BRAHMA TEMPLES, UPANISHAD & BRAHMA SAMHITA
[Compilation by N.R.Srinivasan for a Discourse at Sri Ganesha Temple, Nashville, USA, January 2021]
BRAHMA TEMPLES--TWO ANCIENT BRAHMA TEMPLES IN INDIA
TAVANUR BRAHMA LONE TEMPLE IN KERALA
Mannil Thrikovu temple is located at Tavanur on Kuttipuram – Chamravattam road in Malappuram district, Kerala. The main deity worshipped in the temple is Brahma. It is believed that this is only Brahma temple in Kerala. The shrine is also known as Tavanur Brahma Temple and also as Tavanur Cheru Thirunavaya Brahma temple.
It is believed that Navagrahas, Pancha Bhootas and Nakshatras offer prayers to Brahma here.
Brahma, the creator as per Hindu Puranas, is not widely worshipped in temple due to a curse on Him by Shiva. The most popular Brahma temple is located at Pushkar in Rajasthan.
Thirunavaya in Kerala represents a convergence of the Trimurtis: Brahma, Visnu, Siva. There are three temples here, dedicated to the worship of these divine personalities, therefore the place is considered to be equal to Varnasi.
The Navamukundan Visnu temple is on the right (northern) bank of the Bharathapuzha, while the Brahma and Siva temples are on the left (southern) bank, in Tavanur (Thavanoor) village.
The Brahma Temple here was consecrated by Lord Parasurama, who brought and settled the Brahmins here. Parasurama himself is considered to be a "Brahma-Kshatriya", or one who perfectly balances the duties of both Brahmana and Kshatriya. For this reason, Brahmadeva is said to be Parasurama's guru, and having executed a great yajna here in Tavanur, Parasurama dedicated a temple to his guru, Lord Brahma.
Unfortunately, the Brahma Kshetra is seldom visited today, and no regular worship or festivals are held here. Most devotees and visitors go to the Navamukundan Temple, which is the predominant temple in Thirunavaya. At Navamukundan there is a daily program of worship, including regular Brahma pujas.
Near the Siva Temple sits the famous Vedic Vidyalaya Othanmar Madom, a famous school of Sanskrit and Vedic education associated with Parasurama's colony of Brahmins.
PUSHKAR BRAHMA TEMPLE
Jagatpita Brahma Mandir is a Hindu temple situated at Pushkar in the Indian state of Rajasthan, close to the sacred Pushkar Lake to which its legend has an indelible link. The temple is one of few existing temples dedicated to the Hindu creator-god Brahma in India and remains the most prominent among them; the temple structure dates to the 14th century rebuilt later. The temple is made of stone slabs, it has a hamsa bird motif. The temple sanctum sanctorum holds his consort Gayatri; the temple is governed by the Sanyasi sect priesthood. On Kartik Poornima, a festival dedicated to Brahma is held when large numbers of pilgrims visit the temple, after bathing in the sacred lake. Pushkar is said to have over 500 temples; the structure dates to the 14th century. The temple is described to have been built by sage Vishwamitra after Brahma's yagna, it is believed that Brahma himself chose the location for his temple. The 8th century Hindu philosopher Adi Shankara renovated this temple, while the current medieval structure dates to Maharaja Jawat Raj of Ratlam, who made additions and repairs, though the original temple design is retained.
Pushkar is described in the scriptures as the only Brahma temple in the world, owing to the curse of Savitri, as the "King of the sacred places of the Hindus". Although now the Pushkar temple does not remain the only Brahma temple, it is still one of few existing temples dedicated to Brahma in India and the most prominent one dedicated to Brahma. International Business Times has identified Pushkar Lake and the Brahma temple as one of the ten most religious places in the world and one of the five sacred pilgrimage places for the Hindus, in India. Origins According to the Hindu scripture Padma Purana, Brahma saw the demon Vajranabha trying to kill his children and harassing people, he slew the demon with his weapon, the lotus-flower. In this process, the lotus petals fell on the ground at three places, creating 3 lakes: the Pushkar Lake or Jyeshta Pushkar, the Madya Pushkar Lake, Kanishta Pushkar lake; when Brahma came down to the earth, he named the place where the flower fell from Brahma's hand as "Pushkar".
Brahma decided to perform a yajna at the main Pushkar Lake. In order to perform his yajna peacefully without being attacked by the demons, he created the hills around the Pushkar – Ratnagiri in the south, Nilgiri in the north, Sanchoora in the west and Suryagiri in the east and positioned gods there to protect the yajna performance. However, while performing the yajna, his wife Savitri could not be present at the designated time to perform the essential part of the yajna as she was waiting for her companion goddesses Lakshmi and Indrani. Annoyed, Brahma requested god Indra to find a suitable girl for him to wed to complete the yajna. Indra could find only a Gujar's daughter, sanctified by passing her through the body of a cow. Gods Vishnu and the priests certified her purity as she had passed through a cow, it was her second birth and she was named Gayatri. Brahma married Gayatri and completed the yajna with his new consort sitting beside him, holding the pot of amrita on her head and giving ahuti.
But when Savitri arrived at the venue she found Gayatri sitting next to Brahma, her rightful place. Agitated, she cursed Brahma that he would be never worshipped, but reduced the curse permitting his worship in Pushkar. Savitri cursed Indra to be defeated in battles, Vishnu to suffer the separation from his wife as a human, the Agni, offered the yajna to be all-devouring and the priests officiating the yajna to be poor. Endowed by the powers of yajna, Gayatri diluted Savitri's curse, blessing Pushkar to be the king of pilgrimages, Indra would always retain his heaven, Vishnu would be born as the human Rama and unite with his consort and the priests would become scholars and be venerated. Thus, the Pushkar temple is regarded the only temple dedicated to Brahma. Savitri, moved into the Ratnagiri hill and became a part of it by emerging as a spring known as the Savitri Jharna; the temple, set on high plinth, is approached through a number of marble steps leading to an entrance gate archway, decorated with pillared canopies.
The
entry from the gate leads to a pillared outdoor hall and the sanctum
sanctorum. The temple is built with stone blocks, joined together with
molten lead; the red shikara of the temple and symbol of a hamsa
- the mount of Brahma – are distinct features of the temple. The
shikara is about 70 feet in height; the hamsa motif decorates the main
entry gate. Marble floor and walls inside the temple have been inlaid
with hundreds of silver coins by devotees, as mark of offering to
Brahma. There is a silver turtle in the mandap, displayed on the floor.
Brahma Upanishads & Brama Samhita
There is also a rare Brahma Upanishad which prescribes no rituals echoing Bhagavad Gita. "Abandon
the external rites and rituals, and rest in peace with your soul and
pursuit of its wisdom, the one who does so has understood the Vedas" says Brahmopanishad.
The
origins of the text known as Brahma-samhita are lost in cosmic
antiquity. According to Vedic tradition, these “Hymns of Brahma” were
recited or sung countless millennia ago by the first created being in
the universe, just prior to the act of creation singing of the holy
names of God. The text surfaced and entered
calculable history early in the sixteenth century when it was discovered
by a pilgrim, who is none other than Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, exploring
the manuscript library of an ancient temple in what is now Kerala state
in South India. Prior to the introduction of the printing press, texts
like Brahma-Samhita existed only in manuscript form, painstakingly
handwritten by scribes and kept under Brahmins' custodianship in
temples, where often they were worshiped as Sastra-Deity, or God
incarnate in holy scripture. Even today the tradition continues. We
worship Ramayana and Gita with waving lamps(aarati) and singing their
glory during Navaratri and Gita Jayanti Day!
What
we now have as Brahma-Samhita is, according to tradition, only one of a
hundred chapters composing an epic work lost to humanity. Upon
discovering the manuscript, Sri Chaitanya employed a scribe in
hand-copying the manuscript and departed with the copy for His return
journey to the North. Upon His return to Puri (Madhya-lila, Ch. 11), Sri
Chaitanya presented Brahma-Samhita to appreciative followers like
Ramananda Raya and Vasudeva Datta, for whom Chaitanya arranged copies to
be made. Gradually, Brahma-Samhita was “broadcasted everywhere” and became one of the major texts of the Gaudiya-Vaisnava canon.
BRAHMA UPANISHAD
Brahma Upanishad of Krishna-yajurveda by K. Narayanasvami Aiyar is the English translation of the Brahma Upanishad (belonging to the Krishna-Yajurveda): a minor Sanskrit treatise selected amongst a collection 108 extant Upanishads, dating to at least the 1st millennium BC. The Brahma-Upanishad teaches that the secret of Brahmavidya is to reveal the real nature of the all-pervading Atma. This Upaniṣad gives a complete and clear idea of the nature of Ātmā, that has four avasthās (states of consciousness) and four seats, for the better consummation of the nirguṇa dhyāna.
Brahma Upanishad (Sanskrit: ब्रह्मोपनिषत्) is an ancient Sanskrit text and one of the minor Upanishads. It is among the 32 Upanishads attached to the Krishna Yajurveda, and classified as one of the 19 Sannyasa Upanishads.
