Adventures in Humility

ShriRadhaRaman.Com

2008-08-08T22:24:00.002+01:00

I haven't really had the time to write much, primarily due to the fact that I lead a much busier life and don't really have the time to read or write about spiritual topics. But I just couldn't resist this little nugget.

For some time I've had a certain "Vaisnavacarya Chandan Goswami" as one of my Facebook friends without really knowing who he is. I figured with a surname like 'Goswami' he might be affiliated with one of the Goswami families in Vrindavan but I never bothered to ask.

Today I noticed that he had listed ShriRadhaRaman.Com as his website which, as the URL suggests, is the "official" website of the Shri Radha Raman temple in Vrindavan. The one connected with Sri Gopal Bhatta Gosvami. The current "acharya" is the well-known Sri Padmanabha Goswami, who is the son of the late Sri Vishvambhar Goswami.

It turns out that Sri Vaisnavacarya Chandan Goswami is Sri Padmanabha's son and the future successor of the Sri RadhaRaman legacy. There are some interesting things to read on that site, including Vaisnavacarya's blog, photo galleries (beautiful photos of Sri Amiya Nimai Gauranga Mahaprabhu) and articles. It is a nice site, check it out.

Gaura Purnima 2008

2008-03-22T00:37:00.002Z

Happy Gaura Purnima

2008

Advaita Saptami 2008

2008-02-13T21:36:00.002Z

I had a good experience today. After so many months of being unable to visit the temple, I finally went today for the occasion of Advaita Saptami. This occasion is always exciting, because it means that Nityananda's and then Mahaprabhu's advent days are coming up. :-)

Thankfully, and unlike as usual, I turned up in time for the Rajbhog arati so I was able to have a good darshan of the deities. Today the deities were dressed up beautifully, apparently in Rajasthani style. I found myself wishing that I had brought my camera, but never fear, take a look at this beautiful picture from the temple's Flickr site:

What I liked most about it was the fact that Krishna's hair could be seen. Usually Krishna's hair is covered because of the ornate headdresses or flower garlands, but today it could be seen and I always love it when His hair is showing.

While I was enjoying the darshan, it seemed that nobody was there to pass the arati flame etc. through the crowd - almost unbelievable. I sprang into action and took care of it myself; first taking the 'first' arati and then the second, then the "water spray" thing (what is that called?) and then the prasadi-flowers through the crowd.

Such great mercy! I never imagined that I could be allowed to this, after so many months of not coming to the temple. What can I say? I was so grateful for the experience.

On Dhanurdhara Swami 2

2008-02-13T21:21:00.005Z

I wrote yesterday's port about Dhanurdhara Swami in quite an emotional mood yesterday, which is unlike me. But then again, the subject of violating childhood innocence is extremely emotional and heartbreaking.

So I'd just like to clarify my view: if Dhanurdhara Swami has genuinely taken to the spiritual path and weeps for forgiveness for his past actions, then of course there is no real obstacle to his endeavour there.

I just don't think it is correct to enthusiastically open your arms and embrace all and sundry in a world like the one in which we live today. That cartoon is a good pointer of the bias that exists towards the religiously-inclined, and the snootiness that exists in relation to nonbelieving 'good' citizens.

The story of Jagai-Madhai is a good model of forgiveness in the Mahaprabhu story. What is often not mentioned is that, after Jagai-Madhai were forgiven by Mahaprabhu, Madhai was especially repentant and wanted to do something to expiate for his sins. He was told by Nityananda Prabhu to construct a bathing-ghat for the Vaishnavas.

So if this is the sort of thing that Dhanurdhara is doing, all best wishes to him in his attempt at expiating for his sins. Still, just as the former history of Jagai-Madhai is always mentioned when retelling the story, a critical appraisal of Dhanurdhara's (in fact, any child-abuser or "devotee criminal") history should also take place so that people are conscious of it.

Some people may complain that it is unfair to drag up his history at every occasion and shove it in his face. Well, people are still dragging up Jagai-Madhai 500 years later as an example of Mahaprabhu's forgiveness. Who knows, maybe it will all turn out alright in the end for Dhanurdhara.

But who can say such a thing without the memory of his child victims pricking their conscience? They must not be forgotten. They should be compensated adequately.

On Dhanurdhara Swami

2008-02-12T00:24:00.004Z

Much has been said on the Internet on this topic and I wouldn't want to add any unnecessary fuel to the fire, but since it has come up again.. I feel sorry about this post in that I have to criticise some dear friends, but this topic is far too serious for social niceties and people have to stand up and speak out against bigoted and misplaced attitudes passing as "devotion".

Advaita recently wrote a blog about his meeting with Dhanurdhara Swami which an anonymous commenter apparently criticised, leading Advaita to say:

"To the anon referring to Dhanurdhara Swami as a 'notorious child abuser' (comment rejected): Dhanurdhara Swami doing wrong things 27 years ago does not disqualify him from bhakti forever, especially since he elaborately apologized. The jiva is constitutionally eternally Krishna's servant - jiver swarup hoy krishner nitya-das. Have you been celibate, a teetotaller and vegetarian for the 27 years since, like DD Swami? You tell us nothing about yourself, not even your name - what right do you have to accuse others as long as we don't know your record? Let us look at the future, not the past - I believe Dhanurdhar Swami has potential for raganuga bhakti."

A further comment from "Vikram Ramsoondur" followed:

"Aptly put, Advaitaji. As Madhavananda Das wrote on one of his previous blogs in which he mentioned conferring with Dhanurdhara Maharaja in Vrindavana, no acts are irredeemable. Madhavaji even went on to opine the beautiful thought that saints are in fact forged in purgatory fires, to use his own words. What I find exceedingly jocular about some of the comments that you receive on these blogs is the hypocrisy, spinelessness and hilarity characterising them, and by extension their anonymous authors as well. I could also add temerity to the above list, since apparently some of these clowns would have us see more sense in their own worthless, materially conditioned views than in the transcendental realisations of our revered purvacaryas, thanks to whom we owe so much confidential information about the Supreme Lord and his activities."

Out of interest, the anonymous observer whose comment was deleted by Advaita popped up at Jagat's blog to reveal the nature of his original comment:

"Sorry to distract from your nice essay Jagat, but I wanted to say that Advaitadas is a censoring liar. One of his latest entries is about how he met Dhanurdhara Swami in Vrindavan and gave away some of his books to him. I made a comment that I couldn't believe that he would charge vaishnavas for his books and yet give them away for free to notorious child abusers. He didn't publish my comment and replied in such a way that completely twisted the point of my comment, turning it around on me and supporting Dhanurdhara Swami. I wrote another comment (which again he didn't publish) asking him to answer my questions about giving away books for free and not give me a lecture about Dhanurdhara which he hasn't responded.

"Advaitadas is a dishonest and censorious liar and cannot answer a question to save his life. He will charge vaishnavas money for his books and rudely answer back to critical questions to some of his ideas, but he will give free books to child abusers because they are likely to take 'raganuga bhakti'. He makes me sick."

Assuming that this is true, this does throw something of a different light on Advaita's harsh reply. But be that as it may, the comments in favour of Dhanurdhara Swami are part of what I see as a problem in religion, the ease at which a fallen or a publicly-acknowledged criminal is received back into the arms of supposedly loving and forgiving devotees of the Lord. It is because of this attitude that religion has come under fire these days; who can forget the sensational exposés of the Catholic Church's embarrassing moves to protect their child-abusing priests, making them complicit in the actual crime?

Here is a recent picture of Dhanurdhara Swami sitting in the Gambhira area at Mayapur, dated February 4th, 2008. He is wearing the characteristic orange robes that are donned by members of the renounced order in a spiritual sect. I do not know the exact details of Dhanurdhara's crimes (and nor do I wish to) as I expect some tabloid-minded people to have made hay about it somewhere in some parts of the Net, but I do know that this individual has been responsible for committing some of the worst crimes against ISKCON's children. I do not know if sexual abuse was involved, but that would not in any wish diminish the severity or seriousness of what he did do. Dhanurdhara, for his part, has openly and strongly expressed his grief and regret over his actions and has made endeavours to personally apologise to his former victims as well as making an open apology on the Net. Among the reasons he gave for his behaviour was the fact that he claimed to be maladjusted in his personal psychology. Despite Dhanurdhara's repentance, he has continued to bear the reactions of his history even now and even in the form of serious physical beatings from ex-gurukuli. I do not know whether he has been prosecuted legally, but there are extremely strict sanctions in place against him in ISKCON that make him more or less on the fringe; he is restricted in giving classes, working with children, taking disciples, and so on.

That said, I do not agree with the opinions of Advaita and others who support and continue to support Dhanurdhara by dismissing his extremely serious history with a wave of their hands and proclaim his virtues instead. I wonder if they would say the exact same thing or have the same attitude towards John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Fred West, Richard Ramirez, and others? OK, in fairness Dhanurdhara is not quite in their league, but I don't see why someone could or should be easily forgiven just because they are supposed to have led a long life of sadhana? Why should Dhanurdhara be granted special treatment because he is a devotee of God? Idi Amin ran away to Saudi Arabia and lived a Muslim life at Mecca up to his death, I'm sure he had his supporters too but does that excuse any of the horrific actions he carried out while he was the dicatatorial ruler of Uganda?

Should Vaishnavas reflect the magnanimity of Mahaprabhu and be forgiving, they being more merciful than the Lord and all that? Yes, Vaishnavas are ever-loving and forgiving in a perfect and idealistic world which is not the world we are living in. In the real world, child abusers are fully taken to task for their crimes and sent to jail. That is, if they haven't already received a dose of 'street' justice.

But we are talking of entering into bhakti here. As Advaita correctly says, activities performed years ago (and apparently repented for) do not disqualify one from practicing the path of bhakti. This is true, since the path of devotion to God brings forgiveness in itself. But yet again we are living in the real world. How many rogues and philanderers throughout history have turned to the Church while on the run in the hopes of finding sanctuary? To the eyes of the average person, engagement in bhakti with its concomitant features such as vegetarianism, abstaining from alcohol etc. do not excuse the terrible and horrific acts that constitute child abuse, especially since the effects of the same upon the victim are a significant trauma that has lifelong effects. And no amount of bhakti performed on Dhanurdhara's part will be able to take even a pinch of that trauma away. All the japa and kirtan that Dhanurdhara chants and sings will never equal the loud screams of the children who were beaten on the head until their ears bled. All the prasad that Dhanurdhara eats will never equal the vomit that children under his care were forced to eat. All the dandavats that Dhanurdhara carried out will never equal the pain of the little children who were thrown to the floor and kicked in the stomach.

For someone to even enunciate the idea that Dhanurdhara's practice of bhakti somehow absolves him from acts he committed years ago (as if the time of said abuse makes any difference to the severity of trauma caused and experienced) is to openly reveal one's complete lack of compassion and expose their sneering heartlessness. Such people have not and will never understand the ramifications of abuse perpetrated upon children, that too carried out by so-called "devotees". I have a little experience of working with people who were abused as children and there is a tremendous amount of evidence of lifelong suffering and trauma that affects their every action. Perhaps that's a reason why I've come on so strong in this post, but it shouldn't make a difference whether I have experience or not, because I would expect that any decent human being has a sufficient amount of brain to be filled with revulsion when hearing tales of abuse perpetrated by anyone. It's not just Dhanurdhara people have to worry about: the entire child abuse scandal of ISKCON has been a horrific stillbirth of a maturing organisation.

Ramsoonder's comment bears some weight; he has quoted an old post made by Madhava on the same subject on his blog where he related how he met with Dhanurdhara. This is what Madhava had to say:

"A bit further along the way, I invited him over to visit us at Radha-kunda when he was over at Govardhana. Swami came across to me as a thoughtful, gentle and deep individual. Yes we all have a history, and his is particularly well propagated across the internet — and he's gone through nothing short of a small hell over it, experiences I gather have made him grow immensely in many ways. I refuse to believe in unredeemable acts, saints are forged in purgatory fires."

Not only is this attitude unbelievable, but it is ridiculous as it is idiotic. It is fair play to mention that Dhanurdhara has gone through his fair share of hell over his past - I have done the exact same thing above - but to enunciate and propagate the idea that engaging in child abuse was some sort of "growth experience" for a "potential saint" is SICKENING TO THE CORE. This view is so completely irresponsible beyond belief, how can anyone even think like this? People who say glibly say things like this obviously did not hear the heartwrenching screams of the children, they did not see the children hammered with clenched fists, and neither did they wipe the tears that fell from their eyes. How could they, with their noses buried deep in scriptures and their ears blocked with iPod headphones? It is an act of immense arrogance and thoughtlessness to say, "Yes, the scriptures have nothing against a child abuser like Dhanurdhara engaging in acts of bhakti", as if this makes any blind bit of difference to either the path of bhakti or to Dhanurdhara himself.

