Krsna-karnamrta of Bilvamangala Thakura

Expressions researched:
"Bilvamangala Thakura" |"Krsna-karnamrta"

Notes from the compiler: (1) Vedabase query: bilvamangala and "krsna karnamrta"

SB Canto 4

Śrīla Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura therefore prayed in his Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta: "My dear Lord, if I have unflinching devotion to You, You become manifest before me personally, and the results of fruitive activity and empiric philosophical speculation—namely religion, economic development, sense gratification and liberation—become like personal attendants and remain standing before me as if awaiting my order."

SB 4.23.11, Purport:

From the Nārada-pañcarātra we understand that if one attains the stage of pure devotional service, he also attains all the opulences derived from fruitive activities, empiric philosophical speculation and mystic yogic practice. Śrīla Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura therefore prayed in his Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta: "My dear Lord, if I have unflinching devotion to You, You become manifest before me personally, and the results of fruitive activity and empiric philosophical speculation—namely religion, economic development, sense gratification and liberation—become like personal attendants and remain standing before me as if awaiting my order." The idea here is that the jñānīs, by culture of brahma-vidyā, spiritual knowledge, struggle very hard to get out of the clutches of material nature, but a devotee, by dint of his advancement in devotional service, automatically becomes detached from his material body. When the devotee's spiritual body begins to manifest, he actually enters into his activities in transcendental life.

CC Adi-lila

This verse is from the Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta, which was written by a great Vaiṣṇava sannyāsī named Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura, who is also known as Līlāśuka. The complete treatise Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta is dedicated to the transcendental pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. It is a book to be read and understood by the most elevated devotees of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

CC Adi 1.57, Translation and Purport:

"All glories to Cintāmaṇi and my initiating spiritual master, Somagiri. All glories to my instructing spiritual master, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who wears peacock feathers in His crown. Under the shade of His lotus feet, which are like desire trees, Jayaśrī (Rādhārāṇī) enjoys the transcendental mellow of an eternal consort."

This verse is from the Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta, which was written by a great Vaiṣṇava sannyāsī named Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura, who is also known as Līlāśuka. He intensely desired to enter into the eternal pastimes of the Lord, and he lived at Vṛndāvana for seven hundred years in the vicinity of Brahma-kuṇḍa, a still-existing bathing tank in Vṛndāvana. The history of Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura is given in a book called Śrī-vallabha-digvijaya. He appeared in the eighth century of the Śaka Era in the province of Draviḍa and was the chief disciple of Viṣṇu Svāmī. In a list of temples and monasteries kept in Śaṅkarācārya's monastery in Dvārakā, Bilvamaṅgala is mentioned as the founder of the Dvārakādhīśa temple there. He entrusted the service of his Deity to Hari Brahmacārī, a disciple of Vallabha Bhaṭṭa.

Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura actually entered into the transcendental pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa. He has recorded his transcendental experiences and appreciation in the book known as Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta. In the beginning of that book he has offered his obeisances to his different gurus, and it is to be noted that he has adored them all equally. The first spiritual master mentioned is Cintāmaṇi, who was one of his instructing spiritual masters because she first showed him the spiritual path. Cintāmaṇi was a prostitute with whom Bilvamaṅgala was intimate earlier in his life. She gave him the inspiration to begin on the path of devotional service, and because she convinced him to give up material existence to try for perfection by loving Kṛṣṇa, he has first offered his respects to her. Next he offers his respects to his initiating spiritual master, Somagiri, and then to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who was also his instructing spiritual master. He explicitly mentions Bhagavān, who has peacock feathers on His crown, because the Lord of Vṛndāvana, Kṛṣṇa the cowherd boy, used to come to Bilvamaṅgala to talk with him and supply him with milk. In his adoration of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, he states that Jayaśrī, the goddess of fortune, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, takes shelter in the shade of His lotus feet to enjoy the transcendental rasa of nuptial love. The complete treatise Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta is dedicated to the transcendental pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. It is a book to be read and understood by the most elevated devotees of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

Speaking from his actual experience, Śrīla Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura says in his Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta that if one develops love of Godhead, mukti (liberation) becomes subservient and unimportant to him.

CC Adi 7.145, Purport:

Becoming one with the Supreme Personality of Godhead is not very important for a devotee. Muktiḥ svayaṁ mukulitāñjali sevate ’smān (Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta 107). Speaking from his actual experience, Śrīla Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura says that if one develops love of Godhead, mukti (liberation) becomes subservient and unimportant to him. Mukti stands before the devotee and is prepared to render all kinds of services. The Māyāvādī philosophers" standard of mukti is very insignificant for a devotee, for by devotional service even the Supreme Personality of Godhead becomes subordinate to him.

