Vṛndāvana Yoga-pīṭha II
In the north petal is Lalitā - ललिता,
the northeast, Viśākhā - विशाखा,
the east, Citra - चित्रा,
the southeast, Indulekhā - इन्दुलेखा,
the south, Campakalatā - चम्पकलता,
the southwest, Raṅgādevī - रंगादेवी,
the west, Tuṅgavidya - तुंगविद्य,
andthe northwest, Sudevi - सुदेवि.
In the next circle of the eight-lotus stem lotus stand:
Anaṅga Mañjarī - अनंग मञ्जरी in
the north,
Subhaṅgadā Sakhī in the east,
Hiranyāṅgi Sakhī in the southeast,
Ratnalekhā Sakhī in the south,
Śikhabatī Sakhī in the southwest,
Kandarpa-mañjarī Sakhī in the west, and
Phūllakalikā Sakhī in the northwestern corner.
Nearest to Radha Govinda in the lotus's keshar (the nucleus) stand:
Rūpa Mañjarī
(in the north), - Rūpa Bābajī
Rasa Mañjarī
(in the east), - Raghunatha Bhatta Bābajī
Rati Mañjarī
(in the southeast), Raghunatha dāsa Bābajī
Guṇa Mañjarī
(in the south), Gopala Bhatta Bābajī
Vilāsa Mañjarī
(in the southwest), Jīva Bābajī
Lavaṅga Mañjarī
(in the west), Sanātana Bābajī
Kasturī Mañjarī
(in the northwest) Kṛṣṇa dāsa Kavirāja Bābajī
The four doorkeepers are:
Sri Muralā Devi (in the north),
Sri Vṛndā Devi (in the east),
Sri Vṛindārikā Devi (in the south), and
Sri Menadā Devi (in the west).
The sadhaka manjari stands with her Guru Devi and Mañjarī -parampara behind Sri
Ananga Mañjarī in the outer petal of the lotus formation.
Outside of the inner lotus formation are consecutive spheres of petals that double
in number beginning with sixteen, thirty-two, sixty-four, and so on, wherein
countless numbers of sakhis belonging to Radha's jutha stand.
The Yoga-pīṭha Puja
At the morning arcana's conclusion (after Radha Krishna's snana, sringara and bhoga offering), their Yogapith manasi-puja is performed. The sadhaka is to meditate on the previously described scene of Nandishwar and Radha Krishna's Yugala milan at Gupta-kund. Beforehand, however, bhuta shuddhi (internal purification) is essential. Because Radha Krishna's pastimes are very confidential, only Radha's sakhis and manjaris witness them. Thus, the sadhaka meditates on his siddha manjari svarupa as prescribed by the Guru. This atma dhyana is described in shastra. In Sri Gopalaguru and Sri Dhyanachandra Goswami's Arcana-paddhatis the following atma dhyana appears:
kiśorī gopa-vanita sarvālaṅkāra-bhūṣitā
pṛthu-tuṅga-kucha-dvandvā catuūṣaṣṭi-guṇānvitā
nigūḍha-bhāvā govinde madanānanda-mohinī
nānā-rasa-kalālāpa-śālinī divya-rūpinī
saṅgīta-rasa-saṁjāta-bhāvollāsa-bharānvitā
divā-niśaṁ mano-madhye dvayoḥ premā-bharākulā
sarva-lakṣana-sampannā bhāva-hāvādi-bhūjitā
guru-prasāda-jananī guru-rūpā-priyānugā
gāndharvikā-sva-yūtha-sthā lalitādi-gaṇānvitā
sva-yūtheśvary-anugatā yāvaṭa-grāma-vāsinī
cintanīyākṛtiḥ sā ca kāma-rūpānugāminī
One should meditate on one's eternal form as Vraja gopa kishori dressed and fully decorated with divine ornaments. Having large breasts and being skilled in the sixty-four arts, the sadhaka manjari shares a deep bhava with Govinda and is Cupid's ananda-mohini (knowing all of the rasa-kalas).
She is an expert singer, and with her divine form, she fixes her mind and serving Radha Krishna both day and night with overwhelming Prema in the Bhavollasa rati mood. Thus the Sadhaka-manjari has all of the bodily attributes like the other gopis, and is decorated with the ecstatic symptoms of bhava, hava and hela.
Guru-kripa is her mother, and by following the Guru-Manjari's orders, she becomes her Priya-sangini. Situated in Gandharva's yutha in the group of Lalita or any other Prana-preshtha sakhi, the Sadhaka-manjari eternally resides in Vraja Mandal in Javat village. Thus one meditates on one's Nitya-svarup following the process of Kamanuga-raganuga-bhakti. (verses 84-88 )
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur has shown a liking for the following verse by Prabodhananda Saraswati, which is also an Atma-dhyan.
dukūlaṁ
bibhrāṇam atha kuca-taṭe kañcuka-paṭaṁ
prasādaṁ svāminyāḥ
sva-kara-tala-dattaṁ praṇayataḥ
sthitāṁ nityaṁ pārśve vividha-paricaryaika-caturāṁ
kiśorīm ātmānaṁ kim iha sukumārīṁ nu kalaye
I meditate on myself as a delicate young girl,
wearing a cloth and around my
breasts a blouse that were given to me as prasada by my Swamini,
who lovingly
gave them to me by her own hand, standing always by her side,
cleverly
performing all kinds of services. (Rādhā-rasa-sudhā-nidhi, 53. quoted in
Bhajana-rahasya).
