Jagat

Gadai Gauranga Kunj, Ishodyana, Mayapur Now let's return to the Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi story about Mani Manjari. But this time we will put a sakhi named Surangini in Mani Manjari's place. In other words, Radha has just sent a sakhi to arrange Surangini's first private meeting with Krishna. [First private meeting: Although Surangini is Krishna's eternal consort, Yogamaya has arranged that she forget all of her past affairs so that today's adventure appears like her first milana with Krishna. This is to heighten the rasa's pleasure.] Let's enter the scene and see what happens next: The sakhi exclaims, "Hey Surangini! Just hear the message that Radha has sent for you. She is saying that since the pleasure of Krishna's rati-saṅga is incomparable, why don't you try it once? You may consider that just as the sakhis share both friendship with Me and loving pastimes with Krishna, you may also take up this mood. Why should you remain behind th...

I have been sitting on the following diagram for several weeks now, but got caught up in various distractions, but lately some additional insights have come and so I now come back to it and share it, for the pleasure of the devotees. I have been working on this concept for some time before becoming aware of the popular Christian use of the triangle image in a similar way. It seems that variations on the concept are quite widespread and you can see both Christian and secular versions of it on Google images . Since the image and symbolic potential of a triangle or pyramid is a simple one, it is not particularly surprising that it has been used so frequently. After all, what is the Star of David but two triangles? The triangle represents synthesis, and there is no spiritual achievement that is not represented by synthesis. It can furthermore blossom into countless other dialectical configurations, as is represented by the Shri Chakra. In the discussion that follows, however, I have ...

I was sent by a link on Facebook to a live lecture by Niranjana Swami in Russia. The main theme was a retelling of the Prabhupada story. It was an embellishment of the Prabhupada myth: Old man goes to foreign land and in the face of multiple obstacles spreads God's message. His story shows how mythology works and grows: A man in a temple saw an old sannyasi crying in front of deities of Gaura Nitai and asked him why he was crying. The old sannyasi answered, "I have been ordered by my guru maharaj to preach the yuga dharma of Harinam sankirtan in the Western countries. This is an impossible task and so I am crying, praying to Gaura Nitai to bless me and allow me to fulfill this mission. I am leaving tomorrow." Many years later, the devotees were selling Back to Godheads in India, and this man inquired from them what they were doing. They showed him the picture of Prabhupad on the cover and this man immediately recognized him as the saint who was crying in the temple on th...