Jagat

Tarek Fatah's recent death met with mourning in Indian nationalist circles.  Those not aware of Indian (especially Hindu-Muslim relations) politics might not know Tarek Fatah's name, but even as a member of the Muslim community (a Pakistani immigrant to Canada) he was one of the most outspoken critics of Islamicism, especially as it exists in the subcontinent. He was a great friend to Bharata and I certainly hope that there will be others who will step in to fill the void he leaves behind. I subsequently watched a number of videos like the following, all of which give a rather good idea of what I wrote above. In this one, Jaipur Dialogs 2016 , is in mixed Urdu and English. The English bits are worth the wait. The jokes are in Urdu. His sense of urgency about the Islamicist threat and a criticism of Indian and Hindu weakness in the face of intransigent Muslim nihilism. It is a very good critique of Islam from the point of view of an enlightened Muslim. He calls himself an In...

Sumedh Mudgalkar as Krishna and Mallika Singh as Radha A popular TV serial in Hindi about the loves of Radha and Krishna has now reached its 275th episode. The program has stirred up a bit of controversy (Hindi article)  as some Brijbasis devotees objected to the programs, saying that it misrepresented and vulgarized the Divine Couple. An article was written by one of the staff members of Vrindavan Today (not yet published) also showing disapproval for the program. I thought that we should report any dissenting actions taken by Brijbasis, but if we wished to take an editorial stance it should be done separately. At any rate, the matter was passed on to our editorial board for their opinions. I must admit right away that I haven't watched the serial, but I know devotees and Brijbasis --  including Paramadwaiti Maharaj, whom I saw shortly before leaving Vrindavan -- who have watched and enjoyed it. Shortly afterwards I posted the Hindi story on Facebook and got reactions...

We shall see what comes of this rather shocking election result in the USA. Some of my friends are very positive about it. They think that Trump knows the true hideous form of militant and imperialistic Islam and will rally the civilized world against it. The war of "civilizations" is finally being embraced wholeheartedly. The Wahhabis and their fellow travelers are out to convert India to Islam, to bring it back under their thrall as their quest for word domination continues and Trump is thus an ally in protecting Hindu India from them. We are devotees. We are indifferent to the worldly powers. We know that God works his ways mysteriously. Who is to deny that evil is everywhere in the world? We believe that God ultimately favors his true devotees, even in the blackest of times. The other day I was giving class on Gopala Champu on the second meaning of the introductory verse and the following expression came up: नराकृति परं ब्रह्म narākṛti paraṁ brahma Rupa and Sa...

Gaura Nitai the other night. I generally have secondary reading material lying around, stuff that is meant more for entertainment and distraction than anything else. Nevertheless, I generally speaking keep an open mind and betwixt and between I also don't mind cross-fertilizing my brain with books that often fall into my hands serendipitously. Bizarre as that may seem. I remember once when I was living in Nabadwip and I was invited to a small village on the Katwa-Burdwan medium-gauge line. It was not a particularly prosperous village. I had several friends on that line, including Shambhu Narayan Ghoshal, one of the most colorful personalities in the Vaishnava world I ever met. Srikhanda and Jajigram are on that line, close to Katwa, but these villages were further. The bhakta who invited me was once an ordinary man, but then he cured a couple of people in the village -- brahmins, and he wasn't one -- of leprosy, by chanting the Holy Name. Then he had become a pakka Vais...

Ultimately all Krishna devotees will have to give up the literal interpretation of myth and turn to a symbolic understanding, or their faith will collapse on its own contradictions. The reason a Gaudiya Vaishnava cannot be a literalist is because a literalist is always an unconscious dualist. As with all seekers of Truth, we hold that "when one's ultimate concerns are relative truths, that is called idolatry." (Paul Tillich) In other words, it is misplaced and misguided faith. The literalist may appear to be unitarian who has resolved the problem of duality, but in fact he has a big unacknowledged Jungian "Shadow". Therefore his views are unsynthesized. This is why I say his position will ultimately collapse on its own contradictions. We are acintya-bhedābheda-vādis . Acintya means paradox or mystery. Acintya-bhedābheda is not about artificially throwing up one's hands and saying, "It is all one anyway!" it is about the experiential and con...

Joshua Greene (Hofstra University) There is a theory that the Gaudiyas "went underground" in the post-Caitanya period, to avoid persecution by Muslim invaders. This idea would explain the reclusive nature of the community in the 16th and 17th centuries. I believe both David Haberman and Alan Entwistle have posited this idea. Does anyone have access to their writings on the subject. John Stratton Hawley (Professor and Chair, Department of Religion, Barnard College, Columbia University) I'd be very grateful to you for tracing out this "theory"--who says this? The very most important Gaudiya texts were produced in this period of time, evidently very publicly, and some of the most influential among them were produced by gentlemen who were apparently recruited by Chaitanya because of the expertise they brought to their tasks in part from having served in "Muslim" courts--Rupa and Sanatana. Furthermore, Akbar's patronage (with more than a little ...