CC Madhya-lila

This is a verse from the Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta, by Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura.

CC Madhya 2.58, Translation and Purport:

"O My Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, O friend of the helpless! You are the only ocean of mercy! Because I have not met You, My inauspicious days and nights have become unbearable. I do not know how I shall pass the time."

This is a verse from the Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta (41), by Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura.

This is another quote from the Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta of Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura.

CC Madhya 2.61, Translation and Purport:

"O Kṛṣṇa, O flute-player, the sweetness of Your early age is wonderful within these three worlds. You know My unsteadiness, and I know Yours. No one else knows about this. I want to see Your beautiful attractive face somewhere in a solitary place, but how can this be accomplished?"

This is another quote from the Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta (32) of Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura.

The South Indian brāhmaṇa Śilhaṇa Miśra became a great devotee. Thus he became famous as Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura Gosvāmī. On that elevated platform he wrote a book named Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta, which is very famous amongst Vaiṣṇavas.

CC Madhya 2.79, Purport:

Līlāśuka is Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura Gosvāmī. He was a South Indian, a brāhmaṇa, and his former name was Śilhaṇa Miśra. When he was a householder, he became attracted to a prostitute named Cintāmaṇi, but eventually he took her advice and became renounced. Thus he wrote a book named Śānti-śataka, and later, by the mercy of Lord Kṛṣṇa and the Vaiṣṇavas, he became a great devotee. Thus he became famous as Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura Gosvāmī. On that elevated platform he wrote a book named Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta, which is very famous amongst Vaiṣṇavas. Since he exhibited so many ecstatic symptoms, people used to call him Līlāśuka.

Śri Caitanya Mahāprabhu a book written by Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura, Śrī Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta.

CC Madhya 9 Summary:

He then went to the banks of the Kṛṣṇa-veṇvā River, where He collected from among the Vaiṣṇava brāhmaṇas a book written by Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura, Śrī Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta.

CC Madhya 9.305, Translation:

The brāhmaṇa community there was composed of pure devotees. They regularly studied a book entitled Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta, which was composed by Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura.

This verse is quoted from the Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta, by Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura.

CC Madhya 21.136, Translation and Purport:

"O my Lord, the transcendental body of Kṛṣṇa is very sweet, and His face is even sweeter than His body. But His soft smile, which has the fragrance of honey, is sweeter still."

This verse is quoted from the Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta (92), by Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura.

This is a verse quoted from Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura’s Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta.

CC Madhya 23.35, Translation and Purport:

"O my Lord, the transcendental body of Kṛṣṇa is very sweet, and His face is even sweeter than His body. But His soft smile, which has the fragrance of honey, is sweeter still."

This is a verse quoted from Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura's Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta (92).

CC Antya-lila

The Lord especially liked to hear Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura’s Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta.

CC Antya 15.27, Translation:

The Lord especially liked to hear Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura's Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta, the poetry of Vidyāpati, and Śrī Gīta-govinda, by Jayadeva Gosvāmī. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu felt great pleasure in His heart when His associates chanted verses and sang songs from these books.

Sometimes Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu recited verses from Jayadeva Gosvāmī’s Gīta-govinda, from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, from Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya’s Jagannātha-vallabha-nāṭaka or from Śrī Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura’s Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta. In this way, He became absorbed in ecstatic emotions.

CC Antya 20 Summary:

The following summary of the Twentieth Chapter is given by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu passed His nights tasting the meaning of the Śikṣāṣṭaka prayers in the company of Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī and Rāmānanda Rāya. Sometimes He recited verses from Jayadeva Gosvāmī's Gīta-govinda, from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, from Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya's Jagannātha-vallabha-nāṭaka or from Śrī Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura's Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta. In this way, He became absorbed in ecstatic emotions. For the twelve years Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu lived at Jagannātha Purī, He relished the taste of reciting such transcendental verses. Altogether the Lord was present in this mortal world for forty-eight years. After hinting about the Lord's disappearance, the author of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta gives a short description of the entire Antya-līlā and then ends his book.

CC Antya 20.67-68, Translation:

When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu read the verses of Jayadeva's Gīta-govinda, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, of Rāmānanda Rāya's drama Jagannātha-vallabha-nāṭaka, and of Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura's Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta, He was overwhelmed by the various ecstatic emotions of those verses. Thus He tasted their purports.