Jagat

  I have been having difficulty continuing this posting of memories from Facebook. Some days there is little or nothing. On the other hand, I sometimes want to comment expansively on some point that was discussed long ago but don't find the time. So I do have a number of drafts and other potential articles.  Facebook memories July 6.

If your mind is not fixed on the Supreme Lord Achyuta, then shamelessly chant His names day and night, solitary, fearless, and conquering sleep, indifferent to desire, fixed on the goal, controlled in eating and peaceful in spirit. His names will bring you loving attraction for Him.

Sometimes I hear devotees despair about what has happened to the Krishna movement in the West since the departure of Srila Prabhupada. Where are the flourishing temples and thriving communities? But when I see that the seeds Prabhupada sowed are fructifying in the mature cultivation of bhakti in individuals like Madanmohan Dasji and so many others, each in their own way, one cannot help but feel encouraged. I sincerely hope his work will appeal to the English speakers and that he inspires many more to follow his footsteps. Listen to him recite the Sanskrit verses of Gita chapter two along with his English translation into "heroic couplets."

   This is Binod Bihari Das Babaji Maharaj's annual event at the end of the Karttik vrata on Utthāna Ekādaśī, which last year (2021) fell on November 15. I had the good fortune to be at this event in 2019, BC (before Covid). It doesn't look like Covid was an issue this time around. It looks like Braj has just gotten bored and tired of all the Covid hysteria. That night went by like a flash. Listening to this four-hour video you can feel that special all-nighter mood. But it is still very sāttvika and very blissful. He has excellent musicians accompanying him on this video. It is so nice to see him all covered in flowers and to witness his deep bhāva.  Relax and let it flow. Jai Radhe. I am so glad that all this was recorded. Babaji Maharaj is better than ever and it is so edifying to see his deep bhava. These are songs that he himself composed. Watch and see why Babaji is so honored in Braj. When you hear kirtan like this you realize how few people have  still graspe...

This is a lengthy section in which all ten aparadhas to the Holy Name are discussed. Anuccheda 265 The Ten Offenses Against the Name of Bhagavān अत एव प्रथमस्कन्धान्तस्थितानां राज्ञः श्रेयोविविदिषावाक्यानामनन्तरं द्वितीयस्कन्धारम्भे सर्वोत्तममुत्तरं वक्तुम् (भा. २.१.८-१०)— At the end of the First Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam , King Parīkṣit expressed his desire to know the ultimate welfare for human beings. After this the Second Canto begins, and in order to give the best reply to the King’s question, the sage Śuka first describes the supreme glory of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa in these words: इदं भागवतं नाम पुराणं ब्रह्मसम्मितम्। अधीतवान् द्वापरादौ पितुर्द्वैपायनादहम्॥ परिनिष्ठितोऽपि नैर्गुण्य उत्तमश्लोकलीलया। गृहीतचेता राजर्षे आख्यानं यदधीतवान्॥ तदहं तेऽभिधास्यामि महापौरुषिको भवान्। यस्य श्रद्दधतामाशु स्यान्मुकुन्दे मतिः सती॥ At the end of the Dvāpara-yuga, I studied the Purāṇa known as the Bhāgavata , which is equal to the Vedas, from my father, Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana...

The subject of kirtan is underway and will continue until Anu. 274. The kirtan of the Holy Namw will finish in Anu. 265, which discusses the offenses to the Holy Name. Anuccheda 263 The Primary Result of Chanting the Name is Love फलं त्विदमेव, यदाह (भा. ११.२.४०) — एवंव्रतः स्वप्रियनामकीर्त्या जातानुरागो द्रुतचित्त उच्चैः। हसत्यथो रोदिति रौति गाय- त्युन्मादवन् नृत्यति लोकबाह्यः॥ The primary result of chanting the names of Bhagavān is expressed by the sage Kavi to King Nimi: The devotee, in this manner resolved to these devotional acts, is endowed with love for Bhagavān by singing His beloved  names . His heart thus melts and like a madman, he loudly laughs, weeps, screams, sings and dances, in complete disregard of public opinion and social conventions. (SB 11.2.40) एवं "शृण्वन् सुभद्राणि रथाङ्गपाणेः" (भा. ११.२.३८) इत्याद्युक्तप्रकारं व्रतं वृत्तं यस्य, तथाभूतोऽपि स्वप्रियाणि स्वाभीष्टानि यानि नामानि, तेषां कीर्तनेन जातानुरागः। “In this manner” (...

Three and a half months in Birnagar has come to a sudden and very abrupt change of Dham. I am feeling the intoxication of Vrindavan. Intoxication is not really permitted in sādhanā , but then again, sādhanā is really about nothing else BUT intoxication. The intoxication of forgetfulness of conventional reality. Which is inevitably accompanied by a fear that one is distancing oneself from the conventional reality of duty and attentiveness to the normative. When Bhakta Das and I were about to get off the train in Mathura -- he goes to Radha Kund, I to Vrindavan -- he said that he felt it would be lonely going to his cottage in Gaura Dham Colony. He has been relishing the kind of respect and sense of community and purpose that he gets at Dwadash Mandir. I also felt something like that on arriving here. There we fulfill a role in the service of our Guru, which makes us automatically seen as special, through our relation, through our connection. Here we are specks of dust, luminous n...

The task of completing a task Even the most basic insights into the mentality of the haṭha-yogis did not come immediately. It took some time for the realization to come that the book itself was a paddhati to be looked at as a whole rather than piecemeal. I had been too busy looking at the forest for the trees. And even then, they were not transmitted into action right away I was content with my own practices, for which I had accepted the guidance of Swami Veda, by a combination of factors, proximity to him personally and through life in the ashram, I slowly imbibed the ethos emanating from Swami Veda. I admired him for numerous reasons. When one has already taken a guru, one is loathe to give that psychological space to anyone else. Indeed, I had come to feel that in the interests of my personal liberation and individuation it was rather time to attempt sticking to my inner guru's guidance. But clearly, a different kind of grace brought me into contact with Swami Veda. It ...