The Best of The Goswamis: Srila Gadadhar Pandit

Today is Amavasya. It’s not Tirobhāv, it’s Avirbhāv. Did I say Tirobhāv? It’s Avirbhāv, the appearance day of Gadādhar Pandit.... disappearance comes months from now. So...there in the Pañca-tattva mantram, Śrī Krisna Chaitanya, Prabhu Nityananda, Śrī Advaita, then Gadādhar. There’s Mahaprahbu, Nityānanda Prabhu, Advaita, they’re of one category. Gadādhar, as soon as śakti is mentioned, then Gadahadar is given- like Śrīmatī Rādhārānī- occupying the supreme position, the highest position. But a peculiar position in Gaura-līlā, because Narottam Thākur says in his song, ‘gaura premamoya tanu paṇḍita gadādhara’. It’s Kṛṣṇa-prema, but then there’s Gaura-prema, rather then Gaurānga Mahaprabhu, says “gaura premamoya tanu” the personification of Gaura prema to the highest expression, fullest degree is Pandit Gadādhar, and most necessarily-on account of, Gadādhar being - as Guru Mahārāj sometimes says, after Kṛṣṇa’s looted the heart of Śrīmatī Rādhārānī,... the remainder is Gadādar.
Rūpa Goswāmī in his Caitanyāṣṭakam

apāraṁ kasyāpi praṇayi-jana-vṛndasya kutukī
rasa-stomaṁ hṛtvā madhuram upabhoktuṁ kam api yaḥ
rucaṁ svām āvavre dyutim iha tadīyāṁ prakaṭayan
sa devaś caitanyākṛtir atitarāṁ naḥ kṛpayatu
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: Ādi-līlā, 4.52)
Having surveyed the multitude of damsels, which means... by different calculations, billions and trillions of gopīs. And who are they? The supreme devotees of Kṛṣṇa,
those who possess Kṛṣṇa prema to the extreme.

ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhis
tābhir ya eva nija-rūpatayā kalābhiḥ
goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūto
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
(Brahma-saṁhitā: 5.37)
As Kṛṣṇa expands Himself, Śrīmatī Rādhārānī, She’s expanding Herself to so many Laskmi’s of Vaikunta, queens of Dvaraka, and gopīs of Vṛndavan. And there, in that supreme configuration of the Rasa dance, some places telling billions, trillions... we can understand that it’s unlimited. As I’ve said many times, in this world the body is the biological expression of the soul’s delusion, where’s the svarūp is the form expression of dedicating tendency. So, their beauty that is described, their form, their complexion, their look, their dress on, all cinmay. Vaikuṇṭhera pṛthivy-ādi sakala cinmaya (Cc: 1.5.53.1) everything made out of, not only conscious substance, but spiritually conscious substance, enriched with dedicating tendency to the extreme degree.

Extreme degree means, implies, Mādhura-rasa. The sweet rasa. The other names, imply what they are: Śānta; passive, neutral, mild, Dāsya; servitorship, Sakhya; friendship, Vātsalya; familial affection, but then this one is called Mādhura. The sweet rasa. Other names used too-Sṛṅgāra, this and that, but Mādhura...predominant, the sweet, the sweetest, concentrated sweetness. As Guru Maharaja says, “All of the rasas are clients”. This is the original; all the others are clientèle. They’re getting what they’ve got from this particular source, it contains everything. It’s not just, that this one is like this, that one’s like that. No, if we look at the sequence, saying what was found in Sānta-rasa is there within Dāsya-rasa enriched with servitorship. What is found in Santa and Dasya, in the Sakhya-rasa, then the element of friendship enters, so, the other two are included. Vātsalya, Sānta, Dāsya, Sakhya... and then familial affection. So, Mādhura-rasa contains all those elements. So it’s Adī-rasa, Mukta-rasa, the principle, the original from which everything is springing; janma-ādi yataḥ;,;janma-ādi; Adi-rasa, Mādhura-rasa is giving birth, everything’s springing out of that plane,so... an extraordinary variety.