I have never met Dhanurdhara personally, although I imagine that he may very well behave as a member of the renounced order that he is these days. I have no reason to treat him with any particular malice and I imagine I will treat him with as much civility and courtesy I would offer to any human being. Though of course, I will be filled with revulsion when I consider his history. This is actually a fact of life: No matter whatever "hell" Dhanurdhara has been through, he will always have to run the gauntlet of public opinion wherever he goes. This is one of the signs of criminal activity, people will never let you forget it. My opinion hardly matters in the grand scheme of things and has probably blended in with the mass of criticism that already exists.

The most fetid thing of all is to consider that Dhanurdhara is to be excused because he appears a good candidate for "raganuga bhakti". It is this sickening and ingratiating attitude of servile acceptance along "Vaishnava ideals" that I strongly object to. Child abuse can never be excused, ever.

--------

Please see an update to this article: On Dhanurdhara Swami 2.

Kirtaniyah Sada Harih - Radio!

2008-02-02T23:22:00.000Z

My recent sojourn through the Chakra site let me know of a nice little site that broadcasts kirtans 24/7!!! I especially like the singing of Vaiyasaki das, who I met last Janmastami, he is a wonderful singer in ISKCON.

I've been listening to it while on the PC for the last two days, I'm even listening to it right now.

Listen to it yourself! :-)

Kirtaniyah Sada Harih Internet-Radio - Kirtans and bhajans 24 hours a day!

By the way, this Internet Radio does not play through your Windows Media Player, Winamp or whatever program you use, it plays directly from the browser window. So you will need to keep the browser window open to listen to the kirtans and bhajans.

Dealing with psychological conflicts

2008-02-01T00:33:00.000Z

As someone who has experienced significant changes in their belief-system over time (as if that was ever in doubt, how many people are born as Gaudiya Vaishnavas, for example?) it seems to me that one of the functions of an intelligent mind is to observe any arising conflicts and deal with them as an when necessary. Since religion seems to be a touchy subject for many and strongly-held beliefs rarely change except after a significant amount of persuasion and/or a shifting of the shores, it is a reason to celebrate when an intelligent mind becomes merely cognisant of a conflict. Changes that take place on account of said conflict are rather a rare event but equally laudable in my view, if not more so. Such changes should not take place lightly, but over time and with measured consistency and internal (or external!) discussion.

I find an example of an intelligent mind recognising a conflict in this recent article at Chakra.Org: When's the Time for Raganuga, Anyway? The author gets straight to the point in the very first paragraph:

"In Srila Prabhupada's books we see a stress on the need for following sadhana bhakti- up to a point- and then rejecting rules and regulations in favor of the spontaneous loving platform. The difficulty is knowing exactly when to make the transition, and again Srila Prabhupada's books have the answer- when one is pure, free from material desires. But this presents another problem- devotees never think themselves pure, or advanced. So does this mean that by definition, devotees never approach raganuga? That cannot be right as the implication of this would render meaningless much of Srila Prabhupada's teachings and that of the line of acaryas before him. How can one approach raganuga while still maintaining the vaisnava standard of humility? Is it that when one is free from material desires one is automatically in raganuga, without even knowing it? That cannot be so, for then there would be no meaning to the instruction to give up rules and regulations. Clearly there must be a conscious deliberate move towards it, and one not based on an assessment of one's personal level of purity. What then is the basis of this conscious decision to move towards spontaneity?"

This is a conflict that devotees in IGM must address in order to further along their journeys. A deeper theme to be observed from this writing relates to an issue of humility: How can one adequately measure one's advancement when one is trained to think of themselves in a continually subordinate position? A thoughtful concept indeed. The author then provides a couple of examples that show how mere following of rules is practically useless when they fail to serve the spirit of the rule. Just as it is the trend these days to make light of rules by quoting the following verse from the Padma Purana:

smartavyaH satataM viSNur vismartavya na jAtucit

sarve-vidhi-niSedhAH syur etayor eva kiGkarAH

"Always remember Vishnu and never forget Him.

All scriptural rules and regulations are the servants of this rule."

- Quoted in BRS 1.2.8

This is the active principle in devotional life. 'Tis indeed a pointless affair to regard the rote as the all-in-all and ignore the broader application in the wider service of the object. The author makes this point even clearer:

"It seems that while following rules and regulations, these servants of the Lord did not consider them very important, and certainly did not consider them the basis of their love. Yet in our temples we see, painted all over, the assumption that one can judge a person's merit by how many mangalarati's he attends each week, and, generally speaking, how strictly he follows all the rules and regulations, right up to how perfect he has applied his tilaka."

A fine observation indeed! Anyone who has spent a significant amount of time in discussion forums will doubtlessly know of ridiculous instances of nit-picking such as whether 'pada' is an appropriate epithet to be affixed on the end of Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti's name, or other instances of some practices being criticised because there is no "historical precedent". This situation is sadly prevalent in the wider world too. But the general point of this article is that one should be sufficiently intelligent to examine his own motives and to be frightfully honest with one's own self in regards to his suitability and/or eligibility to pass upwards into the advanced stages of devotion:

"After all, the process we are following is about purification- and it is specifically purification of motives. If ones is following the rules and regulations to please the Lord, it is not an impediment, but if one is doing it just to please the Lord, it is unlikely that one will always follow, as there are other ways to please the Lord, which at times become apparent to the devotee. They may not be apparent to others though, and for this the inner followers may be judged by others to be not so strict- maybe even a 'fringie' but he cares not."

It is unfortunately a prevalent tendency - even among religionists - to demonise (in small or great ways) a person who deviates from the groupthink even if it is obvious that they have done so through careful and deliberate intelligent reasoning. It is unfortunate. But as an amusing riposte, why not observe that the judgers are themselves subject to judgement? Didn't a notably "Christian" preacher say that around 2000 years ago? ;-)

The article ends with a call to take up the process of raganuga-bhakti with due care and consideration. I can only imagine how certain quarters will howl in derision at this suggestion as they have done every time this issue comes up. For some groups, this issue of raganuga-bhakti is the elephant in the room that is troublesome to sweep up under the carpet. I cannot understand how this grudging attitude is so prevalent in supposedly religious movements; it is as if one is so poor and bitter and disappointed that they cannot make sufficient progress, that they would grudge against other people who want to move ahead. "I can't have it so no one else can have it either!" Childish and immature.

But the author indeed advises that one should attempt to move forward with due care and consideration:

"Taking all this into consideration, let us examine again the question 'When's the Time for Raganuga?'. It appears the time is now, in fact, don't waste a minute, but not because you are pure, but because you have started to cultivate an understanding of the spirit of vaisnavism, as opposed to all its rules, to the letter. Don't give them up prematurely, but don't make them your foundation, for they are not. The foundation is love and all the qualities that nurture it. If you cannot love, try to, for even the attempt is loving. Then Krsna will help you from within. It might be that you need to take his mercy in the form of helping words from a counselor or psychotherapist, to find out what history of abuse you suffered long ago, that now impairs your ability to give yourself to others, which is your inner nature. It might break the rule of 'avoiding association of non-devotees' but it might be, in this case, a rule that needs to be broken. And who is a non-devotee anyway, someone who helps devotees to find their hidden inherent nature, or someone who judges everyone by appearance alone- like at 4.30 am?" (emphasis added)

Bravo!

Abhimanyu

2007-12-15T01:14:00.000Z

Wow, it has been an incredibly long time since I wrote on this blog. I would like to write more about this later but here is something for now. I have recently got a bunch of Indian channels to watch thanks to a new deal with my TV provider. I now get the 'Star' network of Indian TV channels, and every Sunday there is a wonderful "soap opera" serial of the life of Krishna. It is called 'Krishna Kathaiyen' and is broadcast on Star Plus, produced and directed by Ramanand Sagar who produces a lot of religion-oriented soap operas.

Krishna Kathaiyen has a wonderful theme tune that I just like listening to over and over again, and the opening credits are something to behold, showing a collage of scenes where the storyline is currently set. At the current point, we are at the start of the Mahabharata war and Krishna is advising Arjuna to overcome his grief and to fight. However, another important figure was shown in the opening credits who always plucks my heartstrings whenever I remember him: Abhimanyu.

Abhimanyu was, in my view, one of the truly great heroes of the Mahabharata. Being the son of Arjuna, he had mastered military strategy theory while still in the womb of his mother as he had heard Arjuna explaining these things to his mother. He enjoyed a particularly affectionate relationship with Krishna due to the latter's strong friendship with Arjuna. By the time of the Mahabharata he was sixteen years old, an exceptionally handsome and dashing young lad with the rare combination of joie-de-vivre and humility. Despite his parents' feelings of unease due to his young age, he managed to convince them that he was good enough and that it was his duty to fight.

And did he fight! His warrior skills were exceptional and he was incredibly good on the battlefield! His heroism was something to behold, and even the great elders on the Kaurava side were secretly full of admiration for his audacious bravery and valiant fighting skills. So valiant, that he was able to disarm great commanders with just a single arrow. So valiant, that some ran away from the battlefield for fear of tangling with him! So valiant, that he was able to fend off attacks from seasoned warrios such as Bhishma, Karna, Dushasana, and Drona. So valiant, that he managed to slay anyone who got in his way single-handed, including Duryodhana's son Laxman. So valiant, that he presented a serious problem to the opposing side who knew that they could not win the war without slaying Abhimanyu.

And so it happened. At the close of fighting for the day, the Kauravas hatched a plan to employ the 'Chakravyuha' formation in the next day's fighting with the intention of protecting what was left of their forces. This Chakravyuha formation was such a complex battle strategy that only a few knew how to penetrate and disarm it, a few such as Arjuna, Krishna and Pradyumna. Abhimanyu had learnt about this formation in the womb of his mother, though ironically she fell asleep after Arjuna had explained how to penetrate the formation. As a result, Abhimanyu was party to this knowledge but had not learnt how to exit from the formation. As fate would have it, Abhimanyu successfully penetrated the formation the next day but soon ran into problems when it was time to exit. He was caught in the coils of the serpent.

Seizing the opportunity, Duryodhana ordered his Kaurava colleagues to launch a full-scale attack on Abhimanyu. Although Abhimanyu continued to fight valiantly, his arsenal was gradually reduced with having to fight a gang of senior warriors and running out of ammunition. Nobody was able to help him because they did not know how to enter the formation, and Krishna and Arjuna had been successfully distracted in fighting elsewhere on the battlefield. An arrow sliced Abhimanyu's bow into half while another killed his charioteer. He then took a sword and chariot wheel for a shield and got down from the chariot in an attempt to make a ground attack. Almost predictably his sword was cut into half,and he was left to fight with only the chariot wheel. More arrows soon took care of that. However, the wonderful thing was that with every weapon reduction, Abhimanyu fought just as strongly, bravely and valiantly as he had fought with weapons. Hand-to-hand combat was the only thing left to do once all the weapons had been destroyed, with the result that the fight turned into a free-for-all with multiple warriors all ganging up on the young lad. Abhimanyu fought as best as he could but was no match for the attack launched upon him. Faced with fatigue, a final blow from Dushasana crushed his skull and killed him.

The principle of "All's fair in love and war" is inapplicable for this sick episode, because this event represented a turning-point in the history of combat whereby the rule of "honour in fighting" was deliberately disregarded for a military end. It was commonly accepted that multiple warriors should not gang up on a single warrior, but the greed and hatred of the Kauravas was so intense that they broke all the rules of war in their haste to kill Abhimanyu. As a result, Abhimanyu remains one of the heartbreakingly tragic heroes of the war.

As I said, we are now at the point in the series where the Mahabharata war is about to start just as soon as Krishna finishes giving the Gita to Arjuna. I'm not looking forward to watching the Abhimanyu episode for fear it will break my heart. I have always admired Abhimanyu ever since I read about him as a child. In my mind he represents a beautiful fresh flower that is cut down in the prime of its life. With events in the world today, one can only wonder how many young Abhimanyus are being cut down in ways that are far more despicable as performed by the Kauravas.

