Śrī Śrī Prema-Bhakti-Candrikā 1 (commentary by Śrī Anantadāsa Bābājī Mahārāja)

अज नत त र नसज न ञन-शल कय ।
चककरननतल त ययन ससशनगकरवय न म ॥ १ ॥
I lie prostrate at the lotus feet of Śrī Gurudeva, who has opened my eyes, once blinded by the
darkness of ignorance, with the collyrium stick of knowledge.

Maṅgalācaraṇa:
Sudhā-Kaṇikā-Vyākhyā:
(Drop of Nectar Commentary)

अदतपकट कत नरहररपष सरपपपय पनतनन-सख सन तनगपत श रप-हततन ।

लक-प णपपतग%द धररस लस जगन थभ- स ङ प ङ-सप र%द स दयत0 दव शच ननन ॥
“May that golden-hued son of Śrī Jagannātha Miśra, Deva Śrī Śacīnandana, who is always
attended by his affectionate entourage, please be merciful unto us. He has been revealed to the
world by Śrī Advaita Prabhu and is very dear to Śrī Narahari. He is loved by Śrī Svarūpa
Dāmodara, is the closest friend of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu and the refuge of Śrī Sanātana
Gosvāmipāda. Śrī Rūpa’s heart dwells in him, he is the husband of Śrī Lakṣmīdevī, and his presence
awakens the rapture of Śrī Gadādhara Paṇḍita.”
This book composed by Śrīla Narottama Ṭhākura Mahāśaya is called Prema-Bhakti-Candrikā.
Ṭhākura Mahāśaya was the embodiment of love for Śrīla Nitāicānda. The glowing moon
of prema was always present in the sky of his heart, and the nectarous effulgence of that moon
appeared in the world as this book, blessing mankind by shining the rays of prema-bhakti upon the
hearts of those covered by the dense darkness of ignorance.
Bhakti is the essence of Śrī Bhagavān’s svarūpa-śaktis named hlādinī and samvit. This svarūpa-
śakti exists within Śrī Bhagavān as three faculties, namely hlādinī, samvit and sandhinī, but not
within the jīva-śakti or bahiraṅgā-māyā-śakti. By God’s mercy, the hlādinī and samvit faculties of
this svarūpa-śakti enter into the heart of the jīva, and when his sādhana and bhajana mature,
the jīva’s desires and inclinations become one with this energy and prema is attained. Śrīmat Jīva
Gosvāmipāda has written, “tasyā hlādinyā eva kvāpi sarvānandātiśāyinī vṛttir nityaṁ bhakta-
vṛndeṣv eva nikṣipyamāṇā bhagavat-prītyākhyayā vartate. atas tad-anubhavena śrī-bhagavān api
śrīmad-bhakteṣu prīty-atiśayaṁ bhajata iti.” (Prīti-Sandarbhaḥ, 65 anuḥ) The meaning is that, in
this way, the hlādinī-śakti is always present within Śrī Bhagavān, and whenever that most blissful,
eternal faculty is deposited within the devotees, it is called bhagavat-prīti or love of God. Thus,
when Śrī Bhagavān experiences the devotee’s love for him, he also feels great love. For example, if
sulphur powder is dropped into mercury, even without mixing, just by their contact the forms of
mercury and sulphur disappear and a new and different substance called mercury sulphate is
created. The mercury and sulphur have united. In the same way, as the result of bhajana such as
hearing and chanting, the materialistic mentality of the bhakta-sādhaka joins with the sac-cid-
ānanda nature of bhakti and spontaneously acquires a spiritual quality. The fusing of
the sādhaka’s mental function and the hlādinī-śakti is called prema. In this book, the crystalline
radiance of that prema-sādhana shimmers brightly; thus the name Prema-Bhakti-Candrikā.
In this Prema-Bhakti-Candrikā, composed of the sublime and enlightened words of Śrīla
Ṭhākura Mahāśaya, the full potency of divine-love-giving, infallible sādhana and bhajana has been
stored. At the same time, incomparably nectarous instructions on how to skillfully perform
this bhajanahave also been given. The splendor of his words will remove the darkness in the heart
of one engaged intensely in śravaṇa and kīrtana and quickly suffuse it with prema-bhakti. It is as
though he is gently taken by the hand and brought to the lotus feet of his beloved Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa.
