. Some other Purāṇas have presented some stories, but most of the stories of Kṛṣṇa-līlā originated from the Garga-saṁhitā.
Actually I was inspired by Śrīpād Madhusūdan Mahārāj, who is a godbrother and sannyāsī disciple of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj, to publish the Garga-saṁhitā. He had been searching for a Bengali edition of this book throughout all of India but failed to find one. He was very excited when he noticed there was one available in my cupboard. I was taken by surprise that he knew it was in my cupboard as I myself had not noticed it. It was then I first read a little bit of the contents and found Garga Ṛṣi had fully mentioned everything that would be impossible for us to relate.
When we try to conceive what Vyāsadev looks like, we picture him as someone with at least a four or five foot long beard, but when I opened the Garga-saṁhitā, I was surprised to see Garga Ṛṣi’s expression of Vedavyās’s praṇām mantra as Badara-vana-vihāraḥ Satyavatyāḥ kumāraḥ. This expression Satyavatyāḥ kumāraḥ or Badara-vana-vihāraḥ will not come to our mind, but his praṇām mantra came as a realisation to me that I am only recognising Vedavyās’s form in his old age and not remembering his childhood as Satyavatyāḥ kumāraḥ, the son of Satyavatī.
Rūpa Goswāmī Prabhu followed this process very nicely. In every praṇām mantra of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, he refers to Him as Śachī Nandan, the son of Śachī Devī. Śachī Nandan. In the Pastimes of Mahāprabhu, Śachī Devī is always mentioned first within the praṇām mantra, and we are habituated with this, but we have not considered the same process with Vedavyās as Satyavatyāḥ kumāraḥ or Badara-vana-vihāraḥ. When I read this I was very impressed. I read a few pages and thought if Madhusūdan Mahārāj cannot print it, I shall try to print it with the help of our devotees. Finally, I feel Garga Ṛṣi chose me to publish the Garga-saṁhitā as I asked Śrīpād Sāgar Mahārāj to do it, and he was able to do it.
The full-fledged theism that was given to us by our Guru Mahārāj is fully mentioned in the Garga-saṁhitā. Vṛndāvan-līlā’s virtual place and position has originated from the Garga-saṁhitā. Vedavyās has mentioned everything in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, but very cautiously.
Śukadev Goswāmī was just a sixteen-year-old boy, so how much could he express in front of the older ṛṣis? Even though they were all highly qualified in madhura-rasa, they could not taste what Śukadev Goswāmī had given. Vedavyās himself commented about Śukadev Goswāmī that after hearing the Pastimes of Kṛṣṇa-līlā, he became mad with ecstasy and then went back to his father to hear the rest of Kṛṣṇa-līlā he had not presented in full.
What is given in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is the gist of Kṛṣṇa-līlā, and it is sufficient. No other scripture can cross over the prestige of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. Vedavyās himself as well as other ṛṣis have mentioned in other Purāṇas that it is a full manifestation of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. We can see the glorification of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam in this way, so we cannot deny the highest prestige of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. Śukadev Goswāmī has given the gist of what he hesitated to reveal in full in that assembly and in that way has fulfilled the desire of Lord Kṛṣṇa and Rādhārāṇī.
Mahāprabhu came to give the glories of Rādhārāṇī
Mahāprabhu came to give the glories of Rādhārāṇī. He came to give honour to what was not given in this material world before.
anarpita-charīṁ chirāt karuṇayāvatīrṇaḥ kalau
samarpayitum unnatojjvala-rasāṁ sva-bhakti-śriyam
hariḥ puraṭa-sundara-dyuti-kadamba-sandīpitaḥ
sadā hṛdaya-kandare sphuratu vaḥ śachī-nandanaḥ
And not only did Mahāprabhu give what was not given before, He gave what was not given in any material universe as well, and there are millions of material universes in the sky. Nowhere were the glories of Rādhārāṇī given before Mahāprabhu came, and this is mentioned in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam.
But Viśvanāth Chakravartī Ṭhākur said clearly if you will search for evidential records of this, you will be considered foolish because the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is the junior-most scripture but with the senior-most thought.
