Jagat

Whenever we say something like, “Krishna is rasarāja ; Radha is mahābhāva .” We are speaking symbolically. The word pratīka , usually translated as symbol, sign or representation, is discussed in VS 4.1.4. Baladeva Vidyabhushan says in his Govinda-bhāṣya that this is a reference to Vedānta statements that speak of the mind, etc. ( mana-ādi ) as symbols of God. Baladeva says pratīke īśvaro na bhavati . "God is not in the symbol," i.e., he is not limited by it. The sentence goes on, kintu tasyādhiṣṭhānam eveti "but is its ground or basis". He then quotes BhP 11.2.41: khaṁ vāyum agniṁ salilaṁ mahīṁ ca jyotīṁṣi sattvāni diśo drumādīn | sarit-samudrāṁś ca hareḥ śarīraṁ yat kiṁ ca bhūtaṁ praṇamed ananyaḥ || The unalloyed devotee bows down to all existent things – the ether, air, fire, water and earth, the heavenly bodies, living creatures, the directions, the trees, the rivers and oceans, seeing them all as the body of the Lord. (11.2.41) It seems to me t...

I like this verse so much, I am just about adopting it as my new motto: प्रेमा योऽसौ राधिकाकृष्णयुग्मं स्वानन्देन प्लावयित्वा सखीश्च । शश्वद्विश्वं प्लावयन् सुप्रसिद्धः सोऽयं बुद्धिं नः समिद्धां करोतु ॥ premā yo'sau rādhikā-kṛṣṇa-yugmaṁ svānandena plāvayitvā sakhīś ca | śaśvad viśvaṁ plāvayan suprasiddhaḥ so'yaṁ buddhiṁ naḥ samiddhāṁ karotu || This love, which after inundating the pair of lovers, Radha and Krishna, with its own bliss, and their girlfriends too, constantly engulfs the entire universe, as is well known. May that love enflame our intelligence. (Gopala-champu 15.4) Interesting mixed metaphor. Inundates, engulfs... enflame. Love inundates with joy. The essence of Vaishnavism is the recognition that love and joy are intimately connected. The receipt of joy... when you love, the object of love is a source of joy. When you love all, then all is a source of joy. At the same time, when you love, you seek to give joy. This requires practical intelligence, of...

brahmānanda-rasād ananta-guṇito ramyo raso vaiṣṇavas tasmāt koṭi-guṇojjvalaś ca madhuraḥ śrī-gokulendro rasaḥ | tac cānanta-camatkṛtiṁ pratimuhur varṣad rasānāṁ param śrī-rādhā-pada-padmam eva madhuraṁ sarvasva-bhūtaṁ mama || Countless times more relishable than the flavor of Brahmananda is that connected to Vishnu. Millions of times brighter than that is the sweet rasa related to the Lord of Gokula. Raining down infinite astonishment are the topmost of all rasas, the sweet lotus feet of Srimati Radharani. They alone are my life and soul. Following on from the previous posting . Check the label " hierarchies of prema " for more on this general subject.  By the way, the word "raining down" is appropriate, as today was the first day of the real monsoon here in Rishikesh. We had plenty of pre-monsoon rain, but the sky today is grey, the atmosphere is almost clammy with humidity, and the mountains will be covered in mist for the next fe...