Jagat

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...

श्रीमधुसूदनसरस्वतीपादानां गूढार्थदीपिका टीका अत्युपकारिणीति मन्ये । सा अतितरां विस्तृता पाण्डित्यपूर्णा गूढार्थप्रकाशिनी च । मम चिरदिनं तत्पिपठिषा वरीवर्तते । तस्माद् इदानीं गम्भीरानन्दस्वामीपादानां आंग्लानुवादं अवलम्ब्य अग्रेसर्तुमिच्छा वर्तते । आशासे तत् सर्वेषां संमतं । हरिः ॐ तत् सत्॥ We recently finished the fourth chapter in our daily Gita class that I am giving on Zoom. Up until now, we have been reading the Gita with three Sanskrit commentaries, those of  Sridhara, Vishwanatha and Baladeva. Occasionally we turned to Madhusudana Saraswati's Gūḍhārtha-dīpikā  for insight, but with the above message, I announced that beginning with the fifth chapter, we would read Madhusudan in his entirety as well.  Though I have long recognized the justifiable reputation of Madhusudana's commentary, we are generally not encouraged to read him because he is a known opponent of Vyasa Tirtha, the accarya of the Madhva line and senior contemporary of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He is, ergo, ...

In the previous post, Vishwanath Chakravarti stated that the word yoga in Gītā 2.40 refers to svarūpa-siddhā bhakti because only such devotion is transcendental to the guṇas . Jñāna and karma are within the guṇas and therefore do not fulfill the conditions of yoga that the verse itself promises: through yoga one will transcend the guṇas . He looks at the totality of yoga with bhakti as its culmination. Thus there is a sequence or progression in the process leading to that bhakti. Śrīdhara and other commentaries have defined yoga here as bhagavad-arpita-karma , and it is precisely this that Vishwanath finds to be inadequate. This is also the definition given by commentaries on the īśvara-praṇidhāna of the Yoga-sūtras . But bhakti is not subordinate to yoga, it is the fruition of yoga; it is the complete manifestation of yoga. Now we look at Vishwanath's commentary to 2.41 where he continues his argument:

So I was thinking about Vishwanath Chakravarti's commentary to 2.40-41. He makes a bold statement that the word yoga (in buddhir yoge tv imāṁ śr̥ṇu ) means bhakti-yoga , and he continues this argument in the following verse when explaining vyavasāyātmikā buddhi . Now everybody else takes yoga to mean karma-yoga , so is Vishwanath's interpretation strained ( kaṣṭa-kalpanā )? Let's look at it...

On January 25, 2017 I visited Hit Kinkar Sewak Sharanji at his ashram. Unfortunately the accounts of my many visits to Sewak Sharan have been pretty much lost since the Vrindavan Today archive was lost. Though I could probably find them on the wayback machine archive. Maybe later.

FB Jan. 8, 2016 One of the other important ideas that comes up in Yoga Sūtra and has its origins in Sāṅkhya is the following: "Prakṛti exists for the sake of the other ( parārtha ), while the Puruṣa exists for itself ( svārtha )." This terminology is very significant, as it pervades "normative" Hindu philosophy, including both Advaita and Vaishnava Vedanta, though with some adjustments, especially in the latter. According to Sāṅkhya, the Consciousness Principle is called Puruṣa. In this philosophy, the Puruṣa is consciousness only. To even be aware of the world requires that consciousness be reflected in the material nature, starting with its subtlest form, which is buddhi or Mahat. The universe is, as the Gita says, the result of the combination of Puruṣa and Prakṛti, the former providing the life-giving properties to matter. But in this Prakṛti exists for the Puruṣa. Matter presents itself to the consciousness principle through the chain leading to Buddhi. Matt...

Photo Vishakha Dasi. śrī-vastrābharaṇādibhiḥ kara-padādy-utkarta-dāhādibhir nindā-saṁstava-koṭibhir bahu-vibhūty-atyanta-dainyādibhiḥ | jīvann eva mṛto yathā na vikṛtiṁ prāptaḥ kathaṁcit kvacit śrī-vṛndāvanam āśraye priya-mahānandaika-kandaṁ param|| Whether I am covered in beautiful clothes and ornaments, or suffer from cuts and burns to my limbs; whether I am copiously criticized or lavishly praised; whether I live with great riches or in complete poverty, like a dead man, I will remain unchanged at all times and in all circumstances, but I will definitely be alive, for I take refuge in Vrindavan the single supreme root of all the great joys of my beloved Lord and Lady. (1.29) Commentary [This verse is where I stopped posting daily meditations from the Vṛndāvana-mahimāmṛta . When I reached it, I found I had written nothing previously and I hit an inspirational brick wall. So I let it sit for all this time. This time, some thoughts occurred to me. In act...

In response to this VT story, Alex said, Makes me wonder if she read the same BG where Krishna instructs Arjuna to not be a coward and fight: "She said that the Gita impressed upon her that, “The path to the truth is non-violent and no one should insult anyone else.” My thought: Well, if you think about it a couple of steps of logic down, you could make a case. That is not a problem. On the other hand, you could ask whether it is appropriate to deduce that the Gita was about getting along and letting each other live. To which I say a good message found in a nasty place is still a good message. She could have said, "Right, Krishna is like fighting a stupid religious war. So Hindus and Muslims should kill each other like our good lords intended, right?" That would also have been a rational message, perhaps a little more prosaic. A little more external an understanding of the Bhagavad Gita. My faith is that the Gita is a spiritual book, set in a particular cult...

