Jagat

In this rather mad run I am engaged in to complete the Prīti Sandarbha, I have kept somewhat away from human interaction. I have temporarily stopped all classes in the pious hope that I would get more done, but I honestly wonder now if that is at all true. At any rate, as always, I am ever struggling with a stubbornly recalcitrant mind, which even at this stage of life still seeks the distractions that this brave new world has succeeded placing before us, sucking us all in. Even pretenders such as myself cannot resist falling into the ocean of non-Krishna. We may talk about bhāva , but without avyartha-kālatvam , all else is but pretense. A couple of days ago I finished up the anubhāva section, of which I regret not having shared even short portions with anyone, here or elsewhere. I did share a portion with the members of a Sanskrit group I moderate on Facebook, but even there I am a little too lazy to do the extra work of reposting here on the blog. We could call it being judiciously ...

  So we have been discussing dāsya-rasa . Dāsya is really the basis of all devotion, which was discussed in Part IV from Prīti Sandarbha 84, where its main characteristics are affectionate respect and the sense that one is in need of God's grace. Jīva Gosvāmī used two terms anugrāhya  and anukampya both of which have a very similar meaning, but Jīva applies the first of these more generally, including the śānta-bhaktas , whereas the latter carries over into dāsya .  The second discussion of rasa begins with Anuccheda 203 and goes on to the very end of the book. Jñāna-bhakti is covered in the first part of that anuccheda . Analysis of the three kinds of dāsya are  (1) āśraya-bhakti (203-207) (2) dāsya-rasa (208-217) (3) praśraya-bhakti-rasa (218-223) The way that these subjects are discussed is to describe the different aspects of the rasa--all the ingredients like vibhāvas , etc. and concludes with verses that describe the rasas in full, dividing the experiences of r...

This section is a bit shorter than the previous day's offering. Here we get the specifics of dāsya according to Prīti Sandarbha 84.  Although the other sthāyi-bhāvas are described in the remaining portion of that anuccheda , in particular a long section about kānta-bhāva . The next instalment will cover Anuccheda 203ff. And then we will try to summarize. The word rati  is here being used to mean sthāyi-bhāva .

Prīti Sandarbha discusses the principal rasas in at least two places and we will look at the way dāsya is treated, primarily focusing on Anuccheda 84, which talks about sthāyi-bhāva , and then on Anucchedass 201 to 248 where Sri Jiva goes into more detail with a somewhat different classification. 

From my daily japa walk in Laval Quebec. Part I The third and last subcategory of the āśrita is the sevā-niṣṭha, or one dedicated fully to his service, taking shelter, I would assume, of his service. c) sevā-niṣṭhāḥ mūlato bhajanāsaktāḥ sevā-niṣṭhā itīritāḥ | candradhvajo harihayo bahulāśvas tathā nṛpāḥ | ikṣvākuḥ śrutadevāś ca puṇḍarīkādayaś ca te || Those who are attached to bhajana from the beginning are called "fixed in service" ( sevā-niṣṭha ) (3.2.29) The examples are of some lesser known figures kings like Candradhvaja, Harihaya, Bahulāśva, Ikṣvāku, Śrutadeva and Puṇḍarīka. The commentaries make no effort to explain these kings' particular character. Bahulāśva and Śrutadeva figure in 10.86 but I haven't analysed them in order to get an idea of this separate category. Here is the exemplary verse: ātmārāmān api gamayati tvad-guṇo gāna-goṣṭhīṁ śūnyodyāne nayati vihagān apy alaṁ bhikṣu-caryām | ity utkarṣaṁ kam api sa-camatkāram ākarṇya citraṁ sevāyāṁ t...

From my daily japa walk in Laval QC It is my contention that we should understand the five relational rasas on the basis of human relationships. I was reminded today by a friend of the debate I had a few years ago with Babaji about "love in this world." My contention is that even though we may deny the perfection of the love in this world, if we say that Krishna needs to come into the world not only to teach but to experience love, then love or at least the conditions of love are only possible in the world of death and imperfection. This is indeed a philosophical position that is essential to understanding the avatar doctrine as found in Chaitanya Vaishnavism. It is my further contention that the different relations represent different sādhanas on the way to the completion of the sādhana of prema . Krishna appears to us in our different relationships. A madhyama devotee restricts his relationships to other devotees because the culture of loving relationships must begin with...

Some days definitely have more substance than others. Several unpublished and published stuff today. One on Corona from last year, where I more or less cemented my position on the great pandemic panic. Then there is a nice excerpt from  Prīti Sandarbha on sthāyi-bhāvas , a subject that has many posts on this blog. Then there is another reflection on karma, again based on the Gurukula abuses. And finally a short reflection on love. I could have split this up, but I just threw it all into one post. Memories from May 23

"I am not able to abandon even Sairindhri (Kubja), O Uddhava! So how can I abandon the residents of Vraja?" In order to reveal this truth, Krishna went to Kubja's home to enjoy with her.

Śrī Rādhe! It has now been three weeks since I posted anything from Prīti Sandarbha , so I thought I would write something to my audience to explain myself. After all, it is for you that I post.  gopa-rāmā-jana-prāṇa-preyase'tiprabhūṣṇave |  tadīya-priya-dāsyāya māṁ madīyam ahaṁ dade ||  To the love of the cowherd women's lives, to the most powerful Lord, and to the service of those who are dear to him, I give myself and all that is mine.  I have been reflecting on what I am doing and how to do it more effectively. If it is worth doing at all, it should be done intelligently. So I would like, in the interest of organizing my thoughts, to review a little bit of what has been dancing through the dust of my disorganized brain.  My first priority right now is the Prīti Sandarbha editing work that I am doing on behalf of Satyanarayana Dasa Baba. That is my work and I am proud to be playing a role in the production of this work, however defective or inadequate it h...

I have had a number of inquiries lately from people who have read my old articles related to sexuality and Radha Krishna devotion. Some of my responses are given here. In a recent discussion https://jagadanandadas.blogspot.com/2020/05/priti-sandarbha-5-6-perishable-means.html As you may know from our discussions, I have tried to align my "Sahajiyaism" with the orthodoxy, and it is precisely the area where the battle is drawn. The idea of personal relationships between devotees NOT being material or mundane is precisely what motivated me to investigate the idea of human erotic relations and to try to understand them in a way that made them transformed by devotional consciousness into a positive spiritual action. Now this is not customarily accepted in Vaishnava circles, but if you look at the general argumentation about what lessons we are to take from non-dualistic statements in shastra, it is that they are intended to deny the material side of things without offering...