Sri Manah Siksa, Lessons for the mind.

Sri Manah Siksa

of Raghunatha Dasa

Sri Raghunatha Dasa Gosvami's Manah Siksa, consisting of eleven, plus one stanza (12), which as the title suggests, takes the form of lessons, sermons, exhortations and admonitions; ostensibly to himself, but intended for anyone who is interested to learn what he is endeavouring to convey. Manah Siksa is not a theological text per se, but pertains to esoteric practices of mystic contemplation, the appropriate disposition, and right conduct, etc. In text one and throughout, he addresses his own mind, clasping his feet, as 'svantara-bhratah' or 'inner brother', in conciliatory terms, not as the disciplinarian, but with all deference to coax, cajole, and conjure and bring it round to a willing and ready compliance. An objector may ask, how does the mind have feet? to which it might be said, well if one is going to address the mind personally, why not ascribe feet, to draw out the metaphor? He (the author) proceeds to enumerate eight articles which he would have the mind, (or the auditor) to cultivate; an 'apurva' love, which is to say, extraordinary and uncommon love for the ensuing eight articles; item, 1. Guru, 2. Cowherd settlement, 3. Cowherds, 4. The pious, 5. Earth gods, viz, brahmans, 6. Initiation mantra, 7. The holy name, and 8. The shelter of Radha and Krishna.

Text One

gurau gosthe ghostaalayisu sujane bhusuragane

svamantre srinaamni vrajanavayuvadvandva sarane |

sadaa dambham hitvaa kuru ratim apurvam atitaram

aye svaantarbhraatas catubhirabhiyaace dhrta pada || 1 ||

O mind, I hold your feet and supplicate,

To give up arrogance of high estate;

Extraordinary love to cultivate,

For teacher, and the holy pasture land;

Cowherds, pious, the god-like brahman band;

My secret mantra, and the name divine,

And refuge with the young couple benign. 1

As for cultivating friendship with one's own mind, Krishna says to Arjuna in the Gita,

Let each self then, the self by self upraise,

But let him not the self by self debase;

For self alone is of the self the friend,

The self also a foe who may contend.

The self is the friend of the self for him

Who by the self the self has conquered been;

But for the self that is unconquered, know,

The self alone is of the self the foe. (Gita 6.5/6)

Elsewhere, in another text, Raghunatha has expressed a similar conceit in his Self Imposed Vows, Svaniyama,

May my devoted affection adhere

To preceptor, mantra, and the name dear;

To Svarup, and Rupa, and all his train,

To his elder may I fond love maintain;

May I, with love, be ever worshiping,

Gandharva's fair lake, and the mountain king,

The pasture lands and Madhu's citadel,

And voteries who in Gokula dwell. (Svaniyama Dasakam 1)

A caution and prescription, and a confirmation.

Text Two

na dharmam naadharmam srutigana niruktam kila kuru

vrave radhakrsnapracuraparicaryaa, iha tanuh |

sacisunum nandisvarapatisutatve guruvaram

mukundapresthatve smara padam ajasram nanu manah || 2 ||

Do not to vice and virtue pay much heed,

As have in ancient scripture been decreed;

Nay, rather serve within Vrindavan's grove

Radha and Krishna, ardently with love;

And always hold that Sachi's darling son

Is Nanda's son indeed, for they are one;

Know my teacher to Mukunda is dear,

O mind, to you this is my humble prayer. 2

The author admonishes his mind to avoid preoccupation with ethical questions of virtue and vice pertaining to scriptural prescriptions and prohibitions. Krishna concludes his discourse to Uddhava on the determination of virtue and vice in words like these,

Why say too much on virtue and on vice?

Let what has been said up to this suffice;

To transcend the distinction twixt the two,

Is verily the sign of real virtue. (SB.11.19.45)

To serve Radha and Krishna in the grove with ardent love;

In Vrindavan beneath the wishing tree,

A temple stands under the canopy;

Inlaid with precious gems, the stately dome

Enshrines a massy golden lion throne;

Upon that throne the loving pair divine,

Sri Radhika and Govinda recline;

While all around companions on them wait;

This scene I call to mind and meditate. (Chaitanya Charitamrta 1.1.16)

Sri Prabodhananda Sarasvati provides a meditation of Sri Chaitanya deva,

Whose wide shoulders are broad and leonine;

Whose cheeks swell with the sweetest smiles sublime;

