In honour of the disappearance day of Sri Madhavendra Puripad today, we are presenting a verse from the Temple of Love and Affection written by him accompanied by an explanation of the verse by Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj from the upcoming release Amnaya Tattva.
Temple of Love and Affection Verse Twenty-Eight
ayi dīna-dayārdra nātha he
mathurā-nātha kadāvalokyase
hṛdayaṁ tvad-aloka-kātaraṁ
dayita bhrāmyati kiṁ karomy aham
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita: Madhya-lila, 4.197)
“O Lord whose heart is melted with mercy for the distressed! O Lord of Mathura! When shall I see You again? In separation from You, my broken heart reels. O Beloved! What shall I do now?”
The Extremes of Separation from Krishna
Explanation by Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj
Srimati Radharani’s most extreme mood of vipralambha is expressed in this shloka,
ayi dīna-dayārdra nātha he
mathurā-nātha kadāvalokyase
hṛdayaṁ tvad-aloka-kātaraṁ
dayita bhrāmyati kiṁ karomy aham
Her mood here is like someone who was extremely wealthy but lost all of Her wealth and now has no property at all. Ayi dina-dayardra Natha he, She cannot feel Her own property and is calling out to Krishna as though She is very, very poor.
devī kṛṣṇa-mayī proktā rādhikā para-devatā
sarva-lakṣmī-mayī sarva-kāntiḥ sammohinī parā
(Brihad-Gautamiya-tantra)
Radharani is the supreme proprietor of everything—all love, beauty, charm, attachment, wealth, and so on. But in separation from Krishna She feels She has nothing. She cannot feel Her own wealth due to the intensity of Her feelings of separation from Krishna.
She gives up everything, expressing Her feelings to Krishna: “You are My dearmost and I cannot tolerate Your separation. But I cannot say that fully, because I am not getting any hope from You. My dear friend, You have not given Me the wealth of any hope. Ayi dina-dayardra Natha, You are so merciful to whoever is very poor. Can’t You see Me in front of You? I am very, very poor!
“He Mathuranatha, before, You were Vrindavaneshvar, You were Raseshvar, You were Radha Raman—You were the Lord of Vrindavan who filled My heart with joy in our intimate relationship. You were wholesale part of Vrindavan-lila with Myself and all the Vraja-gopis. But now You have left and become the king of Mathura Mandal. Now You are Mathuranath, the Lord of Mathura; not Vrindavananath, the Lord of Vrindavan. What can I say? Kadavalokyase, I want to see You. At least I want to see You. Hridayam Tvad-aloka-kataram, not seeing You has given so much pain to Me, so much pain in My heart. Dayita bhramyati kim karomy Aham, what shall I do now? I do not know; I feel there is nothing I can do. But I also cannot tolerate Your separation. Feeling such extreme separation from You, I cannot leave My body, but I also cannot stay within My body.”
This shloka is the heart-expression of Radharani.
mahābhāva-svarūpā śrī-rādhā-ṭhākurāṇī
sarva-guṇa-khani kṛṣṇa-kāntā-śiromaṇi
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi-lila, 4.69)
“Radharani is Mahabhav Herself, She is the supreme servitor of Krishna.”
Who can express what is in Her heart? Who can feel and express Radharani’s deepest, hopeless mood of separation?
ei śloka kahiyāchhena rādhā-ṭhākurāṇī
tā̐ra kṛpāya sphuriyāchhe mādhavendra-vāṇī
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita: Madhya-lila, 4.194)
Only She Herself could reveal the full depth of Her mood of separation from Krishna. And by Her grace only, Her heart’s expression manifested in this world through the heart of Madhavendra Puri. Madhavendra Puri tasted Radharani’s ecstatic mood of separation through this shloka, ayi dina-dayardra Natha he, as he departed from this world.
śeṣa-kāle ei śloka paṭhite paṭhite
siddhi-prāpti haila purīra ślokera sahite
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita: Madhya-lila, 4.196)
When Madhavendra Puri was leaving his body he constantly recited this shloka and expressed its meaning. Later, Mahaprabhu Sri Chaitanyadev tasted Radharani’s heart-expression through this shloka of Madhavendra Puri.
In Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita it is described that when Mahaprabhu visited the temple of Gopinath in Remuna He was overcome with the mood of vipralambha expressed in this shloka. He recited this shloka only once or twice and then was unable to speak any further.
‘ayi dīna, ayi dīna’ bale bāra-bāra
kaṇṭhe nā niḥsare vāṇī, netre aśru-dhāra
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita: Madhya-lila, 4.201)
He could only say, “Ayi dina! Ayi dina! I am so poor, I have nothing!” Over and over again this was all He could say. Then, crying in this mood of vipralambha, He fainted and fell to the floor in the temple of Gopinath.
kibā gaurachandra ihā kare āsvādana
ihā āsvādite āra nāhi chauṭha-jana
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita: Madhya-lila, 4.195)
“Mahaprabhu tasted the meaning of this shloka and in that way opened the door of Krishna-prem. But no fourth man in this mundane world has tasted this shloka like that. Only Radharani Herself, Madhavendra Puri, and Mahaprabhu Sri Chaitanyadev have tasted the meaning of this shloka.”
This shloka and the description of its manifestation in this world is expressed by Srila Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami in his Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita. So we can also say that Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami himself has given us this shloka. Through his Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita we are getting this shloka and he himself is telling us that no one else can understand this shloka’s meaning. Kaviraj Goswami means that the deepest meanings of this shloka cannot be opened by anyone.
But Kaviraj Goswami himself opened a door to this shloka for us through His Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita. He did not open every door though; He opened one door and gave some nourishment to others through that. There are many other doors to this shloka and he said, “Now I am not telling any more, and what will be will be.” So we can say that he knows the meaning of the shloka perfectly and that he is the fourth man who can taste it, because he knows and is telling us that no one else can taste its meaning.