The text has been one of the important Upanishads dealing with Hindu renunciation traditions. It discusses Atma (soul) and its four avasthas (states of consciousness) and four seats; the seats for the purpose of achieving Dhyana (mediation) of the Nirguna Brahman (the formless Brahman). It is presented as a conversation between Sage Pippalada and Shaunaka Mahashala. The Brahma Upanishad is notable, in its third chapter, for rejecting all forms of rituals and external religious observations, and declaring the highest complete state of man is one that is dedicated entirely to knowledge.
In the Telugu anthology of 108 Upanishads of the Muktika canon, narrated by Rama to Hanuman, the Brahma Upanishad is listed at number 11. The text is also referred to as Brahmopanishad.
The date or century in which Brahma Upanishad was composed is unknown. Textual references and literary style suggest that this Hindu text is ancient, composed before the Ashrama Upanishad which is dated to the 3rd-century CE.
In Colebrooke anthology of 52 Upanishads, popular in North India, the Brahma Upanishad is listed at number 10. In Narayana's anthology of 52 Upanishads, popular in South India, the Upanishad is listed at 10 as well. In later age compilation collection which was brought out in South India, Brahma Upanishad is part of the 108 Upanishads.
The Brahma Upanishad manuscripts have survived into the modern era in different versions. The divisions and structure of these manuscripts is different, particularly those referred to as "Calcutta and Poona editions", though with similar message. The Telugu versions exist in two very different versions in terms of size, with one recension splitting the text into Parabrahma Upanishad and Brahma Upanishad.
The most studied version of the manuscript consists of four parts, but presented in three chapters. The four parts are structured as two prose sections and two metered poem sections. The prose sections are the most ancient layer in this Upanishad given their archaic Sanskrit style, while the poetic parts likely added at some later time.
The initial portions of the text contain general speculations not renunciation, which has made scholars such as Narayana question whether it belongs in the text. Starting about mid-2nd chapter and all of the 3rd chapter constitute a treatise on the ancient Hindu tradition of renunciation.
The text opens with Shaunaka Mahashala – a wealthy householder, meeting Vedic sage Pippalada, calling human body as the "divine city of Brahman (the Supreme One)", and inquiring about how the human body is constituted, what is the source of power found in human body?
Brahman is the Self in human body
Brahman, states sage Pippala in the text, indeed is the Prana (breath, life-force) and is the Atma (soul). The self's form is the shining Brahman that resides in one’s body giving it a glow, and which controls everything. The Brahman is Prana, and the life of the gods that are the vital sensory organs in human body, their beginning and end.
The Chapter 1 uses many similes using nature to describe how the soul and the human body interact. The Brahman (Atman) leads all these gods within the human body, and they follow him, asserts the text, in a way similar to bees and queen-bee. They do and focus on what the Atman wants. He connects a web with them, and withdraws within itself like a spider. In a similar way, Prana spreads out into arteries in the temple that is human body and also retracts when it wants to. When the human body goes into deep sleep, the Prana retires, just like falcon soars to the skies when he wants to and then goes to his nest to retire.
The soul is not affected by rituals and rites, nor by good or evil, states the Upanishad. This soul (Devadatta) is like a child without desires experiencing joy innocently, he loves the highest light, experiences the joy therein.
Like a caterpillar, which moves from its first grass or leaf abode to the next leaf, puts its foot forward to get a firm footing there before leaving its original abode; the Atman moves to its new abode yet retains a footing in the sleeping body. The Atman, states the text, is the source of the Vedas and the gods.
Both Deussen and Olivelle state that the prose in this chapter and many of the similes are fragments and references to earlier Upanishads, such as Mundaka Upanishad 1.1.7 and 2.2.9, Kaushitaki Upanishad at 4.19, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad in section 4.3, and Prashna Upanishad in 2.4.
Brahman, as the Atman, expresses itself when the man is awake, he is the bird, the crab, and the lotus. While the bird and lotus analogy for the human soul is commonly found in Vedic literature, this is the first and isolated mention of crab analogy, states Deussen. It may refer to a lost Upanishad, or Schrader suggests that the chaotic movements of a crab that is difficult to follow, might be implied in the crab simile here.
The Atman is the higher and lower Brahman, the one inspiring the principle of non-harm (Ahimsa), imbuing consciousness into the gods that are sensory organs, he is the swan, he is the self.
Four states of consciousness
Some South Indian versions of the Brahma Upanishad manuscripts begin here. As Purusha, Brahman has four dwellings or seats which are the navel, the heart, the throat, and the head. From these emanate the four aspects through which Brahman is effulgent. These are the state of wakefulness representing God Brahma; the state of dreaming which denotes God Vishnu; the state of "dreamless sleep" that is Rudra's form; and the "transcendental" imperishable state of Turiyam in which Brahman is supreme.
The Para Brahman (Supreme Brahman) is, states Brahma Upanishad, same as Aditya, Vishnu, Ishvara, Purusha, Prana (human breath, life force), individual Self (soul), and the "god-filled fire inside the Brahman-city of human body" where the highest Brahman shines.
The temple of human body
In the heart are all gods,
In it the vital breaths also,
In the heart is life and light,
And the threefold thread of the world.
— Brahma Upanishad Chapter 2
The shining Brahman state of the Atman has no worlds or non-worlds, no Vedas nor non-Vedas, neither gods nor non-gods, no sacrifices nor non-sacrifices, no mother nor father, no non-mother nor non-father, no relatives no non-relatives, no ascetic nor non-ascetics, neither recluse nor non-recluse, and this one highest Brahman is which shines.
This Atman-Brahman lives in the space of one's heart, but a universe is in it, weaving all we experience. The same soul is ever present in all living creatures, and to know this soul through meditation is to become the highest Brahman. This knowledge is liberation, states the Brahma In this spirit, in this heart, in this consciousness it is.
Renunciation
Put away the sacred thread and shear off the tied tuft of hair on your head, states the text, as it begins its discussion of renunciation Abandon the external rites and rituals, and rest in peace with your soul and pursuit of its wisdom, the one who does so has understood the Vedas. Everything in this universe is interwoven into the Atman-Brahman, like rows of pearls upon a string. It is this string a yogin, who understands the truth of yoga, should wear.
Knowledge is the hair-tuft, knowledge is his sacred thread, knowledge to the renouncer is the highest, states the text. Knowledge is the incomparable means of self-purification, the state of purity, and the means of purification. The Brahmin, translates Deussen, is engaged in Vedic duties wearing the hair tuft and the external sacred thread then doing the ritual works, but it is the one who wears knowledge as his hair tuft and internal sacred thread is the true state of Brahmin.
The Brahma Upanishad then references and includes a fragment from the Shvetashvatara Upanishad chapter 6.11:
The one god, hidden in all the beings,
all-pervading, inner soul of all,
the observer of works, abode of all beings,
witness, knower, alone, without Guṇas.
— Brahma Upanishad Chapter 3
The all-pervading Atman,
Like butter concealed in milk,
In self-knowledge, self-discipline rooted,
Is the final goal of the Upanishad.
— Brahma Upanishad, Closing verses
Self-Knowledge
The sage is within, one's own soul, and those who know this have eternal peace, asserts the text. One should make one's Self as lower churn-stick (fire stick), the Om the upper churn-stick, then rub them through meditation to see the godly latent fire within. Just like there is butter in milk, oil in seeds, water in streams, fire hidden in dormant churn-stick, there is Atman within to be found.
Through meditation and with such wisdom, asserts the text, one's soul unites itself with the supreme soul. This journey is twilight worship.
