Prayer 2

HNV Prayer 2

Maṅgalācaraṇam

कृष्णम् उपासितुम् अस्य
स्रजम् इव नामावलिं तनवै
त्वरितं वितरेद् एषा
तत्साहित्यादिजामोदम्
kṛṣṇam upāsitum asya
srajam iva nāmāvaliṁ tanavai
tvaritaṁ vitared eṣā
tat-sāhityādi-jāmodam

To worship Kṛṣṇa, I will compose as a garland for Him a nāmāvali, a set of His own sweet names. This nāmāvali will quickly bestow the types of bliss derived from being with Kṛṣṇa, from poetry about Kṛṣṇa, and from other things that pertain to Him.

kṛṣṇam—Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead; upāsitum—to worship; asya—His; srajam—a garland; iva—like; nāma—of names; āvalim—a series; tanavai—may I compose; tvaritam—quickly; vitaret—is able to bestow; eṣā—this series of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s names; tat-sāhitya-ādi—poetry about Him and so on (or, His association and so on); ja—born of; āmodam—the bliss.

12 Editor’s note: Traditionally, the first line before the invocatory verse was written by a scribe, not by the author. For instance, Purī Dāsa remarks that out of the six manuscripts he consulted for his edition of Sanātana Gosvāmī’s Bṛhad-vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī, the invocatory line has four readings: three manuscripts read “śrī-śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-candrāya namaḥ,” one reads “śrī-śrī-rādhā-kṛṣṇābhyāṁ namaḥ,” another reads “śrī-kṛṣṇāya bhagavate namaḥ,” and yet another reads “oṁ namaḥ śrī-rādhā-madana-gopālāya.” Bengali scribes are known to have taken liberties with texts at the beginning of a work and at the end of a chapter, not to mention the colophon. One word śrī is sufficient, by the rule: dvandvāt paraḥ pūrvo vā śrūyamāṇaḥ śabdaḥ pratyekam abhisambadhyate, “A word that is heard after or before a dvandva compound is joined with each element of the dvandva compound.” (HNV 969 vṛtti). The word śrī placed before a noun stands for śrī-yukta (endowed with splendor) (HNV 947 vṛtti). In all his works (not counting the end of a chapter, etc.), Jīva Gosvāmī used the expression “śrī-śrī” only once (provided it was not added by a scribe): śrī-śrī-caitanya-devaṁ bhagavantaṁ namaskaroti (commentary on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.2). Incidentally, in a dvandva compound, a form of śrī can optionally be used before each word; Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja wrote: śrīmad-rādhā-śrīla-govinda-devau (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi 1.16).

Amṛta—The venerable Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī desired a grammatical system that would use Lord Hari’s names for its technical terms and examples, and he wished to benefit both the Vaiṣṇavas who haven’t studied Sanskrit grammar and those who have studied other Sanskrit grammatical systems. He thus begins his grammar, Hari-nāmāmṛta, elaborating on Laghu-hari-nāmāmṛta-vyākaraṇa, the short collection of sūtras written by his spiritual master, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī.13 Hoping that the book be completed without obstacles, he starts the maṅgalācaraṇa with the word kṛṣṇa. By doing so, he lets us know that the whole book is full of auspiciousness.

A maṅgalācaraṇa is defined in the following way: āśīr namas-kriyā vastu-nirdeśo vāpi tan-mukham, “One invokes auspiciousness (maṅgalācaraṇa) at the beginning of a book by offering benedictions (āśiṣ), by offering obeisances (namas-kriyā), or by defining the subject matter of the treatise (vastu-nirdeśa).” In Śrīla Jīva’s maṅgalācaraṇa, the word kṛṣṇa defines the subject of the treatise, and the last two lines enounce a benediction.

Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead. This is established by the paribhāṣā statement in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam, “Kṛṣṇa, however, is the original Personality of Godhead” (Bhāgavatam 1.3.28). The name “Kṛṣṇa” means that He attracts (ākarṣati) all the moving beings and the nonmoving living entities by His great charm or by His blissful form. According to the rule kṛṣer varṇe (Uṇādi-sūtra 3.4), the name “Kṛṣṇa” is formed when the uṇādi suffix na[k] is applied in the sense of “a color” after the verbal root kṛṣ. But, because uṇādi suffixes are applied variously (sūtra 877), na[k] can also be applied in the sense of “a name.” Thus the word kṛṣṇa can denote either the person named Kṛṣṇa or the black color. The Mahābhārata (Udyoga-parva 71.4) explains the name “Kṛṣṇa” as follows:

kṛṣir bhū-vācakaḥ śabdo
ṇaś ca nirvṛti-vācakaḥ
tayor aikyaṁ paraṁ brahma
kṛṣṇa ity abhidhīyate

“The word kṛṣi means existence [bhū], and the word ṇa means bliss [nirvṛti]. The Absolute Truth, which is the combination of existence and bliss, is called Kṛṣṇa.”

