Caitanyacandrodaya-nāṭakam

kā vidyā hari-bhaktir eva na punar vedādi-niṣṇātatā

kā vidyā hari-bhaktir eva na punar vedādi-niṣṇātatā
kīrtiḥ kā bhagavat-paro’yam iti yā khyātir na dānādijā |
kā śrīḥ tat-priyatā na vai dhana-jana-grāmādi-bhūyiṣṭhatā |
kiṁ duḥkhaṁ bhagavat-priyasya viraho no hṛd-vraṇādi-vyathā ||8||
bhagavān: bhadram | ke muktāḥ?
rāmānandaḥ: pratyāsattir hari-caraṇayoḥ sānurāge na rāge
prītiḥ premātiśayini harer bhakti-yoge na yoge |
āsthā tasya praṇaya-rabhasasyopadehe na dehe
yeṣāṁ te hi prakṛti-sarasā hanta muktā na muktāḥ ||9||
bhagavān : bhavatu |
kiṁ geyaṁ vraja-keli-karma kim iha śreyaḥ satāṁ saṅgatiḥ
kiṁ smartavyam aghāri-nāma kim anudhyeyaṁ murāreḥ padam |
kva stheyaṁ vraja eva kiṁ śravaṇayor ānandi vṛndāvana-
krīḍaikā kim upāsyam atra mahasī śrī-kṛṣṇa-rādhābhidhe ||10||
bhagavān: bhadram |
(Caitanya-candrodaya-nāṭakam: 7.8–10; cited in Alaṅkāra-kaustubha: 8.233–234, 236)

“Bhagavān: What is knowledge?
“Rāmānanda: Hari-bhakti alone [is knowledge], and not, rather, expertise in the Vedas and so on.
“Bhagavān: What is glory?
“Rāmānanda: The renown, ‘He is devoted to Bhagavān’ [is glory] and not that produced by giving and so on.
“Bhagavān: What is wealth?
“Rāmānanda: Fondness for him [i.e., Bhagavān, is wealth], and certainly not an abundance of money, people [i.e., relatives, friends, followers, man-power, or otherwise], villages [i.e., land, property, social influence, etc.] and so on.
“Bhagavān: What is suffering?
“Rāmānanda: The separation of one dear to Bhagavān [is suffering], and not the pain of a wound in the heart or otherwise.
“Bhagavān: Very well. Who is liberated?
“Rāmānanda: Hanta! Those of rasa-laden disposition [alt., nature] who have close contact with [alt., affinity (āsakti) for] those possessed of loving attachment (anurāga) to Hari’s feet and not [rather close contact with or affinity for] attachment (rāga) [to objects of the senses (viṣaya)], [who] have fondness (prīti) for bhakti-yoga filled with a profusion of prema related to Hari, and not [rather] for yoga [i.e., jñāna-, karma-, or aṣṭāṅga-yoga, etc.], and [who] have conviction in the body suitable for he of fervent love (praṇaya) and not [rather conviction] in the [worldly] body, are liberated, and not [rather] the liberated [i.e., those who think themselves liberated].
“Bhagavān: Let it be. What is to be sung?
“Rāmānanda: The acts of play in Vraja.
“Bhagavān: What is the highest good (śreyas) here [in this world]?
“Rāmānanda: The association of the sat.
“Bhagavān: What is to be remembered?
“Rāmānanda: The name of Agha’s Foe.
“Bhagavān: What is to be meditated upon?
“Rāmānanda: The feet of Mura’s Foe.
“Bhagavān: Where is one to be stationed?
“Rāmānanda: In Vraja alone.
“Bhagavān: What is delighting to the ears?
“Rāmānanda: The play in Vṛndāvana alone.
“Bhagavān: What is the object to be approached [i.e., worshiped] here?
“Rāmānanda: The object of worship is the [two-fold] brilliance known as Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā.
“Bhagavān: Very well.”

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antaḥ kṛṣṇaṁ bahir gauraṁ darśitāṅgādi-vaibhavam

antaḥ kṛṣṇaṁ bahir gauraṁ darśitāṅgādi-vaibhavam |
kalau saṅkīrtanādyaiḥ smaḥ kṛṣṇa-caitanyam āśritāḥ ||
(Tattva Sandarbha: 2; cited in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.3.80)

“Through saṅkīrtana and so forth in [the Age of] Kali, we have taken shelter in Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, who is internally Kṛṣṇa, externally golden, and manifest with the magnificence of his limbs and so forth [i.e., along with his sub-limbs, weapons, and associates].”

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ākārād api bhetavyaṁ strīṇāṁ viṣayiṇām api

ākārād api bhetavyaṁ strīṇāṁ viṣayiṇām api |
yathāher manasaḥ kṣobhas tathā tasyākṛter api ||
(Śrī Caitanyacandrodaya-nāṭaka: 8.25; cited in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.11.11)

“Even the appearance of women and viṣayīs (materialists) should be feared [and so direct association with them all the more]. As disturbance of the mind occurs because of a snake, so also it occurs because of the appearance of one [i.e., as one becomes scared upon seeing a snake and even upon seeing a toy form of a snake or perceiving the appearance of a snake in a rope, so just by seeing viṣayīs and women, or even something resembling the behavior of viṣayīs and the appearance of a woman, the mind becomes disturbed (in the case of people in general and sādhakas)].”