Brahmopanishad in Atharva Veda
ब्रह्मोपनिषत्
ॐ शौनको ह वै महाशालोऽङ्गिरसं भगवन्तं
पिप्पलादमपृच्छत् । दिव्ये ब्रह्मपुरे सम्प्रतिष्टिता
भवन्ति कथं सृजन्ति कस्यैष महिमा बभूव यो
ह्मषे महिमा बभूव क एषः ।
तस्मै स होवाच ब्रह्मविद्यं वरिष्ठाम् । प्राणो ह्येष
आत्मा । आत्मनो महिमा बभुव देवानामायुः स देवानां
निधनमनिधनं दिव्ये ब्रह्मपुरे विरजं निष्कलं
शुभ्रमक्षरं यद्ब्रह्म विभाति स नियच्छति
मघुकरराजानं माक्षिकवदिति । यथा माक्षीकैकेन
तन्तुना जालं वक्षिपति तेनापकर्षति तथैवैष प्राणो
यदा याति संसृष्टमाकृष्य । प्राणदेवतास्ताः सर्वा
नाड्यः । सुष्वपे श्येनाकाशवद्यथा खं श्येनमाश्रित्य
याति स्वमालयमेवं सुषुप्तो ब्रूते यथैवैष देवदत्तो
यष्ट्याऽपि ताड्यमानो न यत्येवमिष्टापूर्तैः
शुभाशुभैर्न लिप्यते । यथा कुमारो निष्काम
आनन्दमुपयाति तथैवैष देवदत्तः स्वप्न आनन्दमभियाति ।
वेद एव परं ज्योतिः ज्योतिष्कामो ज्योतिरानन्दयते ।
भूयस्तेनैव स्वप्नाय गच्छति जलौकावत् । यथा
जलौकाऽग्रमग्रं नयत्यात्मानं नयति परं संधय ।
यत्परं नापरं त्यजति स जाग्रदभिधियते । यथैवैष
कपालाष्टकं संनयति । तमेव स्तन इव लम्बते
वेददेवयोनः । यत्र जाग्रति शुभाशुभं निरुक्तमस्य
देवस्य स सम्प्रसारोऽन्थर्यामी खगः कर्कटकः पुष्करः
पुरुषः ग्राणो हिंसा परापरं ब्रह्म आत्मा देवता वेदयति ।
य एवं वेद स परं ब्रह्म धं क्षेत्रज्ञमुपैति ॥ १॥
अथास्य पुरुषस्य चत्वारि स्थानानि भवन्ति
नाभिर्हृदयं कण्ठं भूर्धेति । तत्र चतुष्पादं
ब्रह्म विभाति । जागरितं स्वप्नं सुषुप्तं तुरीयमिति ।
जागरिते ब्रह्मा स्वप्ने विष्णुः सुषुप्तौ रुद्रस्तुरीयं
परमाक्षरं आदित्यश्च विष्णुश्चेश्वरश्च स पुरुषः
स प्राणः स जीवः सोऽग्निः सेश्वरश्च जाग्रत्तेषं मध्ये
यत्परं ब्रह्म विभाति । स्वयममनस्कमश्रोत्रमपाणिपादं
ज्योतिर्वर्जितं न तत्र लोका न लोका वेदा न वेदा देवा न
देवा यज्ञा न यज्ञ माता न माता पिता न पिता स्नुष न
स्नुष चाण्डालो न चाण्डालः पैल्कसो न पैल्कसः श्रमणो न
श्रमणः पशवो न पशवस्तापसो न तापस इत्येकमेव
परं ब्रह्म विभाति । हृद्याकाशे तद्विज्ञानमाकाशं
तत्सुषिरमाकाशं तद्वेद्यं हृद्याकाशं यस्मिन्निदं
संचरति वचरति यस्मिन्निदं सर्वमोतं प्रोतं । सं
विभोः प्रजा ज्ञायेरन् । न तत्र देवा ऋषयः पितर रिशते
प्रतिबुद्धः सर्वविदिति ॥ २॥
हृदिस्था देवताः सर्वा हृदि प्राणाः प्रतिष्ठिताः ।
हृदि प्राणश्च ज्योतिश्च त्रिवृत्सूत्रं च यन्महत् ॥
हृदि चैतन्ये तिष्ठति यज्ञोपवीतं परमं पवित्रं
प्रजापतेर्यत्सहजं पुरस्तात् ।
आयुष्यमग्रपं प्रतिमुञ्च शुभ्रं यज्ञोपवीतं बलमस्तु तेजः ॥
सशिखं वपनं कृत्वा बहिःसूत्रं त्यजेद्बुधः ।
यदक्षरं परं ब्रह्म तत्सूत्रमिति धारयेत् ॥
सूचनात्सूत्रमित्याहुः सूत्रं नाम परं पदम् ।
तत्सूत्रं विदितं येन स विप्रो वेदपारगः ॥
तेन सर्वमिदं प्रोतं सूत्रे मणिगणा इव ।
तत्सूत्रं धारयेद्योगी योगवित्तत्त्वदर्शिवान् ॥
बहिःसूत्रं त्यजेद्विद्वान्योगमुत्तममास्थितः ।
ब्रह्मभावमयं सूत्रं धारयेद्यः स चेतनः ॥
धारणात्तस्य सूत्रस्य नोच्छिष्ठो नाशुचिर्भवेत् ।
सूत्रमन्तर्गतं येषां ज्ञानयज्ञोपवीतिनाम् ॥
ते चै सूत्रविदो लोके ते च यज्ञोपवीतिनः ।
ज्ञानशिखिनो ज्ञाननिष्ठा ज्ञानयज्ञोपवीतिहः ॥
ज्ञानमेव परं तेषां पवित्रं ज्ञानमुत्तमम् ।
अग्नेरिव शिखा नान्या यस्य ज्ञानमयी शिखा ॥
स शिखीत्युच्यते विद्वानितरे केशधारिणः ॥ ३॥
कर्मण्यधिकृता ये तु वैदिके ब्राह्मणादयः ।
तैः संधार्यमिद सूत्रं क्रियाङ्गं तद्धि वै स्मृतम् ॥
शिखा ज्ञानमयी यस्य उपवीतं च तन्मयम् ।
ब्राह्मण्यं सकलं तस्य इति ब्रह्मविदो विदुः ॥
इदं यज्ञोपवीतं तु पवित्रं यत्परायणम् ।
स विद्वान्यज्ञोपवीती स्यात्स यज्ञः स च यज्ञवित् ॥
एको देवः सर्वभूतेषु गूढः सर्वव्यापी सर्वभूतान्तरात्मा ।
कर्माध्यक्षः सर्वभूताधिवासः साक्षी चेता केवलो निर्गुणश्च ॥
एको मनीषी निष्कियाणां बहूनामेकं सन्तं बहुधा यः करोति ।
तमात्मानं येऽनुपष्यन्ति धीरास्तेषं शान्तिः शाश्वती नेतरेषाम् ॥
आत्मानमरणिं कृत्वा प्रणवं चोत्तरारणिम् ।
ध्याननोर्मथनाभ्यासाद्देवं पश्येन्निगूढवत् ॥
तिलेषु तैलं दधिनीव सर्पिरापः स्त्रोतःस्वरणीषु चान्निः ।
एवमात्माऽऽत्मनि गृह्मतेऽसौ सत्येनैनं तपसा योऽनुपश्यति ॥
ऊर्णनाभिर्यथा तन्तून्सृजते संहरत्यपि ।
जाग्रत्स्वप्ने तथा जीवो गच्छत्यागच्छते पुनः ॥
पद्मकोशप्रतीकाशं सुषिरं चाप्यधोमुखम् ।
हृदयं तद्विजानीयाद्विश्वस्याऽऽयतनं महत् ॥
नेत्रस्थं जाग्रतं विद्यात्कण्ठे स्वप्नं विनिर्दिषेत् ।
सुषुप्तं हृदयस्थं तु तुरीयं मूर्ध्नि संस्थितम् ॥
यदात्मा प्रज्ञयाऽऽत्मानं संधत्ते परमात्मनि ।
तेन संध्या ध्यानमेव तस्मात्सन्ध्याभिवन्दनम् ॥
निरोदकाध्यानसंध्या वाक्कायक्लेशवर्जिता ।
संधिनी सर्वभूतानां सा संध्या ह्येकदण्डिनाम् ॥
यतो वाचो निवर्तन्ते अप्राप्य मनसा सह ।
आन्नन्दमेतज्जीवस्य यं ज्ञात्वा मुच्यते बुधः ॥
सर्वव्यापिनमात्मानं क्षीरे सर्प्रिवार्पितम् ।
आत्मातपोमूलं तद्ब्रह्मोपनिषत्परम् ।
सर्वात्मैकत्वरीपेण तद्ब्रह्मोपनिषत्परमिति ॥ ४॥
|| इत्यथर्ववेदे ब्रह्मोपनिषत्समाप्ता ||
Brahma Samhita
The Brahma Samhita is Sanskrit Pancharatra text, composed of verses of prayer spoken by Brahma glorifying the Supreme Lord Krishna or Govinda, at the beginning of creation.
It is revered within Gaudiya Vaishnavism, whose 16th-century founder, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1534), rediscovered a part of the work, the 62 verses of chapter five, which had previously been lost for a few centuries, at the Adikesava Perumal Temple, Kanyakumari in South India. Mitsunori Matsubara, in his Pañcarātra Saṁhitās and Early Vaisṇava Theology dates the text at c. 1300 CE. The text contains a highly esoteric description of Krishna in His abode, Goloka.
In 1970, George Harrison produced a modern recording of these prayers performed by devotees of the Radha Krsna Temple in London. Titled "Govinda", the song took its title from the main chorus line of the prayer "govindam ādi-puruṣam tam ahaṁ bhajāmi", meaning "I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord". This prayer was sung by Yamunā Devi, a disciple of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada--Wikipedi
The origins of the text known as Brahma-samhita are lost in cosmic antiquity. According to Vedic tradition, these “Hymns of Brahma” were recited or sung countless millennia ago by the first created being in the universe, just prior to the act of creation singing of the holy names of God. The text surfaced and entered calculable history early in the sixteenth century when it was discovered by a pilgrim exploring the manuscript library of an ancient temple in what is now Kerala state in South India. Prior to the introduction of the printing press, texts like Brahma-Samhita existed only in manuscript form, painstakingly handwritten by scribes and kept under Brahmins custodianship in temples, where often they were worshiped as Sastra-Deity, or God incarnate in holy scripture.
