Jagat

Those of you who follow this blog might wonder why there is so little activity. The fact is that I have started working, from morning to night, divā cārthehayā rājan, kuṭumbhābharaṇena vā . I have said in the past that the monastic or eremetic lifestyle is really for those who have strong self-discipline. Those who do not have discipline ultimately have it imposed on them from outside. This is what is happening to me. In a way, I am not unhappy, though I said to my wife that I did not find any fulfilment, nor did I expect to find fulfilment in the work I am doing. I do it, it is not strenuous. Indeed, I got a laugh today as I did a lengthy session of envelope stuffing--so it has come to this... But I get an hour in the bus going and another hour coming. I chant. I am eating less and better. I am not less Krishna conscious, just less productive. I have these few hours left at the end of the day, when I am tired and dull, and I have to think, what project will I work on? Now that ...

Listening to Radhanath Swami's lecture on the Internet radio. Looking at form rather than content, I can almost feel that Protestant preacher mood when the Prabhupada cadences don't start peeking through. Since Radhanath is Jewish in background, perhaps he picked it up from Kirtanananda Swami. It's amazing, actually. I have heard Radhanath Maharaj speak two or three times, and it seems that he repeats several things that make it clear just how close to the orthodoxy this Sahajiya doctrine is. I see that what I am saying here is not really so radical after. It is just one small step, one small piece of the puzzle. The concept of perverted reflection... The idea of transforming this world through consciousness... The idea of yukta-vairägya . It is all there. All that is needed is taking that one vital step that links these ideas to the spiritual power sexuality, that allows for the transforming power of love in this world. Unfortunately, without that, no madhura-rasa . No...

This is the section that precedes the verses already quoted. These verses are found in Bhagiratha Jha's commentary to Gopāla-tāpanī 1.14-- klīm ity etad ādāv ādāya kṛṣṇāya govindāya gopījana-vallabhāyeti bṛhad-bhānavyā sakṛd uccared yo’sau gatis tasyāsti maṅkṣu nānyā gatiḥ syāt Whoever utters even once the seed klīṁ , following it with kṛṣṇāya, govindāya and gopī-jana-vallabhāya , and then concludes with svāhā , will attain the supreme destination. For him, there is no other destination. Śaraṇāgati has, as is well known, six elements: accepting the favorable to the devotional life, rejecting the unfavorable, having faith in God the protector, and choosing him as provider, giving oneself to him, and humility. atha tubhyaṁ prapannānāṁ dharmān vakṣyāmi nārada yān āsthāya gamiṣyanti hari-dhāma-narāḥ kalau 22 itthaṁ guror labdha-mantro guru-bhakti-parāyaṇaḥ sevamāno guruṁ nityaṁ tat-kṛpāṁ bhāvayet sudhīḥ 23 satāṁ dharmāṁs tataḥ śikṣet prapannānāṁ viśeṣataḥ sveṣṭa-dev...

I have been distracted with other things, especially Gopala Tapani, but now I have branched off into the  Vṛndāvana-rasa-tattva-samīkṣā , also by Bhagiratha Jha. I enjoy this stuff tremendously. It seems a great shame that I am not able to make my living at it. Bhagiratha is steeped in the Upanishads and Vedanta, so he is the perfect source of understanding for these foundations of Gopāla-tāpanī . But in the Vṛndāvana-rasa-tattva-samīkṣā , he concentrates more on topics of rasa, citing the customary sources in that area, like Bharata Muni. Nevertheless, he continues to emphasize the Upanishadic basis of things. This book begins at the same place the Prīti-sandarbha does: with the famous Chāndogya passage (7.22ff) that inquires into happiness. The prayojana , or goal of life and all our activities, is to find happiness. Anyone who gives another reason is being disingenuous. The debate lies in where one can find it. In free Western societies, it was decided a few centuries ago...