One saving grace is that Abhimanyu had been married at a young age and his beautiful wife was pregnant with their child: Pariksit Maharaja. He who would one day become the perfect 'hearer' just as Sri Sukadeva Gosvami was the perfect 'speaker' of the Holy Bhagavata.

Radhastami 2007

2007-09-20T04:16:00.000+01:00

bhajāmi rādhām aravinda-netrāṁ
smarāmi rādhāṁ madhura-smitāsyām |

vadāmi rādhāṁ karuṇa-bharārdrāṁ
tato mamānyāsti gatir na kāpi ||

"I worship Sri Radha, the lotus-eyed one;
I remember Sri Radha, who has the sweetest of smiles;
I speak of Sri Radha, who melts with compassion;
Thus, in my life, I have nothing left to attain."

-- Sri Raghunath das Gosvami, Sri Vishakhanandabhidha-stotram 131.

More pics tomorrow!

Quiet Times

2007-09-15T02:33:00.000+01:00

My usual hangout like Vilasa Kunja has been extraordinarily quiet lately. Hardly surprising when nobody has anything to post. This seems a bit like an oxymoron: Out of 87 members supposedly engaging in spiritual activities daily, no one has anything to say or share about it? Maybe I had better start posting verses from Gaura-centric shastras again, just as I did before. That revived the forum a bit, didn't it?

But anyway, one would think that if one forum is quiet, the best thing is to go and hang out somewhere else? Well, no, because quite a few of the existing forums or news websites are rather disputative and political to various extents. Now I'm being slightly hypocritical about this since I used to be a bit political myself in days gone by, whether the topic of the day was institutional or theological, but I can say that it has been quite a while since I engaged in disputation about such topics. One reason for this is because I am leaning towards the idea that sacred subjects are sanctified enough to be held above our heads in a mood of respect, not to be used as weapons of disputation in a debate that will ultimately have little substantive meaning. So I'm not really interested in nitpicky debates over tiny things on subjects such as the "fall" of the jiva, siddha-deha, raganuga-bhakti, or whatever. Sometimes it is also in the nature of people never to admit when they are wrong, so it also becomes exhausting to talk about something when your fellow disputant is resistant to new knowledge or a different way of looking at things.

Not that I have been doing any of this lately! These are just collected thoughts spanning a period of the last few months or so. Personally I have no wish to engage in discussions at Audarya. I only go there sometimes to ask a question or post a Gaura-centric shloka, but going there sometimes brings a temptation to check out the other sections and lo! You are sucked into the disputative whirlpool if your sense of self-contrl is not as developed as you would like it to be.

The other thing refers to websites such as Chakra, Dandavats, Sampradaya Sun, etc. In my day when I was curious about all these controversies, I noted even then that the discussions and articles posted on these websites fell far short of proper etiquette and behaviour. This is true even today of some articles on the above-mentioned sites. Sometimes when I input the first or second line of a shloka into Google to find a proper English translation, I am led to one of these sites where the shloka is quoted and can't help noticing a salacious political headline. I sometimes think to myself, how can Vaishnavas spend their time criticising and finding fault with others? And if that wasn't bad enough, shastras are employed in this endeavour too?

I remember reading an article by the late Tamal Krishna Gosvami (back when the ritviks were trying to take over the place) in which he made a casual yet profound observation: In this day of the Internet, one's offences may multiply at the click of a mouse.

How true! And this is why it shouldn't matter if one's favourite forum is quiet. If someone has said something, read it and reply if necessary. If nobody has said anything, no problem. Just get back to chanting or reading some shastras. This is the "real business of life."

Maharaja Rantideva

2007-09-11T05:09:00.001+01:00

I'd like to talk a little bit about Maharaja Rantideva. I first heard about him when I was very young, and then too I heard about him through the famous Amar Chitra Katha comics! The title was "Tales of Vishnu" I believe, and I was very impressed with Maharaja Rantideva's story at that young age. I was extremely surprised to see that while his story is contained in the Srimad Bhagavatam, he is essentially a minor figure and hardly ever mentioned.

Here is his story, taken from Prabhupada's chapter summary of SB 9.21:

The son of Bharadvaja was Manyu, and Manyu's sons were Brhatkṣatra, Jaya, Mahavirya, Nara and Garga. Of these five, Nara had a son named Sankrti, who had two sons, named Guru and Rantideva. As an exalted devotee, Rantideva saw every living entity in relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore he completely engaged his mind, his words and his very self in the service of the Supreme Lord and His devotees. Rantideva was so exalted that he would sometimes give away his own food in charity, and he and his family would fast.

Once, after Rantideva spent forty-eight days fasting, not even drinking water, excellent food made with ghee was brought to him, but when he was about to eat it a brahmana guest appeared. Rantideva, therefore, did not eat the food, but instead immediately offered a portion of it to the brahmana. When the brahmana left and Rantideva was just about to eat the remnants of the food, a sudra appeared. Rantideva therefore divided the remnants between the sudra and himself. Again, when he was just about to eat the remnants of the food, another guest appeared. Rantideva therefore gave the rest of the food to the new guest and was about to content himself with drinking the water to quench his thirst, but this also was precluded, for a thirsty guest came and Rantideva gave him the water.

This was all ordained by the Supreme Personality of Godhead just to glorify His devotee and show how tolerant a devotee is in rendering service to the Lord. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, being extremely pleased with Rantideva, entrusted him with very confidential service. The special power to render the most confidential service is entrusted by the Supreme Personality of Godhead to a pure devotee, not to ordinary devotees.

One really should read the whole story in the text for the astounding details but it is easy to see what a great devotee Rantideva is. Who can imagine that even after a mega-vrata of 48-day fasting, Rantideva was nonchalant about sharing his well-deserved food and even sacrificed his drinking water in respect to the principle of charity. Bhagavatam mentions that the brahaman, sudra etc. were actually the devas Brahma, Shiva, and so on. And also Bhagavatam doesn't say so, the ACK version held that Rantideva was vouchsafed a vision of his beloved Lord Vishnu. The whole drama took place because Vishnu and the devas were in Vaikuntha discussing Rantideva's devotion, and the devas wanted to test his dedication to charity.

I don't really know why I enjoyed this story so much when I was young. I think, in some ways, I observe similar principles myself. There have been several incidents in my life over the years where I ended up sacrificing something or other so that other people could enjoy. I still do this to some extent, even when unnecessary. I think that the trick is to think nothing of it. Sometimes it doesn't even register in my mind. It doesn't seem to register much in the minds of other people either, but that's another story.

But anyway, I think that this is in connection with the idea that we are supposed to dedicate every thought and act to Krishna, by which we need not worry about our own upkeep too much. Maybe such things happen through the will of the Lord. Who knows how many of us could be tested like Rantideva, and would we pass or fail? Here is a nice verse from Bhagavatam that was spoken by Rantideva:

na kAmaya 'haM gatim izvarAt parAm

aStarddhi-yuktAm apunar-bhavaM vA
ArtiM prapadye 'khila-deha-bhAjAm
antaH-sthito yena bhavanty aduHkhAH

"I do not desire to attain the abode of the Supreme Lord, nor do I desire the eight yogic perfections or the cessation of birth and rebirth. I simply want to stay among the living entitities and accept all sufferings on their behalf, so that they may be freed from distress." (SB 9.21.12)

Whoa! This is big! It is impossible to describe the glories of this one Bhagavatam verse, as it expresses spiritual sentiments that are so deep that only a rare soul can plumb. This shows how Rantideva's heart was so deep that, even when he was on the point of death, his heart never moved an inch away from his principles and even went further as to say that he was willing to suffer even more on behalf of others. Learned readers will be reminded of a similar petition to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu by His great devotee Vasudeva Datta, who similarly prayed that he would be willing to suffer the karma of all living entities so that they may be delivered. He did this because it broke his heart to see people suffering (CC Madhya 15.159-171). And after hearing his prayer, how did Mahaprabhu react? "When Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu heard Vasudeva Datta's statement, His heart became very soft. Tears flowed from His eyes, and He began to tremble." (CC 2.15.164)

Such a prayer touched the heart of Mahaprabhu, do you know how great that is? Mahaprabhu may listen to everybody's prayers with His ears, but how many prayers touch His heart? Shouldn't we all aspire for that? Mahaprabhu Himself noted that Vasudeva Datta's prayer was relatively "unsurprising" as Datta was the reincarnation of Prahlada Maharaja. By this, He meant that Prahlada had similarly prayed for the welfare of all suffering living entitites when he was granted the darshan of Lord Nrsimhadeva. One may look at the Prahlada-stuti of Srimad Bhagavatam for further information, especially SB 7.9.41-44. So this shows that Mahaprabhu is especially touched when one is not so concerned about oneself, but desires to ease the endless sufferings of others and to see them get deliverance from the same.

This is in perfect consonance with devotional sentiments. In Sri Vilapa-Kusumunjali (6), Sri Raghunatha das Gosvamipada praised his guru, Sanatana Gosvami, by referring to him as "kripambudhi" (ocean of mercy) and "para-duhkha-duhkhi" (rough translation: conscious of the suffering of others). The heart of the Vaishnava is like that. The Vaishnava may be self-satisfied in his worship of the Lord (yayAtmA suprasIdati, SB 1.2.6) but sooner or later one's attention will be called to the sufferings of others and how they are essentially bereft of the solution to their problems. A Vaishnava's deep heart is always considering how to relieve the suffering of others and how to deliver them. This is the reason why Caitanya Mangala begins with the story of Devarishi Narada and his petition to the Lord at Dvaraka.

And, of course, the most important reason for desiring the welfare of all is that such a sentiment is immensely pleasing to the Lord.

Wow, I wanted to talk about Maharaja Rantideva and look what's happened!

Mahaprabhu loves humility

2007-07-01T02:32:00.000+01:00

I've been looking through a Net edition of Bhakti-ratnakara lately and, with all my recent reflections about the importance of humility and so on, I found this nice passage that touched my heart:

"Whoever got the mercy of Sri Caitanya developed humble behavior. A devotee never considered himself great but took a most humble position. Although Sri Krsna Caitanya was God Himself, He nevertheless maintained the humble mood of a devotee. Gaura Raya knew that happiness lay in the mood of humility and He taught that principle amongst his followers." (BR 615-618)

This made me realise that even the principle of humility is observed by the mercy of Gaura as it is ia function of His kripa, and that those who are truly humble are such because they have received said kripa. At the same time, by virtue of the trinad api sunicena verse, His followers are enjoined to practice humility in all their dealings.

I thought about it for a long time, but I eventually decided against writing my reflections on recent less-than-civilised events in certain forums as I felt that that little good would be accomplished by my doing so. However, the said events did make me realise just how easy it is to give lip-service to the principles of Vaishnavism and to perhaps project an image of oneself as a "perfect" practising devotee. It then becomes interesting to observe the standard of behaviour employed when events happen that disrupt the general understandings of people. It seems to me that people are very quick to rip apart and demonise before first taking a step back and wondering if their reactions are really justified, or will they inflame the situation further. In any case, history has usually shown that it is not humble behaviour.

I find it useful to read and re-read the "basics" every once in a while, Bhagavad-Gita and all of that. The reason is because we may sometimes get carried away with our vanity and "higher knowledge" that we think we are in the "university class" and the lessons of the "elementary school" have been learnt long ago and are taken for granted. This is noted in Madhurya-kadambini as 'taraṅga-raṅgiṇī', a fault that is an eventual outcome of becoming 'proud' of one's devotional achievements. Although I think I'm being rather loose with that definition. In any case, a lesson from Bhagavad-Gita is useful here, I think:

anudvega-karaṁ vākyaṁ
satyaṁ priya-hitaṁ ca yat
svādhyāyābhyasanaṁ caiva
vāṇ-mayaṁ tapa ucyate

"Words that are unagitating, truthful, pleasing, beneficial, and engaged in the study of scriptural texts, certainly count as austerity in relation to speech." (Bhagavad-Gita 17.15)

In any case, I would venture to say that it goes without saying (!!) that such 'austere' speech would certainly consist of humility and humble expressions. I think it is vertaibly impossible to describe the wondrous nature of humility as a large number books can be written about the manifold ways in which this principle can be observed in all sorts of situations. Maybe that's why it is written in Bhakti-Ratnakara above that true happiness lies in humility and this is why Sriman Mahaprabhu made it a point to teach it to His followers. More so that humility descends as a a result of His mercy. What else is there to say?

