Jagat

The bell rings and I go outside to see the sun pouring over the mountains onto dew-filled fields. The colored winter flowers are fading and the white summer ones scattering like snowflakes on the vines. The shukas squawk like beggars in the ancient arjun trees behind the dining hall. (12 years ago, Rishikesh)

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...

In an earlier article we discussed briefly how the three divisions of sādhāraṇī, samañjasā and samarthā corresponded to actual human relationships, along the axis of kāma to prema , in accordance with Rupa Goswami’s definitions. Indeed, they do constitute a bit of a mystery where the lila is concerned, since Kubjā is described as having lust for Krishna, a lust that is differentiated from that of the gopis, whose love has become undifferentiated from their sensual desire for him. Therefore it was stated that  sādhāraṇī rati's limit where the higher sthāyi-bhāvas are concerned is prema, the first rung on that ladder. ādyā premāntimāṁ tatrānurāgāntāṁ samañjasā | ratir bhāvāntimāṁ sīmāṁ samarthaiva prapadyate || The first ( sādhāraṇī ) only reaches as far as prema (i.e., the sthāyi-bhāva of that name), while samañjasā goes as far as anurāga . Only samarthā reaches the absolute limits of mahā-bhāva . (UN 14.232) This verse makes it clear that there are limits to what can be ac...