Jagat

2016 Verses in glorification of the Holy Name. I have revisited these translations several times. They were done in connection with my work on Hari-nāma-cintāmaṇi . It appears that on this day in 2016 I was relishing a few of them which I posted on Facebook. The complete collection was put on the blog for the first time in January this year: Verses in glorification of the Holy Names from various sources I Verses in glorification of the Holy Names from various sources II Verses in glorification of the Holy Names from various sources III 2014 Vote counting has started in India. The exit polls show a BJP led majority. Indeed, it looks like they are crushing the opposition. Namo NaMo. The full moon over Rishikesh. Last day tomorrow. As usual, I am completely behind in everything. It has been pretty silent. Swamiji was looking a little better today, but yesterday he said that each day brings new physical problems. I said, "We just pray that you finish your Yoga Sutra work and your fiv...

To review our discussion so far, Bhaktivinoda Thakur has outlined five stages of sadhana in the matter of cultivating our siddha manjari svarupa with the ekādaśa-bhāva , which we receive from our diksha guru. The first three stages of śravaṇa, varaṇa and smaraṇa-daśā have already been examined briefly in chapters two and three . Now in this chapter we will discuss the culminating stages of  āpana-  and  sampatti-daśā: āpana-sādhane smṛti yabe haye vratī | acire āpana-daśā haya śuddha ati ||82|| nija śuddha-bhāvera ye nirantara smṛti | tāhe dūra haya śīghra jaḍa-baddha-mati ||83|| As one becomes purified by performing līlā-smaraṇa on a daily basis, āpana-daśā will come in the course of time. For the constant meditation on one's siddha gopi svarupa seva [coupled with nama japa] will cleanse all of one's material contamination. ( Harināma-cintāmaṇi 15.82-83) Bhaktivinoda Thakur comments: "Those who cannot concentrate internally, who desire profit, name and fa...

Concerning the five stages of sadhana that come along with our receiving ekādaśa-bhāva from the guru, we have already discussed the first two in the last chapter, namely śravaṇa-daśā and varaṇa-daśā . We will now discuss the third stage, which is called smaraṇa-daśā . Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur also terms this practice svarasiki bhajan. In the last chapter of Harināma-cintāmaṇi , he advises nija siddha ekādaśa bhāve vratī haye | smaribe sudṛḍha-citte nija-bhāva-caye ||79|| smaraṇe vicāra eka āche ta sundara | āpanera yogya-smṛti kara nirantara ||80|| āpanera ayogya smaraṇa yadi haya | bahu yuga sādhile-o siddhi kabhu naya ||81|| While taking up a vrata to fix your mind on lila smarana with the eleven items of your siddha gopi svarupa there is a beautiful consideration: You only need to perform the kind of smarana that you enjoy doing because if you try to meditate on the instances in the lila or the kinds of sevā that you don’t prefer, siddhi can never be attained. ( Harin...

I am currently traveling in Bengal and spent a few days with Gadadhara Pran Das, and so I thought I would share a couple of chapters of his new book, “Another Side of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur" : Chapter 1: Chapter 2 : Naturally, there are some people who find it necessary to repeat what is the “official story” about Lalita Prasad Thakur, because of things that happened between Siddhanta Saraswati and his younger brother and their differences of opinion. Obviously, when GP and I made the decision to “move on” from Iskcon, we did so in full knowledge of what to expect. That is why GP says, in effect, “OK, you guys, we know your side. Everybody knows your side by now. And bully for you. All glories to your service and your nishtha. But Bhaktivinoda Thakur was big enough to have more than one side.” And I think that GP is quite clear when he quotes from Harinama-cintamani, that the bhajananandi side existed in Bhaktivinoda. prabhāte cārdharātre ce madhyāhne divasaṅkṣaye...

We continue with Gadadhar Pran Das's new book, the 20 chapters of which will be published here in instalments. Chapter One . Chapter Two: Raganuga Sadhana following Bhaktivinoda Thakur's Manjari Parampara The first time I got Lalita Prasad Thakur's darshan it was unexpected, because I had made no plans to see him. That was back in 1974, when Srila Prabhupada was inaugurating his first Mayapur-Nabadwip Dham Parikrama in which I was taking part. During the festival, one day I had to go to Calcutta. On the train I met a Bengali gentleman who was himself just returning from Mayapur after visiting Srila Prabhupada. We started talking about many things, but when the train stopped at Birnagar he said to me, "Would you like to meet my Prabhupada?" "Your Prabhupada?" I asked in surprise. "He is Bhaktivinoda Thakur's son, Lalita Prasad Thakur," he replied. The invitation aroused my curiosity so I decided to follow him. When...

For some reason I got it into my head to post all this stuff from my Hari-nama-cintamani translation. Now I forget why... I will tell you when I remember. How Much Power is there in the Holy Name? Harinama-Chintamani, Chapter-15 Part-I. Harinama-Chintamani, Chapter-15 Part-II. Harinama-Chintamani, Chapter-15 Part-III. Siddhi Lalasa, Part I  (Songs 1-3) Siddhi Lalasa, Part II (Songs 4-6) Siddhi Lalasa, Part III (Songs 7-10) Explanations of the Maha Mantra The-bhava-marg-in-hari-nama-cintamani This is my introduction to the translation, which is intended for readers who are in the Gaudiya Math. One comment: Although I don't have too much complaint about what I wrote in this intro, the "first deserve, then desire" statement with which I ended is something I have never been very comfortable with. It can be parsed in various ways. I mention in this article that desiring is what makes you deserving. But of course, desire cannot arise unless you have ...

abhidheya —Literally “what is to be defined.” The second of three aspects of Gaudiya Vaishnava theology: what must be done. One who understands the principles of sambandha (q.v.) experiences a moral imperative to act on that knowledge. This is devotional service in all its aspects, or as in HNC 3.18, nāmānuśīlana , “the cultivation of the Holy Name.” (ch. 2) adhikāra —(1) aptitude, inclination or tendency; (2) qualification; (3) rights, ownership, entitlement; (4) authority (HNC 15). The adhikāra for devotional service is explained in Bhajana-rahasya 1.2.14-15. adhikārī —(1) One qualified for a particular spiritual path. (2) A person authorized to act on behalf of someone else. ājñā —“order, permission”; The seventh of the eleven aspects of the spiritual identity. From Jaiva Dharma , p. 592: “Orders are of two kinds: nitya (regular) and naimittika (occasional). The merciful sakhi orders you to engage in a certain regular (nitya) service, which you must execute without fail w...