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Prīti Sandarbha 337.2 Nirveda :: Sthāyī or Vyabhicārī ?

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In this rather mad run I am engaged in to complete the Prīti Sandarbha, I have kept somewhat away from human interaction. I have temporarily stopped all classes in the pious hope that I would get more done, but I honestly wonder now if that is at all true. At any rate, as always, I am ever struggling with a stubbornly recalcitrant mind, which even at this stage of life still seeks the distractions that this brave new world has succeeded placing before us, sucking us all in. Even pretenders such as myself cannot resist falling into the ocean of non-Krishna. We may talk about bhāva , but without avyartha-kālatvam , all else is but pretense. A couple of days ago I finished up the anubhāva section, of which I regret not having shared even short portions with anyone, here or elsewhere. I did share a portion with the members of a Sanskrit group I moderate on Facebook, but even there I am a little too lazy to do the extra work of reposting here on the blog. We could call it being judiciously ...
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Lochan Das's Dhāmāli: The Mugdhā Nāyikā

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Locana dasa Thakura’s  Dhāmāli  (continued narrations) from Gadadhar Pran Das, whatsapp/email +91-7501237557
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The Pravṛtti-mārga in Prema-sādhana

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There are two models of religious and spiritual life, which appear to be in conflict: pravṛtti and nivṛtti , the path of engagement and the path of renunciation. Most of the commentaries like Shankara, including even Shridhar Swami on the Bhāgavatam, will emphasize the side of renunciation as the path to liberation over that of engagement and taking responsibility in the world. Indeed, since jñāna is the prerequisite for liberation, which have renunciation as the cause and as the effect, it is no surprise that this predominated in monastic-driven Indian intellectual circles for centuries. It is also the cluster of ideas that is at play in Buddhism. And there can be little doubt that it had an influence in Vaishnava circles also, including the Bhāgavata itself. It is not that anyone could possible discount the  pravṛtti-mārga  altogether, the karma-kāṇḍa and karma-yoga are important in the scheme of sanātana-dharma, but it is certainly placed on a lower level than the ide...
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Thoughts on the passing of Tarek Fatah

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Tarek Fatah's recent death met with mourning in Indian nationalist circles.  Those not aware of Indian (especially Hindu-Muslim relations) politics might not know Tarek Fatah's name, but even as a member of the Muslim community (a Pakistani immigrant to Canada) he was one of the most outspoken critics of Islamicism, especially as it exists in the subcontinent. He was a great friend to Bharata and I certainly hope that there will be others who will step in to fill the void he leaves behind. I subsequently watched a number of videos like the following, all of which give a rather good idea of what I wrote above. In this one, Jaipur Dialogs 2016 , is in mixed Urdu and English. The English bits are worth the wait. The jokes are in Urdu. His sense of urgency about the Islamicist threat and a criticism of Indian and Hindu weakness in the face of intransigent Muslim nihilism. It is a very good critique of Islam from the point of view of an enlightened Muslim. He calls himself an In...
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Learning from Mistakes

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I had an exchange with a devotee on Facebook. He called on me to confess in more vivid detail and with greater honesty, etc., about my activities in the Gurukula. He hinted that my sins were likely much worse than those meager details I had given in my confessions. He hinted that beneath my facade of gray beard and sophistry I was a seething cauldron of wickedness. I got a bit scratchy with him, a bit annoyed that I cannot be done with these events, and having undergone some public humiliation on account of them, and so on, culpability that I have accepted and have spent my life trying to understand, things that happened over forty years ago. I have been watching a lot of right wing stuff of late, starting with Jordan Peterson, and the self-righteous social-justice warrior type virtue-signaling some kind of moral superiority because he can hold these things over your head and just ignore everything else, often the things that are more important. However, after learning that he was ...
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Service

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Leaving aside questions of the eternity of the soul, the afterlife and everything else that people take "on faith," the question is, "Why must I serve?" and then, "What [or whom] must I serve?" This is an existential question about the here and now. (Facebook, April 13, 2010)
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Locan Das's Dhāmāli Part 2: Nāgara songs by Narahari

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Some may find the erotic nature of these posts distasteful. Be forewarned. Sri Narahari’s Padavali at a Glance Since Lochan Dasa is Thakur Narahari’s disciple, let us examine some of his poetry first. Then we will have a good idea about what inspired Lochan to write his Dhāmāli . (1) Looking into the Mirror tore kahi marama kī bāta nibhṛta niketane hama ekākinī dosara jana nāhi sāthe mukura kare dhari nija mukha herāite paridhāne bigalita bāsa kuṅkuma candana aṅge bilepana pīṭhopari keśa udāse henaite samaẏa gaura sunāgara āola hama nāhi jāna pīṭhe āre rahi catura nāgara bara deẏala mukere baẏāna gaurāṅga badana bidhu mukura para herāite taikhane camakita aṅga grība phirāite mukhe mukhe lāgala sakali haila majhu baṅga bāhu pasāri karahi agoralo paitalo madana bilāse nija kāja sādhi calalo nāgara bara kahatahi narahari dāse “O sakhi! I have a secret to tell: while standing alone in a solitary pl...
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