Sri Krishna Kathamrita

तवकथामृतं तप्तजीवनम्
tava kathāmṛtaṁ tapta-jīvanam
Bindu
Fortnightly email mini-magazine from Gopal Jiu Publications

Issue No. 498 Śrī Varūthinī Ekādaśī 6 May 2021 Circulation 9,875

• Meeting Krishna Face to Face

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Highlights

• The Custodian and Doorkeeper of the Storehouse of Prema

Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja

• Offering the Rarest Love — Part Five

Commentary on Vidagdha-mādhavam (1.2)

• The Glorious Writings of Sri Jiva

The Medieval poet Balaram Das

The Custodian and Doorkeeper of

the Storehouse of Prema
Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja
Mahaprabhu is prema-puruṣottama, he gives kṛṣṇa-
prema. That prema is like an unlimited ocean. Whoever is
the custodian of that storehouse of prema and whoever
is the doorkeeper of that storehouse, by their mercy
you can get it. Nityananda Prabhu is the custodian and
Meeting Krishna Face to Face Sanatan Goswami is the doorkeeper. Therefore, here
you see Mahaprabhu manifested himself in the form
His Divine Grace
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada of Nityananda Prabhu. Nityananda Prabhu is more
merciful, more munificent, and more magnanimous than
There is no difference between chanting of Hare Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Nityananda Prabhu distributes
Krishna mantra and meeting Krishna eye to eye, prema with two hands, not with one hand. He is always
face to face. There is no difference. Simply one intoxicated with that prema-madirā, intoxicating prema.
has to realize. The more you become purified He is avadhūta-dhāraṇa, one who has the nature of a
by chanting this Hare Krishna mantra, you see madman. He is more indiscriminate than Gaurasundar.
Krishna face to face. People are asking, “Can you Previously there were very strong doors and bolts
show me God?” You can see God. Simply prepare on that storehouse, but when Mahaprabhu appeared
your eyes. Simply prepare your ears. You will see and gave the custodianship to Nityananda Prabhu
by hearing. and engaged Sanatan Goswami as the doorkeeper,
This is a very scientific movement, authorized, they broke open the doors. Sanatan Goswami wrote a
practical. You chant the Hare Krishna mantra and commentary on the tenth canto of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam
you will realize that gradually you are advancing called Bṛhad-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī, and thus he opened the
to meet Krishna face to face. That is possible. door, unbolted it, and called everyone, “O my brothers,
Chant Hare Krishna. please come! Now the door is open. It is unbolted. Come
— From a lecture in Bombay. 12 January 1973. and take this mellow. Drown yourself in this unlimited

