Sri Gopi Gita E-Book

Paramahamsa Vishwananda

• Herausgeber: Bhakti Marga Publications
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 68

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

This book is based on the heartfelt commentary of the Sri Gopi Gita that Paramahamsa Sri Swami Vishwananda gave during His seven-day course: The Essence of Shreemad Bhagavatam. Those specific verses and His commentary are lovingly assembled in this book so that one might enjoy the Sri Gopi Gita in its fullness and on its own.
As Paramahamsa Vishwananda puts it, ‘The Sri Gopi Gita is the heart of the Shreemad Bhagavatam. There is no Shreemad Bhagavatam without the Gopi Gita, which is the song of the gopis, where they express the longing for their Beloved. The gopis were filled with intense love but, at the same time, their hearts were breaking because they could not see Krishna. And so, in their agony, they started singing in praise of their Beloved Lord Krishna.’

Leseprobe

ŚRĪ GOPĪ GĪTĀ: The Song of the Longing Hearts

BHAKTI MARGA PUBLICATIONS

Copyright © 2016, Bhakti Event GmbH

Illustrations by Sumangala, copyright © Bhakti Event GmbH

All rights reserved.

Third Edition

ISBN (ebook): 978-3-96343-109-8

[email protected]

publications.bhaktimarga.org

om premāvatārāya vidmahe satgurudevāya dhīmahitanno vishwananda pracodayāt

We meditate on the Premāvātara, We fix our minds on the satguru. May Sri Swami Vishwananda inspire us.

Prayers

Guru-pranāma

ajñāna timirān dhasya jñānāñjana śalākayā cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai śrī gurave namaḥ

Salutations to the guru, who with the collyrium stick of knowledge treats the eyes of one blinded by the darkness of ignorance.

Kṛṣṇa-pranāma

he kṛṣṇa karuṇā siṁdhu dīna bandhu jagat pate gopeśa gopikā kānta rādhā kānta namostute//

O my dear Kṛṣṇa, You are the friend of the distressed and the source of creation. You are the master of the gopīs and the lover of Rādhārānī.I offer my respectful obeisances unto You.

Rādhā-pranāma

tapta-kāñcana gaurāṅgī rādhe vṛndāvaneśvarī vṛṣabhānu sute devī praṇamāmi harī priye

I offer my respects to Rādhārānī, whose bodily complexion is like molten gold and who is the Queen of Vṛndavāna. You are the daughter of King Vṛṣbhānu, and You are very dear to Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Śrī Vaiṣṇava-pranāma

vāñchā-kalpatarūbhyaś ca kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca patitānāma pāvanebhyo vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ

I offer my respectful obeisances unto all the Vaiṣṇava devotees of the Lord. They can fulfil the desires of everyone, just like the kalpataru, the wish-fulfilling tree, and they are full of compassion for everyone, even for the fallen souls.

Table of Contents

FOREWORD TO ŚRĪ GOPĪ GĪTĀ

PROLOGUE

The Enchanting Call of Kṛṣṇa’s Flute

Kṛṣṇa Hides Himself

Verse 1

Verse 2

Verse 3

Verse 4

Verse 5

Verse 6

Verse 7

Verse 8

Verse 9

Verse 10

Verse 11

Verse 12

Verse 13

Verse 14

Verse 15

Verse 16

Verse 17

Verse 18

Verse 19

EPILOGUE

Mahā-rāsa-līlā

Foreword to Śrī Gopī Gītā

I first met my satguru, Mahamandaleshwar Paramahamsa Sri Swami Vishwananda, on 12 June 2006. A few months later, He accepted me as his devotee, and then a few years passed with Gurudev teaching me through my own experience. The lesson always was about humility: you can always be more humble.

After many painstaking hours spent trying to write a Foreword to this Śrī Gopī Gītā, it dawned on me that there simply can be no Foreword to this book. There is nothing that one can say to describe the Śrī Gopī Gītā that gives the reader any more insight than the story itself can give. So once again, Gurudev was showing me the lesson of humility. Where there is even a little bit of pride, love cannot blossom. This is the universal lesson that Kṛṣṇa taught to mankind through the gopīs, and if the heart is open, each verse offers a way to experience this truth.