In this world there’s no two people that are, like, truly identical. Even, so called identical twins, they’re not. The mother knows, and not only the mother, but, of course, she knows. I met this lady on an airplane once, with these two twin girls who are, like three or four years old, dressed in identical clothes and they looked identical. And I was talking to the mother and she said, “They’re very different.” She said, “This one is a girly girl, this one’s like a tomboy.” But looking the same, dressing the same, same hair, but she’s saying, “They’re very different”. So, in this world, like the French have this saying “Vive la différence”...right? It’s a good thing. We don’t want to erase that and make everyone the same. So, they’re saying, it’s in variegatedness... that there is the capacity for harmony. In a choir, one doesn’t just sing one note, or at least one note in the same way. So, like in a harmonical part, there’s all these notes put together, then it’s a choir. It’s harmony; many different elements. So, we’re not qualified to discuss that, but within writings of Rupa Goswāmī, particularly describing all the differences of them, to the delight of Mahāprabhu and His devotees. Even at Ratha-yātrā, they think...no...Ratha-yātrā... they’re singing and dancing; yes they are, but Herā-pañcamī comes during that festival time, and Mahāprabhu is asking Svarūpa Dāmodar for “rasa-vicār, rasa-āveśe”, tell us the details of all of this. And again, we can not describe what is there, but it's there in Caitanya-caritāmṛta, and to the delight of all the devotees, but particularly Mahāprabhu and His devotees... saying “This one has this nature, this one has another type of nature and it’s all expanding the happiness of Kṛṣṇa”. So, He’s saying “Of these billions and trillions of inconceivable beautiful, qualified, super dedicated Vraja-gopis, they’re all unique”. That sounds like the pastimes of the infinite! All of them are truly unique and beautiful and super qualified and super dedicated, and they’re all participating in this divine pastime.But what Rūpa Goswāmī says is “ Serving all of them, one stands out to a particular degree, that captures Kṛṣṇa’s attention”.And in this case, because it’s the Caitanyāṣṭakam, so many other things can be said...In Jayadev’s Gita Govindam- ;rādhām ādhāya hṛdaye, tatyāja vraja-sundarīḥ (Gg; 3, 1-2)... in the search for Śrī Rādhā, Kṛṣṇa left all the others. It’s a simple formula, simple math, to show you ONE cancels the others, then THE ONE must be supremely inconceivably qualified.

But here, he’s talking about Mahāprabhu. It’s Caitanyāṣṭakam, so, he thinks “Yes, Kṛṣṇa seeing all of them, in all their incredible beauty, charm, sweetness... one captured His heart, His heart’s-you can say- curiosity. That is the meaning of the word ’kautukin’. And He is thinking privately, candidly, that what it is like to be Her. Already we’ve left, whatever religion normally says. We’ve gone way beyond that. When I asked Guru Maharaj primary question in the middle of another type of discussion, He said, “We left that long ago.” So, here this zone, what is being discussed... there, insight- you want to say- into the mind of God, the heart of God, what is He thinking? That we never hear, except within the pages of Caitanya-caritāmṛtam. Kṛṣṇa lost his turban. [laughing] Sometime,while seeing Rādhārānī He drops his flute and can’t find it... He forgets...“ how does that go again?” She has such a bewildering capacity. So, that curiosity awaken within Kṛṣṇa...He’s saying, “They’re all loving, beautiful, charming to the extreme, but what is it about Her, what is it that She sees in me that She finds so irresistible and wants to give Herself to wholesale.
śrī-rādhāyāḥ praṇaya-mahimā kīdṛśo vānayaivā-
svādyo yenādbhuta-madhurimā kīdṛśo vā madīyaḥ
saukhyaṁ cāsyā mad-anubhavataḥ kīdṛśaṁ veti lobhāt
tad-bhāvāḍhyaḥ samajani śacī-garbha-sindhau harīnduḥ
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: Ādi-līlā, 1.6)
What is the ‘rādhāyāḥ praṇaya’ mean? The love, the greatness of the love, that She alone possesses. That is a reference to Mahābhāv, right?... From bhāva, prema... what is that?...sneha, mana, pranaya, rag, anurāg, bhāv, mahābhāv. Rupa Goswāmī giving all these delineations in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu.Krsna says, “That love that She alone possesses, that I want to experience”, āsvādyaḥ yenādbhuta-madhurimā, kīdṛśo vā madīyaḥ’ (Cc: 1.6.2), “the sweetness that She’s tasting, that I want to taste” and ‘saukhyaṁ cāsyā mad-anubhavataḥ kīdṛśaṁ veti lobhāt’ (Cc: 1.6.3), “and the joy, the ecstasy that she is experiencing”, those three things. And what do they say?.. Guru Maharaj says, “He steals her heart”,and Rupa Goswāmi confirms that in this line, ‘hṛtvā madhuram upabhoktuṁ kam api’,means that he has to steal that...The implication is that She’s not going to give that- you can say- easily. So Kṛṣṇa has to steal that from Her, as it were. And, then Guru Maharaj- only Guru Maharaj can make this type of analysis- so, that he can think like that. Guru Maharaj is saying, “If you take away Her heart, the heart’s radiance is the halo,Bhāva and Kānti, Heart and Halo”. Then Guru Maharaj says, “What is the remainder?” Then She must be different. Absent Her heart and halo, What is the remainder? He said, “That is Gadādhar,
and He said, “Like a man, from whom someone stole his wealth...and, that is when Kṛṣṇa stole Rādhārānī’s, and he is always running after that person. So, it’s like... “give it back!” He’s saying... “No, no, this is mine!... No- mine!... give!”- So wherever is Māhāprabhu,
Gadādhar is there. And sometimes Guru Maharaj says, “A facsimile of the former self”. When Gadādhar ask permission to go to Vṛndāvan, it was denied. And Guru Maharaj made the point, because He thinks, “How is that... the Queen of Vṛndāvan is denied permission to go to Vṛndāvan”. Why? Guru Maharaj is saying, “Absent Her heart, Her Bhāva, how She can go there, and Māhāprabhu is preventing that”. Telling Gadādhar Pandit. Gadādhar Pandit wants to be with him all the time. Māhāprabhu saying, ” you...you have taken kṣetra-sannyās, means you vow, you’ll never leave a holy place”. Wherever Māhāprabhu goes he knows Gadādhar want to come, so, at one point, he’s going to break that vow. “I want to go with you”. And Māhāprabhu is saying, “Yeah, but what about your vow? Kṣetra-sannyāsa...that you’ll stay in this place...“ Gadādhar saying, “Your lotus feet, and your vow to Gopinath, are worth millions of Gopīnāths, millions of kṣetra-sannyāsas.” But Māhāprabhu is saying, “No, you must stay and serve Gopīnāth“,and the other devotees are saying, “Like Kṛṣṇa, He broke His own vow, to keep the vow of his devotee intact, such as Bhīṣmadev. Kṛṣṇa promised He would not interfere or fight in Kurukṣetra, but he took up the chakra, the wheel of the chariot to kill Bhīṣmadev, when he tried to kill Arjun. Thereby, breaking His own promise, but Bhīṣma said, “Either Kṛṣṇa will take up weapon or Arjun dies”. So he kept Bhīṣma’s vow by breaking his own.

