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"Gauranga Koruna Koro" and Narottam das Thakur

Posted 16/05/2018 by Brijabasi in Maybe I do not understand something ... , Krishna-karsna-


katha .

Recently, among the devotees, the song, which begins with the words "Gauranga koruna
koroka", whose authorship is attributed to Srila Narottama das Thakura, has become quite
popular among the devotees. In this article, I want to describe some doubts about this. Of course,
in spite of this, it is impossible to say with all probability that this song was not exactly written
by Narottama Thakur, nevertheless, there is a high probability that someone else wrote it, having
signed it by its great name.

To begin with, we have two collections of songs by Narottama dasa Thakura, which are
generally accepted in the society of Gaudiya Vaisnavas and approved by the great authorities and
acaryas - Prarthana and Prema-bhakti-candryka. "Prarthana" is a collection of songs distributed
on different topics, which, apparently, was collected centuries ago and came to us in a rather
homogeneous form in a variety of manuscripts and printed publications. "Prema-bhakti-
candrika" is not just a collection of songs, but, in fact, one big poem, in the size of a tripad.

But in addition to these two collections, there are a large number of both individual songs and
entire books signed by the name of Narottama dasa Thakura. "Gauranga Koruna Koro" is one of
them, since it is not part of these two collections. This in itself gives an occasion to consider it
more closely. Some of these songs and books openly contradict the mood and sublime language
and style of Srila Narottama, and some even contain frank apasiddhanta. Already in 1897,
Acyuta-caran Chaudhuri, the acquaintance of Bhaktivinoda Thakura and the Vaisnava from the
advaita-vamshi, quite well-known in Bengal of the late 19th century , wrote in the newspaper of
the Bengal Literature Society (Banguia-sahiti-parishad-patriche) that far Not all the works
attributed to Narottama dasa Thakura were indeed written by him. (This is rather ironic, since
according to recent studies of scholars studying Gaudiya Vaishnavism, in particular Dr. Rebecca
Menring, it is Acyuta-caran Chaudhuri who is the author of Advaita-prakasha, the famous
biography of Advaita Acarya, which he first published in the same the newspaper of the writers
of Bengal in 1896). The song "Gauranga Koruna Koro" does not contain apasiddhanta, but
nevertheless its mood and style differ slightly from the mood and style of "Prarthana" and
"Prema-bhakti-candriki".

It is interesting that this song is missing not only in these two approved collections of songs by
Narottama Thakura - for some reason or other it is not also found in such well-known collections
of Vaishnava songs as "Gaura-pada-tarangini" and a multi-volume "Pada-kalpa-taru" in which
thousands of different (mostly, little-known) songs of Gaudiya Vaisnavas, both authoritative and
forged, are collected. It is not even in a weighty volume called "Narottam das and his works"
(Narottam das o Takharan Rachanali), published at the University of Kolkata in 1972, in which
its author, prof. Nirada-prasad Nath, collected all the possible songs and treatises attributed to the
pen of Narottama dasa Thakura, and compared their discrepancies from various manuscripts.
This is also another reason not in favor of the fact that this song was really composed by
Narottama das Thakur.
"Gauranga Koruna Kor" became famous due to a collection of little-known Bengali songs called
"More Songs of the Vaiṣṇava Ācāryas", released into the world in 1994. It does not indicate the
source of this song, nor any other similar little-known songs. This collection is also noteworthy
for the fact that it was in it that for the first time two songs appeared that were attributed to
Bhaktivinode Thakura, but which, like "Gauranga Koruna Koro", nowhere appear in the
collections of Thakura and are very different from his style. These are such well-known songs as
"Keno Hare Krishna Nam" and "Mama Mana Mandire". The second of them, like the "Gauranga
Koruna Koro," differs from the mood of the great Vaisnava, to whom she is attributed. Whereas
the first is a real song of baulov, containing concepts that run counter to the teachings of the
Gaudiya Vaisnavas. As the author of this collection told me in personal correspondence, these
songs were attributed to Bhaktivinode Thakura erroneously and rather curiously - they first
appeared on tapes performed by an Indian devotee, whose grandmother is said to have been a
disciple of Bhaktivinoda Thakura. This devotee was told that he sings only bhajans Bhaktivinoda
Thakura, so when the devotees heard these records in his performance, then, without much
thought, they decided that these songs were also written by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. Check it
in those days was quite difficult. Approximately the same way, the "Gauranga Koruna Korah"
was included in the collection, along with many other traditional songs from Bangladesh.

