Jagat

Today's memories are dominated by 2016 when I was more engaged in Vrindavan Today research and writing. It is too bad that the VT archives were lost and a ton of good stuff is no longer available, except perhaps on the internet archive. So in 2016 Satyanarayana Dasji took everyone from Jiva to Umrao, which is the village associated with the original Lokanath Goswami and his discovery of the Radha Kanta deities. It is just near Chhata on the way to Barsana. Ranbari, the site of Siddha Krishnadas, whose story is very famous, is just nearby. Most of these photos are available in my Facebook albums. At the same time, Hargovinda Sharma, one of the leading rasacharyas of the 20th century, who along with Hari Baba and Purushottam Goswami and others promoted Gaura Lila musical plays along with Radha Krishna lila, which I think was a very important development, but is a tradition that appears to be getting lost also. (FB Memories July 27)

In Christianity, one cultivates the sense of being a sinner through constant, ever more subtle self-examination. The purpose of this is to see one's own utter incapacity of attaining salvation from the material conditioning and to thus take complete shelter of the Lord. Ammachi's bhaktas say she became blue like Krishna in Vrindavan. She came to Vineet Narain's place right next door to Jiva on this date 2016. Big event. Big crowd. She did not come alone. My crappy picture.

sthūlaṁ sūkṣmaṁ kāraṇaṁ brahma-turye śrī-vaikuṇṭha-dvārakā-janma-bhūmiḥ | kṛṣṇasyātho goṣṭha-vṛndāvanaṁ tad gopy-ākrīḍaṁ dhāma vṛndāvanāntaḥ || Within this abode of Vrindavan you can find the gross, the subtle, the causal, and the fourth state of consciousness, Brahman; you can find Vaikuntha, Dwaraka and the birthplace, Mathura; you can find the Vrindavan of Krishna’s pasturing fields and his play garden with the gopis. (1.8) Commentary This hierarchy of spiritual abodes corresponds to the concept of Radha and Krishna as the supreme form of the Divinity. In order to understand this verse properly, one will have had to read through all the shastras, especially Kṛṣṇa-sandarbha . and the two Bhāgavatāmṛtas . The acharyas are all concerned with hierarchies. Although it is understood that everyone is at their own level of qualification and cannot exceed that, still the search for the Absolute Truth automatically indicates that one must compare and contrast, evalua...

īśo’pi yasya mahimāmṛtavārirāśeḥ pāraṁ prayātumanalambata tatra ke’nye kintv alpam apy ahamatipraṇayād vigāhya syāṁ dhanyadhanya iti me samupakramo’yam Even God Himself could never cross the ocean of the Dham's divine grandeur, who else would even dare to try it? But, overcome by love intense, thinking fortune is there if I just dive, I undertake this daunting task. Commentary This statement of humility is not displaced. Sometimes we look at the works of prolific authors like Prabodhananda with amazement. Of course there are secular authors who produce great amounts of material through their habits of hard work and out of necessity. If they are gifted with great talent, then they can write literary marvels that stand the test of time. But the devotee who wants to glorify the Lord faces a daunting task. How to communicate that which is beyond the power of speech to describe? yato vāco nivartante aprāpya manasā saha . Kaviraj Goswami similarly shows the same ...

I was listening to some devout Christian fundamentalist thoughts of "revival" and was struck by one dominant thought that pervaded the discourse. It might be said to be the essence of the sadhana this particular sect proposes. In Christianity, one cultivates the sense of being a sinner through constant, ever more subtle self-examination. The purpose of this is to see one's own utter incapacity of attaining salvation from the material condition and to thus to take complete shelter of the Lord. Humility is this awareness. If we encourage the person who attempts to express humility by telling him, "you are not a sinner", we are actually not doing him a favor. Because as soon as his ego is flattered, he ceases to take shelter in submission to the Lord. So.... The correct thing to do is say, "Take shelter. You are on the right road. Look at yourself and see how, as a conditioned soul, you have no other recourse than to give yourself up utterly to your i...

This video was filmed very nicely and professionally by Radha Madhava Das. I am not particularly eloquent, but it gave me a chance to speak of what I consider a very important experience in my spiritual life.

Rupa Goswami quotes the following prayer by Sanatan Goswami, which is a verse indicating fixed hope ( āśā-bandha ) in the mind of a devotee who has attained the state of bhāva . na premā śravaṇādi-bhaktir api vā yogo’thavā vaiṣṇavo jñānaṁ vā śubha-karma vā kiyad aho saj-jātir apy asti vā hīnārthādhika-sādhake tvayi tathāpy acchedya-mūlā satī he gopī-jana-vallabha vyathayate hā hā mad-āśaiva mām O my Lord, I have no love for You, nor am I attached to devotional service in practice, such as chanting and hearing. I do not practice the disciplines of Vaishnava yoga; I have no knowledge or pious activities. I cannot even claim to be well-born. Despite my lack of any qualification, O beloved of the gopis, my sacred hope in You is so deep that it will not be uprooted, because You fulfill the desires of the least qualified, giving them even more than they ask. Alas, alas! This hope of mine is causing me pain . (BRS 1.3.35) Comment by Jiva Goswami: In this verse, both direct an...