Swami Jayadevar Harikatha Discourse

2011-03-04T14:02:00.000-08:00

ॐ

This is a transcript of the Harikatha discourse by Paranur Mahatma Sri Sri Anna which is told with so much bhavam that it brings tears of bhakthi when listening to this divine discourse. Albeit being a novice and no means a pundit, I transcribe this but do please forgive me if you find any mistakes.

I began to write it down for two reasons, first to supplement the Gita Govindam which is divinity personified and when told from the mouth of Sri Anna makes it all the more divine and second to experience the greatest of bliss while translating every word and sentence and try to get their meaning as well, a feast for the soul I say. This gave me an immense satisfaction rooting the kavyam deep in my heart never to forget. Also an excuse for listening again and again to savour every pearl in the oysters of the words flowing from Sri Sri Anna's mellifluous voice while writing them down. Yet another reason for those folks who wish to read this in English.

Guru Maharaj Guru Jay Jay parabrahma sathguru |

Guru Maharaj Guru Jay Jay parabrahma sathguru ||

dhimikiTa dhimikiTa vAje mrdanga
bramha tALa karI gajAnana

tANDava nritya karI gajAnana

tEhatIsha kOTi suragaNa dATi
madhyE shiva gaurI gajAnana

tANDava nritya karI gajAnana

nAmI rangalE dasa sadhOdita
shobhE candra shirI gajAnana

tANDava nritya karI gajAnana…..

Bala Bheema Bala Bheema Bala Bheema Jaya Jaya…

Ram Krishna Hari Jai! Ram Krishna Hari!!

Ram Krishna Hari Jai Jai! Ram Krishna Hari!!

Govindanamasankeerthanam Govinda Govinda!

In the beginning of the keerthanam, Sri Sadguru Sadguru Swamigal tells all the bhakthas of the ways to reach the lord out of the ocean of samsara. En Peruman is ready to even leave the paramapadam and come and live with us. He is the antaryAmi within us. In each and every temple, divya desham he is present for all of us to have darshan. Amongst such divya deshams, where the glory is sung heartfelt by the Azhwars are the 108 divya deshams. There are also purana sthalams. There are also the avatAra sthalams of the Mahans. Sthalams where bhakthars have sung is also there where bhagavan has come to stay. Such songs are the truths from the vedas. If bhagavan did not stay there, these sayings would not be truthful. To maintain this truth, bhagavan resides in these divya deshams. There are thus many many kshetrams and divya deshams.

Amongst all the great many punya kshetrams and divya deshams where many mahans have sung the glory of the bhagawan, one of the most famous is Puri Jagannath. In this kshetram there are present alongwith the bhagavan Jagannatha perumal, Balaram and Subhadra. Some kshetram or divya desham to which perumal we always pray and be in divine contemplation and service is bhakthi. This is being told in the pratham padham in the song 'Bhajare Manasa Jagannatham'. The Great Mahans giving upadeshams to others are quite less in number. They would usually tell to themselves. Whatever they tell to themselves is for others sake only. Bhajare Manasa Jagannatham meaning ‘Oh! Mind, always do bhajan to Jagannatham’, he is Lakshminathan always being served by both devas and munis. What will we get if we do bhajan to Jagannatham.

All your sorrows will end. That is important. Unable to face sorrows, different types, different diseases, different dangers, difficulties and losses, this is samsaram. There are several pariharams (deliverances) for our sorrows. Sastras split the sorrows faced by us all into 3 types - AdhyAthmikam, Aadhibautikam, Aadhideivikam. For all these three types of sorrows, parihAram is also available. Both sorrows as well as parhAram are available, that’s what we see nowadays. Of these AdhyAthmikam is about the different diseases for which we search for parihAram in the form of medicine and doctors. Are we not doing parihAram for diseases. On one side parihArams are being done, on the other these diseases are thriving more comfortably than us. So there is no single vimochanam (liberation) from diseases. Ultimately the vimochanam (liberation) for our karmas and resulting sorrows is only one and that is the thiruvadi (lotus feet) of bhagawan Jagannathan. Whenever we want to go closer to bhagavan we seek somebody who will take us, as we see in Sri Ramayanam its Vibhishanam as he being in sky cries out to someone who can take me to Sri Rama. A while ago as Krishnan Swami said, ‘Taking hold of Adiyarghazh only can we go to Perumal.

In Puri Jagannath kshetram there is Balabadran (Adhishemam amsham) and Subhadran is also present and if we go and have the darshan there all our sorrows will be removed. Our sorrows come mainly due to our papams and once all the wrong doings are eliminated, our punyams will get activated and we start to be happy again, but this is again only transient and temporary. As we see when we take medicine the deliverance from pain is temporary. Sarva papam will be removed (vimochanam) only with bhagavan namam. Bhagavan namam has such a sakthi, if it can remove all the papams all the dukhams also will be gone isn't it. All the punyams will be left over then and we can attain the thiruvadi of the bhagawan. Thus if we need sakala sowbhagyam and removal of dukham, we should perform the bhajan of Sri Jagannathan. Many bhakthas and Acharyas have gone to many of these kshetrams and shown us the "nama" as the path to reach the bhagawan.