Whose person undergoes varieties,

Of ineffable loving ecstasies;

Who softly shines as when petals unfold

The interior of a lotus gold;

May he grant you protection and delight,

In whom Radha and Madhava unite. (Chaitanya Chandramrtam 13)

In Dhyanacandra's Manual we also find this,

Meditate upon him whose sable curls

Are bound up in a knot with strands of pearls;

Chaitanya a gleam golden radiates,

Attended on by his associates;

With fine raiment and embellishments dight,

And flower wreaths and gold necklaces bright;

Who does in dance of rapture sweetly move;

In garb and beauty like the god of Love. (Dhyanacandra's Paddhati 49)

My teacher to Mukunda is dear; holy writ says,

On him who loves his Guru as his God.

Wisdom is manifested and bestowed;

Yes, wisdom is manifest and bestowed. (Svetasvatara Up. 6.23)

In the previous verse, Raghunatha, addressing his mind, urged the disinclination to a blind adherence to rules of virtue and vice. Anticipating the question, By what rule then must one direct one's conduct? The author adduces some basic principles for guidance.

The practice of devotional disciplines proceeds along two distinct paths; one is impelled and inspired by scriptural ratiocination with a keen regard to rules and regulations. The other is driven by an eager curiosity to imbibe the spontaneous feeling of love that obtains between Krishna and his associates; Krishna being the object, the associates the subject or repositories of spontaneous love. Ostensibly there is no distinction between this or that path, since this one is characterised by inner contemplation on Krishna's names, beauty, attributes and exploits. Sri Rupa sums up, saying,

The hearing, recital, and all the forms

Of vaidhi practises with this conforms;

Thus the wise and learned on this declare,

In both aspects these practices are there. (Bhakti Rasamrta Sindhu. 1.2.296)

Text Three

yadiccheraavaasam vrajabhuvi saraagam prati janur

yuva dvanvdam taccet paricaritum aaraad abhilase |

svarupam srirupam saganam iha tasyaagrajam api

sphutam premnaa nityam smara nama tadaa tvam srnumanah || 3 ||

Should you with love in Vraja wish to dwell

From birth to birth, O mind, hear what I tell;

And if you long the loving pair to serve,

These are the ways and means you must observe.

Fondly recall and bow in reverence due

To Svarup, Rupa, and his elder too,

And all the blest society that stay

In Vraja, worshipping thro'out the day. 3

Hail Rupa, Raghunath and Sanatan!

Hail Gopal Bhatt, and Tapan Misra's son!

Hail Jiva Gosai, Rupa's fond nephew,

I bow in reverence to all of you.

Now, Raghunatha proceeds to enumerate some of the impediments on the path of spontaneous love which cause the mind to be diverted from its course.

Text Four

asadvaaartaavesya visrja matisarvasvaharanih

kathaa mukti vyaagryaa na srnu kila sarvaatmagilanih |

api tyaktvaa laksmipatiratim ito vyoma nayanim

vraje raadhaakrsnau svaratimanidau tvam bhajamanah || 4 ||

Reject the harlot, vain-talk, who by stealth,

Deprives you of your intellectual wealth;

Of soul's emancipation hear no more,

Which, tigress-like, your being will devour;

And even forsake love for Lakshmi's Lord,

Who draws you to his heaven for reward.

Nay, rather, O my mind! I do implore,

That Radha-Krishna only you adore;

For they confer on those who worship them,

Of their own love supreme the rarest gem. 4

Idle and frivolous talk is likened to a courtesan who dissipates her client's wealth; implying the wealth of discrimination here. Discourses on the theme of liberation which indicates absorption of one's being into the undifferentiated ineffable Brahman, is compared to a ferocious hungry tigress, ready to devour the soul. Then, in the exhilaration of exclusive love directed to the sweet rustic forms of Radha and Krishna in Vraja, he advises caution in regard to becoming attracted to Krishna in his grand majestical form as Narayana, the spouse of Goddess Lakshmi, who, despite being prized above himself, draws and entices the aspirant to his transcendent realm above the sky, which prejudices or compromises the attainment of the fond and simple love of Krishna, son of the cowherd Nanda. He concludes the last line by exhorting his mind (and the reader's) to the cultivation of exclusive worship of Radha and Krishna in the cowherd settlement of Vraja, who bestow the rare gem of spontaneous love.