And here Māhāprabhu is saying, “No, you remain there.” We’re told that sometimes Māhāprabhu is going for prasādam to Gadādhar place in Gopīnath. And if we recall, Kṛṣṇa-līlā, it’s all divine pastimes. But there’s a play, how things come about. So, we’re told in Garga Samhita, “How did Rādhārānī get so much devotion for Kṛṣṇa?“ But, it is not something that she acquired, actually. But, they are saying, “Oh, by worshiping Tulsī or honoring Ekādaśī, or it’s to help us”. So Rādhārānī is known, it’s a -we can say, in a sense- it’s an excuse for Mother Yaśodā to enlist Her in the cooking for Kṛṣṇa, because She got a benediction from Dhurvasa Muni, that whatever She cooks, will taste as sweet as nectar.So, everyone knows that, then Mother Yaśodā can enlist Her in seva at Nanda-bhāvan, preparing different things for Kṛṣṇa, without raising any “chinmay“ eyebrows [laughs]. The eyebrows are also ’chinmay’(transcendental),and they raise.[laughs] So, we can understand, She’s THE...when we talk about cooks...She’s THE Supreme Cook of all time, all space, everywhere, for certain. So, if that personality in Gaura-līlā, will invite Māhāprabhu for lunch, it’s inconceivable! And who supplying ingredients? Nityānanda Prabhu! [laughs]. So, ’ananta’, He can supply unlimitedly(ananta), and not just in quantity, but quality and then giving it to Rādha. It’s very beautifu. Nityānanda is giving it to Gadādhar and Gadādhar’s preparing lunch. One of the Gaudīya Vaisnavas, they’re singing songs ‘Bhoga Aroti’ of Bhaktivinode Thakur. Singing praise of all these different preparations, different tastes; it’s all about taste. Kṛṣṇa Consciousness is the tasteful religion. The tasteful movement. Ultimate taste.

