ब्रह्म संहिता

ब्रह्मसंहिता
संस्कृत व अंग्रेजी अर्थ सहित ।

5.01

ईश्वरः परमः कृष्णः
सच्चिदानन्दविग्रहः
अनादिरादिर्गोविन्दः
सर्वकारणकारणम्

īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
anādir ādir govindaḥ
sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam

Translation:

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.



5.29

चिन्तामणिप्रकरसद्मसु कल्पवृक्ष
लक्षावृतेषु सुरभिरभिपालयन्तम्
लक्ष्मीसहस्रशतसम्भ्रमसेव्यमानं
गोविन्दमादिपुरुषंतम् अहं भजामि

cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa-
lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam
lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānaṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Translation:

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.



5.30

वेणुं क्वणन्तम् अरविन्ददलायताक्षम्
बर्हावतंसमसिताम्बुदसुन्दराङ्गम्
कन्दर्पकोटिकमनीयविशेषशोभं
गोविन्दमादिपुरुषंतम् अहं भजामि

veṇuṁ kvaṇantam aravinda-dalāyatākṣam-
barhāvataṁsam asitāmbuda-sundarāṅgam
kandarpa-koṭi-kamanīya-viśeṣa-śobhaṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Translation:

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.



5.31

आलोलचन्द्रकलसद्वनमाल्यवंशी
रत्नाङ्गदं प्रणयकेलिकलाविलासम्
श्यामं त्रिभङ्गललितं नियतप्रकाशं
गोविन्दमादिपुरुषंतम् अहं भजामि

ālola-candraka-lasad-vanamālya-vaṁśī-
ratnāṅgadaṁ praṇaya-keli-kalā-vilāsam
śyāmaṁ tri-bhaṅga-lalitaṁ niyata-prakāśaṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Translation:

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.



5.32

अङ्गानि यस्य सकलेन्द्रियवृत्तिमन्ति
पश्यन्ति पान्ति कलयन्ति चिरं जगन्ति
आनन्दचिन्मयसदुज्ज्वलविग्रहस्य
गोविन्दमादिपुरुषंतम् अहं भजामि

aṅgāni yasya sakalendriya-vṛtti-manti
paśyanti pānti kalayanti ciraṁ jaganti
ānanda-cinmaya-sad-ujjvala-vigrahasya
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Translation:

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 limof 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.



5.33

अद्वैतम् अच्युतम् अनादिम् अनन्तरूपम्
आद्यं पुराणपुरुषं नवयौवनं च
वेदेषु दुर्लभमदुर्लभम् आत्मभक्तौ
गोविन्दमादिपुरुषंतम् अहं भजामि

advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam
ādyaṁ purāṇa-puruṣaṁ nava-yauvanaṁ ca
vedeṣu durlabham adurlabham ātma-bhaktau
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Translation:

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.



5.34

पन्थास् तु कोटिशतवत्सरसम्प्रगम्यो
वायोरथापि मनसो मुनिपुङ्गवानाम्
सोऽप्यस्ति यत्प्रपदसीम्न्यविचिन्त्यतत्त्वे
गोविन्दमादिपुरुषंतम् अहं भजामि

panthās tu koṭi-śata-vatsara-sampragamyo
vāyor athāpi manaso muni-puṅgavānām
so 'py asti yat-prapada-sīmny avicintya-tattve
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Translation:

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 nondifferentiated Brahman by the process of elimination of the mundane, extending over thousands of millions of years.



5.35

एकोऽप्यसौ रचयितुं जगदण्डकोटिं
यच्छक्तिरस्ति जगदण्डचया यदन्तः
अण्डान्तरस्थपरमाणुचयान्तरस्थम्
गोविन्दमादिपुरुषंतम् अहं भजामि

eko 'py asau racayituṁ jagad-aṇḍa-koṭiṁ
yac-chaktir asti jagad-aṇḍa-cayā yad-antaḥ
aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham-
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Translation:

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.