Just as moonlight can illumine the path for a traveller who has lost his way and lead him to his
destination, similarly by the radiance of this book, the deluded jīvas who are attached to walking the
difficult road of material existence can be shown the true path of bhajana. The blaze of the three
types of miseries is extinguished, their spiritual nature as mañjarīs is awakened, and they are
delivered to the entrance of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava’s forest bower. Therefore, the name Prema-
Bhakti-Candrikā is quite appropriate.
In this book, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya’s uniquely profound words reveal through simple Bengali
language a summary of the esoteric and complex philosophy of Gauḍīya
Vaiṣṇava bhajana and sādhana. Truly, that which is most precious and most important within the
world of Gauḍīya bhajana is present in these instructions. Nevertheless, by resorting to the mercy
of great souls and, as much as possible, through my own experience of bhajana, I shall try to
explain the inner meaning of his words, which are filled with deep realizations of the practice. It is
very difficult to appreciate the inner significance of this work by means of mundane knowledge or
intellect. Regarding this, I will relate a true story I heard from my venerable gurudeva. Some years
ago, a certain well-educated man from Bengal retired from his vocation and decided he wanted to
live in Vraja, so he came here and took shelter at the lotus feet of a great devotee. That devotee gave
him a copy of Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya’s Prema-Bhakti-Candrikā and instructed him to read it daily.
From time to time the devotee would ask the man whether he was reading the book daily and
understanding it. Upon hearing such questions, the highly educated man would think to himself,
“Because Śrī Gurudeva is so deeply absorbed in bhajana, he has probably just forgotten that I am
such a big scholar. This book is written in simple tripadī Bengali meter. How could he think I
wouldn’t be able to understand it?” Thinking like this, he would reply, “Yes; I can understand
everything.” One day, the high-minded devotee read one verse and requested the educated
gentleman to explain it. The gentleman then explained it to the devotee by the strength of his
mundane knowledge. Hearing that interpretation, the devotee smiled slightly and said, “My dear
boy, this is not the entire explanation or inner significance of the verse.” Saying this, he then
revealed such a wonderful interpretation that it was beyond even the imagination of the learned
gentleman. From that day, he began to realize how difficult the subject matter of Prema-Bhakti-
Candrikā was, so he then diligently studied the meaning of all the verses with his gurudeva. Having
taken shelter at the lotus feet of the author Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya, Śrī Guru and the Vaiṣṇavas,
and depending on their mercy, I shall now try to explain the inner meaning of this book according to
my understanding.

Praying for the unhindered completion of his book, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya appropriately follows
the Vaiṣṇava tradition of first honoring Śrī Gurudeva with an auspicious invocation.
গন7র আরন: করর মঙল@চরণ । গর বFষF ভগF@নK রLননর সরণ ॥
রLননর সরনণ হয রFঘ-রFন@শন । অন@য@নS হয রনজ F@রUL-পWরণ ॥
সS মঙল@চরণ হয তZরFধ-পক@র । Fস-রনন^_ শ আশ`F@^ _ আর নমস@র ॥
“At the beginning of this book I perform an auspicious invocation by remembering the spiritual
master, the devotees and the Supreme Lord. By remembering these three, all impediments are
removed and all one’s desires are easily fulfilled. An invocation (maṅgalācaraṇa) is of three types:
establishment of the subject matter, a blessing and obeisance.” (CC. Ādi 1.20-22)
Even though Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya was the embodiment of prema, still, out of extreme
humility he felt himself to be an ordinary materialistic person bound by māyā. Remembering the
words of boundless mercy spoken by his guru, he bows to his lotus feet with great devotion. This is
the ‘obeisance’ type of maṅgalācaraṇa. “I lie prostrate at the lotus feet of Śrī Gurudeva, who has
opened my eyes, once blinded by the darkness of ignorance, with the collyrium stick of
knowledge.” Here ‘the darkness of ignorance’ means the cheating tendency of the jīva, expressed as
the desire for piety, wealth, sense gratification and liberation.