So..., and... in Caritāmṛtam, we have Gadādhar Pandit in his childhood. Very sweet boy, always talking about Kṛṣṇa, remembering the pastimes, very sweet and gentle, the son of Mādhava Miśra. I think the mother’s name was Ratnavati, is that right? I think so, and Mādhava Miśra, the father... that’s why Mukunda was so attratcted to Gadādhar, and, of course, to Nimāi Paṇḍit. But, Nimāi Pandit in His Adi-līlā, sometimes being naughty and arrogant and teasing Gadādhar. Because Gadādhar is very sweet and gentle boy, and Nimāi Pandit is more like little Kṛṣṇa ...like, in the sense- aggressor-, teasing, making fun... ,he would meet Gadādhar and start some mock argument. Gadādhar takes one position, Nimāi Pandit another. Nimāi Pandit will defeat that position. Gadādhar would admit defeat, then Nimāi Pandit will take the other position and defeat that, to just confuse, bewildered Gagādhar to the point, that Gadādhar is thinking to avoid Nimāi Pandit. [laughs] Like Rādhārānī sometimes avoiding Kṛṣṇa, but it’s play, to makes everything sweeter.
Gadādhar Pandit wanted Mahāprabhu...Nimāi Pandit...to worship his Deity, and says,“I can’t worship my Deity, if you can do that?. And Nimāi Pandit says alright... trying bathing, putting on tilak, fresh dress, approaching the Deity, and uncontrollable streams- like river Gaṅgā- coming out the eyes of Nimāi Pandit, washing away the tilak, drenching the clothes. So, He has to again bathe, put on tilak, approach the Deity. Same result, until He at last approaches Gadādhar and says, “I’m not so fortunate, that I can worship the Deity”.
And... Gadādhar Pandit went to his friend Mukunda, asking, “If ever some highest type Vaiṣṇava comes to Navadwip, you can tell me about it, I’m yet to take initiation, and I know that Puṇḍarīk Vidyānidhi came”...and sometimes Mahāprabhu is crying, “Bap Puṇḍarīk!... Bap,- father Puṇḍarīk- where are you?”... Why? Because,‘rādhā-bhāva-dyuti-suvalita’ (Cc: 1.1.5.4), enveloped in the heart and halo of Rādhārāṇī, Puṇḍarīk Vidyānidhi is Vṛṣhbhānu Mahāraj, Rādhārāṇī’s father from Vṛndāvan. So, that Mahāprabhu will cry that way, we can understand, that Gadādhar Pandit will ultimately take initiation, as proper, also. But, having so much love for Gaurāṇga Mahāprabhu, after getting initiated by Puṇdarīk Vidyānidhi, Gadādhar Pandit, in the presence of Mahāprabhu, forgot his mantra. Sometimes the devotees forget their mantra [laughs], for different reasons. So Gadādhar Pandit forgot the mantra and went to Mahāprabhu and said, “I forgot my mantra, can you tell me“?... “No, Puṇdarīk is your guru, you should hear again from Puṇdarīk”. And, sometimes, even later in the pastimes, Mahāprabhu is teasing Gadādhar by pretending to be angry, trying to get a reaction from Gadādhar. Guru Maharaj says, “Gadādhar saying, No”. The other devotees are saying, “Why don’t you say something back to Mahāprabhu”. And Gadādhar is saying, “No, tolerance will be better for me, I can not say anything to my Lord.”

So, this causes Kṛṣṇa Kavirāj Goswāmī to compare the position of Gadādhar to Rukmiṇī. And this presents an ontological dilemma for analyst, because they say,“ well, in Vṛndāvan heart is above intellect“. Where,they saying that ‘nija-rūpa nā kariha curi’, when they expand out of Vṛndāvan into Dwārakā, this is a reversal. So in Vṛndāvan Rādhārānī primary position, Candrāvalī secondary position. But when they expand out of Vṛndāvan into Dwārakā, intellect is in the higher position and heart is in the secondary position. Primary queen Rukmiṇī, secondary queen Satyabhāmā. But Satyabhāmā is told to be Rādhārānī’s avatar and Rukuminī is Candrāvalī’s. So, how can Kavirāj Goswāmī, who is ontological rasa expert, compare Gadādhar to Rukmiṇī. And to Guru Maharaj,... in absence of- what we call- ‘vāma-bhāv’- the nature of opposition- the hallmark of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s dealings with Kṛṣṇa, to be opposed to His proposals, to incite Kṛṣṇa to greater levels of delight and happiness. Here, absent Her heart, then it’s a position comparable to Rukmiṇī, who we know, when Kṛṣṇa was teasing Rukmiṇi in Dwārakā, saying, “I’m not really fit to be your husband, there’s so many others who are more qualified then me. I’m not good in many different ways.” And Kṛṣṇa talking about himself saying -‘really, she can find someone better then Him’-. And Rukmiṇī, she’s like..., she was fanning Kṛṣṇa at this time..., then her body temperature raise...she is sweating.... and the more Kṛṣṇa’s saying - He’s not right for her, she can find someone better-... is said, “like the way hurricane crashes, uproots a tree”..., she fainted and fell on the ground!
It was intolerable, she couldn’t think of this possibility, of anyone other than Kṛṣṇa, or being separated from her Lord in that way. Then, when they revived her...Krsna is like...“I’m just teasing” [laughs]. Mahāprabhu is teasing Gadādhar, and Gadādhar never will object.
Absent is the ’vama-bhā’, that nature of opposition.

