Jagat

An old baba looked at my hand and told me I would not die in Vrindavan. Perhaps a relevant post from five years ago in view of my present circumstances. Of course I do the best I can and all the advice is respected as relevant. Krishna is indeed everywhere, just sometimes more apparent than others,

Vrindavan sky mahā-bhāgyair avāptaṁ vapur idam ihākarṇi mahimād- bhuto vṛndāṭavyāḥ kalitam akhilaṁ svapna-sadṛśam| śubhāyām āśvāso nahi nahi matau nāpi vapuṣi kṣaṇe’sminn eva tvaṁ tad abhicala vṛndāvana-vanam|| O friend, by great good fortune you have attained this body through which you have heard Vrindavan's wonderful glories, and learned that everything in this world is like a dream. Don't ever put any faith in a beautiful woman, no, no, nor in the mind, nor in the body. In this very moment, you should run towards the Vrindavan forest. (1.80) Commentary Jiva Goswami spends several sections of the Bhakti Sandarbha (152-159) explaining that bhakti is free of the material qualities. In this discussion, he also mentions the Holy Dham and so I wish to discuss the nirguṇa nature of the Dham here. The Holy Dham is not within the qualities of material nature. So we have to understand what that means. What does it mean that bhakti is not within the guṇas? A...

I find it a bit unfortunate that though the Gita (chapters 14, 17 and 18) and the Bhagavata (11.25) describe various phenomena and categorize them according to the three guṇas of material nature, they did not make any analysis of sexuality according to this method. This has fed the bias in some circles that there is no room whatsoever for sexuality, that it is by default in the modes of ignorance or passion, and if it could ever be in the mode of goodness, it would only be such sex as is engaged in for the sake of procreation. The Bhāgavata (11.25) adds the nirguṇa category to the discourse, by which it is to be learned that in the Bhāgavata view, the same activities that are conducted in the various modes of nature can also be free from the modes if only they are somehow dovetailed into bhakti. Thus residence in a whorehouse is tāmasika , in a city, rājasika , in the forest s ā ttvika , but living in a temple of the Lord is nirguṇa (11.25.25). Human sexuality is extremely comp...