Manjari Bhav Part 1 | Sri Vinod Babaji Maharaj

 

Sri Bhagvan comes down to Earth in every Yuga, but nobody ever gave the Manjari mood of devotion to the world.

"Anarpita charim chirat"

The Manjari mood of devotion has been given by Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu only. The mood of loving devotion (Prem bhakti) existed before Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (as seen in Shrimad Bhagvatam in the life stories of Sri Prahladji, Sri Dhruvji, etc). Madhurya love was not new to the world at the time of Shri Mahaprabhu, but He mercifully gave the Manjari mood of love to the world.

Rati (love) is classified in three types: Sadharan Rati, Samanjasya Rati and Samartha Rati. Sadharan Rati (General love) is seen in Mathura lila, where the young, female residents of Mathura were attracted to the beauty and power of Sri Krishna and hence, fell in love with Him. Samanjasya Rati (Concordant love) is seen in Dwarika lila, where the queens of Sri Krishna loved Him as their husband (and hence, the lover and the beloved are equals). Samartha Rati (Capable love) is seen in Vrindavan lila. The term means the kind of love that is capable of completely controlling Sri Krishna.

"Krishna sukhaika tatparyamayi seva"

Where the only intention is to please Sri Krishna, where the lover is completely devoid of any desire of personal happiness, where the Manjari is happy only by pleasing Yugal Kishor, the love is called Samartha Rati. The love of all Gopis are Samartha Rati, but the Manjari's mood of love is the highest perfection of Samartha Rati that can be achieved by a sadhak called Bhavollasa Rati. (Bhav = mood of Radharani, Ullasa = happiness, Bhav+Ullasa = Bhavollasa = The mood where the Manjari becomes happy if Radharani is happy, Manini (prideful anger) when Radharani is Manini and sad when Radharani is sad. This will be explained later). This special love has been given by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

"Srimatir sama sabhe deha bhed matra, ek pran ek atma sabe Radha tatva" (Murali Bilas)

The Manjari is Radharani Herself in tatva. She even looks almost like Radharani, only the age is different. The Manjari is younger, around 9 to 12 years of age. According to age, the Sakhis are classified as Vayah Sandhi, Nava Youvana, Vyakta Youvana and Purna Youvana. The sadhak Manjari is of the Vayah Sandhi age group, where she is mostly in the playful mood of a little girl child, but has begun developing some sense of shame and bashfulness. It is 75% childishness and 25% youthful behaviour. Nava Youvana is 50% childishness and 50% youthful behaviour. Vyakta Youvana is 25% childishness and 75% youthful behaviour, meaning the Sakhi has some childlike innocence, but mostly she behaves like a Nayika (female lover). In Purna Youvana, the childishness is completely lost and the Sakhi has a fully developed sense of youthful love. 

This Manjari mood of devotion is not attainable by sadhana. It can be attained only by the mercy of a devotee who has achieved the Manjari mood in perfection himself/herself. When the sadhak receives this Swarupa from his Gurudev and contemplates on serving Yugal Kishor in this Manjari Swarup, gradually, the mundane identity of this body is lost and the sadhak experiences himself as Manjari. The sense of 'I am this body' diminishes and the mood of 'I belong to Radharani and Radharani belongs to me' strengthens. It starts with imagination of sadhak but as he progresses in the path of devotion, he gets glimpses of the divine lila and his own Manjari Swarup. Gradually, his consciousness becomes one with the Manjari Swarup by the mercy of Radharani.

"Sadhane bhabibe jaha, siddha dehe pabe taha, pakka apakka matra se bichar.

Apakke sadhane te riti, pakile se prema bhakti, bhakati lakshan tatva sar.'

(Prem bhakti chandrika)

Whatever you contemplate during sadhana, you get the same on perfection of your bhakti. The level of perfection of your mood is the only factor to be considered (for determining for how much your bhakti has progressed). When the mood is imperfect, it is called sadhana, and when the mood becomes perfect, it is called Prem bhakti. This is the gist of how to understand how much you have progressed in bhakti.

Presently, our consciousness is one with this body. The happiness and sorrow, coolness and warmth, etc experienced by the body seems to be felt by 'me'. The actions done by the body seems to be done by 'me' and this 'I' gets entangled in the reactions of those actions. As a result, the sadhak gets stuck in the cycle of birth and death. But all of this is caused by illusory Maya Devi, who causes the jivatma to forget his true identity, that is, I belong to God and God belongs to me; I am divine, pure, eternal and blissful. By contemplating on his Manjari Swarup, gradually, this oneness with bodily identity diminishes and the oneness with the divine identity of Manjari increases. At first, the sadhak contemplates using imagination, but gradually, on purification of heart, he enters 'Sfurti dasha' where he gets glimpses of divine lila during bhajan. And after that, he even experiences himself as Manjari and enters the lila in his Manjari Swarup.

The sadhak must desire the Manjari mood of love wholeheartedly. This demand in the sadhak's heart attracts the supply of Kripa. Whatever you want in the divine world, it is earned through 'Lalasa', earnest desire. Whether it is Gyan yoga, Karma yoga or Bhakti yoga, the sadhak needs to devote his mind to Radha Krishna and bring about a mental change in himself (understand the philosophical aspects of his path and try to follow them in his life). Visiting the Dham, associating with sadhus, serving Vaishnavas - all of these are done for bringing about this mental change and devoting their mind to Radha Krishna instead of the material world. The more the sadhak contemplates on Radha Krishna, the more he becomes detached from the material world and mundane identity, and the desire to see Radha Krishna and serve them as a Manjari increases. This desire attracts the mercy of Radharani and She perfects this Manjari mood of love in the sadhak with her mercy.

"Charma chokhe dekhe prapancher sama,

Prem netre dekhe tar Swarup prakash,

Vrindaboner Gop Gopi Ras bilas"

With these mundane eyes, we see the Vrindavan Dham as similar to the mundane world. But when the sadhak achieves the divine love of Radha Krishna, he develops Prem netra (divine eyes). The sadhak sees the divine Vrindavan and the lilas of Gopas and Gopis with Radha Krishna with these divine eyes.

At first, the sadhak must think of divine Vrindavan where there are big trees with varieties of leaves, flowers and fruits. The ground looks like it has been designed with gems and divine stones, and the trees and creepers bend naturally to create a 'kunja'. There is a temple like building, beautifully furnished with gems, and a bench made of gold and gems in its center, on which Radha Krishna is seated. At first, the sadhak tries to imagine it like this, but afterwards, when his heart gets purified, he is able to get glimpses of the actual divine Vrindavan Dham. This is called Sfurti.

" Chitta shuddhir bina smaranam na bhavati" (Sridhar Swami)

Without purification of the heart, the sadhak is not able to contemplate on Radha Krishna correctly (or reach Sfurti dasha either). Once the sadhak reaches that stage, he is able to see the divine world and its lilas which is unimaginable with human mind and indescribable by human tongue.

To be continued....