Jagat

An interesting day. Prema Madhuri is still in the hospital after the operation. Today I more or less got a day off. I was in the hospital room when they brought her from the operating theater and stayed with her as she slept through the anesthetic induced discomforts.  I played the same meditation music which brought her BP down from pretty high to normal levels in a couple of hours before the operation. But around 1.30 or 2 at night, the nurse told me visitors were not allowed to stay the night. So I ended up taking a taxi home and got a couple of hours of sleep on a flat surface after a couple of days.  But Prema Madhuri told in the morning that she would not need me today, so I have a day off. I took a walk through one of my municipality's walking paths. It is a pretty nice interesting walk, pretty quiet, but sustaining natural aesthetic experiences for most of it. Ideal for a japa walk. So I want to film it with a japa soundtrack.  For the pleasure of those who are cr...

abhidheya —Literally “what is to be defined.” The second of three aspects of Gaudiya Vaishnava theology: what must be done. One who understands the principles of sambandha (q.v.) experiences a moral imperative to act on that knowledge. This is devotional service in all its aspects, or as in HNC 3.18, nāmānuśīlana , “the cultivation of the Holy Name.” (ch. 2) adhikāra —(1) aptitude, inclination or tendency; (2) qualification; (3) rights, ownership, entitlement; (4) authority (HNC 15). The adhikāra for devotional service is explained in Bhajana-rahasya 1.2.14-15. adhikārī —(1) One qualified for a particular spiritual path. (2) A person authorized to act on behalf of someone else. ājñā —“order, permission”; The seventh of the eleven aspects of the spiritual identity. From Jaiva Dharma , p. 592: “Orders are of two kinds: nitya (regular) and naimittika (occasional). The merciful sakhi orders you to engage in a certain regular (nitya) service, which you must execute without fail w...

I first did the translation work on Bhaktivinoda Thakur's Bhajana Rahasya in 2002 on behalf of Mandala Publishers, which was the publishing arm of Srila Bhakti Promode Puri Maharaj and the Gopinath Gaudiya Math , the current Acharya of which is Sripada Bhakti Bibudh Bodhayan Maharaj. They gave me a great opportunity to study this book again in depth, since this book played an important part in my own spiritual life and progress. Once again I have to show my great gratitude to the Gaudiya Math and its branches. As it happened, this book and Harinama-chintamani, which I also worked on at around the same time, were never published. Recently through the intercession of a couple of ISKCON sannyasis who had seen the earlier work on these books I had done, recommended to Srila Bodhayana Maharaj that he should publish them. Bodhayan Maharaj agreed and so for the past month I have been revising my work and upgrading it, and with Bhajana Rahasya especially making additions. I thou...

As I go through the Bhajana Rahasya for hopefully the last time, I am still finding some verses for which no commentary was added. Sometimes this is understandable and has to be left aside, because giving explanations of something like vaco-vegam might take pages or even books in their own right. In fact, too much explanation is the wrong way to go with Bhajana Rahasya . Someone who is ready for this summary by Bhaktivinode Thakur of how to enter into and take up ekanta raganuga bhajan, should already be pretty familiar with most of the concepts, which are being given in reminder fashion, rather than as narrowly focused guide to eliminating anarthas. In the later sections where the verses summarizing the entirety of the sakhi kriyas or the different kinds of sambhoga, etc. are meant to indicate to the practitioner the _next_ level of study. The same is applicable to the Ashta-kala-lila sutras that come at the end of each chapter. It is rather cool, actually, the way that Bha...

