Jagat

These guys don't look so menacing. They look a bit wistful at their condition as troublemaking beasts in the Dham. P.C. Hello Jammu News By her amazing potency and her own blessings, may that Vrindavan forest, which is worshipable by the greatest of the munis, by the gods, as well as by all the purest spiritual entities of the divine world, turn even contemptible animals like myself into servants of her lotus feet. (1.44) vṛndāṭavī vimala-cid-ghana-sattva-vṛnda- vṛndāraka-pravara-vṛnda-munīndra-vandyā | nindyān api sva-kṛpayādbhuta-vaibhavena mādṛk-paśūn sva-caraṇānucarān karotu || Commentary Sri Prabodhananda Saraswati, in the true humility of a great devotee, draws the contrast between the magnificent opulence of Vrindavan, worshiped by those who know the highest truths of the material and spiritual worlds, and himself. He compares himself to an animal, a paśu , a creature helplessly bound by the ropes of material nature. But Vrindavan is worshiped bec...

P.C. Traveling Monk vṛndāvane sthira-carākhila-sattva-vṛndā- nandāmbudhi-snapana-divya-mahā-prabhāve | bhāvena kenacid ihāmṛtā ye vasanti te santi sarva-para-vaiṣṇava-loka-mūrdhni || They who dwell up to the moment of death in this Vrindavan, which has the great divine potency to bathe all creatures, moving or still, in an ocean of great joy, whatever their mood, are the crowns on the head of all the most elevated worlds of Vishnu. Commentary This has to be considered an important verse. Not everyone can come to live in Vrindavan. Most devotees find it impossible to live even in a temple, or to convert their own environment into a temple. Most devotees cannot even find the association of other devotees who have the Vrindavan mood. The Vrindavan mood is most rare and difficult to attain. But here Prabodhananda talks about dying in Vrindavan. In the past, devotees would come to the holy places, to the shores of the holy rivers, to finish out their lives in prep...

P.C. Vrindavan Experience vṛndāvane sakala-pāvana-pāvane’smin sarvojjvalojjvalad-udāra-matiḥ sadāste | sarvottamottama-mahā-mahimany anante sarvādbhutādbhuta-mahā-rasa-rāja-dhāmni || My mind always remains lofty, illuminated by the  ujjvala-rasa here in this Vrindavan, which purifies even the purifiers, which has infinite glories, greater than the greatest of all glories, the abode of the most wondrous manifestation of the supreme king of rasa! Commentary Prabodhananda continues to glorify the Dham with arms upraised and spirits lifting. This is the ecstatic abode of the  ujjvala rasa , which as we will gradually see throughout this book, is meant the very same spirit that is at the heart of the  Rādhā-rasa-sudhā-nidhi . kiṁ brūmo’nyatra kuṇṭhīkṛtaka-janapade dhāmny api śrī-vikuṇṭhe rādhā-mādhurya-vettā madhupatir atha tan-mādhurīṁ vetti rādhā | vṛndāraṇya-sthalīyaṁ parama-rasa-sudhā-mādhurīṇāṁ dhurīṇā tad-dvandva-svādanīyaṁ sakalam api dadau rādhikā-k...

Parakeets on Vrindavan tree. P.C.  Belyaev Viacheslav . When will I permanently reside with supreme satisfaction in this Vrindavan, this purifier of all purifiers, which is filled with the most wondrous creatures, still or moving, and which is the only treasure house of the flavors of devotion to the Lover of Shrimati Radhika? vṛndāvane sakala-pāvana-pāvane’smin sarvottamottama-cara-sthira-sattva-jātau | śrī-rādhikā-ramaṇa-bhakti-rasaika-koṣe toṣeṇa nityaṁ parameṇa kadā vasāmi || Commentary : All the qualities of a sādhu are needed in order to engage in the sādhanā of living in Vrindavan. During the period that one has not yet developed a consistent vision of the transcendent Vrindavan, one needs to develop some stoicism, resistance to the dualities of heat and cold, happiness and distress. One must be ready to be content with whatever comes to one ( yadṛcchā-lābha-santuṣṭaḥ ), because life in Vrindavan will not necessarily be easy. Then one will see Vrindav...

