The Second Year of Jiva Ratna comes to an end.


Jai Sri Radhe!

So, today another year of the Jiva Ratna courses by Satyanarayana Dasa Babaji at the Jiva Institute came to an end.

The Jiva Institute is slowly growing each year through the online courses which allow Babaji Maharaj to remain in Vrindavan with a core group of students while still shepherding a small international group from around the world.

These students have developed a taste for his teaching method -- basically studying the Sandarbhas line by line from beginning to end, accompanied by a second field of study based on the six philosophical systems and other aspects of the Sanskrit literary tradition such as Alankara.

This appeals to those who seek a more profound analysis of the philosophical basis of the Gaudiya Vaishnava doctrine. Babaji rightly believes that for Gaudiya Vaishnavism to prosper, this kind of thorough scholarship is absolutely necessary.

That is arguably following in the footsteps of Jiva Goswami himself, the last of the six Goswamis and the one who sought to produce a coherent doctrine on the basis of the Bhagavatam, the amala-pramāṇa of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

That is why Babaji himself made a thorough study of not only the Gaudiya acharyas' writings, but of Nyāya and other schools of Indian thought, what I like to call Jiva Goswami's "knowledge universe."

From what I can see, Babaji gets stronger from year to year. His scholarship along with his engaging personality and consistent engagement, as well as his deep commitment to his practice have made him a solid rock in the Gaudiya Vaishnava world.

I expect to see this trend continue, especially as his more capable students become trained both in shastra and fixed in their other sādhanas. The testimonials I heard today show me that his plan is indeed developing in the way that he envisioned.

[You can get an idea of these testimonials from the Jiva Youtube page, such as this one from a retired Indian civil servant.


Even though I have been in Canada for nearly two years now, I am gratefully still a part of the Jiva Institute's teaching staff. I definitely play a secondary role to Babaji, but I do not consider this a problem. Rather it is my great good fortune.

My connection with Babaji and Jiva has definitely been a source of life-giving spiritual and intellectual stimulation to me. Teaching introductory Sanskrit and reading the Gita with commentaries of the acharyas in the original Sanskrit, even with only a handful of students, has been extremely beneficial and, if nothing else, has led to a deepening of my love for this language and its literature, and hopefully my understanding also.

It keeps me on track and in tune with my life's commitment to this tradition.

So I am personally extremely grateful to Babaji Maharaj and pray that I will be able to continue to support him and the Jiva Institute for as long as I am worthy to offer my services. Jai Sri Radhe.




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