Jagat

Explanations of the Maha Mantra Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare (1) The Lord’s divine qualities revealed in the Maha Mantra harati tri-vidhaṁ tāpaṁ janma-koṭi-śatodbhavam pāpaṁ ca smaratāṁ yasmāt tasmād dharir iti smṛtaḥ The Lord is known as Hari because, for those who remember Him, He takes away the sins and three types of suffering accumulated over millions of births. kṛṣi bhūr-vācakaḥ śabdo ṇaś ca nirvṛti-sūcakaḥ tayor aikyaṁ paraṁ brahma kṛṣṇa ity abhidhīyate The root kṛṣ indicates the supreme attractiveness of the Lord, the suffix ṇa indicates supreme joy. Thus, the name Krishna indicates the Supreme Brahman who is the sum total of these two characteristics. ramante yogino’nante saty ānanda-cid-ātmani iti rāma-padenāsau para-brahmābhidhīyate Yogis take pleasure in the Supreme Self, which is existence, knowledge and bliss absolute. Therefore that truth, known as the Param Brahman is also called Rama...

I have started making video lectures on the Manaḥ-śikṣā by Raghunath Das Goswami. These are being posted on my YouTube channel . I found this translation on the internet and made a few changes.   Manaḥ-śikṣā by Raghunath Das Goswami gurau goṣṭhe goṣṭhālayiṣu sujane bhū-sura-gaṇe sva-mantre śrī-nāmni vraja-nava-yuva-dvandva-smaraṇe sadā dambhaṁ hitvā kuru ratim apūrvām atitarāṁ aye svāntar bhrātaś caṭubhir abhiyāce dhṛta-padaḥ ||1|| O mind, I grasp your feet and beg you with sweet words: Please cast away all hypocrisy and develop intense, unprecedented love for the spiritual master, Vrajabhumi, the people of Vraja, the Vaishnavas, the brahmins, your initiation mantra, the holy name, and in remembering the fresh young couple of Vraja, Radha and Krishna. na dharmaṁ nādharmaṁ śruti-gaṇa-niruktaṁ kila kuru vraje rādhā-kṛṣṇa-pracura-paricaryām iha tanu | śacī-sūnuṁ nandīśvara-pati-sutatve guru-varaṁ mukunda-preṣṭhatve smara param ajasraṁ nanu manaḥ ||2|| O mind, don’t concern y...

Oh mind! Absorb yourself in the glories of the Divine Couple in Vrindavan. If it wants to ride, let it ride the noble steed of Rupa, Raghunath and Prabodhananda's poetry through the fields of divya Vrindavan! Make a lifestyle choice! ābhīra-pallī-pati-putra-kāntā- dāsyābhilāṣātibalāśva-vāraḥ śrī-rūpa-cintāmala-sapti-saṁstho mat-svānta-durdānta-hayecchur āstām My uncontrollable mind seeks a powerful horse to ride, for it is a powerful cavalier possessing the desire for service to the beloved of the son of the cowherd king. So let it ride on the spotless steed of Rupa Goswami's thought! (Raghunath Das, Abhīṣṭa-sūcanā , 1) I have never quite happy with my translations of this verse. If it were mat-sv ā nto instead of mat-sv ā nta- it would be fine and the above translation would be without problem. I think that it was a metrical necessity, but the meaning still comes through that way. Raghunath Das is talking about a mind that is already imbued with rāgānugā sent...

I think that once a devotee gets a taste of Radha-Krishna katha, there is no going back. They will never get a taste for "prema" or "bhakti" or "Truth" or "transcendence" without Radha Krishna. All the words will be just so much fluff in the air. I am just trying to understand why and how to transmit that taste. tad eva ramyaṁ ruciraṁ navaṁ navaṁ tad eva śaśvan manaso mahotsavam tad eva śokārṇava-śoṣaṇaṁ nṛṇāṁ yad uttamaśloka-guṇānuvarṇanam Those words describing the glories of the all-famous Personality of Godhead are attractive, relishable and ever fresh. Indeed, such words are a perpetual festival for the mind, and they dry up the ocean of misery. (SB 12.12.50) I think that even if you just chant this verse from the Bhagavatam, feel its rhythm, you will get a glimpse. But how many lifetimes of preparation will it take someone to come to the point of just letting those sounds roll on the tongue and dance in the heart? Who can give y...

In my continuing research of the dana-keli I am going through Raghunath Das's Dana-keli-chintamani . I don’t have Haridas Das’s edition, so I have used Advaita Dasji’s translation. He as included the Sanskrit verses and occasionally elements from Haridas Dasji’s commentary. He has done a good job and I thank him for his work. The translations below are based on his, whether they are improved upon or not, I don't know. The purpose of this exercise is just to see what fundamental similarities and differences can be drawn between the Chandi Das version and that of Rupa and Raghunath. I am assuming that much of what will be said about DKC will also apply to Dana-keli-kaumudi , but I am leaving that for last. Actually, I did an annotated translation of DKK some time ago, but I want to go through Surendranath Shastri’s commentary and also type it out for the Grantha Mandir for the benefit of future generations. Actually the Bharati Research Institute (Indore) edition (1976), which w...

No one can blame me for being a dishonest translator. Rocana has excerpted my translation of Bhaktivinoda Thakur's life from Chaitanya and His Associates by Bhakti Ballabha Tirtha. In that chapter, there is not one mention of Bipin Bihari Goswami! Is there not something wrong there, my friends? By any standard of truth, but especially in a disciplic succession that promotes so avidly the concept of Guru, that a writer should so cavalierly glorify one's own spiritual hero without mentioning his guru's name, as though he never existed. Tell me if this is not a classical case of ardha-kukkuṭī nyāya ? I have written on these matters several times, including this article Bhaktivinoda Thakur's meat eating and Lalita Prasad Thakur , which was also inspired by a similar type of distortion on Rocana's site. So, for the occasion of Bhaktivinoda Thakur's appearance, and to thumb our nose at those who would deny Bipin Bihari Goswami's role in the Thakur's lif...