It is also necessary not to lose sight of the fact that in the 17th, 18th and even 19th centuries in
Bengal, the underground tradition of signing their songs by the names of the great recognized
authorities in the Gaudiya Sampradaya was very widespread. For example, hundreds of bhajans
appeared describing the worship of Lord Chaitanya in the mood of the Gaura-nagari, signed by
the names of Narahari Sarakar and Basu Ghosh. And so there appeared a lot of not the most
authoritative books, signed by the name of Vrindavan dasa Thakura ("Nityananda-caritamrita" -
one of them, but it will be later).

And now let's move on to a small textual analysis of the song "Gauranga karuna kor".

(1)
gaurāṅga karun короa koro, dӣna hӣna jane
mo-sam patita prabhu, nāhi tri-bhuvane

"O Lord Gauranga, please give your mercy to this poor and poor man. In all three worlds,
there is no one who is as fallen as I am. "

There is really nothing to say here - approximately so Srila Narottam das Thakura prays in his
songs.

(2)
dante tṛṇa dhory 'gaura, ḍaki he tomar
kṛpā kori 'esho āmār, ḥrdoya mandiré

"O Gaura! Holding the blade of grass [in my teeth], I call to You. Be merciful, come into
the temple of my heart. "
There are several interesting moments in this verse. First, there is no rhyme here, which is
unusual for Narottama dasa Thakura: the "tomato" does not rhyme with the "mandir". Secondly,
the very wording "dhaki he tomar" is grammatically incorrect - "tomar" is a possessive pronoun
("your / your / yours"), but it stands at the end of the line and does not agree with any object
(who or what is "yours" ?). The translator and compiler of the collection "More Songs of the
Vaiṣṇava Ācāryas" in word-by-word translation connects "tomar" with "krpā" at the beginning
of the next line, thus bearing in mind that "your" ("tomār") is mercy (krāpā ). But krpā is already
connected with "measles", "pour out mercy" and therefore it can not be connected with the
"tomar" before him. Obviously, this is simply the mistake of the compositor, who instead of
"tomar" ("to You") wrote "tomar" ("Yours"). Tomáre at the end of the first line is much better
combined with the "ḍaki" ("I appeal to You" and not "I cry to You"), and rhymes better with the
Mandir.

But that is not all.

Like some other Bengali songs composed by unknown authors, here we see the indicative mood
of the verb ac, "go", "come" - esho, "come". A subtle but important point is that our acaryas do
not address the Lord and the elders in this way. Such a form of addressing the Lord and
specifically the word "esho", "come", "come here", are very characteristic for the songs of Mira
Bai or those who wrote their songs under her name or imitated her mood. But Narottam das
Thakura nowhere in "Prarthana" or "Prema-bhakti-candrika" uses such treatment or the word
"esho" in relation to the Lord, Srimati Radharani, sakhi, guru or Vaisnavas. A similar appeal is
also contained in the above-mentioned song "Mama Mana Mandir", mistakenly attributed to
Bhaktivinoda Thakura: esho nanda-kumar ār nanda-kumārāhāb prema-pradӣpe ārati tomar.

For comparison, here is an example of how Bhaktivinoda Thakura uses the word eshoh:

heno kale cable, Vilasa manjari,


anaṅga-manjari āro
āmāre heeria, ati kṛpā kori,
bolibe bachana saro

"When will it happen that at this time [while I sing the glory of Radhika on the banks of the
Yamuna], Vilasa-manjari along with Ananga-manjari, seeing me and wanting to shed a special
favor on me, will tell me the essence of the whole speech?"

esho, esho, sakh! srӣ-lamitā-gāṇ,


janibo tomāra āja
gṛha-kathā hhāḍi ', rādhā-kṛshṇa bhajo,
tjājijā dharāma-lāja

"Come here! Come here, O Sakhi! From today, we reckon you to the group of Lalita-sakhi.
Discarding all conversations about home and family life, worship Radha-Krishna, leaving the
shame of a possible violation of the prescribed rules. " ("Gita-mala", chapter 5, song 3, "Entering
the group of Lalita Sakhi")
But the description of the dance "Rasa-lila" from his poetic transposition "Radhashtaka" from
"Gitavali" (verse 7):

shata-koṭi gopӣ-mādhava-man
rakkhite narilo measi 'jatan

"Millions of gopis could not keep Madhava's mind, even despite all their efforts."

