Introduction
Gaura līlā is nothing but the overflowing of Kṛṣṇa līlā, reaching further shores and extending the real-life story of the Absolute into new heights unknown even to him—yet to be discovered and inhabited not only by him but by many, ourselves included. The very word līlā speaks to us about the loving interaction between Bhagavān and his bhaktas (with Kṛṣṇa especially connected to this principle, being Līlā Puruṣottama). Thus, it is reasonable to conclude that whenever Kṛṣṇa līlā needs to expand and present itself as Gaura līlā, its members will adopt corresponding identities to be part of this new interaction. I say “new” because although in linear-time thinking one līlā may seem to be the outcome of the other, actually both of them represent an eternal ongoing principle,[1] a nondual reality expressing itself in two intertwined and inseparable venues: Vṛndāvana and Navadvīpa.
While these two realms have their corresponding extensions here on Earth, Gauḍīya Vedānta teaches that these two are possessed of their own specific attributes in the unmanifest (aprakaṭa) spiritual domain in the form of Goloka Vṛndāvana and Goloka, or nitya, Navadvīpa. Among dozens of theological implications, this implies the unique prospect of inhabiting two simultaneous spaces in transcendence (which by its nature is already transspatial) in two different spiritual embodiments. This is not to be rationalized away by standard three-dimensional thinking, because we are speaking here about sacred geography, or a sense of location that will be exclusively inhabited by conscious atoms or, even more so, by touchstone.[2]
Śrī Goloka is figuratively depicted as a divine lotus that when closely observed will reveal its center in the form of the passion taster, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. If even closer attention is given, a further whorl will manifest in the form of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, the very personification of visceral bliss. But if we keep looking in the direction of this axis, a new lotus will open in the form of nitya Navadvīpa, a second rustic paradise in the form of Vraja’s other self. Śrīmān Mahāprabhu will be its central shining Deity, and he will be accompanied by a robust retinue fully dressed in egolessness—members of a divine clan whose identity (abhimāna) is absolutely free from any trace of distorted ego (ahaṅkāra).[3] Along with the bucolic setting of celestial Vraja, it is here where most Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas want to go.
But why only most? Well, variety is the spice of life, and Gauḍīya siddhānta is no exception to this rule. According to Mahāprabhu’s devotional Vedānta, there is enough room to accommodate unlimited perspectives, especially in the context of tasting rasānanda. In this regard, Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda[4] has said that some devotees will be inclined mainly toward Kṛṣṇa līlā, others toward Gaura līlā, and even others toward both of them equally, all acquiring forms corresponding to their own spiritual affinity.[5] But although the possibility of an aprakaṭa nitya Navadvīpa has been presented by ācāryas even prior to Bhaktivinoda,[6] there are certain Vaiṣṇava groups (actually only one, and only a section of it) who claim that this idea is basically implausible. Thus, in an attempt to clarify this conundrum, I will present some of the main pūrvapakṣa (objections) expressed as well as some possible replies to these arguments according to well-accepted parameters within Gauḍīya siddhānta.
Arguments and Counterarguments
Those who consider the impossibility of a Gaura līlā in the spiritual domain do accept that Gaura līlā (and its correspondent abode) is nitya, or eternal, as is every other līlā of Bhagavān. But their conception of a nitya Navadvīpa is that Gaura līlā is traveling from universe to universe in the prakaṭa-līlā, with nitya Navadvīpa’s being eternal in that this abode is manifesting continuously in some universe, on some Earth. In this regard, Śrīla Jīva Goswāmī speaks about three manifestations of the līlā: prakaṭa (manifest), aprakaṭa (unmanifest), and prakaṭa-aprakaṭa (manifest and unmanifest).[7] While the first one refers to Bhagavān’s līlā on Earth and the second to its similar expression in the spiritual sky, the latter applies to those moments when the līlā of Bhagavān is not outwardly manifesting on Earth although remaining present and active there as an ongoing invisible reality. According to this view, some people consider Gaura līlā to be only prakaṭa and prakaṭa-aprakaṭa, but not aprakaṭa.
The main pramāṇa (evidence) presented by those against the possibility of an aprakaṭa nitya Navadvīpa is known as abhāva-pramāṇa. This refers to the idea of an object’s nonexistence being perceived by the cognition of its absence. In this particular case, it is implied that something cannot be true if not mentioned in śāstra.[8] According to this viewpoint, śāstra will be exclusively understood as the books of the Six Goswāmīs, who were personally instructed and empowered by Mahāprabhu to establish the sādhana and siddhānta of the Gauḍīya sampradāya, and who apparently never spoke about an aprakaṭa Gaura līlā. While this argument may be sufficient and conclusive for some, there is more to be said and considered in this particular context.
