Friday, January 17, 2014

siddha praṇālī in śāstra




Often I am asked where siddha praṇālī, the revelation of the spiritual body of the disciple by the Guru, is mentioned in the śāstras, or at least in the Six Goswāmīs’ books. Many devotees know it is mentioned in the works of minor ācāryas like Gopālguru, Dhyānacandra and Bhaktivinode and it is also mentioned by Vṛndāvana Cakravartī, a disciple of Viśvanātha Cakravartī, in his commentary on Govinda Līlāmṛta (23.94 – manobhāvena yogya vapuṣā śrī gurvājñā tat sevā-yogya siddha vapuṣā), but, though it is not called siddha praṇālī literally by name, the principle of the Guru’s involvement with the disciple’s development of the spiritual body is also clearly mentioned in the Gosvāmīs’ books. For instance, in Śrī Jīva Goswāmī’s Bhakti Sandarbha (283):

divyaṁ jñānaṁ hy atra śrīmati mantre bhagavat-svarūpa-jñānaṁ tena bhagavata sambandha-viśeṣa-jñānaṁ ca

“This divine knowledge is in the beautiful mantra and is knowledge of the Lord’s real form. Through it one receives knowledge about one’s specific relationship with the Lord.”
And in paragraph 312 of Bhakti Sandarbha:

yathā caike tādṛśam upāsanaṁ sākṣād vraja-jana-viśeṣāyaiva mahyaṁ śrī-guru-caraṇair mad-abhīṣṭa-viśeṣa-siddhy-artham upadiṣṭaṁ bhāvayāmi

“In such a worship (with the 18-syllable Gopāl-mantra) I meditate to develop myself as a direct, specific person in Vraja as my Śrī Guru’s lotus-feet have instructed me in to attain the specific siddhi I covet.”

Śrīla Narottama Dās Ṭhākur sings in Prārthanā (30):

kanaka kaṭorā pūri, sugandhi candana būri,
doṅhākāra śrī-aṅge ḍhālibo
guru-rūpā-sakhī vāme, tribhaṅga bhaṅgima ṭhāme,
cāmarera bātāsa koribo

“With fragrant sandal paste filling a golden jug, I anoint their beautiful limbs. Standing on the left side of my guru-rūpā-sakhī (my Guru in his sakhī-form) before Kṛṣṇa with His three-fold bending form, I fan with a cāmara-whisk.”

One may argue here that this is written in a siddha-state, but the song in which this couplet appears is named svābhiṣṭa lālasā, ‘yearning for a desired condition’ - clearly it speaks about a sādhaka-condition.

Not only in the books of the Gosvāmīs, but also in the books about the Gosvāmīs the guru-given siddha deha is mentioned. At the end of the 6th chapter of Prema Vilāsa, Śrī Nityānanda Dās narrates the meeting of Śrīnivāsācārya and his Guru Gopāl Bhaṭṭa Goswāmī –

Pada-yuga dhori kore ātma samarpaṇa
Ātmasāt kori gosāi kohilo vacana
Dui hasta dhauta puna koro āro bāra
Joḍa haste koro dhyāna vrajendrakumāra
Tāra vāme śrī rādhikā ati manohara
Lalitā manjarī ādi śobhita sundara
Pūjā korāilo sab pṛthak koriyā
Tulasī manjarī mālya candanādi diyā
Yūthe milāilo sab haste haste kori
Śrīnivāsa korāilo sobāra anucarī

“Holding the feet of Gosvāmī, Śrīnivāsa surrendered himself to the feet of his guru. Gopālbhaṭṭa Gosvāmī then ordered him, "Wash your hands again and start the meditation of Śrī Vrajendra-kumāra with folded hands. Think of the extremely attractive Śrī Rādhikā on His left side, surrounded by Lalitā, the Mañjarīs and others." He helped Srinivasa to do the pūjā of all of them individually with Tulsī mañjarīs, garlands, sandal paste and other ingredients. Thus he made Śrīnivāsa the maidservant of them all.”

Śrī rādhā-ramaṇa pūjā koro punarbāra
Sab manoratha siddhi caraṇe yāhāra
Sugandhi candana dilo hṛdaya upora
Tulasī manjarī caraṇe dilo bahutara
Dakṣiṇa hasta mastake dhori kohe harināma
Tabe rādhā-kṛṣṇa panca nāmera vidhāna
Rādhā-kṛṣṇa mantra kohe kare-yuge dhori
Kāma bīja śunāilo anguli anusāri
Ei sab mantra tumi koribe smaraṇa
Yei kāle tad āśraye koribe manana
Guṇa manjarikāśraye maṇi manjarikā tumi
Tomāra yūthera vivaraṇa kohi sab āmi

rūpa guṇa rati rasa manjulāmanjula
Ei sab sange sangī ei anukūla

He ordered Śrīnivāsa, "Worship Śrī Rādhā Ramaṇa again – at His lotus-feet lies the fulfillment of all your desires." Śrīnivāsa applied fragrant sandal paste on Rādhā-ramaṇa’s chest and many Tulsī-mañjarīs on His lotus feet. Placing his right hand on his head, he chanted Harināma, after which he got the five names of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. He spoke the mantra with Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa-nāma while holding Śrīnivāsa’s hands. Śrīla Gopāl Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī then told him the Kāma-bīja and how to count it on the fingers. He said: "Remember all these mantras whenever you surrender to Them by meditating on Them. You are Maṇi Mañjarī in the group of mañjarīs under Śrī Guṇa mañjarī (Gopāl Bhaṭṭa Goswāmī himself). I will tell you everything about her party. It is favorable to accompany Rūpa-, Guṇa-, Rati- and Mañjulāli Mañjarī."

It is however nowhere mentioned that this is a compulsory item of dīkṣā and must be given at once to anyone or everyone who gets harināma for instance. The Guru should judge who is qualified to receive it at all, and if so, when.

22 comments:

  1. Awesome blog, you are a very good writer, please keep writing more blog posts, I am reading them all.

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  2. Thanks so much for sharing this!!

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  3. Great information
    But I wander sri gadhadhara parivaar (haridas shastri line)has same siddha pranali or not .

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  4. Maharaj as i know all persons who take the role of guru are not capable of revieling the information about the sidha rupa of the disciple. How can an aspiring disciple know which guru is capable of reveling the sidha deha genuinely?

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    1. Rahul, siddha pranali is purely a matter of faith. If you have no faith in the Guru you should not take diksa from him. Simple.

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    2. Maharaj can you pls explain how guru knows about the svarupa of the disciple, I mean how does He gets the revelation? . It appears mystical. Kindly explain so that my faith gets stronger

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    3. As a child I learned never to ask a donor how much he paid for a present he gave you. Will you really approach your Gurudev and ask him where he got it from?

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  5. Maharaj the verse you cited Bhakti Sandarbha 283 gives an idea that the diksha mantra given by guru is capable of reveling one's sidha deha. What is your opinion on this?

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  6. Maharaj can you kindly give some evidence stating that Srila Jagannath das babaji Maharaj and Srila Gaur kishor das babaji Maharaj (of ISKCON/Gaudiya math) had received sidha pranali from their gurus?

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    1. Sorry I don't know such details, and I don't think it matters either.

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  7. About siddha-pranali, is it something that is eternally existing, our identity, or is it something that our guru gives us? Does our guru simply create the 11 points of our manjari identity and then tell us to meditate on it, and thus gradually through meditation we CREATE that identity?

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    1. Maharaj can you pls elaborate your answer.
      View 1: Sidha deha of the soul Is eternally existing and guru gets its revelation
      View 2: Guru simply creates the features of the sidha deha and when the disciple meditates on it, it becomes the reality.

      Which Is the correct view?

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    2. Both are true, as SB 3.15.14 says vasanti yatra purasa, the siddha deha is eternal. When you reach Vaikuntha you enter a timeless world.

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  8. Maharaj suppose a disciple received sidha pranali diksha and guru revealed to him his service. But after many years of practice if the disciple feels attachment to some other type of services then can he meditate on those services?

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  9. These are all suppositions. gurudev amay jai diyechen tai amar sob - whatever Guru gave me is everything to me. There is nothing unattractive about radha dasya. Surely if you are urgently needed for another service you must run over there.

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  10. Maharaj you have cited Narottam maharaj's prarthana 30. Narottam is aspiring for 2 services here. 1. Anointing the limbs of the divine couple with chandan. 2. Fanning with chamara.
    Maharaj is there any evidence that these 2 are the services received by Narottam at the time of siddha pranali. ? These can be his own aspirations of desired services, in that case we can also aspire for such services without siddha pranali ??

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    1. To act independently from Gurudeva is a namaparadha, an offence to the holy name called guror avajna, disregarding Guru.

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  11. Maharaj in B.R.S 1.2.295 Jiva goswami comments "sidha rupa has been developed by international meditation ". Srila VCT comments " Sidha deha appears through inner contemplation " . Why they did not mention to receive sidha deha from Guru.

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  12. That is the very topic of this blog which carries 5 items of evidence from scripture that siddha pranali is a genuine practise. Please read the blog again then.

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  13. Maharaj you said the sited prayer of Srila Narottam das thakur comes under the category of svabhavishta lalasa. B.R.S 1.2.152 jiva goswami commentary says that "Lalasa statements come from persons who have attained bhava". What do you say about this?

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    1. Different Vaishnavas have different opinions on the status of Sri Narottam, whether he is sadhana siddha, nitya siddha, bhava bhakta etc. It is not ascertained in shastra.

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