Today we will take up Vrajagopála and nandana vijiṋána [aesthetic science]. The word nandana has come from the Sanskrit root verb nand. Nand suffixed by lyut́⁽¹⁾ = nandana. Nandana means “one who gives joy to others and gets joy from others” – both to give ánandam [bliss, joy] and to get ánandam – whereas the verb gop in Sanskrit means only “to give ánandam”.

Gopáyate yah sah gopah – That is, “One whose only mission in life is to give joy to Parama Puruśa is a gopa.” (Here gopa [literally, “cowherd”] does not mean one who rears cattle. It means one who is a source of joy to Parama Puruśa.) However, the word nandana has a different meaning. It refers to one who gives ánandam to Parama Puruśa and at the same time gets ánandam from Parama Puruśa.

This is closely related to rágánugá bhakti. High-grade devotion is divided into two categories: rágánugá and rágátmiká. The rágánugá bhakta says, “Why do I love the Lord, my Vrajagopála, my Parama Puruśa? Because my love for Him gives Him joy and from this I get joy.” This is rágánugá bhakti. Rágátmiká is somewhat different from rágánugá. The rágátmiká bhakta says: “I love Parama Puruśa because I want to give Him ánandam. I don’t care whether or not I get ánandam. My only desire is to give Him joy through my love. I shall perform, even at the cost of profuse sweat and difficulty, only those noble deeds which will give Him joy. I am ready to undergo any amount of pain and suffering to give Him joy.”

The excellence of aesthetic science lies in the fact that one derives joy from the manifold expressions of Parama Puruśa. From the aesthetic point of view, there is no entity but Parama Puruśa. “He is my personal property. I have never come across any other entity that can compare with my Parama Puruśa.” No other category of bhakta thinks or talks in such a way about Parama Puruśa. “That is why I love Him from the core of my heart. It is not enough that I get joy by loving Him. I should act in such a way that He also gets joy.” Both approaches coincide in the science of aesthetics. If we go even deeper, to the very root, we find that whatever we observe in this universe – animals, birds, trees, plants, land, water, hills, mountains, sun, moon, stars and so many other things that we love in numerous ways – all are but the limited expressions of Parama Puruśa.

Tomarei yena bhálbásiyáchi
Shatarúpe shatabár
Yuge yuge anibár.

[I have loved you, O Lord, in Your manifold forms, in countless ways, throughout the ages.]

“You have appeared before me in innumerable forms, on numerous occasions. You are an akhańd́a cidaekarasa [an unbroken, continuous flow]. You have appeared before me, sometimes as the trough and sometimes as the crest of that flow. These limited expressional waves of Cosmic bliss are connected together by one indivisible thread – sútre mańigańá iva [‘like jewels strung together’]. Each of your expressions is like a jewel to me, and in stringing them together I am trying to catch hold of You, trying to realize my fullness within Your existence.” Hence it is said that even if jiivas do not get Parama Puruśa in His entirety, still they can catch a glimpse of Him and thereby become thrilled with delight.

What is this world like?

Besechi bhála ei dharáre
Mugdha cokhe dekhechi táre
Phuler dine diyechi raci gán
Se gáne mor jaŕáno priiti
Se gáne mor rahuk smrti
Ár yá kichu hauk abasán.

[I have loved this world. I have looked at the earth with wonder-struck eyes. In days of flowering I have composed songs. Those songs are touched by my deep inner love: let those songs carry my sweet memory, and let all else of me perish.]

Human beings become overjoyed receiving the limited expressions of joy from Him. They look at the world, with its profusion of changing forms, and become fascinated by them. When this feeling deepens and becomes permanent, it turns into love. Suppose I see something. The vibration radiating from that object produces a sympathetic vibration in the mind. I begins to feel that I should assimilate that vibration, that I should accept it as my own. This is what is known as attraction. When people subjectivize that attraction in the psychic arena, it is called love. What is attraction in the beginning turns into love when it becomes permanent.

When we grow very close to something in this world, our initial attraction turns into love. We see the various expressions of Parama Puruśa. We like everything. We like the flower, we like its fragrance, we like the green field in the rainy season, we like the lofty Himalayan peaks. And if our minds remain in contact with these congenial vibrations for a long time, then because our mind returns again and again to its object, to these congenial vibrations, our “like” turns into love, and is eventually turned into a permanent saḿskára.

Parama Puruśa has been manifesting Himself in numerous non-integral forms, and He Himself has become the object of adoration for the jiivas. One who closely observes and tries to understand His expressions comes to love Him. One has no recourse but to love that Entity whose love for the jiivas is being expressed in an infinite variety of forms. A person who treats these limited expressions of Parama Puruśa as mere mundane objects of enjoyment will never know real love in his or her life. Though one find oneself amidst an unbroken flow of Cosmic bliss, the heart becomes as parched as desert sand. One who cannot love Parama Puruśa cannot love the world either. Life becomes filled with frustration.