Among the Acharyas the most famous is Adi Shankaracharyar who went to Puri Jaganatham and prayed to the bhagawan Sri Jagannathar. Only Adi Shakarar could see the bhagawan and his consort Rukmini in the famous rathotsavam (chariot) procession of Sri Jagannathar. This kshetram is also known as Neela chalam, its mentioned in great detail in the Brahmapuranams kshetra mahatmiyam and is located in the coastal town of Puri in the state of Orissa, India. This kshetram is very famous for its Rathothsavam and is on the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal. Whenever En Peruman is sleeping, it will the sayana swaroopam, when he is sitting he will be upon the throne. Like in Krishna avatar if he is walking he will be like an Umbrella - nivasi niladrau nihita-carano ananta-shirasi. The ratham itself will be like a ther, the ratham itself will be like a mountain – neelachalam, it will feel as if they are pulling a mountain itself. The rathothsavam of Sri Jagannathar is very famous, its famously mentioned in the puranas of the prasadam of Sri Jagannathar. The prasadam of Sri Vishnu itself is parama pavithram, that itself is brahma swaroopam. The prasadam of Sri Jagannathar follows no niyamams rather its like Ganga theertham. In that kshetram there is only Krishnan, Balaraman, in that famous ratham Rukmini thayyar was in it is actually mentioned in the puranas. Radhai is not mentioned as being in the chariot. In Brindavan there is no ratham, no ther. Where will there be a ther to take radhai, Sri Krishna would have taken radha for a walk or if needed carry on his shoulders. There is no mention of ther in brindavanam. In Jagannath, when the Lord is taken in the ratham in the rathothsavam, looking at the ratham, Sri Adi Shankarar starts to sing the Sri Jagannathashtakam, in the eyes of the great saint what was visible was that ‘Jagannatha who was as Sri Krishna came alongwith Radha in the chariot’. Radha is rasaswaroopini, Krishnan rasaswaroopan. Krishna being a rasAnanda swaroopan coming alongwith premamayiana Radhai in that great chariot which was shaking on the roads, the gentle Radha would have been afraid and would hug Krishna out of fear. Sri Adi Shankarar saw the radha in the chariot. That’s why he sang, otherwise this sloka would not have been necessary in the Jagannatha kshetram in the midst of rathothsavam. That’s how it looked to him.

rasAnando sarasa-vapur-alingana-sukho radha jagannatha svami

Radha Krishnan (Jagannathan) as they are in the chariot in my vision be always coming in a ‘nayana’ reethi margam. Such a kshetram is the Jagannatha kshetram.

Near Jagannatha kshetram there is a village by name Kendubilva where Jayadevar was born. That village was described greatly by Jayadevar himself.

varNitham jayadEvakEna harEridam pravaNena |

kindhu bilva samudhra sambhava rOhiNi ramaNEna Hari Hari ||

Kindhu bilva village was like a moon appearing out of the sea. Mahans will often praise, their praises will be of Lord Krishna. If there is some name to them that perumai is as a Krishna bhakthan. Called as krishna bhakthan what bhagyam we have done, dhanyoham krishna, dhanyoham krishna. Its not a name seeking out of ego but out of happiness. If there is no such happiness then that devotee does not know the greatness of the bhagavan. As we serve the lord, what shortcomings will we have. Such a place where there is no shortcomings, such is the famous village of Jayadevar. The village was made more prominent and famous by the presence of Jayadeva. There was a mahan by name bhOjadEva. His wife was rAmAdEvi. They were Krishna bhaktas. By the grace of bhagavan, Jayadeva was born, who was actually an amsam of Vyasa as said in the bhaktha vijayam.

sri bhojadeva prabhavasya rämädevisutaH sri jayadevakasya |

paräçarädipriyavargakaNThe sri gitagovinda kavitvamastu ||

He learnt all the Vedas and Sastras and when he came of marriable age, his parents were searching for a suitable bride for him. But Jayadeva's mind was quite different, he was always alone, always in bhagavath dhyanam and he had no interest in family matters, always having bhagavatham in his hands. The parents told of their opinion to their son Jayadevar to get married. Jayadevar did not agree to get married as he felt that it hindered sri krishna dhyanam. In the sea, if we swim with bare hands we can swim easily, but if we tie a stone to our stomach, can you swim? Like that this bandham of marriage is one which we take upon, the bandham of parents is already made upon us. That will be there always but atleast we can forgo the bandham what we are about to take. Thus Jayadevar did not want to take this bandham (bondage) of marriage. His parents tried again and again in vain to get him married.

Days rolled by.

Jayadevar never got married and his parents passed away in grief failing in their attempts to convince Jayadeva. Being a brahmachari, Jayadevar was now all alone. He created an ashram and was performing dhyanam, japam and parayanam. He begged for his food as he was a brahmacharyar. He was with niyama performing his karmAnustanams and was steadfast in his activities befitting a saint. He would just go about his duties not looking at anyone and not speaking and always in Krishna dhyanam. He knew his heart was pure. But the Lord Sri Krishna sankalpam was different. Kardama prajapathi obtained devahuthi after long penance.

It seems that such a level has to be reached before Jayadevar could get married. In that place there was another brahmanan by name Devasharma. He had prayed to Sri Jagannatha perumal that if he ever got a child he would leave the child to Krishna kainkaryam. He had the grace of the bhagavan but a girl child was born to him. The child who was like lakshmi was named as Padmavathi. Days rolled by and the child blossomed into a lovely girl. With a very good gunam and sheelam she came of marriageable age. If it was a male child he could have left at the temple for kainkaryam. He thought to himself now,’I told the bhagavan that I would leave my child for Krishna kainkaryam, but this child is now a girl, there is no practive to leave a girl child in the temple, this is not accepted in the sastrams, but I should not go back on my words’, thinking thus he approached the Sri Jagannatha Kshetram and stood in front of the bhagavan with tearful eyes. I prayed to you and you gave me a child, this child is for your kainkaryam only but I don’t know the way. They wont accept in the temple. Can she be without getting married. How will you accept this child I don’t know. Thinking thus, sadly he went to sleep near the temple. Bhagavan came in a dream in a divya darshanam and said,