And being very sweet and approachable, so, Vallabha Bhaṭṭa is trying to enter Mahāprabhu’s group and get some reputation there...and saying,“I’ve got Bhāgavatam interpretations- interpretations of Kṛṣṇa’s names.” He told Mahāprabhu. “I’ve got a Bhāgavatam explanation that surpasses Śrīdhar Swāmī.” And Mahāprabhu said jokingly...Because, one meaning of swāmī - shāmī - is husband, so, Mahāprabhu said jokingly, “One who does not accept a husband is a prostitute.” So, if he said, “I got a better explanation than the Swāmi“ then, -“Oh, if you don’t accept a Swāmī, you’re a prostitute.”
śrīdhara-svāmi-prasāde ‘bhāgavata’ jāni
jagad-guru śrīdhara-svāmī ‘guru’ kari’ mān
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: Antya-līlā, 7.133)
Mahābrabhu said, “ By the mercy of Śrīdhar Swāmī, we know the Bhāgavatam.” jagad-guru śrīdhara-svāmī ‘guru’ kari’ mān (Cc; 3.7.133.2), therefore, I except him as Jagad-Guru. Not only guru, but Jagad-Guru. And, he(VB) said, “Well, I have these interpretations of Kṛṣṇā nām, many names I can explain“. Mahābprabhu said, “I only know two names of Kṛṣṇa; Syamasundar and Yaśodānandan, that’s it.“ [laughs] He’s Kṛṣṇa! “So I know just two, you know so many, I only know two, names of particular quality”. Anyway, he is always looking for things, and Mahāprabhu’s devotees, they’re laughing at him. He’s trying to show, make a display of learning and they’re all like... he’s a joke. So, it said, he started feeling like a duck in the presence of so many swans. Like Gurudev said once, humorously, about goose...you know, the geese, and there’s,.. one geese- is a goose.[laughs] He said in this one instance, about someone being an alleged paramahaṁsa, He said, “It will not be the first time a paramahaṁsa has turned out to be a goose“. [laughs] Because paramahaṁsa means a swan, supreme swan. [laughs] But here, it’s swans not even like a duck. So many beautiful swans and he’s quacking. [quaack]

But Gadādhar Pandit has that sweet, gentle, accommodating nature. So,(VB) He’s thinking, “You, you’ll hear my explanations”,...and Gadādhar thinking “No, no... not me”, but can’t say anything. And then he starts praying to Kṛṣṇa. And then he thinks in his heart,...but Vallabha Bhaṭṭa go... “No, you must hear these things!” And then Gadādhar Pandit, thinking and saying, “Mahāprabhu knows my heart and knows I don’t want to hear these things or participate in these things.” And it’s kind of a message to all the devotees find themselves in some different types of situations. Kṛṣṇa knows your heart... Still, from vātsalya-rasa, it’s preference, he takes initiation from Gadādhar Pandit,...We told,there’s another disciple of Gadādhar Pandit...what’s his name? Ananta Acharya, whose disciple is Harīdas, who- how to say it- gives blessings to Kṛṣṇa das Kavirāj Goswāmi, to compose Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛtam. And Gadādhar Pandit went on to Tota Gopīnath and Purī. Those who’ve seen the beautiful deity of Kṛṣṇa, Gopīnath, know that He is actually very tall. And Gadādhar Pandit as he got older, it’s hard for him to put the crown on the deity and the flute and everything. So, Kṛṣṇa can not tolerate that, so, Kṛṣṇa- the way I’m sitting now- that’s how the Deity is sitting, like that. He sat down. Gadādhar Pandit came one day and Kṛṣṇa’s sitting to make it easy, “now you can put crown, flute, everything, no problem”. [laughs] How merciful!...We think, “Oh Kṛṣṇa, He sounds so cruel.” He is cruel and the end results of Kṛṣṇa’s apparent cruelty is sweetheart. The heart becomes sweeter, deeper, tastier, and yields the most superior substance. This is so many of other examples, where Kṛṣṇa show how much love He has for His devotees. He’s a plaything in their hands.

The ladies of Vṛndāvan, they sing songs when Kṛṣṇa is a toddler and their going like [clapping hands] and Kṛṣṇa is dancing for them while their singing their songs. And like the ladies there, they say, “Bring me that.” And Kṛṣṇa goes and brings something to them. He’s omnipotent. Sometimes what they ask Him to bring is “too heavy”. He’s omnipotent, but it’s too heavy. So Kṛṣṇa says, He goes, [heavy lift expression,laughs], “I can’t carry it, it’s too heavy”.
When Guru Maharaj says, “When Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī understands Kṛṣṇa’s plan, to descend as Mahāprabhu, enveloped in Her heart and halo, She knows, Her private times are over, and She is experiencing separation from Kṛṣṇa, ‘Kṛṣṇa viraha’, how devastating that can be.
How it plays upon Her. Observing that from a hidden position, this curiosity was awaken within Him to what is She experiencing, that causes all these different ecstatic transformations within Her. But, sometimes it’s devastating and Rādhrānī is thinking, “Kṛṣṇa, His form is so soft, the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa is so soft, and...‘yat te sujāta-caraṇāmburuhaṁ staneṣu’ (Cc: 1.4.173.1). And She’s thinking, “What will happen if His body crashes to the ground, against the wall“. It’s so intense, the Kṛṣṇa prema, so, She thinks, “I will cover you with my form, then you won’t experience any pain.” But, She knows...we’re told by Rupa Goswamāī again, ‘svarupaṁ bibhraṇo jagad-atulam advaita-dayitaḥ’ (Sm: 1.3.1), that Svarūp Dāmodar’s understanding is incomparable. Why Mahāprabhu sent Das Goswāmī, and put him under the care of Svarūp Dāmodar, because he knows everything, even more than Mahābprbhu, in this case. How is that possible? And the way it’s possible is because when Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is lost in Her divine madness, like in Bhramara Gītā (SB: 10.47.The Song of the Bumblebee) and other instances, Lalitā sakhī somehow maintains her composure, and can assist Rādhārānī at those times. And particularly by singing some song or supplying some śloka that will bring relief to the separation that’s filling the heart, or augmenting a particular mood, and things like that. So, it said that, “Lalitā sakhī is Svarūp Dāmodar in Gaura-līlā”. So Svarūp Dāmodar know that, but the other person who know that, is who is experiencing all that, and that is Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī herself, who is now in the position of Gadādhar Pandit.

