Jagat

Radha and Krishna playing Holi. India, Kangra, circa 1800. Opaque pigments and gold on paper śrī-śaṅkara-druhiṇa-mukhya-surendra-vṛnda-durjñeyaṁ rādhā-mānasa-divya-mīna-nilayaṁ tad-vaktra-candrocchritam| tat-kandarpa-sumandareṇa mathitaṁ sakhy-akṣi-pīyūṣadaṁ kañcic chyāma-rasāmbudhiṁ bhaja sakhe vṛndāṭavī-sīmani || Within the boundary of Vrindavan forest, O friend, there is a dark ocean of ambrosia, the abode of the divine fish of Radha's heart, unknowable to the gods headed by Shiva and Brahma. That ocean's tide surges with the rising of her moon face; Cupid is the churning stick, the beautiful Mandara Mountain, all to create amrita for the eyes of her sakhis. Worship that black ocean of rasa. The churning of the ocean is a theme that is loved by Sanskrit poets for its many metaphorical possibilities. The idea that by churning one thing, its essential elements are extracted, and that there are various roles in the process that can be assigned is...

P.C. Traveling Monk vṛndāvane sthira-carākhila-sattva-vṛndā- nandāmbudhi-snapana-divya-mahā-prabhāve | bhāvena kenacid ihāmṛtā ye vasanti te santi sarva-para-vaiṣṇava-loka-mūrdhni || They who dwell up to the moment of death in this Vrindavan, which has the great divine potency to bathe all creatures, moving or still, in an ocean of great joy, whatever their mood, are the crowns on the head of all the most elevated worlds of Vishnu. Commentary This has to be considered an important verse. Not everyone can come to live in Vrindavan. Most devotees find it impossible to live even in a temple, or to convert their own environment into a temple. Most devotees cannot even find the association of other devotees who have the Vrindavan mood. The Vrindavan mood is most rare and difficult to attain. But here Prabodhananda talks about dying in Vrindavan. In the past, devotees would come to the holy places, to the shores of the holy rivers, to finish out their lives in prep...

This was originally posted on Vrindavan Today  Over the past nine days, I had the opportunity to stay at Golok Dham ashram in Bijwasan, South Delhi, where the appearance day of Nimbarkacharya was being celebrated. During this time, I was lucky to meet a number of spiritual leaders from around India and talk to them about Vrindavan. The acharya at Golok Dham is Gopal Sharan Devacharya Maharaj , who was named "Hindu of the Year" by Hinduism Today magazine. The editor and publisher of Hinduism Today both came from Hawaii to present Maharaj with the award. The acharya of the Kaua'i ashram, Bodhinath Swami, has given his account of the event on his blog . Other important guests over the five days included the Peethadhishwar of the Salemabad seat of the Nimbarka sampradaya, Radhe Sarveshwar Sharan Shriji Baba , who is universally accepted as its spiritual head, Karshni Gurusharanananda Swami, Svarupananda Saraswati of the Gautameshwar Peeth in Gujarat, Acharya Balkrishn...

Prem Mahavidyalaya at Keshi Ghat, with exhortations to keep the Dham clean. Originally posted at Vrindavan Today . rājyaṁ niṣkaṇṭakam api parityajya divyāś ca rāmāḥ kāmān sarvān api ca vihitāṁs tikta-tiktān vidantaḥ | hitvā vidyā-kula-dhana-janādy-abhimānaṁ praviṣṭā ye śrī-vṛndā-vipinam apunar-nirgamāṁs tān namāmaḥ || To those who have entered Vrindavan never to leave,      after abandoning a kingdom free of foes,       along with beautiful women and all desires and duties,             thinking them to be most bitter, and who have renounced learning, noble birth, wealth, and fame to do so,             we offer our respectful obeisances. Commentary After placing the accent on life outside of Vrindavan, Prabodhananda returns with admiration to the person who has managed to achieve the goal of going to Vrindavan, and then remaining so committed to it that he never leaves. ...

The bell rings and I go outside to see the sun pouring over the mountains onto dew-filled fields. The colored winter flowers are fading and the white summer ones scattering like snowflakes on the vines. The shukas squawk like beggars in the ancient arjun trees behind the dining hall. (12 years ago, Rishikesh)

The appearance and disappearance days of Gadadhar Bhatta Goswami, the disciple and successor of Raghunath Bhatta Goswami, come on successive days, the dwadashi and trayodashi of the dark fortnight in Bhadrapada month. This year that fell on August 28th and 29th. Raghunath Bhatta (1505-1579) was especially noted for his sweet presentation of Srimad Bhagavatam and as the innovator of the Bhagavata vachak tradition in Vrindavan. Gadadhar Bhatta was his successor and to this day his descendants maintain the tradition of preaching from the Bhagavata Purana. Gadadhar Bhatt was a reservoir of all virtues and a bringer of pleasure to all. He was naturally gentleman and a strict follower of the teachings of the acharyas. He was free of flaws like envy and desire, and an ocean of compassion to the less fortunate. It was as though he had taken birth only to awaken exclusive devotion to Radha and Krishna in the people of the world. Once he had come to stay in Vrindavan he never left, absor...

Cross posted from Vrindavan Today . While in Barsana recently, I was standing in the Ladli temple on the outside terrace portion and someone appeared to have fainted. An elderly Brijbasi Gosai, with a bushy white moustache, a colorful turban and yellow silk dhoti, a stick in his hand, was walking toward me. For some reason I was impelled to say something stupid and started to speak, but my Hindi tongue was tied and could not express, "We must all pass by that." At the Brajvasi's insistence I repeated myself again without success and ended up stuttering out the words andham tamah,  "the darkness of ignorance." Which I knew the instant they came out of my mouth that they did not fit at all what I really wanted to say, pointless as it was. The Gusai responded vehemently in a tone of chastisement, but even singing a Brijbhasha song, glorifying Braj Dham as sat-cit-ananda , and how nothing that happens here can ever be andham tamah . I stood there with my h...

Part I of this three part series. [Introduction, Places of Pilgrimage: Tirtha, Kshetra and Dham, Vaishnava criticisms of tīrtha-yātrā, Braj/Vrindavan is a dhāma] Part II of this three part series. [How a Gaudiya Vaishnava performs pilgrimage to the Dham, The eternal glory of residence in the Dham] Part III : Sattva-guṇa and Nirguṇa, Globalization and the Dham, Can a culture truly be translated? How a Gaudiya Vaishnava performs pilgrimage to the Dham As a consequence of this designating of numerous sites as related to famous or obscure events in the life of Krishna, the most important pilgrimage activity for visitors to Vrindavan is the parikrama around Braj, called Chaurasi Kos Braj Parikrama . Rupa Goswami and other Vaishnava saints like Narayan Bhatta established hundreds of such places in the Braj area as reminders of Krishna’s activities. During the parikrama, devotees visit these places and perform various rituals there, principally hearing the stories related to that pl...