Jagat

I had a break yesterday and plunged back into Chandidas. I was reading Biman Bihari Majumdar's edition, which has much to say for it, as he has gone deeply into the Chandidas mystery, sorting out which Chandidas is which. There are so many Chandidasas -- minimum four, probably five or more. Majumdar divides his book into four sections: definitely Chandidas, not so sure, definitely Baru Chandidas and Dina Chandidas, and ones that though ascribed or attributed are definitely not the original Chandidas. Many of the latter are signed Dvija Chandidas, who is definitely post-Chaitanya, though he shows no direct knowledge of or devotion to Chaitanya. The  rāgātmikā-padas  of the Sahajiya Chandidas are left out entirely, since everyone seems to agree that they are post-Chaitanya. Majumdar also thinks Baru Chandidas is at least contemporary with Chaitanya, which I don't agree with. Basically all the students of early Bengali literature pick over each  pada  and...

In November, I got a nice present from Brahmachari Brajvihari Sharan at Golok Dham Ashram in Delhi: An annotated copy of Harivyas Devacharya’s Mahāvāṇī (ca. 1573 CE). Of late, there has been a rather unappetizing scandal surrounding the sex tapes of a popular Bhagavata speaker, which raises doubts again about the appropriateness of discussing or repeating Radha and Krishna’s “confidential”, i.e., erotic, pastimes. It seems that such worries are well-founded when such prurient interest in what appear to be mundane sexuality is dressed up in Vrindavan garb and then marketed for profit to those who have little or no appreciation for Braja rasa in its purest and most transcendental form. Nevertheless, we must, against all criticism, reaffirm our own faith in madhura-rasa, the erotic mood of love, as the king of the “mellows” and in Radha and Krishna, the divine embodiment of that mood, in two moieties as Rasarāj and Mahābhāva. Vrindavan is unique in that it is the ...

sevā vṛndāvana-stha-/ sthira-cara-nikareṣv astu me hanta ke vā devā brahmādayaḥ syus / tata uru-mahitā vallabhā ye vrajendoḥ | ete hy advaita-sac-cid-/ ghana-vapuṣo dūra-dūrātidūra- sphūrjan-māhātmya-vṛndā / bṛhad-upaniṣad-ānandajānanda-kandāḥ || May I always render service to the creatures of Vrindavan, moving or still. Ah! What are great gods like Brahma to me? Those dear to the Moon of Braj are far greater in glory than they! All have non-dual bodies of condensed spiritual being and consciousness and their wonders have burst forth to the far, far corners of the universe! They are the roots of the joy born of the joy of the great Upanishads. ( Vṛndāvana-mahimāmṛta 1.61) The words bṛhad-upaniṣad-ānandajānanda-kandāḥ are probably a reference to Bṛhad-āranyaka Upanishad 3.9.28(7), where Shankara goes into a prolonged discussion of the word ānanda and how it means Brahman. Prabodhananda is here saying that the joy spoken of in the "Brihad Upanishad" is thus Br...

A friend sent me a few comments that were made about me over on Nitai's Chaitanya Symposium . Nitai (Neal Delmonico) is an old friend, with whom I unfortunately do not keep in very close contact. Our approaches to bhakti and spiritual life differ somewhat, particularly where mood is concerned. For some reason, Nitai finds it necessary to find nothing positive in the Vaishnava movement that brought him to "Chaitanya Vaishnavism" and I do not agree with this, as I feel it impacts negatively on our sādhanā when we do that kind of thing. But that is his business. He has a good brain and is well read, so I hope the best for him and his spiritual ambitions. And whether I agree with him or not is irrelevant to the fact that he is one of the foremost scholars of Gaudiya Vaishnavism in the world and deserves respect for that fact alone. Here are some of the things that were said: Nitai : What can I say about Jagat? He at present prefers sahaja-dharma to Vaishnava dharma. His ...

As a consequence of the latest scandal regarding Rajendra Sharma, formerly known as Bhagwat Acharya and now being portrayed in the media as “Porn Swami,” general damage seems to be being inflicted on all who are connected to religious activities, worship or preaching. Videos Sharma took with his wife of sexual activities with backdrops of Vrindavan’s scenery and mythological themes from Krishna’s life have now made the media tour of all of India, with the most lurid and sensationalistic coverage since last March and April, when Tamil Swami Nithyananda was filmed in flagrante delicto with an actress. . The Indian media has learned the lesson of tabloid journalism enthusiastically, and the obvious lesson is that it sells. Even here on this humble and fledgling website, where we are trying to serve Vrindavan Dham, its residents and lovers from around the world, we have seen a spike in hits and visits since we published articles on the subject. But it is not those articles that are ...

This was originally posted on Vrindavan Today  Over the past nine days, I had the opportunity to stay at Golok Dham ashram in Bijwasan, South Delhi, where the appearance day of Nimbarkacharya was being celebrated. During this time, I was lucky to meet a number of spiritual leaders from around India and talk to them about Vrindavan. The acharya at Golok Dham is Gopal Sharan Devacharya Maharaj , who was named "Hindu of the Year" by Hinduism Today magazine. The editor and publisher of Hinduism Today both came from Hawaii to present Maharaj with the award. The acharya of the Kaua'i ashram, Bodhinath Swami, has given his account of the event on his blog . Other important guests over the five days included the Peethadhishwar of the Salemabad seat of the Nimbarka sampradaya, Radhe Sarveshwar Sharan Shriji Baba , who is universally accepted as its spiritual head, Karshni Gurusharanananda Swami, Svarupananda Saraswati of the Gautameshwar Peeth in Gujarat, Acharya Balkrishn...

Charismatic renewal and institutionalization in the history of Gaudiya Vaishnavism and the Gaudiya Math “History is the biographies of great men.” Thomas Carlyle. If traditional India could be said to subscribe to a theory of history, it would be the “great man theory,” which holds that history moves by the actions of great men upon it. Perhaps the best known of the Bhagavad-gita ’s 700 verses is the one in which Krishna promises to appear in the world whenever there is irreligious practice or rampant injustice in human society (Gita 4.7). However different this belief may be from the Shi’a’s belief in the Mahdi or the Jew’s expectation of a Messiah, its influence has been equally pervasive in Hindu society. Not only has it led to messianic hopes for a savior, but also to the conviction that wherever or whenever greatness appears in human society, it is a manifestation of the divine (Gita 10.42). Though such a belief can naturally be exploited for political ends or to buttress...