Jagat

So my spare time is being spent contemplating the question of the phenomenon of sectarianism, and thinking about remedies. Whether there is a remedy for the disease of sampradāya . Yet without  sampradāya  we have no history. And in fact, it is not untrue to say that it is through  sampradāya  that we are meant to arise above  sampradāya . No one can be without an identity, but ultimate love includes the capacity to transcend identities to find oneness everywhere. And that is really the fruit of prema , without which prema has little meaning. In other words you have to be able to find something universally true in your symbol system for you to be able to communicate with the universe, to commune with ultimate reality. So, the story I have been sitting on at Vrindavan Today for the past month or more is that the Radhavallabhi and Gaudiya rivalry is threatening to flare up again in the courts. Some disciples of the Radha Vallabha sect have filed a case against ...

divya-svarṇa-sunīla-ratna-subhagaṁ līlā-sa-nālāruṇām- bhoja-śrī-muralīdharaṁ pṛthula-sad-veṇī-subarhojjvalam| saṁvītojjvala-śoṇa-pīta-vasanaṁ kandarpa-līlā-mayaṁ śrī-vṛndāvana-kuñja eva kim api jyotir-dvayaṁ sevyatām|| There is a pair of effulgent lights existing only in the groves of Vrindavan: one has the beauty of divine gold, the other of a brilliant sapphire; one twirling a long-stemmed lotus, the other holding a flute; one with thick, splendid braids, the other with a brilliant peacock-feather crown; one covered in red garments, the other in yellow. Serve them, who are always absorbed in the Divine Eros. Commentary: Many years ago I was studying the works of Prabodhananda Saraswati and testing the hypothesis that it was he who had authored the Rādhā-rasa-sudhā-nidhi ( Part 1 , Part 2 ). I can tell you that this is something of a sensitive issue in the Vrindavan world where the followers of Hit Harivansh would rather die than believe anyone other than he is the...

Detail of painting of Gauranga by Gadadhar Pran Das. śrī-rādhā-muralī-manohara-padāmbhojaṁ sadā bhāvayan śrī-caitanya-mahāprabhoḥ pada-rajaḥsv ātmānam evārpayan | śrīmad-bhāgavatottamān guṇa-nidhīn atyādarād ānaman śrī-vṛndāvana-divya-vaibhavam ahaṁ stotuṁ mudā prārabhe ||1.1|| Thinking constantly of the lotus feet of Radha and Krishna, who plays his enchanting flute, offering my soul into the dust of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s lotus feet, and most respectfully bowing down to the great and virtuous devotees of the Lord, I joyfully take up the composition of this hymn in praise of the transcendental glories of Sri Vrindavan. (1.1) [ Sonehow I broke the order of posting verses from VMA and started with 1.70 . Now that I have finished the first  śataka , I decided it would be best to go back to the beginning. Once those first 69 verses have been revised and posted, I will decide again how to proceed. ] Commentary Vṛndāvana-mahimāmṛta was written in the firs...

Facebook regurgitated a memory, a status I had posted three years ago. kvāsau rādhā nigama-padavī-dūragā kutra cāsau kṛṣṇas tasyāḥ kuca-mukulayor antaraikānta-vāsaḥ | kvāhaṁ tucchaḥ paramam adhamaḥ prāṇy aho garha-karmā yat tan-nāma sphurati mahimā hy eṣa vṛndāvanasya ||261|| How glorious is Radha, so far beyond the Vedic scriptures! And how wonderful Krishna, whose single abode is in the space between her breasts! And how low am I, such a fallen creature addicted to sinful life! If her name should manifest on my lips, it is only due to the glory of this land of Vrindavan. (RRSN 261) My friends, this is the truth! The power of the Dham is to make you remember Radha. Even if you wonder, "Why can't I remember Radha! Why isn't Bihariji merciful to me? Isn't the Dham supposed to make bhajan easier?" You are still doing bhajan by even asking the question. Slowly but surely you will see your bhajan bear fruit in the Dham. It will begin when your tongue...

I posted on Facebook: Message from Prabodhananda Saraswati: If you respect me, you have to respect Hit  Harivansh  Goswami. Explanation: Yesterday was my birthday, and as I had just arrived the day before from Rishikesh, I went on parikrama . Parikrama for me started near Kaliya Daha, which is where the little frequented samadhi temple of Prabodhananda Saraswati lies. I think that the coincidence of having Prabodhananda, the author of Vṛndāvana-mahimāmṛta right at the beginning of the parikrama , as the first major spot on the circuit, to be a fortuitous and particularly inspiring accident. I have cherished Prabodhananda Saraswati ever since Ananta Das Pandit Maharaj first "turned me on" to Rādhā-rasa-sudhā-nidhi more than 30 years ago. I made up my mind to do the following for my birthday: I would go to Prabodhananda's samadhi , recite a few verses from his work, and then go to Banke Bihari, Radha Vallabha, then Radha Damodar to visit the samadhis of Sri Rup...

