Which Krishna Do You Like?

Which Krishna do you like? The Krishna in Dvaraka? The Krishna in Mathura? Or maybe Krishna in Vrindavan?

Is there even a difference you may ask?

For Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the 6 Goswami's there was a BIG difference:

CC Antya 1.67

kṛṣṇo 'nyo yadu-sambhūto

yaḥ pūrṇaḥ so 'sty ataḥ paraḥ

vṛndāvanaṁ parityajya

sa kvacin naiva gacchati

"The Kṛṣṇa known as Yadukumāra is Vāsudeva Kṛṣṇa. He is different from the Kṛṣṇa who is the son of Nanda Mahārāja. Yadukumāra Kṛṣṇa manifests His pastimes in the cities of Mathurā and Dvārakā, but Kṛṣṇa the son of Nanda Mahārāja never puts even a step out of Vṛndāvana."

Tika by Advaita Ji:

Yadu-samput = The boy who has been borned in the Yadu dynasty

Gopenandara = the son of Nanda maharaja

They are two seperate persons,

This is stricly the rasik point of view of course, but because we are a rasik sampradaya, therefore rasa, is the measuring rod. Rasa is the foundation of our values."

This is a very amazing and interesting verse, because it says that the Krishna in Vrindavan and the Krishna in Dvaraka are two different persons!

This concept is very unique and very specific for our gaudiya vaishnava sampradaya - but it is our reality.

Because we are only interested in (Radha) Krishna in Vrindavan and nothing else. No Dvaraka, no Mathura and especially not Vaikuntha.

The Goswamis clearly established a very specific mood. They established their natural mood, because the Goswami's are by themselves nitya siddha brajabasis.

Raghunātha das Goswami gives the following instructions in his mana shika, "instructions to the mind" - how to attain yugala kishor.

asad-vārtā-veśyā visṛja mati-sarvasva-haraṇīḥ

kathā mukti-vyāghryā na śṛṇu kila sarvātma-gilanīḥ

api tyaktvā lakṣmī-pati-ratim ito vyoma-nayanīṁ

vraje rādhā-kṛṣṇau sva-rati-maṇidau tvaṁ bhaja manaḥ

"O mind! Give up the prostitute of speaking and hearing nonsense, which will rob you of the treasure of your heart! Don’t listen to the words of the tigress of liberation which swallows your whole individuality "and also give up your attached for the Lord of Laksmī (Nārāyaṇa), for that will take you to the majestic realm of Vaikuṇṭha!" "Worship instead Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa in Vraja, the givers of the jewels of love for Themselves!"

[Mana-siksa verse 4]

api tyaktvā lakṣmī-pati-ratim ito vyoma-nayanīṁ — "Give up the attachment to Narayana and Vaikuntha"

Further Raghunātha das Goswami says in another place:

Verse 3:

sadā rādhā kṛṣṇocchalad atula khelā sthala yujaṁ

vrajaṁ saṁtyajyaitad yuga virahato'pi truṭim api

punar dvārāvatyāṁ yadupatim api prauḍha vibhavaiḥ

sphurantaṁ tad vācāpi hi nahi calāmīkṣitum api

"Even if the greatly opulent Lord of the Yadus (Kṛṣṇa) would Personally invite me to come and see Him in Dvārakā, I will not leave the land of Braja, the eternal matchless playground of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, for even a moment, even if I have suffered separation from the Divine Couple there for ages!"

[Sva Niyama Daśakam]

Another highly astonishing verse from Raghunātha das Goswami:

na cānyatra kṣetre haritanu sanāthe'pi sujanād

rasāsvādaṁ premnā dadhad api vasāmi kṣaṇam api

samaṁ tv etad grāmyāvalibhi tanvann api kathāṁ

vidhāsye saṁvāsaṁ vrajabhuvana pratibhavam

"I will not live in any other holy place for even a moment, even if there is a deity of Lord Hari and even if I can lovingly relish transcendental topics of Hari there with great devotees. Instead, I will live in Vraja birth after birth, even if I may speak nonsense with the low-caste villagers there!"

[Sva Niyama Daśakam verse 2]

Prabhodhananda Sarasvati writes in Vrindavan Mahimamrita another incredible, astonishing, full-of-love-of-Braja shloka:

vṛndāraṇyaṁ tyajeti pravadati yadi ko 'py asya jihvāṁ chinadmi

śrīmad-vṛndāvanān māṁ yadi nayati balāt kopi taṁ hanmy avaśyam

kāmaṁ veśyam upeyaṁ na khalu pariṇayāyānyato yāmi kāmaṁ

cauryaṁ kuryāṁ dhanārtham na tu calati padām hanta vṛndāvanān me

If someone tells me: "you should leave Vrndavana", I will cut out his tongue. If someone tries to drag me from Vrndavana by force, I will kill him. I rather satisfy my lust on a prostitute in Braja than decently marrying elsewhere [and leaving Braja]. If need be I will become a thief and steal the money of others, but I will not take a single step out of Vrndavana.

