Hare Krishna,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev.
The very concept that the all-powerful Supreme Person is unaware of His Godhood, fears His mother, and plays mischievously with His friends is universally delightful.
A number of the childhood pastimes of God, Kṛṣṇa, who, by the act of His own spiritual potency, forgets that He is God and plays like an ordinary child.
These pastimes are described in India's ancient scriptures, which state that although God is infinite, unlimited, and inconceivable, He is ultimately a person.
He manifests in many forms and is mostly worshiped with great reverence. In His original and topmost feature, however, He inspires such intimate, sweet affection in the heart of his dear devotees that, although He enacts astonishing pastimes, both He and they remain unaware of His Godhood.
This is the series "Lord of Sweetness", wherein we were meditating on the sweetness of the Lord and some of the practical lessons that we can learn from the song "Madhurashtakam" composed by Sri Vallabhacarya.
Sri Vallabhacarya compiled more than 40 sweet qualities of the Lord in one bhajan, describing the complete blissful nature of the Lord, his strength, fame, beauty, knowledge, wealth and renunciation.
It shows how simple and easy devotional service can become if we just practice shravanam and kirtanam of these melodious Vaishnava Bhajans. They convey such deep philosophy in such an attractive form.
While writing these offerings, we could relish the sweetness of the Lord's transcendental features. Everything about the Lord is sweet and wonderful to hear.
In the material world, acts like stealing are considered abominable, but when the Lord steals, it is sweet because it is transcendental and not material. Not only Krishna's qualities but everything which is concerning Krishna like Vrindavana and river Yamuna is sweet because they are transcendental.
H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj relishes this bhajan a lot. Maharaj says that in Srimad Bhagavatam, 20% of the verses are related to glorification of Lord's transcendental beauty and remaining 80% of the verses are about improving our behaviour.
And we have heard from devotees that how even in those verses describing transcendental beauty of the Lord, Maharaj would churn out practical lessons which we can apply in our daily lives.
One such verse is 10.21.5 from Srimad Bhagavatam wherein the transcendental beauty of our sweet Lord Krishna, entering the forest of Vrindavana to graze the cows is nicely described.
"Wearing a peacock-feather ornament upon His head,
Blue karṇikāra flowers on His ears,
a Yellow garment as brilliant as Gold,
and the Vaijayantī garland,
Lord Kṛṣṇa exhibited His transcendental form as the greatest of Dancers as He entered the forest of Vṛndāvana,
Beautifying it with the marks of His footprints.
He filled the holes of His flute with the Nectar of His lips,
and the Cowherd boys sang His Glories."
Every life become sweet which dedicate its life to Krishna. Sri Vallabhacharya ends each stanza with "madhuradhipater akhilam madhuraṁ", which means everything is sweet about the Emperor of Sweetness. Those who stay under the shadow of Vaishnavas, are under the shadow of the Lord, and they will certainly be in bliss and sweetness.
THE SONG OF SWEETNESS:
%Music Recommendation: Agam - Madhurashtakam ; For Hindi Version: Adharam Madhuram by Swasti Mehul %
1|| Adharam Madhuram Vadanam Madhuram Nayanam Madhuram Hasitam Madhuram
Hrdayam Madhuram Gamanam Madhuram Madhuradhipate Rakhilam Madhuram ||
1|| Sweet are His lips and His mien is sweet. Sweet are His eyes as His smiles are sweet. Sweet is His heart as His bearing is sweet. The Lord of sweetness is entirely sweet. Lord Sri Krishna is entirely sweet.||
2|| Vacanam Madhuram Caritam Madhuram Vasanam Madhuram Valitam Madhuram
Calitam Madhuram Bhramitam Madhuram Madhuradhipate Rakhilam Madhuram ||
2 ||Sweet are His words as His actions are sweet. Sweet is His dress as His posture is sweet. Sweet is His gait as His gestures are sweet. The Lord of sweetness is entirely sweet. Lord Sri Krishna is entirely sweet. ||
3|| Venurmadhuro Renurmadhuro Vani Madhura Padau Madhurau
Nrtyam Madhuram Sakhyam Madhuram Madhuradhipate Rakhilam Madhuram||
3 ||Sweet is His flute and His foot-dust is sweet. Sweet are His hands, as His blue feet are sweet. Sweet is His dance and His friendship is sweet. The Lord of sweetness is entirely sweet. Lord Sri Krishna is entirely sweet.||
4|| Gitam Madhuram Pitam Madhuram Bhuktam Madhuram Suptam Madhuram
Rupam Madhuram Tilakam Madhuram Madhuradhipate Rakhilam Madhuram||
4 ||Sweet is His song and His pure drink is sweet. Sweet is His food and His sleeping is sweet. Sweet is His charm as His forehead is sweet. The Lord of sweetness is entirely sweet. Lord Sri Krishna is entirely sweet.||
5|| Karanam Madhuram Taranam Madhuram Haranam Madhuram Ramanam Madhuram
Vamitam Madhuram Samitam Madhuram Madhuradhipate Rakhilam Madhuram||
5 ||Sweet are His limbs as His sporting is sweet. Sweet are His guiles as His pranks are sweet. Sweet is His mouth and His resting is sweet. The Lord of sweetness is entirely sweet. Lord Sri Krishna is entirely sweet.||
6|| Gunj Madhura Mala Madhura Yamuna Madhura Vici Madhura
Salilam Madhuram Kamalam Madhuram Madhuradhipate Rakhilam Madhuram||
6 ||Sweet is His pearl and His garland is sweet. Sweet is Yamuna and Her rippling is sweet. Sweet is the stream and the lotus is sweet. The Lord of sweetness is entirely sweet. Lord Sri Krishna is entirely sweet.||
7|| Gopi Madhura Lila Madhura Yuktam Madhuram Muktam Madhuram
Drstam Madhuram Sisam Madhuram Madhuradhipate Rakhilam Madhuram||
7 ||Sweet are His maids and His frolics are sweet. Sweet is His love and His parting is sweet. Sweet are His pets and His leavings are sweet. The Lord of sweetness is entirely sweet. Lord Sri Krishna is entirely sweet.||
8|| Gopa Madhura Gavo Madhura Yastirmadhura Srstirmadhura
Dalitam Madhuram Phalitam Madhuram Madhuradhipate Rakhilam Madhuram||
8 ||Sweet are His mates and His cows are sweet. Sweet is His staff as His creation is sweet. Sweet is His wrath as His graces are sweet. The Lord of sweetness is entirely sweet. Lord Sri Krishna is entirely sweet.||
Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya||
Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya||
Hare Krishna!