Vyaja-stuti: When Statements in Scripture Mean the Opposite of What the Words Say

In Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu 3.1.44, Srila Rupa Goswami cites a verse of Bilvamangala Thakur in which Krishna is apparently spoken of in openly insulting words. Sri Jiva Goswami and Visvanatha Cakravarti both explicitly identify the statement as vyaja-stuti — praise expressed under the guise of criticism.

The context is important. Immediately before quoting Bilvamangala, Rupa Prabhu describes the extraordinary mercy of Nanda’s son Govinda. He says that even a person who was previously firmly established in calm spiritual knowledge may, by the gift of Krishna’s mercy, develop a higher form of divine love. Sri Jiva explains that indeed a sage-like progressive soul may pass beyond santi-rati, and Visvanatha adds that through the extraordinary mercy of Nanda-nandana a soul may attain a particular form of sringara-rati.

Srila Rupa Prabhu recites Bilvamangala’s words:

adwaita-vithi-pathikair upasyah
svananda-simhasana-labdha-diksah
sathena kenapi vayam hathena
dasi-krta gopa-vadhu-vitena

“We, who were worshipped by those travelling the path of nondual realization, and who had been enthroned in the bliss of the self, have been forcibly made maidservants by a rogue, the wanton lover (Gopi-jana-vallabha) who dallies about with the cowherd girls.”

A deliberate contrast is revealed. Bilvamangala first speaks of souls who had reached an exalted position through spiritual knowledge and realization. Yet their contemplative mood was overwhelmed when they came to know Krishna. These self-satisfied transcendentalists have now been “forcibly” reduced to the position of His maidservants.

At face value, the words sound anything but reverential. Krishna is called satha — a rogue, deceiver, or cheat — and gopa-vadhu-vita, an amorous lover of the cowherd women (some of whom are well known to be married women).

Sri Jiva Prabhu does not try to soften this strong language by assigning the words more respectable dictionary meanings. He simply tells us how the verse is to be understood:

vyaja-stutir iyam

“This is praise in the guise of criticism.”

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur makes the point even more striking. He draws attention specifically to the apparently scandalous expression gopa-vadhu-vita, which he glosses as:

gopa-vadhu-kamukena

“by someone who is amorously attracted to the cowherd women,”

and then immediately says:

“This is praise in the guise of criticism.”

vyaja-stutir iyam

This is important. Visvanatha does not attempt to rescue the passage by saying that gopa-vadhu-vita really means that Krishna is perfectly respectable according to some (artificial) alternative dictionary definition. He accepts the striking sense of the words and then tells us that their intended meaning is praise.

The criticism appears in the words themselves; the meaning becomes clear when we understand the intention that Bilvamangala is expressing through his words.

Krishna is a “rogue” because He has robbed some divine souls who were self-satisfied in their own spiritual realization, robbing them of the position in which they had formerly rested. Krishna has conquered them so completely that they have become His servants.

And Gopi-jana-vallabha, the supposedly reprehensible “lover of the cowherd women,” is, as we find revealed in the teachings of Srila Rupa Goswami, the selfsame Krishna whose extraordinary mercy is well-known. Govinda, the Supreme Lord with the power to awaken the highest forms of divine love.

The literary device Bilvamangala Thakur uses is called vyaja-stuti. Something that sounds like an accusation is actually glorification. The words may apparently make Krishna seem blameworthy, yet the speaker intends to express precisely the opposite mood.