অজ@ন-Lনমর ন@ম করহনয বকLF । ধম-অর _ -ক@ম-F@U@
_ আর^ এই SF ॥
L@র মনধf সম@ক-F@U@ বকLF-পধ@ন । য@হ@ বহনL কiষ-ভতj হয অনধ@ন _ ॥
“The darkness of ignorance, known as kaitava, or cheating, consists of the desire for piety,
wealth, sense gratification and liberation. Among these, the desire for liberation is the supreme
deceit, because of which kṛṣṇa-bhaktidisappears.” (CC. Ādi 1.90, 92) The meaning of darkness of
ignorance is fraud or deceit, which is described as the longing for piety, wealth, sense gratification
and liberation. But the words fraud or deceit aren’t synonyms for the phrase darkness of ignorance,
and the phrase desire for piety, wealth, sense gratification and liberation isn’t synonymous with the
word deceit. Why have these seemingly unrelated terms been utilized in the Śrī Caitanya-
Caritāmṛta? Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartipāda reaches this conclusion in his commentary of those
verses: kṛṣṇa-nitya-dāsasya jīvasya tad-dāsatvaṁ vinā nija-sukhārtham anyaṁ sarvaṁ kaitavam iti
bhāvaḥ. The jīva is by nature the eternal servant of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and his duty is to serve him. If at
some time the jīva forgets his service to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, he falls into the darkness of ignorance, forgets
his own nature, and becomes deeply engrossed in his illusory body and all that goes with it, trying
desperately to find some sort of self-satisfaction. If these various types of self-satisfaction are
scientifically divided, it is seen that they are nothing more than the desires for dharma, artha,
kāma and mokṣa. Here the word dharma refers to ordinary Vedic sacrifices, worship, charity,
compassion, etc. performed by workers motivated by their desire for elevation to the heavenly
planets. The celestial happiness earned by this piety is temporary, which can be understood from
verses like tad yatheha karmārjito lokaḥ kṣīyate, evam evātra puṇya-jito lokaḥ kṣīyate, kṣīṇe puṇye
martya-lokaṁ viśanti and others from the śrutis. Consequently, after the deluded jīvas enjoy the
heavenly pleasures, and the piety they accumulated by Vedic sacrifices and worship, etc. is
exhausted, they are once again afflicted with birth, death, and all the other dreadful miseries of
mundane life. Moreover, even the heavenly happiness that the deluded jīva is caused to enjoy is
actually a novel type of punishment by māyā for him having turned away from Kṛṣṇa. In Śrī
Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Śrīla Kavirāja Gosvāmipāda has written:
ক’ i ষ ভlরল সSই জ`F-Fরহমm
অন@র^খ_ । অLএF ম@য@ L@নর স^য SoS@র-^mpখ ॥
কভl সনগ উঠ@য,
_ কভl নরনক ডlF@ । ^ণf-জনন র@জ@ সযন ন^`নL চlF@য ॥
 “Having forgotten Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the embodied soul has been attracted to external things since time
immemorial. Because of this, māyā, the illusory energy, has plagued him with the miseries of
mundane life. Sometimes he is lifted to heaven, and sometimes sunk into hell, just as a king
punishes a criminal by repeatedly dunking him in a river.” (CC. Mad. 20.117-118)
In olden times, when criminals were to be punished by the king, one method commonly used
was for the king’s men to tie the criminal to the end of a long stick of bamboo and immerse him in a
river or the water of a deep pond. When he’d been in the water so long that he was nearly dead, he
would then be pulled up. After being lifted from the water, he would gasp, “Aho, I’m alive!” and
feel great happiness. That happiness quickly turned to misery because as soon as he was pulled
from the water, he would again be dunked repeatedly. In much the same way, māyā punishes the
worldly jīva who has forgotten Śrī Kṛṣṇa by alternately raising him to heaven and then plunging
him into hell. Therefore, the dharma practiced by those who aspire to the heavenly worlds is
understood to be the grossest ignorance.
