CHAPTER 8
Eighth Shower of Nectar
From the creeper of bhakti, which first sprouted two leaves during sadhana bhakti,
many smooth petals now suddenly appear in the form of anubhavas (the symptoms of
ecstasy) attached to the flower of bhava.
These anubhavas are filled with the devotional processes, such as hearing and
chanting, and shine brilliantly at every moment.
First forming the flower called bhava, they finally bring forth the fruit called prema.
But what is most astonishing about the creeper of bhakti is, though its leaves, buds,
flowers and fruits mature into the succeeding form, they do not give up their original
forms. Together they shine in newer and newer ways.
The devotee's innumerable thoughts and emotions (citta vritti) were previously bound
tightly by the ropes of attachment to family, relatives, house and properties.
However when prema appears, it easily frees the thoughts from all those
attachments. By its inherent power, prema transforms those material emotions, into
spiritually blissful elements, as if submerging them all in a deep well of transforming
nectar.
Similarly, all the attachments become spiritualized. Then, with those ropes of
spiritual attachment, prema binds the spiritualized emotions to the sweetness of the
Lord's name, form and qualities.
Prema manifests its brilliance in this way and immediately puts all material ideals
(purushhartha) to shame as the sun puts to shame all the constellations in the sky.
The nectar which comes from the fruit of prema has the essential quality of
concentrated bliss (sandrananda), and its outstanding nourishing property is its power
to attract Krishna (krishnakarshani). When the devotee begins to taste that nectar,
he does not take heed of any obstacles.
Like a miser feverish for treasure, like a thief who has lost all sense of discretion out
of absorption in his job, the devotee loses all sense of self-consciousness.
Sometimes, there is an impatience for obtaining the Lord, like a hunger which cannot
be satisfied even by eating the most tasty foods day and night.
The devotee burns like the sun by that anxiety. He is soothed only by tasting the
form, qualities and sweetness of the Lord, which make a momentary appearance, like
the coolness of a thousand moons.
The prema which exists in the devotee, the receptacle of prema, is very astonishing
in that simultaneously even its slightest increase pierces the devotee like a shaft in
the form of anxiety, by which the devotee at every moment longs for the direct
darshan of the Lord.
And at the same time, by the intense manifestation of that prema, that shaft is
burned by the realization (sphurti) of the form, pastimes and sweetness of the Lord.
Still he remains unsatisfied.
Simultaneously, this prema, arising from its own reservoir, increases slightly, and the
devotee longs for direct contact with the Lord at every moment. This hankering
burns like a conflagration and tears his body like a sharp arrow.
By the intensity of his longing for the Lord he remains unsatisfied with the
momentary vision of the Lord's form, qualities and sweetness.
He considers friends as useless as a dry, overgrown well, and his household becomes
like a thorn-filled forest. Food becomes totally distasteful. Praise from other
devotees is like the biting of a snake.
Daily duties become difficult to perform like death. All the limbs of his body become
like an unmanageable burden. The consolation of his comrades is like poison.
Even though he remains constantly awake, wakefulness is an ocean of repentance, and
his sleep seems to be simply fleeing (destroying) from life. His body seems like the
chastisement for the Lord. His life airs become as lifeless as roasted grains. What
he previously took as his life's goal is abandoned as great calamity. Even thinking of
the Lord tears his body asunder.
Then prema, assuming the form of a magnet, attracts black Krishna and makes Him
appear to the devotee for a moment. At that time, all the senses of the devotee
(eyes, nose, ears, tongue, sense of touch) become the receptacles of all the
auspicious qualities of Krishna.
His supreme beauty, fragrance, melody, youthfulness, tastiness, audarya and karunya.
From tasting the extreme sweetness and ever-freshness of these qualities of the
Lord, a greater longing, which at every moment increases, is born in the devotee
because of his prema. Poetic words are not adequate to describe the ocean of
transcendental bliss which appears at this time.
A traveller on a desert path, burned by the sun's rays during the hot season, finds
shelter in a cool place supplied with a hundred vessels of ice-water from a divine pool
under the shade of a vast banyan tree densely tangled with branches.