I am going through the Bhajan Rahasya for the nth time. I did the first version of the translation in 2002. I have been finalizing it for publication, which will be done by Gopinath Gaudiya Math. The Bhajan Rahasya has an important place for me in my own spiritual life and as I start reading it again, I can remember back to the powerful effect it had on me way back when I first read it, before there were any translations. This would have been 1979. It was one of the principal influences that led me to a closer relation with Bhaktivinoda Thakur. I think that the following verses in Bhajana Rahasya were amongst those that captured my imagination. Up until this point near the end of the second chapter, it was more or less standard fodder, but this part suddenly made the desire for ekānta bhajana awaken in me. prabhāte cārdha-rātre ce madhyāhne diva-saṅkṣaye kīrtayanti hariṁ ye vai na teṣām anya-sādhanam The single-minded devotee who chants the Holy Names of the Lord in the ...

kṛṣṇeti yasya giri taṁ manasādriyeta dīkṣāsti cet praṇatibhiś ca bhajantam īśam śuśrūṣayā bhajana-vijñam ananyam anya- nindādi-śūnya-hṛdam īpsita-saṅga-labdhyā One should mentally honor the devotee who chants the holy name of Lord Krishna. One should offer his humble obeisances to the one who has undergone spiritual initiation [ dīkṣā ] and is engaged in worshiping the Deity. And if one encounters a pure devotee who is advanced in undeviating devotional service and whose heart is completely devoid of the propensity to criticize others, one should associate with and faithfully serve him, recognizing him to be the ideal spiritual companion. Bhaktivinode Thakur's translation in Bhajana-rahasya : If you hear someone sincerely chanting the Holy Name, then you should offer him respects in your mind, again and again. If he has joined a devotional disciplic line ( sampradāya ) through initiation and is engaged in worshiping Krishna, then you should respectfully fall down and take th...

Bhajana-rahasya 5.6: With the manifestation of bhava, a fixed service attitude is natural Vritrasura spoke the following prayer— ahaṁ hare tava pādaika-mūla- dāsānudāso bhavitāsmi bhūyaḥ manaḥ smaretāsu-pater guṇāṁs te gṛṇīta vāk karma karotu kāyaḥ O Lord, when shall I once again become the most humble servant of the servants of Your lotus feet? My mind will remember Your virtues, O master of my life, my power of speech will be used to glorify You, and my body will always be engaged in doing Your work. (Srimad Bhagavatam 6.11.24) Expanded translation: When Vritrasura saw that Indra was not throwing his thunderbolt at him, he thought, why should I speak to this Indra whom I see externally. Why should I not surrender myself to my Lord? The Lord then appeared to him in his meditation and Vritrasura began to speak this prayer: “When shall I once again become the most obedient servant of those who have taken exclusive shelter of Your lotus feet? Tell me please, how long will ...

tad astu me nātha sa bhūri-bhāgo bhave’tra vānyatra tu vā tiraścām yenāham eko’pi bhavaj-janānāṁ bhūtvā niṣeve tava pāda-pallavam O my Lord, please bestow this great fortune on me, that I may live amongst Your intimate devotees and serve Your lotus feet, either here in this life as Brahma or somewhere else in a different body, even if it be that of some lowly creature like that of a bird or beast. (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.14.30) Expanded translation: Lord Brahma prays for service to Krishna, knowing that such service can only come through His mercy: O Lord! O fulfiller of all desires! It seems to everyone that I am very fortunate, for I have attained the supreme position in this universe as its creator. Even so, I do not consider this to be my greatest good fortune. Though I am Your oldest son in this life, it does not matter in which species I am born, as long as I can have the chance to most perfectly serve any one of Your devotees, for it is through service to them that I ...

One of the most famous verses in the entire Chaitanya Vaishnava tradition is the following, found three times in Caitanya-caritāmṛta ( Madhya 1.58, 13.121, Antya 1.78). yaḥ kaumāra-haraḥ sa eva hi varas tā eva caitra-kṣapās te conmīlita-mālatī-surabhayaḥ prau ḍ hāḥ kadambānilāḥ sā caivāsmi tathāpi tatra surata-vyāpāra-līlā-vidhau revā-rodhasi vetasī-taru-tale cetaḥ samutkaṇṭhate || The very one who took my maidenhead is here now as my bridegroom. And these too are the same moonlit nights of the month of Chaitra. The same fragrance of malati flowers is there and the same sweet breezes blowing from the kadamba forest. I too am the very same person with whom he made playful, ecstatic love. Yet my unsatisfied mind yearns for that place under the bullrushes on the bank of the Reva River. Padyāvali 378 (Srk 815, Skm 2.12.3; Spd 3768; Smv 87.9; SD 1.2) Since the story has been told by Kaviraj Goswami in three different places, it is important to examine the contexts. In the f...