Missing The Point

2007-05-30T01:51:00.000+01:00

śabda-brahmaṇi niṣṇāto
na niṣṇāyāt pare yadi
śramas tasya śrama-phalo
hy adhenum iva rakṣataḥ

"For one who is expert in the scriptures
but does not fix his mind upon the Lord,
the fruit of his endeavour is like one who
cares for a cow that gives no milk."

(Srimad Bhagavata 11.11.18)

You'll have to forgive the raw translation but the basic elements are in place and the message should be clear enough. This is one of the verses that exemplify my own journey along the spiritual path. For years I used to admire those who were well-versed in scriptural literatures and the ease with which they presented their deep learnings of the shastras in spiritual discussions. As a matter of fact I still do admire such devotees because scriptural learning (especially those who have memorised entire scriptures) is no mean feat and not to be sneezed at. The wonder of it is how I desired to be one such "expert". Of course, I used to be one of those guys who always seemed to come up with an appropriate quote for any discussion that was going on, and as is naturally expected of such endeavours, a large amount of time was spent hunting for such quotes.

I now feel a mixture of disgust, revulsion and pity for myself when I was in that state of mind, though I can also laugh at myself as well. The reason for that is because, notwithstanding the fact that everyone is spiritually evolving according to their own pace and so will consequently arrive at their own realisations, attempting to use shastra as "weapons" in discussions/arguments is wrong, wrong, wrong! As per the above verse from the Holy Bhagavat, I believe that it is thoroughly inappropriate to be an "expert" in the scriptures only for the purposes of one-upmanship. This is a misdirection of the learning faculty and not at all in tune with Mahaprabhu's ideal of trinad api sunicena. It becomes an extension of one's ego when one acquires a queer satisfaction from presenting a "killer" quote that "wins" the discussion. "Ha ha ha! You can't find a quote to refute my quote, can you?? I've won, so take that!" This is a morbid and grotesque mentality.

Actually I am oversimplifying things. The ego and the desire to achieve fame and praise are actually very subtle and almost imperceptible things. It is very hard to detect them unless one is very good at introspection, humble, and always attempting to measure themselves against the 'trinad api sunicena' standard. In other words, one who excessively quotes shastra (unless their contribution is truly to aid a spiritual discussion) may or may not even realise that they are presenting themselves as an "expert" and would directly or indirectly receive praise for it thereof. The next challenge then relates to how to deal with such praise, but that is another story.

Anyway I think I'm raving on a bit so let me get to the point: People who are aware of my online activities may or may not know that, these days, I do not tend to talk so much on spiritual discussion forums unlike the way I used to do before. There are multiple reasons for this, but the main one is that I realised how much I was straying far from the path in my foolish attempts to imitate devotees and their learning in much the same way as is exemplifed in the above Bhagavatam quote. Of course, learning the shastras comes naturally from reading and meditation but it is an organic process that ought to evolve by itself. That is why, these days, I prefer to post inspirational verses from my readings with perhaps a few contextual comments. This is what I continue to do on a couple of the forums I hang out at. Occasionally I stray into some discussions but I would much prefer my contact with such discussions to be minimal. The nature of the Internet is such that people can get paranoid and lose their tempers over the slightest and innocent comments, so I would much prefer to restrit my participations in such events unless I am confident that I know the other respondents well enough and that they can exhibit a satisfactory level of Vaishnava ethics and behaviour.

Or, I might be vain enough to think that I actually know something and thus I have something to contribute to discussions. Here we go again, round and round in circles. At the end of the day it's not about what you know, it's about the extent to which you have practised your preachings in your daily life. So as per Bhagavata 11.11.18, what is the use of being an expert in the shastras when you haven't learnt how to fix your mind on the Lord? This is how I try to spend my time these days; I like to read shastras such as Caitanya-bhagavata, Caitanya-caritamrita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, and all the rest of it, and if I feel that I've stumbled across something nice that I think other devotees would appreciaste, I post it on a forum so that others can experience the joy that I get out of it.

The general idea is that one must not lose one's focus on the goal. The goal must always be kept respectfully upon our heads so that we are always reminded. Krishna-katha is the life of the Vaishnavas, it is the common bond that unites all Vaishnavas irrespective of lineage and sectarian mindsets. Krishna-katha can bring peace to the world as long as there are people to speak it and people to hear it. Krishna-katha can save us from the jaws of death. Brindavan is everyone's and Govinda belongs to all; Navadvipa is everyone's and Mahaprabhu belongs to all.

Mahaprabhu will deliver you

2007-05-12T02:37:00.000+01:00

It is not just Vaishnavas who we have to be wary of offending because, as Mahaprabhu says, we should be wary of offending anyone!

ananta brahmANDa yata, saba mora dAsa
eteke ye para hiMse sei yAya nAza

All are My servants throughout
the innumerable universes, so
anyone who commits violence
against any of them is destroyed.

In the context of the dialogue, Mahaprabhu is speaking about the evils of Vaishnava-aparadha and in this verse speaks of aparadha in general, so while 'hiMsa' usually means violence, in this context it is 'aparadha' that is meant.

And then comes one of the most beautiful images I have ever seen in literature:

bAhu tuli' jagatere bale gaura-dhAma
"anindaka hai' sabe bala kRSNa-nAma

Raising His arms and addressing the world, Gaura
said: "All of you chant Krishna's names without offenses!

anindaka hai' ye sakRt kRSNa bale
satya satya muJi tAre uddhAriba hele"

If one says 'Krishna' even once without
offense, I will certainly deliver him."

(CB 3.19.210..213-214)

Dear me, such a beautiful image. Beautiful Mahaprabhu raising His arms aloft and imploring the world to chant 'Krishna' without offenses and promising to personally deliver them!

Pancha-tattva pic

2007-05-01T19:02:00.000+01:00

This is a photo of a picture of Sri Pancha-tattva which is present in the bhajan-kutir of Sri Pran Krishna das Babaji Maharaj. It shows Sriman Mahaprabhu in His sannyasa-lila dancing in ecstasy with His associates for the Jagannath-Baladeva-Subhadra deities of Puri. Surprisingly, Sri Srivas Thakur (playing mrdanga) is depicted with long hair.

I like this picture, if only I could go to India and get pictures as beautiful as this.

Vaishnava relations

2007-05-01T18:35:00.000+01:00

This is a photo of Pran Krishna das Babaji of Radhakunda (far right) with Govinda Gopal Gosvami on his lap. The little girl is Alankrita Gosvamini. They are the children of Prabhupada Prem Gopal Gosvami, a 14th-generation descendant of Sripada Nityananda Prabhu. I like this photo, it's nice to see the relation between the Vaishnavas of Radhakunda and Navadvipa. I have been told by a disciple of Pran Krishna das Baba that he has a special love for the members of this Gosvami family because he himself is diksita of Prabhupada Yadu Gopal Gosvami (grandfather of Prem Prabhu, 12-generation descendant of Nityananda Prabhu).

Govinda Gopal is now growing into a very handsome boy as this photo shows:

He is being garlanded by a female disciple of Sri Madan Gopal Gosvami (Govinda Gopal's grandfather, 13-generation descendant of Nityananda Prabhu) on some occasion. Alankrita is there on the right.

Priti Sandarbha 13

2007-04-30T18:22:00.000+01:00

Read this for background. And now finally, Priti Sandarbha gives a few more details about the attainment of the spiritual body before proceeding to describe the activities and powers of the liberated soul:

The bodies of the liberated souls are also described in these words of Chandogya Upanisad (8.13.1):

azva iva romANi vidhUya ... dhUtvA zarIram
akRtaM kRtAtmA brahmalokam abhisambhavAni

"As a horse sheds its hairs, . . .so will I shed this external material
body and go to the spiritual abode of the Supreme Lord."

Thus, by the intervention of the Supreme Lord's inconceivable potency, the devotee leaves behind his material body and attains a spiritual body like that of the Lord. This is described in the following narration of Dhruva Maharaja's activities (Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.12.29):

bibhrad rUpaM hiraNmayam

"Before getting aboard, Dhruva Maharaja worshiped the airplane, circumambulated it, and also offered obeisances to the associates of Visnu. In the meantime he became as brilliant and illuminating as molten gold. He was thus completely prepared to board the transcendental plane."

Srila Sridhara Svami comments:

"This means he attained a form brilliant and illuminating as molten gold."

Sarsti liberation is described in these words of the Supreme Lord (Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.29.34), which I have already discussed in Bhakti-sandarbha (anuccheda 309):

martyo yadA tyakta-samasta-karmA. . .

. . .mayAtma-bhUyAya ca kalpate vai

"A human being who renounces all fruitive activities, offers himself to Me, and yearns to serve Me, becomes immortal. He becomes glorious like Me."

------------

So that's pretty clear I think, is it not? Sri Jiva Gosvamipada sets down the siddhanta in his stupendous Sandarbha series and succeeding Acharyas after him have followed his example: The weight of the evidence is in support of the "given" theory. However, there does seem to be anecdotal support in favour of the inherent theory and I hear that some say that both approaches are possible. Possibly the "given" theory is the "official line" but I wouldn't be surprised if both paths were possible. There are a multiplicity of ways to attain the Lord's company and we should rejoice that they are all possible. Consider BG 4.11:

ye yathA mAM prapAdyante
tAMs tathaiva bhajAmy aham
mama vartmAnuvartante
manuSyAH pArtha sarvazaH

As all surrender unto Me, them I certainly reward.
My path is followed by all men, O son of Pritha, in all respects.

What more need be said?

Priti Sandarbha 11-12

2007-04-30T18:09:00.000+01:00

Read here for background.

Priti Sandarbha 11 contains a little more detail about the form by which the liberated soul possesses:

Liberation is also described in these words of Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.6.28):

prayujyamAne mayi tAM
zuddhAM bhAgavatIM tanum
Arabdha-karma-nirvANo
nyapatat paJca-bhautikaH

"Having been awarded a transcendental body befitting an
associate of the Personality of Godhead, I quit the body made
of five material elements, and thus all acquired
fruitive results of work (karma) stopped."

It is again described in these words of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself (Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.6.23):

hitvAvadyam imaM lokaM
gantA maj-janatAm asi

"By service of the Absolute Truth, even for a few days,
a devotee attains firm and fixed intelligence in Me. Consequently
he goes to become My associate in the transcendental world after
giving up the present deplorable material worlds."

Jivapada's commentary: In Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.6.28 the Supreme Personality of Godhead promises to give the devotee a spiritual form like His own. Here "tAM bhAgavatIm" means "a form that is a fragment of the spiritual effulgence of the Supreme Lord", "zuddhAm" means "untouched by matter", "tanum" means "a form given by the Supreme Personality of Godhead", and "mayi prayujyamAne" means "attained by me when the results of karma came to an end". This happened when the material body made of five elements fell away (nyapatat paJca-bhautikaH). Here it is seen that the subtle material body of mind, intelligence, and false ego is also destroyed. Because of his faith in the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the devotee's past karma also comes to an end. In his commentary on this verse Srila Sridhara Svami explains:

"The bodies of a personal associates of the Supreme Lord are eternal, pure, and free from karma."

This verse was spoken by Sri Narada to Sri Vyasa.

----
Priti Sandarbha 12

The body of a liberated soul is also described in these words of Srimad-Bhagavatam (8.3.19):

yaM dharma-kAmArtha. . .rAty api deham avyayam

"After worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead, those who are interested in the four principles of religion, economic development, sense gratification and liberation obtain from Him what they desire. What, then, is be said of other benedictions? Indeed, sometimes the Lord gives a spiritual body to such ambitious worshipers."

Srila Sridhara Svami comments:

"In this way the Supreme Lord gives the devotee an eternal spiritual body."

------

So this is very clear: After Anuccheda 10 confirms that the soul can manifest many forms and that the residents of Vaikuntha have forms alike to the Lord's, Anuccheda 11-12 confirms that such a form is bestowed. In this connection, "bestowed" and "attained" both refer to the same thing in the context of Gaudiya sadhana practice. It is not inherent in any case, scripturally speaking.

Priti Sandarbha 10

2007-04-30T17:57:00.000+01:00

If you just stumbled here, then read this first for background. The language of the text clearly points to a translator from ISKCON (probably the late Kusakratha das). Here we go with some choice quotes from Priti-sandarbha (Anuccheda 10) of Sri Jiva Gosvamipada after he briefly describes the five kinds of liberation:

By his own will a liberated soul can manifest many different forms. This is described in these words of Chandogya Upanisad (7.26.2):

sa ekadhA bhavati, dvidhA bhavati, tridhA bhavati.

"The liberated soul may manifest one form, two forms,
three forms, or more forms than that."

