Three posts from Jan. 12, 2015

Even Lalita, the most pragalbhā and vāmā of all of Radha's sakhis, regrets having instructed Radharani to play the game of hard-to-get too hard.

aho kaṣṭaṁ bālyād aham iha sakhīṁ duṣṭa-hṛdayā

muhur māna-granthiṁ sahaja-saralāṁ grāhitavatī |

tad-ārambhād gopī-gaṇa-rati-guro nirbharam asau

na lebhe lubdhāpi tvad-amala-bhuja-stambha-rabhasam ||114'

Oh, what pain it gives me to think

how wicked-hearted a woman I am:

since our childhood I always advised

her, though naturally guileless,

to play hard to get, to put on a pretense

of indifference toward you.

Oh Lord, teacher of the gopis in the art of love!

because of me, she was never fully able

to enjoy the embraces of your flawless arms.

The service of the sakhis and manjaris is to enhance the Divine Union.

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I found it a lot easier to understand Guru Tattva, i.e, to perceive it as an active phenomenon in my life, when I stopped thinking that the total individual had to be some kind of magical superman.

Of course, the diksha guru is the helmsman--he sets the broad lines of the sadhana and sadhya tattvas, and therefore the context in which all further manifestations of Guru Tattva are placed--but when I started seeing the Guru as appearing at times and places to inculcate knowledge that was specifically desired or necessary to push my sadhana forward at that time, and when I recognized the divine nature of the intervention without quibbling about this or that imperfection, and simply bowed down religiously to the Grace that came from His presence, not only did I make progress by leaps and bounds in the finite area in which I was specifically working, but also in the infinity of Love that is the true essence of Guru Tattva.

Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati once said that one should only become a guru when one sees the Guru everywhere, even in the person coming for knowledge and grace. He would therefore say to his disciples, dāso'smi.

Guru kripa hi kevalam.

---

 I just got a call from Satya Narayan Dasji a minute ago to be told me that he is going to be installed officially as a Mahant in the Vrindavan renounced Vaishnava community.

This comes under the purview of the Chari sampradaya virakta Vaishnava samaj, presided over by Prahlad Das of Gore Dauji temple. Babaji had to pass through a number of hurdles, the last of which was completed at the old Kathia Baba ashram on Mahatma Gandhi Road a few days ago. The official ceremony will take place on the 25th in Vrindavan.

My congratulations to Babaji and I pray that his stature in the Vrindavan community will continue to grow in glory and influence, for his service to Srila Jiva Goswami's literature deserves recognition and support. Jai Sri Radhe.