Ananda Vmdavana Campu

    by Shrila Kavi-karnapura

Ananda Vmdavana Campu is a fifteenth century poetic master­piece
describing the blissful pastimes of Krishna in Vrndavana.

Copyright © 1999 Ananda Vrndavana Campu  by Mahanidhi Swami All rights  reserved

Translators: Bhanu Swami & Subhag Swami English Editor: Mahanidhi Swami

Gandharvika-Giridhari ki jai!

 

Dedication

 

This English edition of Ananda Vmdavana Campu is dedicated to the lotus  feet of my beloved spiritual master His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta  Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acarya of the International Society for Krishna  Consciousness.    Shrila Prabhupada often glorified Shri Kavi-karnapura and  others in our exalted line of enlightened acaryas with such phrases as,  "they were great and renowned scholars and devotees of the Lord who have  prepared vo­luminous books and literature on the life and precepts of the  Lord. Such literatures are all based on the sastras. They are unique in  composition and unrivaled in presentation, and they are full of  transcendental knowl­edge.         /

 

"Unfortunately, the people of the world are still ignorant of them. But  when these literatures {e.g. Ananda [ VrandavanaCampu0,} which are mostly  in Sanskrit and Bengali, come to light in the world, and when they are  presented before thinking people, then India's glory and the message of  love will overflood this morbid world, which is vainly searching after  peace and prosperity by various illusory methods." (Bhag. Intro)

 

Acknowledgements

First I thank my Godbrothers Bhanu Maharaja and Subhag Maharaja for  expertly translating this book into English in order to fulfill my desire  to present this matchless gem to the devotees. Secondly, I thank Bhakti-ballabha Puri Gosvami Maharaja, my dear  Godbrother, who kindly donated to print the book. By his generosity,  Locana dasa Thakura's Chaitanya Mangala (1994) and Kavi-karnapura's Ananda  Vmdavana Campu, two of the greatest Gaudiya Vaishnava clas­sics, have been  printed for the pleasure of the English speaking world. I also thank  Shrikara Prabhu, another Godbrother, for designing a most taste­ful and  attractive cover. Surely all the devotees will bless these sincere  Godbrothers for their selfless service. I also thank Atmanivedana Dasa for arranging the text layout, and Vaisnavi  Dasi who helped proofread the manuscript. I also very much appreciate the  assistance given by other devotees who helped in various ways to produce  this book. I sincerely pray that Gandharvika-Giridhari will bless all  these wonderful devotees with Vraja prema-bhaktil

 

  Biography

of Shrila Kavi-karnapura

 

chaitanya-dasa, ramadasa, ara karnapura

tina putra sivanandera prabhura  bhakta-sura

 

"The three sons of Sivananda Sena, named Chaitanya dasa, Ramadasa and  Karnapura, were all heroic devotees of Lord Chaitanya." (Cc. Adi 10.62)

Kavi-karnapura and his illustrious father, Sivananda Sena, are both  eter­nal associates of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Kavi-karnapura took diksa  from Shrinatha Pandita, a disciple of Shri Advaita Acarya. In the Gaudiya  Vaishnava Abhidana and in Grantha-ratna pancakam it states that  Kavi-karnapura's eternal identity in Vraja is a sakhi named  Gunacuda-sakhi. "It is stated in Gaura-ganoddesh dipika (145) that the two  famous par­rots named Daksa and Vicaksana in Krishna lild became the elder  brothers of Kavi-karnapura, namely, Chaitanya dasa and Ramadasa.  Kavi-karnapura, the third son, who was also known as Paramananda dasa or  Puri dasa." (Cc. Adi 10.62 p.)

