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EDITORIAL  Gaura Nagara Bhava As It Is BY GORACANDA DAS EDITORIAL, Jul 22 (VNN) — Dear Devotees, koti dandavat pranams at your lotus feet. Jaya Sacinandana Jaya Gaurahari! In his VNN article H.H. Swami B.V.Tripurari Maharaja discuss Gaura-Nagara Bhava. He said: ''Although Gaura is Krsna and Gadadhara is Radha, this worship is most likely an expression of what is sometimes referred to as "Gaura-nagara bhava." In pursuance of Gaura-nagara bhava, persons seek a conjugal relationship with Mahaprabhu in the svarupa of a nagari, a village girl. Both of the principal biographers of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, namely Krsnadasa Kaviraja Goswami and Vrndavana dasa Thakura, have rejected this type of worship.'' Before beginning the dicussion,please, let me invoke auspiciousness by taking shelter of my spiritual master, Srila Gadadhara Prana Prabhu and his followers and all those who tread the raganuga bhakti path. In Caitanya -caritamrta, Madhya 8.282, Srila Kavirajapada said: tabe hasi tare prabhu dekhaila svarupa rasa-raja mahabhava dui eka-rupa 'Then Caitanya mahaprabhu smiled and showed Ramananda Raya his svarupa-the form of Rasaraja and Mahabhava combined.' Because Sri Gauranga i mahabhava svarupini Radha and Rasaraja Krsna combined, both features form an exquisite enrapture for his bhakta followers to share with Him . Unfortunatelly, His Holiness doesn't make reference to the verses regarding his conclusion that Kavirajapada 'rejected this type of worship'', so we can't comment on this . It is true that Srila Vrndavana dasa Thakura is the only Mahajana who has made some comment on the issue in his Caitanya Bhagavata 15.28-31,just like H.H. Tripurari Maharaja said, but his purpose is nevertheless justified for he is bent on protecting Sri Gaurasundara's parakiya rasa from scandal just as Sri Jiva Gosvami endeavoured to protect Sri Krsna's parakiya rasa .Yet the most important reason which prompts Srila Vrndavana dasa's warning is that the Lord personally wishes to keep His personal love affairs a secret .Thus Srila Vrndavana dasa's instruction to never openly preach about Gauranga's nagara activities is very appropriate . We should not mistakenly conclude that Srila Vrndavana dasa is denying Gauranga's nagara feature,for included within quoted verse he says: yadyapi sakala stava sambhava tahane - '' all such praises are possible with Him.'' In the same article, HH Swami B.V. Tripurari Maharaja, continue: In Caitanya-caritamrta Sri Krsnadasa Kaviraja writes, gopika-bhavera ei sudrdha niscaya vrajendra-nandana vina anyatra na haya: "It is firmly established that gopi-bhava is experienced only in relation to Vrajendra-nandana Krsna and no one else." (Cc. 1.17.278) It's true . Similary,Gaura-nagari-bhava is experienced only in relation to Sacinandana Gaurahari and no one else . Then, HH Swami Tripurari Maharaja said: ''Thakura Bhaktivinoda openly condemned the sentiment of Gaura-nagara bhava..'' Again, unfortunatelly, author doesn't refer to a particular verse or article from Srila Thakura Bhaktivinoda's writings. Instead, he continue,''Although one can find some lines in Bhaktivinoda's poetry that seem to indicate this sentiment, these lines have to be understood in light of his criticism of Gaura-nagara bhava.The same holds true for the Six Goswamis, who either openly rejected this sentiment or were silent about it .'' Contrary to the belief of many of his followers, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura also supported the Nadiya nagara bhava conception . Some of evidences comes from an article written by the Thakura's close friend, Sri Madhusudana Gosvami sarvabhauma, in the Visnupriya Gauranga journal,5.6,.Interested readers can find this article in the book of Gadadhara Prana Prabhu entitled Sri Sri Rasaraja Gauranga, chapter 'Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Nadiya nagara bhava'. Also,Six Gosvamis are not openly rejected this sentiment at all ! Sri Locana dasa Thakura affirms that even Six Goswamis follow in Srila Gadadhara Pandita's footsteps to perform Sri Gauranga's Rasaraja upasana .We can see this, for example,in his pada which begins, ''jaya jaya gadadhara gauranga sundara...ataeva tara sakha vrajera gosai'', - 'therefore, even Six Gosvamis of Vraja represent branches of Gadadhara's worship''. Further in his e-newsletter, Swami Tripurari Maharaja writes: Some associates of Mahaprabhu, like Narahari and Locana dasa, do seem to occasionally express this sentiment, but they have not discussed any sadhana for attaining it. For that matter, it is possible that the poetry expressing this sentiment was interpolated in an effort to lend support to the concept of Gaura-nagara bhava. Indeed, without such apparent support, advocates of Gaura-nagara bhava would have nothing to stand on. Srila Narahari Sarakara's and Locana dasa's writings are full of Gaura-nagara sentiment, so I can't answer on Srila Tripurari Maharaja's statement without his quoting a particular text ... Regarding sadhana...there is very instructive incident in the life of famous Siddha Caitanya dasa Babaji from Navadvipa.He once went to the Maha kumbha Mela to perform mantra purascarana vrata or a vow of rigid mantra chanting.He was chanting, ' ami gaurangera nagari habo, ami gaurangera nagari habo...'', - ' I will become Gauranga's nagari' . Seeing Siddha Baba's unabated enthusiasm for this unorthodox mantra, one astonished sadhu implored, '' O Baba! What sort of gibberish are you reciting ? Why don't you chant an authorized Vedic mantra instead ?''After some time, Siddha Baba sternly replied, '' Look, I am chanting my mantra to achieve its results . And you chant your mantra to reap its results . So you do your bhajana and I shall mine .'' Upon returning to Navadvipa a short time later, Siddha Baba attained his desired siddhi . Upon seeing Gauranga, he exclaimed : amara bhajana hala sara amara sadhana hala sara nadera cander kanta ami kanta amara gora '' Aho, my bhajana is completed, my sadhana is completed. I am Nadiya Cand's kanta and my kanta is Gora ! '' The story's moral is that Sriman Mahaprabhu's nigudha bhajana lies beyond the Vedas . Even so, if one performs it with strong conviction,the Lord will surely fulfill the desire of His worshiper for this is His promise in the Gita: ye yatha mam prapadyate tams tathaiva bhajamy aham If one wish to condemn Nagara Vada, he or she must also condemn many Mahaprabhu's associates such as Narahari sarakara Thakura, Vasudeva Ghosa, Murari Gupta or Sivananda Sena .Even if one finds that this mood is not to his or her taste, it would be wise to recognize that the ocean of bhakti rasa is vast nd the flavours of love the devotees exchange with their Lord are infinite. Goracanda das, fallen sadhaka Contact VNN about this story  Send this story to a friend
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