SHYAMDAS 1953-2013 IN MEMORIAM

ECSTATIC COUPLETS
SHYAMDAS
18 Special Issue • Shyamdas ~ In Memoriam
Shyamdas wanders
the sacred lands of
Vrindavan in search of
the Gopis’ bhava.
The yu g a l gĪt a, which I have
translated and published as Ecstatic
Couplets, is actually an ancient kirtan –
it is a song, or gīta. Its words are in a
samādhi language, uttered in a state of
divine realization, and are among the
most refined of Sanskrit literature. The
voices are those of women – the Gopi
dairymaids of Vrindavan. These highly
advanced yoginis of divine love had
previously accomplished all the other
forms of yoga and samkhya. They had
already been there and done that, and
now they have come to the devotional
path of bhakti to attain intimacy with
the divine. They are not interested in
liberation, because they are already
liberated! They are no longer on the
path; they have reached the destination,
and this text is about what they see after
having arrived. It is not about method.
It doesn’t explain how to get there
necessarily; it’s just about what they see
and feel. That is why this text is so highly
regarded. You don’t generally find it
being taught, because it is too advanced,
in the sense that without some context
of the spiritual teachings involved in
these words, you would almost think it
was simply poetry or a nice story. But
it is filled with deep spiritual meanings,
and if we explore it deeply, with focus,
perhaps we can taste a bit of the Gopis’
divine mood – their bhava.
Where are the Gopis at the time they
sing the Ecstatic Couplets? They are in
their homes. They had already reached
divinity in the enchanting form of
Bhagavan Shri Krishna and danced with
Him. Then, as opposed to taking sannyas
and becoming renunciates, or going into