Jagat

Verse 1.1.1 of the Bhāgavatam is commented on three times by Sri Jiva Goswami in the Sandarbhas, once in Paramātma Sandarbha (Anu 105) and twice in Kr̥ṣṇa Sandarbha (Anu 82 and 189). All of these are contained within the Krama Sandarbha. This is a Facebook post from May 12, 2016 but was never published on the blog,

Anuccheda 260 Hearing Bhāgavata Purāṇa Is The Best तत्रापि श्रवणे श्रीभागवतश्रवणं तु परमश्रेष्ठम्। तस्य तादृशप्रभावमयशब्दात्मकत्वात् परमरसमयत्वाच्च। Of all the different literature related to Bhagavān, hearing of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the best. This is because it is made up of such influential words, and also because it is full of supreme relish (rasa). तत्र पूर्वस्माद्यथा (भा. १.१.२)— श्रीमद्भागवते महामुनिकृते किं वा परैरीश्वरः। सद्यो हृद्यवरुध्यतेऽत्र कृतिभिः शुश्रूषुभिस्तत्क्षणात्॥ इति। The first of these two characteristics is mentioned in the following verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam : This beautiful Bhāgavatam is composed by the great sage. What need is there of any other literature? As soon as pious beings awaken a desire to hear it, at that very moment Bhagavān is immediately captured in their hearts. (SB 1.1.2) महामुनिः सर्वमहन्महनीयचरणपङ्कजः श्रीभगवान्। अत्र किं वा परैरित्यादिना शब्दस्वाभाविकमाहात्म्यं दर्शितम्॥ The “great sage” (mahā-muniḥ) here refer...

Went to Radha Kund today with Vidya and his family. Saw Madan Gopal Dasji. He was having difficulty speaking, but I went just to offer my love and moral support for a few moments. Every living being has awareness. This awareness can be focused on matter or on spirit, but not on both simultaneously. It is like a torch-light. When one is walking in dark with a torch in his hand, he can see things in front of him but he himself remains in darkness. If he turns the torch on himself then he cannot see the things in front of him. When one is materially conditioned then he is tormented by material desires, hunger, thirst and so on. But by the grace of a devotee, when his awareness turns towards Bhagavān, then material needs do not disturb his mind. It is seen that when a boy or girl is in intense love with someone, then he or she can tolerate immense obstacles. The mind becomes so focused that nothing else really matters. The absorption in Bhagavān is even deeper than that. Thus great d...

I spoke the other day about the Bhakti Sandarbha and the explanation given there of the verse etāvad eva jijñāsyaṁ tattva-jijñāsunātmanaḥ anvaya-vyatirekābhyāṁ yat syāt sarvatra sarvadā One who is inquiring into the truth of the Self should inquire only until the point it has been fully established for all places and for all times, both by affirmation and by negation. (SB 2.9.35) Jiva Goswami's task here is to show how this verse is about bhakti and not about jñāna . The word jñāna is twice in the verse, both times in the desiderative, "wanting to know." The first usage jijñāsyaṁ means "it is to be inquired", "to this extent only" ( etāvad eva ). By whom? By the ātmanaḥ tattva-jijñāsunā , "one who seeks to know the truth of the Self." "To what extent?" That is a reference to the previous verse, in which the prayojana was stated, the rahasyam of verse 29. This is now about the aṅga of the rahasya (mystery), which is ...

1. Introduction Having looked through the secular accounts of adulterous love we have come to the following conclusion: though the paroḍhā woman was accepted by the poeticians as a legitimate category of leading woman or nāyikā , she was in fact held to be an inappropriate character for the play, as indeed she was in life. Where she was not exclusively devoted to a single man, she would be relegated to a farcical role, like that of the prostitute in one of the minor varieties of play such as the prahasana . The prostitute was acceptable as a character in a certain type of play, the prakaraṇa , if she was exclusively in love with the hero, such as is the case in the play Mṛcchakaṭikā . Though the paroḍhā might perhaps have been theoretically acceptable in similar circumstances, there are no examples of such characterisation in any extant literature. The accepted face of the parakīyā woman was the virgin, who became the primary vehicle for love in the romantic Sanskrit drama. On...