An elephant caught in a forest fire without escape is finally bathed by unlimited
water from a bank of rain clouds. A person afflicted by mortal disease and craving
satisfaction, drinks the nectar, tastes its exquisite sweetness, and experiences
unbounded bliss. This cannot be compared.
Then Lord reveals first His beauty (saundarya) to the eyes of the devotee in this
remarkable condition. On account of the sweetness of that beauty, all the senses
and the mind take on the quality of eyes, and obstacles, such as paralysis, shaking and
tears, are generated. From this the devotee swoons in bliss.
To console the devotee, the Lord next reveals His fragrance to the nostrils of the
devotee, and all the devotee's senses take on the quality of the nose to smell. Again
the devotee swoons in bliss.
The Lord then reveals His sonorous voice to the devotee's ears: Oh My devotee, I am
under your control. Don't be overwhelmed, but fully satisfy your desire by relishing
Me. All the senses become like ears to hear and, for the third time, the devotee
faints.
At the beginning of the swoon, the Lord then mercifully gives the touch of His lotus
feet, His hands and His breast to the devotee, and reveals His fresh youthfulness
(saukaumarya) to the devotee.
To those in the mood of servitude, He bestows His lotus feet on their heads, to those
in the mood of friendship, He grasps their hands with His. For those in the mood of
parental affection, He wipes away their tears with His own hand. For those in
conjugal mood, He rewards them with His embrace, touching them with His hands and
chest.
Then the devotee's senses all take on the sense of touch and the devotee faints for a
fourth time in a deep swoon. At the start of the swoon, the Lord then restores him
by giving the taste (saurasya) from His own lips. This, however, is revealed only to
those in the conjugal mood. The devotee's senses take on the sense of taste and he
faints for a fifth time.
This blissful swoon is so deep that the Lord must revive him by bestowing His audarya
(generosity). Audarya refers to the state in which simultaneously all of the Lord's
qualities (His beauty, fragrance, sound, touch and taste) suddenly manifest
themselves to the devotee's various senses.
At that time, prema, which understands the will of the Lord, increases to the
extreme and there is a corresponding extreme increase in the craving.
That prema presides as a moon over the ocean of bliss and simultaneously it increases
hundreds and hundreds of waves and it agitates and creates an almost destructive
friction in the devotee's heart. It then becomes the beautiful ruling deity of his
mind in that condition.
This increased prema usually controls everything as the moon presides over the
ocean, then seems to withdraw its powers. It creates in the devotee's heart an
almost destructive friction and tearing amongst the simultaneous tastes, a conflict of
a hundred waves in the ocean of bliss.
Then again, prema assumes the role of ruler, the presiding deity, and manifests its
specific power, which allows the devotee to experience the different tastes
simultaneously and without conflict.
One should not think that the devotee will not be able to experience the fullness of
all the tastes because of their multitude, which may cause dilution of the very tastes.
Rather, all the senses attain the inconceivable, astonishing, extraordinary quality to
perform the functions of the other senses to appreciate the Lord's various qualities.
In this way, they can experience more intensely the taste. In these matters, one
cannot use material arguments evolved from material experiences. The inconceivable
conditions of prema are not subject to mundane logic (acintya).
Even if the devotee wishes to relish all types of sweetness, of saundarya, etc, all at
once, but like a chataka bird wants to drink all raindrops by his beak which is
impossible.
The devotee tries to experience the sweet tastes of the Lord's beauty, fragrance,
sound, touch, taste and audarya all at once like the chataka bird who tries to catch all
the rain drops in his beak. Then the Lord, seeing that all cannot find room in His
devotee, considers, "Why am I holding so many wonderful qualities with My self."
To let the devotee also partake of them all, the Lord manifests His kripa shakti (also
called anugraha), the superintendent of all the shaktis, by which the devotee becomes
attractive even to the Lord. This shakti is situated like an empress in the middle of a
lotus, whose eight petals are the eight shaktis (vimala, utkarshini, jnana, kriya, yoga,
prahvi, satya, and isani).