 

"Sivananda Sena introduced his three sons to Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.  Because they were his sons, the Lord showed the boys great mercy. Lord  Chaitanya asked the youngest son's name, and Sivananda Sena informed the  Lord that his name was Paramananda dasa. Once before when

Sivananda Sena had visited Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu at His residence, the  Lord had told him, 'When this son is born, give him the name Puri dasa  (after Paramananda Puri).'         p

"The son was in the womb of his wife, and when he returned home the son  was born. The child was named Paramananda dasa in accordance with the  lord's order, and the Lord jokingly called him Puri dasa. When Sivanandir  Sena introduced the child to Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the Lord put           His toe in the child's mouth." (Cc. Antya 12.45-50

Shrila Krishna dasa Kaviraja Gosvami describes another amusing pastime of  Lord Chaitanya and Kavi-karnapura that occurred sometime later. "Tak­ing  his son (Kavi-karnapura), Sivananda Sena went to see Shri Chaitanya  Mahaprabhu at His residence. He made his son offer respectful obei­sances  at the lotus feet of the Lord. Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu asked the boy again  and again to chant the name of Krishna, but the boy would not utter the holy  name. Although Sivananda Sena repeatedly asked his boy to speak Krishna's  holy name, the boy would not utter it.

"Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, 'I have induced the whole world to take to  the holy name of Krishna. I have induced even the trees and immov­able  plants to chant the holy name. But I could not induce this boy to chant  the holy name of Krishna.'

"Hearing this, Svarupa Damodara Gosvami began to speak. 'My Lord,' he  said, 'You have given him initiation into the name of Krishna, but after  receiving the mantra he will not express it in front of everyone. This boy  chants the mantra within his mind, but does not say it aloud. That is his  intention, as far as I can guess.'

"Another day, when Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said to the boy, 'Recite, My  dear Puridasa,' the boy (Kavi-karnapura) composed the following verse and  expressed it before everyone." (Cc. Antya 16.66-73)

sravasoh kuvalayam aksnor anjanam

uraso mahen dra-mani-dama

 vrndavana-ramaninam mandanam  akhilam harir jayati

    "Shri Krishna is the blue lotus flower on the ears of  the gopis, the ointment for their eyes, the blue sapphire on their  breasts, and all their other orna­ments. May that Shri Hari be always  glorified." (Cc. Antya 16.74) "Although the boy was only seven years old and still had no education, he  composed such a nice verse. Everyone was struck with wonder." (Cc. \ Antya  16.75)

The devotees became astonished upon hearing this beautiful Sanskrit verse  glorifying Krishna from such a small boy. They concluded that by suck­ing  Mahaprabhu's toe he had received some special potency, because miracles  easily manifest by the mercy of the Lord. In response to the boy's  recitation, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, "My dear child! Like a great  poet (kavi) you have so nicely described the ornament on the ear (karna)  of the Vraja gopis. So from today on you will be known asKavi-karnapura."

 

Preface

From these descriptions in Shri Chaitanya-charitamrita of Mahaprabhu's  inti­mate dealings with Kavi-karnapura one can appreciate his exalted  position as a confidential, eternal associate of Radha and Krishna and Lord  Chaitanya. A literary masterpiece such zs Ananda Vrndavana Campu is  definite proof that Mahaprabhu directly empowered Kavi-karnapura to write  transcendental lit­erature. Otherwise such a substantial work could not  have been composed. Moreover, stalwart Gaudiya Vaishnava acaryas like Shrila  Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura have lavishly praised both Kavi-karnapura  and his Ananda Vrndavana Campu. In verse seventy-one of Vraja-riti  Cintamani, Shrila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura refers to the book. "To the  south is the regal, wonderfully constructed place of Radha-Madhava's swing  pastimes. The beauty of this place has been eloquently described inAnanda  Vrndavana Campu."