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam — highest reality
After all the scriptures were written, Vyāsadev was not happy. His Guru, Nārad Muni, came to see him and gave him instructions. He gave him a mantra and instructed Vedavyās to meditate on that mantra, and after meditating, he saw the complete spiritual and material worlds. Then, he composed the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. Therefore, it is the junior-most scripture. Yet, no other scripture had given such complete knowledge of the spiritual and material worlds before.
In his mature meditation, Vedavyās saw all the senior-most beautiful theories of the highest reality and presented them in a well-organised way and gave them to the jīva-chaitanya. This is Guru Mahārāj’s expression, jīva-chaitanya. The conscious jīva-souls may be in the material atmosphere, but still this world is a conscious world because everything exists in consciousness.
Secret of the Bhāgavat
Sometimes a little suspicion may come to the mind of a pure devotee as to why Rādhārāṇī’s Name is not mentioned in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. Śrīla Guru Mahārāj has given us this theory in one of his original ślokas:
yad amiya-mahimā-śrī-bhāgavatyāḥ kathāyāṁ
pratipadam anubhūtaṁ chāpy alabdhābhidheyā
tad akhila-rasa-mūrteḥ śyāma-līlāvalambaṁ
madhura-rasadhi-rādhā-pāda-padmaṁ prapadye
In every letter and every śloka of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, the Name of Rādhārāṇī is glorified, but we cannot see Her particular form there. The play of the Sweet Absolute takes place in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, so it is not possible that Rādhārāṇī’s Name is not mentioned there. Everywhere in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, Rādhārāṇī is glorified, but we can’t see Her full form there because Śukadev Goswāmī is hiding Her a little bit.
It is like the marriage system in India. When an Indian girl is married, she always covers her head with a cloth. When a senior honourable person comes, she pulls the cloth over her head a little more. This is also the style of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: to conceal Rādhārāṇī yet reveal Her. Such idea is included in that śloka of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj.
Without Rādhārāṇī’s association, Kṛṣṇa is nothing! The Sweet Absolute’s play in Goloka Vṛndṛvan depends on Rādhārāṇī. Only She can fully exchange rasa with Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is the emporium of all rasas, Akhila-rasāmṛta mūrti. But where is that nectar stored? It is stored in the pot of Rādhārāṇī. So, Kṛṣṇa keeps all His wealth in the pot of Rādhārāṇī, and He tastes Her mood of devotion. Otherwise, everything will be spoiled.
Śrīla Guru Mahārāj has given this extraordinary explanation of the gāyatrī-mantra, which is the sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute. No one in this material conscious world has ever given an explanation like this before. In the last part of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj’s life, Guru Mahārāj was always discovering many things. Actually, everything was within him, but he had not found the proper person to explain everything to.
Śrīla Guru Mahārāj’s original gāyatrī-mantram explanation
Śrīla Guru Mahārāj’s original gāyatrī-mantra explanation is written in eleven lines published in our Śrī Gauḍīya-gītāñjali, the Bengali songbook.
bhvādes tat savitur vareṇya-vihitaṁ kṣetrajña-sevyārthakaṁ
bhargo vai vṛṣabhānujātma-vibhavaikārādhanā-śrī-puram
(bhargo jyotir achintya-līlana-sudhaikārādhāna-śrī-puram)
(bhargo dhāma-taraṅga-khelana-sudhaikārādhanā-śrī-puram)
(bhargo dhāma sadā nirasta-kuhakaṁ prajñāna-līlā-puram)
(devasyāmṛta-rūpa-līla-rasadher ārādha-dhīḥ preriṇaḥ)
(devasyāmṛta-rūpa-līla-puruṣasyārādha-dhī-preṣiṇaḥ)
devasya dyuti-sundaraika-puruṣasyārādhya-dhī-preṣiṇaḥ
gāyatrī muralīṣṭa-kīrtana-dhanaṁ rādhā-padaṁ dhīmahi
(gāyatrī-gaditaṁ mahāprabhu-mataṁ rādhā-padaṁ dhīmahi)
(dhīr ārādhānam eva nānyad iti tad rādhā-padaṁ dhīmahi)
I took four lines from this explanation (the ones not in brackets) to make the gāyatrī-mantra śloka. I put this śloka on Śrīla Guru Mahārāj’s Samādhi Mandir. I asked Śrīla Guru Mahārāj permission to take these four lines, and he gave his permission.
