Jagat

We appear to still be on the Gurukula issue here in 2016. I am rather pleased with that reflection. Weather snippets -- exhaustion from the hot season. A discussion on the connection of yoga to the bhakti-yoga path: pravartaka - sādhaka - siddha , a major subject of discussion in the early period of this blog and very important matter indeed for my way of understanding the spiritual path. A lot of articles. FB Memories May 24.

क्वचिदेकत्वशब्देनापि तथैवोच्यते। अत्र तत्साम्यं यथोक्तम् (मु.उ. ३.१.३) —"निरञ्जनं परमसाम्यमुपैति" इत्यादि श्रुतौ। (गीता १४.२) "इदं ज्ञानमुपाश्रित्य मम साधर्म्यमागताः" इति गीतोपनिषत्सु च। Sometimes the word "oneness" (ekatva) also means similarity achieved through acquiring similar properties. The equality with Brahman is also spoken of in the Śruti such as "Becoming free of all attachments one attains equality to the Supreme ( parama-sāmyam )" (MU 3.1.3) The full verse: yadā paśyaḥ paśyate rukma-varṇaṁ kartāram īśaṁ puruṣaṁ brahma-yonim | tadā vidvān puṇya-pāpe vidhūya nirañjanaḥ paramaṁ sāmyam upaiti ||3|| When the seer sees the God, the golden colored ( svayaṁ-jyotiḥ-svabhāvaḥ ) Puruṣa, the ultimate agent or creator of the universe, the one who is the source of Brahmā (or the Veda), then that knower washes away both the bondage of both sin and virtue, and without any attachments ( nirlepaḥ vigata-kleśah ) attains the supreme same...

I have been reading a book by Swami Karpatriji, Rādhā-sudhā  (Vṛndāvana: Rādhākṛṣṇa Dhānukā Prakāśana Saṁsthāna, 2004), which I picked up last time I was in Vrindavan. I have to admit that I am more than a little impressed by Karpatriji's erudition, as well as by Madhusudana Saraswati, with whom he seems to have had a spiritual connection. Madhusudan Saraswati is known mainly for a book called Advaita-siddhi , in which he counters the arguments of Vyasa Tirtha of the Madhva school, a part of the longstanding debate between the two views of the theistic and the monistic traditions of Indian religious thought. But as shown in the previous post, both in legends about him and in his own words, a distinct devotional streak can be observed in Madhusudan. His commentary on the Bhagavad-gita and another on the Bhagavatam are not the only books he wrote that have some interest for the devotionally minded. According to Anant Shastri Phadke, he wrote the following works: Bhakti-bhāṣya-nirū...

I just came across this little bit of translation from the sixth sarga of Chaitanya Charitamrita Mahakavya by Kavi Karnapur. It seems to have come from a bit of correspondence I was having with someone. Can't remember when this was or with whom I discussed it. So I am just posting it here for the heck of it. The problem is the thorny one of the relation of Mayavada to Gaudiya Vaishnava theology. adhyAtma-tattvam abhi gaura-mahAprabhuH sa vyAkhyAM cakAra bahu-durgama-bodham anyaiH | eko’vashiSyata ihAvirataM sa AtmA sriSTau sa eva punar ekaka eva bhAti ||63|| Gauranga Mahaprabhu then started a discourse on metaphysical topics ( adhyAtma-tattva ), one that was not easily understandable to ordinary people. He said, “The soul is the only thing that never comes to an end. The soul alone remains after universal dissolution, and after creation it is the soul alone that becomes manifest.” itthaM prasArya sva-karau karuNA-samudro muSTIcakAra ca punar drutam eva nrityan sac-cit-svarUpam atha...

From the point of view of the Indian jnani tradition, Madhusudana Saraswati has some interesting things to say on the complementarity of the different spiritual paths in his introduction to Gūḍhārtha-dīpikā , a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita. Madhusudana is an interesting figure. The story goes that he was born in Bengal in 1490 AD (I suspect a bit later) in Faridpur, now in Bangla Desh. He went to meet Chaitanya in Nabadwip, but Mahaprabhu had already left Nabadwip by the time he got there. Madhusudana stayed in Nabadwip for a while, studying Nyāya, the speciality of the place, but remaining deeply devoted to Krishna. From there he went to Benares to further his studies. He became convinced of the Advaita philosophy, but remained a devotee at the same time. This devotional strand shows in his interpretations of the Gita, his commentary on the Bhagavatam, and other works like Bhakti-rasāyana . As Atmaramananda Swami says in his introduction to the Adwaita Ashram edition of Gūḍhār...