Jagat

Gadadhar Pran Das has sent me a couple more chapters of Another Side of Bhaktivinoda Thakur  to share with you all. Jai Radhe! Jai Gaura!  We have found that some devotees don’t believe in this  sādhana , and take it to be mental concoction. So before beginning this chapter’s story, let us examine Rupa Goswami’s guidelines for those who hanker to take up  rāga-mārga bhajana . Another Side of Bhaktivinoda Thakur 28 :  Sri Gopinath’s Sevā Pālā As we were reading in Chapters 26 and 27 about Gaura and Gadadhar’s madhura lilas that unfold in Their bhāvāḍhya and rasātmikā moods, now in the next two chapters (28 and 29) it will be similarly rewarding to investigate how the bhaktas’ sevā unfolds in two ways also: in the ānugatyamayī and in the pratyakṣa moods. The first step is the ānugatyamayī sevā , when one serves the Lord following after their guru, guru-varga and Mahaprabhu’s nitya-siddha bhaktas . In the next stage, however, which...

It has been quite interesting that Advaita Dasji has sent me a second postcard I wrote addressed to Radharaman Dasji. (See here also .) I used to keep diaries when in India, as did Advaitaji, but unlike him, I lost all mine when I came back to Canada in 85. As a result I have absolutely no recollection of the exact dates of my whereabouts at any given time, and most of my memories are fuzzy at best and totally non-existent at worst. I have expressed wonder at this many times. It has convinced me of the utter untrustworthiness of memory in general and mine in particular. I used to make the excuse that I was so concentrated on texts and so on that my external life was always relegated to the background. That might be an acceptable excuse if I could remember a few more shlokas, which also have gone the way of flotsam on the ever-flowing Ganga. These little forgotten bits and pieces remind me how we also have previous lives that are lost to us. This postcard is from Nabadwip and sent...

After a hiatus of several months, we are continuing with Gadadhar Pran Das's Another side of Bhaktivinoda Thakur. In the very interesting previous chapter about Siddha Krishnadas Baba's Guṭikā can be found here . In Chapter 5 Gadadhar recounts how he came into the association of Madan Mohan Das Babaji Maharaj, Gopal Das Babaji Maharaj and Ananta Das Pandit Baba (now Radha Kund Mahant), who each published their own versions of the Guṭikā. Gadadhar studied  especially   under Madan Mohan Baba, spending extended periods of time with him in Radha Kund and then Govinda Kund between 1980 and 1990. 1: GuruNishtha 2: Raganuga Sadhana following Bhaktivinoda Thakur's ManjariParampara 3: Svarasiki Bhajan 4: Attaining Siddhi 5: Discovering Siddha Krishnadas Baba's Gutika 6: The contents of the Gutika The Guṭikā 's contents For rāga mārga sādhakas and sādhikās the Guṭikā is indispensable. Here are a few reasons: To help lay a good foundation for o...

Not more than two months after I received diksha and siddha-pranali from Lalita Prasad Thakur in 1980, he left this world, entering Radha Krishna's nitya-lila. But Prabhu's departure stirred a greater desire in me for the bhajana-shiksha that I desperately needed. This lured me to Radha Kund the same year. When the Toofan Express pulled into the Mathura station, late as usual, I was contemplating how to reach my destination. It was late afternoon and I was alone. So I started praying to Radharani for guidance. Whenever I enter Vrindavan, it always seems that something mystical happens, and this time was no different. Stepping down from the train onto the platform, I saw a Vaishnava friend from Nabadwip named Jadunath Saha who was getting off the same train a couple of bogies away. Upon seeing me, he came running over. Since we were both alone and in the same predicament, we decided to team up. "Come with me," he said, "I shall introduce you to a great sadhu....