Devasharman Prasanosmi! O brahmana! I am pleased with your bhakthi. I will accept your daughter for kainkaryam. I will tell you the way. There is no difference between bhakthan and myself. You asked to be able to do kainkaryam for me, if you give your daughter to my bhakthan, then she will be doing kainkaryam to me always. My bhakthan is Jayadevan. He opened his eyes, knew the way now and was very very happy. He offered his prayers to the bhagavan and came back to his own village, seeing his daughter said,’Perumal has told about your prospective husband’. Let us go and see your suitor, taking his daughter Padmavathi with him, he came to Jayadevar’s ashram. He saw Jayadevar and was invited and asked them to sit in his ashram and enquired as to what he could offer as seva. Devasharman started to say,’I have a daughter’ as soon as he began thus, Jayadevar suddenly stood up and started to leave immediately. Jayadevar never even looked at both of them, got up and left immediately. The brahmanan saw Jayadevar going and called up his daughter and said,’ Padma! See the person going there, he is your husband.’ The person running there is your husband. This daughter being offered to Jayadevar or Jayadevar thinking he does not want to marry Padmavathi is bhagavan sankalpan. For no one their own sankalpam wont matter. But ‘Paranthu Jayadeva dIyagha’ is bhagavan’s words, only the bhagavan sankalpam is going to happen. Being steadfast and believing in this, this brahmanan thought that my sankalpam or your sankalpam wont matter, if the bhagavan give Padmavathi to Jeyadevar has ordained, then Jayadevar will only be Padmavathi’s husband. But the brahmanan said,’You keep doing kainkaryam always. daily, you come here and perform ashrama seva’, that was her father’s words.

Daily in the morning she would come to the ashram but only after Jayadevar would have left the ashram much earlier to offer his daily poojas. Padma would come and beautifully put the kOlam, pluck the flowers, clean the pooja vessels, light the lamp and finish all the kainkaryams and leave the ashram before Jayadevar would arrive. Jayadevar would come and see all this has been done. Thus days passed, he was happy and felt nice about it as earlier when he was doing all this the ashram was not kept this clean, more like a bachelors accommodation. Now its very neat and nice but someone is doing, seeing this kOlam, he thought this looks like one drawn by a woman. If this is not enquired about, then people would start talking about this. Having found who it was, Jayadevar thought that on finding her, he will tell her good words and satisfy her prarthanai and send her. So he came early on one of the days. He saw Padmavathi there. The other day, there was a brahmanan and with him was this girl did not occur to him as on the other day, Jayadevar hardly looked up to see. Had he seen, he would have recognized today. Who are you? Why are you performing seva in this ashram? What do you want as you have done seva all this time? Just as soon as Vishwamithra arrived, without preamble Dasaratha asked what he could offer. The answer Padmavathi gave was, “just like this, adiyAl would like to serve you always”. Sathya sandhar once having given the word wont take them back. Jayadevar thought, ’Such a question he had to ask, and such a reply he had to receive’. That’s how En peruman desired, he understood. Although this looks like a story, the meaning here is, A sati if she has to attain a pathi, the lakshiyam is seva. A pathi taking a sathi, the lakshiyam is to protect her. This shows how the two lakshiyams are to be attained. The kriya called ‘vivAham’ or marriage is only for this. Every man must protect his wife. To protect the man must have right over the woman. Woman without right cannot be protected by a man. To establish that right, is the kriya called vivAham in the loka reethi. Now Jayadevar did not immediately say, ok stay in the house with me. He took her with him and approached her father and in an yetHottamana vivAham wanted to marry her. Her father knew this is how it would happen, not just by Jayadevar changing his mind but due to En Peruman sankalpam.

Marriage happened between Padmavathi and Jayadevar. They both now performed Krishna seva together. The ashram now became a griham. Sadhu seva, bhagavath kainkaryam was being done as this is the main activity of a grihasta. Like Kannan and Radhai, the ashram became filled with bhakthi rasam when until now it was just filled with bhakthi yogam. Only now Jayadevar started to understand what bhakthi fully was. Now as the bhakthi became like a rasam, Jayadevar started to like it very much and he started to appreciate Padmavathis kainkaryam, he also started to like the various rasams described by padmavathi and his bhakthi started to blossom tenfold. While performing abhishekam, Jayadevar would pour out all of the abhishekam at once on top of the vighraham of Sri Krishna but then Padmavathi would say “Why dont you pour slowly as Sri Krishna would become breathless and then Jayadevar would think, “Oh! Why did I not know this. When performing archanas with flowers, padmavathi would tell not to put the flowers all over the bhagawan at once and cover it but spread all around so that while doing the archana we could have the grace of the beauty of Kutti krishna and be able to see the thiruvadi of the bhagawan. Thus he started to like, to do and understand the suggestions made by Padmavathi very much as he started learning the loving ways of performing kainkaryam to the bhagawan. Even so when tying vasthrams, Padmavathi would give some suggestions on how to tie the vastrams differently as she now said, "instead of the same blue black vastram, you can put the yellow one and the red one here on the top and see how nice it looks". At this point Sri Anna would joke to say that only school uniforms will be blue like that. Jayadevar started to think, 'oh that's a very good idea, why did I not think of that before'. He felt that Padmavathi was showing the way to him to perform bhakthi as a rasam and as Padmavathi started singing, Jayadevar, himself being a poet, his poetic instincts started to flower. Now we ponder as to why Valmiki ramayana is so good, its because it came on its own, the kavyam should come on its own.

