There are many purports to Sri Krishna Karnâmritam. Pippallâi Suri of Deccan1 has written purports to all the three Shatakam. His purport is called ‘Suvarna Chashak’ (The Gold Goblet)2. Six copies of this purport are kept secure in the Library of the Madrâs Government. Vânivilâs Press of Sri Rangam has published them. There is another purport called ‘Karnânanda prakâshini’ (Delight of the auditory senses).
SRI KRISHNA-VALLABHÂ PURPORT
Srila Gopâl Bhatta has written this purport. At the end, he has introduced himself in the following manner –
“shrimad-drâvida-nivrid-ambudhi-vidhuh shriman-nrisimho’ bhavad bhatta
shri harivamsha uttama guna-gramaikabhus-tat-sutah,
tat-putrasya kritis-tviyam vitanutam gopala-namno mudam,
gopinatha-padara-vinda-makaranada-ananda-cheto’linah.”
Meaning – “Sriman-Nrisimha shone like the moon amongst the Dravidian3 people. His son Sri Harivamsha Bhatta had many superior qualities. This work is composed by his son Gopâl, whose heart is ever joyful in drinking the nectar of the lotus feet of Sri Gopinâth (Krishna)”.
After reading this verse we may feel that this writer is not the same Gopâl Bhatta who belongs to the group of ‘The Six Goswâmis’, since, his father was named Venkat Bhatta, who lived in Belgandi Village, near Sri Rangam on the banks of river Kâveri. However, according to the texts ‘Bhaktiratnâkar’ and ‘Anurâgvalli’, the writer of Krishna-Vallabhâ purport is none other than Sri Gopâl Bhatta of the Six Goswâmis. Bhaktiratnâkar says –
“sri gopâl Bhatta hon benkatnandan
sri benkat bhatter nibas dakshinete
bishishta brahman bignya sakal shastrete
trimalla, benkat ar sri prabodhananda,
e tin bhratar prana-dhan gourchandra
korilen krishna karnamriter tippani,
baishnaber aparam ananda taha shuni”
Meaning – “Sri Gopâl Bhatta was the son of Sri Venkat Bhatta who resided in South India. He (Sri Venkat Bhatta) was a qualified brahmin and well learned in all the scriptures. Trimalla, Venkat and Prabodhânanda were three brothers. They considered Gourachandra to be their life and soul. Sri Gopâl Bhatta wrote the purport to Krishna Karnâmritam. When the Vaishnavs heard this purport, they were most delighted.”
Again, in Anurâgvalli, we find-
“sri bhatta gonsai karnamriter tika koilo,
ashesh bshesh byakhya tahate likhilo.
jahar darshane pandite chamatkar
rasa paripati jate siddhanter sâr.”
Meaning – “Sri Bhatta Goswâmi wrote a purport to Karnâmritam. He wrote many special explanatory notes. Reading this, the pandits were wonder struck. It was full of ras as well as philosophical principles.”
The internal analysis of the purport too indicates that Sri Gopâl Bhatta who was a contemporary of Sri Rupa and Sanâtan and was a part of the ‘Six Goswâmis’ wrote it. Just as Sri Rupa and Sanâtan have proved their statements by quoting from many scriptures, he too has drawn evidences from Chhândogya-Upanishad, Pânini, Kâtantra-vyâkaran, Gopâlottar-Tâpani, Vishnupurân, Harivamsha, Mahâbhârat, Âdipurân, Matsyapurân, Srimad-Bhâgavatam, Sridhar Swâmi’s Bhâvârtha Dipikâ purport, Amar-Kosh, Medini-Kosh, Vishwa-Kosh, Vaijayanti-Kosh, Dhwanikosh, Raghuvamsha, Mâgh, Bhâravi, Naishadhiya, Geet-Govindam, Vyâdi, Sâhitya-Darpan, Sangeet-Ratnâkar, Nâgar-Sarvaswa or Kok, Chhando-Manjari and Shri Rup’s Bhakti-Rasâmrita-Sindhu, Ujjawal-Nilamani and Padyâvali.
From this, we conclude that our Goswâmis had a huge library. Srila Bhatta Goswâmi’s purport contains exactly the same principles as those propounded by Srila Rupa-Sanâtan. He has not written anything that is against the Goudiya Vaishnav Siddhânta. In this purport, we find the same depth of knowledge, ras and the ability to highlight even the slightest difference in the concepts. Again, these traits are exactly the same as those of Sri Rup-Sanâtan. Then why is it that at the end of the purport he mentions his father’s name as ‘Harivamsha Bhatta’? Some scholars believe that his father was chief amongst the Bhatta’s of the region called Venkat. Hence, he was popularly known as ‘Venkat Bhatta’; however, his original name was Harivamsha Bhatta.
This explanation seems all right to us. The Sri Râdhâvallabh sect too has a famous person called Harivamsha. But he had four sons and none of them was named Gopâl. His father was Sri Keshodas Mishraji and he was born in Bâd4 village of Gokul.
More than a hundred years before the advent of Sri Narahari (the composer of Sri Bhaktiratnâkar), Sri Râdhâ-Krishna Goswâmi had written ‘Sâdhan-Dipikâ’. In this book, he had given a list of all the important texts composed by the Goudiya Vaishnavs. There he had written (pg. No.257) –
“sri gopâla-bhatta-goswami-pâdanam sri-bhâgavata-sandarbha-sri krishna – karnâmrita-tikâdih.”
Meaning – “The purport to Sri Krishna-Karnâmritam is written by Sri Gopâl Bhatta Goswâmi.”
Sri Râdhâ-Krishna Goswâmi was the disciple of Sri Haridâs Pandit who was the Chairperson of the sevâ trustee of Sri Govinda Mandir and the grand-disciple of Sri Gadâdhar Pandit who was the most confidential associate of Sri Chaitanyadev. Sri Râdhâ Krishnâ Goswâmipâd’s statement is very important since he was the disciple of the great Sri Haridâs Pandit. After all, Srila Krishnadâs Kavirâj Goswâmi had embarked on Sri Chaitanya Charitâmrita on the order of Srila Haridâs Pandit.
The biggest proof that this purport has been written by Sri Gopâl Bhatta Goswâmi of ‘the Six Goswâmi’ fame is that, this purport was copied and preserved in Benâras Sanskrit University library as Book No.42. At that time, there was one and only one Pandit Gopâl Bhatta in Vrindâvan. The year is recorded as 1605 AD.
Some say that if Sri Gopâl Bhatta Goswâmi (of The Six Goswâmis) wrote Sri Krishna-Vallabhâ purport then Srila Krishnadâs Kavirâj would have surely taken some ideas from it while writing his Sâranga-Rangadâ purport to Sri Krishna-Karnâmritam. After all, he has borrowed from Srila Chaitanya dâs’s Subodhani purport, hasn’t he? However, we brush aside this argument, since we find that in Sri Chaitanya-Charitâmrita although Srila Kavirâj Goswâmi has mentioned Sri Gopâl Bhatta as his Shikshâ-Guru, he has not described anything about him. This was because Sri Gopâl Bhatta had forbidden him to do so. Maybe due to a similar reason he has not borrowed from his purport.
(to be continued)
1 South India
2 since Sri Krishna-Karnâmritam is like an intoxicating hot beverage
3 the people in South India mostly belong to this race
4 name of a village