Jagat

atyāścaryā sarvato’smād vicitrā śrīmad-rādhā-kuñja-vāṭī cakāsti | ādyo bhāvo yo viśuddho’tipūrṇas tad-rūpā sā tādṛśonmādi sarvāḥ || There, in the kunja, glows Radha’s amazing beautiful flower grove cottage, more marvelous than all these others, for it embodies the original mood of love in its purest and most perfect form, by which all the Vraja gopis are inebriated. (1.9) Commentary In this and the next verse, Prabodhananda may be said to complete the vastu-nirde śa  portion of his introduction the the Mahim ām ṛta . Actual our beloved author and acharya of Braja-vasa-sadhana wants us to focus more and more clearly on the actual secret-most treasure of Braja Dham, which is the union of the Divine Couple in Radha's kunj. In the previous verse , Prabodhananda listed the hierarchy of dhams of the Lord and stated that they could all be found in Vrindavan. But now he makes it clear that Radha’s kunja is at the top of all these. “All the others” in the vers...

Janmashtami Abhishek of Radha Raman, 2018 Originally posted at Vrindavan Today . tyaktvā vṛndāvanam idam aho / ced bahir yāsi nūnaṁ kṣiptvā kalpa-druma-vara-vanaṁ / hanta śākhoṭam eṣi hitvā vṛndāvana-rasa-kathām/ anya-vārtā-ruciś cet jñātaṁ kṣiptvā paramam amṛtaṁ / bhoktum icchuḥ śva-viṣṭhām If you leave this Vrindavan to go outside somewhere, then surely you have abandoned the best of heavenly desire trees to take shelter of a spinous mulberry bush. And if you have no taste for the delightful topics of Vrindavan rasa prefering talk of other things, you are like one who knowingly throws away the nectar of the gods to eat your own stool. (1.67) Commentary In 1.60, Prabodhananda compared someone who abandons Vrindavan after attaining residence there to a dog who eats his own vomit. Continuing in the same vein here, he compares such a person to the stool-eating hog. Such comparisons are not original, as they have appeared even in the Bhāgavatam . For instan...

I have been distracted with other things, especially Gopala Tapani, but now I have branched off into the  Vṛndāvana-rasa-tattva-samīkṣā , also by Bhagiratha Jha. I enjoy this stuff tremendously. It seems a great shame that I am not able to make my living at it. Bhagiratha is steeped in the Upanishads and Vedanta, so he is the perfect source of understanding for these foundations of Gopāla-tāpanī . But in the Vṛndāvana-rasa-tattva-samīkṣā , he concentrates more on topics of rasa, citing the customary sources in that area, like Bharata Muni. Nevertheless, he continues to emphasize the Upanishadic basis of things. This book begins at the same place the Prīti-sandarbha does: with the famous Chāndogya passage (7.22ff) that inquires into happiness. The prayojana , or goal of life and all our activities, is to find happiness. Anyone who gives another reason is being disingenuous. The debate lies in where one can find it. In free Western societies, it was decided a few centuries ago...