Because of his poetic instincts, krishna bhakthi and the recently gained rasam, his heart started to pour kavyams. This kayvam in the form of gita slokas started flowing and he started to teach Padmavathi how to dance. Thus when performing krishna seva, bhakthi should not be publicised, as long as bhakthi is ekantham and (anyonyam) solitary, it will be as wonderful as it can be. So the young couple were more of prema bhakthas. Jayadevar considered Padmavathi not as his better half but as a krishna dasi. Padmavathi in turn felt herself as Jaya and Jayadevar as padma and they were like two sakhis for the Lord Sri Krishna. Both of them dancing in front of Sri Krishna, their shringaram was like bhakthi shringaram. Not like the worldly shringaram. In all his Krishna leelas, Brindavanam prasidha leela, Kandithaa Varnanam leela is most prominent, Maana leelai is another name for it.

Sri Sri Anna described in the later part of the discourse that In the Leelais described by Jayadevar, the leelai famous in Brindavanam is Kanditha varnanam. This is called Maana Leelai. This Leelai is well known in Tamil Nadu in Vishnu Alayam Temples called Pranaya Kalaga Uthsavam (Mattayadi Utsavam). This is a very rasamana uthsavam. Describing this uthsavam is the Gita Govindam which otherwise is called Maana Leelai.

In this uthsavam, it is said that generally perumal would go often and come back without telling thaayar about it or taking thaayyar with him. Should perumal not take thaayyar?thaayyar would always be left at home only as perumal wont take thayaar with him. But thaayaar would come to know where perumal went somehow or the other. Now when perumal returned, thaayaar would stop perumal at the door itself and tell perumal to stay outside and wont let him inside. But the way thaayaar would say is described very nicely by Sri Anna. thaayaar would not say "Don’t come in", she cant say like this, can she tell! Instead thaayar will say “Those who are outside, let them be outside, those inside let them be inside itself”. Finally when nammAzhwar to whom thaayar would always listen would tell thayyar, 'how can you do this and let perumal be outside, please let him inside'. This is the uthsavam called as Pranaya Kalaga Uthsavam (Mattayadi Utsavam) conducted during Phalguni Thirunal. Describing this Uthsavam in the Gita Govindam is otherwise called Maana Leelai. Based on this foundation, in the mangala slokam of Gita Govindam, Brahmavarthadi Brahmavaivarthadhi which is in the puranas there is one Radha Krishna Leelai told in a short manner. Purana Leelais are not much liked by rasikas, they like the satsanghAnubhavam kind of leelais which they would most like to sing. This Purana Pramana told in a single sloka, is the very famous Radha Kalyanam. This is Puraanothammana method.

Nandagopan is getting ready to tend to the cows. Chinna Kannan was the favourite of his father. Kannan would say, "I also want to come with you" to his father. But Nandagopan would say, "Do stay at home and be good. It looks its going to rain a lot". But Chinna Kannan would not listen and start to cry. He would come crawling and sit on his fathers lap. Then Nandagopan would carry him in his shoulders and start to tend the cows with kutti kannan holding onto the turban of Nandagopan. The cows are now grazing. Suddenly Brinda devi with her Maya power opens the clouds. Small drops of rain also start to fall immediately. Now there is thunder too. There are lots of Thamaala Marams and then small pellets of rain start to fall and then accompanied with loud thunders, rain starts to pour down heavily and the sky is growing dark. There were lots of Thamaala marams present there, usually Thamaala maram will always be black and it will give a lot of shade. But underneath it, it will be very dark, this tree grows only on the banks of Yamuna and Brindavanam. There are lots of Thamaala Maram and now due to clouds it became dark as well as being shrouded with the presence of these many Thamaala Marams. Nandagopan starts to worry that little krishnan will become afraid. As he starts to think that he can go away home quickly with the cows, the cows start to run helter-skelter. Nandagopan is not able to herd them together as he is carrying little krishnan. He asks Kanna lovingly, "can you sit here for sometime, I will go and get the Go Kuttis together and come back. Be a good boy". Opening his turban and spreading it, he makes little kannan sit on it and he goes away to tend to the cows. Before he could drive the cows together, rain starts to splatter very heavily now. As the thunder and rain starts to pour heavily, little krishna began to cry and called out to his father. Suddenly there was a bolt of lightning and a 12 year old Radha in Avirbhoota swaroopam appeared. As Krishna in Rasa-Leelai appeared, in the same manner Radha appeared now. She took Kannan in her arms and putting him on her hips started to go. Nandagopan sees this from afar. But when he sees Radha taking away Krishna he is quite relieved. "Radhe Griham Prapaye! Radhe Griham Prapaye! Radhe! Please take the child and leave him home", says Nandagopan. As Radha was walking on the banks of River Yamuna, a beautiful nikuncham and watching the child krishna, Radhe says "Kanna! Give me a Divya Mangala roopadarshanam suited to myself as the present child roopam is the loved roopam of Yashodha. As soon as Radha says that, SAKSHAN MANMATHA MANMATHAHA!!!. Sri Krishna now stands before Radhe as a 16 Year old Krishna. Seizing this opportunity, Brahmadevan looking at this divya dampathi roopams, thought then and there to perform a Thirukalyanam and then purana story continues. Brahma came there, Go Loka sakhis came, kamadhenu kalpakavriksham came, devathas and devatha sthri came there. Radhakalyanam, if its wished to be performed in an yEthoTTHamma way, then an yEthoTTHamana Vivaham (kalyanam) happened as is told in the puranas. But its told in the purana reethi way also. yEthoTTHamma way is performed by Brahma devan which is a Vivaha Uthsavam. Notwithstanding this leelai alone, many many leelais of this kind were performed on the banks of River Yamuna. What bhagyam has River Yamuna done? On this basis Jayadevar started to write a beautiful story....

