Govardhan Dashakam Meditation – Ten appeals for residence at Govardhan

Lecture Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
ecstatically.
Let us meditate on this composition of Shri Raghunath Das Goswami. Raghunath Das Goswami had a very intimate association with Govardhan in many ways. One was that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu himself gave him Govardhan Shila and he considered that by giving him Govardhan Shila, Lord Chaitanya had given him residence in Govardhan and he considered that Govardhan Shila to be his most treasured possession.
We’ll mention that also in this Govardhan Dasakam. After Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu departed, Shri Raghunath Das Goswami departed from this world. Raghunath Das Goswami went from Puri to Vrindavan and he was so distraught, so devastated by the departure of his master and his master’s master Shri Raghunath Das Goswami, Lord Chaitanya, that he had no desire to live.
His goal was to go to Govardhan Hill, to inform the Goswamis about the departure of Lord Chaitanya, go to the top of Govardhan Hill and there just leave his body after taking the blessings of the Goswamis. The Goswamis discouraged him from that and told him that he was the reservoir of Chaitanya Leela. The departure of Lord Chaitanya and associates had scattered, had caused great disruption in Gaudiya Vaishnavism and the unifier and the nourisher of devotees was Gaur Leela.
The Goswamis requested Raghunath Das Goswami where Goswamis referred to the other Goswamis who were in Vrindavan. They requested him to recite Gaur Leela everyday and he would recite for several hours and one of the persons who heard from him was Krishnadas Kimaraj Goswami and that’s how he got Chaitanya Chaitanya. So all this happened on Govardhan Hill.
So Raghunath Das Goswami had a had a residence at Govardhan Hill and this Samadhi is also there in Govardhan and yet he is praying throughout Mamma Nivas Dehi Nijumikat Nivasan Dehi Govardhanatam that is the chorus line of all the ten verses in this composition and this indicates that he is aware that residence in Govardhan is not just a matter of physical proximity or physical location. It is also a matter of devotional disposition and he is praying to Govardhan to give him not just the residence in terms of physical location but also in terms of devotional disposition. So let us look at his prayers one by one.
These are very deep prayers. They refer to sometimes confidential pastimes also. So with the blessings of Guru Gauranga and Gurushila Prabhupada and Raghunath Das Goswami we will try to meditate on these prayers briefly.
Nijabhujapati dandachatra bhavam prapadya prathihatamad dhrishtodand devendra garva atula pruthula shaila shreni bhoop priyamme nijumikat nivasan dehi govardhanatam So it begins with the pastime for which Govardhan is most celebrated and that is Govardhan Nijapati, Nijapati is his lord, that is Krishna bhujudandachatra bhavam prapadya with his lord’s hand acting as the handle Govardhan attained the form of an umbrella, chatra bhavam and prathihatamad dhrishtodand devendra garva prathihatamad, countered checked, stopped mada, mada is arrogant dhrishta is audacity uddanda, devendra garva, uddanda uddanda is an appraised weapon Indra also has his danda his weapon and he was arrogant, he was audacious, he was an appraised weapon and devendra, he is the god, lord of the gods, not at all easy to check but, and his garva was prathihatam his arrogant attack was checked and countered, how atulabruthul shailashreni gupapriyamme, atulabruthul he was incomparable, he was huge, shailashreni so shailashreni there are many many mountains among them, this mountain is incomparable, great and incomparable, priyamme so, unto you who are very dear to me, oh lord nijinikati nivasam dehi govardhanatham please grant residence to me near you, the govardhanila is one of the most loved pastimes of Krishna and in this pastime or while summarising this pastime the focus of Arjuna das Goswami is that atulabruthul that this mountain, there were many great mountains but no other mountain had the privilege of being made into an umbrella by the lord by his nijipati and then countering which normally Indra’s thunderbolt is so powerful that by one blow of the thunderbolt a mountain can be crushed into powder but that thunderbolt could even scratch govardhan, what to speak of scratching of those who were under govardhan such was this extraordinary prowess of this mountain and that atulabruthul is incomparable magnificent you are the king of the mountains you are dear to me and please grant me your residence so here the most famous leela of govardhan of raising krishna of sorry of being raised by krishna that is mentioned in the first text, second text pramad madan leela kandare kandare te vacheti navayunor dvandvam asminamandam itikila kalanarthakum lagnagastaggayor me vijanikata nivasam dehi govardhanathom pramad madan leela kandare kandare te kandare kandare in the case madan leela pramada means they become passionate they become intoxicated madana with amorous affection and being intoxicated by the amorous affection what do they do the divine couple they perform pastimes and what kind of pastimes it is mentioned here they perform the pastime of intimate intimate madhurya rasa vacheti navayunor dvandvam the two divine couple navayunor asminamandam in this great mountain itikila kalanartham itikila in this kalanartham if i can get residence here i will also be able to see this pastime lagnagastaggayor me i will be able to see that divine couple therefore for getting that fortune vijanikata nivasam dehi govardhanathom vijanikata nivasam dehi govardhanathom jiva goswami gopal champu magnificently and enduring description description of the magical attributes of govardhan how this celestial mountain this transcendental mountain provides all facilities for the service of the devotees for the service of the lord and Radha and Krishna kandare kandare they are affectionate they want to perform intimate pastimes they need a they need a private place for that and the mountain performs many roles one role the most famous celebrated role is as a umbrella but this mountain serves Radha Krishna in various ways and one of them is by offering a private place for performing the pastimes and in the Gaudiya Vishnu tradition there are there are two kinds of perfection that I envision one is by becoming a Madhurya associated with the lord and delighting in amorous pastimes which is what the gopis do and second is what the Manjuris do that is observing those pastimes and relishing by observation this is not considered an intrusion because the the mood is also of service and in fact in one sense the Manjuris they can observe the lord and they can observe Radharani or the Gopis who is performing pastime and they can appreciate the intensity of the love from both perspectives and thus the Gaudiya Vishnu Acharya explained that their rasa is higher so it is it is not voyeurism but it is transcendental transcendental appreciation from both sides of the most intimate exchanges of love and here Raghunatha Goswami at extra level if we say a sanyasi is wanting if we say that a sanyasi a renunciate is desiring to see the intimate activities of a couple there is something which is not finally spoken what to speak of make its way to a prayer and a prayer that has been recited by generations of devotees so that it has been and also indicated that this all is transcendental that Raghunatha Goswami is identifying himself not as a male but is identifying himself in his sarupa as a Manjuri and he is expressing an aspiration at that exalted level of realisation that let me be able to behold the divine couple’s pastimes third text Anupam Manivedi Ratna Simhasanorvi Ruhjhar Darsan Droni Sangheshu Rangai Sahabala Sakhibhi Sankhelayan Swapriyamne Vijnikat Nivasan Dehi Govardhanatom he is describing another service that Govardhan performs that is the Sakhyaras that is here it says Sahabala Sakhibhi Balla here refers to Balramji Sakhibhi along with other Sakharas Sankhelayan there they perform pastimes and where is the venue that is described Anupam Manivedi Ratna Simhasanorvi so Anupam Mani there are extraordinary jewels and there is a jewelled throne Urvi Ruhjhar Dhar there are forests there are caves there are flowing mountain brooks Jharad San Droni there are peaks and there are valleys Sangheshu Rangai the multitudes of these Rangai Rangam is to enjoy to delight so now Krishna Balram and his Sakharas are young boys young boys like to explore and do adventures go to new places see what is there behind this tree what is there in that area in that bush, what is there in that cave children’s adventures often involve going to exploring some new places many times children watch children’s read adventure novels or mystery novels basically children have a great sense of going to new places so Govardhan has abandoned variety of places there are peaks and valleys and caves and lakes and forests these are all for exploring for comfort there is also there is opulent thrones so all facilities that are required for this for Krishna and his Gopas to play, they are there Govardhan provides all these in this way the Sakharas also