The pilgrim who rescued Brahma-Samhita from obscurity was no ordinary pilgrim, and His pilgrimage was not meant, as is the custom, for self-purification but for world-purification. He was Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu–saint, mystic, religious reformer, and full incarnation of the Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna, descending into the present epoch for the salvation of all souls. At the time of His discovery of the text, Sri Chaitanya was touring South India, preaching His message of love of Krishna and promulgating the practice of Sankirtana, congregational singing praising the glory of God. Sri Chaitanya commenced this tour shortly after becoming a monk (sannyasi), at age twenty four, and the tour lasted approximately two years. After a southward journey from Puri (in Orissa State) that carried Him to holy places such as Sri Ranga-kshetra, Setubandha Ramesvara, and finally Kanyakumari (Cape Comorin), he turned northward and, traveling along the bank of the Payasvini River in Travancore state, reached the temple of Adi-kesava, in Trivandrum district.
Sri Chaitanya’s principal biographer, Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami, writes in Chaitanya-charitamrta (Madhya-lila, Ch. 9) that upon beholding the holy image of Adi-Kesava (Krishna) in the temple, Chaitanya was overwhelmed with spiritual ecstasy, offered fervent prayers, and chanted and danced in rapture, a wondrous sight that was received with astonished appreciation by the devotees there. After discussing esoteric spiritual matters among some highly advanced devotees present, Sri Chaitanya found “one chapter of the Brahma-samhita”. What we now have as Brahma-Samhita is, according to tradition, only one of a hundred chapters composing an epic work lost to humanity. Upon discovering the manuscript, Sri Chaitanya felt great ecstasy and fell into an intense mystic rapture that overflowed onto the physical realm, producing a profusion of tears, trembling and perspiration. (We would search the literature of the world in vain to find a case in which the discovery of a lost book inspired such unearthly exhilaration!) Intuiting the Brahma-Samhita to be a “most valuable jewel,” He employed a scribe in hand-copying the manuscript and departed with the copy for His return journey to the North.
Upon His return to Puri (Madhya-lila, Ch. 11), Sri Chaitanya presented Brahma-Samhita to appreciative followers like Ramananda Raya and Vasudeva Datta, for whom Chaitanya arranged copies to be made. As word of the discovery of the text spread within the Vaishnava community, “each and every Vaisnava” copied it. Gradually, Brahma-Samhita was “broadcasted everywhere” and became one of the major texts of the Gaudiya-Vaisnava canon. “There is no scripture equal to the Brahma-Samhita as far as the final spiritual conclusion is concerned,” exults Krishnadasa Kaviraja. “Indeed, that scripture is the supreme revelation of the glories of Lord Govinda, for it reveals the topmost knowledge about Him. Since all conclusions are briefly presented in Brahma-Samhita, it enjoys an unique status among all the Vaishnava literatures.” (Madhya-lila 9.239-240)
Now, what of the text itself? What are its contents? A synopsis of the Brahma-Samhita is provided by Srila Prabhupada, founder-Acharya of the Krishna consciousness movement, in his commentary to the Chaitanya-charitamrita. It is quoted here in full:
In [Brahma-samhita], the philosophical conclusion of Achintya-bhedabheda-tattva (simultaneous oneness and difference) is presented. It also presents methods of devotional service, the eighteen-syllable Vedic hymn, discourses on the soul, the Supersoul and fruitful activity, an explanation of kama-gayatri, kama-bija and the original Maha-Vishnu, and a specific description of the spiritual world, specifically Goloka Vrndavana. Brahma-Samhita also explains the demigod Ganesa, the Garbhodakasayi Vishnu, the origin of the Gayatri mantra, the form of Govinda and His transcendental position and abode, the living entities, the highest goal, the goddess Durga, the meaning of austerity, the five gross elements, love at Godhead, impersonal Brahman, the initiation of Lord Brahma, and the vision of transcendental love enabling one to see the Lord. The steps of devotional service are also explained. The mind, yoga-nidra, the goddess of fortune, devotional service in spontaneous ecstasy, incarnations beginning with Lord Ramachandra; Deities, the conditioned soul and its duties, the truth about Lord Vishnu, prayers, Vedic hymns, Lord Siva, Vedic literature. Personalizing and impersonalizing, good behavior and many other subjects are also discussed. There is also a description of the sun and the universal forms of the Lord. All these subjects are conclusively explained in a nutshell in this Brahma-Samhita. (Madhya-lila, Vol. 4, p. 37)
In spite of the seeming topical complexity of the text, the essential core of the Brahma-Samhita consists of a brief description of the enlightenment of Lord Brahma by Lord Sri Krishna, followed by Brahma’s extraordinarily beautiful prayers elucidating the content of his revelation: an earthly, beatific vision of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna, and His eternal, transcendental abode, Goloka Vrindavana, beyond the material cosmos. This core of the text stretches through verse twenty-nine to fifty-six, and a brief, subsequent exposition by Lord Krishna on the path of Krishna-bhakti, love of God, brings the text to a close.
The Brahma-Samhita’s account of Brahma’s enlightenment is quite interesting and can be summarized here. When Lord Vishnu (Garbhodakasayi Vishnu) desires to recreate the universe, a divine golden lotus flower grows from His navel, and Brahma is born from this lotus. As he is not born from parents, Brahma is known as “Svayambhu” (“self-existent” or “unoriginated”). Upon his emergence from the lotus, Brahma begins– in preparation for his role as secondary creator–to contemplate the act of cosmic creation but, seeing only darkness about, is bewildered in the performance of his duty. Saraswati, the goddess of learning, appears before him and instructs him to meditate upon the kama-bija mantra (Klim krsnaya govindaya gopijana-vallabhaya svaha), promising that this mantra “will assuredly fulfill your heart’s desire.” Lord Brahma thus meditates upon Lord Krishna in His spiritual realm and hears the divine sound of Krishna`s flute. The Kama-gayatri mantra (Klim kamadevaya vidmahe puspa-banaya dhimahi tan no nangah pracodayat), the “mother of the Vedas,” is made manifest from the sound of Krishna’s flute, and Brahma, thus initiated by the supreme primal preceptor Himself, begins to chant the Gayatri. (As Srila Prabhupada puts it, “When the sound vibration of Krishna’s flute is expressed through the mouth of Brahma, it becomes Gayatri” [teachings of Lord Caytanya, p. 322]). Enlightened by meditation upon the sacred Gayatri, Brahma “became acquainted with the expanse of the ocean of truth.” Inspired by his profound and sublime realizations, his heart overflowing with devotion and transcendental insight, Lord Brahma spontaneously begins to offer a series of poem-prayers to the source of his enlightenment and the object of his devotion, Lord Sri Krishna. These exquisite verses form the heart of the Brahma-Samhita.
There is nothing vague about Brahms’s description of the Lord and His abode. No dim, nihilistic nothingness, no blinding bright lights, no wispy, dreamy visions of harps and clouds; rather, a vibrant, luminescent world in transcendental color, form, and sound–a sublimely variegated spiritual landscape populated by innumerable blissful, eternally liberated souls reveling in spiritual cognition, sensation, and emotion, all in relationship with the all-blissful, all-attractive Personality of Godhead. Here is a sample:
I worship Govinda [Krishna, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor who is tending the cows, yielding all desire, in abodes built with spiritual gems. surrounded by millions or purpose trees, always served with great reverence and affection by hundreds of thousands of Lakshmis or gopis. I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is adept in playing on His flute, with blooming eyes like lotus petals, with head decked with peacock’s feather, with the figure of beauty tinged with the hue of blue clouds, and His unique loveliness charming millions of Cupid.
… I worship [Goloka Vrindavana] … where every tree is a transcendental purpose tree; where the soil is the purpose gem, all water is nectar, every word is a song, every gait is a dance, the flute is the favorite attendant…. where numberless milk cows always emit transcendental oceans of milk.
… I worship [Goloka Vrindavana] … where every tree is a transcendental purpose tree; where the soil is the purpose gem, all water is nectar, every word is a song, every gait is a dance, the flute is the favorite attendant…. where numberless milk cows always emit transcendental oceans of milk.
The commentator reminds us (p. 104) that in the transcendental region of Goloka are found the same elements as are found in the mundane worlds, but in their highest purity and beauty: “… trees and creepers, mountains, rivers and forests, water, speech, movement, music of the flute, the sun and the moon, tasted and taste …” Krishna’s divine abode, Goloka Vrindavana, is a world in the fullest and realist sense.
There are those who will have difficulty with Brahma’s highly graphic and personal depiction of the spiritual world and of the liberated state. Some, for instance, whose conception of transcendence is determined by a certain logical fallacy based on the arbitrary assumption that spirit is the literal opposite of matter (and thus that because matter has form and variety spirit must necessarily be formless and unvariegated), conceive of ultimate reality as some sort of divine emptiness. However, any conception of transcendence that projects or analogizes from our limited sensory and cognitive experience within the material world is, by its very nature, limited and speculative and thus unreliable. No accumulated quantity of sense data within this world can bring us to knowledge of what lies beyond it. Residents of the material world cannot get even a clue of transcendence, argues our Brahma-samhita commentator, “by moving heaven and earth through their organic senses” (p. xix).
