Madhurya Kadambini - A Cloud Bank of Nectar - English

Madhurya Kadambini - A Cloud Bank of Nectar - English

Written by Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura.

Bhavanuvada - revelation of Author's intent and Piyusa-Varsini-Vritti - the commentary that showers nectar

by Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja

"This timeless classic, composed in Sanskrit in the seventeenth century, gives a compelling description of the stages of spiritual progress, likened to the flourishing of a beautiful vine. What do we, as spiritual practitioners, experience as the vine of devotion blossoms? How do our dealings with others, our attitudes and our behaviour affect its development? How can we assess and enhance its growth? Citing verses from Vedic antiquity, Madhurya-kadambini answers these and other questions with unparalleled clarity, insight and beauty. Many leaves now suddenly manifest on this vine, expanding its beauty at every moment and causing the flower of pure spiritual emotion(bhava) to blossom to its ultimate potential and bear the fruit of rapturous love of God (prema)". Madhurya-kadambini, Shower 8.

Madhurya-kadambini ("A Cloud Bank of Nectar") is a cherished companion, inspiration and guide on one's momentous inner journey. It illuminates the nature of bhakti (selfless devotion), the sequence of the symptoms indicating bhakti's blossoming, and the practices integral to tangible spiritual progress. Showering its ambrosial rain upon the heart, it gives full nourishment to the wish-fulfilling vine of devotion. Srlla Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura (1626—1708) is venerated for protecting and revealing the most esoteric secrets of the Gaudlya Vaisnava tradition. Among his works, and indeed among all texts on devotion, this Madhurya-kadambini is unique for the insight it gives on the stages of bhakti.

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura has cleverly crafted this poem with simple yet profound language, in such a way that the charming transcendental sentiments of these four pastimes will astound and infatuate the hearts of all devotees who are expert in tasting transcendental sentiments. These pastimes are filled with the transcendental mellow of laughter (hasya-rasa), which will submerge all readers in an ocean of blissful delight. The scriptures on rhetoric say, “rase saraù camatkaraù – the essence of rasa is astonishment.” This book is the very essence of rasa, and thus it derives its name, Sri Camatkara-candrika – a moonbeam of complete astonishment.

Mādhurya-kādambinī, Introduction:

mādhurya-kādambinī-grantha jagat kailo dhanya 
cakravartī-mukhe vaktā āpani śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya (1)

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura has blessed the whole world by writing the book Mādhurya-kādambinī. In reality, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the speaker of this book. He has spoken it through the mouth of Śrī Cakravartī.

"Even when someone desires to daily perform the limbs (aṅgas) of bhakti, such as śravaṇa and kīrtana, if he is still in the stage of being bound by anarthas, then he will be unable to make his performance of bhakti steady on account of the following five almost irrepressible obstacles: laya (drowsiness), vikṣepa (distraction), apratipatti (incompetence), kaṣāya (bitterness) and rasāsvāda (taste for mundane pleasure)." - Mādhurya-kādambinī, Fourth Shower of Nectar - Flow of Ambrosia (Niṣṭhā)

"When ruci is awakened, a person does not experience even the slightest trace of fatigue in his repeated performance of hearing, chanting and other limbs (aṅgas) of devotion, as he did at previous stages. This ruci quickly makes the devotee addicted to his practice of the aṅgas of bhakti." - Mādhurya-kādambinī, Fifth Shower of Nectar - Realization of Transcendental Taste (Ruci)

"This āsakti represents the stage in the growth of the wish-fulfilling vine of devotion in which clusters of buds appear, indicating that very soon this wish-fulfilling vine will produce the flower of bhāva and the fruit of prema. Ruci makes bhajana (developing a mood of devotional service) its object, whereas āsakti makes bhajanīya (Śrī Kṛṣṇa – the goal of bhajana) its object. Āsakti cleanses the mirror of the heart of the sādhaka to such an extent that when Bhagavān’s reflection suddenly manifests in his heart, the sādhaka feels that he is having Bhagavān’s direct audience." - Mādhurya-kādambinī, Sixth Shower of Nectar - Enchantment of the Heart (Āsakti)

"The intelligence of the devotee who has attained bhāva is incessantly fixed on attaining his sole cherished goal. In each of the three states of consciousness – wakefulness, dreaming and deep sleep – he remains a traveller on the path of constant remembrance of Śrī Bhagavān." - Mādhurya-kādambinī, Seventh Shower of Nectar - Flow of Divine Rapture (Bhāva)

"First, Śrī Bhagavān manifests His beauty (saundarya) before the eyes of the utterly astonished devotee. The influence of Bhagavān’s sweetness as it manifests before the devotee’s sense of sight is such that all the devotee’s senses, even his mind, become like eyes. The devotee’s darśana is interrupted by ecstatic transformations (sāttvika-vikāra), such as becoming stunned, horripilation and tears, and in bliss, he loses consciousness." - Mādhurya-kādambinī, Eighth Shower of Nectar - Absolute Fulfilment of the Soul’s Yearning (Prema)

Glossary - Section Index, Verse Index,  Fold Out Chart. 

TITLE:  Madhurya Kadambini - A Cloud Bank of Nectar

AUTHOR: Srila Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura

Translated from the Hindi edition of Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Goswami Maharaja

PUBLISHER: Gaudiya Vedanta Publications.

ISBNs: 978-1-633161-69-6 9781633161696 1633161692 16-33161-69-2

Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number: 2018908478

EDITION: First August, 2018

Pages and Size : 70,  with Golden Embossed Dust Jacket and a Fold Out Chart

SHIPPING WEIGHT: 990 grams