enjoy pastimes with Krishna over there so Govardhan becomes the arena where pastimes in various Rasa’s can be performed and relished over there so you are very dear to me old Govardhan, please give me Nivas, please give me residence at your feet ituparimal viddham shamavedim prakasye rasikavarakulana modam ashfala ashfalayanne nijunikati nivasandehi Govardhanatam now he returns back to describe another special pastime that happened over there in the vicinity of Govardhan rasanidhi, nectar ocean which is floored you know sakshin daanakele daanakele pastime is, there are various pastimes which are often associated with the name daanakele essentially the centre on the Gopas and the Gopis confronting each other and there is sometimes it involves taking their taxes and this pastime, there is a dark courtyard as is mentioned over here, shamavedim where in which the pastime occurred and here Raghunath Das Goswami personifies that courtyard and he says that courtyard witnessed the pastime shamavedim prakasye, there it will manifest and it was observed sakshin daanakele so this wonderful pastime of Radha Krishna, the daanakele pastime which was observed and relished jyotiparimal vittam so the, there is splendour, there is fragrance it’s filled with splendour magnificent sensory attributes we do not reject sense gratification rather we focus on sense gratification that is connected with Krishna and that indicates that actually krishnendriya krishnendriya krishnendriya pichcha dhare premana so Jaganjaya Tamas says that Krishna has senses and the desire to satisfy the senses of Krishna is called as prema so Govardhan offers sensory feast magnificent intoxicating fragrances beautiful tastes everything that is required for the for the pleasure of Krishna for the pleasure of devotees that is all there in the in Govardhan that Govardhan provided here a courtyard which is also filled rich with sensory attributes and the gopis were taking butter and Krishna demanded a tax for that butter and there was a loving competition between them and that is described here that happened on Govardhan and it says rasikavara kulanam modam ashfala yanne rasikavara kulanam those who are the best among those who get delicious kulanam ashfala yanne for them they get modam they get immense happiness but this fast time which involves the reciprocation of intimate love under the pretext of quarrel this fast time has to be carefully understood and for those who have the adhikar to understand it they get unlimited pleasure in it just like for example Bharatanatyam dance is being performed someone who doesn’t know anything about the past a person who is simply lusty that person will simply if a woman is performing doing a Bharatanatyam dance that person will just look at the woman and feel lusty nothing higher that has been experienced a person who has some artistic sense that person will say this dancer is dancing so expertly but a person who also is not just having artistic sense but is also informed about the leela that is being depicted that person will see there is not just an artistic movement of hands and legs and gestures and expressions but there is a meaningful message being conveyed through it all and how beautifully that is being conveyed so depending on the level of one’s consciousness the same Bharatanatyam can be appreciated differently like that the leela the dana comedy which is mentioned sorry the dana keli leela this is described in dana keli comedy book also so that who can appreciate those who are expert at appreciating rasa more than for them there is great ecstasy to be found in such in remembering that leela, in remembering that Govardhan was the place where that leela took place and such remembrance can come constantly for those who have residence in Govardhan therefore oh Govardhan please grant me residence near you fifth text she who is very dear to Radha she who is very dear to Radha who is unparalleled who has no Radhika so here Radhika is as a part of the kunda so normally we use the word Radha kunda but it is her kunda so it can also be called as Radhika kunda the unparalleled she beloved friend so it is said over here there is a very beautiful poetic personification here it is said that oh hill that hiding as you playfully embrace the neck of your dear friend Lord Hari’s dear resident Radha kunda secretly secretly these are the past and youthful divine couple so it is said that the previous verse it was said that the corridor that was the courtyard rather that was beholding now it is said that Govardhan is beholding and what is said Govardhan is holding on to that is playfully embracing