He then explains that Vaikuntha is free from maya and that one who reaches there never comes back. And then at the end of Anuccheda 10, he says:

In final liberation the devotees attain a spiritual nature and form like those of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. This is described in the following words of Srimad-Bhagavatam (3.15.14):

vasanti yatra puruSAH
sarve vaikuNTha-mUrtayaH
ye 'nimitta-nimittena
dharmeNArAdhayan harim

"In the Vaikuntha planets all the residents are similar in form to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They all engage in devotional service ot the Lord without desires for sense gratification."

Here "nimitta" means "result", and "animitta" means "without cause". These two words together mean, "without the desire for material sense gratification". "Dharmena" means "by devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead". Here the word "vaikuntha" means "the Supreme Personality of Godhead". "Vaikuntha-murtayah" means numberless forms of the individual souls who reside in Vaikuntha and who are manifest from tiny fragments of the effulgence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There are many liberated souls, each with his own form, and there is one Supreme Personality of Godhead, who has His own form. Still, the liberated souls have forms that are like the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This verse was spoken by the demigod Brahma to the demigods.

----

So after first describing that it is within the capacity of the jiva to manifest one, two, or more forms, Sri Jivapada says that in Vaikuntha all the souls there have a form of their own that is similar to that of the Lord's.

More evidence of Siddha-deha

2007-04-30T17:34:00.000+01:00

I'm not so keen on philosophical egghead discussions these days and would much prefer to do Krishna-katha, but of course it is necessary to have a strong philosophical grounding. Either way I would prefer not to argue too much about it. Back in August '06 I ordered some books via the Net including the famed Govinda-bhashya Vedanta commentary by Sri Baladeva Vidyabhushan, and David Haberman's "Acting As A Way To Salvation". I spotted some interesting tidbits that helped to make sense of a long-running controversy about the siddha-deha (spiritual body): Is it bestowed by the guru or is it inherent within?

Of course this is a bone of contention between those who adhere to those respective views as well, with much acrimony and bitterness being expressed in defending those views. Like I said I'm not interested in arguing but would prefer discussing this as a matter of shastra, a spiritual discussion that is elevating. So you can go ahead and see what I wrote about it back then, check out the comments too. The discussion went further on Advaita dasji's blog. The general view is that the majority of scriptural evidence (and also real history) argues for the "bestowed" view; that the siddha-deha is bestowed upon the aspirant by the guru, and that the siddha-deha is realized and perfected through appropriate spiritual practice. The other view - that the siddha-deha is inherent and automatically manifests upon reaching a certain level of purity - seems to be a minority view and has very little actual scriptural backing. How can we say this?

Sri Rupa Gosvami, Sri Sanatan Gosvami, Sri Jiva Gosvami - three of the famous Six Gosvamis - subscribe to the "given" theory. So does Sri Baladev Vidyabhushan, the great Acharya who provided a commentary on the Vedanta-sutra. In fact you would be hard-pressed to find a prominent Gaudiya-acharya who does not back the "given" theory as, to cut a long story short, makes more sense in the whole context of Gaudiya siddhanta in the long run. But since Sri Baladeva's Vedanta commentary was being used to promote the "inherent" view, I took it upon myself to transcribe the relevant sections from the Govinda-bhashya. You can find it here. I was also surprised to find Sripada Madhvacharya backing the "given" theory.

So I wanted to tie up some loose ends now that I've found more evidence for the "given" theory by Sri Jiva Gosvami. Sri Jiva's Priti-sandarbha was briefly quoted in the original post which was what I had, and I did not have the original and whole text to see the quotes in their proper context.

Well, now I do! :-)

So roll on the next post.

--

Follow-ups:

Priti Sandarbha 10
Priti Sandarbha 11-12
Priti Sandarbha 13

Mahaprabhu The LORD!

2007-04-29T05:23:00.000+01:00

I love this little extract from Caitanya-bhagavata that I spotted the other day. The scene is set like so:

A sannyasi arrived at the house of Advaita Prabhu and, after the normal niceties, desired to ask Advaita Acharya a question. "How is Keshava Bharati related to Chaitanya?" Advaita was in a quandary, for how could he answer? The Lord has no superior, but Chaitanya had accepted Sri Keshava Bharati as master. Contemplating on both the worldly and spiritual aspects of the question, Advaita replied, "Keshava Bharati is Chaitanya's guru. But you already knew this so why did you ask?"

At that moment, Advaita's young son Achyutananda came running into the house after play and had heard the words of his esteemed father. In mock anger he chastised Advaita for describing Chaitanya as an ordinary mortal having a guru, and corrected his "misconception". What follows are the beautiful words of Sri Achyutananda as he describes Mahaprabhu as the Supreme Lord and identifies Him as Maha-Vishnu, the Creator:

ananta brahmāṇḍa sei caitanya-icchāya
saba caitanyera loma-kūpete miśāya

"By the will of Chaitanya, innumerable universes
issue forth from the hair-pores of His body".

jala-krīḍā-parāyaṇa caitanya-gosāñi
viharena ātma-krīḍa-āra dui nāi

"It is Caitanya Gosai who enjoys His own
pastimes in the [Great Ocean] with no other."

yata dekha mahāmuni - mahā abhimāna
uddeśa nā thāke kāro, kothā kāra nāma

"It has been observed that the great sages who were very
proud of themselves did not know their situation or their names."

punaḥ sei caitanyera acintya-icchāya
nābhi-padma haite brahmā hayena līlāya
haiyāo nā thāke dekhite kichu śakti
aveśeṣe karena ekānta-bhāve bhakti

"By the inconceivable will of Caitanya, Brahma appears
from the lotus flower that sprouts from His navel.
Yet after his appearance he has no power to see anything
until he worships the Lord with one-pointed devotion."

tabe bhakti-vaśe tuṣṭa haiyā tāhāne
tattva-upadeśa prabhu kahena āpane

"Observing his devotion and being pleased thereof, Prabhu
[Caitanya] imparts the tattva of everything unto him."

tabe sei brahmā prabhu-ājñā kari' sire
sṛṣṭi kari' sei jñāna kahena sabāre

"Obeying the will of Prabhu, Brahma begins to create.
He then imparted that knowledge unto others."

sei jñāna sanakādi pāi' brahmā haite
pracāra karena tabe kṛpāya jagate

"The four Kumaras headed by Sanaka received that knowledge
from Brahma, and mercifully preached it throughout the creation."

(CB 3.4.162-169)

Achyutananda went on to say a few mote things. After hearing thus, Advaita Acharya was so impressed that he embraced his son and shed tears of joy, as did the sannyasi who heard the boy's glorification of Mahaprabhu and similarly wept joyfully.

May we all be blessed with the boon of joyful tears after hearing such beautiful narrations.

Mahaprabhu's Beautiful Lotus Feet

2007-04-20T04:46:00.000+01:00

For years I have been telling anyone who'll listen about the glories of Mahaprabhu's beautiful Golden Lotus Feet. Mahaprabhu's lotus feet are the most beautiful golden colour, softer than a rose. His toenails are so shiny, you can see your face in them.

And guess what! I just found out it's confirmed by scripture!

aruNa kamala yena caraNa-yugala
daza nakha yena daza tarpaNa nirmala

"His two feet are like reddish lotuses,
and His ten toenails are like ten shiny mirrors." (CB 3.4.33)

How nice it is to get your inclinations confirmed by shastra. :)

When You Point A Finger..

2007-04-20T04:19:00.000+01:00

Yes, we've all heard this little story before: When you point a finger at someone, there are three fingers pointing right back at you. Ergo, be mindful of what/who you're pointing at and refrain from criticism lest you be hypocritical and end up being judged by your own standards.

But today it hit me in a flash: What are those three fingers actually saying to you?

1st Finger: Trinad Api Sunicena.
2nd Finger: Taror Iva Sahisnuna.
3rd Finger: Amanina Mana Dena.

Mahaprabhu's neat little trick, eh? But what about Kirtaniyah Sada Harih? That, you must do with your mouth.

And why not? You point a finger at someone and criticise them with your mouth, why not point a finger and say something nice about them? Or better still, use your mouth to glorify Hari instead of wasting your time criticising a Vaishnava. And didn't you know that criticising Vaishnavas makes Mahaprabhu angry?

So there you go: Mahaprabhu's secret formula to bring out the best in you when you're attempting to do your worst.

How Far Can We Speculate?

2007-04-20T03:42:00.000+01:00

We oftern hear that it's not good to speculate in spiritual matters, and that it is best to accept the considered opinion of guru-sadhu-shastra. Of course there is such a thing as philosophical debate, but how much can we speculate?

I was looking through Gita yesterday and I think I've found the answer from Krishna Himself:

mayy arpita-mano-buddhir
mAm evaiSyasy asaMzayaH

"Surrendering your mind and intelligence to Me,
you will surely attain Me without a doubt." BG 8.7

The activities of the mind and the intelligence have to be offered to Krishna in His seva, by which we can think and ruminate on whatever spiritual issues we may be contemplating. It is not that we just willy-nilly speculate about this and that, it is important to consider how much we have surrendered our mind/intelligence in the discussion.

Actually, you know what? When I read this yesterday I had a whole different take on it because I was reading it in the context of BG 8.5-6 but it's all gone now. All I can think about right now is how some devotees tend to get involved and argue their cases in debates with some sort of agenda or other. Whatever that agenda may be; to prove their point or to push forward the views of their guru on that matter, I am growing convinced that it is always a bad idea to argue a case with some personal investment involved. If the debate is about a philosophical matter and a point of siddhanta, then it would be most beneficial to put all agendas aside and listen to the truth. Listening to the "truth" means accepting it even if it breaks your dearly-held ideas. This also requires an open mind, instead of a closed mind that is bent on pushing an agenda. There are so many implications for this; once one gets locked into pushing an agenda, it is very difficult to make further progress in understanding and knowledge.

So surrendering our minds and intelligences to Krishna in the context of debates and discussions entail that we keep an open mind about any issues and also be prepared to be wrong and have your ideas smashed. Of course if one is gentle-hearted and humble in the first place, admitting your errors won't be too much of a problem. And that's another reason why agendas are bad; there's an awful lot of ego involved. And when one Vaishnava ego clashes with another, a horrendous amount of aparadha occurs which withers the bhakti-lata of both of them. Entirely avoidable. Simply when we engage our thinking and critical faculties in spiritual topics and conundrums, the best thing to do is follow Krishna's advice: simply by surrendering our minds and intelligences we can attain Him.

"May Our Family Increase!"

2007-04-08T04:56:00.000+01:00

I was going through CB Madhya-khanda today, the chapter describing Sri Gaurahari's return to Navadvipa from Gaya after receiving diksha from Sri Ishvara Puripada. As Mahaprabhu recounts the basic details of His trip to Mother Sachi and the other Vaishnavas, his joyful memories cause him to faint and revive in a constant cycle, body horripilating and tears streaming from His holy eyes at the very mention of Gaya as "pada-padma-tirtha", and ecstatically crying "Where is Krishna?" to the astonishment and amazement of the residents of Navadvipa.

ārambhilā mahāprabhu āpana-prakāśa
ananta brahmāṇda-maya haila ullāsa

As Mahaprabhu began to manifest
Himself, unlimited universes rejoiced!

'prema-vṛṣṭi karite prabhura śubhārambha'
dhvani śuni' yaya yathā bhāgavata-vṛnda

'The auspicious beginning of Prabhu's distribution
of prema is about to begin.' Hearing thus, all the
devotees immediately ventured to that spot.
(CB 2. 1. 47-48)

Finding Himself unable to speak, Prabhu directed only a few of His associates (Sriman Pandit, Sadashiva Brahmachari and Murari Pandit) to meet the next morning at Shuklambhara Brahmachari's house where He promised to give fuller details. As that most auspicious day dawned, Sriman Pandita joyfully came to Srivasa Thakura's beauteous garden to pick flowers for offering to Mahaprabhu, and revealed the news of his impending meeting with the Lord to Srivasa, Gadadhara, Gopinath and Ramai, who were also picking flowers for their morning worship. After relating the happenings of the previous day to them in detail, Sriman Pandit urged them that there was every reason to believe him and his description was greeted with the triumphant and joyful chanting of Hari-nama from his listeners.

prathamei balilena śrīvāsa udāra
"gotra bāḍāuna kṛṣṇa āmā' sabākāra"

The magnanimous Srivasa was the first
to speak: "May Krishna increase our family."

gotraṁ nu vardhatām iti

May our family increase.
(CB 2.1.73-74)

This is the magic mantra!!!!! "Gotraṁ nu vardhatām iti" - the most holy words spoken by Bhakta-avatara Srivasa Pandit in the Sri Caitanya-bhagavata, the magic words in seed form that will bestow great blessings upon the world!! How wonderful!!! The most wonderful and benevolent mission of Mahaprabhu is about to start, and billions of jivas will be drawn to His fold!! Indeed so:

'tathāstu' 'tathāstu' bale bhāgavata-gaṇa
'sabei bhājuka kṛṣṇacandrera caraṇa'

'So shall it be!' 'So shall it be!' exclaimed the devotees.
'Let everyone worship the feet of Krishnacandra!'
(CB 2.1.76)

Ramanavami 2007 Contemplations

2007-03-27T03:19:00.000+01:00

And for Ramanavami 2007, I tracked down some mentions of similarities between Rama-Lakshmana and Gaura-Nitai, irrepressibly sweet.