First of all (and duly accepting the authoritative position of the six Goswāmīs as our śāstra-gurus), we should be open to also accepting the Goswāmīs’ conclusions in the form of the evidence presented by later ācāryas who did write about an aprakaṭa Gaura līlā. The implications of śāstra are naturally experienced by sādhus, who have shared their insight and made the fact of their existence explicit. Second, there are also interpretations of śāstra that must be considered. For example, where is it stated that Viśvambhara Miśra is the yuga-avatāra of Kali? We come to many such conclusions by way of interpreting śāstra, as the Goswāmīs themselves did in a very dexterous way, pointing to the reality of Gaura līlā.[9] Taking these initial ideas into consideration as a general template, let us analyze some of the implications of the Goswāmīs’ teachings in connection to the viability of an aprakaṭa nitya Navadvīpa.
[1] In this connection, Śrīla B. R. Śrīdhara Deva Goswāmī used to recite a very famous verse from Caitanya-caritāmṛta (2.25.271), commenting, “Although Caitanya līlā appears later than Kṛṣṇa līlā, Caitanya līlā is the source, the foundation,” thus implying that some devotees may prefer to subjectively conceive of Gaura līlā as the fountainhead of Kṛṣṇa līlā, while others may conceive of it in the opposite way. See Swami B. R. Sridhar, The Golden Volcano of Divine Love (Soquel, CA: Ananta Printing, 2014).
[2] While Caitanya-caritāmṛta 1.5.53 says that from Vaikuṇṭha upward even a speck of dust is a conscious entity, both Śrī Brahma Saṁhitā 5.29 and Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura’s song Gaurāṇgera duṭi pada (verse 3) characterize the lands of Vraja and Nadīyā as both being made of touchstone. In regard to the latter, Narottama dāsa interestingly says, “One who knows the divine abode of Śrī Gauḍa-maṇḍala to be transcendental touchstone (cintāmaṇi) is in truth a resident of Vrajabhūmi, Śrī Vṛndāvana.”
[3] In relation to this, Śrī Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, “One who accepts the associates of Śrī Gaurāṅga as nitya-siddhas is certain to be elevated to the spiritual kingdom to become an associate of the Supreme Lord.” (Gaurāṇgera duṭi pada, verse 3). The term nitya-siddha can refer to the fact that Gaura’s associates are eternally perfect beings or that their forms in Gaura līlā are eternally existent, since the word siddha can refer to both possibilities simultaneously (see also Caitanya-caritāmṛta 2.22.107). Thus, Mahāprabhu’s associates are eternally existent in their eternally perfect forms in nitya Navadvīpa.
[4] Here I choose to quote Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda first because of his outstanding devotional feats, especially his complementing the Goswāmīs’ contribution by overtly emphasizing the ontology and significance of Gaura līlā.
[5] See Bhaktivinoda’s commentary to Brahma Saṁhitā 5.5 as well as his entire Navadvīpa-bhāva-taraṅga. See also Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, Jaiva-dharma, trans. Sarvabhāvana Dāsa (Brhat Mrdanga Press, 2004), 276.
[6] The possibility of a nitya Navadvīpa in transcendence first appears in the works of Śrī Caitanya’s contemporaries, such as Gopāla-guru Goswāmī’s Gaura-govindārcana paddhati, Prabhodānanda Saraswatī’s Caitanya-candrāmṛta, and Kavi-karṇapūra’s Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā. It also appears in the paddhati of Gopāla-guru’s own disciple, Dhyānacandra Goswāmī (who for the first time describes the aṣṭa-kāla-sevā of Śrī Gaurāṅga in verses 73 to 77), and through the writings and songs of stalwarts such as Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura and Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, respectively. Since then, this concept has become widely accepted and prominently featured in more contemporary writings, such as Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura’s Śrī Gaurāṅga-līlāmṛta and Siddha Kṛṣṇadāsa Bābā’s Guṭikā, which from beginning to end describe the details of nitya Navadvīpa and explain the intertwined aṣṭa-kālīya-līlā of both Gaura and Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. Here I am not quoting any specific section of the latter two works, since their entire content serves as supporting evidence for the existence of a nitya Navadvīpa.
[7] See anuccheda 153.1 of Śrīla Jīva Goswāmī’s Kṛṣṇa-sandarbha.
[8] According to Śrīla Jīva Goswāmī, there are a total of ten pramāṇas, or means of valid knowledge, which he lists in his Sarva-saṁvādinī commentary on anuccheda 9 of his Tattva-sandarbha. Each school recognizes a certain number of these as valid independent means and either rejects the rest or subsumes them under the accepted pramāṇas.
[9] Some of the Goswāmīs’ commentaries to verses from the Bhāgavata (such as 10.32.22) are prime examples of this.
