Ādi-līlāChapter 1: The Spiritual Masters

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Ādi 1.57

cintāmaṇir jayati somagirir gurur me

śikṣā-guruś ca bhagavān śikhi-piñcha-mauliḥ

yat-pāda-kalpataru-pallava-śekhareṣu

līlā-svayaḿvara-rasaḿ labhate jayaśrīḥ

SYNONYMS

cintāmaṇiḥ jayati — all glory to Cintāmaṇi; soma-giriḥ — Somagiri (the initiating guru); guruḥ — spiritual master; me — my; śikṣā-guruḥ — instructing spiritual master; ca — and; bhagavān — the Supreme Personality of Godhead; śikhi-piñcha — with peacock feathers; mauliḥ — whose head; yat — whose; pāda — of the lotus feet; kalpa-taru — like desire trees; pallava — like new leaves; śekhareṣu — at the toe nails; līlā-svayam-vara — of conjugal pastimes; rasam — the mellow; labhate — obtains; jaya-śrīḥŚrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.

TRANSLATION

"All glories to Cintāmaṇi and my initiating spiritual master, Somagiri. All glories to my instructing spiritual master, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who wears peacock feathers in His crown. Under the shade of His lotus feet, which are like desire trees, Jayaśrī [Rādhārāṇī] enjoys the transcendental mellow of an eternal consort."

PURPORT

This verse is from the Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta, which was written by a great Vaiṣṇava sannyāsī named Bilvamańgala Ṭhākura, who is also known as Līlāśuka. He intensely desired to enter into the eternal pastimes of the Lord, and he lived at Vṛndāvana for seven hundred years in the vicinity of Brahma-kuṇḍa, a still-existing bathing tank in Vṛndāvana. The history of Bilvamańgala Ṭhākura is given in a book called Śrī-vallabha-digvijaya. He appeared in the eighth century of the Śaka Era in the province of Draviḍa and was the chief disciple of Viṣṇu Svāmī. In a list of temples and monasteries kept in Śańkarācārya's monastery in Dvārakā, Bilvamańgala is mentioned as the founder of the Dvārakādhīśa temple there. He entrusted the service of his Deity to Hari Brahmacārī, a disciple of Vallabha Bhaṭṭa.

Bilvamańgala Ṭhākura actually entered into the transcendental pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa. He has recorded his transcendental experiences and appreciation in the book known as Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta. In the beginning of that book he has offered his obeisances to his different gurus, and it is to be noted that he has adored them all equally. The first spiritual master mentioned is Cintāmaṇi, who was one of his instructing spiritual masters because she first showed him the spiritual path. Cintāmaṇi was a prostitute with whom Bilvamańgala was intimate earlier in his life. She gave him the inspiration to begin on the path of devotional service, and because she convinced him to give up material existence to try for perfection by loving Kṛṣṇa, he has first offered his respects to her. Next he offers his respects to his initiating spiritual master, Somagiri, and then to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who was also his instructing spiritual master. He explicitly mentions Bhagavān, who has peacock feathers on His crown, because the Lord of Vṛndāvana, Kṛṣṇa the cowherd boy, used to come to Bilvamańgala to talk with him and supply him with milk. In his adoration of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, he states that Jayaśrī, the goddess of fortune, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, takes shelter in the shade of His lotus feet to enjoy the transcendental rasa of nuptial love. The complete treatise Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta is dedicated to the transcendental pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. It is a book to be read and understood by the most elevated devotees of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

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