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Issue Four Hundred Ninety-Seven, Page — 2 श्रीकृष्णकथामृत बिन् दु
ocean of prema. If you take this prema then you will hariḥ puraṭa-sundara-dyuti-kadamba-sandīpitaḥ
consider the position of Lord Brahma to be very, very sadā hṛdaya-kandare sphuratu vaḥ śacī-nandanaḥ
insignificant.” Mahaprabhu knows the nature of these The fortune of his own bhakti replete with the highest
two personalities, therefore He appointed them in these variety of mādhurya-rasa was not offered by anyone for
positions. Without the mercy of such vaiṣṇavas no one a long time. In order to offer that fortune in the age of
Kali-yuga, Hari appeared mercifully. His complexion
can understand bhāgavata-dharma-tattva. Nirmatsarāṇāṁ
glowed due to his multitudes of radiance that are
satāṁ vedyaṁ — only those vaiṣṇavas who are nirmatsara, more resplendent than molten gold. May that Hari,
non-envious, can understand bhāgavata-dharma-tattva. also known as the son of Sachi, always appear within
[Bhāg. 1.1.2] Otherwise no one can understand the the core of the caves of your hearts.
Bhāgavata. The Bhāgavata will never reveal himself before
Continuation of Commentary: [Objection]:
them. Only those who are nirmatsara, and free from
Alright, but please listen! It is well known that when
crookedness, kāpaṭya, can understand bhāgavata-dharma.
the sages at Dandakaranya, the śrutis, Gayatri-devi,
There are three types of crooked persons, dhana-
etc., appeared in Vraja as ṛṣi-cārī gopīs, śruti-cārī
kapaṭi, bala-kapaṭi; and prema-kapaṭi. Dhana-kapaṭis are
gopīs, etc., Lord Gokulchandra bestowed ujjvala-rasa
those persons who have much wealth, but they never
upon them. Besides this, there are also statements
spend it for the propagation of bhāgavata-dharma. They
such as, kṛṣṇād anyaḥ ko vā latāsv api prema-do bhavati
never give donations to bhakta-bhāgavata, the vaiṣṇavas
— “Who besides Krishna is capable of bestowing
who are propagating bhāgavata-dharma. They are the
prema even upon the inanimate creepers?” (Laghu-
number one type of kapaṭi, crooked person. They never
bhāgavatāmṛtam 1.5.37). These statements prove
spend their wealth for the service of Sri Guru, Krishna,
that Krishna bestowed ujjvala-rasa even upon the
or the vaiṣṇavas, but instead they spend so much
money in other ways. They are kṛpaṇa, misers. They unqualified. [So what’s special about Gaura?]
cannot understand bhāgavata-dharma. They cannot [Reply:] True indeed! That same prince of Vraja has
get the mercy of Mahaprabhu. They cannot get prema, now appeared as Gaura. Why should one differentiate
even though Mahaprabhu is offering it. between both of them? Also, even if a king bestows
The second type of kapaṭi, crooked, duplicitous charity upon others within the closed quarters of
person, is the bala-kapaṭi. He has strength, but even his palace, that doesn’t prove his magnanimity,
though Mahaprabhu’s tumultuous kīrtana is going even though such a king may give away everything
on, he is not dancing in that kīrtana. He has strength, just like a desire tree. The king’s true magnanimity
but he doesn’t dance, tāṇḍava-nṛtya, in gaura-kīrtana. is proven only when he bestows charity upon the
The third type of kapaṭi is the prema-kapaṭi. He has not fallen, downtrodden people outside his kingdom.
gotten prema, but he develops the abhimāna, “Oh, I am This is proved by statements such as, api ca kṛpaṇa-
a vaiṣṇava. I am a great devotee.” These three types of pakṣe hy uttama-śloka-śabdaḥ — “The epithet uttama-
kapaṭis cannot get Mahaprabhu’s mercy. They cannot śloka (the most worthy of glorification) is suitable
understand bhāgavata-dharma-tattva. They cannot get only for a person who takes sides with the miserly
prema unless they give up their kāpaṭya and enviousness and fallen.” (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.47.15)
and serve sadhu, guru and vaiṣṇava — niṣkapaṭa-seva. [Translator’s Note: The implication is that Krishna
They should render service without duplicity and get only bestowed ujjvala-rasa upon the ṛṣi-cārī gopīs, śruti-
the mercy of Mahaprabhu. Even though Mahaprabhu cārī gopīs when they took birth as gopīs in Vraja. Thus,
is giving prema indiscriminately, they cannot get it. Krishna is like the king who gives charity only to selected
— The Worship of Sri Guru pp. 63-65. Gopal Jiu Publications. people within the closed quarters of his palace. Gaura
Bhubaneswar. 2000. Lecture in Bhubaneswar. 3 March 1995.
on the other hand comes out and distributes ujjvala-rasa
Offering the Rarest Love — Part 5 even to the most fallen, downtrodden people. Thus, only
Gaura can truly be called uttama-śloka.]
Commentary on Vidagdha-mādhavam (1.2)
[Question:] Are there any currently existing
Attributed to Srila Jiva Goswami
treasure-houses containing the jewels of prema,
anarpita-carīṁ cirāt karuṇayāvatīrṇaḥ kalau deposited by Gaura, from where other fortunate
samarpayitum unnatojjvala-rasāṁ sva-bhakti-śriyam people can also become rich in prema?