[Vrindavan Mahimamrita 2.15]

This verse is a perfect synopses of the entire Gaudiya Vaishnava statement of purpose, not from the Goswamis but accepted by many as highly important:

ārādhyo bhagavān vrajeśa tanayas taddhāma vṛndāvanaṁ

ramyā kācid upāsanā vrajavadhū vargeṇa yā kalpitā

śāstraṁ bhāgavatam pramāṇam amalaṁ prema pumārtho mahān

śrī caitanya mahāprabhor matam idaṁ tatrādaro naḥ para

“The worshipable Lord is Kṛṣṇa, the son of king Nanda of Vraja. The abode in which we worship Him is Vṛndāvana. The delightful method of Worship is that of the cowherd wives of Vraja (the gopīs). The holy scripture the Bhāgavata is the spotless authority. The greatest pursuit of human life is prema, love of God. This is the opinion of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. This deserves our highest respect, care and love.

(By Śrīnātha Cakravarti, disciple of Śrī Advaita ācārya and guru of Kavi Karṇapura, giving a synopsis of sambandha, abhidheya and prayojana).

The mood of the 6 Goswamis is also perfectly described in Sat Goswami Astakam from Srinivasa Acharya.

Sat-goswami-astakam contains 8 verses:

• One verse is about Mahaprabhu (1)

• Two verses are about their renunciation (3)+(4)

• Two verses are about their absorption in gopi-bhava (2)+(4)

• And three verses are about Radha-Krishna in Vrindavan! (5), (7) +(8)

Verse 5:

kūjat-kokila-haḿsa-sārasa-gaṇākīrṇe mayūrākule

nānā-ratna-nibaddha-mūla-viṭapa-śrī-yukta-vṛndāvane

rādhā-kṛṣṇam ahar-niśaḿ prabhajatau

(..)

"The 6 Goswamis who were always engaged in worshiping Radha-Krsna in the transcendental land of Vrndavana where there are beautiful trees full of fruits and flowers which have under their roots all valuable jewels"(..)

I don't see Dvaraka, Mathura or Vaikuntha mentioned. Only sweet Vrindavan..

Verse 7:

rādhā-kuṇḍa-taṭe kalinda-tanayā-tīre ca vaḿśīvaṭe

premonmāda-vaśād aśeṣa-daśayā grastau pramattau sadā

gāyantau ca kadā harer guṇa-varaḿ bhāvābhibhūtau mudā

"The six Goswamis who were sometimes on the bank of the Radha-kunda lake or the shores of the Yamuna and sometimes at Vamsivata. There they appeared just like madmen full of prema for Krsna, exhibiting different transcendental symptoms in their bodies in their bhava.

I don't see they were in extasy because of Dvaraka, Mathura or Vaikuntha. Only because of Vrindavan..

Verse 8:

he rādhe vraja-devīke ca lalite he nanda-sūno kutaḥ

śrī-govardhana-kalpa-pādapa-tale kālindī-vane kutaḥ

ghoṣantāv iti sarvato vraja-pure khedair mahā-vihvalau

"The 6 Goswami's who were chanting very loudly everywhere in Vrndavana, shouting, "Queen of Vrndavana, Radharani! O Lalita! O son of Nanda Maharaja! Where are you all now? Are you just on the hill of Govardhana, or are you under the trees on the bank of the Yamuna? Where are you?" They were in mahā-vihvalau - great spiritual anxiety (ecstasy)."

I don't see the Goswamis neither in separation from Yadukumāra (Krishna in Dvaraka), Narayan, Narasimha, Visnu, Lakshmi, Dwarak, Mathura or Vaikuntha, nor they were shouting out to Krishna in Dvaraka, Rukmini or Satyabhama. Only Radha Krishna and the Gopis — they only felt separation from the Brajabasis..

As we saw - we gaudyias have nothing to do with Krsna in Dvaraka, Mathura or even Vaikuntha — and it's not favorable, even just to hear or read about Krishna in Dvaraka! — if you want to attain Radha and Krishna.

Vishvanatha Cakravarti says in his tika to Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu 1.2.296: "

"Along with hearing and chanting, items such as surrendering to the lotus feet of guru should be understood as favorable. Without those favorable items how can one accomplish following after the eternal inhabitants of Braja? After considering with intelligence, one should select activities conducive to one’s own sentiments for Kṛṣṇa, and not those activities which are contrary to one’s sentiments. Though prescribed in the scriptures, activities of deity worship such as worshipping Rukmiṇī, meditation of Dvārakā, performing mudrās and nyāsas, or identifying oneself with the Lord and worshipping oneself, should be rejected. The scriptures also say that, on the path of bhakti, there is no fault in omitting some of the procedures (procedures such as meditation on Rukmiṇī)."

Closing words:

To worship Krishna in Dvaraka, Mathura or Vaikuntha is not wrong, of course not. It's also not wrong to worship Narayana, Rama, Narasimha, or Vishnu, it's never wrong to worship Bhagavan. But if you worship Krishna not in Vrindavan as a gaudyia, you are just in the wrong sampradaya. Mahaprabhu’s sampradaya is very specific and very exclusive. Some may be not aware how exclusive and wonderful it is!