The word artha indicates the worldly sense objects such as forms, sounds, flavors, aromas and
tactile sensations that are enjoyed by the eyes, ears, tongue, nose and skin. Or it can also mean
incomparable kingly power, riches, possessions, etc. Kāma means the desire to satisfy one’s own
senses without any regard for whether doing so would be a lustful, immoral or pious act.
Those jīvas who have forgotten that they are the eternal servants of Śrī Kṛṣṇa consider their bodies
to be themselves and all that is enjoyable to be theirs. As the result of this materialistic conception,
their minds are imprisoned and they remain absorbed in this mentality life after life. This sense
gratification leads them to be repeatedly swallowed by the dreadful gape of birth and death wherein
they suffer unbearably hellish agonies. If, by the will of God, a jīvahappens to get the body of a
knowledgeable and intelligent human, but retains a mentality pervaded by contaminated desires, he
will be unable to determine what is beneficial or harmful to himself and remain engrossed in bodily
enjoyment. Thus, this artha and kāma are very powerful manifestations of the jīva’s ignorance or
deceit.
But if the living being is somehow freed from his illusory bondage to dharma, artha and kāma,
and he attains to brahma-sāyujya, that mokṣa or liberation becomes the greatest deception or
ignorance covering the true nature of the jīva. Since the jīva whose heart is only muddied by the
desires for dharma, artha and kāma is continually wandering from one womb to the other, the
possibility remains that he may at some time get the association of great devotees. By their mercy,
his dormant nature as servant of Śrī Kṛṣṇa may be awakened and he may receive the seed of bhakti.
In the Śrī Caitanya-Caritāmṛta we find the following:
রনLfFদ--কiষ বহনL রনLf-Fরহমmখ_ । রনLf SoS@র` ভlনw নরক@র^ ^mখ ॥
সSই স^@নx ম@য@রপশ@চ` ^ণ কনর L@নর । আধf@তyক@র^L@পZয জ@রর L@নর ম@নর ॥
ক@ম-নz@নধর ^@S হঞ@ L@র ল@রর খ@য । ভরমনL ভরমনL যর^ S@ধm-বF^f প@ ॥
L@র উপন^শ-মন~ রপশ@চ` প@ল@য । কiষভতjপ@য LনF কiষ রনকট য@য ॥
“The nitya-baddha, or perpetually bound soul, is always averse to Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Remaining
endlessly within the cycle of birth and death, he suffers all kinds of miseries. Because of his
mistake, he is punished by the demoness of māyā, who tortures him with the three kinds of
afflictions: miseries caused by his own mind or body, those caused by other living entities, and
those caused by the gods. He becomes the servant of lust and anger, and is mercilessly kicked by
these cruel masters. If, in his wanderings, he gets the mercy of a sādhu and accepts instruction
and mantra from him, he can escape from that demoness and by the power of bhakti go to
Kṛṣṇa.” (CC. Mad. 22.12-15)

But as a result of their contemplation of oneness with Brahman, those whose hearts have been
pierced by the desire for liberation forever lose the understanding that the true relationship between
Śrī Kṛṣṇa and the jīva is eternally one of master and servant. The devotees of the Lord stay far away
from these people, thus making it hardly possible for them to receive their mercy, which is the root
and only cause of attaining bhakti. Ultimately, after attaining sāyujya-mukti, their chance of ever
awakening a relationship with Śrī Kṛṣṇa or receiving bhakti is forever lost. For this reason, the
desire for mokṣais said to be the greatest deception and darkest ignorance. By the mercy of Śrīman
Mahāprabhu, the muktivādī Śrīla Sarvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya tasted the sweetness of bhajana-
rasa and spoke the following:
কiনষর রFগহ সযই SLf ন@রহ ম@নন । সযই রনন@-যmদ@র^ককনর L@•র Sনন ॥
সSই ^mইনযর ^ণ হয--বহ-S@যmজf মmতj । L@র মmতj ফল ননহ--নযই কনর ভতj ॥
মmতj-শব করহনL মনন হয ঘiণ@-Z@S । ভতj-শব করহনL মনন হয L উল@S ॥

“The punishment for those who deny that Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s form is true and for those who vilify or
fight with him is that they receive sāyujya-mukti, or union with Brahman. But that is not the result
for one who performs bhakti. If I say the word mukti, my mind is immediately filled with aversion
and trepidation, but if I say the word bhakti, then my mind is suffused with delight.” (CC. Mad.
