Jagat

Tatiya Sthan I posted some material about śraddhā. This appears to  be the result of a discussion I was having with Babaji. My opinion on Hindu nationalist reactions to things like Ganesh on toilet seats and so on was that it was a bit hysterical and diminished Hindu gravitas. Babaji did not agree. This was stated in relation to Vaishnavas distress at the popular Radha-Krishna TV serial, which I saw in fact was popular with many devotees in Vrindavan. Other links:  Śraddhā and Bhakti Sandarbha ;  Label shraddha

"Give me one Gaur Govinda Maharaj over any of these backbiters. For association, give me just one Fakir Mohan Das, one of the nicest sweetest, humblest and learned Vaishnavas I have ever met, likely one of the most advanced Gaudiya Vaishnavas in the whole state of Orissa, who has done tremendous service to Mahaprabhu by discovering and publishing many rare Orissan texts written by associates and followers of Mahaprabhu."  (Jagadananda Das, shared by Ashok Harichandana 2019) 2018 Unfortunately, our situation at Vrindavan Today has become a little more difficult due to the work of Alexander Shenkar, who has decided to be a thorn in our side for as long as the evil energy possesses him. https://www.facebook.com/vrindavantodayofficial/ At any rate, we humbly ask all our friends to like our new FB page and help us to circumvent the trouble he is causing. 2015 यदा नेच्छति पापानि यदा पुण्यानि वाञ्छति। ज्ञेयस्तदा मनुष्येण हृदि तस्य हरिः स्थितः॥ yadā necchati pāpāni yadā puṇ...

January 24, 2017 Went to the annual jagaran at Tatia Sthan in commemoration of Lalita Mohini Das. All night samaj gayan. Amazing tradition. Unique atmosphere. January 24, 2016 Full moon. Doing the pariṇāma sūtras in YS, thought it was time for a pariṇāma . January 24, 2016 We were talking about śraddhā on another thread and I thought I would post this from Swami Veda's Volume I of the Yoga-sūtra . श्रद्धावीर्यस्मृतिसमाधिप्रज्ञापूर्वक इतरेषाम्॥२०॥ śraddhā-vīrya-smṛti-samādhi-prajñā-pūrvaka itareṣām ||20|| The samādhi of (some) others has as its preconditions faith, strength, intentness, meditation and the awakening of wisdom in samprajñāta . (Vyāsa) upāya-pratyayo yogināṁ bhavati | śraddhā cetasaḥ samprasādaḥ | sā hi jananīva kalyāṇī yoginaṁ pāti | tasya hi śraddadhānasya vivekārthino vīryam upajāyate | samupajāta-vīryasya smṛtir upatiṣṭhate | smṛty-upasthāne cittam anākulaṁ samādhīyate | samāhita-cittasya prajñā-viveka upāvartate | yena yathāvad vastu jānanti | tad-a...

A mughal period miniature illumination of the Bhagavatam, illustrating King Prithu's court. This section continues as commentary on the two paths or ruci and vic āra-m ārgas . In particular, the equivalents of the  vic āra-m ārga (hearing,reflection and deep meditation) are described as they apply on both these paths. These are the subject of the present pair of  anucchedas . The six verses are taken from King  Pṛthu's speech to his subjects in Canto 4, chapter 21. Anuccheda 204 Proper Deliberation on Śāstra Brings About Śraddhā तत्र रुचिप्रधानानां श्रवणादिकम् (भा. १.५.२६)— तत्रान्वहं कृष्णकथाः प्रगायता- मनुग्रहेणाशृणवं मनोहराः। ताः श्रद्धया मेऽनुपदं विशृण्वतः प्रियश्रवस्यङ्ग ममाभवद्रुचिः॥ इत्याद्युक्तप्रकारम्। From his own experience, Nārada describes the devotional activities—particularly hearing—of those who are guided by taste: There by the grace of those [saintly people] who were engaged in singing the tales of Kṛṣṇa, I listened to the enchanting pasti...

vedāntāḥ pratipādayanti mukhato no cet tataḥ kiṁ mama manyante bata śāstra-garta-patitā dustarkiṇaḥ kiṁ tataḥ | no ced bhāgavatānubhūti-padavīṁ yātās tataḥ kiṁ mama svātmā vajra-sahasra-viddha iva na spandeta vṛndāvanāt || If the Upanishads do not openly establish Vrindavan’s glories,       then what difference does that make to me? And if the bad faith debaters, fallen into the pit of the scriptures        do not accept them, what is that to me? And even if those who have directly realized Bhagavan Narayan        do not accept those glories, what is that to me? Their words may strike my soul as a thousand thunderbolts,        but I will not move an inch from Vrindavan. (1.6) Commentary O Bhaktas! Just wrap Prabodhananda’s language around you like a protective garment. Slip into it like a comfortable cloak. Listen to him come back to those familiar turns of phrase and poetic tropes, that niṣṭ...

rādhā-kṛṣṇa-rahasya-dāsya-rasa eveṣṭaḥ pumartho mama tyaktvā sarvam ahaṁ kadāpi niyataṁ vatsyāmi vṛndāvane | itthaṁ syād api vāci yasya paramāsaktasya gehādike- nāsaktāv api saktatā-parihṛtau taṁ pāti vṛndāṭavī || 1.94|| "The ultimate goal I desire in my life is to relish the taste of Radha and Krishna's most confidential service. When will I ever give up everything and go to live permanently in Vrindavan?"   If such a hope should even appear in the speech of one addicted to the affairs of household life, Vrindavan will save such a person by giving them detachment.

The essential of our practice: male and female differences are only eliminated when we realize that union is the supreme goal for both. I want to sit here and give my FULL attention to you. That is what we actually want, all of us. The problem comes from desire. I don't know whether men or women have more desire or different qualities of desire. The quality of their desire may differ due to their sexuality, but being free of desire is the key to union, i.e., the key to being free of the thought that union in prema is not the highest achievement. That all the things -- house, money, riches, fame, achievements, success, conquest -- any of those things can be a substitute for prema. A woman might think that she can achieve those things  <i>through <i> a man. A man is more often just thinking about the sexual payoff. And this it the matrix on which the sexes play their game. Purification of the mind through bhakti and yoga is the necessary prerequisite for even underst...

Jiva Goswami spends several sections of the Bhakti Sandarbha (152-159) explaining that bhakti is free of the material qualities. In this discussion, he also mentions the Holy Dham and so I wish to discuss the nirguṇa nature of the Dham here. When I started Vrindavan Today , I was imbued with a nostalgia for the Braj-Vrindavan of yore, which looked lost under the influence of India’s economic development. At the same time, we have an apparently insurmountable dogma: The Holy Dham is not within the material qualities of nature. So we have to understand what that means. What does it mean that bhakti is not within the guṇas  when everything in this world, according to the Gita and Sankhya philosophy, is just the interplay of these qualities? How can something, like Vrindavan, which is clearly being influenced by the Maya saṁskāras that surround it, the saṁskāras of saṁsāra , be considered transcendental to the guṇas ? The relevant verse here is the following from the El...