So, when Srila Guru Maharaj, he got the inspiration for one śloka- collection, as Bhaktivinoda Thäkur presented one book-collection, bhāgavatam ślokas, called “Bhagavatarka-Marici-Mala“. Arka... like... even the name - we have the arc lamp- like- these lights... You know what an arc lamp is? Looks like brahmā-joyti. They use it in graphic arts, they use to, maybe not so much anymore. An arc lamp, looks likes lightning...this very bright light. The “ Bhagavatarka-Marici-Mala“ is saying, “The Bhāgavatam is risen like the Sun”.
kṛṣṇe sva-dhāmopagate
dharma-jñānādibhiḥ saha
kalau naṣṭa-dṛśām eṣa
purāṇārko ’dhunoditaḥ
(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: 1.3.43)
There’s the word ’arko’,‘Purāṇārko ’dhunoditaḥ’ (SB: 1.3.43.4) means like the Sun. As the Bhāgavatam says, “Kṛṣṇa left the world and the world has plunged into the darkness of Kalī Yuga”, then the Bhāgavat- Sun rises. That’s how beautiful Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is.
And 18,000 sun-rays, each śloka like a Sun ray. But as Guru Mahāraj says, “There’s gradation everywhere and in everything, so even amongst those rays, certain are of particular quality.” Bhaktivinode Thakur collecting on the order of Svarūp Dāmodar− that’s interesting. Svarūp Dāmodar appeared to Bhaktivinode Thakur and said, “Collect 1,000 ślokas for the 18,000 Bhāgavat- Sun, Bhāgavat śloka- Sun. And he presented those in the “ Bhagavatarka-Marici-Mala”. Then Guru Mahāraj thought to give, quote, “few hundred” in another type of collection. He didn’t do it and as he would say of himself, “Ah, ease- lover.” He said, “My Guru Mahāraj remarked about me once,’ ease- lover’.” Anyway, then... Guru Maharaj did write some introductory ślokas. One in praise of Śrīla Vyāsadev,’ yad amiya-mahimā-śrī-bhāgavatyāḥ kathāyāṁ’(from Revealed Truth), and Gadādhar Pandit “The Gadādhar Pranam“. And there He says:
nīlāmbhodhi-taṭe sadā sva-virahā-kṣepanvitaṁ bāndhavaṁ
śrīmad-bhāgavatī kathā madirayā sañjīvayan bhāti yaḥ
śrīmad-bhāgavataṁ sadā sva-nayanāśru-pāyanaiḥ pūjayan
gosvāmi-pravaro gadādhara-vibhūr-bhūyāt mad-ekā-gatiḥ
(Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj, Affectionate Guidance)