The sage Satyavrata, in his Damodara Octet, extracted from the Padma Purana, sings,

O Lord of boons, I do not seek from thee

Salvation even in the best degree,

Nor do I any boon from thee require,

This, O my Lord, is my only desire,

That this, thy form as the young cowherd boy

May in my mind remain; what other joy

With this blessing could equal or exceed?

I have, indeed, for other boons no need.

This lotus-face of thine of beauty rare,

Is framed by curly locks of sable hair,

With crimson patches that clearly confess,

Where thou art kissed by the fond cowherdess,

With roseate lips as bimba berries soft,

She kisses thee both many times and oft.

Let this vision within my mind remain;

Enough, O Lord of great abundant gain. (Damodarastaka 4/5)

To take as one's saviors the associates of Krishna and appeal to them for succour and aid.

Text Five

asaccesta kastaprada vikata paasaalibhiriha

prakaamam kaamaadi prakata patha paati vyatikaraih |

gale baddhvaa hanye'ham iti bakabhid vartmapa gane

kuru tvam phutkaaraan avati sa yathaa tvam manah itah || 5 ||

The wayside thieves, Desire and his train,

The noose of vain endeavours, causing pain,

Have flung about my neck, and so I die;

O mind! to save us you must loudly cry

For succour to the guardians of the way,

The votaries of Baka's enemy;

And they will surely rescue you from grief,

And set you free, affording swift relief. 5

In honour to the votaries of Vishnu a well known verse salutes and praises their virtues,

All hail, all hail! to Vishnu's votaries,

The incarnated wish fulfilling trees,

And oceans vast of compassion and grace,

Who by their favour purify the base.

Having entreated, exhorted and persuaded, and thereby, having mollified his mind, the author now takes on a more peremptory tone and expresses his abhorrence and disgust, and abominates the vices of hypocrisy and double dealing. Rebuking and upbraiding his laxity, he draws a striking contrast with the immaculate perception of Radha and Krishna's eternal love sports, and the baseness of vain pride and duplicity.

Text Six

are cetah prodyatkapatakutinaatibhara khara

ksaranmutre snaatvaa dahasi kathamaatmanamapi maam |

sadaa tvam gaandharvaagiridhaaripadapremavilasat

sudhaambodhe snaatvaa svamapi nitaraam maam ca sukhaya || 6 ||

O foolish mind! wherefore do you allow

Dissembling and hypocrisy to grow?

Which scorches, and deprives us both of bliss,

Like bathing in a stream of donkey's piss!

Nay, rather, take a dip in that bright sea,

Ambrosial love for Gandharva and he

Who lifted up a mountain on hs hand;

This is, O mind, what you should understand.

Do this, and then the sure result shall be

The highest joy to you, and bliss to me. 6

The desire for fame, honour and distinction is represented as one of the final vices to be overcome due to its stubborn persistence. The means to overcome this vain pride is prescribed as sincere and deferential service and attendance on the heroic generals who are the recipients, repositories and agents of divine grace, whose propitiation secures the attenuation of this vice.

Text Seven

pratisthaasaa dhrstaa svapaca ramani me hrdi natet

katham saadhuprema sprsati suciretan nanu manah |

sadaa sevasva prabhudayita saamantamatulam

yayhaa taam niskaasya tvaritamiha tam vesayati sah || 7 ||

So long as you preeminence desire,

For honours and distinction still aspire,

Which like a base born shameless wench within

Your bosom dances, tainting it with sin,

How can that pure love sanctify your heart,

While she there plays, refusing to depart?

O mind, with profound regard you must serve,

The favorites of the Lord without reserve,

And they will banish her without delay,

Then love within your heart will find its way. 7

As if to affirm that, after all, in the endeavours to overcome obstacles, and improve one's disposition, hitherto discussed, ultimately all success relies on the good grace of Krishna.

Text Eight

yathaa dustatvam me darayati sathasyaapi krpayaa

yathaa mahyam premaamrtam api dadatyujjvalam asau |

yathaa sri gaandharvaa bhajana vidhaye prerayati maam

tathaa gosthe kaakkvaa giridharam iha tvam bhaja manah || 8 ||

Just as the worst of recreants am I,

He, by his grace, my heart can rectify;

E'en as he does his sweet mercy bestow,

The ambrosia of his love to know;

Just as in worship of Gandharva fair

He prompts me to engage with devout care,

Thus, O my mind, while in this cowherd land,

To him who held a mountain on his hand,

Entreat in plaintive tones and broken voice,

That you may worship thus, and so rejoice. 8

Sri Rupa provides a pair of couplets in his Utkalika Vallari, illustrative of the plaintive petition, besieging and beseeching thus,

O tender child of the cowherd chief, hear,

I bow in entreaty and ardent prayer;

Make me the object of the compassion,

Of she who is of Vraja's dames the crown.