This anugraha decorates itself in the eyes of the Lord and it appears in different
forms as vatsalya (affection) in relation to His devotees in the mood of servant, etc,
(dasa, sakha, etc.). In some cases it appears as karunya (compassion).
When it appears to in relation to the devotees in conjugal mood it is known as cittaviddravini
akarshani shakti (which melts the heart of Krishna and attracts Him).
Sometimes according to the different moods of the different devotees it is known by
other names also.
By this kripa-shakti, the all-pervading element of the Lord's free will influences the
heart and causes great astonishment even in those realized souls who are fully selfsatisfied
atmaramas.
By this energy, the one quality called bhakta vatsalya (affection for His devotees),
like an emperor, rules over all auspicious, spiritual qualities such as satya, shaucha,
daya and tapas mentioned in the First Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam.
The eighteen condemned qualities of illusion, laziness, error, intense lust, fickleness,
arrogance, envy, violence, exertion, lamentation, dishonesty, anger, longing, fear,
partiality, and dependency on others are not present in the body of the Lord.
By the agency of this bhakta vatsalya, however, even these qualities become present
at times in various avataras, such as Rama and Krishna, and are appreciated by the
devotees. But now these faults become excellent qualities.
Attaining the power to taste completely the beauty, fragrance, etc, of the Lord, and
tasting each one, the devotee ascends to higher and higher peaks of astonishing
experience.
His heart melts on incessant realization of the Lord's unheard of bhakta vatsalya.
The Lord, displaying His wonderful nature, says:
"Oh best of devotees, many births you have given up wife, house and wealth for the
sake of My service. You endured the miseries of cold, wind, hunger, thirst and pain,
tolerated the contempt of other men, taking to a life of begging. In payment for all
your sacrifice, I cannot given you anything. I have become your debtor.
Since lordship over the whole earth in the post of demigod and mystic powers are
unsuitable for you, how can I give them to you? One cannot give grass and straw, the
enjoyment of cows, to a spiritual personality such as you. Though I am unconquerable,
today I have been conquered by you. I am taking shelter of the creeper of your
gentleness."
Accepting the sweet, affectionate words of the Lord as the ornaments of his ears,
the devotee says:
"Oh my Lord, my master, oh ocean of unfathomable mercy! You glanced upon me while
I was being bitten by an array of crocodiles, the infinite miseries of endless births
and deaths amidst the terrifying current of material existence. Oh Lord,
transcendental to all the material planets, Your butter-like heart melts as it is filled
with mercy.
In the form of the spiritual master, You destroy ignorance and lust! By manifesting
the Sudarsana Chakra of Your wonderful form, You have pierced those crocodiles
and freed me from the clutches of their teeth. To fulfill my desire to serve Your
lotus feet as a maidservant dasi, You placed the syllables of Your mantra in my ears.
You destroyed my suffering, You purified me by the process of constant hearing,
chanting, and remembering Your qualities and name. You made me understand how to
perform service to Yourself through the association of Your devotees.
I am unintelligent, the lowest of the low, and even one day have not done You service.
Such a miserly selfish person deserves to be punished. Contrary to this however,
showing Your very self to me, You have made me drink nectar. You have mortified me
by saying that You have become my debtor.
Now I am thinking what to do. Would I be presumptuous to ask You to pardon all my
offenses five, seven, eight, a thousand or a million? I can definitely say it must be
more than a trillion. Just let all the reactions to my past activities, intense and longstanding,
suffered and to be suffered in the future, remain.
Previously, I compared Your dark limbs to the monsoon cloud, to the blue water lily
and to the sapphire. I compared Your effulgent face to the moon, and Your tender
feet, to newly sprouted leaves.
Now these analogies seem like a pile of burned mustard seeds compared to a golden
mountain, or like a chick pea in comparison to a touchstone, like a jackal in comparison
to a lion, or a mosquito in comparison to Garuda.