The Brahma-Samhita teaches what transcendence, truth, ultimate reality can be apprehended only by the mercy of the supreme transcendent entity the Absolute Truth Himself, and that perception of ultimate reality is a function not of speculative reason but of direct spiritual cognition through divine revelation. This revelation is evolved through bhakti, pure, selfless love of God. Only by such spiritual devotion can Krishna be seen: “I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord … whom the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion tinged with the salve of love” (verse 38). Further, as our commentator explains, “the form of Krishna is visible (to the eye of the pure spiritual Self] in proportion to its purification by the practice of devotion” (p. 75). Bhakti as a state of consciousness, then, is attained through bhakti as a practice, a discipline. For this reason, Lord Krishna in His response to Brahma at the end of the text, summarizes the path or bhakti in five aphorisms. This devotional discipline goes far beyond conventional piety. It necessitates “constant endeavor for self-realization” (verse 59) involving both a turning from worldly, sense-gratification activities as well as sincere absorption in spiritual practices and behavior, under the guidance of authorized scripture. Through such practice, then, the materialist is purified of his tendency toward philosophical negation and comes to understand the nature of positive transcendence.
Others will find Lord Brahma’s vision of the spiritual realm problematic for a related, but perhaps more subjective, emotional reason that goes to the heart of the human condition. There is a kind of ontological anxiety, a conscious or subconscious apprehension about being-ness or existence itself that goes along with embodied life-in-the-world–that accompanies the soul’s descent into the temporal, endlessly changing world of matter. Material bodies and minds are subjected to a huge variety of objective and subjective discomfitures, non-pleasantries, and abject sufferings within the material world. Viewed philosophically, embodied person hood, false-self (Ahnkara), is, to a greater or lesser degree, innately a condition of suffering. Because personal existence has been experienced by materialists as essentially painful, writes Prabhupada in his Bhagavad-gita commentary, “the conception of retaining the personality after liberation from matter frightens them. When they are informed that spiritual life is also individual and personal, they become afraid of becoming persons again, and so they naturally prefer a kind of merging into the impersonal void” (4.10, purport). Entering the path of bhakti, however, such persons can gradually begin to experience their real, spiritual selves and a release from egoistic anxiety. In that purified state, they become able to relish Brahma’s vision of blissful, personal spiritual existence in Goloka.
Still others, however, might criticize Brahma-Samhita on the grounds that the text, being quite specific and concrete in its depiction, merely offers another limited, sectarian view of God and His abode–a view in conflict with other, similarly limited views. Such persons prefer a kind of genericized Deity who doesn’t offend variant theological views with definable, personal attributes. Brahma-Samhita, however, is not a polemic against “competing” conceptions of the Deity (except those, of courses, which would deny His transcendental person hood). Vaishnava tradition does not dismiss images of the Divine derived from authoritative scripture from beyond its own cultural and conceptual borders. It respects any sincere effort at serving the Supreme Person, although naturally it holds its own texts as most comprehensive and authoritative. It promotes neither an arrogant sectarianism that would constrain transcendence to exclusive cultural, ideational, or linguistic forms (and burn a few heretics) nor a syncretistic ecumenism that would try to pacify all claimants on the truth by de-particularizing it into bland vagary. Let the syncretizes and the sectarians come together to appreciate, at least, the aesthetic magnificence of Brahma’s theistic epiphany.
What we are experiencing through Lord Brahma in his Samhita is not mystic hallucination nor quaint mythologizing nor an exercise in pious wishful thinking. We are getting a glimpse, however dimmed by our own insensitivities, into the spiritual world as seen by one whose eyes are “tinged with the salve of love.” We are seeing, through Brahma, an eternal, transcendental world of which the present world is a mere reflection. Goloka is infinitely more real than the shadowy world we perceive daily through our narrow senses. Brahma’s vision of the spiritual realm is not his alone. It is shared by all those who give themselves fully unto the loving service of Lord Krishna– though Brahma admits that Goloka is known “only to a very few self-realized souls in this world” (verse 56). We are not asked to accept Brahma’s account of transcendence uncritically and dogmatically but to avail ourselves of the spiritual discipline, bhakti-yoga, that will gradually lead us to our own experiential understanding of this highest truth. The publishers of this small volume hope that a careful perusal of the text will inspire bhakti in the heart of the reader. It should be noted that Brahma-Samhita is an advanced spiritual text and is more easily understood once one already has some familiarity with texts such as Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Chaitanya-chariramrta, and Bhakti-Rasamrta-Sindhu.
This volume is a new and expanded edition of an English language Brahma-Samhita edition published in India in 1932 by the Gaudiya Math (a Chaitanya-Vaisnava religious institution), with subsequent reprints in 1958 and 1973. These editions featured the English translation and commentary of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami (1874-1937), a great Vaishnava saint and scholar of wide repute and the founder of the Gaudiya Math. It was Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati who inspired the founder and spiritual master of the Hare Krishna movement, his dearmost disciple Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, to journey to and teach Krishna consciousness in the West, beginning in 1965.
As per Srila Prabhupada’s instructions regarding the publication of this volume, Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati’s somewhat technical and sometimes difficult prose has been left intact and virtually untouched. Fearing that any editorial (grammatical and stylistic) tampering with Bhaktisiddhanta’s text might result in inadvertent changes in meaning, Prahhupada asked that it be left as is, and the editors of this volume have complied with his wishes. Only typographical errors have been corrected, capitalization has been standardized, Sanskrit terms in Devanagari script appearing within the English text have been transliterated, and already transliterated terms have been adjusted to international standards.
In this edition, the original Devanagari text is shown for each verse of the Brahma-Samhita-, followed by roman transliteration, then by a word-for-word translation into English. (The original Indian edition lacked the latter two features.) These, in turn, are followed by Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati’s full English translation and commentary. His commentary closely follows that of his father, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura ( 1838-1914), the great Vaishnava saint, reformer, and prolific scholar who initiated a revival of pure Chaitanya-Vaishnavism during the latter part of the nineteenth century.
The Indian edition of Brahma-Samhita included the complete text, in Sanskrit, of the commentary of Jiva Goswami, the great Chaitanya philosopher, but that has been excluded from this edition because, in light of the relative few in the West who would benefit from its inclusion, it was decided that the necessary doubling of the volume’s size and price would be disadvantageous.
In his commentary to the twenty-eighth verse of the text, Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati writes that Lord Chaitanya “taught this hymn to His favorite disciples in as much as it fully contains all the transcendental truths regarding Vaishnava philosophy,” and he asks his readers to “study and try to enter into the spirit of his hymn with great care and attention, as a regular daily function.” His disciple Srila Prabhupada was very fond of Brahma’s prayers to Lord Krishna (… govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami), and there are several recordings of Prabhupada singing these prayers with obvious, intense devotion. The publishers join with the commentator in inviting readers to dive deeply into the sweet, transcendental ocean of Brahma’s hymns as a daily meditation.
PREFACE BY SUIBHANANDA DASA
The materialistic demeanor cannot possibly stretch to the transcendental autocrat who is ever inviting the fallen conditioned souls to associate with Him through devotion or eternal serving mood. The phenomenal attractions are often found to tempt sentient beings to enjoy the variegated position which is opposed to un-differenced monism. People are so much apt to indulge in transitory speculations even when they are to educate themselves on a situation beyond their empiric area or experiencing jurisdiction. The esoteric aspect often knocks them to trace out immanence in their outward inspection of transitory and transformable things. This impulse moves them to fix the position of the immanent to an indeterminate impersonal entity, no clue of which could be discerned by moving earth and heaven through their organic senses.
The lines of this booklet will surely help such puzzled souls in their march towards the personality of the immanent lying beyond their sensuous gaze of inspection. The very first stanza of this publication will revolutionize their reserved ideas when the nomenclature of the Absolute is put before them as “Krishna.” The speculative mind would show a tendency of offering some other attributive name to designate the unknown object. They will prefer to brand Him by their experience as the “creator of this universe,” “the entity beyond phenomena”–far off the reference of any object of nature and void of all transformation. So they will urge that the very fountainhead should have no conceivable designation except to show a direction of the invisible and inaudible untouchable, non-fragrant and unperceivable object. But they will now desist from contemplating on the object with their poor fund of experience. The interested enquire will be found to hanker after the records left by erudite savants to incompatible hallucinate views of savage demonstration. In comparing the different names offered by different thoughts of mankind, a particular judge would decide in favor of some nomenclature which will suit best his limited and specific whims. The slave mentality of an individual will no doubt offer invective assertions to the rest who will be appealing to him for a revelation of his decision. To remedy this evil, the hymns of the accepted progenitor of the phenomena would do great help in taking up the question of nomenclature which is possessed of adequate power to dispel all imaginations drawn out of their experiencing the phenomena by their tentative exploitations.