Krishnan did not have a single nayaki, there were many gopikas. Single = Rama, Many = Krishna. Thus there were potential for many disagreements, disappointments due to being pulled from so many as Krishnan belonged to many. Krishna had this difficulty. Radha wanted to come and see Krishna but who came in between. All the Mahans themselves could not say "Radha" name itself and how can we say the name of it. Sukacharya doesnt mention the name of the Ashta Sakis or the Gopikas at all. Did not mention anyone's name. Atleast Vyasa mentioned in the puranas "Radha" once where one Gopi is mentioned as the name. Even that is too much said 'Hitaharivamasar'. Apart from Brindavanam nowhere else it should be mentioned. Now Viraha tapam is mentioned in great detail by Sri Sri Anna.

yahi madhava yahi keshava ma vada kaitavavadam
tamanusara sarasiruhalochana ya tava harati vishadam

kajjalamalinavilochanachumbanavirachitanilimarupam

dashanavasanamarunam tava kriishna tanoti tanoranurupam

As soon as Yahi Madhava was said Krishnan will go away. Thus Radhai sends off Krishna and then she feels ('Kalahantharitha'- the quarrelsome maiden unable to come to terms with her beloved bhagawan) she should not have told Krishna to go away. Now the Sakhi says

snigdhe yat paruShAsi praNamati stabdhAsi yad rAgiNi
dveShasthAsi yad unmukhe vimukhatAM yAtAsi tasmin priye

tad yuktaM viparIta-kAriNi tava shrI-khaNDa-charchA viShaM

shItAMshus tapano himaM hutavahaH krIDA-mudo yAtanAH

viparIta - Everything now being Viparitam. Radhai quarreled so isnt it, so everything became viparitham. Nature itself turned to be Viparitam now, But did not Viparitam become Anukulam for Prahlada. Bhakthi is Vichitram.

For Radhai, cold became as hot, her body even when smeared with sandalwood was like on fire, amritham became poison, why?

ONLY WHEN KRISHNAN IS THERE, ALL VIPARITHAMS WILL BECOME ANUKOOLAMS.

IF HE IS NOT THERE, ALL ANUKOOLAMS WILL BECOME PRATHIKOOLAMS.

Did not Radhe behave in opposition to Krishna's love. When Krishna showered love, Radha showered Dwesham - (Here we must visualize Radhai, not as the maiden literally but as the swaroopam which is defined by all of our bhakthi towards the person of Sri Krishna who yearns for the love of the maiden (radhai) which is bhakthi and we are all those bhakthas. The sakhi (friend) is the Guru comforting us in all our chanchalams (confusions) and pacifying us and leading us on the path of devotion towards the bhagawan. Thus the Nikuncham (griham) must be beautiful and adorned with beauty and bhakthi to invite the bhagawan.

yad rAgiNi dveShasthAsi.....

So the whole world is now appearing viparitham to Radhe.

"Kannan will definitely come and when he comes be courteous to him and be happy" console the sakhis. Now Kannan came in all Splendour. What Splendour it was.

As soon as we see, we have to fall at the bhagawan Thiruvadi only

But Radhe it seems did not see Kannan directly, instead she looked at the Sakhis face and smiled. But Kannan saw her smile and said this Stotram, its a Presidamana Stotram and very famous

smara-garala-khaNDanaM mama shirasi maNDanaM

dehi pada-pallavam udAram

jvalati mayi dAruNo madana-kadanAruNo

haratu tad-upAhita-vikAram

vadasi yadi ki~nchid api danta-ruchi-kaumudI

harati dara-timiram atighoram

sphurad-adhara-sIdhave tava vadana-chandramA

rochayatu lochana-chakoraM

priye chAru-shIle

Sri Krishna is pacifying Radhe. Nobody can pacify like butter as Sri Krishna does. Bhaktas themselves will feel this to be too much. Krishnan pacifies by saying, "I will fall at your feet so that I may be purified by the dust of your feet, place your feet on my devoted head". Krishnan says this so confidently, why he says so is because,

"Radhai is Bhaktha, all Bhakthas Samastharoopam is Radhai!"

Bhaktas feet he will fall, says Krishna!!!

Nirapeksham munim shantam nirvairam samadarshanam

Anuvrajaamyaham nityam poojyeyetyanghri-renubhih

“I closely follow that Muni who is adorned with non-expectation, calmness, non-enmity and equal vision, so that I may be purified by the dust of his feet.” — Says Krishna Himself!

"Bhagavathars Pada Dhulukku naan asai Padukiren", says Krishna in his Krishna Avatar to Uddhava. When he has told thus, why this is not possible. Should he not fall at the feet of Radhai. Only purushas are bhakthas is it and why cannot women be, why is that? Does it mean that an woman's feet does not have any mahimai. Thats why Uddhava who had learnt the sarva sastras said,

"Vande Nandavraja sthreenam Padharenum".