6.264-265, 276)
With the collyrium stick of knowledge, Śrī Gurudeva cures the eye disease of the jīvas blinded
by ignorance and gives them sight. In his commentary, Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartipāda has written
the following regarding the ‘collyrium stick of knowledge’: “kayā unmīlitā jñānāñjana-
śalākayā---‘īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ, anādir ādir govindaḥ sarva-
kāraṇa-kāraṇam ity anena’, ‘kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam ity anena’ ca kṛṣṇa-bhagavattā-jñānam
evāñjana-śalākā tayā ‘kṛṣṇe bhagavattā jñāna samvidera sāra’ iti śrī-caitanya-
caritāmṛtokte.” Here the word jñāna is understood to mean knowledge that Śrī Kṛṣṇa is himself the
Supreme God, and that knowledge is likened to a collyrium stick used to cure the eye of its disease
in the form of ignorance. In the beginning of the Brahma-Saṁhitā it is said that Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Śrī
Govinda, is the Supreme God; the form of eternity, knowledge and bliss; without beginning; the
origin of all and the cause of all causes. This indicates that Śrī Kṛṣṇa is personally Bhagavān, the
foundation of all forms of God. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavata it is written: ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ
kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (Bhāg. 1.3.28), meaning that among the various forms of God, some
are partial manifestations, and some are parts of those parts, whereas Śrī Kṛṣṇa is Bhagavān
Himself. Svayaṁ bhagavān is the Bhāgavata’sown terminology. In other śāstras wherein a form of
God other than Śrī Kṛṣṇa is being discussed, this terminology is not used. With the support of the
aforementioned verse, the highly realized ācāryas have deliberated upon kṛṣṇa-tattva and, in their
opinion, this is a paribhāṣā, or technical term, for the fundamental truth described in the Śrīmad-
Bhāgavata. aniyame niyama-kāriṇī paribhāṣā. “Speech that arranges unsystematized subject
matters in an organized way is called paribhāṣā.” By this device, a word or idea mentioned only
once in śāstra can govern countless other words. In the entire Bhāgavata, the kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān
svayam verse has been expressed only once. The unrestrained victory flag of this mahāvākya, like
that of an emperor, flies gloriously above the heads of all other śāstrika statements. This knowledge
of Kṛṣṇa’s divinity is like a collyrium stick that cures the jīva’s ‘eye disease’ of ignorance. Śrīla
Kavirāja Gosvāmī has also written, kṛṣṇe bhagavattā-jñāna---sambitera sāra, brahma-jñānādi saba
tāra paribāra (CC. Ādi 4.67). “Understanding Kṛṣṇa’s divinity is the essence of consciousness. All
other knowledge of brahman, etc. is dependent upon that.”
Śrī Kṛṣṇa is svayaṁ bhagavān, the Truth to be worshipped by all. If the awareness that “He is my
eternal Lord, and I am his eternal servant” arises, this is called sambandha-jñāna, or knowledge of
relationship. Then, as a consequence, the awareness arises that to perform sevā or bhajana for him
is my only duty. This is called abhidheya-jñāna, or knowledge of how that relationship is to be
expressed. Then the awareness dawns that love for his lotus feet is my only desire, because without
love, no sevā that I perform will bring him happiness. This is prayojana-jñāna, or knowledge of the
objective. Thus, Śrīla Ṭhākura Mahāśaya is saying here that he offers his obeisance to Śrī
Gurudeva, who has with the collyrium stick of knowledge cured his eye disease of ignorance and
has awakened his spiritual vision by instructing him in the truth of sambandha,
abhidheya and prayojana.