Gītā catuḥ-ślokī 4 || 10.11 || तेषामेवानुकम्पार्थमहमज्ञानजं तमः। नाशयाम्यात्मभावस्थो ज्ञानदीपेन भास्वता॥ teṣām evānukampārtham aham ajñāna-jaṁ tamaḥ | nāśayāmy ātma-bhāva-stho jñāna-dīpena bhāsvatā || ahaṁ anukampārthaṁ teṣām ātma-bhāva-sthaḥ, (teṣām) ajñāna-jaṁ tamaḥ jñāna-dīpena bhāsvatā nāśayāmi. ·          anukampā = (f) mercy, compassion. dayā. ·          anukampārthaṁ = (adv.) add ārthaṁ in compound to another word and that shows the purpose. “for the sake of” dayā-hetoḥ. ·          ajñāna-jam = (adj.) “born of ignorance.” – ja is a suffix you can add to any word to make “arising from, born of.” ·          tam as = (n.) darkness. In sandhi, tamo . ·          nāśayāmi = “I destroy, I cause destruction.” (causative of √ naś, naśyati ) ...

Gītā catuḥ-ślokī 3 || 10.10 || तेषां सततयुक्तानां भजतां प्रीतिपूर्वकम्। ददामि बुद्धियोगं तं येन मामुपयान्ति ते॥१०॥ teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam | dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ yena mām upayānti te || ahaṁ teṣāṁ (pūrva-ślokayoḥ ukta-budhānāṁ) satata-yuktānāṁ prīti-pūrvakam bhajatāṁ buddhi-yogaṁ dadāmi. kaṁ buddhi-yogaṁ ? taṁ yena te mām upayānti. satata ṁ = (adv.) constantly yuktānāṁ = “connected” (past.part. from √ yuj , genitive plural) nityābhiyuktānāṁ nivṛtta-sarva-bāhyaiṣaṇānāṁ : “those who are permanently connected and have given up all their external cravings ( bāhya eṣaṇa )” (Śaṅkara) bhajatāṁ = “of those worshiping” (pres. part. from √ bhaj, genitive plural) sevamānānām . ("of those serving") prītiḥ = (f.) love. snehaḥ. prīti-pūrvakaṁ = “with love” (adding pūrvakam to a noun is one way of creating an adverb or adverbial phrase, “lovingly.” This describes bhajatām . How are they worshipi...

Gītā catuḥ-ślokī 2 || 10.9 || मच्चित्ता मद्गतप्राणा बोधयन्तः परस्परम्। कथयन्तश्च मां नित्यं तुष्यन्ति च रमन्ति च॥ mac-cittā mad-gata-prāṇā bodhayantaḥ parasparam | kathayantaś ca māṁ nityaṁ tuṣyanti ca ramanti ca || [ te pūrva-ślokoktā budhāḥ ] ·          mac-cittāḥ = Like man-manāḥ in 9.34 , mayi cittaṁ yeṣāṁ te mac-cittāḥ . ·          mad-gata-prāṇāḥ = to me, gone, life. Again, this is a bahuvrīhi , so the compound is describing the devotees. māṁ gatāḥ prāptāś cakṣur-ādayaḥ prāṇā yeṣāṁ te | athavā, mad-gata-prāṇāḥ mad-gata-jīvanā ity etat . ·          bodhayant aḥ = “making understand, explaining, enlightening.” ( Nom. pl. of present participle, masculine from √ budh in the causative ). avagamayantaḥ ·          parasparam = adv. indeclinable. “each other, mutually, reciprocally” anyo’nyam...

Just as there is a seven-verse Gītā, there is a tradition in the Vaiṣṇava sampradāyas, apparently started by Viśvanātha Cakravartī in the 17 th century, of a four-verse Gītā. Like the four-verse Bhāgavatam (2.9.33-36), these verses are found clustered together in a sequence (10.8-11) close to the actual center of the book. Unlike the  Bhāgavatam , however, they are not "self-proclaimed" as the essential teaching, nor do they contain mysterious utterances that require extended analysis and interpretation; they are straightforward. You can decide for yourself which of the two mini-texts better summarizes the essence of the Bhagavad-gītā. But that will take detailed knowledge of the entire Gītā. Gītā catuḥ-ślokī 1 || 10.8 || अहं सर्वस्य प्रभवो मत्तः सर्वं प्रवर्तते। इति मत्वा भजन्ते मां बुधा भावसमन्विताः॥८॥ ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate | iti matvā bhajante māṁ budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ || Anvayaḥ: ahaṁ sarvasya jagataḥ prabhava ...

Gītā sapta-ślokī 7 || 9.34 || मन्मना भव मद्भक्तो मद्याजी मां नमस्कुरु। मामेवैष्यसि युक्त्वैवमात्मानं मत्परायणः॥ man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru | mām evaiṣyasi yuktvaivam ātmānaṁ mat-parāyaṇaḥ || bhava man-manāḥ. bhava mad-bhaktaḥ. bhava mad-yājī. māṁ namaskuru. mat-parāyaṇaḥ [bhūtvā], evaṁ ātmānaṁ yuktvā, mām eva eṣyasi. OR evaṁ yuktvā, ātmānam mām eva eṣyasi. [ ahaṁ hi sarveṣāṁ bhūtānām ātmā .] man-manā ḥ = “Me-minded.” ( manas is a neuter noun, nom. sing. is manaḥ . Here it is turned into a bahu-vrīhi samāsa refering to Arjuna, so it has to be changed into its equivalent masculine form. The masculine will be the same as neuter in everything except the nominative and accusative. The nom. sing. here is manāḥ -- but only in such compounds! (Masc. declension: manāḥ, manasau, manasaḥ/manasaṁ, manasau, manasaḥ ) mad-bhakt aḥ = “My devotee” mad-yājī = “My worshiper.” (nom. sing. of yājin ) mad-yajana-śīlo...