The satguru carries the grace of God. Therefore, his words are not just mere words. His words carry the grace of God. It is this grace that brings about the transformation in oneself.

So I urge you, the reader, to read the words and to feel the blessing. Feel the grace of the humblest being that I have ever known: Paramahamsa Vishwananda. He who is the humblest has the highest capacity to love unconditionally. He alone has the ability to awaken this unconditional Love, which the gopīs expressed so naturally, and which lives in all of our hearts.

So let him do that. Let him awaken the universal Love within you through these verses, through his words, and through the eternal story of our Love affair with the Divine. Enjoy.

– SVM

On behalf of Bhakti Marga Vṛndavāna, India

This book is based on the heartfelt commentary of the Śrī Gopī Gītā that Paramahamsa Sri Swami Vishwananda gave during his seven-day course: The Essence of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. Those verses and his commentary are lovingly assembled here so that one might enjoy the Śrī Gopī Gītā in its fullness and on its own.

The Enchanting Call of Kṛṣṇa’s Flute

The moment Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa started playing the flute, the minds of the gopīs were attracted to its music. This was the sign Kṛṣṇa gave to the gopīs. He was calling them, ‘Come!’

When the gopīs heard the sound of the flute inside of their hearts, they felt attracted by the Lord. In the deepness of their hearts arose a romantic feeling, and like bees are attracted to a flower from far away, the gopīs could feel some ‘sweetness’ pulling them. Like the shark is attracted from far away by one drop of blood, their hearts were pulled, and their minds were captivated by the Lord.

They started running around, looking for Him, ‘Where is our Beloved? Where is our dear Kṛṣṇa?’ Each one was unaware of what was going on with the other ones, so they didn’t all gather in one place and say, ‘Let’s all go together.’ They were all mesmerised by the call of Kṛṣṇa’s flute, which made them forget everything. They immediately left their duties, and ran like mad to meet Kṛṣṇa. Some of them were cooking, others were engaged in various household chores. Some of them were getting dressed, some of them were feeding the children. Others were with their husbands. However, the moment they heard Kṛṣṇa’s call, they left everything. They all stopped their activities and went looking for Kṛṣṇa.

Their husbands, fathers, brothers and relatives tried to stop them, but their hearts had already been stolen by Kṛṣṇa. It was not a call from the outside world. It was an inner call from deep within themselves.

On the spiritual path, when God calls you, you also feel the inner call. But your friends and family who don’t understand what is happening with you, will try to stop you. They will say, ‘What you’re doing is wrong! What are you going to do there? Why?’ If you are weak, you will listen to them. However, if you follow what you feel your heart is saying to you, you will be guided. You will be guided to where you have to be.

So, all the gopīs let go of everything, and started running in the direction of the sound made by the flute. They started searching for Kṛṣṇa in every corner, everywhere.

Kṛṣṇa was playing the flute by the Yamunā river, far away from the houses of the gopīs. Nevertheless, in their houses the gopīs were enchanted by the sound of the flute. How would they hear the flute? For example, if at this moment, somebody started to play the flute down in the village of Springen, would we hear it up here? We would not. At this moment, I’m talking here. The people who are down in the village can’t hear what I’m saying. Kṛṣṇa was playing the flute and calling them, but it was not like writing a letter to inform them where and at what time they should meet. The sound heard by the gopīs was not an external sound – it was an inner calling.

It’s very important to note that their hearts and their minds did not belong to them anymore. Even if they appeared to do everything externally, yet their minds and their hearts were with Kṛṣṇa. Whatever they did in their daily life (service to their husbands, children, cows, and household chores), was just to please Kṛṣṇa, just to attain Kṛṣṇa, and nothing else.

So when Kṛṣṇa started playing the flute, He called from deep inside their hearts. This inner feeling to be called to do something was awakened inside their hearts. Like that, they could not be untrue towards themselves. You can be untrue towards everybody. You can pretend, you can act. But can you be untrue towards yourself? Can you be untrue towards your feeling? People will try to stop you. But, you can’t be untrue towards what you are feeling inside. Likewise, the relatives of the gopīs were trying to stop them, yet their inner truth was calling them. So, enchanted by this inner sound of the flute, they refused to go back.