By my poor intelligence, I have clearly committed an offense to You. Such inept
poetry meant as praise unto Yourself is accepted by the common people. But after
seeing the opulence of the Sri Murti for a while I have just become shameful and like
an impatient cow my voice wordings will not defile the desire creeper of your beauty
with the teeth of comparison.
I am like an unsettled cow threatened by the sudden appearance of Your form. But I
cannot defile the desire tree of Your beauty even with my destructive comparisons."
In this way, the devotee praises the Lord, and the Lord becomes more pleased with
the devotee. Then He reveals all the favorable accoutrements necessary for the
devotee's particular relation to the Lord, imbued with excellent rasa:
Sri Vrindavana, the desire tree, the maha yoga pitha, the most dear daughter of
Vrishabhanu, Her associates such as Lalita and her manjaris, His own friends such as
Subala, the cows maintained by Him, the Yamuna River, Govardhana, forests such as
Bhandira, Nandishvara Hill, all the mothers, fathers, brothers, friends and servants
there, and the other vrajavasis.
The Lord submerges the devotee in the enchanting tidal wave of bliss and then
disappears with His entourage.
Recovering consciousness after some moments, the devotee, anxious to see the Lord
again, opens his eyes, and not seeing the Lord, he begins crying.
"Was I merely dreaming? No, no, I was not dreaming, because I have neither
drowsiness, nor any contamination in my eyes from sleep. Was it some hallucination?
No, for a hallucination could never give real bliss. Or was it from some defect in the
mind? No, because all the symptoms of an unsteady mind are absent.
Was it the fulfillment of some material desire? No, no material fancy could ever
approach what I have seen. Was it a momentary meeting with the Lord? No, because
it is completely different from all previous visions of the Lord that I remember."
In this way, the devotee remains in uncertainty. Lying upon the dusty earth, he prays
constantly for the same experience. Not obtaining it, he laments, weeps, rolls on the
ground, wounds his own body, faints, recovers, stands, sits, runs about, and wails like
a madman.
Sometimes he remains silent like a sage and sometimes like a social misfit, he fails to
perform his daily obligatory duties. Like a person possessed of spirits, he talks
incoherently. Unto a devotee friend who comes asking privately what is the matter,
he explains what he has experienced.
He recovers for a moment, and the friend explains, "That was, by good fortune, a
direct meeting with the Lord." Satisfied with that explanation, he becomes happy.
Then again he laments, "No longer do I have that association. Was it a shower of
mercy from some great devotee of the Lord upon this unlucky soul? Or was it by
mere chance, or was it the result of some past honest endeavor? Or perhaps it was
simply the causeless mercy of the Lord.
By some indescribable fortune I have attained the Lord, but then, because of a grave
offense, I have lost Him again. Without life, without intelligence, I cannot ascertain
the truth.
Where shall I go? What shall I do and how? Whom to ask? I am completely vacant,
without soul, without shelter, scorched by a conflagration. The three worlds seem to
be devouring me. Giving up this worldly association, I will live in solitude for some
time."
Doing this, he laments further. "Oh lotus-faced Lord, You are possessed of streams
of nectar, bedecked with fragrant garlands which scent all the forests, attracting
swarms of vibrating bees! Just for a moment may I serve Your Lordship again?
Having once tasted Your sweetness, I cannot aspire for anything else.”
He begins to roll on the ground, breathe heavily, faint, and lose his mind. Suddenly
seeing the Lord everywhere, he rejoices, embraces, laughs, dances and sings, and
when the Lord disappears again, he becomes filled with remorse, and weeps.
Behaving in this way, he withdraws his very life symptoms and he loses awareness of
whether he has a body or not.
Then, not aware that his material body has passed to the elements, he understands
only that his desired Lord, the ocean of mercy, has manifested Himself.
Engaging him in service, He is leading him to His own house.
Thus the devotee reaches the final goal.
adau sraddha tatah sadhu sango'tha
bhajana kriya tato' nartha nivrttih
sya tato nistha rucis tatah athasaktis
tato bhavas tatah premabhyudacati
First appears faith, then association with devotees, devotional activities, clearing of
obstacles, steadiness, taste, attachment, bhava and finally prema.
