Jagat

rādhā-keli-mṛgasya kasyacid aho śyāmasya yūnau nava- syābhīrī-gaṇa-kāṅkṣamāna-karuṇā-dṛṣṭeḥ smaronmādinī | sarvāmnāya-durūha-kṛṣṇa-rasa-sarvasvaika-saṁcāriṇī śrī-vṛndā-vipinābhidhā vijayate kandarpa-keli-sthalī || All glories to that playground of Cupid known as Vrindavan, which increases the desires of Radha’s pet and plaything, a certain black-colored youth, whose merciful glances are coveted by all the milkmaids! This land is the one inspirator that sets into motion the sum total of Krishna rasa, something impossible to find in any of the Vedas. Commentary This verse further confirms what was said at the conclusion of the previous verse about Vrindavan. The dhāma , being the viśuddha-sattva or completely pure existence is the locus of the Lord’s pastimes. It is the prominent manifestation of Krishna’s sandhinī śakti . The essential thing to know is that this is the “internal” energy, which can only be known subjectively. It is not “external” or accessible em...

Picture source . rati-ratipati-koṭi-sundaraṁ tat pramuṣita-koṭi-ramā-ramāpati-śri | kanaka-marakatābha-mūrti vṛndā- vipina-vihāri maho-dvayaṁ bhajāmi || I worship the two splendors that cavort in the Vrindavan forest, one with the effulgence of gold, the other that of sapphire.   They have more beauty than millions of Ratis and Kamadevas, and it seems they have stolen the glory of millions of Lakshmis and Narayans. I missed a few days of posting VMA. Actually, verse 1.83 had no commentary and I wanted to write one, but it took a little time. I am still in Birnagar but will be traveling back to Vrindavan on the coming Wednesday. I am busy typing out a commentary to the 17th Century ( śataka ) and hoping I can finish it before leaving so I can return the book to the author. Before proceeding with the rest of VMA, I thought it was important to do the 17th, since I am quite certain that this was written before the other 16. In actual fact, I...

This was written on the basis of Sundarananda Vidyavinode's Sri Kshetra and intended for a devotee audience, as it was done on a commission by disciples of Bhakti Promode Puri Maharaj. It has never been published. I decided to put this on line since there was a discussion on Facebook on the subject and I thought I would revisit what I wrote here nearly twenty years ago. This is from chapter ten on temple renovations. Please note that I have removed the images that I had found of some of the sculptures. I have been blocked from posting links to this blog on Facebook for some infringement of its "community standards". The only thing I can think of on this blog that might have offended some prudish person in cyberspace is this. I do not have much hope for redemption as it has been over six months since my ban is "under review" and there has been no sign of action. Needless to say, I find this heavy-handed action on the part of Facebook dangerously authoritar...

Watercolor by  Anjali Tripathi   The next section of SKK is the Vaṁśī-khaṇḍa ; it is the second to last in the book, comparatively long with a total of 42 songs. It does not appear that any pages (169-189) from this section were lost. The plot is not particularly complex, but stands out for having some of the most powerful songs in the entire work. The principal subject of the chapter is the effect of Krishna’s flute on Radha and it ends with her theft of the flute, with the attendant consequences. Krishna's flute is, of course, one of the symbols most closely associated with his iconography, and has a great deal of significance, which helps to account for its resilience. For Rupa Goswami, it is one of the four special characteristics of Krishna that separate him from all other forms of the Vishnu-complex of deities. sarvādbhuta-camatkāra- līlā-kallola-vāridhiḥ | atulya-madhura-prema-maṇḍita-priya-maṇḍalaḥ ||41|| trijagan-mānasākarṣi-muralī-kala-kūjitaḥ | asam...

I don’t think we can look at the vibhur api verse ( DKK 2 ) without being subliminally reminded of a similar one from Govinda-līlāmṛta , also quoted in Caitanya-caritāmṛta . This verse, in the same meter and beginning with the same word, was almost surely written with the earlier one in mind. It should be noted that like many other classic poets, Kaviraj Goswami has done this in other cases. Compare, for example, GLA 10.14 to Kāvya-prakāśa 5.128. And Rupa Goswami’s own pastiches of classical verses, such as the priyaḥ so’yaṁ kṛṣṇaḥ verse (CC 2.1.76, Padyāvali 383), are well known. In such cases, it is always an intriguing exercise to treat the latter verse as a commentary on the former. Kaviraj Goswami's verse goes like this: vibhur atisukha-rūpaḥ sva-prakāśo'pi bhāvaḥ kṣaṇam api rādhā-kṛṣṇayor yā ṛte svāḥ pravahati rasa-puṣṭiṁ cid-vibhūtīr iveśaḥ śrayati na padam āsāṁ kaḥ sakhīnāṁ rasajṣaḥ Although the love of Radha and Krishna is infinitely great, supremely...

Let us continue our exploration of the Gopāla-vijaya . One of the novel details in the GPVJ version of the Krishna story is the gopis' worship of Kamadeva. This fits into the pūrva-rāga stage, i.e., prior to Radha and Krishna's first meeting. Gopis worship other gods The gopis are often pictured worshiping other gods. This is, first of all, the Katyayani Puja, which is a powerful addition to the Krishna cycle found in the Bhagavatam and derived originally from Alwar sources. But, in general, as I may already have mentioned, Devakinandan and the Gaudiyas separate the married gopis from the unmarried, and Radha is said to not have been present amongst the Katyayani-worshiping gopis. Nevertheless, there are some parallels between Katyayani Puja and Madana Puja, as we shall see below. The Goswamis seem to consistently depict Radha and her sakhis as worshipers of Surya, while Chandravali and her sakhis worship a form of the Goddess Durga or Chandi. Radha's relationship ...