the neck of Radha kunda so what does it mean somebody is embracing the neck means that person is behind and that person is holding the neck or putting an arm around the neck so like that it is said that now we know Radha kunda is on Govardhan so here in the poetic vision that is being depicted over here it is stated that he is playfully so both the pastimes of Radha Krishna are performed near Radha kunda and along with Radha kunda Govardhan they are both beholding and secretly so the same same rasa that the Nigerians relish now here Raghunatha Goswami is envisioning that Govardhan also relishes that rasa of beholding the confidential pastimes of Radha Krishna now you yuva khela tatra pashyan raho me their pastimes in the confidential place in solitary place raho raho rahasi sthito the Bhagavata says so in a confidential place you are beholding that so just as you are beholding that oh lord Govardhan I also want to behold please therefore please give me residence near your lotus near yourself nijunikata nivasam dehi govardhanatvam so now here the glory of Govardhan is described in relationship with the cows the name Govardhan means Govardhan one who offers nourishment one who offers nutrition one who provides for the cows Govardhan what it says it is over here that name is indeed justified that it is meaningful, that it is true, that it is established. How do you establish it? By providing for the need of the cows, thala, provide land, jala, thala, there is land, there is water, so land for the cows to move around, for water to drink, thala, then there is a surface, the land itself if it is a desert, if it is barren, that is not of much use, for the surface, cheshpayee, filled with grass, buruha, chhaya, so the cows graze on the grass and then if the sun becomes too hot and they need some shade then they go under the trees, buruha chhaya cha, pradipadam anukalam, and everywhere there is lush greenery, at every step, at the right time, hanta sambardhayan ga, indeed you do sambardhayan, you provide nourishment at all times and in the right ways, the cows, tri jagati nija gotram, and in this way in the three worlds, nija gotram, the word gotra often is used in vedic line genealogy to refer to one’s dynastic connection to one of the primal sages, here the word gotra is used simply to refer to name, so nija gotram, in this way, sarthakam kya payanne, you justify, you live up to your name, and oh govardhan, just as you nourish the cows so appropriately, providing for their nourishment, providing for all that they need, please, I also need something for my survival, for spiritual survival, that is, nija nikatanivasam dehi govardhanatam, please give me residence at, in close proximity to you, Krishna, when he takes the cows out for grazing, they go to various places, and one of the places they go to is govardhan, and when they go to govardhan, what do they do over there? They relish the cows’ grace on the slopes of govardhan, and Krishna, with the cowherd voice, performs various pastimes, which were mentioned earlier. Now, once again, here, the pastime that has defined the fame of govardhan, that of acting as a chatrabhava, acting as an umbrella for Krishna, there is a reference back again to that pastime, surapathi kruta dheerika drohato goshth raksham, tavanava gruhiya roopasya antare kurvateiva, aghabhaka ripunoche dattamanadutamne, nija nikatanivasam dehi govardhanatam, So, surapathi, earlier the word devendra was used, now surapathi is used, they both refer to Indra, kruta dheerika drohato, for a prolonged time droha, he was envious, he was furious, dheerika here refers to, for seven days and seven nights, Indra was venting his anger by causing storms and pouring torrential rains, goshth raksham, for the protection of raja, raksham, tavanava gruhiya roopasya antare kurvateiva, making you into a new house, the whole of raja, the houses were devastated by the torrential rains, So, tavanava gruhiya roopasya, making you into a new house, roopasya antare kurvateiva, antare kurvateiva, he entered inside and he, what did krishna do, kurvateiva, he made you into a house certainly, who did this like this, aghabhaka ripunoche dattamanadutamne, in this way, the enemy, the killer, the one who delivered the world from aghabhaka, the demons, aghabhaka ripunoche dattamanadutamne, and he offered this great honour to you, of making you into his house, if the prime minister of India, the president of America, they come and stay, at some resort, or in some guest house, or in some person’s house, or that house will become, that will become famous, such a great person came and stayed there.