The stages of devotion mentioned in this verse have been described as they are.
Sneha, mana pranaya, raga, anuraga, and mahabhava, successively specialized tastes,
are progressively higher fruits on the creeper of bhakti.
Because the material body of the devotee cannot tolerate the friction of extremes
of all those tastes, they are not manifested in his body. Thus these tastes have not
been described here.
Ruci, asakti, bhava and prema, which can be experienced, have already been
described. The scriptural quotations have not been supplied, however, as this would
create an obstacle in comprehension of those states. They are supplied now.
ruci:
tasmins tada labdha rucer mahamune
priyasravasy askhalita matir mama
“O great sage, as soon as I got a taste of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, my
attention to hear of the Lord was unflinching.” (SB 1.5.27)
asakti:
gunesu saktam bandhaya
ratam va pumsi muktaye
“The state in which the consciousness of the living entity is attracted by the three
modes of material nature is called life. But when that same consciousness is attached
to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one is situated in the consciousness of
liberation.” (SB 3.25.15)
bhava:
priya sravasy anga mama bhavad ratih
“Thus listening attentively, my taste for hearing of the Personality of Godhead
increased at every step.” (SB 1.5.26)
prema:
prematibhara nirbhinna
pulakango'ti nirvrtah
ananda samplave lano
napasyam ubhayam mune
“O Vyasadeva, at that time, being exceedingly overpowered by feelings of happiness,
every part of my body became separately enlivened. Being absorbed in an ocean of
ecstasy, I could not perceive either myself or the Lord.” (SB 1.6.17)
symptoms of ruci:
ta ye pibanty avitrso
nrpa gahha karnais
tan na sprsanty asana
trh ubhaya soka mohah
“They drink with attentive ears, without being satisfied, O King, and they are not
touched by fear, lamentation and illusion.” (SB 4.29.40)
symptoms of asakti:
srnvan subhadrani rathanga paner
janmani karmani ca yani loke
gatani namani tad arthakani
gayan vilajjo vicared asangah
“An intelligent person who has controlled his mind and conquered fear should give up
all attachment to material objects such as wife, family and nation. He should wander
freely without embarrassment, hearing and chanting the holy names of the Lord, the
bearer of the chariot wheel.” (SB 11.2.39)
symptoms of bhava:
yatha bhramyaty ayo brahman
svayam akarsasannidhau
tatha me bhramyate cetas
cakrapaner yadrcchaya
“O brahmanas, as iron attracted by a magnetic stone moves automatically toward the
magnet, my consciousness, having been changed by His will, is attracted by Lord
Vishnu, who carries a disc in His hand. Thus I have no independence.” (SB 7.5.14)
symptoms of prema:
evam vratah sva priya nama kartya
jatanurago druta citta uccaih
hasaty atho roditi rauti gayaty
unmadavan nrtyati loka bahyah
“When a person is actually advanced and takes pleasure in chanting the holy name of
the Lord, who is very dear to him, he is agitated and loudly chants the holy name. He
also laughs, cries, becomes agitated and chants just like a madman, not caring for
outsiders.” (SB 11.2.40)
momentary vision of the Lord:
pragayatah sva varyani
tartha padah priya sravah
ahuta iva me saghram
darsanam yati cetas
“The Supreme Lord Krishna, whose glories and activities are pleasing to hear, at once
appears on the seat of my heart, as if called for, as soon as I begin to chant His holy
activities.” (SB 1.6.33)
association of the Lord:
pasyanti te me rucirany amba santah
prasanna vaktraruna locanani
rupani divyani vara pradani
sakam vacam sprhanayam vadanti
“O My Mother, My devotees always see the smiling face of My form, with eyes like
the rising morning sun. They like to see My various transcendental forms, which are
all benevolent, and they also talk favorably with Me.” (SB 3.25.35)
The devotee's reaction to associating with the Lord:
tair darsanayavayavair udara
vilasa haseksita vama suktaih
hrtatmano hrta pranams ca bhaktir
anicchato me gatim anva prayunkte
“Upon seeing the charming forms of the Lord, smiling and attractive, and hearing His
very pleasing words, the pure devotee almost loses all other consciousness. His
senses are freed from all other engagements, and he becomes absorbed in devotional
service. Thus in spite of his unwillingness, he attains liberation without separate
endeavor.” (SB 3.25.36)
vaso yatha parikrtam madiramadandhah (SB 11.13.36)
These verses taken from Bhagavatam should be considered.
