Jagat

dhanyo loke mumukṣur hari-bhajana-paro dhanya-dhanyas tato'sau dhanyo yaḥ kṛṣṇa-pādāmbuja-rati-paramo rukmiṇīśa-priyo'taḥ | yāśodeya-priyo'taḥ subala-suhṛd ato gopī-kānta-priyo'taḥ śrīmad-vṛndāvaneśvary-atirasa-vivaśārādhakaḥ sarva-mūrdhni || Fortunate in this world are those who aspire for liberation; Yet more fortunate are those who have dedicated themselves to Lord Hari's worship; More fortunate than they are those who have become attached to Sri Krishna’s lotus feet. and those who love Rukmiṇī's king are above even them, Those dear to the son of Yashoda, those who are friends to Subal's friend, and then those who love the Lord, lover of the gopīs, are progressively more fortunate. Yet, standing at the head of all devotees in the creation are those who worship him, as one whose thoughts have been washed away by the flood of sacred rapture emanating from the daughter of King Vrishabhanu. This is a verse we hav...

The Yoga Peeth as depicted by the Nimbarka sampradaya. From Salemabad. pūrṇa-premānanda-cic-candrikābdher madhye dvīpaṁ kiñcid āścarya-rūpam| tatrāścaryābhāti vṛndāṭavīyaṁ tatrāścaryau gaura-nīla-kiśorau || In the spiritual moonlight ocean of perfect love and bliss is an island of wondrous form. Upon that island appears this wondrous wood, Vrindavan, where are manifest a wondrous duo, in the spring of youth, one fair and one dark. Here again the dual nature of the Divine Couple, opposites not only of male and femaleness, but in color of darkness and fairness, stressing that here exists the union of opposites. Where? In the midst of an island in the middle of an ocean that itself is formed of complete spiritual ecstatic love, a cooling ocean of moonlight.This image of an island is universal symbol that recurs throughout mythology, and stands for the primordial spiritual center, a supreme sanctuary beyond the world of experience. It appears in India, for instan...