Jagat

As we have seen, the dūta-kāvya genre is everywhere concerned with the theme of love in separation. Love in separation has a long tradition not only in secular Sanskrit poetry, but also in the Vaiṣṇava religious literature. [1] For the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas, of course, Caitanya Mahāprabhu as described by Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja is a living symbol of the intensity of divine love in separation.   For the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava practitioner, separation or viraha is the devotional mood by which one attains Kṛṣṇa. Such worship of Kṛṣṇa in separation is said to be the contribution of Mādhavendra Purī, the guru of Caitanya Mahāprabhu's guru . Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura writes, “the seed of all the religious doctrines of Caitanya Mahāprabhu can be found in the following verse attributed to Mādhavendra Purī, spoken in the mood of a gopī separated from Kṛṣṇa].” [2] ayi dīnadayārdra nātha he, mathurānātha kadāvalokyase / hṛdayaṁ tvad-aloka-kātaraṁ dayita bhrāmyati kiṁ karomy aham //   O l...

Originally posted on  Vrindavan Today , Oct. 2014. mukti-śrībhi ḥ sa kalita-pado nāraka ṁ yāti dhāvan labdhvā cintāma ṇ im atha mahā-vāridhau nik ṣ ipet sa ḥ | k ṛ tvā vaśya ṁ sakala-bhagavac-chekhara ṁ śvādhama ḥ syād yo durbuddhis tyajati sahasā prāpya v ṛ ndāvana ṁ tat || Having attained a place that is decorated by all the opulence of liberation, he goes running off to hell. Having found a chintamani gemstone, he simply throws it into the ocean, Having brought under his control the ultimate form of the Supreme Lord, he behaves like the lowliest cur -- Such is the fool who having attained Vrindavan suddenly abandons it   (1.60) Commentary Prabodhananda Saraswati uses strong language in speaking of one who attains and then loses his place in the Dham. The word śvādhama here means the same as vāntāśī , vomit-eater, which in the colorful Sanskrit language means a dog, a creature that can be seen to indulge in this rather repulsive habit. A sannyasi who has ren...

So I spent my day like old times... typing out Bhagavata commentaries. Did the entire Vaishnava-toshani for 10.39, simply because two verses were cited from it in Krishna Sandarbha. It is not a chapter I had previously tasted deeply because of the mood... Who wants to read about the gopis' suffering when Akrura comes to take Krishna away? That huge "non-cruel" form that Fate takes to destroy the hopes of the Lovers. And so soon after that apogee in the Rasa-lila! What struck me as I went through the chapter [this typing is not deep penetration, just overviewing] was how the cowherds are all gung-ho and Krishna himself is quite ready to leave. "It is going to be jolly good fun, we go to the big fair in Mathura, we sell some milk products, make a few bucks, watch the rasslin', do a little rasslin', maybe knock off Kamsa, then come back." Only Krishna and Balaram are a little more serious while talking to Akrura -- recognizing the moment for t...

Love eternal Obviously, we could go into a great deal more detail on practically every level of this story, but we have to stop somewhere for the sake of drawing some conclusions from this tale. I wanted to start from the parallels were already made with the Bhagavatam. According to Sanatan Goswami, there were only some 30 years between Krishna’s departure from Vrindavan and the meeting in Kurukshetra. Even so, I guess that what I am saying is that this story has hit a few archetypal bells, themes that are the stuff of myth and legend—the love that does not die. So that is the angle that I see this memoir—a tragic love story in the great tradition. Radha and Krishna were also childhood lovers who were separated--forever, if we accept the Bhagavata version. On reading the book, I came to feel that this was an archetypal tragic love story with interesting parallels to the Bhagavata's account of Krishna and the gopis, and it seems worthwhile to try to make a bit of sense out of ...

Antar-gṛha-gatā Maitreyi recounts an interesting vignette towards the end of the third section of the book, in which she remembers a night when Mircea was playing the piano in his room, which was directly below hers. It was late, 2 o’clock at night, and she and her cousin are unable to sleep. Maitreyi says she will go downstairs and tell him to be quiet. I immediately thought, “Aha! She’s finally coming clean and is going to admit that she did go to his room in the middle of the night.” But of course the cousin says that can’t be done; a young girl just does not go to a single man’s room at 2 o’clock in the morning. Maitreyi makes it as far as the door before she is stopped. Krishna played the flute and Mircea played the piano. Some gopis made it, and some had to go to Krishna in meditation only. antar-gṛha-gatāḥ kāścid gopyo’labdha-vinirgamāḥ kṛṣṇam tad-bhāvanā-yuktā dadhyur mīlita-locanāḥ duḥsaha-preṣṭha-viraha-tīvra-tāpa-dhutāśubhāḥ dhyāna-prāptācyutāśleṣa-nirvṛtyā kṣīṇa-m...