ve -u-gӣte ḍāke rādhikā-nām


'esho esho paradh!' dyakoye shyam

"With the sound of a flute, He loudly pronounces the name of Radhika. "Come here! Come
here, O Radha! "Syamah calls."

As we see, such an appeal "esho", "go", is used with observance of a certain etiquette - the
manjari call their new assistant or Krishna calls Radharani. But we do not see such treatment to
the Lord, to the guru or other objects of worship.

Also in this verse is used the expression hrodoya mandir, "the temple [of my] heart," but this
expression is uncharacteristic of Narottama Thakura (and other acaryas practically do not use it,
but surprisingly this expression is used in the Baul song mentioned above "Keno Hare Krishna
Nam").

Narottam das Thakura sometimes uses a similar expression - heyāra mājhāra, "within [my]
heart," here is an example of this:

cable kṛshṇa-dhana pabo, hiyāra mājhāre thabo,


jūḍāibo tāpātā-parāṇ

"When will I find my wealth - Krsna - and put Him in my heart and bring the joy of my
exhausted life?" (Prarthana, song 31).

One can see the difference in the mood with which Narottam das Thakura describes his
passionate desire to see Krsna and seat Him in his heart. He prays for this and longs for it, but he
does not demand and does not even ask Krsna directly to do it ("esho amar hrdoya mandir") .

One more example:

Song # 37 from "Prarthana", titled "Gaurāṅga-nisṭa"


̣ (Unshakable faith in Lord Gauranga)

areabha! bhaja mora gaurāṅga-carạ̣̄ a


nā bhajiyā maînu spiriṭkhe dubi gṛha-bi -a-kӯpe
dagdha kaila e panca parana

tapa-traya-bishanale akhar-nichi hiyā jvala


deha sadhaya haya achetana
ripu-basha indriya haila gaura-pada pasharila
bimukha haila hena dhana

hena gaura da-mama chhaḍi saba lāja-bhāya


kāyā mane laha re sharaṇa
parama durmati chhila tāre gaurā uddhārila
tā'rā haila patita-pāvana

gaurā dvija-naṭa-rāža bāndhaha hð ̣da -a-mājė


ki caribe saṁsara-shamana
narotama dasa kahe gaurā-sama keha nahe
nā bhajite deia prema-dhana

"O brothers! Please worship the lotus feet of my Gauranga! Without worshiping Him, I spent my
life in misery, drowning in the poisonous well of family life and so burned down my five kinds
of life air.

The poisonous fire of threefold miseries burns my heart by day and by night, and my body is
always unconscious. My feelings fell under the influence of my enemies and I forgot about the
lotus feet of Gaura, so turning away from this treasure.

Therefore, rejecting all manifestations of shyness and fear, take shelter of this all-merciful Gaura
with your body and mind. Everyone who was very evil before was saved by Gaura and therefore
He became patita-pavana, the savior of the fallen.

Tie Lord Gaur, the best of the brahmanas and dancers, in your heart. What can the
suppressor of the material world do, Lord Yamaraj? Narottam das says: "There is no one like
Lord Gaura who gives the treasure of divine love even to those who did not worship Him."

Here also Narottam das Thakura advises listeners to bind the Lord in their heart, but does not
order the Lord to come into it.

But similar expressions in the songs of Bhaktivinoda Thakura:

krshnya-bhakta-jane, ei san-ga-laksane,
ādara korobo jaba
bhakti-mahā-devӣ, āmāra ḥdoya-
āsane bosibe tabe

When I respectfully treat close associates with the devotees of Krsna, then Bhakti Maha-devi,
the great goddess of devotion, will sit on the asana of my heart. " ("Sharanagati", Bhajana-
lalasa, song 4).

