7. Saptama-yama Sadhana

Bhajana during the late evening

On the feeling of vipralambha, purva-raga and pravasa:

The attachment produced in both, in the lover and in the beloved, before their meeting by seeing each other, by feeling, etc., becomes very tempting due to the mixture of four ingredients such as vibhava and anubhava, it is called purva-raga.

Pravasa is a word used to indicate the separation of lovers who previously associated intimately. This separation is due to being in two different places. They are especially in favor of performing one’s bhajana.

The purva-raga is described in the following five verses. In this first verse of Srimad Bhagavatam (10.21.9), the gopis glorify the good fortune of the flute, which drinks the nectar of Krishna’s lips:

gopyah kim acarad ayam kusalam sma venur

damodaradhara-sudham api gopikanam

bhunkte svayam yad avasista-rasam hradinyo

hrsyat-tvaco ‘sru mumucus taravo yatharyah (2)

My dear gopis, what an auspicious activity the flute must have performed to independently enjoy the nectar of Krishna’s lips and leave only a taste for us gopis, for which that nectar was actually created! The ancestors of the flute, the bamboo trees, shed tears of pleasure just like a person advanced in knowledge who takes pleasure in seeing his descendants engaging in the service of the Lord. Its mother, the river on whose banks the bamboo was born, feels jubilation and then her blooming lotus flowers stand on end like hair on her body.

Srimad Bhagavatam (10.21.11) describes how fawns and deer worship Krishna and get good luck after hearing the sound of Krishna’s flute:

dhanyah sma mudha-gatayo ‘pi harinya eta

ya nanda-nandanam upatta-vicitra-vesam

akarnya venu-ranitam saha-krishna-sarah

pujam dadhur viracitam pranayavalokaih

Blessed are these deer. Despite being just silly animals, they went to Nanda Maharaja’s son, who is lavishly dressed and plays the flute. Both fawns and deer worship the Lord with looks of love and affection.

In Srimad Bhagavatam (10.21.15) it is said that when it hears the sound of Krishna’s flute the river stops its flow and worships Krishna’s lotus feet with lotus flowers:

nadyas tada tad upadharya mukunda-gitam avarta-laksita-manobhava-bhagna-vegah alingana-sthagitam urmi-bhujair murarer grhnanti pada-yugalam kamalopaharah

When rivers hear the song of Krishna’s flute, their minds begin to desire it, the flow of currents stops and the waters churn, causing eddies. Then with the arms of the waves the rivers clasp Murari’s lotus feet, grab them and offer Him lotus flowers.

Govardhana Hill exults at the touch of the feet of Rama and Krishna, and worships them with various offerings. As Srimad Bhagavatam states (10.21.18):

hantayam adrir abala hari-dasa-varyo

yad rama-krishna-carana-sparasa pramodah

manam tanoti saha-go-ganayos tayor yat

paniya-suyavasa-kandara-kandamulaih

Of all the devotees, Govardhana Hill is the best! O friends, this hill offers Krishna, Balarama and all Their friends, calves and cows everything they need – water for drinking, soft grass, caves, fruits, flowers and vegetables. Thus, the hill offers its respect to the Lord. Touched by the lotus feet of Krishna and Balarama, Govardhana Hill appears very happy.

At the sound of Krishna’s flute, animate beings become inanimate and inanimate beings become animate. In Srimad Bhagavatam (10.21.19) it is written:

ga gopakair anu-vanam nayator udara-

venu-svanaih kala-padais tanu-bhrtsu sakhyah

aspandanam gati-matam pulakas tarunam

niryoga-pasa-krta-laksanayor vicitram

My dear friends, when Krishna and Balarama walk through the forest with Their shepherd friends leading the cows, They bring ropes to tie the cows’ hind legs when milking them. When Sri Krishna plays His flute, sweet music causes the moving living beings to lose their senses and from ecstasy the immobile trees tremble. These things are certainly wonderful. O friend, not having Krishna breaks my heart. When will providence give me Krishna’s association?

The pravasa is described in the next four verses. In this state the emotions of Radharani are the most delightful for the devotees. Read passages such as the Brahmara-gita (Radharani’s discourses with the gopis). Sri Madhavendra Puri expresses Radharani’s emotional outbursts with the following words:

ayi dina-dayardra natha he

mathura-natha kadavalokyase

hrdayam tvad-aloka-kataram

dayita bhramyati kim karomy aham

Oh my Lord! Oh merciful master! Oh master of Mathura! When will I see You again? Not seeing You, my troubled heart becomes unstable. Oh beloved, what am I going to do now?