Vrindavan only appears to the eyes of a person of great glory who has many lifetimes of performing wonderful good deeds to his credit. The Supreme Lord then makes all his past karmas completely impotent, and the gods led by Lord Brahmā praise him with tremendous devotion. vṛndāṭavī bahu-bhavīya-supuṇya-puñjān netrātithir bhavati yasya mahā-mahimnaḥ | tasyeśvaraḥ sakala-karma mṛṣā karoti brahmādayas tam atibhakti-yutāḥ stuvanti || Commentary No amount of pious deeds will give one devotion to the Lord, nor residence in Vraj. Normally, when Vaishnavas talk of pious deeds being the cause of some great blessing, they are either referring to actions in devotion, which may be the impetus for the descent of the devotees’ or the Lord’s grace, or they are merely speaking rhetorically, just as a way of glorifying such a person’s good fortune. kṛṣṇa-bhakti-rasa-bhāvita-matiḥ kriyatāṁ yadi kuto’pi labhyate | tatra laulyam api mūlyam ekalaṁ janma-koṭi-sukṛtair na labhyate ...

I have been intermittently posting verses from Vṛndāvana-mahimāmṛta and commenting on them. The following verse touches on some of the points that I am trying to make. Indeed, living in Vrindavan here at this time in my life (I am 68), I am taking the teachings of Vṛndāvana-mahimāmṛta as my guiding principle for Braja-vāsa-sādhanā , which I consider to be the "end-game" of all Vaishnava spiritual practice. Due to the famous problems we have had with  Vrindavan Today , the archive seems to have been lost, unfortunately. We are starting to repost, but at a very slow rate.. I reposted this on June 17, 2018, out of sequence, so am reposting it again here in the proper order..  vṛndāṭavī sahaja-vīta-samasta-doṣā doṣākarān api guṇākaratāṁ nayantī | poṣāya me sakala-dharma-bahiṣkṛtasya śoṣāya dustara-mahāgha-cayasya bhūyāt || Vrindavan is naturally free of all flaws; it transforms those who are reservoirs of faults  into reservoirs of virtue.  May ...

Vrindavan is so charming due to the large numbers of forest bowers where Radhika and the enchanting flute player have their dalliances. Inhabited by amazing creatures that are spiritual and full in their own bliss, it brings forth, like milk from a cow, an ocean of rasa. May that Vrindavan destroy all my sins, along with their seed. śrī-rādhikā-muralī-mohana-keli-kuñja- puñjena mañjulatarā rasa-sindhu-dogdhrī | svānanda-cinmaya-mahādbhuta-sattva-vṛnda- vṛndāṭavī mama sa-bījam aghaṁ nihantu || Commentary In Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu , Srila Rupa Goswami describes six characteristics of devotion. kleśaghnī śubhadā mokṣa-laghutā-kṛt sudurlabhā | sāndrānanda-viśeṣātmā śrī-kṛṣṇākarṣiṇī ca sā || [Bhakti] destroys miseries, brings auspiciousness, makes one think of liberation as inferior, is very hard to attain, is in itself a special manifestation of profound joy, and it attracts Krishna. ( Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.17) The destruction of kleśas means t...

As has already been stated, Bhaktivinoda Thakur's Jīvanī was addressed to Lalita Prasad Thakur. Naturally Bhaktivinoda gave some priority to matters related to the person to whom he wrote the book. He says that there were special circumstances surrounding this child’s birth: a sadhu whom he recognized as Narada Muni, came and glorified the baby and said he would become a great mahā-puruṣa . "You were born in Ranaghat on the 15th of Ashwin 1880. I saw auspicious signs on your body that indicated that you would grow up to be particularly religious. ... You were born on the day of Sri Ekadasi. In a dream I saw an ugly monkey which came to me and said, 'This child is very wicked and will not live.' Immediately afterward, Sri Narada appeared in the dream and said, 'That monkey was Kali. Do not heed his words. This boy is born on Harivasara [ekadasi]. He will be initiated into the pure Vaishnava religion and will preach that dharma. No one will be able to kill him...

Bhaktivinoda Thakur also mentions his spiritual master’s name in several places in his own writings to offer him respects, as is appropriate Vaishnava etiquette for an author. These appear: (1) at the end of his commentary on the Caitanya-caritāmṛta (1894), bipina-bihārī hari tā~ra śakti abatari bipina-bihārī prabhu-bara śrī-guru-gosvāmī-rūpe dekhi' more bhava-kūpe uddharila āpana kiṅkara Krishna is known as Bipin Bihari, his energy descended into this world as Bipin Bihari Goswami, my master. Seeing me, his humble servant, in the dark well of worldly existence, He took the form of my spiritual master and delivered me. ( Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya , p.1687) (2) In Sanskrit, in his introduction to an edition of Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta in 1898, guror hareḥ padaṁ dhyātvā śrī-vipina-vihāriṇaḥ kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛtasyeyaṁ bhāṣā-vyākhyā viracyate Meditating on the holy feet of my guru Sri Bipin Bihari who is Lord Hari, I am writing this Bengali translation and explanation of...