He also talks about the conditions when Bhakti Devi will sit on the asana of his heart, but he
does not tell her to do it right now, without fulfilling these conditions.
(3)
yadi doyā nā koribe, patita dekhiyā
patita pāvāna nāma, kisera lāgiā

"If You do not pour your mercy on me, seeing my fallen position, then for what reason You
are known as Patita-pavana," the savior of the fallen "?

Here the author reproaches the Lord lightly and even gives him an ultimatum. Neither that nor
the other is completely peculiar to Narottama dasa Thakura.

In the above song Narottam das Thakura speaks of the reason why Lord Caitanya became known
as Patita Pavanah:

parama durmati chhila tāre gaurā uddhārila


tā'rā haila patita-pāvana

"Everyone who was very evil before was saved by Gaura and therefore He became patita-pavana
- the savior of the fallen."

Here is another very famous example:

patita-pavana-hetu tava avatara,


mo herself patita prabhu na paibe āra

"You have come to release the fallen souls. O Lord, You will not find anyone who would have
fallen as low as I am. "

Here are some examples for comparison:

hari hari! badma shera marama rahila


pāijā dӯrlabha tanu ӣrӣ-ḳa-bhajana vinӯ
janma mora biphala haila

Brajendra-nandana hari, nabadvie avatari,


jagata bhariya prema
muni se pamara-mati bisheshe katkhina ati
tenuhee sea of karuṇā nahila

svarpaa santana rpa raghunatha bhatyat-yuga


tāhāte nā haila mora mati
divya cintamaṇi dhāma vṛndāvana hena sthāna
sei dhame nā kainӯ vasati

visesha visaye mati nahila vaishnavare rati


nirantara kheda uṭhe mane
narottama dasa kahe jvera uchita naha
srӣ-guru-vaisnava-seva wine

"O Lord Hari! In my heart there was a big splinter - after receiving a rare body, my life was
wasted without worshiping Sri Krishna.

Lord Hari, the son of King Vraja, appeared in Navadvipa and filled the whole world with
love for God. I'm such a rascal with a particularly hard heart that I did not have mercy.

Svarupa, Sanatana, Rupa, Raghunatta and the two Bhatt - my consciousness was not attracted by
them. I did not live in Vrndavana - this dhama, where everything is made from the divine
philosopher's stone.

I am attached with special zeal to sensual pleasure and I have no attraction to Vaisnavas. In my
mind, sadness constantly arises. Narottam das says: "One should not live without the service of
Sri Guru and Vaisnavas."

Here is another example:

jaya jaya srӣ-kṛshnya-caitanya nityananda


jayadvaitachandra jaya gaura-bhakta-vrnda

krpu kari sabe meli karaha karuṇā


adhama patita-jane na kariha ghṛṇā

e tina-saṁsara-mājhe tuyā pada sāra


bhaviyā dehinӯ mane - gati nāhi āra

se pada pābāra āş kheda uṭhe mane


bayakla hrdada sadaā cariye crandana

ki-pӯpe pīiba kiхуhu nā pāi sandhāna


prabhu-lokanatha pada nahika smaraṇa

tӯmi that dayalā prabhu! chaho eka bara


narottama hrdyayera ghucha-o andhakara

"Glory, glories to Sri Krsna Chaitanya! Glory to Nityananda! Glory to Adwait Acharya! Glory to
the devotees of Lord Gaura!

All of you, having gathered together, please be merciful to me and do not reject this low and
fallen man.

Your feet are the essence of all three worlds. After thinking it over, I saw that there was no other
goal besides them.
In the hope of finding these stops, sadness arises in my mind and therefore I cry all the time
with a restless heart.

How can I reach at least something? I do not even know what I need to do. I do not remember
the footsteps of my lord, Lokanatha Prabhu.

But you are merciful, O Master! Look at me even once and scatter the darkness in the heart of
Narottama. "

And here is a very vivid example of the prayer of Narottama dasa Thakura:

хā хā! prabhu lokanatha rākha pāda-dwandwë


kṛpā-dṛshṭe chāha jadi haiyānāde

mano-banchex siddhi tabe haṅa purṇa-tṛạa


hethaiya caitanya mile setkhā rādhā-kṛshnya

tumi nā karile da кеke karibe āra


manner

etina saṁsāra mora āra kehā na


krpa kari 'nija pada-tale deha ṭhāшиi

shrӣ rādhā-kṛshṇa-lӣlā-gn г gāna rātri-dyne


srӣ narottama-bāṅčhā purṇa nahe tuyā binet

"O my lord, Lokanath Goswami! Please hold me near your lotus feet. If it is your will, then cast
me a gracious look, in bliss.

