Mādhurya Upāsanā: Dāsya Prema Part 1

 

[Baba is describing the meeting of Rāya Rāmānanda and Sri Chaitanya Māhāprabhu and the discussion about “Sadhya-Sadhana tatva” (what is the highest form of Bhakti attainable by a sadhak and how can it be attained) that follows. While Sri Chaitanya Māhāprabhu asks him to describe the highest goal of spiritual practice, Rāya Rāmānanda answers in a step-by-step manner and the discussion proceeds towards the highest form of Prema Bhakti, that is, the Bhāvollāsā Rati (Manjari Bhāva). In this series of satsangas on Mādhurya Upāsanā path, I will translate from where Baba discusses the moods of love in divine Vraja.]

Sri Chaitanya Māhāprabhu: Rāya Rāmānanda, tell me, what kind of spiritual practice should a sadhak follow to attain the ultimate goal of Prema Bhakti?

Rāya Rāmānanda: To follow Sva-dharma (duty according to one’s Varna and Ashram) is Krishna Bhakti.

Māhāprabhu: This is an external (or superficial) aspect of Bhakti. Tell me about deeper spiritual practices.

Rāya Rāmānanda: To surrender the results of all of one’s actions at the lotus feet of Krishna is Krishna Bhakti.

Māhāprabhu: This too is an external aspect of Bhakti. Let’s proceed deeper into the topic of Bhakti.

Rāya Rāmānanda: To surrender one’s Sva-dharma in order to engage in Bhakti is a better form of Krishna Bhakti.

Māhāprabhu: This is also an external aspect of Bhakti. Proceed further.

Rāya Rāmānanda: Gyana Mishra Bhakti (a form of Bhakti where the sadhak accepts the idea of Jivatma’s oneness with God) is an excellent form of Krishna Bhakti.

Māhāprabhu: This is also an external aspect of Bhakti. Proceed further.

Rāya Rāmānanda: Gyana Shunya Bhakti (a form of Bhakti where the sadhak rejects the idea of oneness with God but still regards God with awe and reverence) is an excellent form of Bhakti.

Māhāprabhu: This is a good form of Bhakti but let’s delve deeper into the topic of Bhakti.

Rāya Rāmānanda: (Shuddha) Prema Bhakti is the best form of Bhakti.

Māhāprabhu: Yes, it is. But let’s delve deeper into the topic of Bhakti.

Rāya Rāmānanda Prabhu was an expert on topics related to Bhakti. He understood that Sri Chaitanya Māhāprabhu wanted to hear about the moods of Vraja Prema. Hence, step by step, he proceeds towards the topic of the highest form of Prema Bhakti.

Rāya Rāmānanda: Dasya Prema is the best form of Bhakti to Krishna.

Prema Bhakti can be classified into five categories: Shanta, Dasya, Sakhya, Vatsalya and Madhura.

Shanta Bhakti means the mood of Bhakti where the devotee accepts all the three aspects of God’s Lordship – Gyana, Aishwarya and Mādhurya. Such devotees accept the idea of oneness with God as well as relish (hear and witness, but not participate in) the Mādhurya pastimes of God. Examples of such devotees are the four Sanat Kumaras and Narada Muni. Shanta Bhakti is not a part of Vraja Prema.

Vraja Prema includes only Dasya, Sakhya, Vatsalya and Madhura moods of love. Among these, let us discuss about the Dasya Bhakti (in this article). Dasya Bhakti means the mood of servanthood to Krishna. It is the foundation of all other moods of love. The Sakhya, Vatsalya and Madhura moods of love are built on this foundation of servanthood to Krishna. Without servanthood to Krishna, there is no Vraja Prema (meaning the mood of love that exists in divine Vraja Dham is centred around the servant-master relationship of Jiva with Krishna. That is why, every single action, thought and emotion of the eternal devotee associates of Vraja are directed towards pleasing Radha and Krishna).

Although the devotees of the Shanta mood of Bhakti also consider themselves servants of Krishna, it is completely different from the Dasya Prema of Vraja. Due to the awareness of Krishna’s opulence, the devotees of Shanta Bhāva do not have the desire to serve Krishna. They think that Krishna is omnipresent, omniscient and ever-satisfied in His own bliss. He is Purnakāma and an ocean of bliss. What is the need to serve Krishna? One can serve someone only when he needs something. This kind of Bhakti aimed to attain Vaikuntha (the divine abode for devotees of Aishwarya mood of God) exists in Dvārakā, Mathura, etc. There is no desire to serve Krishna in Vaikuntha.

But in divine Vrindavan Dham, where Krishna’s Mādhurya Shakti manifests in full form and Aishwarya Shakti serves only secretly, Krishna is Mugdha. He performs His pastimes like an ordinary human being. That is why, He needs to be served. He gets hungry, thirsty, tired or even ill at times. All these pastimes are aimed at giving pleasure to His devotees. The devotees get immense pleasure from serving Radha Krishna. In the nectarine pastimes of Vrindavan, both the servant and the master (Krishna or Radharani) get pleasure out of the loving service of the devotees to Radha Krishna.