The substance of this is as follows.
Ahankara is of two types:
ahanta (consciousness of I)
mamata (consciousness of mine).
By jnana these two are destroyed and liberation is attained. By directing these two
towards body (I am this body), house (this is my house), etc, bondage results.
I am the follower of the Lord. I am the servant of the Lord. The Lord with His
associates, an ocean of sweetness with His form, qualities and pastimes, is to be
served by me.
If one thinks in this way, identifying oneself as the Lord's servant and making the
Lord along with His associates the object of one's possession, it is called prema.
Prema is in this way distinct from both bondage and liberation, and is properly called
the crown jewel of all human goals.
There is a sequence in this.
When the materialistic aspect of ahanta and mamata is extremely deep, one remains
fixed in the cycle of birth and death.
When a particle of faith, by good fortune is born and one thinks of becoming a
Vaishnava and serving the Lord, the materialistic aspect becomes slightly
spiritualized (gandha) and the jiva becomes qualified for devotional service.
At the stage of sadhu sanga, the spiritualization becomes more condensed and his
material attachments are atyantiki.
At the stage of anishthita bhajana kriya, the spiritualization of I and mine is specific,
localized in one place, whereas the material aspect is still in full force (purna).
At the stage of nistha, spiritualization becomes detectable in many places, and the
materialistic influence is still prominent (prayiki).
At the stage of ruci, spiritualization of I and mine becomes dominant, nearing
completion (prayiki) and the materialistic concept of I and mine becomes localized in
certain issues.
At the stage of asakti, the spiritual aspect of I and mine becomes complete (purna)
and the material aspect becomes a trace (gandha).
At the stage of bhava, the spiritual aspect becomes thorough (atyantiki) and the
material aspect becomes like an empty shadow.
At the stage of prema, the spiritual aspect becomes extremely intense
(paramatyantiki) and the material aspect is completely absent.
At the stage of bhajana kriya, meditation on the Lord is momentary with a tinge of
material topics.
At the stage of nistha meditation, there is a trace (abhas) of other topics.
At the stage of ruci, other topics are absent and the meditation is long lasting.
At the stage of asakti, meditation becomes very deep.
During bhava, meditation is marked with the Lord.
At the stage of prema, in contrast to simply seeing the Lord, there is direct
association with the Lord.
madhurya varidheh krishna
chaitanya duddhatai rasaih
iyam dhinotu madhury
maya kadambana jagat
The cloud bank has lifted the rasa from the ocean of sweetness personified, Sri
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. May the sweet bank of clouds satisfy the thirsty world by
distributing that rasa.
Remaining constantly with devotees, he sits with them conversing about the
nectarean pastimes of the Lord, relishing and glorifying them again and again, to the
exclusion of all other topics. He enters the sacred dhama and becomes fixed in the
pure unalloyed service of the Lord (seva-nishtha). Ignorant people think he is going
crazy.
He attempts to learn the new dance step of the devotees' joyful process of
meditating on and serving the Lord, and ruci, the dance instructress, takes him by the
two hands to personally teach him.
Thus, he begins to experience extraordinary, unimaginable bliss. Who can describe in
what realm of bliss will he reside when, in time, he is made to dance by the two
headed mistresses of dance, bhava and prema?
Thus ends the Eighth Shower of Nectar of Madhurya Kadambini
By Mahamahopadhyaya Srimat Vishvanath Cakravarti
Discussing the attainment of taste for devotional service
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