5.36

यद्भावभावितधियो मनुजास् तथैव
सम्प्राप्य रूपमहिमासनयानभूषाः
सूक्तैर्यमेव निगमप्रथितैः स्तुवन्ति
गोविन्दमादिपुरुषंतम् अहं भजामि

yad-bhāva-bhāvita-dhiyo manujās tathaiva
samprāpya rūpa-mahimāsana-yāna-bhūṣāḥ
sūktair yam eva nigama-prathitaiḥ stuvanti
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Translation:

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.



5.37

आनन्दचिन्मयरसप्रतिभाविताभिस्
ताभिर्य एव निजरूपतया कलाभिः
गोलोक एव निवसत्यखिलात्मभूतो
गोविन्दमादिपुरुषंतम् अहं भजामि

ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhis
tābhir ya eva nija-rūpatayā kalābhiḥ
goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūto
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Translation:

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.



5.38

प्रेमाञ्जनच्छुरितभक्तिविलोचनेन
सन्तः सदैव हृदयेषु विलोकयन्ति
यं श्यामसुन्दरम् अचिन्त्यगुणस्वरूपं
गोविन्दमादिपुरुषंतम् अहं भजामि

premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena
santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti
yaṁ śyāmasundaram acintya-guṇa-svarūpaṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Translation:

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.



5.39

रामादिमूर्तिषु कलानियमेन तिष्ठन्
नानावतारमकरोद्भुवनेषु किन्तु
कृष्णः स्वयं समभवत् परमः पुमान् यो
गोविन्दमादिपुरुषंतम् अहं भजामि

rāmādi-mūrtiṣu kalā-niyamena tiṣṭhan
nānāvatāram akarod bhuvaneṣu kintu
kṛṣṇaḥ svayaṁ samabhavat paramaḥ pumān yo
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Translation:

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.



5.40

यस्य प्रभा प्रभवतो जगदण्डकोटि
कोटिष्वशेषवसुधादि विभूतिभिन्नम्
तद् ब्रह्म निष्कलमनन्तमशेषभूतं
गोविन्दमादिपुरुषंतम् अहं भजामि

yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi-
koṭiṣv aśeṣa-vasudhādi vibhūti-bhinnam
tad brahma niṣkalam anantam aśeṣa-bhūtaṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Translation:

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.



5.41

माया हि यस्य जगदण्डशतानि सूते
त्रैगुण्यतद्विषयवेदवितायमाना
सत्त्वावलम्बिपरसत्त्वं विशुद्धसत्त्वम्
गोविन्दमादिपुरुषंतम् अहं भजामि

māyā hi yasya jagad-aṇḍa-śatāni sūte
traiguṇya-tad-viṣaya-veda-vitāyamānā
sattvāvalambi-para-sattvaṁ viśuddha-sattvam-
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Translation:

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.



5.42

आनन्दचिन्मयरसात्मतया मनःसु
यः प्राणिनां प्रतिफलन् स्मरताम् उपेत्य
लीलायितेन भुवनानि जयत्यजस्रम्
गोविन्दमादिपुरुषंतम् अहं भजामि

ānanda-cinmaya-rasātmatayā manaḥsu
yaḥ prāṇināṁ pratiphalan smaratām upetya
līlāyitena bhuvanāni jayaty ajasram-
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Translation:

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.



5.43

गोलोकनाम्नि निजधाम्नि तले च तस्य
देवि महेशहरिधामसु तेषु तेषु
ते ते प्रभावनिचया विहिताश् च येन
गोविन्दमादिपुरुषंतम् अहं भजामि

goloka-nāmni nija-dhāmni tale ca tasya
devi maheśa-hari-dhāmasu teṣu teṣu
te te prabhāva-nicayā vihitāś ca yena
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Translation:

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.



5.44

सृष्टिस्थितिप्रलयसाधनशक्तिरेका
छायेव यस्य भुवनानि बिभर्ति दुर्गा
इच्छानुरूपमपि यस्य च चेष्टते सा
गोविन्दमादिपुरुषंतम् अहं भजामि

sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir ekā
chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni bibharti durgā
icchānurūpam api yasya ca ceṣṭate sā
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Translation:

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.