Prema is the most important factor or the main reason behind this desire to serve each other. The tools of service or other things are not important at all. When the devotees serve Radha Krishna with exotic food items or things made of high-quality gold and precious gems, Their pleasure does not depend on the things used to serve Them. It is only the pure and divine love of Their devotees that causes Them to become hungry, thirsty or tired. At that time, They even request the devotees to give food or water.

They really get hungry and thirsty. One should NOT think that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and is ever-satisfied in His own bliss but only acts like He is hungry to give pleasure to His devotees. No. In the pastimes of Vraja, where Krishna resides in the pure and full manifestation of His Mādhuryamaya mood, He actually gets hungry due to His devotees’ desire to serve Him.

In Dvārakā, some devotees accept both the Aishwarya and Mādhurya moods of Krishna. Hence, there is service and the mood of servanthood to Krishna. But due to awareness of Krishna’s Aishwarya, they regard Krishna with awe and reverence while serving Him. They do not have a feeling of closeness with Krishna. They go to serve Krishna only when He summons them (they cannot serve Him according to their wish).

But in Vraja, the devotees serve Krishna (and Radharani) according to their own wishes because they have a sense of belonging and closeness to Him. Their lives are dependent on Krishna! Krishna becomes immensely pleased and overwhelmed by the divine loving service of devotees of Vraja. This service is not like that of a servant in the mundane world. (Although the words ‘servant/slave’ and ‘master’ are used for understanding the nature of the relationship between Krishna and His devotees,) Krishna follows the footsteps of His devotees to take the dust of their lotus feet, being controlled by their divine love!

“Nirapekṣaṁ muniṁ śāntaṁ nirvairaṁ sama-darśanam,

Anuvrajāmi ahaṁ nityaṁ pūyeyety aṅghri-reṇubhiḥ.”

(Srimad Bhagavatam 11.14.16)

Meaning: With the dust of My devotees’ lotus feet, I desire to purify Myself. Thus, I always follow the footsteps of My pure devotees, who are free from all personal desire, rapt in the thought of My pastimes, peaceful, without any feelings of enmity, and of equal disposition everywhere.

Therefore, one must never think this is an ordinary servant-master relationship where the master exploits his servants.

The Dasya mood in Dvārakā involves awe and reverence and thus, it is not highly appreciated by the scriptures. In Vraja, the Dasya mood of Bhakti (Dasya Prema) is pure (without the involvement of awe and reverence) and originates from pure Prema Bhakti for Krishna. Even if Krishna offers them five kinds of Mukti (liberation where the Jivatma either attains all kinds of opulences of Krishna, eternal association in Vaikuntha, residence in Vaikuntha, the beauty and form of Krishna or dissolves into Him), the servant rejects the offer in order to eternally serve Krishna.

“Sālokya-sārṣṭi-sāmīpya-sārūpyaikatvam apy uta
Dīyamānaṁ na gṛhṇanti vinā mat-sevanaṁ janāḥ.”

(Srimad Bhagavatam 3.29.13)

Meaning: A pure devotee does not accept any kind of liberation — sālokya, sārṣṭi, sāmīpya, sārūpya or ekatva — even though they are offered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

The servanthood to Krishna is so sweet and attractive to the devotees of Dasya Prema (and higher moods of Vraja Prema). For instance, when Krishna takes His cows to graze in the forests of Vraja, His Sakhas (friends) accompany Him. Sakhya mood of love is devoid of any kind of awe and reverence. Sakhas don’t consider Krishna any different from themselves. It’s true that Krishna has more cows than any of His friends, but that’s that. Sakhas ride on the shoulders of Krishna and sometimes, take Krishna on their shoulders to ride. There is no hesitation in their behaviour. But they too want to serve Krishna.

When some cows wander far away from them while grazing grass, Krishna doesn’t heed anyone’s prohibitions and hurries to bring back the cows alone. At that time, Sakhas are distressed to see Krishna’s tired appearance and they lovingly pull Him to lie down on soft grass, resting His head on a Sakha’s lap. One of the Sakhas fans Krishna with his own scarf. One of them pulls His lotus feet onto his lap and massages them. He becomes overwhelmed with pleasure while massaging Krishna’s lotus feet and tears roll down his cheeks. See, this is Dasya mood within Sakhya Bhāva! Without Dasya mood, the sweetness of Vraja pastimes will disappear.

This servanthood to Krishna does not originate from a sense of duty like an ordinary servant-master relationship, but rather, it originates from a mood of completely surrendering oneself unto the lotus feet of Krishna and performing every action to please Him physically, verbally and mentally. This is Dasya Prema. When devotees serve Him with such Dasya Prema, Krishna forgets He is the Supreme Controller of infinite universes and becomes overwhelmed with love and bliss. He reciprocates the devotees’ Dasya Prema by seeking a chance to serve His devotees! (This will be elaborated in the next article.)