Based on Lecture given by Śrīla Prabhupāda in Māyāpur (April 9, 1975)
dīvyad-vṛndāraṇya-kalpa-drumādhah-
śrīmad-ratnāgāra-siṁhāsana-sthau
śrīmad-rādhā-śrīla-govinda-devau
preṣṭālībhiḥ sevyamānau smarāmi
Translation: In a temple of jewels in Vṛndāvana, underneath a desire tree, Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Govinda, served by Their most confidential associates, sit upon an effulgent throne. I offer my humble obeisances unto Them. [Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 1.16]
vṛndā is the name of tulasī. āraṇya means forest. There are many trees, all of them are desire trees. kalpa-drumā - the desire trees. This is explained in Brahma-saṁhitā: cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa-lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam [Bs. 5.29] These trees and plants are also living beings and they have decided to serve Kṛṣṇa by supplying fruits and flowers. They have become trees by their voluntary desire. In the spiritual world everything is spiritual. The cows, calves, trees, plants - everything is spiritual. They are expansion of Kṛṣṇa's pleasure potency. The vṛndāraṇya or vṛndāvana is not an ordinary forest. Only if we become freed from our material disease, we can realize the divine nature of this forest. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura sings: viṣaya chāḍiyā kabe śuddha ha 'be mana kabe hāma herabo, śrī-vṛndāvana; when my mind will be cleansed of all material desire then I will be able to see what Vṛndāvana is. The first qualification in bhakti is to become free from all material desires. As quoted in Nectar of Devotion:
sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam hṛṣīkena hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate
anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttama
When we do not have any desire for sense gratification, then we are situated in the spiritual platform. Then we will be able to see Vṛndāvana. It is different from material world. There everything is sat-cid-ānanda form—eternal, full of bliss, full of knowledge. The forms are not material. aprākṛta. In material world, the forms are temporary; everything will be finished in due course of time. It undergoes six types of changes. Takes birth, grows, exists, produces by product, dwindles and dies. But for spiritual form such changes are not there. It is sat. Kṛṣṇa is the origin of everything; he is the oldest of all. In Brahma-saṁhitā it is mentioned: ādyaṁ purāṇa-puruṣam nava-yauvanaṁ ca: but His body is like that of a fresh young man. His form is not material. It is eternal. But our material body is not eternal. It is temporary. But we are trying to exist in that body for ever. There is struggle for existence and we are always full of anxieties. So our main business is to get out of the entanglement in this material body. Kṛṣṇa mentions in Bhagavad-gītā: janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam: our real problem is how to get out of this material body which is subject to birth, death, old age and disease; and become fit to go back to Godhead and become one of the associates of Kṛṣṇa in whatever capacity as a servant, friend, or lover.
The Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas follow the footsteps of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and aspire to become one of the assistants of the gopīs. gopī-bhāva-rasāmṛtābdhi-laharī-kallola-magnau muhur - the six gosvāmī's of Vṛndāvana, were all from aristocratic or wealthy families and they were also learned scholors, but they left everything. tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tucchavat. Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī were ministers in the government of Hussain Shah; Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī was the only son of a rich zamindar (landholder) having twelve lakhs of rupees' income. Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī and Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī were great scholars. All of them left their material occupational duties and joined Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's saṅkīrtana movement and were absored in gopī-bhāva-rasa: how to assist the gopīs in serving Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.
Our goal is to become part of the family of Kṛṣṇa. That is not possible if you are sinful. Kṛṣṇa is pure without any material contamination. So we can become part of Kṛṣṇa's family only when we are free from the material contamination by giving up all designations and remaining in the state of gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor' dāsa-dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ - I am the servant of the servant of the servant of Kṛṣṇa. By executing devotional service one can practice how to become free from these material designations and become fit to enter the family of Kṛṣṇa. This is the process.
vṛndā is the name of tulasī. āraṇya means forest. There are many trees, all of them are desire trees. kalpa-drumā - the desire trees. This is explained in Brahma-saṁhitā: cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa-lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam [Bs. 5.29] These trees and plants are also living beings and they have decided to serve Kṛṣṇa by supplying fruits and flowers. They have become trees by their voluntary desire. In the spiritual world everything is spiritual. The cows, calves, trees, plants - everything is spiritual. They are expansion of Kṛṣṇa's pleasure potency. The vṛndāraṇya or vṛndāvana is not an ordinary forest. Only if we become freed from our material disease, we can realize the divine nature of this forest. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura sings: viṣaya chāḍiyā kabe śuddha ha 'be mana kabe hāma herabo, śrī-vṛndāvana; when my mind will be cleansed of all material desire then I will be able to see what Vṛndāvana is. The first qualification in bhakti is to become free from all material desires. As quoted in Nectar of Devotion:
sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam hṛṣīkena hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate
anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttama
When we do not have any desire for sense gratification, then we are situated in the spiritual platform. Then we will be able to see Vṛndāvana. It is different from material world. There everything is sat-cid-ānanda form—eternal, full of bliss, full of knowledge. The forms are not material. aprākṛta. In material world, the forms are temporary; everything will be finished in due course of time. It undergoes six types of changes. Takes birth, grows, exists, produces by product, dwindles and dies. But for spiritual form such changes are not there. It is sat. Kṛṣṇa is the origin of everything; he is the oldest of all. In Brahma-saṁhitā it is mentioned: ādyaṁ purāṇa-puruṣam nava-yauvanaṁ ca: but His body is like that of a fresh young man. His form is not material. It is eternal. But our material body is not eternal. It is temporary. But we are trying to exist in that body for ever. There is struggle for existence and we are always full of anxieties. So our main business is to get out of the entanglement in this material body. Kṛṣṇa mentions in Bhagavad-gītā: janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam: our real problem is how to get out of this material body which is subject to birth, death, old age and disease; and become fit to go back to Godhead and become one of the associates of Kṛṣṇa in whatever capacity as a servant, friend, or lover.
The Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas follow the footsteps of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and aspire to become one of the assistants of the gopīs. gopī-bhāva-rasāmṛtābdhi-laharī-kallola-magnau muhur - the six gosvāmī's of Vṛndāvana, were all from aristocratic or wealthy families and they were also learned scholors, but they left everything. tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tucchavat. Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī were ministers in the government of Hussain Shah; Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī was the only son of a rich zamindar (landholder) having twelve lakhs of rupees' income. Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī and Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī were great scholars. All of them left their material occupational duties and joined Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's saṅkīrtana movement and were absored in gopī-bhāva-rasa: how to assist the gopīs in serving Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.
Our goal is to become part of the family of Kṛṣṇa. That is not possible if you are sinful. Kṛṣṇa is pure without any material contamination. So we can become part of Kṛṣṇa's family only when we are free from the material contamination by giving up all designations and remaining in the state of gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor' dāsa-dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ - I am the servant of the servant of the servant of Kṛṣṇa. By executing devotional service one can practice how to become free from these material designations and become fit to enter the family of Kṛṣṇa. This is the process.
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