Jagat

Durvasa Muni's ashram, about two kilometers across from Vishram Ghat in Mathura. (P.C. Pure Bhakti ) Oh mind! My brother! Here you have come with a little hope to this raremost Vrindavan forest, which is such a supreme essence of the ocean of Krishna’s blissful rasa, such a form of variations of the ujjvala-rasa that even those who have gone through all the topmost Upanishads have not had even the slightest glimpse of it, and yet you constantly wander around in externals, driven by the witch of petty aspirations. (1.49) kṛṣṇānanda-rasāmbudheḥ parataraṁ sāraṁ vicitrojjvalā- kāraṁ pāra-gatair api śruti-śiro-vṛndasya nekṣyaṁ manāk | śrī-vṛndā-vipinaṁ sudurlabhataraṁ pratyāśam āsādya bhoḥ kṣudrāśā-kupiśācikā-vaśa-gato bambhramyase kiṁ bahiḥ || Commentary Prabodhananda has already mentioned the Upanishads in 1.12 and 1.22 . Here he speaks of the śruti-śiraḥ , which is a reference to Gopāla-tāpanī , as indicated in Gautamīya-tantra . The ujjvala-rasa is t...

[This was lying around and should have been on-line somewhere. Footnote references were stripped and will have to be added. Also the numbering of references appears to not match with the numbers of the critical edition, which was completed after the writing of the introduction. Babaji has agreed to publish this full translation from Jiva Institute in the near future. Then we will revise this intro a bit.] Traditionally, there are said to be 108 upaniṣads. This is the number found in the Muktikopaniṣad , but there are numerous other lists and compilations of Upaniṣads, all of which have different contents. In his massive verse index, Upaniṣad-vākya-mahā-kośa , Sadhale has drawn on 223 different extant texts that call themselves by this name. The most important of these works, which have been commented on by Śaṅkara and other Vedāntists and are considered to be the basis of the Vedānta-sūtra of Bādarāyaṇa, are the eleven earliest texts that are connected to Vedic śākhās and carry thei...

Cross-posted from Vrindavan Today nāhaṁ vedmi kim etad adbhutatamaṁ vastu trayī-mastakaiḥ stavyaṁ prīti-bhareṇa gokula-patir yan nityam āsevate | kandaṁ prema-rasasya kiṁ madhurimotkarṣāntya-sīmno’dbhuta- sāndrānanda-rasasya vā pariṇatiṁ vṛndāvanaṁ pāvanam|| I do not know what this purifying Vrindavan, this most amazing substance that is praised by the chief portions of the three Vedas, in which the Lord of Gokula dwells with full love. Is it the root of all the secrets of love? Or is it the transformation of that thick flavor of incredible ecstasy that lies at the furthest limit of supreme sweetness? I really do not know.  Commentary Prabodhananda refers to the trayī-mastaka , here translated as “the conclusive portions of the Vedas” or more literally, “the heads of the three Vedas.” Generally speaking, when Prabodhananda uses this term, it is a reference to the Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad, to which we have several commentaries, one of which is credited to ...

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...

Brahmacharya I went back and looked at Madhavananda's article on Sahajiyaism again and took note of his arguments, which are divided into two: the first is under the heading of "Brahmacharya", the second under that of "Imitating Radha and Krishna." Under the first of these headings, there are basically two distinct arguments: one is that sexuality is to be used only for procreation , the second that all association with women ( strī-saṅga ) is detrimental to spiritual life. I would like to discuss these issues in greater depth here. It is important to know that the concept of celibacy can be understood outside the confines of simple physical contact. As I wrote in my article "Obscenity" [ This article appears to be lost. (ed.) ]: The Sahajiyas have a different understanding of what is obscene: the spilling of semen in the sex act. That is the sign of the corruption of desire. Thus they also warn against the misuse of their doctrines as an excuse f...