Can any Vaishnava hold himself when contemplating the explosive joy and gladness of the first meeting of Gauracandra and Nityananda?? When Gauracandra stood directly in front of Nityananda, the latter recognised Him as the lord of His life. Gauracandra indicated to Srivasa to recite a verse from Bhagavatam (barhApIDaM..), upon which Nityananda lost consciousness in ecstasy and fell to the ground after hearing it. After awaking, He roared in anand and danced up for joy, sighed deeply while gazing upon the beautiful face of Gauracandra and laughed loudly, clapping his hands and displaying all the ecstatic symptoms. The sight was frightening to some of the assembled Vaishnavas, who feared that Nityananda may hurt himself in the extremes of ecstasy.

dharite nArilA yadi vaiSNava-sakale
vizvambhara lailena ApanAra kole
When all the Vaishnavas failed to hold Him still, Vishvambhara personally took Him on His lap.

vizvambhara-kole mAtra gelA nityAnanda
samarpiyA prANa tAne hailA niSpanda

As soon as Nityananda was taken on Vishvambhara's lap,
He surrendered His life to Him and became motionless.
(CB 2.4.20-21)

bhAse nityAnanda caitanyera prema-jale
zakti-hata lakSmaNa ye-heNa rAma-kole

prema-bhakti-bANe mUrchA gela nityAnanda
nityAnanda kole kari' kaGde gauracandra

Nityananda floated on the waters of Caitanya's love, just as
Laksmana remained in the lap of Rama after being hit by the
shakti-shela arrow. Nityananda lost consciousness due to being hit
by the arrow of prema-bhakti. Holding Nityananda
on His lap, Gauracandra began to weep.

ki Ananda-viraha haila dui jane
pUrve yena zuniyAchi zrI-rAma-lakSmaNe

The bliss of separation relished between the Two was
alike to that relished by Sri Rama and Laksmana previously.

gauracandra nityAnande snehera ye sImA
zrI-rAma-lakSmaNa vahi nAhika upamA

There is no limit to the affection between Gauracandra and Nityananda
other than that which is found between Rama and Laksmana.
(CB 2.4.23-26)

Krishna's love for Rama

2007-03-27T03:12:00.000+01:00

In the most holy Sri Laghu-bhagavatamrita of Srimat Rupa Gosvamipada, some delightful verses inform us thus:

"Because He enjoys humanlike pastimes as Lord Krsna does, the form of Lord Ramacandra is most dear to Lord Krsna.

"The words of Lord Krsna in Brahmanda Purana:

'Matsya, Kurma, and many others are My personal forms. Still, Ramacandra, the son of Dasaratha, is most dear to My heart.'" (LB 2.305-306)

Gaura Purnima 2007

2007-03-04T03:45:00.000Z

The beautiful day of our Beloved Lord once again; He who made it possible for all of us to have the remotest chance of saving ourselves from the never-ending quagmire of samsara, today was the day of His sublime and divine appearance.

Characterised by early-morning rain, so typical of British weather, until I recalled a quote from Srimat Kanupriya Gosvami that I posted some time ago:

"Just as the coming of the rainy season immediately cools the scorched and dusty wind and sky, similarly the coming of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu immediately set the working of an inconceivably great energy into motion, which even after His disappearance will continue to dissipate the dust of the amount of the tamoguna (ignorance) and the scorching heat of the rajoguna (the quality of passion), and then, by raining the refreshing waters of prema, will keep the entire world cool and fresh for the remainder of the Kali yuga."

The beauty (or the irony) is not lost on me: How supremely appropriate for this year's Gaura Purnima to be characterised with an early-morning shower, when it had indeed been raining all night also. And to top it all off, there was a lunar eclipse today! Why this is so significant is because, for those of you who do not know, a lunar eclipse also occurred on the actual appearance day of Sriman Mahaprabhu in 1486! Can't shake the feeling that this year's occasion was special for some reason, but for some reason my dull intellect cannot fathom the whys and wherefores.

I didn't do much beyind my normal Gaura-purnima routine: arise early and do puja to my beautiful Sri-murtis, then go to the temple and participate in the programme there. Unfortunately I had car problems which meant I missed out on most of the festivities such as the long and special kirtan, abhishek, etc. But what the hey, I had already given abhishek to my own murtis so it's ok. Plus there was 24-hour kirtan going on so I guess I caught onto some of that. Japa, and reading of Chapter 2 of Caitanya-Bhagavata which deals with the birth pastimes. I may post my photos tomorrow, but right now I'd like to share some pearls from my reading that especially touched me, how beautiful they are. Of course the whole chapter (and the entire text) is beautiful, but these charming snippets hit me rather hard:

punaḥ bhakta-saṅge prabhu-pade namaskara
sphuruka jihvāya gauracandra avatāra

"I again offer my salutations at the feet of Prabhu and His devotees.
Let the topics of Sri Gauracandra become manifest on my tongue."
(CB 1.2.4)

avijñāta-tattva dui bhāi āra bhakta
tathāpi kṛpāya tattva karena suvyakta

"Although the truths of the Two Brothers and Their devotees
are unknowable, they can be understood only by Their mercy."
(CB 1.2.6)

saṁsāra tārite śrī-caitanya-avatāra
āpane śrī-mukhe kariyāchena aṅgikāra

"Sri Caitanya advented to deliver the entire universe.
He confirmed this with His own auspicious words."
(CB 1.2.48)

'navadvīpa'-hena grāma tri-bhuvane nāi
yaṅhi avatīrṇa hailā caitanya-gosāñi

"There is no place in the three worlds like
Navadvipa, where Caitanya Gosai appeared."
(CB1.2.55)

huṅkāra karaye kṛṣṇa-āveśera teje
ye dhvani brahmāṇḍa bhedi' vaikuṇṭhete bāje

"He [Advaita Acharya] loudly called
for Krishna in great ecstasy.
That sound pierced the universe and
echoed in the Vaikuntha realm."
(CB 1.2.82)

ei kṛpa kara, prabhu haiyā sadaya
yena āmā-sabāra dekhite bhāgya haya

[The demigods pray:]
"O Prabhu, please bestow
mercy on us so that we may
always have the fortune
of seeing Your pastimes."
(CB 1.2.190)

jiniñā ravi-kara, śrī-aṅga-sundara
nayane herai nā pāri
āyata locana, īṣat baṅkima,
upamā nāhika vicāri

"The beauty of the Lord's limbs outshine
the rays of the sun, and cannot be perceived
by the eyes. His broad eyes, upturned at the
ends, have no comparison."
(CB 1.2.212)

rūpa koṭi-madana jiniñā
hāse nija-kīrtana śuniyā

"His beauty defeats that of millions of Madanas,
and He smiles upon hearing the chanting of His glories."
(CB 1.2.218)

anyo 'nye āliṅgana, cumbana ghana-ghana,
lāja keha nāhi māne re
nadīyā-purandara - janama ullāse,
āpana-para nāhi jāne re

"Being overjoyed on the birth of the
Lord of Nadiya, the demigods repeatedly
embrace and kiss each other without consideration
of whether one is a friend or stranger."
(CB 1.2.231)

"I Am Yours"

2007-02-11T05:01:00.000Z

My friend Madhava recently posted this amazing quote from Mahaprabhu on Vilasa Kunja, I have slightly modified it:

kṛṣṇa, tomāra haṅa, yadi bale-eka-bāra |
māyā-bandha haite kṛṣṇa tāre kare pāra ||

"'Krishna! I have become yours!' — if one says a single time,
Krishna will have that person cross beyond the bonds of illusion."
(CC 2.22.33)

This is totally amazing! It started me thinking about how "easy" it is to surrender to the Lord by just stating it once with sincerity that you are His. But is it really that easy? Are you His, say, when you are talking about Shilpa Shetty on Celebrity Big Brother on the phone to your friends? Are you His, when your mouth is salivating at the thought of some juicy treats? Are you His, when you gladly pay money for some rubbish CD that you will probably never listen to?

Now this probably sounds like the typical "yoof" rant that I was spoon-fed for so many years and which I spoon-fed in turn to so many others. But it's not, it's really more a question of heightening awareness over so-called surrender. The problem is the same everywhere; some critics or disillusioned followers of Christianity have often mused over how ridiculous it is to confess and repent one's sins on a Sunday and then proceed to sin through the rest of the week. I would be more concerned about trying to maintain an attitude of constant awareness of surrender at each moment. A prick of the conscience at the very least should occur if one is engaged in activities that are not pleasing to Mahaprabhu, much less an outright disgust and a cause to spit.

But there's me getting all judgemental and superiority-complexed again. Whatever happened to trinad api sunicena? The basic point is this: to stand in front of Krishna and declare to Him that you are His is no small feat. It most definitely involves the most heartfelt surrender with an implicit commitment to follow His direction, as well as a certain amount of self-consciousness that acknowledges one's lowly position, what is the point of such half-hearted surrender otherwise? And above all, love. To stand in front of Krishna with a heart brimming over with pure love and a pure-hearted surrender to Him, just once with full humility and sincereity, and maya is destroyed forever.

Such a beautiful thing to hear directly from the beautiful lips of Sriman Mahaprabhu. And the weight of His promise!

Dear reader, am I trying to convince you or myself? I think that the honest answer is 'both'.

Parallel Gaura and Krishna lilas

2006-12-18T01:43:00.000Z

I'm working on Caitanya Mahaprabhu at the moment so I'm looking through Caitanya Bhagavata for some brief notes to be included in that article.

I couldn't help noticing the strange parallel in Gaura-lila and other types of Avatara-lila; as irreligion increases on the earth and troubles afflict the devoted populace, they or the demigods register their complaints to the Lord (Vishnu) who then descends to relieve said afflictions. In the same way the devotees of Navadvipa were being oppressed by the nondevotee populace and regularly harassed for their worship, so they register their complaints to Advaita Acharya (combined avatar of MahaVishnu and Sadashiva). Interesting isn't it?

That's where the parallel ends. We all know that Advaita Acharya (as a Mahavishnu aspect) could probably have carried out a mission on his own will, but he prayed intensely for the appearance of Mahaprabhu, svayam-bhagavan, to come and do it.

This is one of the deep mysteries that must be contemplated upon in the hope of finding a pleasing answer.

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I'm also working on Tilaka. By the way, GKW has opened to the public. Read this, this and feel free to join! Because GKW (gkWiki) is still so small and many people may be unfamiliar with the specialised Wiki markup language, I would personally advise/recommend joining Wikipedia first and getting some practice by editing some pages there. At least that's what I did and I learnt some of the basic tricks so that my beginnings on gkWiki have been very smooth more or less. Madhava has tweaked a couple of things around to suit a localised Wiki and I would personally favour the use of Shortcuts for some of the important pages, but never mind all this technical stuff, just jump in if you want to!

Krishna knows everything

2006-12-18T01:27:00.000Z

So after reading Guha's Nectar of the Holy Name briefly, I've become pretty convinced about the merits of sankirtan, and this has been added to by some passages I've read where Sri Haridas Thakur glorifies loud chanting. In my heart I felt pretty bad because I rarely get the chance to indulge in much sankirtan these days. How times have changed! I used to serve in the temple room's crowd control system but now some younger guy has taken over (haha) and I have started helping out to serve the prasad. I like the prasad jobs but obviously they usually entail that I miss the arati/sankirtan. Sri Ananta das Babaji defines sankirtan as "many people coming together to sing and chant the holy names", or something like that as I was flicking through his Siksastakam book earlier today.