But it was especially my desire that I shall take this one line: dhīr ārādhānam eva nānyad iti tad Rādhā-padaṁ dhīmahi. Dhīḥ comes from the root word buddhi, which means intelligence. Where should buddhi go? Our intelligence should go for the service of the Lord. Without one’s intelligence going for the service of the Lord, no other conception can exist. This is Guru Mahārāj’s explanation.
There are two kinds of intelligence. One is parā and another is aparā. Parā intelligence is always serving the Lord. Then, dhīr ārādhānam-eva nānyad iti, without one’s intelligence going to serve the Lord, no other conception can exist. This is Śrīla Guru Mahārāj’s explanation.
But sometimes for my explanation, I have taken the next to the last line, gāyatrī-gaditaṁ Mahāprabhu-mataṁ, because this line is hiding Rādhārāṇī, Rādhā-padaṁ dhīmahi, a little bit.
The Ṛg-veda mantra
Śrīla Guru Mahārāj also gave an explanation of the Ṛg-veda mantra. The original Ṛg-veda mantra is:
oṁ tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padaṁ
sadā paśyanti sūrayaḥ
divīva chakṣur ātatam
viṣṇor yat paramaṁ padam
But Śrīla Guru Mahārāj expanded the Ṛg-veda mantra:
oṁ tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padaṁ śruti-mataṁ muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ
draṣṭā chakṣur iva prasārita-mahāsūryeva divyātatam
dhāmnā svena sadā nirasta-kuhakaṁ satyaṁ paraṁ śabditaṁ
jyotiḥ-prīti-tanuṁ hiraṇya-puruṣaṁ paśyanti taṁ sūrayaḥ
The last line is especially significant: jyotiḥ-prīti-tanuṁ hiraṇya-puruṣam. Jyotiḥ means effulgence and love, and this has taken its form as the heart and halo of Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. Here is Guru Mahārāj’s miracle. So many paṇḍits can understand the Sanskrit language, but they cannot understand the gist of the ecstasy inside the Sanskrit language. This is a fact.
The Upaniṣads very clearly say, “Nāyam ātmā bala-hīnena labhyaḥ, nāyam ātmā pravachanena labhyo na medhayā na bahunā śrutena: you may know so many things, and you may have much intelligence, medhayā, but without the grace of Nityānanda Prabhu and Baladev, you cannot understand anything.”
But, “Yam evaiṣa vṛṇute tena labhyas: when Kṛṣṇa in the form of Śrī Gurudev will give you the gāyatrī-mantram and you meditate on it with your full existence, you will understand it.” Here there is no question. Everywhere there are many questions, and everywhere there are many difficulties, but this fact is very clear, tasyaiṣa ātmā vivṛṇute tanuṁ svām.
If you do not have the ability to see — like owls do not like to see the sun — how will you see? How will a man with no eyes see? And, andhībhūta chakṣu yāra viṣaya dhūlite ki-rūpe se para-tattva pāibe dekhite. How will one whose eyes are blinded by the dust of material conceptions see?
We need the eyes to see
In Śrīla Guru Mahārāj’s explanation of the Ṛg-veda mantra, he used the word sūrayaḥ. Guru Mahārāj used it only to give honour to the Vedas, especially the Upaniṣads. Sūrayaḥ means the demigods, but Guru Mahārāj did not explain the meaning that way. He gave this meaning: “The demigods can see, but they can never see the hiraṇya-puruṣam (the Golden Lord, Mahāprabhu) without the mercy of jyotiḥ-prīti-tanum. Without the mercy of Mahāprabhu and without the mercy of Nityānanda Prabhu, sūrayaḥ, the demigods, can never see. Without Their mercy, they cannot see.”
This is a fact, and Lord Brahmā himself said it:
jānanta eva jānantu kiṁ bahūktyā na me prabho
manaso vapuṣo vācho vaibhavaṁ tava gocharaḥ
“Whoever will say they know Kṛṣṇa’s Pastimes can say that. But I say I cannot understand even a small amount of Your unlimited Glories. My whole existence is blind without Your mercy. Therefore, I am misguided. I don’t want to say too much. The only thing I can say is I do not want to say too much because I cannot understand mentally, verbally, or bodily Your unlimited Pastimes.”
Kiṁ bahūktyā na me means, “It is not necessary to say many things, only that I cannot understand Your unlimited Pastimes.”