BY: SUN STAFF
Jul 06, CANADA (SUN) —
Sri Krsna-sandarbha
by Srila Jiva Goswami
Anuccheda 106 (Part 4)
43 “A wise devotee should meditate on the pastime place where two trees join and become one.”
44 “O goddess, he should meditate on the Lord’s beautiful transcendental jewel pastime palace there that holds the treasure of the greatest bliss in the three worlds.
45-48 He should meditate on an affectionate youth dark as a kalaya flower, dressed in yellow garments, a palace of transcendental handsomeness, an ocean of bliss, plunged in the blissful nectar ocean of transcendental pastimes, splendid as a new monsoon cloud, with charming curly hair, and His feet decorated with the crowns of Brahma, Visnu and Siva, who sits there on a charming jewel throne there graceful with sumanah flowers, blissful, and splendid wit its four feet religion, economic development, sense gratification and liberation.
49 This evidence from the Svayambhuva-agama and the Skanda Purana clearly shows that the planet of Lord Krsna is the highest planet in the spiritual world. Known as Goloka, it is famous as the place where the Original Personality of Godhead manifests His eternal pastimes. It is divided into three parts: 1. Gokula, 2. Mathura, and 3. Dvaraka.
50 The abode of Sri Krsna is described in Brahma-samhita (1-5):
“Krsna, Who is known as Govinda, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the Origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.*
51 “Gokula, the supreme abode and planet, appears like a lotus flower that has a thousand petals. The whorl of that lotus is the abode of the Supreme Lord, Krsna. This lotus-shaped supreme abode is created by the will of Lord Ananta.*
52 “The whorl of that transcendental lotus is the realm wherein dwells Krsna. It is a hexagonal figure, the abode of the indwelling predominated and predominating aspect of the Absolute. Like a diamond, the central supporting figure of self-luminous Krsna stands as the transcendental source of all potencies. The holy name consisting of eighteen transcendental letters is manifested in a hexagonal figure with six fold divisions.**
53 “The whorl of that eternal realm Gokula is the hexagonal abode of Krsna. Its petals are the abodes of gopas who are part and parcel of Krsna, to Whom they are most lovingly devoted and are similar in essence. The petals shine beautifully like so many walls. The extended leaves of that lotus are the garden-like dhama, i.e. spiritual abode of Sri Radhika, the most beloved of Krsna.**
54 “(The surrounding external plane of Gokula is described in this verse) There is a mysterious quadrangular place named Svetadvipa surrounding the outskirts of Gokula. Svetadvipa is divided into four parts on all sides. The abode of Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha are separately located in each of these four parts. These four divided abodes are enveloped by the four-fold human requirements such as piety, wealth, passion and liberation as also by the four Vedas viz., Rg, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva, which deal with the mantra, and which are the basis of achievements of the four-fold mundane requirements. Ten tridents are fixed in the ten directions, including the zenith and nadir. The eight directions are decorated with the eight jewels of mahapadma, padma, sankha, makara, kacchapa, mukunda, kunda, and nila. There are ten protectors (dik-palas) of the directions in the form of mantras. The associates of the hue of blue, yellow, red, and white and the extraordinary potencies bearing the names of vimala, etc., shine on all sides.”**
55 The supreme abode of Sri Krsna is also described in the following verses from the beginning of Lord Brahma’s prayers in the Brahma-samhita (5.29 and 43):
“I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor, who is tending the cows, yielding all desires, in abodes built with spiritual gems and surrounded by millions of purpose trees. He is always served with great reverence and affection by hundreds and thousands of goddesses of fortune.”*
56 “Below the planet named Goloka Vrndavana are the planets known as Devi-dhama, Mahesa-dhama and Hari-dhama. These are opulent in different ways. They are managed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda, the original Lord. I offer my obeisances unto Him.”*
57 In these verses from Brahma-samhita the abode of Sri Krsna is described as a great thousand petalled lotus flower made of transcendental cintamani jewels. The phrase ‘mahat padam’ may be interpreted to mean either ‘the greatest abode’ or ‘the abode of the supremely great Personality of Godhead.”
Because this transcendental abode of Sri Krsna is divided into three parts (Gokula, Mathura and Dvaraka), the author of Brahma-samhita specifies the abode of Gokula as the object of his description. The word ‘gokula’ is generally understood to mean ‘an abode of cowherd men and cows’ and this meaning should be accepted in spite of any number of other fanciful interpretations, based on etymology, that may be offered. The rejection of other interpretations of this word is supported by the following statement of nyaya-sastra:
“The generally understood meaning of a word is its primary meaning, and etymology-based meanings are secondary to that generally understood meaning.”
In this way the Gokula described in these verses should be understood as the abode of Sri Krsna, Nanda, Yasoda and all their friends and relatives.
58 In the verse from Brahma-samhita quoted in Text 51 the abode of Sri Krsna is described as created by the will of Lord Ananta, who is a plenary expansion of Lord Balarama. In this verse we may also note that the word ‘sambhavam’ may also be interpreted to mean ‘residence’ in which case the phrase ‘anantamsa-sambhavam’ means ‘the place where Krsna and Balarama (from whom Ananta is expanded) enjoy transcendental pastimes.”
59 Although the eighteen-syllable Krsna mantra (klim krsnaya govindaya gopijanavallabhaya svaha) is written in many places, the most important place it is written is described in the Brahma-samhita verse quoted in text 52. In this verse this mantra is described as written in a hexagonal figure in the form of a mystic diagram. Within that hexagonal mystic diagram is situated the form of Sri Krsna, who is luminous as a diamond. The six words of the mantra are written on the six sides of the hexagon. In that abode reside the predominated (prakrti) and predominating (purusa) aspects of the Absolute. Both the predominated and predominating aspects are described as ‘pramananda-mahananda-rasana avasthitam’ (immersed in the bliss of countless varieties of exchanges of spiritual love).
The kama-bija syllable (klim) is described in these verses as situated within the eighteen syllable krsna-mantra.
After the description of the internal abode of Sri Krsna, which is the whorl of the lotus flower known as Goloka, there is a description of the petals situated about that abode. Those petals are the abodes of the cowherd residents of Goloka, who are all relatives and friends of Sri Krsna. That the cowherds of Vrndavana are the relatives of Krsna is described by Sukadeva Gosvami in the following verse (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.36.15):
60 “After killing the Arista demon, who had assumed the form of a bull, Lord Krsna became the cynosure of all eyes. With Balarama, He triumphantly entered Vrndavana village and the cowherd men, who were all His relatives, glorified Him and Balarama with great jubilation.”*
Go to Anuccheda One Hundred-six (Part 5)
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