So, similarly, that krishna made govardhana his new residence, and that too, when he and his, when his village was in danger, he came to govardhana and made that into a residence, that means, it must be, it has become a special place, it has become a celebrated place. So, aghabhaka ripunoche dattamanadutamne, what an honour he offered to you, you are so glorious, oh govardhana, so here he is glorifying govardhana and appreciating its fortune, its exaltedness, and his beseeching, oh govardhana, just as you were honoured by the lord, and by making you into residence, I also want to make a residence near you, please, nija nikata nivasam dehi govardhanatam, please grant me residence close to you. Girindrupa haridasa shrenivaryeti nama, amrutam idam uditam, shri radhika vaktrachandra, vrajanavatila kattve klukta vedai sphutamme, nija nikata nivasam dehi govardhanatam, Girindrupa haridasa shrenivaryeti nama, so what are the names, that, oh Girindrupa, oh you are the king of elephants, but you got a special name, what are the names, haridasa shrenivaryeti nama, you are the best of the servants of Hari, there are shreni, there are many many servants, but among this, varya, you are the best, amrutam idam uditam, this nectar like glorification, it came from where, from shri radhika vaktrachandra, from the moon like face of shimti radharani, so for example, there are, sometimes there is a cricket player and some, that person performs very well and some, some newspaper people may say, oh he is the new Sachin Tendulkar or he is the new Brian Lara or something like that, that is a great glorification, great praise, but if it comes from just some ordinary news reporter, that is ok, but if say Sachin Tendulkar says that, oh this is the new Sachin Tendulkar, that is, that is a special glorification, it is coming from a person who knows, it is coming from the horse’s mouth, it is authoritative, so haridasa varya, haridasa varya, that you are haridasa varya, who has said this, actually the 10th canto, the gopis, when they are proving to govardhan, they too refer to govardhan as haridasa varya, and among the gopis the principal is radharani, so here Raghunatha Goswami is saying that it is radharani, she is the topmost devotee, she is one who knows the calibre of devotion of different people, and she, if it is coming from her, from vaktrachandra, if it is coming from her, this designation that you are the greatest of devotees, the topmost servants of lord hari, then that is not no ordinary etain, that is actually a reflection of your exalted status, and you are vrajanava tilakatve plukta vedais putam, that in the Vedas you are described as the tilak of vraja, so vraja is Vrindavan in the 12 forests, or vraja mandala area as we say, in that govardhan, tilak is there on the forehead and top of the face, so similarly, if Vrindavan is envisioned as, govardhan is the tilak on the face, and here the word veda is used in inclusive sense, referred to the body of Vedic literature, including the bhakti literature in it, and there it is described that you are vrajanava tilakatve, you are the tilak of the vraja, nija-nikata-nivasan-dehi govardhanatvam, please over then give me residence in your close proximity, ninth, nija-jana-yudha-radha-krishna-maitriya-rasakta, vraja-nara-pashupakshi-virata-saukhyai-kadataha, aganit-karunatvam mama urikrutya-tantam, nija-nikata-nivasan-dehi govardhanatvam, aganit-karunatvam, karunatva, namale karunakara, or karunanidhe, the describers used to describe the supreme lord, that he is an ocean of great mercy, so here it is said that karunatvam, like we have bhagavan, the possessor of bhaga, of opulence, so karunatvam, who is a possessor of karuna, that is the describer used to glorify govardhana, and it says what kind of karuna, aganit, unlimited karuna he has, aganit-karunatvam, so mama urikrutya-tantam, and to me, have some mercy, tantam, I am distressed, and further, now why should govardhana be distressing, be magnanimous, because that is his nature, so what does he do, nija-jana-yuta, radha-krishna-maitri-rasa-ta, nija-jana, all the one’s own people, all the people of raja, they are filled with affection for radha-krishna, maitri, here it is, they are all in the mood of friendship, of intimate relationship with radha-krishna, rasa-ta, vraja-nara-pashu-pakshi-virata-saukhyayika-data, you are the bestower of what, saukhyayika, happiness to whom, vraja-nara-pashu-pakshi-virata, the hosts of humans, animals and birds, all those, you provide them immense happiness, so you, just as you provide happiness, happiness to all of them, please have mercy on me, and the mercy I want is, nija-nigata-nivasam dehi govardhanatvam, krishna, sorry, govardhana