Bhārata Sāvitrī
Bhārata Sāvitrī
Śrī Vedavyāsa’s final message to humanity in Mahābhārata.
Excerpted from the Svargārohana Parva, 5.47–51.
Lobha
nārāyaṇamayaṁ dhīrāḥ paśyanti paramārthinaḥ
nārāyaṇamayaṁ dhīrāḥ paśyanti paramārthinaḥ |
jagad dhanamayaṁ lubdhāḥ kāmukāḥ kāminīmayam ||
(Unknown source)
“The wise, seekers of the highest attainment, see the world to be full of Nārāyaṇa [i.e., pervaded by Nārāyaṇa], the greedy [however, see the world to be] full of wealth, and the lustful [see the world to be] full of desirable women.”
tāvad bhayaṁ draviṇa-deha-suhṛn-nimittaṁ
tāvad bhayaṁ draviṇa-deha-suhṛn-nimittaṁ
śokaḥ spṛhā paribhavo vipulaś ca lobhaḥ |
tāvan mamety asad-avagraha ārti-mūlaṁ
yāvan na te’ṅghrim abhayaṁ pravṛṇīta lokaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.9.6)
“So fear, grief, longing, humiliation, and immense greed on account of wealth, the body, and companions, and so the false [alt., wicked] temperament of ‘mine’—the root of distress—remain as long as a person does not embrace your fearless feet.”
e-tine lāgila mana, lobhe kare āsvādana
e-tine lāgila mana, lobhe kare āsvādana … |
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.21.135)
“His [i.e., Mahāprabhu’s] mind became fixed upon these three [i.e., the mādhurya of Kṛṣṇa’s figure, Kṛṣṇa’s face, and Kṛṣṇa’s smile], and out of intense desire (lobha) he tasted them.”
kṛṣṇa-bhakti-rasa-bhāvitā matiḥ
kṛṣṇa-bhakti-rasa-bhāvitā matiḥ
krīyatāṁ yadi kuto’pi labhyate |
tatra laulyam api mūlyam ekalaṁ
janma-koṭi-sukṛtair na labhyate ||
(Unknown sounce; cited in Padyāvalī: 14; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.8.70; attributed by some to Rāmānanda Rāya)
“Purchase awareness imbued with Kṛṣṇa-bhakti-rasa if it is attainable [anywhere] by any means at all. Hankering is verily the only price for it, but that [hankering] is not attainable even by ten million lives of meritorious deeds.”
paṇḍitā bahavo rājan bahu-jñāḥ saṁśaya-cchidaḥ
paṇḍitā bahavo rājan bahu-jñāḥ saṁśaya-cchidaḥ |
sadasas patayo’py eke asantoṣāt patanty adhaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.15.21)
“O King! Many paṇḍitas who have vast knowledge and can cut away [others’] doubts, and even numerous assembly leaders [i.e., paṇḍitas of the highest rank], fall down because of dissatisfaction [i.e., the inability to be satisfied, that is, because of greed].”
athāsya tad-veśyā-vaktrāc chrī-rādhāyāḥ śrī-kṛṣṇānurāgādi-śravaṇa-jāta-lobhatvād rāgānugā-mārgeṇaiva bhajanam
athāsya tad-veśyā-vaktrāc chrī-rādhāyāḥ śrī-kṛṣṇānurāgādi-śravaṇa-jāta-lobhatvād rāgānugā-mārgeṇaiva bhajanam | tatra rāgānugā-mārge’nutpanna-rati-sādhaka-bhaktair api svepsita-siddha-dehaṁ manasi parikalpya bhagavat-sevādikaṁ kriyate | jāta-ratīnāṁ tu svayam eva tad-deha-sphūrtiḥ | asya tūtpannā madhura-jātīyā ratiḥ krameṇānurāga-daśāṁ prāptāsti, atas tad-deha-sphūrtiḥ sadaiva |
(Sāraṅga-raṅgadā-ṭīkā on Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta: 2)
“His [i.e., Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura’s] bhajana was based solely on the rāgānugā-mārga because of his intense desirousness (lobhatva) produced by hearing about Śrī Rādhā’s anurāga and so forth for Śrī Kṛṣṇa from the mouth of the courtesan [i.e., Cintāmaṇi]. There in rāgānugā-mārga, even by sādhaka-bhaktas in whom rati has not [yet] manifested, service and so forth to Bhagavān is performed by meditating in the mind upon one’s desired siddha-deha. For those in whom rati has manifested, however, manifestation (sphūrti) of that deha [i.e., the siddha-deha] occurs of its own accord [i.e., without requiring any specific effort from the sādhaka to meditate upon it]. His [i.e., Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura’s] manifest rati of the madhura-type, however, gradually attained the stage of anurāga [even though this is normally impossible for anyone within saṁsāra apart from those who participate directly in Bhagavān’s prakaṭa-līlā], and thus manifestation of that deha [i.e., the siddha-deha] became constant [in his mind].”
yair etat paripīyate hṛdi lasat tṛṣṇātirekān muhur
yair etat paripīyate hṛdi lasat tṛṣṇātirekān muhur
brahmādyair api durgamaṁ vraja-vidhor līlāmṛtaṁ rādhayā |
vṛndāraṇya-vilāsinī-kumudinī-vṛndasya bandhur vraje
kāruṇyād acireṇa vāñchita-tamaṁ teṣāṁ tanotu svayam ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 23.96)
[Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī confers a blessing upon readers of Govinda-līlāmṛta at the end of the text and thereby illustrates the ultimate aim and result of relishing the text:] “May the friend of the lilies of the charming women in the forest of Vṛndā in Vraja [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa] out of compassion, personally, and without delay bestow that which is desired most [i.e., prema-sevā] upon those by whom this līlāmṛta [i.e., this text Govinda-līlāmṛta, and alt., this nectar of the līlā] of [he] the moon of Vraja with Rādhā, although inaccessible even to Brahmā and others, is continuously imbibed in full out of an abundance of thirst rollicking in the heart.”
vrajātula-kulāṅganetara-rasāli-tṛṣṇā-hara- pradīvyad-adharāmṛtaḥ
vrajātula-kulāṅganetara-rasāli-tṛṣṇā-hara-
pradīvyad-adharāmṛtaḥ sukṛti-labhya-phelā-lavaḥ |
sudhā-jid-ahivallikā-sudala-vīṭikā-carvitaḥ
sa me madana-mohanaḥ sakhi tanoti jihvā-spṛhām ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 8.8; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.16.119)
“[Rādhārāṇī to Viśākhā:] The amṛta of his most lustrous lips takes away the incomparable, noble women of Vraja’s thirst for [all] other rasas. A morsel of his remnants is attainable [only] by sukṛti [i.e., good fortune]. And the pan roll he has chewed made from fine leaves of betel defeats nectar. O sakhi, Madana-mohana increases the desire of my tongue.”
vinā bhavet kiṁ hari-dāsa-varya-padāśrayaṁ
vinā bhavet kiṁ hari-dāsa-varya-
padāśrayaṁ bhaktir ataḥ śrayāmi |
yam eva saprema nijeśayoḥ śrī-
govardhano me diśatām abhīṣṭam ||
(Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda’s Govardhanāṣṭakam: 8)
“Can bhakti [to Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa] ever manifest without the shelter of the feet of the best of Hari’s servants?[Never.] Therefore, I take shelter In [Govardhana,] he who is endowed with prema for his own Īśas. May Śrī Govardhana fulfill my desire.”