Jagat

Gadadhar Pran has written this essay in two parts, the second being more confidential than the first. For the sake of this blog, I have split the first part into two, and will post the other part tomorrow. Please be sure to read the Praveshika . Kāntā-bhāva Bhajana by Gadādhara Prāṇa Dās (Part I) yuvatīnāṁ yathā yūni yūnāṁ ca yuvatau yathā | mano'bhiramate tadvan mano'bhiramatāṁ tvayi || Hey Bhagavān! I pray that as pretty girls and handsome boys are naturally attracted to each other, may I always be attracted to You. (Sri Rupa Goswami, ( Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.153, Padma Purāṇa 6.128.258) Who isn't romantically inclined? After all, during youth, when one's body becomes developed and glamorous -- wouldn't it be natural for him or her to desire to fall in love? For this basic instinct is found in every human being. But what often happens then? Let's briefly analyze the matter. When a boy and a girl first fall in love, don't so many eu...

In the last three articles, Another look at Aropa and Vatsalya , Worshiping Krishna as the substratum in all beings and The natural loves and prema , I have been responding to Muralisvara Dasa's letter. In these posts we have established several things that beginner devotees find problematic. Indeed, it takes a bit of a paradigm shift to move from the beginning level of duality between God and man in aiśvarya to the eradication of this difference in mādhurya . This is the human dimension of love. To summarize: Without giving up the basic practice of arcanā , one has to cultivate the middle stage of devotion, which is, as we have all read in the Bhāgavatam: īśvare tad-adhīneṣu bāliśeṣu dviṣatsu ca | prema-maitrī-kṛpopekṣā ṁ yaḥ karoti sa madhyamaḥ || One who behaves with love towards God, friendship to those who depend on the Lord, with compassion to those who are innocent, and indifference to those who hate the Lord, is on the middle level of devotional achievement ...