Ananda Vrndavana Campu elaborately explains Krishna's eternal Vrndavana  pastimes depicted in the tenth canto of Shrimad Bhagavatam. Beginning in  Gokula with Krishna's playing with the calves and stealing butter, the book  progresses to beautifully portray Krishna's frolicking with the cows and  cow­herd boys, and finally it describes His sweet, intimate pastimes with  Shrimati Radharani and the Vrajagopis. Kavi-karnapura enriches these  ever-expand­ing, joyful pastimes by revealing the intimate exchanges of  Krishna and His premi bhaktas. He discloses the wonderful dialogues and  tender personal dealings that occurred during the pastimes that we all  know so well such as Putana-mardana, Kaliya-lila, Govardhana-puja, and  Rasa-lila. He also offers exceptionally flavorful portrayals of some  additional pastimes not mentioned in the Shrimad Bhagavatam such as Holi,  Vamsi-cauri Lila and Jhulana Lila. Have you ever looked at a painting  depicting a pastime of Krishna and Balarama or of Krishna and the gopis and  wondered what They are feeling or what They are saying to each other?  InAnanda VmdavanaCampu, Kavi-karnapura has opened up the paintings of  Krishna's pastimes to clearly reveal just how the Lord feels and what He and  His associates are talking about.The Shrimad Bhagavatam is all perfect, all-blissful, and all-successful  be­cause it was penned by Shrila Vyasadeva, the literary incarnation of the  Lord. However, the spotless Purana, Shrimad Bhagavatam, became even more  per­fect and sweet upon emanating from the lips of Shrila Sukadeva Gosvami,  an eternal associate of Shri Krishna serving Shrimati Radharani as Her pet  parrot in Vrndavana Similarly Ananda Vrndavana Campu, like Shrimad  Bhagavatam, has the qualities of complete bliss, success, and perfection  because it was written by Kavi-karnapura, who is an eternal associate of  Krishna. Moreover, five hundred years ago, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu  personally empowered Kavi-karnapura to glorify and speak about Radha and  Krishna. In one sense, because

of the added sweetness and overflowing magnanimity of Shri Chaitanya's  touch, Kavi-karnapura's yfna/ida Vrndavana Campu is especially endowed  with a unique potency to inundate everyone with a cascade of nectarean  ambrosia.In Prema-bhakti-candrika verse sixty, Shrila Narottama dasa Thakura says  rati premamaya parabandhe, "May I become firmly attached to the books  affectionately given by the pure devotees in my tradition (Gaudiya  Sampradaya) who aChakravati Thakur comments on this verse, "May I always  be fully attached to the loving topics about Krishna bhakti-rasa composed by  realized premi-bhaktas." The word campu in the title of Ananda Vrndavana  Campu means that this book is a combination of prose and perfectly  composed Sanskrit poems describing the sweet beauty and blissful pastimes  of Krishna in Vrndavana. Each syllable of scriptures composed by mahajanas  such as Shrila Kavi-karnapura is saturated with the rasa of their  realizations and visions of Krishna transcendental pas­times. Besides that,  there is a wonderfully captivating power in the way such pure devotees  describe Krishna's beauty.  By regularly reading such books, a sensitive devotee will awaken a deep  appreciation for Krishna's pastimes, and develop pure love for the  beautiful, playful Lord of Vrndavana. This point is confirmed by Shrila  Krishna dasa Kaviraja Gosvami in the Shri Chaitanya-charitamrita wherein he has  written this final bene­diction {phala sruti) for the readers of Shri  Chaitanya-charitamrita:

 

 yeba ndhi bujhe keha, sunite sunite seha,

 kiadbhuta chaitanya-carita

 krsne upajibe priti, janibe rasera riti,  sunilei bada haya hita

"If one does not understand in the beginning but continues to hear again  and again, the wonderful effects of Lord Chaitanya's pastimes will bring  love for Krishna. Gradually one will come to understand the loving affairs  between Krishna and the gopis and other associates of Vrndavana. Everyone is  advised to con­tinue to hear over and over again in order to greatly  benefit." (Cc. Madhya 2.87)

Therefore by reading such transcendental books as Ananda Vrndavana Campu,  which was divinely inspired by Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and ex­pertly  presented by Kavi-karnapura, one will be blessed with the attainment of  Krishna/wmw. We hope that all the devoted readers will derive unlimited spiritual bliss  by hearing about Krishna's sweet, joyful pastimes in Vrndavana.

 

Mahanidhi Swami 

Krishna Balarama Mandir Vrndavana Putrada Ekadashi 29 December 1998