My Vrajagopála is the embodiment of love, and His varied expressions are the different objects of admiration. Each of His expressions is sweet. That is why in the beginning He is an object of attraction. As one proceeds a little further, He becomes an object of love, and in the end, He becomes an object of such intense divine love that one cannot bear separation for even a moment. A person who has true love for Parama Puruśa cannot live without Him, just as a fish cannot live without water. If someone tells a devotee at that stage, “Look here, your Parama Puruśa is no ideal personality; He is a butter thief; He heartlessly deserts His companions and goes away across the river to Mathura,” even then nothing will dissuade the devotee from loving Him. Rather the devotee will reply, “Once I have given Him my love I will never withdraw it. Love for God is something irrevocable.” The Vedas say:

Ánandáddhyeva khalvimáni bhútáni jáyante;
Ánandena játáni jiivanti ánandaḿ prayantyabhisaḿvishanti.

[This quinquelemental world has been born out of joy, is being maintained in joy, and into sacred joy will melt.]

This is the self-same joy which human beings realize out of love for Parama Puruśa. This joy is the aesthetic enjoyment of the supra-aesthetic Entity. Devotees argue that Parama Puruśa was alone, and it was monotonous for Him. If there are people gathered together then Parama Puruśa gets the opportunity to scold them, love them, etc. This pleases Him. If necessary He will tell someone, “You’re hungry. You should go and eat.” To another He will say, “Look, don’t overeat, it will ruin your health.” This is how the world came into being. When Parama Puruśa was all alone, He was obviously unhappy. He was One and became many, and began to joyfully sport with His creation.

Sa vá eśa tadá draśt́a na pashyaddrshyamekarát́;
Me ne santamivátmánaḿ suptashaktiraśuptadrk.⁽²⁾

My Vrajagopála, my Krśńa, was all alone. How painful it must have been to remain in this terrible loneliness. It was no joke for Him to suffer horrible loneliness. When left alone in an empty house anyone would become extremely restless for company. My Parama Puruśa was in such a condition. He had the capacity to see and hear everything, to administer over all, to play with all, to love and scold all, but since there was no other entity, He was deprived of this happiness. Just to rid Himself of this oppressive loneliness He thought to Himself, “I will become many.” And He became many, for He has one rare occult power: prakámya. That is, everything takes shape as per His desire. He wanted to become many and He became many. In this way His divine sport has been going on eternally. Thus it has been said, Ánandáddhyeva khalvimáni bhútáni jáyante [“Out of bliss all beings were born”].

He has created jiivas, created this universe, for the sake of joy alone. Ánandena játáni jiivanti – “these living beings also want to live for ánandam alone.” It is for the limited waves of joy emanating from Parama Puruśa which are so dear to jiivas, that they want to go on living, and not to die. Even a hundred-year-old man or woman does not want to die. They may say that they do want to die, but actually they do not. People do not want to part from the countless objects of love that surround them. But one whose superficial attraction has given way to true love understands that these objects are perishable in nature. Those who think that if they can maintain a permanent relationship with the Infinite, maintain permanent love for the Infinite, that will be far more blissful, avoid developing any blind attachment to things of the world. Ánandaḿ prayantyabhisaḿvishanti – “in the final stage, when one merges one’s identity into Parama Puruśa, one attains the state of Supreme Beatitude.” That is, gacchati yasmin ágacchati yasmát [“to whom everything goes and from whom everything comes”] – jiivas want to merge with that ánandasvarupa [embodiment of bliss] Parama Puruśa as their final shelter, their final terminus, their supreme terminus; because nowhere else will jiivas find that ánandam. My Vrajagopála, my Krśńa, is that embodiment of bliss. This has already been proven.

Judged from the nándanika⁽³⁾ point of view, the viewpoint of nándanika expression and subsequent realization, He is One and without a second – Ekamevádvitiiyam.

Even ordinary people perceive Him as an object of love through finite expression, and this is aestheticism. When a person does some sádhaná, he or she experiences some pleasant vibrations through the medium of the five tanmátras – sound, touch, taste, form and smell. In the initial stage of sádhaná, when the mind becomes a bit concentrated, one experiences a sweet and very appealing fragrance. Sometimes it is the fragrance of a lotus and sometimes of an unknown flower. The smell tanmátra is the crudest of the five, but like the other tanmátras, it also emanates from the Supreme Nucleus of the universal body of Parama Puruśa. Thus we see that when someone makes some spiritual progress, one realizes Parama Puruśa through this gandha [smell] tanmátra. So from the aesthetic point of view, He is aesthetic aroma. Much poetry and literature can be written centring around this aroma, for it is something supra-physical.

