24/09/2017 What does it mean to be a Brajbasi?

Part I : The eternal glory of residence in the Dham - Vrindavan Today

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What does it mean to be a

Brajbasi? Part I : The eternal
glory of residence in the Dham
SEPTEMBER 17, 2017 BY JAGAT 1 COMMENT

While in Barsana recently, I was standing in the Ladli temple on the outside terrace portion and someone
appeared to have fainted. An elderly Brijbasi Gosai, with a bushy white moustache, a colorful turban and
yellow silk dhoti, a stick in his hand, was walking toward me. For some reason I was impelled to say
something stupid and started to speak, but my Hindi tongue was tied and could not express, “We must
all pass by that.”
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At the Brajvasi’s insistence I repeated myself again without success and ended up stuttering out the
words andham tamah, “the darkness of ignorance.” Which I knew the instant they came out of my mouth
that they did not fit at all what I really wanted to say, pointless as it was.

The Gusai responded vehemently in a tone of chastisement, but even singing a Brijbhasha song,
glorifying Braj Dham as sat-cit-ananda, and how nothing that happens here can ever be andham tamah
stood there with my head down looking like a stupid schoolboy as he continued, his final word being,
“You are only a beginning Brajvasi.”

Well better a beginner than none at all. But he is perfectly correct. It is not an easy thing, to be a Brajbasi.

The eternal glory of residence in the Dham

Taking shelter of Braja Dham is the ultimate achievement of the sādhaka devotee of Radha and Krishna. It
is the culmination of many lifetimes of devotional practice and culture.

Living in Vrindavan is both the process (sādhanā) and the ultimate goal (sādhya). Of all the 64 sādhanas
listed in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, five are identified as best of all:

śraddhā viśeṣataḥ prītiḥ śrī-mūrter aṅghri-sevane

śrīmad-bhāgavatārthānām āsvādo rasikaiḥ saha
sajātīyāśaye snigdhe sādhau saṅgaḥ svato vare
nāma-saṅkīrtanaṁ śrī-mathurā-maṇḍale sthitiḥ 

“ (1) Faith and special love for serving the Deity,

(2) relishing the topics of the Bhāgavatam in the company of rasikas,
(3) 1keeping the company of saintly persons who share the same devotional aspirations, who
are affectionate and superior to oneself,
(4) chanting the Holy Name, and
(5) living in the region of Mathura, i.e., Braja-mandal.

(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.90-92)

Only in the sādhanā of Braja-vāsa are all five sādhanās possible simultaneously.

On the one hand, it is the easiest of sādhanās, because all it requires is your physical presence in the
Dham, allowing its inherent potency (vastu-śakti) to work its magic on one. In other words, you don’t really
need to do anything else but be there.
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On the other hand, it is the hardest of all because it truly penetrates to the very core of what all bhakti-
sādhanās are about. It is about cracking the hardest nut of all — the ego, the knot that binds us to
material existence. This is what I call the sādhanā of identity. Therefore, the true results of living in Braj is
that one will take delight in devotional practices precisely because that is what one has become, that is
what it means to be a Brajbasi.

This is why Rupa Goswami calls the instruction to reside in the Dham along with executing the other
practices, “the essence of instruction.”

tan-nāma-rūpa-caritādi-sukīrtanānu-
smṛtyoḥ krameṇa rasanā-manasī niyojya |
tiṣṭhan vraje tad-anurāgi-janānugāmī
kālaṁ nayed akhilam ity upadeśa-sāram ||

“ Gradually engaging the tongue in sweetly chanting and the mind in constantly remembering
Krishna’s name, form, pastimes and so on, one should remain in Braj and pass the
remainder of one’s days under the guidance of a passionate lover of the Lord. This is the
essence of all instruction. (Upadeśāmṛta 8; See also VMA 1.30.)

Kālaṁ nayed akhilam, “to pass the remainder of one’s days”, i.e. to stay there forever, indicates that this is
expected to be something that happens at the end of one’s life, as an attempt to finalize the business of
bhakti-sādhanā before it is too late.

So what is the nature and meaning of Braja-vāsa sādhanā? In essence, it is integral to the culture of
rāgānugā bhakti itself, since rāgānugā bhakti truly does focus on the transformation of one’s
identity. Therefore it is no surprise that Rupa Goswami includes residence in Braj as one of the essential
elements of rāgānugā practice:

kṛṣṇaṁ smaran janaṁ cāsya preṣṭhaṁ nija-samīhitam |

tat-tat-kathā-rataś cāsau kuryād vāsaṁ vraje sadā ||
sevā sādhaka-rūpeṇa siddha-rūpeṇa cātra hi |
tad-bhāva-lipsunā kāryā vraja-lokānusārataḥ ||

“ One should live forever in Braj, remembering Krishna and the most beloved associates
who surround him and remaining absorbed in hearing and chanting about them. Here in this
very place, Braj, one should serve the Lord [and the Dham, which is not different from him]

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following the residents of Braj in both the external sādhaka-deha and well as internally in the
siddha-deha, out of the desire to attain their loving mood. (BRS 1.2.295-296)

One has to follow both internal and external exemplars. That is why we often hear the words ānugatya-
maya, it is based in obedience and conscious adherence. There is a very significant psychological truth
involved here, because this dual culture of identity is one that is designed to converge, that is, one attains
psychological harmony of the internal and external selves.