The first hymn will establish the supremacy of the Absolute Truth, if His substratum is not shot by the bullets of limited time, ignorance and uncomfortable feeling, as well as by recognizing the same as an effect instead of accepting Him as the prime cause. He will be satisfied to mark that the object of their determination is the par-excellent Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna who has eternally embodied Himself in His ever-presence, all blissful, all-pervasive perfected knowledge as the very fountainhead of all prime causes of unending non beginning time, the supplying fostered of all entities, viz., mundane and transcendental.
The subsequent lines will go to determine the different aspects of the Absolute, who are but emanations of the supreme fountainhead Krishna, the attractive entity of all entities. Moreover, the derivative proclamation of the nomenclature will indicate the plane of uninterrupted, unending, transcendental felicity and the nomenclature Himself is the source of the two components which go by the names of efficient and material causes. The very transcendental name “Krishna” is known as the embodiment of all the transcendental eternal rasps as well as the origin of all eclipsed conceptions of interrupted rasps found in the mentality of animated beings which are successfully depicted by litterateurs and rhetoricians for our mundane speculation.
The verses of Brahma-Samhita are a full elucidation of the origination of phenomenal and neotenic conceptions. The hymns of the incarnated prime potency has dealt fully with the henotheistic speculations of different schools which are busy to give an outer cover of an esoteric concoction without any reference to the true eternal aspect of transcendental non transformable and imperishably manifestation of the immanent. The hymns have also dealt with different partial aspects of the personality of the Absolute who is quite isolated from the conception of the enjoyers of this phenomenal world.
A very close attention and a comparative study of all prevailing thoughts and conceptions will relieve and enlighten all–be he a materialist, a downright atheist, an agnostic, a skeptic, a naturalist, a pantheist or a pantheist–busy with their knowledge of three dimensions only by their speculative exertions.
This booklet is only the fifth chapter of the Hymns of Brahma which were recorded in a hundred chapters. The Supreme Lord Sri Chaitanya picked up this chapter from the temple of Adi-kesava at Tiruvattar, a village lying under the government of Travancore, for the assurance of all God-loving, and especially Krishna-loving, people in this conditioned jurisdiction. This booklet can easily be compared with another book which passes by the name of Srimad-Bhagavatam.
Though it has got a reference in the pantheon of Puranas, the Bhagavatam corroborates the same idea of this Pancharatra. The devotees should consider that these two books tend to the identical Krishna who is the fountainhead of all transcendental and mundane entities and has a manifested exhibition of the plenary varigatedness.
Aspersions of calumniation are restricted in the limited world, whereas transcendence cannot admit such angularities being an angle of 180 degrees or void of any angular discrepancies.
The publisher is carried away to the realm of gratitude when his stores of publication are scrutinized. Thakura Bhaktivinoda has given an elucidator purport of the conception of the most sublime fountainhead of all entities in Bengali, and one of his devout followers has rendered that into English for propagator purpose. The purports and the translations are traced to the backgrounds of the writings of Srila Jiva Goswami, a contemporary follower of the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna Chaitanya. The emotional aspirations will find fair play in perusing the texts of this brochure by one and all those have any interest in pure theistic achievements. The materialistic inspection often goes on to say that the provincial conception of theism has made the depicting of transcendental unity into diverse face quite opposed to the ethical consideration of the limited region. But we differ from such erroneous considerations when we get a prospective view of the manifested transcendentalist eliminating all historicity and allegorical enterprises. All our enjoying mood should have a different direction when we take into account the transcendental entity who has obsessed all frailties and limitations of nature. So we solicit the happier mood of the scrutinizers to pay special attention to the importance of manifested transcendence in Krishna.
It was found necessary to publish this small book for the use of English-knowing people who are interested in the acme of transcendental truths in their manifested phases. The theme delineated in the texts of this book is quite different from the ordinary heaps of poetical mundane literature, as they are confined to our limited aspiration of senses. The book was found in the South some four centuries ago and it is again brought into light in the very same country after a long time, just like the worshiping of the Goddess Ganges by the offering of her own water.
--Posted by IndiaDivine.org
Brahma Samhita
Mahatma
Ishvarah paramah krishnah
Sac-cid-ananda-vigrahaha
Anadir adir govindaha
Sarva-karana-karanam
Chintamani prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vriksha-
Laksavriteshu surabhir abhipalayantam
Lakshmi-sahasra-shata- sambhrama-sevyamanam
Govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
Venum kvanantam aravinda-dalayataksam
Barhavatam samasitambuda-sundarangam
Kandarpa-koti-kamaniya vishesha-shobham
Govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
Alola-chandraka-lasad-
vanamalya-vamshi-
Ratnangadam pranaya-keli-kala-vilasam
Shyamam tribhanga-lalitam niyata-prakasham
Govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
Angani yasya sakalendriya-vrittimanti
Pashyanti panti kalayanti chiram jaganti
Ananda-chinmaya-sad-ujjvala- vigrahasya
Govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
Advaitam achyutam anadim ananta-rupam…
Panthas tu
koti-shata-vatsara-sampragamyo
Vayor athapi manaso muni-pungavanam
So 'pyasti yat prapada-simny avichintya-tattve
Govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
Eko 'py asau racayitum jagad-anda-kotim
Yac chaktir asti jadad-anda-caya yad-antah
Andantara-stha-paramanu- chayantara-stham
Govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
Yad bhava-bhavita dhiyo manujas
tathaiva
Samprapya rupa-mahimasanayanabhushaha
Suktair yam eva nigama-prathitaih stuvanti
Govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
Ananda-chinmaya-rasa- pratibhavitabhis-
Tabhir ya eva nija-rupataya kalabhihi
Goloka eva nivasaty akhilatma-bhuto
Govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
Premanjana-cchurita-bhakti- vilochanena
Santah sadaiva hridayeshu vilokayanti
Yam shyama-sundaram achintya-guna-svarupam
Govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
Ramadi-murtishu kala-niyamena tishthan
Nanavataram akarod bhuvaneshu kintu
Krishnah svayam samabhavat paramaha puman yo
Govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
Yasya prabha prabhavato
jagad-anda-koti-
Kotisu ashesha-vasudhadi-vibhuti- bhinnam
Tad brahma nishkalam anantam ashesha-bhutam
Govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
Maya hi yasya jagad-anda-shatani sute
Traigunya-tad-vishaya-veda- vitayamana
Sattvavalambi-para-sattva- visuddha-sattvam
Govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
Ananda-chinmaya-rasatmataya manahsu
Yah praninam pratiphalam smaratam upetya
Lilayitena bhuvanani jayaty ajasram
Govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
Goloka-namni nija-dhamni tale cha tasya
Devi-mahesha-hari-dhamasu teshu teshu
Te te prabhava-nichaya vihitash cha yena
Govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
Srishti-sthiti-pralaya- sadhana-shaktir
eka
Chayeva yasya bhuvanani vibharti durga
Icchanurupam api yasya che cheshtate sa
Govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
Kshiram yatha dadhi
vikara-vishesha-yogat
Sanjayate na hi tatah prithag asti hetoho
Yah shambhutam api tatha samupaiti karyad
Govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
Diparchir eva hi dashantaram abhyupetya
Dipayate vivrita-hetu-samana-dharma
Yas tadrig eva hi cha vishnu-taya vibhati
Govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
Yah karanarnava-jale bhajati sma yoga-
Nidram ananta-jagad-anda-saroma- kupaha
Adhara-shaktim avalambya param sva-murtim
Govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
Yasyaika-nishvasita-kalam athavalambya
Jivanti loma-vilaja jagad-anda-nathaha
Vishnur mahan sa iha yasya kala-vishesho
Govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
Bhasvan yathashma-shakaleshu nijeshu
tejaha
Sviyam kiyat prakatayaty api tadvad atra
Brahma ya esa jagad-anda-vidhana-karta
Govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
Yat-pada-pallava-yugam vinidhaya
kumbha-
Dvandve pranama-samayesa ganadhirajaha
Vighnan vihantum alam asya jagat-trayasya
Govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
Agnir mahi gaganam ambu marud-dishash
cha
Kalas tathatma-manasiti jagat-trayani
Yasmad bhavanti vibhavanti vishanti yam cha
Govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
Yac chakshur esha savita
sakala-grahanam
Raja samasta-sura-murtir ashesha-tejaha
Yasyajnaya bhramati sambhrita-kala-chakro
Govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
Dharmo 'tha papa-nicayah shrutayas
tapamshi
Brahmadi-kita-patagavadhayash cha jivaha
Yad datta-matra-vibhava-prakata- prabhava
Govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
Yas tv indra-gopam athavendra-maho
sva-karma-
Bandhanurupa-phala-bhajanam atanoti
Karmani nirdahati kintu cha bhakti-bhajam
Govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
Yam krodha-kama-sahaja-pranayadi-
bhiti-
Vatsalya-moha-guru-gaurava- sevya-bhavaihai
Sanchintya tasya sadrishim tanum apurete
Govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
Sriyah kantah kantah parama-purusah
kalpa-taravo
Druma bhumis cintamani-gana-mayi toyam amrtam
Katha ganam natyam gamanam api vamsi priya-sakhi
Cid-anandam jyotih param api tad asvadyam api ca
Sa yatra ksirabdhih sravati surabhibhyas ca su-mahan
Nimesardhakhyo va vrajati na hi yatrapi samayah
Bhaje svetadvipam tam aham iha golokam iti yam
Vidantas te santah ksiti-virala-carah katipaye
Source: Musixmatch
APPENDIX
Bhaktivedanta Vedabase Brahma-samhitA
Kṛṣṇa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.