Next comes the rasa [taste] tanmátra. This tanmátra is subtler than the previous one. Rasa means “flow”. Parama Puruśa has created an endless network of waves from the Cosmic Nucleus according to His own sweet will. Each of these waves is either an animate or inanimate expression. Suppose you throw a stone into a pond. Ripple upon ripple flows over the surface of the water – not only one wave, but countless waves, flow in countless directions. Each of these waves is a deva,⁽⁴⁾ but the fundament upon which these waves have been created is called rasa. Rasa suffixed by snik becomes rasika. Parama Puruśa is called Rasika, that is, One who has been creating waves in the ocean of rasa. The divine sport of these innumerable waves is called the rásaliilá. Ordinary people do not comprehend the hidden significance of the rásaliilá. From the beginning to the end of existence, Parama Puruśa, my Vrajagopála, has been conducting this eternal rásaliilá, and every human being, willingly or unwillingly, will have to dance in harmony with the rise and fall of these waves. If someone refuses to dance, his or her legs will be compelled to move. This is His inexorable law. Parama Puruśa is raso vae sah [an eternal flow of bliss]. This rhythmic Cosmic flow with its crests and troughs is taking place in the vast universal body of Parama Puruśa. Overwhelmed by the perception of this vast Cosmic form, the source of objects of love for human beings, a Vaeśńava poet has portrayed the universe in verse: Kivá d́halad́hala káncá aunger lávańi avanii bahiyá yáy [“nothing but the graceful motion of the sublime body of Parama Puruśa, the rise and fall of His Cosmic form”].

Such is His exquisite body, whose waves emanate from the Nucleus and have inundated the entire universe. One who has eyes to see, who has the capacity to understand, wants to gather to himself or herself all the objects of attraction and finally turn them into objects of love.

Next comes the rúpa [form] tanmátra. As I have already said, each and every entity in this universe is a finite manifestation of Parama Puruśa. One should not allow oneself to be bound by these finite entities. One should try to attain the Infinite by means of the finite.

Sarvadyotanátmakah akhańd́a cidaekarasah – “He is the source of all vibrations and He is one unbroken flow of consciousness.” One has to move in this flow. If one looks at the limited expressions of the Supreme Entity from the aesthetic standpoint, one sees that Parama Puruśa appears bound up in finitude, and whenever we endeavour to attain Him through these finite forms, we find that He eludes our grasp. The devotees call this His game of hide and seek. It seems as if He is motionless, within our easy reach, but the moment we reach for Him we discover that He has slipped away. The devotees call it Krśńa’s game of hide-and-seek, His divine sport. A mystic poet has written: Thira bijuri áhá mari mari nayan bhulálo mor.

Yes, He is brilliant like lightning, full of grandeur like lightning. But while physical lightning flashes momentarily and then vanishes, He is undying brilliance like lightning that never fades. When we observe this undying brilliance, we discover that the subject is within the scope of aesthetic science. His brilliance dazzles my eyes so much that I can no longer see. A poet has said: Rúpa nirakhiyá nayana bhulila cinite nárinu ke [“I have beheld the unfathomable beauty of that Entity. My sight is overwhelmed, but I cannot tell who that Entity is.”].

In order to recognize something one must apply one’s intellect. Mere seeing is not enough. To know Him intellectually is of little value, for He has stunned my intellect until it has ceased to function. “I continued to gaze but could not recognize Him.” The fact is, once He willingly comes within my embrace, He can no longer play His game of hide-and-seek. As a result aesthetic science suffers a mortal blow.

Next comes the sparsha [touch] tanmátra. Through this tanmátra one can realize the beauty of aesthetic science and enliven all delicate feelings and finer sensibilities. From the aesthetic point of view, when one tries to attain Vrajagopála, when the bháva of Vrajagopála begins to predominate, one comes to understand that all the softness and grace of the universe has found expression in Him, has come to rest in Him. We find a similar idea about Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in a poem by Satyen Datta:

Devatáre morá átmiiya máni, ákáshe pradiip jváli,
Ámáderi ei kut́iire dekhechi mánuśer t́hakuráli.
Gharer cheler cokśe dekhechi Vishvabhuper cháyá,
Báḿáliir hiyá amiya mathiyá Nimái dhareche káyá.

