Meditations on Sri Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda

By Sudarshan R Iyengar

"This book is an attempt to explore the metaphorical aspect of the original work of Sri Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda. Gita Govinda is an overtly misunderstood epic love poem depicting intense emotional exchanges between Radha and Krishna mediated by Radha’s confidante - Sakhi.
As one unravels the apparent emotions of love, elation, anxiety, depression, lack of trust etc. one sees hidden layers, revealing deeper spiritual processes in the life of a sincere seeker. The Meditations in this book are an attempt to present that esoteric journey of a sadhaka, his relationship with his Lord and the role of a Guru, as seen through the eyes of the epic work."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Giri Trading Agency Private Limited
• Release date: May 31, 2021
• ISBN: 9788179508671

Sudarshan R Iyengar

Sudarshan R Iyengar is a banking technologist by day, and a creative seeker at all times. He sees life as an extraordinary opportunity to learn, explore and share.Even as young he used to be very intrigued by the mysteries of life. His questioning mind led to him to his first spiritual Guru Sri Paramahansa Yogananda through His book “Autobiography of a Yogi”. This changed his life forever.Under the guidance of his Vedanta and Srividya Guru Swami Shantananda Saraswati, he received deeper insights. The profound experiences in and of life have given him a deep spiritual understanding. He believes if one is willing to receive, life can be a series of awakenings. Sudarshan loves learning and finds joy in sharing his knowledge and experiences to whoever seeks him out.e-mail: [e-mail]

Book preview

To my Mother, my first Guru

My first impression of Krishna and Radha was from her painting (appearing in the book cover)

Contents

To my Mother, my first Guru

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Krishna, My Darling Beloved, by Radha

PREFACE

SYMOBLISM IN THE WORK

THE SAINT AND HIS WORK

INVOCATION

MEDITATION 1

ASHTAPADI 1

ASHTAPADI 2

ASHTAPADI 3

ASHTAPADI 4

MEDITATION 2

ASHTAPADI 5

ASHTAPADI 6

MEDITATION 3

ASHTAPADI 7

MEDITATION 4

ASHTAPADI 8

ASHTAPADI 9

MEDITATION 5

ASHTAPADI 10

ASHTAPADI 11

MEDITATION 6

ASHTAPADI 12

MEDITATION 7

ASHTAPADI 13

ASHTAPADI 14

ASHTAPADI 15

ASHTAPADI 16

MEDITATION 8

ASHTAPADI 17

MEDITATION 9

ASHTAPADI 18

MEDITATION 10

ASHTAPADI 19

MEDITATION 11

ASHTAPADI 20

ASHTAPADI 21

ASHTAPADI 22

MEDITATION 12

ASHTAPADI 23

ASHTAPADI 24

REFERENCES

About the Author

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My Guru (Swami Shantananda Saraswati) who always operates from within me, guides and leads me in every way. Every inspiration and every learning is His grace.

My wife, spiritual partner, Kavitha, for always being by my side in all that I do. Her unconditional love, her patience and support is what enables me to stay inspired and explore life. Thank you for being here for me. Thank you for the cover design and the help with the visuals in the book.

Our daughter, Anjali, who has been the motivating inspiration for me to do this work. Divine grace brought her into our life, and she’s been a blessing for us ever since. Thank you for adding colour and purpose to our lives, little one.

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Krishna, My Darling Beloved, by Radha

(excerpts from the book by Swami Shantananda Saraswati)

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Radha dear, number 8 is my favorite number. Ashtami (8th) is my birthday. My unmanifested form is one timeless eternity. My manifested form is 8 in number – the cosmic intelligence, cosmic mind, cosmic life force (prana), the five great elements that make up the material universe. In the individual human being, I manifest as intelligence, mind, prana and the material body made up of 5 elements. Deep within the core of the 8, I shine as light. I am the power behind the intelligence, power behind the mind, prana and the five elements. Behind the macro-cosmos I am known as Paramatma and behind the human being (micro-cosmos) I am known as Atma.