I am currently traveling in Bengal and spent a few days with Gadadhara Pran Das, and so I thought I would share a couple of chapters of his new book, “Another Side of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur" : Chapter 1: Chapter 2 : Naturally, there are some people who find it necessary to repeat what is the “official story” about Lalita Prasad Thakur, because of things that happened between Siddhanta Saraswati and his younger brother and their differences of opinion. Obviously, when GP and I made the decision to “move on” from Iskcon, we did so in full knowledge of what to expect. That is why GP says, in effect, “OK, you guys, we know your side. Everybody knows your side by now. And bully for you. All glories to your service and your nishtha. But Bhaktivinoda Thakur was big enough to have more than one side.” And I think that GP is quite clear when he quotes from Harinama-cintamani, that the bhajananandi side existed in Bhaktivinoda. prabhāte cārdharātre ce madhyāhne divasaṅkṣaye...

Bhajana Rahasya 8.5: The spiritual identity of this perfected devotee This is described by Prabodhananda Saraswati in the Rādhā-rasa-sudhā-nidhi (53)— dukūlaṁ bibhrāṇam atha kuca-taṭe kañcuka-paṭaṁ prasādaṁ svāminyāḥ sva-kara-tala-dattaṁ praṇayataḥ sthitāṁ nityaṁ pārśve vividha-paricaryaika-caturāṁ kiśorīm ātmānaṁ caṭula-parakīyāṁ nu kalaye When will I see myself as an adolescent girl, excited by the mood of being married to someone else, expert in all varieties of personal service, standing beside the Divine Couple, wearing a dress and blouse formerly worn by my own mistress Radharani and affectionately given me by Her personally. Extended translation: How sweet it is to think "I am Radha's maidservant!" How tender and delicious is the remembrance of one's siddha svarupa! Srimad Jīva Goswami said in Bhakti Sandarbha (304), "Even if one does not perform any other spiritual practice, one can attain perfection simply by having the attitude that ‘I ...

I am going to post a bunch of translations. This is from the introduction to Bhajana Rahasya by B.P. Puri Maharaj. ============= My heroic pastimes are very pleasing to the ear and satisfying to the heart when heard in the association of pure devotees. As a result of joyfully relishing these pastimes in such association, one quickly advances on the path of liberation, passing through the stages of faith ( śraddhā ), the revelation of one’s divine relationship with Krishna ( rati ), and true love for Him ( bhakti ). ( Śrīmad-bhāgavatam 3.25.25) satāṁ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṁvido bhavanti hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanāḥ kathāḥ taj-joṣaṇād āśv apavarga-vartmani śraddhā ratir bhaktir anukramiṣyati Expanded translation: The mind finds joy in the Lord through association with saintly people. This verse explains the results of such association in their proper sequence. In fact, there is a preliminary stage of faith which comes after hearing that holy association should be sought out. Whe...

The third chapter of the Bhajana Rahasya is based on the tṛṇād api sunīcena verse. To elaborate on this verse, Bhaktivinode Thakur depends on Mukunda-mālā and Stotra-ratna , two hymns from the Sri Vaishnava tradition predating Ramanuja. Bhaktivinoda had translated many of these verses in his Gīta-mālā and he reuses those same translations here. In view of the discussions of karma related to child abuse and so on, these verses may cause a bit of discomfort. Actually to think oneself a sinner, a fallen creature -- this goes against the militant humanism of our "enlightened" period of human civilization. Certainly, one of the principal criticisms against cults is that they force-feed teachings that are meant to vitiate a person's self-esteem and thus make him more malleable by the "authorities." In a traditional society, where the leaders themselves would have been trained in humility, and where they bowed down to sages who were completely disinterested ...