‘Nila’, Nlāmbhodhi’ means the blue ocean. That means- like Nilacala-Puri, it means blue montain- it’s call like that. ’‘Nīlāmbhodhi-taṭe...tata’, on the banks of the shores of the blue ocean in Jagannāth Purī, ’sva-virahā’, there is Kṛṣṇa as Mahāprabhu. And what is the situation? ‘sva-virahā’, He’s feeling separation from Himself, tha’s ’sva-virahā’. The supreme positive, in the garb of the supreme negative, experiencing separation from Himself, what is it like? Not the joys of union, Kṛṣṇa knows everything about that as Ādi-puruṣa- Govinda. But, this- ‘sva-virahā-kṣepanvitaṁ bāndhavaṁ’-, in the company of His dear most friend,
that means Gadādhar Pandit, -‘śrīmad-bhāgavatī kathā madirayā sañjīvayan bhāti yaḥ’-. And the separation reaches such a degree of intensity... The tenth stage of separation is death, and we’re told, generally, the devotees, their avoiding that, although, their in a -death-like condition-in separation from Kṛṣṇa, realizing, that will be the cause of Kṛṣṇa’s unhappiness. They somehow go on. Look, even in this world, one great writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, he wrote a book called “Love in the Time of Cholera.“ And, without going into details- it’s not necessary-, he’s saying that cholera condition would feel like someone... they’re sick to degree, they’re just going to die. He’s saying, “That’s what the comparison is, love- sick, love sickness“. In particular in separation. It’s compared to these horrible death-like symptoms. And what is that to tell us, it’s not pretty picture. But, what it tells us, it intensity. How intense the heart can be. That’s why throughout history, all these poems, tales, songs, stories are about -from the perspective of this world- the lover’s being unable to live in separation from one another. So, what to speak about..., so, if you multiply that, amplify that a trillion fold, it is in the direction of ‘Kṛṣṇa prema’ and’ Kṛṣṇa virahā’. So, on the verge of death, ‘asta-sātvika vikar’, when Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya found Mahāprabhu fainted before Jagannāth,... because- when He looks at Jagannāth, He sees Syamasundar Kṛṣṇa- kāhāṅ mora prāṇa-nātha muralī-vadana,kāhāṅ karoṅ kāhāṅ pāṅ vrajendra-nandana (Cc: 2.2.15), Syamasundar Krsna, and He’s fainting. And those who don’t know and cannot recognize, they want to drag Him, throw Him out of the temple. Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, the court pundit, saying, “No.” This... we’ve read about this in the scriptures”, he does the cotton test, to see if Mahāprabhu is still breathing. Although, He appears to be dead, this is ‘asta-sātvika vikar’. Eight types of ecstatic transformation present simultaneously to an infinite degree. So, in that condition, when someone is heartbroken, their friend comes and gives them some wine -like one word is ’assuage-’, but there’s some other word...‘comfort’, to give them some comfort, and they supply something. What is Gadādhar Pandit doing? Taking Bhāgavatam ślokas and supplying them like intoxicants.

Why? Because Gadādhar knows as Rādhārānī, “when I feel like that, the way you feel right now, I know this feeling very well...hen I feel like that Lalitā sakhī sings this song to me, this śloka, and it gives me some hope some prospect... or this śloka“. So, Guru Mahāraj, what is he saying here? What would be his criteria for śloka selection? It’s hinted at in this verse. So, it’s saying,“Like the way you supply intoxicants to comfort the love-sick, broken-hearted friend, Gadādhar Pandit supplying these ślokas”. But in doing that, who is all familiar with this depth of divine love in separation, tears are streaming from the eyes of Gadādhar Pandit, on to the pages of the Bhāgavatam. Those ślokas are bringing Mahāprabhu back to life, but in this process, the tears are streaming from the eyes of Gadādhar Pandit. There like, lotus- tears, flower- tears, and they’re falling onto the pages of the the Bhāgavatam. And they appear to be offerings; tears- flower offerings are falling onto the pages. And in the process, they’re wiping away the words and the characters and letters. Just washing them away. And so, Guru Majāraj said, “Gosvāmi-pravaro- the best of the goswāmis”. We’re normally thinking, vande-rupa, six...gosvāmi gadādhara...-’gosvāmi-pravaro gadādhara-vibhū’r-, let that best of goswāmis, Gadādhar Pandit be the only object in my attempt of this offering. Let it be seen as a pleasing offering to the best of the goswāmis, Sri Gadādhar Pandit.

And, Guru Mahāraj Saraswati Thakur like to point out, and as Gurudev said in Russia,...”Gaur-Gadādhar, that worship of Bhaktivinode Thakur”. Srila Gurudev perfectly described it this way, he says, “It is the private chamber of bhajan of Bhaktivinode Thakur.” His private bhajan chamber. In other words, don’t think...don’t try to go there. This is Bhaktivinod’s private bhajan chamber. And, there are those who upset Sararswati Thakur and the line of upper sidhanta. They try to take Gadādhar as Rādhārānī and Gaura as Kṛṣṇa, but Guru Mahāraj reminds us, this is their ācārya-līlā. The mādhurya-rasa pastimes of Vṛndāvan are here in their ’audārya’ aspect. They’re distributing that to everyone, they want to bring everyone into that plane. This plane is not, mādhurya-rasa pastimes, in that sense. Still, Guru Mahāraj thinks, “Sometimes Gaura and Gadādhar are showing, that they’re Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, in the same hand, sometimes Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are showing, that they’re Gaura and Gadādhar. Depending upon the preference of that devotee. Give everything...aradhika, means that. One who’s worshiping practice, is by giving themselves. So, just as Mahaprabhu’s... the gaurāṅga-nāgarīs, they...one of their flaws is ...as Lochan das of Chaitanya Mangala saying, “Because Mahāprabhu was so attractive, sometimes the ladies in Navadwip, their expressing some ‘eros’ toward Him”...And for those with English as a second language, I didn’t say ‘arrows’, unless you say ‘pushpa-baan’. Erotic sentiment. So, they tried to move in that direction... Guru Mahāraj is saying, “They may have done that, but Mahāprabhu never reciprocated that.” He did not have mādhurya-rasa pastimes with Laksmi Priya and Vishnu Priya, His wives. So, this is totally inappropriate in Gaura-lila. This is their ācārya-lila as Gaura-Gadādhar. And it’s very beautiful. And very perfectly described by Sirla Guru Mahāraj and Srila Saraswati Thakur,Bhakti Vinod Thakur...Srila Gurudev, liked that. But the worship of Gaura-Gadādhar, he said, “ is like a double dose of mādhurya-rasa, Gaur and Gadādhar. But what is the focal point of these pastimes, ‘virahā’, pastimes of separation, yielding that superior substance.
kṛṣṇera yateka khelā, sarvottama nara-līlā,
nara-vapu tāhāra svarūpa
gopa-veśa, veṇu-kara, nava-kiśora, naṭa-vara
nara-līlāra haya anurūpa
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: Madhya-līlā, 21.101)
bāhye viṣa-jvālā haya, bhitare ānanda-maya,
kṛṣṇa-premāra adbhuta carita
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.2.50.3-4)