Jīva Gosvāmī explains this verse in a slightly different way in Gopāla-campū (Pūrva 1.3). He says that the word bhū here ends with the suffix [k]vi[p], which has been applied in the sense of bhāva (the meaning of the verbal root). The meaning of the verbal root kṛṣ is ākarṣaṇa (to attract). Moreover, in kṛṣṇa, the uṇādi suffix na[k] is applied in the active voice. Thus the word kṛṣṇa refers to the Absolute Truth who has a humanlike form and who first attracts and then gives bliss. In this regard, Lakṣmīdhara Paṇḍita’s Nāma-kaumudī states: kṛṣṇa-śabdasya tamāla-śyāmala-tviṣi yaśodāyāḥ stanan-dhaye para-brahmaṇi rūḍhiḥ, “The word kṛṣṇa is conventionally the name of the Supreme Brahman whose complexion is dark blue like a tamāla tree and who sucks the breast of Mother Yaśodā.”

In the verb tanavai in Śrīla Jīva’s maṅgalācaraṇa verse, the suffix ai[p] is used in the sense of prārthanā (prayer). The intention here is to indicate that because the name and the possessor of the name are nondifferent, it is impossible to bind the Lord’s names without the Lord’s kṛpā-śakti (mercy potency), just as it is impossible to bind the Lord with rope without the Lord’s kṛpā-śakti, a fact proven by the Bhāgavatam’s statement: kṛpayāsīt sva-bandhane, “Out of mercy He agreed to be bound” (Bhāgavatam 10.9.18). Thus Jīva Gosvāmī prays for the Lord’s mercy.

There is an injunction that one should not engage in useless work. Therefore in the second half of the verse Jīva Gosvāmī describes the results of his endeavor. In the verb vitaret, the suffix yāt has been applied in the sense of śakti (ability), and therefore vitaret means “is able to bestow.” The pronoun eṣā here means “this nāmāvali that I am composing,” and āmoda means “bliss.” The word sāhitya conventionally means “a particular poetic composition.” The word tat-sāhitya thus describes a particular sāhitya related to Lord Kṛṣṇa, that is, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and the word ādi means “other books, including Gopāla-campū, Lalita-mādhava, and Muktā-carita.” Thus the second half of the verse means “This series of names will quickly bestow upon a reader the bliss born of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and of related works.”

Even though each individual name of the Supreme Lord has the innate extraordinary power to bestow spiritual ecstasy, stringing His names into a garland helps one easily keep them around one’s neck, and so this is not a useless endeavor.

Alternatively, tat-sāhitya means “the association of Lord Kṛṣṇa,” ādi means “embraces, pastimes, and so on,” and āmoda means “conjugal pleasure.” Thus the second half of the verse can also mean “This series of names will quickly bestow upon one the conjugal pleasure produced from Kṛṣṇa’s association, embraces, and pastimes.”

Tat-sāhitya can also be derived in the following way: devotional service (bhakti) is called sa-hitā (beneficial) because it is accompanied (sa) by the benefit (hitam) of releasing one from ignorance. The word tat refers to Kṛṣṇa, and thus devotional service to Kṛṣṇa is called tat-sahitā. That which is endowed with pure devotional service is therefore called tat-sāhitya. And so the word tat-sāhityādi refers both to the sacred books on bhakti-rasa (starting from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam) and to the devotees, the worthy recipients of bhakti-rasa. The books are to be studied and the devotees to be served. Thus the second half of the verse can also mean “This series of names will quickly bestow upon one the bliss produced from reading the sacred books on bhakti-rasa and from serving the devotees.”

Just as Satyā can refer to Satyabhāmā, and Bhīma to Bhīmasena, Kṛṣṇa can refer to Kṛṣṇa-caitanya. Thus, by offering a nāmāvali as a garland to Kṛṣṇa-caitanya, Jīva Gosvāmī performs the yuga-dharma by worshiping Lord Caitanya with saṅkīrtana, in line with the following verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:

kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ
sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam
yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair
yajanti hi sumedhasaḥ

“In the Age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of Kṛṣṇa. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Kṛṣṇa Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions.” (11.5.31)