provides for the various regions of lindhawa in various ways, as it discusses for the cows, he provides pastures and shade, for the various animals that are there, for the various birds that are there, birds can fly and make nests in trees, and can find some fruits and grains and things to eat, the animals can move around, and of course, the vraja-vasis can do various activities over there, in this way, they can sport, and in this way, and all this is of course permeated, they are permeated with remembrance of krishna, and govardhan gives them abundant stimuli to remember krishna, and in this way, govardhan saukhyai kadata gives them happiness, so I too am distressed, please grant me also residence at lindhawan, at govardhan, so that I can also be happy, nirupati karunena shri shachinan manena, tvai kapati shathopit pat priyena arpitosmi, iti khanumam yogya-yogya, yogyataam mam agranan, nijanikati nivasam dehi govardhanatvam, so here, Raghunatha Goswami mentions about, how you have been nirupati, bhava aur nirupati karunena, with unlimited mercy, what happened, shri shachinan manena, shri shachinan manena, that is lord chaitanya mahapramu, with his mercy, tvai, he has bestowed you upon me, and, tvai kapati shathopit pat priyena arpitosmi, I am a kapati, I am a shathop, he is saying, I am a cheater, I am a deceiver, and yet, he has bestowed you upon me, and for that, I am forever grateful, that he has bestowed you upon me, and, just as he was merciful to me, iti khanumam, mama yogya, certainly please, yogya yogya, mam agrunam, please, don’t consider my suitability or unsuitability, agrunam, without considering my yogya yogita, please, vijanikati nivasan dehi govardhanam, please grant mercy on me, please grant mercy to me, by giving me residence, so at one level, the govardhan shila, which lord chaitanya mahapramu gave to, raghunath das goswami, that is non-different, from, govardhan itself, so in one sense, we could say that, hasn’t raghunath das goswami, already attained govardhan, yes, he has attained govardhan, but at another level, there is a non-difference, and there is difference, chaitanya mahapramu, any river that he would see, he would consider it as jamuna, he is going to jump into that, and bathe in that, but then, he still keeps moving on, towards jamuna in north India, so similarly, there is, the govardhan shila, which is, at one level, non-different, but at another level, there is also govardhan, which is, the full mountain, its magnificence, and, the, govardhan shila, that chaitanya mahapramu gave, that has created, spiritual longing, and intense, devotional hankering, for, a further, deeper connection, with govardhan, and, for that purpose, he says, please, give me residence, in close proximity, to you, mijya nikati nivasam dehi, and finally, in the eleventh, he, after composing this, gives the phalashruti, and he says, tasad dashakam, asya shila govardhanasya, kshitidhar kula bharturya, vayatna dhavite, sesapadi sukhade, asmin vasam, asadya sakshaj, shubhda yugala sevam ratnam, apnoti turnam, tasad dashakam, this nectar of which, dasha, dasha means ten, so this is, a composition of ten verses, ten texts, asya shila govardhanasya, it is about govardhan, the offer to govardhan, kshitidhar, of the mountains, multitudes, bhartuhu, the king of the mountains, yaha, prayatna dhavite, one who, with care, with attention, adhite, recites, reads, sesapadi sukhade, asmin, such a person, soon, so happily, in this, asmin vasam, asadya sakshaj, will attain residence, here, shubhda yugala sevam, ratnam, apnoti turnam, and thereafter, will attain, the nectar, the, sorry, the jewel, ratna of, yugala sevam, shubhda of the auspiciousness, of the, seva of, the divine couple, so, here, by, hearing about, the intense aspiration, of the great devotees, that aspiration, gets kindled in us, and just as, that aspiration, with gradual purification, will be fulfilled, for the great devotees, similarly, by gradual purification, that aspiration, will be fulfilled, for us also, so on the, auspicious occasion of, Govardhan Puja, we can meditate, how Govardhan, has been the venue, exalted, celebrated, and intimate, pastimes, of Krishna, to his devotees, and it is, such a, fortune that, that they have seen Govardhan, manifested on earth, for us to visit, for us to, behold, for us to worship, for us to circumambulate, and for us to, pray to, and thereby, receive, supreme blessings of, Govardhan, of, the Vajabasis, and of, Prajaraj Shri Krishna, who is, celebrated as, Govardhan Dhani, Govardhan, Shri Govardhan Ki Jai, Shri Govardhan Ki Jai, Shri Krishna Ki Jai, Shri Govardhan Dashakam Ki Jai, Shri Raghunath Das Goswami Ki Jai, Shri Prabhupada Ki Jai,