Preface
Victory to Sri Janaki and her Lord.
The sweet worship of Sri Sita-Rama is beginningless and eternally established. According to the Sadashiva Samhita, the Vedas received instruction in this radiant mode of worship from Lord Shesha. The Shiva Samhita and Hanumat Samhita say that the great sage Agastya received special instruction in sweet worship from beloved Sri Hanuman. The Bhushundi Ramayana states that Brahma, father of the worlds, taught the devotee Bhushundi the sweet worship of Sri Sita-Rama. In the Kaushala Khanda of the beginningless, ancient Brihad Ramayana, Suta Ji related to Shaunaka and the other great sages the account of Sita and Rama's rasa that had issued from the mouth of Lord Vyasadeva.
Among the Alvar acharyas of the present age, the Sahasragiti of Sri Shathakopa Swami and the formal marriage of Sri Ranganayaki Ji with Sri Rangadeva Ji likewise bear witness to this sweet mode of worship.
Among our earlier acharyas, Bhagavan Ramananda Swami's Vaishnava Matabja Bhaskara and Sri Anantananda Swami's Sri Hari Bhakti Sindhu ki Vela have, from the earliest period of the Sri Sampradaya, resounded like drums proclaiming the sweet worship of Sri Sita-Rama.
Before Sri Agradevacharya, however, this stream of Sita-Rama worship, filled with the sovereign rasa, remained hidden from public sight like the subterranean Phalgu-Ganga, and invisible like the current of the Saraswati where it joins the Triveni. The credit for openly and widely spreading this worship belongs to the feet of Rasikacharya Sri Agradeva Swami.
In our Vaishnava community there are fifty-two recognized dvaras, each ordinarily associated with the seat established by one dvaracharya. Sri Agracharya alone, through his disciples and disciples' disciples, caused thirteen such seats to be established.
He is held to be the embodied descent of Srimati Chandrakala Ji, sovereign among Sri Maithili's companions. It is therefore no surprise that his revolutionary and wondrous influence in spreading this worship inaugurated a new age.
The root work published here, Sri Sita-Rama Dhyana Manjari, is the immortal composition of this great, influential, and exceptional rasikacharya. In the sampradaya, the Dhyana Manjari is regarded as a book of blessing. Through reading and contemplating it, the object, place, time, and assembly described within become directly present in the field of meditation of faithful readers.
Among our former acharyas, Sri Swami Shankaradas Ji Maharaj said something like the following to his son and disciple, Sri Swami Jivaram Ji Maharaj:
Sing these very verses and sing the Dhyana Manjari; place it reverently upon your head, for it brings the welfare of Sita-Rama. As soon as you read of its place and time, they will speak within your heart; in only a short while you will receive the fruit of its blessing. [2]
For this reason, within our own observation, many editions of this jewel of a book revered by the community have appeared from different publishing centers: editions of the root text, editions with footnotes, and editions containing a simple explanation. Even so, demand for it continues steadily to increase among today's devotees. Its popularity in the community is evident.
In our colorful rasika community, intoxicated with devotional feeling, this supremely venerable jewel of a book has always been worn like a necklace. Even today many revered persons know the entire compact work by heart. Through its daily recitation they have achieved great success in the discipline of meditation.
[1] See the opening invocation of Sri Sita-Rama Rasa Chandrodaya and verse 15 in the Rasika Prakasha Bhaktamala.
[2] Ibid., kavittas 10 and 11.
The celebrated commentator on the root text published here is the accomplished saint Sri Rasrangamani Ji Maharaj, remembered each morning with reverence, who was absorbed in the devotional mood of friendship. Even today, when skilled singers sing his sweet, deeply affecting, emotion-filled songs, those assembled at festival gatherings become saturated with devotional feeling. The commentator named his praiseworthy commentary Makaranda Madhuri - "The Sweetness of Nectar." Its qualities match its name. Read the commentary and your heart will surely become fragrant with its perfumed feeling.
Sri "Mani" Ji Maharaj was both a formidable scholar of Vedanta philosophy and an experienced, established siddha who had entered the innermost region of devotional feeling. As is the root work, so is his Makaranda Madhuri commentary: a union of jewel and gold, or milk blended with sugar.
The commentary's language is Awadhi. Rendered in Awadhi, the mother tongue of the sweet Beloved, Sri Avadhabihari, it becomes all the more relishable.
Several gentlemen advised us to convert the commentary's Awadhi into the standard Khari Boli Hindi familiar to contemporary educated society, or at least to permit a scholar to do so. We feared, however, that the vigor of the language of samadhi, which flowed in this form from Sri Rasrangamani Ji Maharaj's heart steeped in love, would not survive such recasting. We therefore urged the publisher to print the revered commentator's original words without alteration. That is what has been done.
We ask sensitive readers to continue studying and contemplating this meditation text together with its commentary. Your discipline of meditation will certainly reach fulfillment. This is our unwavering conviction.
This highly useful jewel of a book is appearing for the devotional community through the generous financial gift of Sri Purushottamlal Ji Dhanuka, a wealthy and life-giving gentleman of Calcutta. The grateful heart of the community he has benefited will spontaneously pronounce blessings upon the publisher. What more need we say?
All work connected with publication, editing, and related matters was completed by the learned Sri Radheshyam Ji Semka of Varanasi. He too deserves our thanks.
May society benefit from the reading, teaching, publication, and circulation of this book.
The humble attendant of rasika devotees,
Shatrughna Sharan
Sri Rasa-Moda-Kunja, Ayodhya