Jagannatha Ashtakam 1 – The supreme love transcends worldly concerns and genders

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
towards Krishna, thank you Chanting of Vedanta So in this verse of the Jagannath Ashtakam the glories of Lord Jagannath are being depicted in a very special way the important point to recognize when we glorify the Lord is to understand that Advaitam Achyutamanadham Anantaroopam. That Lord has many manifestations. He is Anantaroopam.
And among His many manifestations, the most important manifestation for the devotee is the manifestation with which that devotee is relating right now. Yad Yad Dhyat Urugay Vibhavayanti Tattadvapuh Praniyase Sadanugrahaya Yad Yad Dhyat Urugay Vibhavayanti So it is described that whichever form a devotee meditates on and tries to worship the Lord, tries to approach the Lord, accordingly the Lord manifests. Tattadvapuh Praniyase Sadanugrahaya Out of great mercy for His devotee, the Lord manifests in that particular form.
So, now here we will see that the description is, it’s Jagannath Ashtakam. It will start with the description of Krishna in Vrindavan and then it will go to Lord Jagannath in Nilachal. So, we know that Jai Gaura, Sai Krishna, Sai Jagannath.
That Krishna and Jagannath are the same. So, there are many beautiful stories about how the form of Jagannath is manifested. But let’s focus right now on the description of Krishna.
So, it’s the same Jagannath, Kadachit. And sometimes Kalindi Tata. Kalindi is Yamuna.
Ganga is considered to be the most sacred of all rivers within the broad Vedic tradition. But the Vedic tradition culminates in pure devotion. And as far as pure devotion is concerned, Yamuna is the most sacred.
Because she is directly present in the supreme abode of pure devotion, that is Vrindavan. So, for Vaishnavas, Yamuna is far, far more glorious than Ganga. Of course, there is no competition in that sense.
Wherever a devotee can get mercy and purification, a devotee takes that. But here, Kalindi Tata. Vipina Sangeetakaravo.
Vipina Sangeetakaravo means that there is, in the forest, Vipina Sangeetakaravo, the music is being made. Mudabhiri Nari Vadana Kamala Swad Madhupa. So, Madhupa refers to one who drinks Madhupa.
So, that refers to a honey bee. Madhu is honey. So, there are bees which take the honey from the neck that lies at the bottom of the flowers.
They go deep inside and take that. So, like that, Krishna is compared here to Madhupa. And Mudabhiri Nari Vadana Kamala Swad Madhupa.
So, there is a very beautiful, implicit metaphor over here. Nari refers to women. So, the Vrajagopis, their faces are compared to beautiful lotuses.
Vadana Kamala. Mudabhiri Nari Vadana Kamala Swad Madhupa. So, Krishna is beholding the beauty of the Gopis of Vrindavan.
And he is not just beholding their beauty. He is actually relishing their beauty. He is drinking their beauty.
So, he is compared here to a honey bee. And the Gopis’ beauty is compared to a lotus. And Mudabhiri.
So, Abhira is the social designation of the Vrajavasis. They are Vaishyas. But within Vaishyas, they are actually of a very higher level ranking Vaishyas.
It’s called Abhiras. So, Mudabhiri Nari. Muda is with great joy.
Krishna is relishing the beauty of the Gopis. So, now, Krishna is transcendental. And his relationship with the Gopis is also transcendental.
But transcendental doesn’t mean that it is ethereal or amorphous. Ethereal means just some hazy, some vague, amorphous sort of conception. It’s not like that.
Krishna is a person. The Gopis are persons. And they have personal relationships with each other.
And that means that when the devotees are serving Krishna in a particular rasa, then Krishna reciprocates with them perfectly in that rasa. So, the Gopis are serving him in Madhuri rasa. So, in the manner of amorous love.
And in amorous love, when they serve, at that time, the Gopis have very attractive feminine features. And Krishna is God manifesting in a charming masculine form. And there is this transcendental reciprocation of love between them.
And this love is being reciprocated through their mutual glances. Just as Krishna glances at the Gopis and how he is relishing their beauty is talked about. In the Gopi Gita, it’s talked about from the other perspective.
Prahasitam Priya Premavikshanam Viharanam Chate Dhyanamangalam So, the Gopis, when they are meditating on Krishna, when they are separated from him, they are remembering his beautiful form in their eyes and they are saying Prahasitam Priya Prahasitam. He smiles and is very enduring. Premavikshanam.
So, he glances at us and that is very enduring. And Krishna’s glance will be talked about in one of the later verses. But the important point here is that there is a loving reciprocation between Krishna and the Gopis.
So, Prahasitam. So, here Mudabhiri Nari Vadana Kamal Aswad Madhupa Now, this may seem like some ordinary male-female romance. But Ramashambhu Brahma Amarpati Ganesh Architapado It is described that that lord who may seem to be like an ordinary man looking at an ordinary woman.
Who is that lord? He is being worshipped. Now, it is interesting when the worshippers are described over here. Both the males and females are described.
First of all, it is Rama. Rama is Lakshmi Devi. Ramashambhu Brahma.
So, that is Shiva and Brahma. Amarpati Ganesh. Amarpati is, devatas are referred to Amara.
So, the pati, the lord of the Amaras is Indra. So, Indra is also there. Amarpati, Ganesha and Ganesha is, of course, the son of Lord Shiva, Ganapati.
Architapado. So, they are all worshipping his feet. Architapado.
Jagannath Swami Nayanapathagami Bhavatume. So, to that lord Jagannath, I offer my obeisances. So, this lord Jagannath, his feet, who is also Krishna, non-different from Krishna.
So, he is being worshipped here by his lotus feet, Architapado. He is being worshipped by all these great devatas. And the significance of having both females and males is to recognize that actually this is transcendental.
We shouldn’t mistake this to be just something ordinary. Where, you know, in this world, say, if one woman is very attractive and one man attracts the other, that particular woman, and the other men start thinking of him as a hero. And it’s not like that exactly.
This whole thing is transcendental. And both the Rama. Now, in one sense, Rama, is she different from Radharani? Yes and no.
The rasa is different. The goddesses are manifested from them only. But they are one and different.
So, the important point here is that the contrast between Madhuri and Aishwarya is being brought out in this verse. And Rama, Lakshmidevi is put in the category of Aishwarya. Those devatas who worship him in awe and reverence.
And this contrast is also seen again in several places. We see it also in the Jagannath Leela itself. We’ll come to that when we discuss how Lakshmidevi herself goes to try to fetch Lord Jagannath back.
As described in Chaitanya Charitamra. But the point is that all those devatas who are worshipped by people in this world, they are worshipping Jagannath. So, this vision of transcendental love that is described in this particular stanza is the object of worship for those who are the object of worship for everyone in this world.
And such is the glory of Lord Jagannath.