Saturday, February 14, 2009

Suicide at Govardhan, murmura, and more Gaura-questions

Bhakta: "It is said that Raghunāth Dās Goswāmī wanted to jump off Govardhan Hill to commit suicide, and that it is a custom to commit suicide like this, but I don't see it high enough anywhere to jump to death from."

Advaitadas : "Towards Pucchari its pretty high, but even there there's no steep cliff. You could break a leg or get a concussion at best there. He could have drowned himself in Yamunā or Rādhākund as well, but that's not the point. The point is he was feeling intense grief. In the end he never committed suicide, also not when Rūpa and Sanātana Goswāmīs disappeared. Mahāprabhu had already forbidden Sanātan Goswāmī to commit suicide."

Bhakta: "In the Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Caritāmṛta Murari Gupta says that Lakṣmī-priyā was an Apsarā banished from heaven, but in the end she would be redeemed by marrying Nārāyan [Mahāprabhu]. "

Advaitadas: "There is no need for confusion. In Gaur Gaṇoddeśa Dīpika Kavi Karṇapur describes multiple swarūpas for one person and one swarūpa for multiple persons too. It is all possible. The gopīs also were Devis, Upaniṣads, sages, and the nitya siddhas. Droṇa and Dharā merged into the nitya siddha Nanda and Yaśodā, too. Murāri Guptā is Hanumān, so his authority cannot be ignored or disbelieved."

Bhakta: "There is this nice verse from Rūpa Goswāmī's Padyāvalī (361) :

asyās tāpam ahaṁ mukunda kathayāmy eṇī-dṛśas te kathaṁ
padminyāḥ sa-rasaṁ dalaṁ vinihitaṁ yasyāḥ sa-tāpe hṛdi
ādau śuṣyati saṅkucaty anu tataś cūrṇatvam āpadyate
paśCān murmuratāṁ dadhad dahati ca śvāsāvadhūtaṁ śikhī

"O Mukunda, how will I describe the sufferings of this doe-eyed girl? Her sighs constantly fan the flames of Her suffering. When a beautiful lotus petal is placed on Her burning breast it first become dried, then shriveled, then turns to powder, and then becomes a blazing dust-fire."

Advaitadas: "I had not noticed this verse before. It is clear that it must have inspired Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda to compose the verses about Śrī Rādhikā's unguents drying to a crisp:

gehāgatāṁ virahiṇīṁ nava-puṣpa-talpe
tvāṁ śāyayāni parataḥ kila murmurābhāt
tasmāt paratra śayanaṁ visa-punja-klṛptam
adhyāśayāni vidhu-candana-panka-liptām

"When you return home in the afternoon I will lay You to rest on a fresh bed of flowers, which I will anoint with unguents like vertiver, camphor and sandal that will cool off your afflicted body, which burns in the fire of separation from Kṛṣṇa in such a way that it makes the bed smoulder like a chaff-fire in no time." (Sankalpa Kalpadruma - 72) This verse even contains the same word for it, murmura.

tad ālīnāṁ pālyā samucita saparyyākula dhiyāṁ
dravaiḥ paunaḥ puṇyān malayaja-bhavai lipta vapuñaḥ
stṛtāyāś cābhīkṣṇaṁ visa kisalayaiḥ saindhava-rasaiḥ

"Although Her sakhīs served Her with anxious hearts as was proper by repeatedly anointing Her body with sandal paste, lotus pollen and camphor, the heat of Her afflicted body (that burned in the fire of separation from Hari) made these substances dry up (at once) and then they had to apply them again." (Kṛṣṇa Bhāvanāmṛta 16.3)

Bhakta: " When Mahāprabhu met Lakṣmī-priyā (Caitanya Caritāmṛta Adi 14.66) He told Her to worship Him as Maheśvara. Sometimes that's translated as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but prof. Dimock says it means Śiva."

Advaitadas: "In this case prof. Dimock is right. Young maidens worship Śiva to get a good husband. That is why Mahāprabhu told her He is Śiva."

Bhakta:"In Caitanya Caritāmṛta Adi 11.28, Prof. Dimock says Purandarācārya floated in the ocean of prema like a croc."

Advaitadas: "Here he is wrong. The verse says premārṇava madhye phire yaichana mandara - 'He rotated [phire means rotating, not floating] like the Mandara mountain (which also rotated, on Kūrma-deva's back)."

Bhakta: "In Caitanya Caritāmṛta Adi 10.15 Gadādhara Paṇḍit is called Lakṣmī rūpā. Some say that means he's as beautiful as Lakṣmī, others say he is the Lord's pleasure potency. Which one is right?"

Advaitadas: "They both are. In Bengali the word 'rūpa' also means beauty. It seems strange this is ascribed to a male person, but Gadādhar Paṇḍit is śakti-tattva in Gaura-līlā, an aṁśa of Smt. Rādhārāṇī."

2 comments:

  1. You mentioned Gaura-ganodesa Dipika - two things have always puzzled me about this work:

    1) It is mentioned that Vallabhacharya (of the Pusti-marg line) is Sukadeva Gosvami. However, we find in Caitanya Lila that he doesn't get much respect.

    2)Kavi-Karnapur states that Ramananda Ray is the incarnation of Lalita, but generally the Gaudiyas accept Swarup Damodar as the incarnation of Lalita and Ramananda as Visakha.

    Could you please explain?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Giridhari: You mentioned Gaura-ganodesa Dipika - two things have always puzzled me about this work:

    1) It is mentioned that Vallabhacharya (of the Pusti-marg line) is Sukadeva Gosvami. However, we find in Caitanya Lila that he doesn't get much respect.


    That is a mystery surrounding Caitanya Caritamrita only. Please see my blog of October 7, 2007.

    2)Kavi-Karnapur states that Ramananda Ray is the incarnation of Lalita, but generally the Gaudiyas accept Swarup Damodar as the incarnation of Lalita and Ramananda as Visakha.
    Could you please explain?


    It is already answered in the blog:

    "There is no need for confusion. In Gaur Ganoddesh Deepika Kavikarnapur describes multiple swarupas for one person and one swarup for multiple persons too. It is all possible.

    In my blog of August 5, 2006 (comments pages) you will find one can attain more than 1,000 svarupas. In my lineage we worship Vishakha devi as Advaita Prabhu, f.i.

    ReplyDelete