CC Madhya 8.138
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 138
- vṛndāvane ‘aprākṛta navīna madana’
- kāma-gāyatrī kāma-bīje yāṅra upāsana
SYNONYMS
vṛndāvane — in Vṛndāvana; aprākṛta — spiritual; navīna — new; madana — Cupid; kāma-gāyatrī — hymns of desire; kāma-bīje — by the spiritual seed of desire called klīm; yāṅra — of whom; upāsana — the worship.
TRANSLATION
“In the spiritual realm of Vṛndāvana, Kṛṣṇa is the spiritual, ever-fresh Cupid. He is worshiped by the chanting of the Kāma-gāyatrī mantra, with the spiritual seed klīm.
PURPORT
Vṛndāvana is described in the Brahma-saṁhitā (BS 5.38) in this way:
- śriyaḥ kāntāḥ kāntaḥ parama-puruṣaḥ kalpa-taravo
- drumā bhūmiś cintāmaṇi-gaṇa-mayī toyam amṛtam
- kathā gānaṁ nāṭyaṁ gamanam api vaṁśī priya-sakhī
- cid-ānandaṁ jyotiḥ param api tad āsvādyam api ca
- sa yatra kṣīrābdhiḥ sravati surabhībhyaś ca su-mahān
- nimeṣārdhākhyo vā vrajati na hi yatrāpi samayaḥ
- bhaje śvetadvīpaṁ tam aham iha golokam iti yaṁ
- vidantas te santaḥ kṣiti-virala-cārāḥ katipaye
The spiritual realm of Vṛndāvana is always spiritual. The goddess of fortune and the gopīs are always present there. They are Kṛṣṇa’s beloveds, and all of them are as spiritual as Kṛṣṇa. In Vṛndāvana, Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Person and is the husband of all the gopīs and the goddess of fortune. The trees in Vṛndāvana are wish-fulfilling trees. The land is made of touchstone, and the water is nectar. Words are musical vibrations, and all movements are dancing. The flute is the Lord’s constant companion. The planet Goloka Vṛndāvana is self-luminous like the sun and is full of spiritual bliss. The perfection of life lies in tasting that spiritual existence; therefore everyone should cultivate its knowledge. In Vṛndāvana, spiritual cows are always supplying spiritual milk. Not a single moment is wasted there—in other words, there is no past, present or future. Not a single particle of time is wasted. Within this material universe, the devotees worship that transcendental abode as Goloka Vṛndāvana. Lord Brahmā himself said, “Let me worship that spiritual land where Kṛṣṇa is present.” This transcendental Vṛndāvana is not appreciated by those who are not devotees or self-realized souls because this Vṛndāvana-dhāma is all spiritual. The pastimes of the Lord there are also spiritual. None are material. According to a prayer by Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura (Prārthanā 1):
- āra kabe nitāi-cāṅdera karuṇā karibe
- saṁsāra-vāsanā mora kabe tuccha ha’be
“When will Lord Nityānanda have mercy upon me so that I can realize the uselessness of material pleasure?”
- viṣaya chāḍiyā kabe śuddha ha’be mana
- kabe hāma heraba śrī-vṛndāvana
“When will my mind be cleansed of all material dirt so that I will be able to feel the presence of spiritual Vṛndāvana?”
- rūpa-raghunātha-pade haibe ākuti
- kabe hāma bujhaba se yugala-pirīti
“When will I be attracted to the instructions of the Gosvāmīs so that I will be able to understand what is Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa and what is Vṛndāvana?” These verses indicate that one first has to be purified of all material desires and all attraction for fruitive activity and speculative knowledge if one wishes to understand Vṛndāvana.
