Verse Text
tatra sambandha-rūpā—
sambandha-rūpā govinde pitṛtvādy-ābhimānitā |
atropalakṣaṇatayā vṛṣṇīnāṁ vallavā matāḥ |
yadaiśya-jṣāna-śūnyatvād eṣāṁ rāge pradhānatā ||288||
Translation
Next sambandha-rūpa-rāgātmika-bhakti will be discussed: Sambandha-rūpa-rāgātmika-bhakti is that bhakti inspired by great absorption arising from identifying oneself as the parent, friend or servant of Govinda. This refers to the bhakti of the cowherd people, which is indicated by the word, sambandhād vṛṣṇayaḥ, quoted in verse 275 as an example of sambandha. This is because these other relationships in Vraja also have a predominance of intense affection (rāga), caused by a lack of awareness of Kṛṣṇa as God.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The word vṛṣṇayaḥ in the phrase sambandhād vṛṣṇayaḥ (the Vṛṣṇis attained perfection by relationship) indicates vallavā (cowherd men). The reason for indicating only the cowherd men instead of meaning both the cowherd men and the Yadus is then given by the phrase “because they have a predominance of spontaneous absorption (rāga), caused by lack of awareness of Kṛṣṇa as God.” The sense of the verse is as follows.
Bhaktyā vayam referred to vaidhi-bhakti, and the Vṛṣṇis’ bhakti would be included in that type of bhakti. In the beginning of the verse, the gopīs were mentioned as the prime examples of kāmā-rūpa-rāgātmika-bhakti. Therefore, the residents of Vraja, the cowherd men should be considered as the chief examples of sambandha-rūpa-rāgātmika-bhakti. If the meaning of Vṛṣṇi is taken to be the relatives in Dvārakā, the enumeration of types of bhakti would be incomplete, with the fault of deficiency. [Note: In the Bhāgavatam list fear and hatred were discarded as bhakti. The remaining types were kāma, sambandha (sneha) and vaidhi-bhakti. Since vaidhi-bhakti and rāgānuga are the two sādhanas for attaining the Lord, and madhūrya-rāgānuga is represented by kāma, the other types of love in Vraja must be represented by sambandha of the cowherd people who are also called Vṛṣṇis.]
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Pitṛtvādy-abhimānitā (having identity as a father, etc. of Kṛṣṇa) actually means “inspired by intense affection (rāga) caused by that identity as father etc.” The reference to the Vṛṣṇis is from the Bhāgavatam verse quoted in verse 275 of the text. One should take the word Vṛṣṇi to mean the cowherd men rather than the inhabitants of Mathurā and Dvārakā. This is an example of ajahal-lakṣana: the original meaning of the word is not given up completely. [Note: King Devamīḍha of the Yadu clan had two wives, one of kṣatriya family, the other of vaiśya family. Through the kṣatriya wife, he bore a son named Sura, and through the vaiśya wife, he bore a son named Parjanya. Sura had a son named Vasudeva, a kṣatriya, and Parjanya had a son named Nanda, a cowherd. Thus, Nanda and his family of cowherds should be considered Vṛṣṇis also. However, usually the term refers to the Vṛṣṇi family in Mathurā and Dvārakā. In lakṣaṇa, the direct meaning must be given up in favor of some other meaning where the direct meaning does not make sense. If the meaning is given up completely, then it is called jahal-lakṣaṇa. If only part of the original meaning is given up, it is called ajahal-lakṣaṇa. In this case, the complete meaning of Vṛṣṇi is not given up, but must refer only to Nanda’s lineage of cowherd men in the Vṛṣṇi line, and not the inhabitants of Mathurā and Dvārakā, since their devotion was mixed with aiśvarya.] It is similar to the use of the syllable num in the following sūtra says aṭ-kupvāṅ-num vyavāye ’pi. [Note: After r, ṣ or ṛ short or long in the same word, the cerebral ṇ takes the place of dental n even with intervention of a vowel, y,v,or h, a gutttural or labial, the preposition ā or the augment num. (Pāṇini 8.4.2) Num actually means the dental n, but in this rule it stands for anusvāra only.] Num means dental n but in the context, it must mean anusvāra. Just as the word, num, in the sūtra stands for anusvāra in practical application, so Vṛṣṇi stands for the cowherd men of Vraja in the context of the verse.
The cowherds exhibit a predominance of rāga, without a mixture of reverence for Him as the Lord (which was present in the Vṛṣṇis in Dvārakā.)
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
NoD 16: Spontaneous Devotion Further Described
Relationship
In the attitude of the denizens of Vṛndāvana, such as Nanda Mahārāja and Mother Yaśodā, is to be found the ideal transcendental concept of being the father and mother of Kṛṣṇa, the original Personality of Godhead. Factually, no one can become the father or mother of Kṛṣṇa, but a devotee’s possession of such transcendental feelings is called love of Kṛṣṇa in a parental relationship. The Vṛṣṇis (Kṛṣṇa’s relatives at Dvārakā) also felt like that. So spontaneous love of Kṛṣṇa in the parental relationship is found both among those denizens of Dvārakā who belonged to the dynasty of Vṛṣṇi and among the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana.