Jagat

Anuccheda 338 Worship of Kṛṣṇa Along With Rādhā Is Supreme अथ गोकुलेऽपि श्रीमद्व्रजवधूसहितरासादिलीलात्मकस्य परमवैशिष्ट्यमाह (भा. १०.३३.३९)— विक्रीडितं व्रजवधूभिरिदं च विष्णोः श्रद्धान्वितो यः शृणुयादथ वर्णयेद्वा। भक्तिं परां भगवति परिलभ्य कामं हृद्रोगमाश्वपहिनोत्यचिरेण धीरः॥ And even as regards Kṛṣṇa in Gokula, the glory of Śrī Kṛṣṇa when He performs pastimes such as the rāsa-līlā along with the gopīs of Vraja is even greater still, as described by Śrī Śukadeva: A faithful person endowed with fortitude, who hears or relates this sport of Śrī Viṣṇu with the damsels of Vraja as well is blessed with supreme devotion to Bhagavān and is quickly freed from lust, the disease of the heart. (SB 10.33.39) चकारादन्यच्च। अथ इति वाथ। शृणुयाद्वा वर्णयेद्वा। उपलक्षणं चैतद्ध्यानादेः। परां यतः परा नान्या कुत्रचिद्विद्यते, तादृशीम्। हृद्रोगं कामादिकमपि शीघ्रमेव त्यजति। "As well" ( ca ) implies other pastimes as well. The word atha is used in the sense of “or,” whi...

"Krishna West" is a very big deal. What I see is that Western devotees want to appropriate Krishna bhakti, make it their own. It is as though they are saying, "Indians did okay up until now. Now it is our turn." Like every other good idea, Westerners want to make it better. After all, the West rules the world and has imposed its ways on India, the giant sloth, for 250 years now. What will be left of Vrindavan when it has been westernized completely? Will Krishna leave Vrindavan for New Vrindavan? Is Krishna really so localized that he must stay here and bend with the times? I am a leader of Krishna West, figuratively speaking, and who is more Krishna East than me? Hell, ISKCON was not Indian enough for me. But I am not worried about whether dhotis look like diapers -- I spend most of my frigging days walking around in nothing more than a kaupin -- I have been trying to figure out what the hell this whole Hare Krishna business is about anyway, wha...

We have been reading about the gopis in separation and how they are madly asking the trees for Krishna's whereabouts. In 10.30.4, the first trees the gopis approach to ask for Krishna's whereabouts are the ashwattha, plaksha and nyagrodha , all variants of the banyan or sacred fig. This is ostensibly because they are the tallest trees and would have been best able to see Krishna from their lofty height. They are also the kings of the forest, representing Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma respectively. But when these trees don't answer their polite request, which is accompanied by a confession of their distressed state of mind ("the son of Nanda has stolen our minds and run away!"), Vishwanath paraphrases the gopis' reaction, saying that they insult them, saying, "You are just dirty-minded men and, besides, you just have small fruits!" When I read this, I burst out laughing because of the implications of this insult. Some people suggested that the gop...

For the course in Rishikesh, we reviewed Freud and Jung's models of the psyche. Looking first at these two, we then looked at three others, that of the Tantra-yoga and two others represented by the  Rāsa-līlās in the  Bhāgavata  and Gīta-govinda . Freud's model Freud's psychic model sees the instinctual urges as id or libido , an unconscious energetic force that in its attempt for gratification strikes the external world, the reality principle. This shock then creates the intelligence, which becomes internalized as the superego, conscience, etc., and is projected outward as God. Freud sees the economy of the psyche as essentially one of sublimation: libidinal energy is syphoned off for the strengthening of superego, which through self-discipline then produces all the gains of civilization. For Freud, God was perhaps necessary for the beginnings of civilization to strengthen such self-discipline, but has now outlived his usefulness. Human beings should through self-a...

This post was on Vrindavan Today a while back, but I am adding it here because of the dana theme, which we are covering more or less exhaustively on this site. Without commentary here. ========== Fateh Krishna Ji pays sashtanga pranams to the swaroops before the performance. Vrindavan, 2011.08.13 ( VT ): Today was the last day of the Rasa Lila at Jai Singh Ghera. I have been coming down with a cold and there has been a certain amount of fatigue involved in producing this series, as shallow a presentation as it has been. Still, I am happy that my initiation into this Braj tradition was such a delightful one. My limitations in understanding the language were, at times, acute. Since humorous argument delivered rapid fire seems to be a staple of the Rasa Lila, these limitations were especially evident in plays like today's, the Dana Lila, in which such argument dominates. The dāna-līlā is a subject I have some interest in, as I have been working on Dāna-keli-kaumudī for some...

FB Photo Album I have to make a confession. In all these years, I have never yet sat through a Rasa-lila performance from beginning to end. This, for someone who pretends to love Vrindavan, is tantamount to criminal. At least misdemeanor! So today, I decided that I would correct this flaw in my experience as soon as I heard from Visakha Devi that Swami Fateh Krishna's Rasa Mandal, one of the best, would be performing at Jai Singh Ghera until the 13th. But be forewarned, the following comments are from someone who knows little of the art. It is Jhulan in Vrindavan, or as some call it, "Shravan Mela." It is one of the biggest pilgrimage events in Vrindavan, ending on Jhulan Purnima. I made my way downtown, dodging cars, tongas, rickshaws and throngs of pedestrians, through Loi Bazaar, past Shahji temple and in the narrow alley leading to Jai Singh Ghera and Cheer Ghat, being careful to keep my glasses in my bag. Better to be blind and have an accident than have my glas...