In reference to the words aprākṛta navīna madana, aprākṛta refers to that which is the very opposite of the material conception. The Māyāvādīs consider this to be zero or impersonal, but that is not the case. Everything in the material world is dull, but in the spiritual world everything is alive. The desire for enjoyment is present both in Kṛṣṇa and in His parts and parcels, the living entities. In the spiritual world, such desires are also spiritual. No one should mistakenly consider such desires to be material. In the material world, if one is sexually inclined and enjoys sex life, he enjoys something temporary. His enjoyment vanishes after a few minutes. However, in the spiritual world the same enjoyment may be there, but it never vanishes. It is continuously enjoyed. In the spiritual world such sex pleasure appears to the enjoyer to be more and more relishable with each new feature. In the material world, however, sex enjoyment becomes distasteful after a few minutes only, and it is never permanent. Because Kṛṣṇa appears very much sexually inclined, He is called the new Cupid in the spiritual world. There is no material inebriety in such desire, however.
Gāyantaṁ trāyate yasmād gāyatrī tvaṁ tataḥ smṛtā: one who chants the Gāyatrī mantra is gradually delivered from the material clutches. In other words, that which delivers one from material entanglement is called Gāyatrī. An explanation of the Gāyatrī mantra can be found in the Madhya-līlā, Chapter Twenty-one, text 125:
- kāma-gāyatrī-mantra-rūpa, haya kṛṣṇera svarūpa,
- sārdha-cabbiśa akṣara tāra haya
- se akṣara ‘candra’ haya, kṛṣṇe kari’ udaya,
- trijagat kailā kāmamaya
The Kāma-gāyatrī mantra is just like a Vedic hymn, but it is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. There is no difference between the Kāma-gāyatrī and Kṛṣṇa. Both are composed of twenty-four and a half transcendental syllables (see Madhya 21.125-29). The mantra depicted in letters is also Kṛṣṇa, and the mantra rises just like the moon. Due to this, there is a perverted reflection of desire in human society and among all kinds of living entities. In the mantra klīṁ kāma-devāya vidmahe puṣpa-bāṇāya dhīmahi tan no ’naṅgaḥ pracodayāt, Kṛṣṇa is called Kāma-deva, Puṣpa-bāṇa and Anaṅga. Kāma-deva is Madana-mohana, the Deity who establishes our relationship with Kṛṣṇa; Puṣpa-bāṇa (“He who carries an arrow made of flowers”) is Govinda, the Personality of Godhead who accepts our devotional service; and Anaṅga is Gopījana-vallabha, who satisfies all the gopīs and is the ultimate goal of life. This Kāma-gāyatrī (klīṁ kāma-devāya vidmahe puṣpa-bāṇāya dhīmahi tan no ’naṅgaḥ pracodayāt) simply does not belong to this material world. When one is advanced in spiritual understanding, he can worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead with his spiritually purified senses and fulfill the desires of the Lord.
- man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru
- mām evaiṣyasi satyaṁ te pratijāne priyo ’si me
“Always think of Me and become My devotee. Worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.” (BG 18.65) In the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.27-28) it is stated:
- atha veṇu-ninādasya trayī-mūrti-mayī gatiḥ
- phurantī praviveśāśu mukhābjāni svayambhuvaḥ
- gāyatrīṁ gāyatas tasmād adhigatya saroja-jaḥ
- saṁskṛtaś cādi-guruṇā dvijatām agamat tataḥ
- trayyā prabuddho ’tha vidhir vijñāta-tattva-sāgaraḥ
- tuṣṭāva veda-sāreṇa stotreṇānena keśavam
“Then Gāyatrī, mother of the Vedas, having been manifested by the divine sound of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s flute, entered the lotus mouth of Brahmā, the self-born, through his eight earholes. Thus the lotus-born Brahmā received the Gāyatrī mantra, which had sprung from the song of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s flute. In this way he attained twice-born status, having been initiated by the supreme, primal preceptor, Godhead Himself. Enlightened by the recollection of that Gāyatrī, which embodies the three Vedas, Brahmā became acquainted with the expanse of the ocean of truth. Then he worshiped Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the essence of all the Vedas, with a hymn.”
The vibration of Kṛṣṇa’s flute is the origin of the Vedic hymns. Lord Brahmā, who is seated on a lotus flower, heard the sound vibration of Kṛṣṇa’s flute and was thereby initiated by the Gāyatrī mantra.