Jagat

This is the final portion of the introduction to Prīti Sandarbha. This can be recognized by the final words being the same as those with which Sri Jiva Goswami started ( atha prīti-sandarbho lekhyaḥ ). " Now the treatise on love of God ( Prī ti Sandarbha ) is to be written."  Today's reading is a bit longer and I went through it a bit quickly so not enough focus is there on the six characteristics that are in the title. It might not be so easy to see, but a step-by-step argument has been building, beginning with puruṣa-prayojanaṁ tāvat sukha-prāptir duḥkha-nivṛttiś ca | śrī-bhagavat-prītau tu sukhatvaṁ duḥkha-nivartakatvaṁ cātyantikam iti | The purpose of human life is the attainment of happiness and the elimination of pain . However, only with love forBhagavān is the attainment of happiness and freedom from suffering absolute . This is the pratijñā , i.e., the proposition that is to be proved, primarily in this introduction, but in the entire Prīti Sand...

In the Padma Purāṇa there is a verse, which is unremarkable but nevertheless states something fundamental that I am trying to get at here. aviditvā tu mantrārthaṁ siddhiṁ naivādhigacchati na tu bhuktiṁ ca bhaktiṁ ca na ca muktiṁ varānane Without knowing the meaning of the mantra, you cannot attain success. O Varanane, you cannot attain sense gratification, nor devotion, nor liberation. (6.226.93) What we are doing here, in general, is inquiring into the meaning of the mantra . If encountering the symbol directly is the same as direct perception ( sākṣātkāra ) of the Deity, then mining the symbol for its meaning is a part of that process of encounter: śravaṇam, mananam, nididhyāsanam , then darśanam . Hear, reflect, meditate deeply and you will see. Saying the mantra as a prayer to God is not sufficiently meaningful. Yesterday someone came up to me after my Gita class and asked if Jehovah was the same as Krishna. I said no and he practically burst. I did not find myself particula...