OK, all that's fine, but how will Jayadevar now write this. Jayadevar thinks in his mind that Sri Krishna in order to pacify radhai would request atleast to keep her feet on the blessed lord's head. But then Jayadevar thinks this is not correct as "Radhai (jeevatma) would be keeping her feet on the head of the paramatma". Jayadevar is perplexed about writing this in his kavyam. This poem is not Jayadevar's, its just coming on its own to Jayadevar isn't it. Thus Krishnan is utimately responsible for this poem. Jayadevar thinks he has to write this but then he puts the pen down and decides against it. Thus he does many times not getting courage enough to write it. He never thought of Radha as a separate sthree but rather as a bhaktha, gopikai and gopikas being sthrees are also bhaktars anyway. For all the bhakthars, Sri Krishna's respect for their bhakthi is also true is it not. But Jayadevar has a little hesitation. He did not want to write this sentence, everyone will sing this poem and it will be known and for that reason alone he wanted to hide this sentence. Jayadevar decides that in this part, "I need to modify with some other phrase". Thinking thus, he went to perform his usual Thaila Snanam (oil bath). Padmavathi was then alone in the house and when she heard her name being called "Padma" she turned around to see Jayadevar already come back home. She asked, "Why did you come so soon". Jayadevar said, "I suddenly remembered a sentence, which immediately I wanted to write otherwise I will forget it. Thats why i came so early. Please bring that palm leaf". He took the leaf and then in his beautiful handwriting started to write the part he did not want to write initially. Then returning the palm leaf to padma and asking her to keep it back, he left.

Now after the real Jayadevar had completed his snanams and anushtanams, he came to see that what he had not wanted to write had already been written in the palm leaf. He was shocked and amazed to see this. He asked Padmavathi, "Who wrote this? Why? What I did not want to write, somebody has written that". Padmavathi asked, "Did you tell your kathai to anyone else or me anytime". Jayadevar said, "No! this should not be said, its parama rahasyam. So I had kept it in my heart only". Then Padma replied, "Whoever was in your heart only would have written this then". The moment he realized what Padma was saying, tears flowed into his eyes. He saw the handwriting and the words written like pearls and he touched them with his eyes. Bhagavan had accepted his words for that sentence. Not only that, the entire Gita Govindam was accepted, he now understood. He then looked at Padmavathi and said, "Padmavathi, you are always the blessed one! If bhagavan wanted this, could he not have come and demanded of me. When I am away, calling you and giving darshan has become a habit for the bhagawan. bhagavan has given you darshan, isnt it. Your bhakthi is truth. Even then I dont have any shortcomings. Why, in my book, Sri Krishna's handwriting is present that means a lot to me. Jayadevar kept on seeing the writing again and again. That’s enough for me."

Hey Kripasindho! Bhakthavatsala! Madhava! Give me poorna Bhakthi! Unmayana Bhakthi jenma jenma, evvalavu janma yeduthalum Bhakthi alukkuma yenna!

Life is felt worthless only due to the lack of bhakthi. Any amount of rebirth will not wean away bhakthi. He just prayed so that he may get that kind of bhakthi and for nothing else. Padmavathi when she realized that bhagavan had come was also wonderstruck. But she did not feel too great about that, why because Jayadevar and herself were not there at that time when she only had the darshan of the bhagawan. Thinking thus tears flowed down her face. Jayadevar also was still expecting Sri Krishna would come.

All Ashtapathis are happening as their natyam (abhinayam) only. On one occasion, the Gita Govindam disappeared. Their bhakthi was solitary and nobody would enter into the Nikuncham and noboby was invited even. Only Padmavathi and Jayadevar existed in it. Jayadevar would play the veena and padmavathi would dance the radha bhavam. Leelais were easily danced as abhinayams, why even Raasa leelai. But Radha Viraha thapam, how abhinayam could be done about extolling this? This is an experience isn't it. Experience cannot be expressed in dance so easily. That feeling has to experienced in oneself, only if viraham comes to oneself then the abhinayam could be performed. As the Viraha Thapa Ashtapathi was sung by Jayadevar, Padmavathi was still and could not dance, why because Padmavathi had to become that Radha, then only that viraham will come and only then she can be Radha.

nindati chandanam indukiraNam

anu vindati khedam adhIram

vyAla-nilaya-milanena garalam iva

kalayati malaya-samIram

sA virahe tava dInA

mAdhava manasija-vishikha-bhayAd iva

bhavad-avanayA tvayi InA

sA virahe tava dInA

Padmavathi standing still thinks how she can do the viraha thapa, it is possible only on separation from Sri Krishna. Her bhagawan is now sitting before her and how can she. Jayadevar asks padmavathi to dance and padmavathi replies, how, how is it possible. Jayadevar says now, "If this is too much, have the bhavam in your mind. In your mind have the bhavam of Radha".

shrI-jayadeva-bhaNitam idam adhikaM

yadi manasA naTaNIyam

hari-viraha-kula-ballava-yuvati

sakhI-vachanaM paThanIyam

sA virahe tava dInA

On Meditating upon Radha, padmavathi got the bhavam of Radha. Becoming Radha thus, padmavathi, searching for Sri Krishna cries and cries. Jayadevar seeing this, keeps the veena down becomes a sakhi and says, "Radhe! Krishna will come, you should not grieve like this" and saying thus, he wipes away the tears from Padmavathis eyes. Jayadevar cries, Padmavathi cries and the environment is like that of the Sakhis and Krishna and in that feeling he turns and suddenly there is a bright light. It looks as if the swing is rocking. In that swing, Sri Krishna is sitting in the divya roopam with Sri Radha. When Jayadevar and padmavathi saw this divya darshanan, they immediately fell at the feet of the bhagawan and were overjoyed and danced with happiness with Sri Krishna. The bhagawan sri krishna threw his vaijayanthi mala around Jayadevar and Radha gardlanded Padmavathi with her mala and all through the night they had the divya darshanam of the bhagawan bathed in the divine. Blessing Sri Jayadevar and Padmavathi with this joy forever, the bhagawan disappeared. Be in bhakthi and perform this always was the only wish the bhagawan gave Jayadevar and Padmavathi. What else would one wish for more than this. There is no bigger present than this. Jayadevar was gratified with the Krishna darshanam. Singing the divine Gita Govindam, the couple lived happily. They were singing very well. They even taught this to some children. The children would then go to their homes and sing this as well as in the temples. Some pandits listened to this. What a great poem, why this is not coming out, they thought, just like a shadow being cast on the forest. If it did come out many rasikas would be happier and enjoy them, wouldn't they? So they thought that they will call upon Jayadevar and honour him at the kings court. Thinking thus, they came to Jayadevar and put forth their idea. Immediately Jayadevar said, "I did this only for Hari preethi and not for Nara preethi. What am I going to do when many people listen to this?" ok, they replied "if thats the case, you dont have to come to the Kings court, why then dont you sing in the Sri Jagannathars court?" Jayadevar definitely will accept this, why because the whole of Ashtapathi is on Jagannathar.