I can't say I particularly care for watching myself on video. I get very squeamish. But anyway, Kryszna Kirtan has made these available. So, here are some more lectures on Radha-rasa-sudha-nidhi from last Karttik at Munger temple.

These videos were shared by Kryszna Kirtan who taped them on November 17, 2013.

We were discussing the third verse in which it is being said that the dust of Radha's feet is a magic powder that immediately brings Krishna under control. yo brahma-rudra-śuka-nārada-bhīṣma-mukhyair ālakṣito na sahasā puruṣasya tasya | sadyo-vaśīkaraṇa-cūrṇam ananta-śaktiṁ  taṁ rādhikā-caraṇa-reṇum anusmarāmi || I constantly meditate on the dust of Shri Radha's feet, which has limitless power, being the magic potion that immediately brings under her control that Purusha who is imperceptible to even such great souls as Brahma, Shiva, Shukadeva, Narada, and Bhishma. (RRSN 4) So the general discussion was centered on why should it be considered a good thing that the Purusha Krishna should come under the control of Radha. What is the meaning of a statement such as "controlling another person through love"? Needless to say this is a vast topic. The specific context from the commentary by Harilal Vyas was that Krishna is warned by the sakhis who side with h...

I suppose it was only to be a matter of time before it happened, but last night Sadhu Maharaj asked me to discontinue giving my Rādhā-rasa-sudhā-nidhi  classes. After discussion, I understood that his principal objections were that I was deviating and that what I said was rasābhāsa . I suspected that there were in all likelihood more factors involved in his decision. No doubt he was starting to get feedback from those who were starting to dislike the fact that I was speaking in a Gaudiya Math affiliated temple. But the first thing he said to me was something to the effect, "I cannot follow what you are saying. I am a simple man. I want to hear Radha-Krishna kathā by the book. I told you to speak to the verses and not say anything of your own. I am now seventy years old, I don't have time for anything else." Innocently enough, I explained that Westerner devotees have no understanding of Radha Krishna lila and without a proper background, explained to them in ways...

Harilal Vyasa (HLV) has given a lengthy 157 verse introduction to his commentary in which he points out his principal intentions in his work. In it, he cites verse 146 (147 in the Gaudiya edition) as a case of rasa-bhāva-vivecanam , and the point he makes there is the following: rasopasarjanī-bhūto bhāvo mukhyo rasaḥ smṛtaḥ | bhāvaḥ śyāme raso gaure yasya sādhāraṇo na saḥ | [Since] bhāva is that which produces the rasa, rasa is therefore the more prominent [of the two]. One whose bhāva is in Shyam and rasa in Radha is not common. (103-104) This is meant to be a quick summary of HLV's understanding of the verse and a highlighting of its importance. Now let's look at the verse itself in a little more detail: na jānīte lokaṁ na ca nigama-jātaṁ kula-paraṁ- parāṁ vā no jānāty ahaha na satāṁ cāpi caritam | rasaṁ rādhāyām ābhajati kila bhāvaṁ vraja-maṇau rahasy etad yasya sthitir api na sādhāraṇa-gatiḥ || One who does not know the ways of the world, nor the scrip...

brahmānanda-rasād ananta-guṇito ramyo raso vaiṣṇavas tasmāt koṭi-guṇojjvalaś ca madhuraḥ śrī-gokulendro rasaḥ | tac cānanta-camatkṛtiṁ pratimuhur varṣad rasānāṁ param śrī-rādhā-pada-padmam eva madhuraṁ sarvasva-bhūtaṁ mama || Countless times more relishable than the flavor of Brahmananda is that connected to Vishnu. Millions of times brighter than that is the sweet rasa related to the Lord of Gokula. Raining down infinite astonishment are the topmost of all rasas, the sweet lotus feet of Srimati Radharani. They alone are my life and soul. Following on from the previous posting . Check the label " hierarchies of prema " for more on this general subject.  By the way, the word "raining down" is appropriate, as today was the first day of the real monsoon here in Rishikesh. We had plenty of pre-monsoon rain, but the sky today is grey, the atmosphere is almost clammy with humidity, and the mountains will be covered in mist for the next fe...