TEXT 56

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

WORD FOR WORD

sriyah--Laksmis, goddesses of fortune; kantah--loving consorts; kantah--the enjoyer, lover; parama-purusah--the Supreme Personality of Godhead; kalpa-taravah--desire trees; drumah--all the trees; bhumih--the land; cintamani-gana-mayi--made of the transcendental touchstone jewels; toyam-- the water; amrtam--nectar; katha--talking; ganam--song; natyam--dancing; gamanom--walking; api--also; vamsi--the flute; priya-sakhi--constant companion; cit-anandam--transcendental bliss; jyotih--effulgence; param--the supreme; api--also; tat--that; asvadyam--everywhere perceived; api ca--also; sah--that; yatra--where; ksira-abdhih--ocean of milk; sravati--flows; surabhibhyah--from surabhi cows; ca--and; su-mahan--very great; nimesa-ardha--half a moment; akhyah--called; va--or; vrajati--passes away; na--not, hi-- certainly; yatra--where; api--even; samayah--time; bhaje--I worship; sveta-dvipam-- Svetadvipa; tam--that; aham--I; iha--here; golokam--Goloka; iti--thus; yam--which; vidantah--know; te--they; santah--self-realized souls; ksiti-- in this world; virala--seldom; carah--going; katipaye--few.

TRANSLATION

I worship that transcendental seat, known as Svetadvipa where as loving consorts the Laksmis in their unalloyed spiritual essence practice the amorous service of the Supreme Lord Krsna 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.

PURPORT

That region which jivas attain by the best performance of their rasa-bhajana though purely transcendental, is by no means devoid of variegatedness. The non- differentiated region is attained by indulging in anger, fear and delusion. The devotees attain Goloka, the transcendental region above Vaikuntha, according to the quality of rasa of the respective services. In reality that region is no other than Svetadvipa or "the White Island," being exceedingly pure. Those, who attain the highest rasa in the shape of the realization of pure devotion in this world, viewing the reality of Svetadvipa in Gokula, Vrndavana and Navadvipa within this mundane world, designate the same as "Goloka." In that transcendental region of Goloka there are always visible, in their supreme beauty, all the distinctive entities that are incorporated in the pure cognitive principle, viz., the lover and His beloved ones, trees and creepers, mountains, rivers and forests, water, speech, movement, music of the flute, the sun and the moon, tasted and taste (i.e., the unthinkable wonders of the 64 aesthetic arts), milk cows yielding nectarean flow of milk and transcendental ever-existing time.

Descriptions that supply the clue to Goloka are found in various places in the Vedas and the other sastras such as the Puranas, tantras etc. The Chandogya says: bruyad yavan va ayam akasas tavan esa antar hrda akasah ubhe asmin dyava- prthivi antar eva samahite. ubhav agnis ca vayus ca surya-candramasav ubhau vidyun naksatrani yac casyehasti yac ca nasti sarvam tad asmin samahitam iti.

The sum and substance of it is that all the variegatedness of this mundane world and much more variety over and above the mundane, are to be found in Goloka. The variety in the transcendental world is fully centralized whereas in the mundane world it is not so and hence productive of weal and woe. The centralized variety of Goloka is unalloyed and full of transcendental cognitive joy. The Vedas and sadhus practicing devotion revealed by the Vedas by availing the support of their individual cognitional aptitude actuated by devotion, may have a sight of divine realm and by the power of the grace of Krsna their tiny cognitive faculty attaining the quality of infinitude they are enabled to be on the level of the plane of enjoyments of Krsna.

There is a hidden meaning of the proposition "even the Supreme that is also nevertheless the object of enjoyment" (param api tad asvadyam api ca). The word param api indicates that Sri Krsna is the only Truth Absolute in all the transcendental blissful principles and tad asvadyam api means His object of enjoyment. The glory of Radha's love for Krsna, tasty quality (rasa) of Krsna that is realized by Radha and the bliss of which Radha is conscious in the process of such realization, all these threefold bhavas (emotional entities) becoming available for enjoyment by Krsna He attains His personality of Sri Gaurasundara. It is also this that constitutes the transcendental bliss of the delicious loving (rasa) service manifested by Sri Gaurasundara. This also eternally exists only in the selfsame Svetadvipa.