Externally, like one has been bitten by a cobra, they’re hemorrhaging. They appear to be suffering to the n-th degree. Well, internally relishing some peculiar nectarean streams of juice. That’s the focal point of Gaura-lila.
pīḍābhir nava-kālakūṭa-kaṭutā-garvasya nirvāsano
nisyandena mudāṁ sudhā-madhurimāhaṅkāra-saṅkocanaḥ
premā sundari nanda-nandana-paro jāgarti yasyāntare
jñāyante sphuṭam asya vakra-madhurās tenaiva vikrāntayaḥ
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: Antya-līlā, 1.148)
Rupa Goswami's śloka is saying, “you’re...[what is he saying?]...suffering the effects of cobra venom, while taking a shower of nectar”. Being bathed in a shower of nectar,you see, it’s very peculiar.
rasa-varjaṁ raso ’py asya
paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate
(Bg: 2.59.3-4)
Guru Mahāraj is saying, “Once you tasted this, you’ll lose your taste for anything else. “Like the quote of poet Shelley saying...what is that?...“Our sweetest songs are those that tell the saddest thought.”
“We think of before and after,
And pine for what is not
But our sincerest laughter
With some pain is fraught;
For the sweetest songs are those that tells the saddest thought”
(Percy,Bysshe Shelley,“To a Skylark”)
The secret is in there. How such a beautiful thing could come from the culture of separation, which is the only reasonable approach into it. It’s of the highest Kṛṣṇa, Mahāprabhu, His associates...there, in that zone, but it’s being extended. How the most fallen souls can make their approach, in the way, most sensible and realistic. The other way is a fantasy. It’s fictitious to voyeuristically envision oneself as super servitor of the mādhurya-rasa world, it’s madness. Whereas, from our position, we can legitimately express that we’re separated from Kṛṣṇa, that’s realistic. That’s a realistic beginning point and, to the degree, that bothers us, then we may have something. That we remain with this affinity for this world. What is it?...describe as endlessly mutable, always changing. It won’t be here. It’s vanishing. If we have hooked up our time lapse cameras,[ we have some] ,and play them back, then we’d see the vanishing. There would appear the vanishing before our very eyes. So Guru Mahāraj says, “Don’t take your stand in that plane, but try to live in the plane of the faith that’s in our hearts. That’s the eternal plane.” What is that?
paras tasmāt tu bhāvo ’nyo
’vyakto ’vyaktāt sanātanaḥ
(Bg: 8.20.1-2)
The eternal world. So when we here about the glories of Gadādhar Pandit or these pastimes, we get a glimpse. Bhatividone Thakur, Guru Mahāraj said, “In his worship in Gaura-Gadādhar,[ saying], sometimes a glimpse is coming like lightning.“ Like this is Amavasya, the Kṛṣṇa Paksha, means the dark moon. Some people saying ’new moon’, whatever... It’s interesting, by dictionary definition, it’s saying, when,- sort of like- when sun and moon are together, so, it’s kind of like that...There is many, many levels of interpretation. But there is dark in the sky apparently...and there’s this lightning, there’s that momentary illumination of everything. But, then it vanishes. Bhaktivinode Thakur says it’s like that. ...and devotees say,“no... stay”, yet it vanishes, but it leaves them in a hankering position, which is a good thing. To hanker again for that sort of revelation. Jay! Srila Gadādhar Pandit āvirbhāv-maha-mahotsava tithi, kī jay!
Can I have the song book? This line appears in this song of Narrotam Thakur,’ gaura premamoya tanu’.( Sri Krishna-Caitanya Prabhu Doya Koro More, v5)
’Gaura premamoya’, like your name Anandamoy, means ’full of,’ So,’ gaura premamoya’ means, full of ’Gaura Prema- tanu’,- personified-, is Pandit Gadādhar.