O Goddess Urja, in piteous tone,

And earnest praise, I make my purpose known;

May I be graced by him who Baka slew,

Considering that I belong to you. Utkalika Vallari 19/20

Having thus admonished his mind, now with blandishment, now with threat, the author proceeds on a new theme.

Text Nine

madeesaa naathatva vrajavioina candram vrajavanes-

varim tan naathatve atula sakhitve tu lalitaam |

visaakhaam siksaali vitarana gurutve priyasaro

girindrau tat preksya lalitarati datve smaramanah || 9 ||

O mind, consider what I now shall say,

And heed the mystery that I convey.

My queen the mistress is of Vraja's Lord,

And he by Vraja's empress is adored;

Lalita, their confidante without peer,

And Vishakha, their preceptor most dear;

Remember too, that merely by the sight

Of that dear lake wherein they take delight,

And Govardhan, of holy mounts, the king,

The ecstasy of love's rapture can bring. 9

Elsewhere our author says, regarding Radha Kunda and Mount Govardhan,

With all due reverence and pious care,

On his lowered head, Govardhan doth bear,

A charming lake known by Arista's name,

Which from Bakari's kick a lake became.

Thus he more dear than Shiva, as beseems,

Who bears upon his head the Ganga's streams.

A million times more sanctifying still,

Is Radha's lake, which like a precious jewel,

The high grace of Murajit does confer

Upon the devout praising worshiper.

Who is that pious one That would not take

Refuge at Govardhan and dwelling make.

(Govardhanasraya dasakam 5)

The author delineates, in the pride of conscious superiority, the superlative and supernal excellence of Radha, in comparison to other renowned goddesses.

Text Ten

ratim gauri lile api tapati saundarya kiranaih

saci laksmi satyaah paribhavati saubhaagya balanaih |

vasikaarais candraavali mukha naveena vraja satih

ksipatyaaraad yaa tam hari dayitaa raadhaam bhaja manah || 10 ||

Hari's beloved Radhika adore,

O mind, in contemplation, I implore;

Whose charming beauty shines with dazzling rays,

Rati, Gauri, Lila, with envy blaze;

The power of whose fortune puts to shame,

Sachi, Lakshmi, Satya, of worthy fame;

And even Vraja's cowherd damosels,

Of whom the fair Chandravali excels,

Are cast aside by her superior grace,

And all their pride of beauty doth efface. 10

In the final teaching of Manah Siksa, the author supplies and enumeration of the devout disciplines and practices, prescribed, as an adherent of Sri Rupa, his guide and preceptor.

Text Eleven

samam sri rupena smara vivasa raadhaa giribhrtor

vraje saaksaat seva labhana vidhaye tad gana yujoh |

tad ijyaakhyaa dhyaana sravana nati pancaamrtam idam

dhayan nitya govardhanam anudinam tvam bhaja manah || 11 ||

O mind, in bless'd Sri Rupa's company,

Drink the five nectars of divinity;

To worship, and to meditate, and hear

Their wondrous deeds, and with a heart sincere,

To bow in reverence, and pass each day

Making by holy Govardhan your stay.

This is the direct means the love to gain,

Of him who lifted up a high mountain,

And Radha, while engrossed in sweet amour,

Surrounded by companions in the bower. 11

Text 12

The divine author concludes by offering a customary benediction to the reciter of Manah Siksa.

manah siksaadaikadasaka varam etan madhurayaa

giraa gaayatyuccaih samadhigata sarvaartha tati yah |

sa yuthah sri rupaanuga iha bhavan gokula vane

jano raadhaa krsnaatula bhajana ratnam sa labhate || 12 ||

Whoever these eleven stanzas sings,

With a sweet voice which from a pure heart springs,

That take the form of lessons to the mind,

All their desires accomplished sure will find;

And dwelling here in Gokul's shady wood,

And emulating Rupa in his mood;

And keeping society with the good;

The rarest gem of worship shall receive,

And Radha-Krishna's boundless love achieve. 12

Thus ends Sri Raghunatha Dasa Gosvami's Sri Manah Siksa