[The spiritual place of transcendental pastimes of Kṛṣṇa is portrayed in the second verse.] The superexcellent station of Kṛṣṇa, which is known as Gokula, has thousands of petals and a corolla like that of a lotus sprouted from a part of His infinitary aspect, the whorl of the leaves being the actual abode of Kṛṣṇa.
The whorl of that transcendental lotus is the realm wherein dwells Kṛṣṇa. It is a hexagonal figure, the abode of the indwelling predominated and predominating aspect of the Absolute. Like a diamond the central supporting figure of self-luminous Kṛṣṇa stands as the transcendental source of all potencies. The holy name consisting of eighteen transcendental letters is manifested in a hexagonal figure with sixfold divisions.
The whorl of that eternal realm Gokula is the hexagonal abode of Kṛṣṇa. Its petals are the abodes of gopīs who are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa to whom they are most lovingly devoted and are similar in essence. The petals shine beautifully like so many walls. The extended leaves of that lotus are the gardenlike dhāma, i.e. spiritual abode of Śrī Rādhikā, the most beloved of Kṛṣṇa.
[The surrounding external plane of Gokula is described in this verse.] There is a mysterious quadrangular place named Śvetadvīpa surrounding the outskirts of Gokula. Śvetadvīpa is divided into four parts on all sides. The abode of Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha are separately located in each of these four parts. These four divided abodes are enveloped by the fourfold human requirements such as piety, wealth, passion and liberation, as also by the four Vedas, viz., Ṛg, Sāma, Yajur and Atharva, which deal with the mantra and which are the bases of achievements of the fourfold mundane requirements. Ten tridents are fixed in the ten directions, including the zenith and nadir. The eight directions are decorated with the eight jewels of Mahāpadma, Padma, Śaṅkha, Makara, Kacchapa, Mukunda, Kunda, and Nīla. There are ten protectors [dik-pālas] of the ten directions in the form of mantra. The associates of the hues of blue, yellow, red and white and the extraordinary potencies bearing the names of Vimala, etc., shine on all sides.
The Lord of Gokula is the transcendental Supreme Godhead, the own Self of eternal ecstasies. He is the superior of all superiors and is busily engaged in the enjoyments of the transcendental realm and has no association with His mundane potency.
Kṛṣṇa never consorts with His illusory energy. Still her connection is not entirely cut off from the Absolute Truth. When He intends to create the material world the amorous pastime, in which He engages by consorting with His own spiritual [cit] potency Ramā by casting His glance at the deluding energy in the shape of sending His time energy, is an auxiliary activity.
[The secondary process of association with Māyā is described.] Ramādevī, the spiritual [cit] potency, beloved consort of the Supreme Lord, is the regulatrix of all entities. The divine plenary portion of Kṛṣṇa creates the mundane world. At creation there appears a divine halo of the nature of His own subjective portion [svāṁśa]. This halo is divine Śambhu, the masculine symbol or manifested emblem of the Supreme Lord. This halo is the dim twilight reflection of the supreme eternal effulgence. This masculine symbol is the subjective portion of divinity who functions as progenitor of the mundane world, subject to the supreme regulatrix [niyati]. The conceiving potency in regard to mundane creation makes her appearance out of the supreme regulatrix. She is Māyā, the limited, nonabsolute [aparā] potency, the symbol of mundane feminine productivity. The intercourse of these two brings forth the faculty of perverted cognition, the reflection of the seed of the procreative desire of the Supreme Lord.
All offspring of the consort of the great lord [Maheśvara] of this mundane world are of the nature of the embodiment of the mundane masculine and feminine generative organs.
The person embodying the material causal principle, viz., the great lord of this mundane world [Maheśvara] Śambhu, in the form of the male generating organ, is joined to his female consort the limited energy [Māyā] as the efficient causal principle. The Lord of the world Mahā-Viṣṇu is manifest in him by His subjective portion in the form of His glance.
The Lord of the mundane world, Mahā-Viṣṇu, possesses thousands of thousands of heads, eyes, hands. He is the source of thousands of thousands of avatāras in His thousands of thousands of subjective portions. He is the creator of thousands of thousands of individual souls.
The same Mahā-Viṣṇu is spoken of by the name of "Nārāyaṇa" in this mundane world. From that eternal person has sprung the vast expanse of water of the spiritual Causal Ocean. The subjective portion of Saṅkarṣaṇa who abides in paravyoma, the above supreme puruṣa with thousands of subjective portions, reposes in the state of divine sleep [yoga-nidrā] in the waters of the spiritual Causal Ocean.
The spiritual seeds of Saṅkarṣaṇa existing in the pores of skin of Mahā-Viṣṇu, are born as so many golden sperms. These sperms are covered with five great elements.
The same Mahā-Viṣṇu entered into each universe as His own separate subjective portions. The divine portions, that entered into each universe are possessed of His majestic extension, i.e., they are the eternal universal soul Mahā-Viṣṇu, possessing thousands of thousands of heads.
The same Mahā-Viṣṇu created Viṣṇu from His left limb, Brahmā, the first progenitor of beings, from His right limb and, from the space between His two eyebrows, Śambhu, the divine masculine manifested halo.
The function of Śambhu in relation to jīvas is that this universe enshrining the mundane egotistic principle has originated from Śambhu.
Thereupon the same great personal Godhead, assuming the threefold forms of Viṣṇu, Prajāpati and Śambhu, entering into the mundane universe, plays the pastimes of preservation, creation and destruction of this world. This pastime is contained in the mundane world. Hence, it being perverted, the Supreme Lord, identical with Mahā-Viṣṇu, prefers to consort with the goddess Yoganidrā, the constituent of His own spiritual [cit] potency full of the ecstatic trance of eternal bliss appertaining to His own divine personality.
When Viṣṇu lying in the ocean of milk wills to create this universe, a golden lotus springs from His navel-pit. The golden lotus with its stem is the abode of Brahmā representing Brahmaloka or Satyaloka.
Before their conglomeration the primary elements in their nascent state remained originally separate entities. Nonapplication of the conglomerating process is the cause of their separate existence. Divine Mahā-Viṣṇu, primal Godhead, through association with His own spiritual [cit] potency, moved Māyā and by the application of the conglomerating principle created those different entities in their state of cooperation. And after that He Himself consorted with Yoganidrā by way of His eternal dalliance with His spiritual [cit] potency.
By conglomerating all those separate entities He manifested the innumerable mundane universes and Himself entered into the inmost recess of every extended conglomerate [viraḍ-vigraha]. At that time those jīvas who had lain dormant during the cataclysm were awakened.
The same jīva is eternal and is for eternity and without a beginning joined to the Supreme Lord by the tie of an eternal kinship. He is transcendental spiritual potency.
The divine lotus which springs from the navel-pit of Viṣṇu is in every way related by the spiritual tie with all souls and is the origin of four-faced Brahmā versed in the four Vedas.
On coming out of the lotus, Brahmā, being guided by the divine potency tuned his mind to the act of creation under the impulse of previous impressions. But he could see nothing but darkness in every direction.
Then the goddess of learning Sarasvatī, the divine consort of the Supreme Lord, said thus to Brahmā who saw nothing but gloom in all directions, "O Brahmā, this mantra, viz., klīṁ kṛṣṇāya govindāya gopī-jana-vallabhāya svāhā, will assuredly fulfill your heart's desire."
"O Brahmā, do thou practice spiritual association by means of this mantra; then all your desires will be fulfilled."
Brahmā, being desirous of satisfying Govinda, practiced the cultural acts for Kṛṣṇa in Goloka, Lord of Śvetadvīpa, for a long time. His meditation ran thus, "There exists a divine lotus of a thousand petals, augmented by millions of filaments, in the transcendental land of Goloka. On its whorl, there exists a great divine throne on which is seated Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the form of eternal effulgence of transcendental bliss, playing on His divine flute resonant with the divine sound, with His lotus mouth. He is worshiped by His amorous milkmaids with their respective subjective portions and extensions and also by His external energy [who stays outside] embodying all mundane qualities."
Then Gāyatrī, mother of the Vedas, being made manifest, i.e. imparted, by the divine sound of the flute of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, entered into the lotus mouth of Brahmā, born from himself, through his eight ear-holes. The lotus-born Brahmā having received the Gāyatrī, sprung from the flute-song of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, attained the status of the twice-born, having been initiated by the supreme primal preceptor, Godhead Himself.
Enlightened by the recollection of that Gāyatrī, embodying the three Vedas, Brahmā became acquainted with the expanse of the ocean of truth. Then he worshiped Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the essence of all Vedas, with this hymn.
