Jagat

Today we had the closing ceremony for the fourth year of Srila Satyanarayana Dasaji's ambitious Jiva Tirtha program. Because of the Covid-19 lockdown, many of our students have already left, but about 20 persons were present for the session. Many of these have been coming for all the four years, which frankly is a great achievement, both for those individuals who have been able to commit to spending six months in Vrindavan to study with Babaji and for Babaji himself, who has inspired them. Babaji's course is extremely far-reaching. This year the main course for study was Paramātma Sandarbha and Sāṅkhya Kārikā . His plan is to cover basic texts of the six philosophical schools -- Nyāya, Vaiśeśika, Sāṅkhya, Yoga, Pūrva and Uttara Mīmāmsā. So far fundamental texts of the Nyāya, Sāṅkhya and Yoga schools have been studied. Next year his plan is to cover Artha-saṅgraha , a basic manual for the Pūrva-mīmāṁsā school. Babaji joked that some scriptures are go-mukha-vyāghra ...

Welcome back to Jagat's blog. Sorry about the lengthy inactivity. I had, among other things, computer breakdowns that kept me from posting. I have completed my work on Bhakti Sandarbha, though thankfully it will pass through more hands before it is published. Looking at the current status of the document as I post it here, I still see numerous difficulties. Hopefully most of these will be worked out in the capable hands of Babaji's trusted chief editor, Navadvipa Dasa. I have to remind everyone that this material is copyrighted by the Jiva Institute and the appropriate restrictions apply. We are now beginning the final portion of the Bhakti Sandarbha (310-340), dealing with the all-important subject of Rāgānugā Bhakti. Anuccheda 310 Rāgānugā Bhakti तदेवं वैधी भक्तिर्दर्शिता। अस्याश्चोक्तानामङ्गानामनुक्तानां च कुत्रचित् कस्याप्यङ्गस्यान्यत्र तु तदितरस्य यन्महिमाधिक्यं वर्ण्यते, तत्तच्छ्रद्धाभेदेन तत्तत्प्रभावोल्लासापेक्षयेति न परस्परविरुद्धत्वम्। अधिकारिभेदेन...

Gadadhar Pran speaking with Vaishnava Pada Dasji, wirthy discipe of Radha Kund Mahanta Ananta Das Babaji.. After a long hiatus, we are continuing with this great insightful series from Sri Gadadhar Pran Das, who is sharing this very personal document about his long relation with rāgānugā bhakti that began with his initiation by Srila Lalita Prasad Thakur, the son and direct disciple of Srila Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakur. For other articles in this series, click here . People interested in communication with the author can write to  gadadhar_das000@yahoo.co.in Chapter 24 A Few Words about Rāgānugā Bhakti Sadhana How can we attain the privilege to serve in Sri Gauranga and Sri Krishna’s nitya līlā ? In this chapter we will discuss the sādhana which leads to this supreme goal in Gaudiya Vaishnava dharma. To help understand the process, the svārasikī līlā that was presented in the last two chapters will be analysed in context with our Vraja Goswamis’ teachings. So ...

I just came across this picture of the Mahaprabhu Janma Sthan temple built by Ganga Govinda Singh in the late 1700's. This then went into the Ganges in (according to my best knowledge) 1859. I had never seen it before. It is much better than the other existing painting, but in this undated and unattributed painting, it appears already to show some signs of aging. Not unusual for Bengal. Babaji and his disciples are having a japa retreat for the next week. I am witnessing it for the first time and more or less participating in it by osmosis. There are, as I understand it, no rules other than the usual daily prayer together and an informal ishtagoshti once a day. The vibration is strong as everyone is maximizing their individual sadhana rather than study or classes for the next week. There are also some other devotees who have come specifically to participate. The whole things is a bit secretive as everyone is told to strictly follow the rule, āpana bhajana kathā na kahi...

Anuccheda 309 Self-offering ( ātma-nivedanam ) अथ आत्मनिवेदनम्। तच्च देहादिशुद्धात्मपर्यन्तस्य सर्वतोभावेन तस्मिन्नेवार्पणम्। तत्कार्यं चात्मार्थचेष्टाशून्यत्वं तन्न्यस्तात्मसाधनसाध्यत्वं तदर्थैकचेष्टामयत्वं च। Now we will discuss ātma-nivedanam , self-offering or self-dedication. This limb of devotion entails offering one’s entire being to Bhagavān, beginning from the body up to the pure self. It is characterized by an absence of striving for one's own self, the offering of all one’s practices and attainments to Bhagavān, and concentration of one’s endeavors exclusively for Bhagavān. इदं ह्यात्मार्पणं गोविक्रयवतो विक्रीतस्य गोर्वर्तनार्थं विक्रीतवता चेष्टा न क्रियते। तस्य च श्रेयःसाधकस्तं क्रीतवान् एव स्यात्। स च गौस्तस्यैव कर्म कुर्यात्, न पुनर्विक्रीतवतोऽपीति। This self-surrender can be compared to selling a cow. Once a cow is sold, the seller makes no further effort to maintain the cow, the purchaser becomes solely responsible for the cow’s welfare and the cow works on...

The last two of the nine limbs of bhakti. Anuccheda 304 Dāsyam अथ दास्यम्। तच्च श्रीविष्णोर्दासंमन्यत्वम्। Now we will discuss dāsyam , or servitorship. This limb of devotion entails considering oneself a servant of Bhagavān Viṣṇu, as described below: जन्मान्तरसहस्रेषु यस्य स्यान्मतिरीदृशी। दासोऽहं वासुदेवस्य सर्वान् लोकान् समुद्धरेत्॥ इत्युक्तलक्षणम्। If after thousands of births a person develops the attitude of being a servant of Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa, he can deliver the entire world. अस्तु तावत् तद्भजनप्रयासः, केवलतादृशत्वाभिमानेनापि सिद्धिर्भवतीत्यभिप्रेत्यैवोत्तरत्र निर्देशश्च तस्य, यथोक्तं "जन्मान्तर" इत्येतत्पद्यस्यैवान्ते "किं पुनस्तद्गतप्राणाः पुरुषाः संयतेन्द्रियाः" इति। By this attitude alone one attains perfection, what to speak of the actual effort to serve Bhagavān. This point is brought out in this statement immediately following the above verse: "So what to speak of those whose very life is Bhagavān and whose senses have b...