Jagat

sthūlaṁ sūkṣmaṁ kāraṇaṁ brahma-turye śrī-vaikuṇṭha-dvārakā-janma-bhūmiḥ | kṛṣṇasyātho goṣṭha-vṛndāvanaṁ tad gopy-ākrīḍaṁ dhāma vṛndāvanāntaḥ || Within this abode of Vrindavan you can find the gross, the subtle, the causal, and the fourth state of consciousness, Brahman; you can find Vaikuntha, Dwaraka and the birthplace, Mathura; you can find the Vrindavan of Krishna’s pasturing fields and his play garden with the gopis. (1.8) Commentary This hierarchy of spiritual abodes corresponds to the concept of Radha and Krishna as the supreme form of the Divinity. In order to understand this verse properly, one will have had to read through all the shastras, especially Kṛṣṇa-sandarbha . and the two Bhāgavatāmṛtas . The acharyas are all concerned with hierarchies. Although it is understood that everyone is at their own level of qualification and cannot exceed that, still the search for the Absolute Truth automatically indicates that one must compare and contrast, evalua...