Then all my aspirations will reach perfection and all my desires will be fulfilled. Because of this,
I will meet Lord Caitanya here and attain Radha-Krishna there.

If you do not shed your mercy on me, then who else can do this? Please, fulfill this time my
secret desires.

I have no one else in these three worlds. Be merciful to me and give me shelter at your lotus feet.

Without you, Narottama's desire to celebrate the deeds and qualities of Sri Radha-Krishna day
and night can not be fulfilled day and night. " (Prarthana, 20).

Very humble entreaty, in the characteristic style of Narottama dasa Thakura, without ultimatums
and accusations.

In the first chapter of the Madhya-lila, Sri Chaitanya-caritamrita, Srila Rupa Gosvami and Srila
Sanatana Gosvami, referring to Lord Caitanya, also mention that He saves the most fallen and
then they speak of themselves as the most-most fallen ones. That's what they say:
patita-pavana-hetu tomara avtara
āmā-ba-i jagate, patita nāhi āra

"You incarnated to save the fallen souls. Know that there is no one in the world who would fall
as low as we are. " (191)

jagāy-madhāi dui karile uddhāra


tāhāṅ uddhārite nahila tomra scar

"You saved the brothers Jagaya and Madhai, but for this you did not have to make great efforts."
(192)

jagāi-madhāi haite koṭӣ koṭӣ guna


adhama patita pāpӣ āmi dui jana

"We are millions of times worse than Jagaya and Madhai. We descended far below them and
even more than they were mired in sin. " (196).

āmā uddhārite balӣ nāhi tri-bhuvane


patita-pavana tami-sabe tomā wine

"In all three worlds no one can save us, except You, for You are the only savior of fallen souls."
(199).

āmā uddhāriyā yadi deхhāo nija-bala


'patita-pavana' nama tabe se saphala

"If You show Your spiritual power and get us out of the captivity of matter, then certainly you
will justify Your name Patita Pavan," the savior of fallen souls. " (200)

satya eka bta kahoṅ, shūna, daā-maya


mo-vinu da'ira pātra jagate nā haya

"O most gracious, let us reveal the truth to you. Please listen to us. If in all three worlds someone
needs Your mercy, then it's us. " (201).

sea daā kari 'kara sva-daā sapphala


akhila brahmāṇḍa dekhuka tomāra daāā-bala

"It's impossible to fall below us. Therefore, if You will feel compassion for us, this will be the
best manifestation of Your mercy. Let the whole universe see the power of Your mercy! "(202).

āpane ayogya dekhi 'mane pāṅ kshobha


tathyapi tomara gongue falladhai lobha
"It is very depressing that we are unworthy of Your mercy. At the same time, having learned
about Your divine virtues, we feel an irresistible attraction to You. " (204).

vamana yaiche chāṅda dhāriti chāhe kāre


taichhe ei vanchhā mora uṭhaye antara

"Verily, our desire to approach you like a dwarf's attempt to reach the moon. Although we do not
deserve your mercy, the hope of finding it does not fade in our heart. " (205).

(4)
podnechi bhava tuphana, nahika nistar
shroӣ caraṇa taraṇӣ dāne, dāse kor pārā

"I fell into a hurricane of material existence and I do not have salvation. Transfer this
servant to the other shore, giving him the boat of his lotus feet. "

This verse is also of interest, since it uses the word "tufan", which is not very characteristic of
Vaishnava poetry, and even more so for Narottama dasa Thakura. This word meaning "storm",
"hurricane", "typhoon" itself is extremely interesting - until now scientists disagree about its
origin, so it is present in at least three completely different ancient languages belonging to
completely different language groups , - Ancient Greek (Tufon) , Chinese (Typhoon) and Arabic
(Tufan). In any case, it is quite obvious that this word came in the Indian languages from the
Persian and Arabic languages. But the interesting nuance is that neither Narottam das Thakur,
nor virtually any of the other Gaudiya Vaishnavas use it in their songs.