So Rupa Goswami confirms the upadeśa-sāra given by him in the Upadeśāmṛta, but he is making it a
little more clear. Rāgānugā bhakti sādhanā is about identity above all. It is about becoming something
which at present one is not. It is about replacing our material identities, our upādhis, with a new identity,
namely that of a resident of the Supreme Lord’s own abode.

Now Jiva Goswami states here, “If one cannot live in Vrindavan physically, he or she should do so
mentally.” (sāmarthye sati vraje śrīman-nanda-vrajāvāsa-sthāne śrī-vṛndāvanādau śarīreṇa vāsaṁ kuryāt,
tad-abhāve manasāpīty arthaḥ).

This does not really mean that living physically in Braj is optional, but that one should not depend on living
in Braj before beginning one’s rāgānugā sādhanā. But if one is given the grace to come physically to Braj,
then this is the best way to perfect his or her transformation of identity into a Brajabasi. This is because
that sādhanā takes place on an external as well as an internal level, and direct service to the Brijbasi who
is a rāgātmika bhakta in the worldly Vrindavan is the indispensable element.

The threefold nature of residence in the Dham and its goal of is further described by Raghunath Das
Goswami:

anārādhya rādhā-padāmbhoja-reṇum
anāśritya vṛndāṭavīṁ tat-padāṅkām |
asambhāṣya tad-bhāva-gambhīra-cittān
kutaḥ śyāma-sindhau rasyasyāvagāhaḥ ||

“ Not having worshipped the holy dust

that sprinkles from Śrīmatī’s lotus feet;
not having taken shelter of Braja Dhām,

marked with her dainty tread;

not ever having spoken with the souls
so laden with a weighty love for her,

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how foolish those who think that they can plunge

into the secret sea of nectar that is Śyāma!
(Raghunath Das Goswami, Sva-saṁkalpa-prakāśa-stotra, 1, See more commentary at VMA
1.43 )

This verse was sent by Jiva Goswami to Gadadhar Bhatta Goswami precisely for the purpose of wooing
him to Vrindavan, making it clear that (1) he was an adhikāri for Brajavāsa sādhanā, and (2) that it was
necessary for him to act in keeping with that adhikāra if he truly wished to immerse himself in the blissful
ocean of rasa that is the goal of every sādhaka. Without the complete transformation of identity, external
and internal, that is impossible.

So the first thing to understand that Braja sādhanā is an essential element of a sādhanā of identity, which
operates in two dimensions, as do all sādhanās, one external and one internal.

Those who have taken the long road through many lifetimes from a strictly external consciousness
(bahirmukhatā) to Braja-bhāva, are impelled by the search for authenticity in both. This generally means
following an authentic teacher in a tradition or paramparā that teaches such a culture.

Jai Radhe. Part II will follow soon.

Hmaro Dhan Radha Shri Radha Kirtan // Vrindav…

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Shivam • a minute ago

If a human 'feels' that presence inside the heart (which happens when the mind has dissolved
more than 80%) then it doesnot matter whether one is urinating or doing arti during early
morning hours . That is to say, the jnana and karma indriyas are rendered as insignificance as a
robot. Then what is that 'love' which goes beyond the 'dancing lights' of nidhivan, beyond soul-
supesoul and which begins at personal form of God ?
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Shivam • 18 minutes ago

Association with a Brijbasi can also mean association with complete God himself apart
from/rather than partial expansions like a Guru or a devotee who are, never the less, are god-
like themselves as mentioned in BG. By the way, are BG verses actually executable in
vrindavan ? Because, BG was sung in a war setting while dham is all ananda. Even Uddhav gita
of canto 11 SB was sung to a novice if measured from point of view of a braj gopi lest from
Radha herself. So is it spontaneity that works in dham ? A spontaneous response out of love.
Similar to verse 7.19 of BG. Devotional service is verse 18.69 and self management is all about
application of later verses of chapter 12. Or is it that the owner of house/dham has disappeared
leaving behind His aura that seekers relish more while in dham ? Is there any body, a resident of
dham, abled enough to untie visnu/rudra granthis and crossed sahasrar also (which is
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dham, abled enough to untie visnu/rudra granthis and crossed sahasrar also (which is
mooladhara of next evolved being like manu or brahma) just by conducting oneself as per
mannerisms of dham-owner or by gopi-like mannerisms/conduct for which kindly tell if a case
study text exists. Deep Love beyond one's own personality. However, most brajwasis are
contributing to the 3 fold work of God himself which is protection/annihiliation and
reestablishing theory/principles of religion that now a days includes cleaning polluted stuff also
! On second thoughts, if the holy places were so clean what was the need of 'other people' to
come and contribute. Filth promotes preaching ? Manjari to sakhi to complete God-Radha !
Sakha to Being 100% (God) !
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Shivam • 40 minutes ago

one will take delight in devotional practices precisely because that is what one has become,
that is what it means to be a Brajbasi - the beginning symptoms of sense gratification vis-a-vis
love of godhead or dear, very dear, very very dear, rare. Love in advaitism & the gaudiyas' zillion
mannerisms of loving Him through dwait - God and soul (or via supersoul which is vishisht
advaita of ramanujacharya). How about executing sacrifices of chapter 4 while in dham i.e. out
of love of Godhead?
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Prem Nidhi Dasa • 6 days ago

Association with a Brijbasi means association with the Guru , who resides in the Dham,
30according to H.D.Shastri Maharaja.
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