So I've felt briefly bad about the circumstances where I don't get much chances to sing anymore. I never actively thought about it nor did I vocalise them, but I guess it just briefly passed over my heart. I also haven't attended the temple for the last 4 weeks or so due to studies, work, extremely bad weather and relatives coming over to stay, so I've been feeling really frustrated about not even being able to go there, never mind do seva!

So today I went and had darshan of the Deities as is my usual practice, gazing upon Their lovely forms and Their beautiful faces, admiring Their being dressed in red and wishing that I had brought my camera along. And then as I turned to leave I glanced over the room to see who was singing and then, whaddya know, my mate Anup is trying to catch my attention and calling me over to play karatals! Of course I agreed (why not?) and so I sat down and played along to the kirtan.

And then I could have laughed my head off when I considered this strange turn of events; there I was engaging in sankirtan and playing karatals to boot! It made me realise that Krishna really is the Inner Overlord (even though He spends most of His time hiding from view) who can hear everything, our innermost desires, our longings, our grief, our troubles, our pleasures, our pains. Sometimes I feel strange and alone in that He does not hear my/our prayers leave alone answering them, but yet funny events like these really help to be solid. And what a nice welcome gift from Krishna after such a long absence from the temple!

Very strange of Anup to call me, we never exchange more than courteous greetings and he really doesn't know me from Adam, and yet he calls me over to play karatals? And what more, I thought I would have to leave the kirtan to do my usual duties of serving prasad, but my mate who's in charge of it passed by the temple room and indicated that I was not needed, so I got to stay playing along to the kirtan and even attended the full arati! In so long! And then I also got to handle the holy water-spray thing, gee what is that called? I really should learn.

But yes, how very nice of Krishna to arrange things in this way. Thanks Krishna!

New Editor of Gaudiya Kutir Wiki!

2006-12-05T02:57:00.000Z

You're looking at the newest editor on Gaudiya Kutir Wiki! For some time I've wondered why the work has not progressed enough to contain articles on the main divinities and acharyas of our tradition, and only when I verbalised these thoughts was I offered the chance to contribute. So I took it up!

You can guess what my first contributions will be! Yes, of course, Caitanya Mahaprabhu! :-)

You Can Pray To The Gosvamis!

2006-11-21T00:06:00.000Z

I've only just got around to reading the latest KK Bindu #140 and what do I find? A nice pada by Sri Narottam das Thakura with the following interesting couple of verses:

jaya rūpa sanātana bhaṭṭa raghunātha
śrī-jīva gopāla bhaṭṭa dāsa raghunātha

Glory to Rupa Gosvami, Sanatana Gosvami,
Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami, Jiva Gosvami,
Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, and Raghunatha dasa Gosvami!

ei chaya gosāñīra karama caraṇa vandana
yāhā haite vighna-nāśa abhīṣṭa pūraṇa

Please bow down before the feet of
these Six Gosvamis and offer them
prayers. They will destroy all your
obstacles and fulfill your desires!

Wow!!

Bhasa.Net

2006-11-19T04:10:00.000Z

My friend Madhava has set up another forum for languages - Bhasa.Net - where everyone is welcome to learn the fundamentals of Indic languages such as Sanskrit, Bengali, Oriya and Hindi, though obviously such learning would be in a Vaishnava context. It is not a language course as such, just a place to compare notes and learn while you're at it!

Mahaprabhu's Blessings On The World

2006-11-19T03:56:00.000Z

I found this beautiful passage today in Manindranath Guha's 'Nectar Of The Holy Name' and wanted to share it with everybody:

"The Name is by its very nature the seed, 'the origin of all bhakti.' In addition, in the Age of Kali the Name has been mixed with Gaura's compassion: 'Victory to the shouts of the syllables 'Hare Krishna,' bursting from the lips of Sri Caitanya, as they flood the world with love.' This is Sri Rupa's blessing on the world. It cannot become otherwise or be lost, because the names 'Hare Krishna' that Sri Chaitanya spoke with His own mouth even today are spread through the atmosphere." - p. 53.

Govinda Lilamrita 1.1

2006-11-19T03:47:00.000Z

The first verse in the entire Govinda Lilamrita is inexpressibly sweet, so sweet and charming that you can even sing it to yourself:

śrī govindaṁ vrajānanda sandohahānanda mandiram
vande vṛndāvanānandam śrī rādhasaṅgananditam

"Obeisances unto Sri Govinda, the abode
of transcendental bliss in Vraja and the
forest of Vrindavan, who finds
happiness in Sri Radha's company!"

Beautiful.

Equality And Something Funny

2006-11-13T02:40:00.000Z

With regards to my previous post about a conversation with a devotee, we did get around to discussing some form of Krishna-katha before it went sour (for me). I mentioned that I was slightly annoyed with how the conversation wasn't on 'equal' terms. As a matter of fact I'd say that an extremely large majority of devotees suffer from this problem whether or not they are conscious of it; talking down to people. This devotee somehow had the idea that he was "senior" (or superior) and that I was a "junior" devotee which gave him some rights to preach to me about chanting and also to give me some "tips".

I don't know why I did it, and it may have been my ego rearing it's ugly head again, but I decided to "play smart" with this devotee even though my question was genuine and I am really looking for the answer. In Sri Rupa Gosvami's BRS, it is mentioned that the Vaishnava should bow to the deities with one's left side facing Them. As anyone who has been to India would know, the "normal" way of bowing down is to bow down facing the 'object', and this Gaudiya tradition of bowing down with one's left side facing the 'object' is somewhat peculiar. I have my own ideas for why this is so but I would prefer an "authentic" confirmation from a knowledgeable Vaishnava.

So I decided to ask him this question; why is it written in Sri Rupa's book that we must bow down with our left side facing the Deities (or Guru) and why do we do it? A funny look came over his face (as if he was going to dismiss it again) and he did mention that this was a minor rule that is not that essentially important as some of the harder must-do rules. He then proceeded to give an example of how it is written in Sri Visvanatha's Sarartha-Darshini that in some kalpas Krishna travels to Mathura riding on Kaliya rather than on Garuda, and that it is foolish to question why this is so since this is obviously lila. I quickly responded, "Yes, but that is Krishna-lila. Here I am talking about devotee-lila, why is it enjoined that we must bow down with our left side facing the Deities?"

He had no choice but to admit his ignorance. I didn't know how to feel about that. On one hand I was smirking inside ("that'll teach him to think I'm a dumb junior when I can bring up tougher issues than that!") and I quickly realised that this was a violation of humility. I was guilty of the same thing which I viewed him as doing, acting superior over other people. We all have to deal with this tendency in ourselves, it seems so natural but it is also so very wrong and sometimes hard to recognise especially within ourselves. On the other hand I was genuinely disappointed that he didn't have an answer. Even though it is essentially a minor issue, I have often wondered about this curious left-side bowing practice and an authentic answer would be nice even though I did bring up that topic off the top of my head.

Trinad api sunicena
Taror iva sahisnuna
Amanina mana dena
Kirtaniyah sada harih

This verse is soooooooooooooo important.

Reflections on a conversation

2006-11-13T01:54:00.000Z

There is a devotee in my temple who I had always admired from afar; he behaved very sweetly with everyone, not talking much 'prajalpa', always chanting and always having a nice smile for everyone. I never spoke with him much but we always exchanged greetings. A rather sweet person.

A conversation I had with him last week changed my opinion completely. Basically we were just having a chat about this-and-that when the topic came to sadhana (japa, etc). Then he started off with the usual "Prabhupada made many adjustments" line, so since we were talking about japa I decided to mention the "four rounds" rule. His face immediately screwed up so I quickly qualified my comments; "It may be that Prabhupada 'adjusted' the standard from 64 to 16, but it is interesting to note that throughout the whole Gaudiya tradition the barest minimum is taken at 4 rounds." I didn't have any particular agenda to push, as far as I was concerned we were just having an informal discussion.

Then he leaned over close to me and said, "I know where that idea comes from - Gaudiya Math." Well no, it didn't. The Gaudiya Math sure have this 4-round thing in their books (specifically, Sridhara Maharaja) but I was actually referring to the wider world of traditional Gaudiya Vaishnavism, something that this devotee obviously had no clue about and would just as easily dismiss the "babajis" just as he dismissed Gaudiya Math. Although I tried to explain to him that chanting four rounds is not meant to be a maximum for lazy people, but the barest minimum, fully affirming all injunctions to chant 16/64/lakh, but this guy just wouldn't understand. He then went into some sort of quiet tirade about the Gaudiya Math were watering the standards down even though their original founder (Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati) had set it at 64.

I quickly understood that there was no point in continuing this discussion and, just then, the time came for arati and so we ended it there and went about our business. We also discussed some other interesting points, but I just wanted to reflect on this issue. It seems to me that a lot of people in ISKCON still suffer from the mentality of criticising other Vaishnavas and/or their organisations. Even though the GBC has formally banned criticising Sridhara Maharaja (et al.) in one of their resolutions, I could just see this devotee dismissing it ("GBC? What GBC? They are also watering things down").

But it is not a problem about GBC, Gaudiya Math or anything else. It is about the deep-set problem of criticising or blaspheming other Vaishnavas, which is the mad-elephant offence that is responsible for the complete uprooting of the tender bhakti-lata. It's amazing to see how far I've come too; a couple of years ago I would have totally agreed with this devotee and we would have chinwagged about setting the entire Gaudiya world to rights, but I just found this rhetoric deeply offensive and hurtful. I didn't get the chance to remind him: amanina mana dena, [One must] offer all respects to everyone. And needless to say, I no longer consider this devotee to be the sweet person that I thought he was. I was actually angry about it, but anyway I have decided that it is bad company to associate with those who offend other Vaishnavas, and this is perfectly in keeping with Vaishnava principles. Of course I will continue to greet him as a matter of politeness but I am not interested in any long discussions which is a shame since we also discussed many interesting things in Sri Visvanatha's Sarartha-Darshini (apparently in some kalpas Krishna visits Mathura riding on Kaliya instead of Garuda).

It's just a pity that he doesn't even know how wrong and offensive he is being; in his own mind he is staying true and faithful to the path chalked out by Prabhupada and there is nothing wrong with that in itself, but it becomes a burden when one points fingers at other Vaishnavas in a critical tone. First of all the discussion wasn't even on equal terms; he clearly had an idea that he was a "senior" devotee and I was a "junior" which account for the condescending style of some of his points. More on that in the next post.

To be honest I have been stewing about it all week and have been very hurt by it. I don't know why, maybe I am just getting disillusioned again. Yet another person who I thought would be good association turns out to be just like the rest. It's so hard trying to find the "ideal association", the sadhu-sanga that Mahaprabhu and His great devotees have praised so much. Maybe that's why sadhu-sanga is so praiseworthy, because it's so hard to find a real sadhu?

And then today I got a massive idea. I was reflecting on the bountiful prema of Nityananda and Gauranga after quietly singing 'Parama Karuna' to myself: The one thing that we have to keep in mind above all others is how Nitai and Gauranga came and opened Their arms for everyone without exception. I wonder if the human mind can even comprehend such boundless compassion and kripa? With the sole exception of Vaishnava-aparadha, Nitai and Gaura accept everyone into Their fold regardless of past histories, sins, and other disqualifications. They even tolerate insults and abuse against Themselves but They don't care. No one should be turned away. Contemplating this brings a feeling of humility.

And what this means is that since Nitai and Gaura have opened Their arms for everyone, you can be sure you cannot get along with absolutely everyone. But we must make an effort to try and do so if only to honour and uphold Their desire. It's not an easy task because much personal development has to be undergone before one can reach the stage of real implementation of trinad api sunicena taror iva sahisnuna. No wonder Kaviraja Gosvami said we must make a garland of this verse and string it around our necks, it is that important!! A lot of complications may arise but they should put aside in the face of the larger purpose of coming together under Nitai-Gaura's banner.

Baghdad - A Doctor's Story

2006-10-25T03:27:00.000+01:00

I was watching this programme on TV earlier this evening, part of the 'This World' investigative reporting series. This week it was about "Life in Baghdad" and was entirely filmed by an Iraqi doctor. Now I realise that the war has a lot of polarising views about the rights and wrongs of this or that, but I couldn't help feeling how this film got straight to the core of what people need to know: what everyday life in Baghdad is like.