In the Yogapith puja, one also meditates on the Guru's manjari svarup. In Sri Gopalaguru Goswami's Arcana-paddhati, the following Guru-dhyana is provided:
kṛpā-maranda-sampūrṇām
śuddha-svarṇa-lasad-rucim
kṣīṇa-madhyāṁ pṛthu-śroṇīṁ
kasturī-tilakānvitām
tuṅga-stanīṁ
vidhu-mukhīṁ ratnābharaṇa-bhūṣitām
śoṇṣntarīya-citrendu-jyotsnāmbara-vidhariṇīm
harinmaṇi-cita-svarṇa-cūrikā-madhura-smitām
sīmāntopari-sad-ratnam alakāli-lasan-mukhīm
kiśorīṁ gopikāṁ ramyāṁ
rādhikā-prīti-bhūṣaṇām
sundarīṁ sukumārāṅgīṁ
guruṁ dhyāyet prayatnataḥ
The Guru-manjari's form is dazzling gold and overflowing with the pollen of
divine mercy.
She has a thin waist, large hips, and her forehead is decorated
with black karturi tilak.
Her breasts are large, and her face resembles the
moon.
She is always well-dressed with numerous jeweled ornaments.
Her antariya
lower garment or skirt is golden with a pattern of white stars,
and her outer
garment is cooling white like the moonrays.
Her wrists are decorated with gold
bangles, and above her head is a jeweled mala bordering her contented smiling
face. Thus the sadhaka carefully meditates on her Guru-Devi,
who is a beautiful
kishori-gopa-ramani ornamented with Sri Radhika's affectionate blessings.
After
the sadhaka meditates on Gupta-kunda's madhura setting,
his manjari svarupa,
and his Guru Manjari's svarupa,
then he mentally prepares two separate golden trays that contain
Tulasi, chandan, flowers, garlands, incense and a ghee lamp.
Then she gives the first tray to her Gurudevi who enters the Yogapith mandala.
When she returns after having performed the puja, and arati of Radha Krishna with
the sakhis and manjaris, the sadhaka manjari uses the remaining prasadi paraphernalia
to worship her Gurudevi.
Then, taking her permission, the dasi enters the karnika of the thousand
petaled lotus to begin Krishna's worship. She offers eight Tulasi (combined
with its manjari and dipped in chandan) to Krishnaji's charana padma.
After each Tulasi is offered, one purifies the hands and offers flowers to his
lotus feet.
Then the Sadhaka-manjari anoints Krishna's forehead with chandan and places a
fresh garland around his neck.
Radha's Charana-kamala are worshipped just as Sri Krishna's, and afterwards,
Krishna's prasadi Tulasi and flowers can be placed in Radha's hands or above
her head.
Then Radha Krishna's prasadi garlands, chandan, flowers and Tulasi are used to
worship Ananga Manjari,
the Ashta-sakhis headed by Lalita,
the priya sakhis headed by Kalabati and
Sri Rupa with other manjaris.
Next, the four doorkeepers, headed by Vrinda Devi are worshipped,
followed by
the Sadhaka dasi's manjari-parampara.
Now the sadhaka dasi re-enters the Yogapith Karnika to offer arati to Krishna
and then Radha.
Afterwards, the ghee lamp and other paraphernalia are used to worship all of the Sakhis and Manjaris in the previous order. At the arati's conclusion, the sadhaka manjari returns to view Radha Govinda's spectacular Yogapith lila (standing by the left of her Gurudevi).
Translators note:
This is the abridged version. If a sadhaka desires, he may refers to Gopala-guru
and Dhyanachandra Goswami's Arcana-paddhatis, which provide the mantras
and the bija for the ashta-sakhis and ashta Manjaris to recite them during
the puja.
In these paddhatis, the nitya age, dress, seva and bodily color, etc., of the
above-mentioned Sakhis and Manjaris is described in detail. This form of
Puja is called Mantropasana because its meditation is assisted by
mantras.
The eighteen-syllable Gopala-mantra that includes Krishnaya, Govindaya and Gopijanavallabhaya with its prescribed Kama-bija is the Puja's Ishta-mantra; although, according to one's ruci, Kama Gayatri or other mantras may also be used.
The Yogapith puja is especially recommended for new raganuga sadhakas because it helps one formulate an anugata mood to Radha's foremost Sakhis and Manjaris. By knowing about their particular mood and seva-paripati, the Sadhaka gains insight into how to formulate his own siddha deha and nitya-seva.
At Radha Kunda, the Ashta-sakhis and the ashta manjaris' kunjas are arranged according to the Yogapith pattern, although, Sri Ananga Manjari's kunja is an island in the middle of the kunda. This is described in the Seventh Chapter.
In summary, all of the events described in chapters 2, 3 and 4 all happen within the Pratah's two-hour-and-twenty-four minute period. One could wonder: "How is so much possible within such a short time?" It would seem that Radharani's elaborate cooking arrangement itself would take far more than two and a half hours, what to speak of her morning Rasodgara, bath, dressing, Nandishwar yatra, plus all of the time required for morning bhojan and the Yogapith lila.
Hence, Vrindavan's time factor is inconceivable to our limited perception. Krishna's ashta-kala pastimes are Yogamaya-ashrita (under the jurisdiction of Yogamaya). Today, if someone were to walk from Javat village to Nandagram as Srimati does in the morning, it would take several hours. But for Radharani, however, Yogamaya's lila-shakti makes this journey possible in a few moments only!
Similarly, the Yogapith mandala is the gathering site for millions of gopis belonging to Radha's jutha. Thus, one could wonder: "How is it possible for so many gopis to serve together in one mandir?" here again, the answer is Sri Yogamaya's incredible potency! Yet by Sri Paurnamasi's grace, the sweet madhurya of Krishna's pastimes aren't disturbed in the least. At one instance, as Radha Krishna view the mandir, it appears quaint and small, but when the Yogapith lila reaches a climax, the mandir's size reaches unmeasurable proportion!