1st Ashtapathi itself is "jaya jagad-Isha hare". Jayadevar has kept this in the heart, the nama of bhagawan Sri Jagannathar. This poem dedicated to Sri Krishna as Krishnaarpanam, in the beginning itself its bhagawan Sri Jagannathar's name. The Ashtapathi songs were then accepted to be sung at bhagawan Sri Jagannathar temple by Jayadevar. Even today in the Puri Jagannathar temple, in the early morning suprabhatham hours, Gita Govindam is the daily suprabhataham.

pralaya-payodhijale dhR^itavAn asi vedaM

vihita-vahitra-charitram akhedam

keshava dhR^ita-mIna-sharIra

jaya jagadIsha hare

Gopala Krishna jaya jagadIsha hare

The bhagawan was beaming with happiness on hearing this as well as the bhakthas. All were happy. Gita Govindam now became very famous. Someone in this country went to the King and told him know about this. The name of the king then was Lakshmanasena. He thought, "such a famous poet as this has to definitely grace our court. Who is this poet? All poets in this country have become asthana vidwans and have been bestowed upon with gifts, why not this poet?" But when an invitation was sent to Jayadevar, Jayadevar said he would not come. The king was not pleased. He wanted a competition to the Gita Govindam to prove its might and also to see whether the Gita Govindam is really the best. Normally if a famous person such as the King brought about a poem or something, it would become famous since its been propagated by a famous person and everyone would proclaim. The King wanted to bring about this so Jayadevars poem would get less attention and become dull in the wake of a new poem. But Jayadevar was not at all worried about that. The King wrote a big poem, invited all the pandits to review it and everyone said its very good, after all when written by the King it ought to be good. But when the pandits were asked about how it compared with the Gita Govindam, they said this could not as the Gita Govindam was unsurpassed and matchless in its divinity. They replied, "Hey Maharaj! Your poem does not even compare 1:100 with the Gita Govindam, thats a poem for a lifetime. Gita Govindam is Unique". There can be no discrimination or bedham when compared with the Gita Govindam. Between pandits, there will only be asUye. But when talked about Gita Govindam they can say only with yaThArtHam without any discrimination. Jayadevars Gita Govindam is a divya Kavyam, divine poem. Jayadevar is no ordinary poet among us, he is divinity personified. The King then replied, "Well. We can then setup a test by keeping my poem and Jayadevar's poem at the feed of bhagawan Sri Jagannathar in the temple and let the bhagawan decide whose poem is better and which is far more superior. Sri Jayadevar however was in no way connected with all this and neither interested in the outcome nor even aware of this. The pandits as instructed by the king went to the sannadhi of bhagawan Sri Jagannathar and kept the poems at the feet of the bhagawan, closed the temple doors for the night and came back. Gaurds were posted to look after the temple for this contest. Next day Morning at the Suprabhatham time, "Uthishtothishta Govinda uthishta garudadhwaja Uthishta kamalakantha trilokyam mangalam kuru - "Sri Govinda! All the three worlds are under your rule; they have to prosper. Wake up, my child.", with all the Musical Ghoshas playing, bells ringing, the door to the sanctum sanctorum was opened and all were extremely interested to see the outcome of this contest. As we behold the bhagawan in all its magnificence 'Shrivatshankam udara-kaustubha-dharam pitambaram sundaram", 'sreejaydeva bhaNitham idham adhbutha kesave keli rahasyam'...Everyone present there was surprised and the King had tears in his eyes not out of sadness that his poem was not accepted but out of happiness that the bhagawan had graced him. Just a lie, even that if it is said with the word Krishna is enough, to have the bhagawan's grace, such is its greatness. Your Kavyam is subdHam. Jayadevar consoled the King telling him thus, "Only God did not accept it, but I will accept it, how, I will accept your poem as equal to my own". In Vedam, there is no distinction, we can't and we shouldn't and we can't even. How can Vedam have inclusions, in a manifested Vedic Gita Govindam, Jayadevar added the Kings poems and made it a Mahakaviyam. Such a magnaminious mind must be there. Even today when the bhagavathars are singing the Gita Govindam slokas, the bhagawan is listening equally. Gita Govindam became famous.

