Jagat

A "general definition" of mukti means one that can apply both to Brahma-sākṣātkāra and Bhagavat-sākṣātkāra. The reason Jiva Goswami starts with an ambivalent definition that sounds like Māyāvāda is only to remind us that we are acintya-bhedābheda-vādis, which is the basic principle that should guide us when reading the Bhāgavatam. The first few anucchedas will have this capacity for ambivalence, but not to worry. Pure and unadulterated prīti will have its day. Anuccheda 3 is about two aspects of utkrānta mukti (liberation after leaving the body), which are sadyo-mukti (immediate liberation) and krama mukti (gradual libeation). These are concepts that have been encountered since the Buddhist period. I mistakenly equated jīvanmukti with sadyo-mukti and utkrānta with krama-mukti in a previous talk. That should be corrected. Jiva Goswami refers to SB 2.2.15-21 for sadyo-mukti and those translations have been read on the video. Some of these verses have appeared earli...

 Yesterday's video had no sound, so I have reposted with sound. My apologies. The transliterated Sanskrit text is below.  Synopsis.  This is now the actual anuccheda here, the previous six readings were only to set up this verse. This is shown by the repetition of the phrase "now the treatise on love of God is to be written." The verse that is quoted as the principal text (SB 12.13.12) for this anuccheda was previously quoted in Tattva Sandarbha 52, where it served the fundamental purpose of showing the intent of the Bhagavatam. That is again its purpose here. The language of the verse is basically oriented towards the Advaita view, but Jiva Goswami's intent here is to show that it should be interpreted in keeping with the devotional philosophy. "This Bhāgavatam is the essence of all Vedānta philosophy" ( sarva-vedānta-sāraṁ yat , ), i.e., the essence of all  scriptures, and "the one ultimate attainment ( prayojana ) [proclaimed therein] is ka...

viṣaya-viṣa-kṛmīṇāṁ bodha-mātrātma-bhājāṁ samaya-samaya-sarveśaika-bhakty-āśritānām| na nija-ruci-karaṁ vartmotsṛjantaḥ sthitāḥ smo vayam amala-sukhaugha-syandi-vṛndāvanāśāḥ || The paths followed by the worms eating the poison of the sense objects, and by those who say the self is consciousness alone, and even by those who have taken exclusive shelter of the all-powerful Supreme God,      are not appealing to us,          so we have given them up; we invest our hopes in Vrindavan,      which brings forth          gushing streams of spotless bliss. (1.86) Commentary As Prabodhananda so often does, he comes back from contemplating the good fortune of Radha's kiṅkarīs and the inability of Lakshmi Devi to enter into that rasa  to explain what he means. He does so, not by making a philosophical argument on metaphysics, but simply by stating his preference, his ruci, and to leave it at that....

Someone was chastising me the other day that in order to attain the siddhi of the gopis one had to give up the puruṣābhimāna and think of oneself as a beautiful gopi maiden expert in the arts and dressed in the remnants of Radharani’s own wardrobe, with flowers in her hair, and so on. He is pleased by our prema for Him in one of the five rasas. But it requires a change in identity, from thinking you are this material body, to knowing that you are His lover, young friend, servant or parent. If you want to be His lover, you have to identify as a young and very attractive woman, expert in all the arts, witty, expert in word jugglery and thus equipped in all ways to bring Him pleasure. You cannot approach him, thinking you are an old man, and that the material illusory form of your partner is Radha. You cannot enter madhurya at all with a male form or identity. A beautiful picture indeed. And it seems so easy. Just like that, puruṣābhimāna disappears. Now what makes anyone  think ...

Being yourself is not being someone you remember being in the past, someone lost in the judgment of others. Being yourself, finally, is about becoming that which you feel is perfect. Be yourself. Make yourself. Sartre says, "Hell is other people." Because of other people's judgment we are never free to be ourselves. Therefore, in a way, the worst hell is to love and be loved, because as soon as we become involved with another conditioned human being, we immediately become wrapped up in their expectations of what we should be or become. On the other hand, Scott Peck defines love as the ability to "extend oneself" or to make sacrifices for the spiritual welfare of another person. I think that what he means here by "spiritual welfare" is that selfish expectations are not what a person who loves is interested in, i.e. conditional love. But, of course, we are all fallible and conditioned, and even our concept of other people's spiritual welfare is ...

Yoga takes one only as far as kaivalya , which is the perfection of the singular, going "solo." All other yoga systems, including bhakti , also pass through kaivalya , in the sense that they are the establishment, as far as is possible, of the self in the self, without which relationship is meaningless. But in the relishing of bhakti-rasa , it is indeed only a stage: both the work of vidhi-bhakti and yoga are elements of the pravartaka stage or preliminary stage of practice in rasika-bhakti . This is because in yoga, the culture of love is restricted to the yamas and niyamas and some other general internalizing processes, whereas in bhakti, love is the culmination, both the means and the end. In other words, in yoga, love is one of the means, and a subordinate one at that, but in bhakti, love is the one and only all consuming goal. Nevertheless, the gains of yoga, both as a psychological force (as expounded on in the Yoga-sutra ) and as a psycho-physical force (fro...

In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna describes the joy that a devotee feels in the execution of devotional service. Those who emphasize the jnana, karma and yoga practices described in the Gita have no understanding of how the bhakta experiences such joy in his love for the Lord and the association of other devotees. mac-citt ā mad-gata-pr ā ṇ ā bodhayanta ḥ parasparam | kathayanta ś ca m ā ṁ  nitya ṁ tu ṣyanti ca ramanti ca || Their minds fixed on me, their lives totally dedicated to me, they spend their time in explaining the path of devotion to one another. Speaking of me constantly, they feel intense delight and pleasure. [Gita 10.9] The Bhagavata Purana also describes the joy the devotee feels in the company of other devotees. satāṁ prasangāt mama vīrya-saṁvido bhavanti hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanāḥ kathāḥ taj-joṣaṇād āśv apavarga-vartmani śraddhā ratir bhaktir anukramiṣyati If you have the good fortune to be in the company of devotees, you will hear of my glorie...

A few days ago, one of my Gurukula students showed me a video he had downloaded from the internet about meditation. This was a very nicely animated computer graphics film showing the various pranic energies entering the subtle body, the kuṇḍalinī rising, and so on. Yogis love this stuff. You can see the more advanced yogis scoffing at the distractions that all this hullaballoo present to the serious seeker of liberation. The Yoga-sūtra defines kaivalya as svarūpāvasthānam , or being situated in one’s svarūpa , i.e. true identity or constitutional position. This is stated at the beginning and at the end of the Yoga-sūtras — tadā draṣṭuḥ svarūpe’vasthānam When one has stopped all the activities of the mind-field, then the individual, who is the seer, becomes situated in his true identity. (1.3) puruṣārtha-śūnyānāṁ guṇānāṁ pratisavaṇaḥ kaivalyaṁ, svarūpa-pratiṣṭhā vā citi-śaktir iti Kaivalya or liberation means the resorption of the qualities that are devoid of meaning for t...