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor who is tending the cows, yielding all desire, in abodes built with spiritual gems, surrounded by millions of purpose trees, always served with great reverence and affection by hundreds of thousands of lakṣmīs or gopīs.
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is adept in playing on His flute, with blooming eyes like lotus petals with head decked with peacock's feather, with the figure of beauty tinged with the hue of blue clouds, and His unique loveliness charming millions of Cupids.
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, round whose neck is swinging a garland of flowers beautified with the moon-locket, whose two hands are adorned with the flute and jeweled ornaments, who always revels in pastimes of love, whose graceful threefold-bending form of Śyāmasundara is eternally manifest.
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose transcendental form is full of bliss, truth, substantiality and is thus full of the most dazzling splendor. Each of the limbs of that transcendental figure possesses in Himself, the full-fledged functions of all the organs, and eternally sees, maintains and manifests the infinite universes, both spiritual and mundane.
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is inaccessible to the Vedas, but obtainable by pure unalloyed devotion of the soul, who is without a second, who is not subject to decay, is without a beginning, whose form is endless, who is the beginning, and the eternal puruṣa; yet He is a person possessing the beauty of blooming youth.
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, only the tip of the toe of whose lotus feet is approached by the yogīs who aspire after the transcendental and betake themselves to prāṇāyāma by drilling the respiration; or by the jñānīs who try to find out the non-differentiate Brahman by the process of elimination of the mundane, extending over thousands of millions of years.
He is an undifferentiated entity as there is no distinction between potency and the possessor thereof. In His work of creation of millions of worlds, His potency remains inseparable. All the universes exist in Him and He is present in His fullness in every one of the atoms that are scattered throughout the universe, at one and the same time. Such is the primeval Lord whom I adore.
I adore the same Govinda, the primeval Lord, in whose praise men, who are imbued with devotion, sing the mantra-sūktas told by the Vedas, by gaining their appropriate beauty, greatness, thrones, conveyances and ornaments.
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, residing in His own realm, Goloka, with Rādhā, resembling His own spiritual figure, the embodiment of the ecstatic potency possessed of the sixty-four artistic activities, in the company of Her confidantes [sakhīs], embodiments of the extensions of Her bodily form, permeated and vitalized by His ever-blissful spiritual rasa.
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is Śyāmasundara, Kṛṣṇa Himself with inconceivable innumerable attributes, whom the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion tinged with the salve of love.
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who manifested Himself personally as Kṛṣṇa and the different avatāras in the world in the forms of Rāma, Nṛsiṁha, Vāmana, etc., as His subjective portions.
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose effulgence is the source of the nondifferentiated Brahman mentioned in the Upaniṣads, being differentiated from the infinity of glories of the mundane universe appears as the indivisible, infinite, limitless, truth.
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is the absolute substantive principle being the ultimate entity in the form of the support of all existence whose external potency embodies the threefold mundane qualities, viz., sattva, rajas, and tamas and diffuses the Vedic knowledge regarding the mundane world.
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose glory ever triumphantly dominates the mundane world by the activity of His own pastimes, being reflected in the mind of recollecting souls as the transcendental entity of ever-blissful cognitive rasa.
Lowest of all is located Devī-dhāma [mundane world], next above it is Maheśa-dhāma [abode of Maheśa]; above Maheśa-dhāma is placed Hari-dhāma [abode of Hari] and above them all is located Kṛṣṇa's own realm named Goloka. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, who has allotted their respective authorities to the rulers of those graded realms.
The external potency Māyā who is of the nature of the shadow of the cit potency, is worshiped by all people as Durgā, the creating, preserving and destroying agency of this mundane world. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda in accordance with whose will Durgā conducts herself.
Just as milk is transformed into curd by the action of acids, but yet the effect curd is neither same as, nor different from, its cause, viz., milk, so I adore the primeval Lord Govinda of whom the state of Śambhu is a transformation for the performance of the work of destruction.
The light of one candle being communicated to other candles, although it burns separately in them, is the same in its quality. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda who exhibits Himself equally in the same mobile manner in His various manifestations.
I adore the primeval Lord Govinda who assuming His own great subjective form, who bears the name of Śeṣa, replete with the all-accommodating potency, and reposing in the Causal Ocean with the infinity of the world in the pores of His hair, enjoys creative sleep [yoga-nidrā].
Brahmā and other lords of the mundane worlds, appearing from the pores of hair of Mahā-Viṣṇu, remain alive as long as the duration of one exhalation of the latter [Mahā-Viṣṇu]. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda of whose subjective personality Mahā-Viṣṇu is the portion of portion.
I adore the primeval Lord Govinda from whom the separated subjective portion Brahmā receives his power for the regulation of the mundane world, just as the sun manifests some portion of his own light in all the effulgent gems that bear the names of sūryakānta, etc.
I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, whose lotus feet are always held by Gaṇeśa upon the pair of tumuli protruding from his elephant head in order to obtain power for his function of destroying all the obstacles on the path of progress of the three worlds.
The three worlds are composed of the nine elements, viz., fire, earth, ether, water, air, direction, time, soul and mind. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda from whom they originate, in whom they exist and into whom they enter at the time of the universal cataclysm.
The sun who is the king of all the planets, full of infinite effulgence, the image of the good soul, is as the eye of this world. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda in pursuance of whose order the sun performs his journey mounting the wheel of time.
I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, by whose conferred power are maintained the manifested potencies, that are found to exist, of all virtues, all vices, the Vedas, the penances and all jīvas, from Brahmā to the meanest insect.
I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, who burns up to their roots all fruitive activities of those who are imbued with devotion and impartially ordains for each the due enjoyment of the fruits of one's activities, of all those who walk in the path of work, in accordance with the chain of their previously performed works, no less in the case of the tiny insect that bears the name of indragopa than in that of Indra, king of the devas.
I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, the meditators of whom, by meditating upon Him under the sway of wrath, amorous passion, natural friendly love, fear, parental affection, delusion, reverence and willing service, attain to bodily forms befitting the nature of their contemplation.
I worship that transcendental seat, known as Śvetadvīpa where as loving consorts the Lakṣmīs in their unalloyed spiritual essence practice the amorous service of the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa as their only lover; where every tree is a transcendental purpose tree; where the soil is the purpose gem, all water is nectar, every word is a song, every gait is a dance, the flute is the favorite attendant, effulgence is full of transcendental bliss and the supreme spiritual entities are all enjoyable and tasty, where numberless milk cows always emit transcendental oceans of milk; where there is eternal existence of transcendental time, who is ever present and without past or future and hence is not subject to the quality of passing away even for the space of half a moment. That realm is known as Goloka only to a very few self-realized souls in this world.
On hearing these hymns containing the essence of the truth, the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa said to Brahmā, "Brahmā, if you experience the inclination to create offspring by being endowed with the real knowledge of the glory of Godhead, listen, My beloved, from Me to this science set forth in the following five ślokas.
When the pure spiritual experience is excited by means of cognition and service [bhakti], superexcellent unalloyed devotion characterized by love for Godhead is awakened towards Kṛṣṇa, the beloved of all souls.
The highest devotion is attained by slow degrees by the method of constant endeavor for self-realization with the help of scriptural evidence, theistic conduct and perseverance in practice.
These preliminary practices of devotion [sādhana-bhakti] are conducive to the realization of loving devotion. [Loving devotion]—than whom there is no superior well-being, who goes hand in hand with the attainment of the exclusive state of supreme bliss and who can lead to Myself.
Abandoning all meritorious performances serve Me with faith. The realization will correspond to the nature of one's faith. The people of the world act ceaselessly in pursuance of some ideal. By meditating on Me by means of those deeds one will obtain devotion characterized by love in the shape of the supreme service.
"Listen, O Vidhi, I am the seed, i.e., the fundamental principle, of this world of animate and inanimate objects. I am pradhāna [the substance of matter], I am prakṛti [material cause] and I am puruṣa [efficient cause]. This fiery energy that belongs specially to the Brahman, that inheres in you, has also been conferred by Me. It is by bearing this fiery energy that you regulate this phenomenal world of animate and inanimate objects."
[Thanks to Gopalakrishnan S; Gert Leerdam; Srikanth Kyatham; Srikanta dasa; HH Bhakti Rasamrita Swami; Nilachal; Usha, Kuppuswamy, Vivek, Varsha, Ramani, Rajeswari, Raj, Ramya, Ridhvik, Radha; Bimal Gupta; Jayadharma das; Radhapati Das; Aishwarya Balaraj; Gostabihari das and Mahavisnupriya dasi; Yogendra Sharad Puranik; Indradyumna Swami; Krishna & Family; Thomas; Geetanjali Nath; Mario; Joeie; Susheela and Rama Krishna Reddy Patlolla; Jai Devaki Parks; Ashmi Chakraborty; Hari-kirtana das; Ramesta das; Prasad Buddhavarapu; Harakumara dasa; Kresna Sucandra; Late Mr. S. Sundaram; Esekiel Jaggernauth; Isvari Priya DD & Lokadhyaksa dasa and all others for supporting this text of HH Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder-Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. This is the Content of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc., posted on Google.