[We look upon the gods as our relatives, we light candles in the firmament. We have had a vision of the Lord in our little cottage. We have seen the image of our Universal Lord in the eyes of our little child at home. That Nimai (Chaitanya Mahaprabhu) was born was nothing but an expression of all the charming and sweet sentimentality of Bengali hearts.]

If we collect all the good things that lie in the Bengali heart, then our Nimai is all of that and more. The same thing can be said of Parama Puruśa. We find in Him infinite tenderness. When one meditates on His predominant bháva, then this universal flow, as already explained, becomes as it were the supreme manifestation of that unfathomable tenderness, sweetness and hidden greatness. Thus in the sparsha tanmátra of aesthetic science, He is unique and unparalleled.

Next comes the shabda [sound] tanmátra. Behind whatever is created, behind whatever is being emanated from that Supreme Nucleus, there is sound. When He moves there is a sound created, though you may or may not hear it. It is the flute of my Vrajagopála. The music of His flute pervades the whole creation. It has diffused throughout the five fundamental factors – solid, liquid, luminous, aerial and ethereal. The human body is also composed of these five factors, and even within this human body sound has been vibrating without a pause since time immemorial. The sound of Lord Krśńa’s flute is called the prańava, the oṋḿkára or the Causal Matrix – oṋm. Its supreme manifestation is the sound oṋm. This very sound is a medium through which the microcosm establishes a link with the transcendental state beyond the scope of shabda tanmátra.

Etaddhyevákśaraḿ Brahma etadhyevákśaraḿ param,
Etaddhyevákśaraḿ jiṋátvá yo yadicchati tasya tat.

[This is the immutable Brahma, this is the supreme sound. After knowing this supreme sound, one attains the divine realm of Brahma.]

This aesthetic expression of shabda tanmátra is representative of the Cosmic stance of my Vrajagopála. Prańavátmakaḿ Brahma [“Prańava is of the nature of Brahma”]. The Vedas say that this prańava will serve to unify the finite with the infinite. This prańava is a transcendental entity. One who realizes this gets all his or her desires fulfilled. Why does this occur? It is due to the fact that his or her pinnacled intellect merges with the Macrocosmic intellect of Parama Puruśa. Parama Puruśa is the lord of the occult power prakámya. Thus the devotee gets whatever he or she so desires by the grace of Parama Puruśa, but one must first be a genuine devotee. All the occult powers of Vrajagopála, all His aesthetic expressions are laid out in a systematic fashion.

Now it so happens that human beings do not usually attain Him on the first attempt, although they try. But fortunately He appears to His devotees in an unexpected way, and ultimately they realize Him gradually, step by step, though they may not realize Him in the way that they would like. Since He possesses countless tanmátrika vibrations or aesthetic expressions, He may sometimes appear in one form and sometimes in another. Devotees of the highest order think, “If it pleases Parama Puruśa to appear in different forms at different times, let Him do so. Why should we create obstructions to His joy?” Of course a bhakta, if he or she so desires, can hold on to a particular form for some time. When a bhakta begins to analyse Him, he or she finds that He is unique in gandha tanmátra. He is extraordinary in rasa tanmátra. He is unparalleled in rúpa tanmátra and He is exquisitely sweet in the softness of sparsha tanmátra. Regarding shabda tanmátra, the sound of His flute is beyond our capacity to comprehend. Being overwhelmed by the musical resonance, devotees exclaim:

Anupam tava carań phele
Nishár mato niirava ohe
Sabár dit́hi eŕáye ele.

“Avoiding public gaze, with a gentle footfall, silent as the night, You came to me as my dearest One, O Vrajagopála.” How sweet You are. I wonder at how deeply You love me.

It is not the fact that people attain Him through one tanmátra alone. Some attain Him very secretly through shabda tanmátra, others through sparsha tanmátra, for He is the personal property of each of His devotees, exclusively theirs. No one else has any claim to Him. The question of division does not arise.

Apúrba tár cokher cáoyá
Apúrba tár gáyer hává
Apúrba tár ásá jáoyá gopane.
Buker kache práńer setár
Guiṋjari gán gáhe ye tár
Shuńechilem jyotsná ráter svapane.

[His look is unique. The scent of His body is unique. His movement, coming and going, is unique. The sitar of life in my heart always sings a tune in His memory. I listen to it in a dream on a moonlit night.]

Footnotes

(1) At the time of this discourse the author used the suffix name anat́, following the grammarian Vyopadeva; but later said that the suffix name lyut́, preferred by Panini, should be used. –Eds.

(2) Upanishad. –Eds.

(3) “Aesthetic” in the sense of giving joy and getting joy. –Eds.

(4) Mythologically, a god, a deity. Philosophically, any vibration, or expression, emanating from the Cosmic Nucleus. –Eds.