Jagat

Another article from Gadadhar Pran Das Thakur, the foremost defender and promoter of Gauranga Mahaprabhu's nāgara-bhāva upāsanā in the English-speaking world to this day. In this article, he illustrates the authenticity of Gaura-kāntā bhāva on the authority of Advaita Acharya's Stavarāja, which glorifies Gauranga's every limb and the mood underlying it. There could be no higher authority than Advaita Acharya. Gadadhar concludes by defending the legitimacy of Gaura-nāgara bhāva in Ṭhākur Bhaktivinoda's line, that of Rāmacandra Goswami and Vamshivadanananda Thakur. 

What can I say about the magnificence of Gadadhar Pran Das? It has been 40 years since he embarked on this journey of discovering rāgānugā bhakti and kāntā bhāva . His explorations have taken him into regions of Gaura bhakti tradition that very few have managed to find. Who has been able to understand the meaning of Rupa Goswami's verses and how to transform them into an active devotional life? Who has understood the meaning of madhura-rasa in the way that he has? Who has shown the kind of unbroken and constant commitment to the goal of prema-bhakti that he has? In this chapter of this work, in which he connects Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur to the origins of the guru-paramparā and finds a connection to Gora nagara bhāva is a great achievement of svārasikī bhajana . In this chapter and the previous, he has justified sharing some of the intimate details of his bhajan so that ordinary practitioners on the vidhi-mārga , who think they have learned everything there is to know...

Those who have been following Sri Gadadhar Pran Prabhu's posts on this blog will recall the short series on kāntā-bhāva . I am sure that he and his followers will be quite happy to see Jiva Goswami's full-throated support here in Bhakti Sandarbha. N.B. E-books are now available from jiva.org, as are the other first four Sandarbhas . Also anyone interested in taking Sanskrit with me or participating in the continuing Jiva Tirtha course (Oct. 2020) can register here .  320.2 Projecting Lustful Feelings Upon Bhagavān is Not a Transgression अथ कामुकत्वाद्यारोपणाद्यधरपानादिरूपस्तत्र व्यवहारोऽपि नातिक्रमहेतुः। यतो "लोकवत्तु लीलाकैवल्यम्" (वे.सू. २.१.३३) इति न्यायेन लीला तत्र स्वभावत एव सिद्धा। We will now consider the second possibility. [See 320.1 ] Even such behavior as projecting lustful feelings upon Bhagavān and kissing Him, etc., is not a transgression of the codes of conduct, because it is said: “Bhagavān's pastimes exactly resemble those of h...

Gadadhar's writing style makes editing the spellings and so on difficult. I have decided to change my policy and just leave the Bengali words in the text without diacritics or italics. This policy began when I was halfway through this document, so please forgive the inconsistencies. When the book is published we will try to make things consistent. Sorry for the inconvenience. For other articles in this series, click here . People interested in communication with the author can write to gadadhar_das000@yahoo.co.in Chapter 25 Vishnupriya and Jahnava Devi’s Rāsa līlā Although the Rāsa līlā sankirtan that happens at midday in Vishnupriya’s gupta Vrindaban abode was previously described, in this chapter we will tell something about Her nocturnal Rāsa līlā . This spectacular event and the other madhura pastimes which precede and follow it all take place on a hidden island in the Ganga known as Gauranga sthali. In this chapter also the svārasikī story that we were foll...

Gadadhar Pran speaking with Vaishnava Pada Dasji, wirthy discipe of Radha Kund Mahanta Ananta Das Babaji.. After a long hiatus, we are continuing with this great insightful series from Sri Gadadhar Pran Das, who is sharing this very personal document about his long relation with rāgānugā bhakti that began with his initiation by Srila Lalita Prasad Thakur, the son and direct disciple of Srila Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakur. For other articles in this series, click here . People interested in communication with the author can write to  gadadhar_das000@yahoo.co.in Chapter 24 A Few Words about Rāgānugā Bhakti Sadhana How can we attain the privilege to serve in Sri Gauranga and Sri Krishna’s nitya līlā ? In this chapter we will discuss the sādhana which leads to this supreme goal in Gaudiya Vaishnava dharma. To help understand the process, the svārasikī līlā that was presented in the last two chapters will be analysed in context with our Vraja Goswamis’ teachings. So ...