5.45

क्षीरं यथा दधि विकारविशेषयोगात्
सञ्जायते न हि ततः पृथग् अस्ति हेतोः
यः शम्भुतामपि तथा समुपैति कार्याद्
गोविन्दमादिपुरुषंतम् अहं भजामि

kṣīraṁ yathā dadhi vikāra-viśeṣa-yogāt
sañjāyate na hi tataḥ pṛthag asti hetoḥ
yaḥ śambhutām api tathā samupaiti kāryād
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Translation:

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.



5.46

दीपार्चिरेव हि दशान्तरम् अभ्युपेत्य
दीपायते विवृतहेतुसमानधर्मा
यस्तादृगेव हि च विष्णुतया विभाति
गोविन्दमादिपुरुषंतम् अहं भजामि

dīpārcir eva hi daśāntaram abhyupetya
dīpāyate vivṛta-hetu-samāna-dharmā
yas tādṛg eva hi ca viṣṇutayā vibhāti
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Translation:

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.



5.47

यः कारणार्णवजले भजति स्म योग
निद्रामनन्तजगदण्डसरोमकूपः
आधारशक्तिम् अवलम्ब्य परां स्वमूर्तिं
गोविन्दमादिपुरुषंतम् अहं भजामि

yaḥ kāraṇārṇava-jale bhajati sma yoga-
nidrām ananta-jagad-aṇḍa-sa-roma-kūpaḥ
ādhāra-śaktim avalambya parāṁ sva-mūrtiṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Translation:

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].



5.48

यस्यैकनिश्वसितकालमथावलम्ब्य
जीवन्ति लोमविलजा जगदण्डनाथाः
विष्णुर्महान् स इह यस्य कलाविशेषो
गोविन्दमादिपुरुषंतम् अहं भजामि

yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya
jīvanti loma-vilajā jagad-aṇḍa-nāthāḥ
viṣṇur mahān sa iha yasya kalā-viśeṣo
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Translation:

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.



5.49

भास्वान् यथाश्मशकलेषु निजेषु तेजः
स्वीयम् कियत् प्रकटयत्यपि तद्वदत्र
ब्रह्मा य एष जगदण्डविधानकर्ता
गोविन्दमादिपुरुषंतम् अहं भजामि

bhāsvān yathāśma-śakaleṣu nijeṣu tejaḥ
svīyam kiyat prakaṭayaty api tadvad atra
brahmā ya eṣa jagad-aṇḍa-vidhāna-kartā
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Translation:

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.



5.50

यत्पादपल्लवयुगं विनिधाय कुम्भ
द्वन्द्वे प्रणामसमये स गणाधिराजः
विघ्नान् विहन्तुम् अलमस्य जगत्त्रयस्य
गोविन्दमादिपुरुषंतम् अहं भजामि

yat-pāda-pallava-yugaṁ vinidhāya kumbha-
dvandve praṇāma-samaye sa gaṇādhirājaḥ
vighnān vihantum alam asya jagat-trayasya
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Translation:

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.



5.51

अग्निर् महि गगनमम्बु मरुद्दिशश्च
कालस् तथात्ममनसीति जगत्त्रयाणि
यस्माद्भवन्ति विभवन्ति विशन्ति यं च
गोविन्दमादिपुरुषंतम् अहं भजामि

agnir mahi gaganam ambu marud diśaś ca
kālas tathātma-manasīti jagat-trayāṇi
yasmād bhavanti vibhavanti viśanti yaṁ ca
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Translation:

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.



5.52

यच्चक्षुरेष सविता सकलग्रहाणां
राजा समस्तसुरमूर्तिरशेषतेजाः
यस्याज्ञया भ्रमति सम्भृतकालचक्रो
गोविन्दमादिपुरुषंतम् अहं भजामि

yac-cakṣur eṣa savitā sakala-grahāṇāṁ
rājā samasta-sura-mūrtir aśeṣa-tejāḥ
yasyājñayā bhramati sambhṛta-kāla-cakro
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Translation:

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.