A circle is a perfect figure (poornam) in nature. Number 8 is formed by two circles, touching each other at the tip, one above and one below. The perfect circle above is Me, the all-pervading light of lights. And the circle below is the manifested universe which is also perfect. So, the seer of the Ishavasya Upanishad claimed in wonder : poornam adam poornam idam poornaat poornam udachyate, poornasya poornam aadayaa poornam evaa vasishyate. Krishna represents the poornam (circle) above while Radha represents the poornam (circle) below

Raas Leela : Gopis, including Radha who is a gopi, and Krishna, there are a total of 96 gopis who were part of the Raas Leela. This in reality takes place in all the sapta lokas (7 planes - bhur, bhuva, suvaha, mahar, jana, tapa, satya):

Bhu loka raas – 16 gopis, 1 Radha and 1 Krishna

Bhuvar loka raas – 16 gopis, 1 Radha but Krishna holding Radha around her hips and they dance together

Swarga loka raas – 16 gopis and Radha-Krishna dance together hugging each other

Mahar loka raas – 16 gopis, Radha-Krishna, sometimes Radha looks like Krishna and sometime Krishna looks like Radha

Jana loka raas – 16 gopis, Radha-Krishna growing in luminous intensity

Tapa loka raas – 16 gopis look like luminous figures ecstatically dancing

Satya loka raas – Radha’s physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual personalities coalesce with Krishna’s total personality – the micro (Radha) and the macro (Krishna) both disappear. Radha-Krishna with the centre and gopis in the circle become one mass of effulgence.

Thus Raas Leela with different dimensions go on and on till the end of the world when every soul here attains moksha.

In love, longing for each other is a sweet pain as much and as good as uniting physically in a tight embrace. Only those who are in love can understand these emotions. Love emotions are a peculiar blend of divine and human bondage inexpressible and inconceivable. Lalita, my dear sakhi, it is you as a sakhi through Jayadeva’s Gita Govindam taught this to the world. In innumerable ways you have guided me to bring me and Krishna to this immortal union. I consider you as my beloved Guru.

Lalita, in this long pilgrimage ‘I love him, I love her, I’m the Guru, I’m the disciple, I’m the devotee, I’m the deity’, all these relationships fuse into one inexpressible sweetness and inconceivable sweet pain. These experiences manifest as anger, moodiness, restlessness without a reason, sometimes screaming, sometimes laughing to oneself.

All that is not an emotion, it is not a feeling, it is not a sweet sentiment, it is not sensual attraction – Love is, when one is in Love!

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PREFACE

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sri krishna govinda sri naatha deva |

namaskaara saashtaanga sri vasudeva ||

|| jaya radhika krishna ||

Rishis of the Taittireeya Upanishad proclaim raso vai saha – the Universal Being is the embodiment of pure Rasa (Love). Paramatma, the ever blissful, is the cause of bliss, the source of bliss, and the path to bliss.

One of the greatest known Advaitins, Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharishi, expressing the same dictum, said, The Self is the heart, self-luminous; illumination rises from the heart. If one realizes at the heart what one’s true nature is, one will find that infinite wisdom, truth and bliss, without beginning and end.

The 15th century mystic and poet Saint Kabir, pours out the same universal truth when he says, Love is not grown in the fields or sold in the market; whoever wants it has to surrender his mind. One has to move beyond the ephemeral bubbles of physical-love and get connected with their own Source.

Such were the people of God, who were established in the realization of God as Rasa or Pure Love. When the love which is experienced in human emotions, matures into the ambrosia of surrender and acceptance, one experiences a mystical oneness with the Eternal. Emotion then transforms into Devotion (Bhakti). When that happens, the apparent duality of the individual and the universal ceases to exist and the devotee (Bhakta) experiences his Lord as a part of himself.

Bhakti and Jnyana are two sides of the same coin – both arise in the heart space (dahar-aakaasha). Bhakti is born as an emotion and transforms into Devotion, while Jnyana springs as knowledge and understanding and gets established as Realization. One cannot be without the other. True Bhakti confers Jnyana (knowledge of the true, sole, indivisible Self) while dawn of Jnyana evokes deep Bhakti and surrender in the sadhaka.

One such great