SRI BRAHMA-SAMHITA

Verse 56

sriyah kantah kantah parama-purusah kalpataravo
druma bhumis chintamaniganamayi toyam amrtam
katha ganam natyam gamanam api vamsi priyasakhi
chid anandam jyotih param api tad asvadyam api cha
sa yatra ksirabdhih sravati surabhibhyas cha sumahan
nimesarddhakhyo va vrajati na hi yatrapi samayah
bhaje svetadvipam tam aham iha golokam iti yam
vidantas te santah ksiti-virala-charah katipaye [56]

Translation: That place where the divine goddesses of fortune are the beloved, and Krishna, the supreme male, is the only lover; all the trees are divine wish-fulfilling trees, the soil is made of transcendental gems and the water is nectar; where every word is a song, every movement is dancing, the flute is the dearmost companion, the sunlight and moonlight are divine ecstasy, and all that be is divine and enjoyable; where a great ocean of milk eternally flows from the udders of billions of Surabhi cows, and the divine time is eternally present, never suffering the estrangement of past and future for even a split second—that supreme transcendental abode of Svetadvipa do I adore. Practically no one in this world knows that place but for only a few pure devotees—and they know it as Goloka.

Purport: The place that is reached by the jivas through highest loving service is completely transcendental. Despite that, it is never non-differentiated or without attributes. The non-differentiative plane of Brahman is attained by the jivas through the sentiments of anger, fear and delusion. But the devotees reach the transcendental world of Paravyoma-Vaikuntha or above that, Goloka, according to their individual rasa, or pure devotional heart’s disposition.

In fact, that supreme holy abode of Goloka is Svetadvipa—‘a white, or effulgent, island’—on account of its extreme purity. Persons who attain to the ultimate joy of perfection in pure devotion during their sojourn in this mundane world see the plane of Svetadvipa within Gokula-Vrindavan and Nabadwip in this world. They speak of it as ‘Goloka.’ There in Goloka, in all the beauty of transcendental variegatedness are found the Beloved, Lover, trees, vines, earth (mountains, rivers and forests), water, speech, movement, the flute-song, moon and sun, the enjoyed, enjoyment (the inconceivable wonders of the sixty-four arts), the cows, the nectarine flow of milk and the transcendental time of the eternal present.

Descriptions with the underlying conception of Goloka are found in many places in the Vedas and other scriptures such as the Puranas, Tantras, etc. It is stated in the Chandogyopanisad, sa bruyad yavan va ayam akasas tavan eso ‘ntar hrdaya akasa ubhe asmin dyav aprthivi antar eva samahite ubhav agnis cha vayus cha surya-chandramasav ubhau vidyun naksatrani yach chasyehasti yach cha nasti sarvam tad asmin samahitam iti.

The purport underlying this statement is that, as many facets of variegatedness are found in the mundane world, all these and much more—myriads of excellences—are found in Goloka. The variegatedness and excellences of Goloka are centralized and harmonious, whereas those of the mundane world are disjointed and unharmonious and thus the cause of mixed happiness and unhappiness. The harmonious variegatedness and excellences are pearl-white and full of transcendental ecstasy.

By dint of suddha-bhakti-samadhi, the harmonious centralization of the pure heart filled with divine devotion, the Vedas personified and saintly devotees practising devotion revealed by the Vedas can actually see that holy abode when they look inwards toward the current of the pure consciousness that pervades their devoted, surrendered hearts. By the power of Krishna’s grace, their minute cognitive faculties take on an infinite nature and they attain equal enjoyment with Krishna in the dhama.

There is a deep meaning to the line param api tad asvadyam api cha. Param api indicates that ‘Krishna is the ultimate in the infinite expanse of transcendental ecstasy,’ and tad asvadyam api means ‘even His enjoyable truth.’ The glory of Radhika’s love, the nectarine sweetness of Krishna that Radhika experiences and the joy that Radhika feels from that experience—when Krishna feels the need to taste (asvadyam) these three sentiments of the heart, He becomes golden—Gaura. That golden quality of His is His manifest ecstasy of nectarine service, and this is also eternally present in Svetadvipa.

• For Reader's Appreciation
• Feelings of Appreciation
• Prologue
• Translator's Note
• Illumination
• Verse 1
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• Verse 3
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• Verse 56
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• Verse Contents

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