5.53

धर्मोऽथ पापनिचयः श्रुतयस्तपांसि
ब्रह्मादिकीटपतगावधयश्च जीवाः
यद्दत्तमात्रविभवप्रकटप्रभावा
गोविन्दमादिपुरुषंतम् अहं भजामि

dharmo 'tha pāpa-nicayaḥ śrutayas tapāṁsi
brahmādi-kīṭa-patagāvadhayaś ca jīvāḥ
yad-datta-mātra-vibhava-prakaṭa-prabhāvā
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Translation:

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.



5.54

यस्त्विन्द्रगोपमथवेन्द्रमहो स्वकर्म
बन्धानुरूपफलभाजनम् आतनोति
कर्माणि निर्दहति किन्तु च भक्तिभाजां
गोविन्दमादिपुरुषंतम् अहं भजामि

yas tv indragopam athavendram aho sva-karma-
bandhānurūpa-phala-bhājanam ātanoti
karmāṇi nirdahati kintu ca bhakti-bhājāṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Translation:

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.



5.55

यं क्रोधकामसहजप्रणयादिभीति
वात्सल्यमोहगुरुगौरवसेव्यभावैः
सञ्चिन्त्य तस्य सदृशीं तनुमापुरेते
गोविन्दमादिपुरुषंतम् अहं भजामि

yaṁ krodha-kāma-sahaja-praṇayādi-bhīti-
vātsalya-moha-guru-gaurava-sevya-bhāvaiḥ
sañcintya tasya sadṛśīṁ tanum āpur ete
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Translation:

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.



5.56

श्रियः कान्ताः कान्तः परमपुरुषः कल्पतरवो
द्रुमा भूमिश्चिन्तामणिगणमयि तोयममृतम्
कथा गानं नाट्यं गमनमपि वंशी प्रियसखि
चिदानन्दं ज्योतिः परम् अपि तद् आस्वाद्यम् अपि च
स यत्र क्षीराब्धिः स्रवति सुरभीभ्यश्च सुमहान्
निमेषार्धाख्यो वा व्रजति न हि यत्रापि समयः
भजे श्वेतद्वीपं तम् अहम् इह गोलोकमिति यं
विदन्तस् ते सन्तः क्षितिविरलचाराः कतिपये

śriyaḥ kāntāḥ kāntaḥ parama-puruṣaḥ kalpa-taravo
drumā bhūmiś cintāmaṇi-gaṇa-mayi toyam amṛtam
kathā gānaṁ nāṭyaṁ gamanam api vaṁśī priya-sakhi
cid-ānandaṁ jyotiḥ param api tad āsvādyam api ca
​sa yatra kṣīrābdhiḥ sravati surabhībhyaś ca su-mahān
nimeṣārdhākhyo vā vrajati na hi yatrāpi samayaḥ
bhaje śvetadvīpaṁ tam aham iha golokam iti yaṁ
vidantas te santaḥ kṣiti-virala-cārāḥ katipaye

Translation:

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.


Maharshi
Naga  Madanmohandas ji

Introduction

The origins of the text known as Brahma-samhita are lost in cosmic antiquity. According to Vedic tradition, these “Hymns of Lord Brahma” were recited or sung countless millennia ago by the first created being in the universe, just prior to the act of creation. 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. 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 Caitanya Mahaprabhu - saint, mystic, religious reformer, and full incarnation of the Supreme Lord, Sri Krsna, descending into the present epoch for the salvation of all souls. Sri Caitanya 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).

In spite of the seeming topical complexity of the text, the essential core of the Brahma-samhita consists of Lord Brahma’s extraordinarily beautiful prayers about the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krsna, and His eternal, transcendental abode, Goloka Vrndavana. This core of the text stretches through verse twenty-nine to fifty-six, and a brief, subsequent exposition by Lord Krsna on the path of krsna-bhakti, love of God, brings the text to a close.

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. 

There are those who will have difficulty with Brahma’s highly graphic and personalistic 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 acharyas, “by moving heaven and earth through their organic senses”.

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 Krsna be seen.

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 Krsna - though Brahma admits that Goloka is known “only to a very few self-realized souls in this world”.

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.

Jay Sri Radhe.