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Sri Krishna Kathamrita Bindu Issue Four Hundred Ninety-Seven, Page — 3

Painting by Kamala Dasi

Srila Jiva Goswami speaks to his students Shyamananda Prabhu, Rasikananda Prabhu, and Narottam Das Thakur

[Reply:] Yes there are the eighteen thousand Sanatan Goswami, who removed all the existing gates,
verses of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, and by listening sharp nails on the gates, etc., by writing his vaiṣṇava-
to them one develops prema. This is described in toṣaṇī commentary. Doing so, he invites one and all
the Bhāgavatam itself, yasyāṁ vai śrūyamāṇāyāṁ and says, “O brother! Come here for experiencing
kṛṣṇe parama-pūruṣe bhaktir utpadyate — “Verily, by how to drown in the ocean of prema! By experiencing
listening to this literature, pure devotion unto the the happiness of prema, even the attainment of the
Supreme Personality Krishna develops.” (Śrīmad impersonal brahman will also become insignificant.”
Bhāgavatam 1.7.7) In this way, through the Śrīmad Knowing these facts very well, the Lord has
Bhāgavatam, Gaura himself distributes the jewels of given authority to these two individuals for their
love, and there is nothing astonishing about this. respective tasks.
[Question:] If Gaura is the main distributor of the [Not everyone who reads the Bhāgavatam gets
treasure-house of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, then who is the prema. How then can we say that Gaura distributes
devotee in charge of this treasure-house? Who is the prema through the medium of the Bhāgavatam? In
door-keeper? Does the treasure-house have gates or not? reply to this, the commentator says:] Even though
[Reply:] The person in charge is Nityananda Prabhu, the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam doesn’t bestow prema on one
who also distributes the jewels with both his hands. Due and all, it is still known as premadaḥ, bestower of
to being completely intoxicated with prema, he is even prema. This is because crooked cheaters in the name
more devoid of the sense of discrimination between of religiosity are rejected from receiving prema.
qualified and unqualified. The door-keeper is Sri Three types of crooked cheaters are rejected: 1)
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Issue Four Hundred Ninety-Seven, Page — 4 श्रीकृष्णकथामृत बिन् दु
dhana-kapaṭī, crooked due to wealth; 2) bala-kapaṭī,
crooked due to not showing required strength; and 3)
prema-kapaṭī , crooked due to false displays of prema.
Dhana-kapaṭī refers to people who stay away from Srila Jiva Goswami's original handwriting at the
service to guru, Krishna, and the vaiṣṇavas, even after Vrindavan Research Institute in Vrindavan
hearing the glories of Bhāgavata-dharma, but at the
same time are expert in spending tens of millions of The Glorious Writings of Sri Jiva
times more in anti-devotional acts in hopes of getting
The medieval poet Balaram Das
more returns. Such persons are extremely hesitant
to even give a few hundred for Bhāgavata-dharma. rūpa-sanātana saṅge śrī-jīva-gosāñi
Next, even though capable in all ways, some people kata bhakti-grantha kaila lekhā-jokhā nāi
exhibit extreme sloth when it comes to serving
Srila Jiva Goswami wrote many devotional
Krishna and vaiṣṇavas, and are also lazy in dancing
literatures in the association of Sri Rupa and
nicely in the saṅkīrtana process of Mahaprabhu. Such
Sanatana. The number of books composed by him
people are bala-kapaṭī.
knows no bounds.
Finally, there is the person who doesn’t have prema
and is also devoid of the intense desire to attain such manera vāsanā ātma-śuddhira kāraṇa
prema. Such a person is instead possessed of the false katipaya grantha-nāma kariba kīrtana
pride that, “I am now a devotee.” Such a person is Desiring to purify myself [I take up glorification
known as prema-kapaṭī. of these literatures]. Now I shall glorify the names
Having given up all of one’s crookedness, one who of some of these literatures.
becomes inundated by the causeless mercy of the
great souls of the past ends up attaining prema. gopāla-virudāvalī kṛṣṇa-pada-cihna
(To be continued) śrī-mādhava-mahotsava rādhā-pada-cihna
— Sanskrit transliteration from Gaudiya Grantha Mandir: http:// śrī-gopāla-campū āra rasāmṛta-śeṣa
granthamandira.org
kṛpāmbudhi-stava ṣaṭa sandarbha viśeṣa

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Subscriptions: minimag@gopaljiu.org So many literatures have been written by him. How
Gopal Jiu Publications is a section of the International can I speak them all? Balaram Das says, “The doors
Society for Krishna Consciousness, Founder-Acharya: His of bhakti have been opened by these literatures.”
Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
— Translated from Vaiṣṇava Padāvalī, fourth edition, April
Quotations from the books, letters, and lectures of His Divine Grace 2010. Compiled and edited by Hare Krishna Mukhopadhyay.
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada ©Bhaktivedanta Book Published by Shishu Sahitya Sansad Pvt. Ltd., Kolkata.
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