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niṣkiñcanasya bhagavad-bhajanonmukhasya

niṣkiñcanasya bhagavad-bhajanonmukhasya
pāraṁ paraṁ jigamiṣor bhava-sāgarasya |
sandarśanaṁ viṣayiṇām atha yoṣitāṁ ca
hā hanta hanta viṣa-bhakṣaṇato’py asādhu ||
(Śrī Caitanyacandrodaya-nāṭaka: 8.24; cited in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.11.8)

“[Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu:] Hā! Hanta! Hanta! For a renunciant intent upon Bhagavad-bhajana and desirous of reaching the far shore of the ocean of material existence, associating with viṣayīs [i.e., those engrossed in material affairs] and women is even more detrimental than drinking poison.”

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mano yadi na nirjitaṁ kim amunā tapasyādinā

mano yadi na nirjitaṁ kim amunā tapasyādinā
kathaṁ sa manaso jayo yadi na cintyate mādhavaḥ |
kim asya ca vicintanaṁ yadi na hanta ceto-dravaḥ
sa vā katham aho bhaved yadi na vāsanā-kṣālanam ||
(Caitanyacandrodaya-nāṭaka: 7.7)

“If the mind is not conquered, then what will come of all these austerities and so forth? How is the mind conquered if Mādhava is not thought of? Oh, and what is contemplation of him if the heart does not melt? But alas, how will that happen if the vāsanās [i.e., the vāsanās unrelated to him remaining in the heart] are not washed away?”

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kālena vṛndāvana-keli-vārttā

kālena vṛndāvana-keli-vārttā
lupteti tāṁ khyāpayituṁ viśiṣya |
kṛpāmṛtenābhiṣiṣeca devas
tatraiva rūpaṁ ca sanātanaṁ ca ||
(Caitanyacandrodaya-nāṭaka: 9.38; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.19.119)

“In the course of time, discussion of the play [i.e., līlā of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa] in Vṛndāvana was lost. Therefore, to distinguish and disseminate this, Deva [i.e., Śrīman Mahāprabhu], specifically in this respect, anointed Rūpa and Sanātana with the nectar of his grace.”

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yaḥ sarva-lokaika-mano-‘bhirucyā

yaḥ sarva-lokaika-mano-‘bhirucyā
saubhāgya-bhūḥ kācid akṛṣṭa-pacyā |
yatrāyam āropaṇa-tulya-kālaṁ
tat-prema-śākhī phalavān atulyaḥ ||
(Caitanya-candrodaya-nāṭaka: 10.4; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.6.264)

“Since he [i.e., Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī] is unanimously a delight to everyone, he is [like] an untilled fertile field of some [indescribable] good fortune wherein this tree of prema for him [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa], from the very moment it was planted, has become incomparably fruitful.”

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nirupadhi hi prema kathañcid apy upadhiṁ na sahata iti

nirupadhi hi prema kathañcid apy upadhiṁ na sahata iti pūrvārdhe bhagavatoḥ kṛṣṇa-rādhayor anupadhi-prema śrutvā tad eva puruṣārthīkṛtam | bhagavatā mukha-pidhānaṁ cāsya tad-rahasyatva-prakāśakam |
(Caitanya-candrodaya-nāṭakam: 7.17)

“Guileless prema does not tolerate any sort of guile. After hearing of Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā’s guile-free prema in the first half [of the verse], Bhagavān determined it to be the puruṣārtha, and Bhagavān’s covering his [i.e., Rāmānanda’s] mouth is indicative of its [i.e., the statement in the first half of the verse’s] confidentiality [alt., it is indicative of the confidentiality between them, i.e., Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa].”

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dhṛta-phaṇa iva bhogī gāruḍīyasya gānaṁ

dhṛta-phaṇa iva bhogī gāruḍīyasya gānaṁ
tad-uditam atiratyākarṇayan sāvadhānam |
vyadhikaraṇatayā vānanda-vaivaśyato vā
prabhur atha kara-padmenāsyāpy adhatta ||
(Caitanya-candrodaya-nāṭakam: 7.16)

“Like a snake with its hood drawn out listening to the song of a snake-charmer, Prabhu listened attentively with great delight to his [i.e., Rāmānanda Rāya’s] statement and then stopped him [from speaking any further] with his lotus hand either because of incongruity [i.e., because this was not the time he wanted this secret revealed] or because he was overwhelmed with bliss.”

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ahaṁ kāntā kāntās tvam iti na tadānīṁ matir abhūn

ahaṁ kāntā kāntās tvam iti na tadānīṁ matir abhūn
mano-vṛttir luptā tvam aham iti nau dhīr api hatā |
bhavān bhartā bhāryāham iti yad idānīṁ vyavasitis
tathāpi prāṇānāṁ sthitir iti vicitraṁ kim aparam ||
(Caitanya-candrodaya-nāṭakam: 7.15)

[Rādhā speaks to Kṛṣṇa in Mathurā through a messenger:] “‘I am the female lover, and you are the male lover.’ I did not have this notion then [when you were here in Vraja]. This mentality was absent, and even our awareness of ‘you’ and ‘I’ was lost. Although we now [again] have the certainty that you are the man and I am the woman, still my prāṇas are present [in my body]. What is more astonishing than this?”

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