The children of that place now started learning ashtapathis. One poor girl was learning ashtapathi from Padmavathi. The girl had a job to do, selling vegetables in the morning and jasmine flowers in the evening. She would do that job well and also learn ashtapathi from Padmavathi. Its now evening, vasanthakalam, the girl is plucking lots of jasmine flowers putting it into a beautiful flower basket. Now as she is plucking the flowers from the bushes and being closely associated with Padmavathi she already had the bhavam in her heart. Immediately she started singing ashtapathis....

lalita-lava~Nga-latA-parishIlana-komala-malaya-samIre

madhukara-nikara-karambita-kokila-kUjita-ku~nja-kuTIre

viharati harir iha sarasa-vasante

nR^ityati yuvatI-janena samaM sakhi virahi-janasya durante

She is dancing and singing ashtapathis as she is plucking the flowers, bhagawan Sri Jagannathar and Kannan are there now, listening. Wherever we sing in that place, the bhagawan is there, but the right to see we dont have, thats all. But just because we dont have it, we should not think the bhagawan is not there. Where Ramayanam is read, Sri Hanuman will definitely be there "yatra yatra raGhunAtha keerthanam tatra tatra krta mastakAnjalim". We should not say, we can't see. We dont have the bhakthi to see. Where Gita Govindam is sung, definitely Sri Krishna will be there. Why is the bhagawan there, not because we are singing...Jayadeva...is being mentioned in the song and to listen to that. Thats why the Gita Govindam has to be sung with bhakthi, thinking of the bhagawan it should be sung with bhakthi. This girl did not know the presence of Sri Krishna. Finished plucking flowers, the girl is about to leave as well as the bhagawan, but the bhagawan felt that he should give a gift to the girl. Immediately, the bhagawan removed his ring from his finger and put that inside the flower basket and then dissappeared. When the girl now started off selling the flowers and calling out to people to buy the flowers, the Minister standing outside his house heard her and started to ask her how are the flowers and how much they cost. He put his hands inside the basket and as he took the flowers to examine them, a shiny ring fell out of that. He asked the girl, "whats the price of this ring, whose ring is this? where did you get this ring? The girl was surprised and asked, "what, was this ring in this basket? Yes, it came from this basket. You only brought this. But the girl insisted, "I did not bring it, I did not". But the Minister further probed asking, "Where from did you steal this?". Krishna! The girl screamed, "I don't know, sir. I did not steal this". Where did you get this then? Was it from your home? No. Then whence from did it come? Did anybody give you this? No. Which houses did you visit, before coming here? The girl replied, "I have just come straight from the garden. Did not visit any house except yours being the first one". The Minister asked, "Where did this basket come from?" and the girl replied, "Its from my home". Then the Minister took the girl straight to the King and told the King that this girl has this ring and please enquire. Then the Minister left. The King then interrogated the girl and the girl was terrified and crying. The King thought, the girls heart is clean and she is in truth terrified and she must be innocent. There is no wrong done by the girl. Also the one who has lost such a magnificient ring, would he stay silent, he would definitely come and complain to the king that this has been stolen, the king thought, so until then let the girl be in held and kept her in custody. The girl was crying for what, whether to go home or for the ring found in the basket. No she was crying as she could not see Padmavathi. The King was preplexed not knowing what to do. He thought, I cannot unjustly punish the girl, the owner of the ring has not come to claim it. Worrying, the king slept for the night. At night, in his dream the owner of the ring came and said. "The girl is innocent, she has not done anything unjust. Free her!" The girl sang Gita Govindam, therefore we have given her the ring as a present. "Wherever Gita Govindam is sung, there I will be present dancing", the bhagawan said. "The poem of Jayadevar tanatalizes my mind. Therefore O! King! Daily in the temple, celebrate me with the song of Gita Govindam. To make you aware of the mahimai of the Gita Govindam, this leelai has been performed". Telling thus, the bhagawan disappeared. Then the dream was over. Morning came and the King immediately released the girl. The girl immediately ran to Jayadevar's house and told padmavathi, "You taught me ashtapathi, see here I have been gifted a ring". Padmavathi took the ring, saw it and pressed it to her eyes and said, "the bhagawan is bhakthavatsala, you have sung and being happy with your ashtapathi, the bhagawan has gifted you this". If the bhagawan is pleased, what you wont get. We dont know what more you are going to get. While she was saying thus, the King appeared. Coming towards Jayadevar, the king said, "Swami, your Gita Govindam must be sung in the temple, this is the order of the bhagawan. You should please accept this kainkaryam". Jayadevar would have liked to very much do the kainkaryam, but still he was a person who desired freedom and could not be forced into. Rasikas generally wont like to forced to do something. So Jayadevar said, "One of my pupils will sing ashtapathis very well, why dont you get him and the girl who received the ring be married, daily their work has to be nominated to sing at the bhagawan Sri Jagannathar sannidhi singing ashtapathis. While they are singing, give them daily living a place to stay". The King liked this idea very much and immediately accepted it.

Jayadevar mahatmiyam as well as Gita Govindam mahatmiyam both are coming in conjunction with each other. Gita Govindam is sung in every kshetram. The Ashtapathis are sung in Badrikashramam, Tiruvananthapuram, Guruvayoor, Jaganathan (Need no telling). In Tamil Nadu in every village and that too during the month of Marghazhi, ashtapathis are sung and also in each and every radha kalayanams being performed.

Even in Brindavanam there is not so much radhakalyanam as being celebrated in Tamil Nadu. How many Radha Kalyanams are being performed by so many bhakthas in Tamil Nadu, needless to say its unimaginable over time immemorial. Such a melodious paddhathi shown (although jayadevar sang them), was brought as the treasure to the bhagavathas and all of us only by Marudanallur Sadguru Swamigal, he was the one who gave us the Gita Govindam. Gita Govindam if sang by itself is a Radha Kalyanam. There is no need to perform a Kalyanamam itself as a kriya. Its being done still due to the bhagavathars desire, even if its done as a bhagavathar sampradayam. Gita Govindam singing itself is a Radha Kalyanam. Radha Kalyanam itself is a loka kalyanam, mangalam for everyone, this perumai is Jayadevars Perumai.

When listening to Bhaktha charithram, only then bhakthi is growing more within us.

Radhe Krishna!

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