It is highly probable that this song, like the similar bhajans popular in eastern Bengal (modern
Bangladesh), came to us from there. There it is often possible to meet both "esho" and common
folk words from Arabic or Persian languages like "tufa" (by the way, "tufan" may be familiar to
those who traveled in India and either was forced to go from Calcutta to Mathura, or heard from
others about the existence of a train under the same name - "Tufan Express." The name is
extremely ironic, since "Tufan Express," that is, "Hurricane Train" or "Fast as a Storm Wind" - is
one of the slowest and most painful trains in India It stops on average every 20 minutes and even
that any peasant working in the field can stop him with a simple wave of his hand.The distance
that other trains pass in 21 hours, Tufan Express rides in 31 hours, and he usually is late on the
way for a minimum of 6-7 hours! )

In addition, the Sanskrit word "tarani", a boat, is also rarely used in Bengali songs. Narottam das
Thakura does not use it in any of his universally recognized bhajans.

(5)
shrӣ kṛshṇa caitanya prabhu, dācer anūdas
prārthanā koraye sadā, narotam dās

"Narottam das, servant of the servants of Lord Sri Krishna Chaitanya, always prays in this
way."
Here, too, nothing to say, Srila Narottama das Thakura so signed many of his songs. But, as I
wrote above, the signature itself does not necessarily prove authorship.

Finally, I repeat what I wrote at the beginning: these are only my modest and imperfect thoughts,
I can not say with any certainty that this song is not exactly written by Narottama das Thakur, I
just expressed some, in my opinion, objective doubts in this . Their essence is that: a) this song is
not present in various voluminous assemblies , the Gaudiya Vaisnavas and the works of
Narottama dasa Thakur were falling; b) her mood is slightly different from the mood of other
songs of Narottama dasa Thakura and c) it uses words that are not characteristic of Narottama
dasa Thakura.

namo namaḥ srӣla nárotamāyā

shrӣ narottarpanyam astu

3 comments

1.

Posted by Ananda Gopika dd on 05/16/2018 at 18:37


- esho, "come". A subtle but important point is that our acaryas do not address the Lord
and the elders in this way.

- But after all, the acaryas are addressed to the Lord in bhajans - "tumi", "tomar", and not
"apni" "apnar", i. no misters"?

Posted by Владимир Николаевич Лада-Лебединец on 05/16/2018 at 22:24

With pleasure I read your work.


And, although in our time all these are trifles, in comparison with more serious deviations,
fabrications, indifference and ingratitude, it is still nice to see how you can distinguish such
similar moods. This requires not only an encyclopedic mind and the memory appropriate to it,
and not only knowledge and understanding of the Vaishnava worldview. I would put your
dissertation highly appreciated - "8 + 9-" out of 10. "8 + 9-" - because you feel some
understatement in the work. 10 would be, if we could have the final proof, but it's not so easy to
get.
I would not sometimes write reviews about what I read, if not for the "pros and cons" of such
studies. "+++ sy" are obvious: we learn the details that correct our understanding. But there are
also possible "-s": you should make a mistake to the researcher and he will enter into this error
all those who trust him. (We, unfortunately, know this even on examples of gurus, not just
ordinary devotees). Nowadays, having experience of so many mistakes and stupidities in the
leadership, I personally became more distrustful and discriminating, and even the devotees in the
usual way are unstable in their attitudes and views. Here the motive of the research plays an
important role. While the author of the research does not try to prove or hide anything to us, but
only shows the results of his research, it will be useful for the audience.
But, probably, it is impossible to confuse trust in relations and trust in philosophy. We, for
example, can think correctly, but not be friends, and we can be friends, even without having a
notion of the correctness and meaning of life. This does not apply to this article. This is just my
opinion on the very principle of such studies.

Posted by Caitanyarupa on 05/16/2018 at 11:26 PM

As always, your studies, with great interest and admiration, were read by the brother of
Bridzhabashi. It seems that the goddess Saraswati specially sent you to put a little order in our
understanding of the sampradaya heritage. With one knowledge of grammar and philosophy, you
just can not do it - you need some kind of supersensibility at the heart level, to see such
subtleties, to explore them and correctly convey to us. Many thanks. I always look forward to
your articles.

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