Some of the scenes were horrific, describing how civilian hospitals had turned into field hospitals and how 90% of patients received injury treatment from bombs, gunshot wounds and the like. Not to mention the fact that such hospitals are horrifically underequipped and that the doctors themselves risk their lives at every single moment even within the hospital, since at any moment they can be shot dead in the ER by terrorists who maliciously disrupt their activities. Surprises included how severely injured Iraqis refused to believe that their wounds were inflicted by their fellow Iraqis/Muslims, and the open acknowledgement that sectarian loyalties and divisions were being stirred up by bigots who were exploiting them to make war, when Sunnis and Shias had lived happily as brothers under Saddam's rule.

Especially heart-wrenching was a scene within an ambulance after a marketplace bomb blast where several adults and children were blown up. Witnessing the grief of the survivors for their dead friends first-hand brought tears to my eyes. A Shi'ite woman openly wished for the return of Saddam because she considered "systematic" terrorism (Saddam's tortures) to be preferable to the "random" terrorism caused by market, street and car bombs where people are fearful just to go out and buy a loaf of bread. Think about that, you risk your life every time you take a trip to your local store to buy a loaf of bread. It makes me realise how thankful I am for small mercies like that.

I used to be heavily interested in politics but this war has disillusioned me so much that I hardly read anything any more. Because beyond all of the mudslinging and campaigns, people tend to forget what life is like for the man on the street. I guess I felt that was my main interest in politics, how the man on the street can be benefited by whatever proposal is being debated in Parliament. So indeed this documentary helped me understand how the war in Iraq affects the man on the street; ordinary people like you and me who don't care about any war, they are being put to suffering and are needlessly terrorised. The tears of the man on the street is the fire that burns my soul.

I had to think about it in the context of my musings about preaching to the needy; how can one spread the message of Nitai-Gaura's supreme love in a place like Baghdad? Is it even possible? Lots of people would think I am a basket case for even suggesting it, and how could it happen anyway? It's like one of those people who walk around saying "Jesus Loves You", it doesn't make any sense and it doesn't help. People are suffering needlessly over political footballs kicked by politicians with no goalkeepers and the full-time whistle never sounds does it?

Diwali 2006

2006-10-22T23:28:00.000+01:00

Blogger was down for several hours yesterday, so I couldn't write up my Diwali report but anyway here it is! I actually had a bit of a late night before Diwali and so I got up rather late. As it is our custom to do the family puja in the evening, we figured that it would be nice to take a trip to the temple and take darshan of the deities. The only trouble was that I hadn't eaten anything at all since waking up and I was getting rather annoyed at that. It surprised me that when I am able to exercise self-control during Ekadashi fasting, why is just a couple of hours of starvationbothering me? This reinforces my theory that adequate mental preparation is necessary to do such things, to get oneself in the right state of mind.

So anyway I was feeling rather despondent because we arrived at the temple after the 4.20pm arati, and I was sure that the curtains would be closed. But of course, I had forgotten that on festival days it is procedure to allow longer darshan times! So we managed to get a nice darshan aftaer all, and how beautifully They were dressed!!!! Lots of nice candles everywhere. The battery on my camera ran out so I didn't take as many shots as I would have liked, but here are some of them anyway. Beautiful!

And by the way, I guess Krishna and Rama were so supremely merciful that They gave me a nice Diwali present. Since I had been starving and the arati was over, I happened to get a small plate of maha-prasad. Wow! The first thing I had to eat all day was maha-prasad, how fantastic was that?!

And the temple has this really cute diorama Damodara for Kartik month, I think it's adorable!

Preaching To The Needy

2006-10-18T02:07:00.000+01:00

I was watching a TV program about Heather Veitch on Channel 4 today, 'The Holy Hottie'. It was all about how Heather was a topless model, stripper and porn actress who found God and became a sincere follower of Jesus Christ. She proceeded to network with other Christian women from her church in order to form a ministry; "JC's Girls".

What I found remarkable about this is the way the JC's Girls took the message of the Gospels directly to those who needed it. Capitalising on her experience with the porn industry and having first-hand experience of the suffering that exploited women undergo, Heather and the JC Girls go directly into the topless bars and strip clubs - and even the Adult Entertainment Expo festivals - and gently persuade the strippers to give up their vocation and accept the love of Christ into their lives. The endeavour was surprisingly successful and is still going strong, even though it naturally has it's critics.

The part which I found most touching is how the pastor of the California church who hosts the ministry was being pressured by the 'higher-ups' to discontinue the project. As the pastor was wholly committed to the ministry having seen it's remarkable success first-hand, he set an ultimaturm in front of his congregation that if he did not receive the support of the congregation then he would leave and go elsewhere. He was willing to sacrifice the whole church in order to support the ministry. They were initially stunned but then, slowly but surely, they all arose and made their way to the stage in a 100% show of support. Wow! And it was all started off by one woman.

This inspired me to think about the love of Nitai and Gaura. People supported the "JC's Girls" ministry by citing Christ's own example of associating with the prostitutes and the drunks in order to transform them with his love. Well isn't our Caitanya the very Patita-Pavana himself? And isn't our Nitai dayamaya? How could anyone resist the love, compassion and forgiveness of these Two? They saved Jagai-Madhai and so many others, They incarnated for the very purpose of loka-upakara, and They took their gifts directly to those who needed it.

As devotees of Nitai-Gaur, we have a responsibility to extend Their compassion by humbly taking up the same duty of preaching and, even though I loathe the term, "save the fallen souls". I was also reflecting on the preaching activities carried out by ISKCON; book distribution, chanting parties, pandal programs and so on, and their success thereof. I am always amazed at those who advocate or are more inclined towards concentrating on their own progress and are not much inclined towards proper preaching. I have to admit that even though I was full of the fire of preaching when I was younger, time and experience have taught me that some approaches are not always successful. It is not the type of "Speaker's Corner" preaching that will be successful although that may have some advantages. I was thinking that it is time to think of strategies that make up an ideal of intelligent preaching.

I have not heard any stories of devotees being so bold as to enter strip clubs and the like for preaching. There is a wine bar next door to the ISKCON London temple, and I remember once how one devotee went down there in his enthusiasm during the street chanting-and-dancing party. He did it just for a joke and promptly came up the stairs again, whereas the other devotees looked at him and laughed with a look of mock horror and concern. Why did they do that? Is it really so bard to enter wine bars or pubs in order to preach? Isn't that directly taking the message to those who need it, regardless of their receptivity to it?

Another factor to consider is that the "JC Girls" are preaching about Jesus after all. This is possible in the USA which is a Christian country and the whole population is familiar with the idea of Jesus. It is not so easy to talk about Nitai Gaur (what to speak of Radha-Krishna) in a "foreign" country. Even in India Nitai-Gaur is not so well known except in Bengal, while at least Radha-Krishna is known everywhere. So in that respect, Vaishnavas have a harder task than others in regards to first introducing the whole subject from the beginning.

The JC Girls used the strategy of entering a strip club and booking a dancer for a so-called private dance in a dedicated booth. They then told the dancer that they didn't want a dance and they only wanted a chance to chat about Jesus, offering to pray for them right then and there, and then paying them for the "dance" that never happened. This endeared them to the owners of the club since the dancers were not losing any money by talking to the Christians. The funny thing was how most of the dancers were receptive to the preaching and were happy to accept invitations to attend church, accept a free Bible and so on.

Anyway so these are the main points circulating in my mind after watching that show. There is opportunity to harvest a broader field by way of intelligent preaching strategies that bring the all-encompassing love and forgiveness of Nitai-Gaur directly to those who need it.

cirAd adattaM nija-gupta-vittaM

2006-10-10T04:08:00.000+01:00

Some interesting and exciting points have been made in discussion over my last post, but I would like to expand on one of my points in this separate post. This is what I said:

[In answer to the proposal that the 3 reasons given for Gauranga's advent do not appear to support the existence of an 'eternal' existence for Gauranga, I responded..]

"That is a good point actually. However, the fact still remains that whenever Krishna comes only once in a day of Brahma, Gaura comes immediately after that. Is it just purely coincidental that every time He becomes "inspired" to experience the feelings of Radha? Radha-bhava is indeed a unique and wonderful thing for Gaura (Krishna) to experience, but on another level it can't be that unique that He comes to experience it in every kalpa?"

In furtherance of this view, there is another oft-quoted verse in praise of Gaurahari's magnificent contribution:

cirād adattaṁ nija-gupta-vittaṁ
sva-prema-nāmāmṛtam aty-udaraḥ
ā-pāmaraṁ 'yo vitatāra gauraḥ
kṛṣṇo janebhyas tam ahaṁ prapadye

Not giving His own secret treasury of love of Himself and the nectarean, greatly munificent, holy name for a long time, that Gaura, Krsna Himself, distributed it to the people and the lowest of men. Unto Him I surrender. (CC 2.23.1)

One should note that 'cirāt adattaṁ' means 'not given for a long time'. The BBT translation appears to contain the interpolation: "This was never given to the people at any time before," which doesn't seem to be backed up in the original Sanksrit. So we must consider the meaning of 'not given for a long time' as opposed to 'never given at any time before'. As I said earlier, Gaura comes once in a day of Brahma, in the Kali-yuga immediately following the Dvapara-yuga in which Krishna comes, who also comes once in a day of Brahma. We all know how long a day of Brahma lasts, or do we? ;-)

The point being, "not being given for a long time" refers to when it was given previously i.e. in the previous day of Brahma when Gaura made His appearance. This is my interpretation and I hope it is correct. So if it is certain that Gaura de facto hasn't been around "for a very long time", what has He been doing in the meantime? One might argue that He has been going around like a firebrand following Krishna, who is also going around like a firebrand into all of the other universes.

In which case, one might also consider the Svapna-vilasamrita of Sri Visvanath Cakravartipada; what is Srimati Radhe doing dreaming of Mahaprabhu when She is with Krishna? It has the interesting line: nigadya premabdhau punar api tadahasyasi jagat, by Your own transcendental potency You will ... again plunge the world into the ocean of pure love." (Verse 7) What is the reason for using the word "again"?

And then to top it all off, the Caitanya-mangala specifically describes Gauranga as being attended by Radha and Rukmini with all of their attendants. I wrote about this briefly on Advaitaji's blog, but I'm afraid that I don't accept his reasonings about Gaura being Krishna (as such) and that it is figurative. While Gaura is Krishna (ontologically speaking), the text specifically describes Narada's visit to Goloka where one would expect to see Krishna, but there is Gaura (specifically mentioning His golden complexion) being attended by both Radha and Rukmini giving Him an abhishek! So I'm afraid that I don't accept these as being poetic embellishments or whatever others have suggested. The circumstances of the text make it very clear that Narada is speaking directly to Gaura and not Krishna. So what is Gaura doing there if His existence is only for prakat-lila? It doesn't make sense.

Advaitaji has already confessed that he thinks that all of these "Gaura-evaporation" ideas are the personal realisations of the "mahatma" he spoke to, so it is a subjective thing and there is no reason as such to believe it. I personally find the ideas sickening. To think that one's devotion to Gaura will one day "evaporate" into nothingness or so? This contradicts everything we have been taught.

Six Goswamis

2006-10-09T03:56:00.000+01:00

The debate about the 'eternality' of Gaura-lila is still going on in Advaitaji's blog, where I spotted the following comment made by him:

"Whatever the case, the 6 Goswamis are the Supreme Court. The buck stops there."

I have heard this line presented in all sorts of discussions where 'deviations' and other curious happenings are being discussed. The basic premise of it is thus; if it's not in the books of the Six Gosvamis then it's unauthorised and not worth bothering with.

I have to admit that I am rather tired of this reasoning as it seems to be a very convenient way to inhibit deep technical discussions about this or that issue. It seems to be used as a weapon, almost as if to continue with any 'deviant' discussions holds you in contempt of the Gosvamis.

Now let me make this very clear so that I am not misunderstood: I do not question the authority of the Six Gosvamis, nor do I seek to minimise or disrespect them in any way. They are indeed the "Supreme Court" and they are the most beloved servants of Sriman Gauranga Mahaprabhu, empowered with His shakti to formulate the doctrines of Gaudiya Vaishnavism for the samaj to follow. Having said that, we need to carefully consider the merits of using the "If it's not in the Six Gosvamis' books.." argument by considering what it is that they actually wrote.

Apart from Sri Rupa Gosvami's magnum opus (Bhakti-rasamrita Sindhu), the Sat-sandarbhas of Sri Jiva Gosvami and the Hari-bhakti-vilas of Sanatana/Gopal Bhatta Gosvami (just generally off the top of my head), what else did they write? Mainly books of lila and nataka-candrikas, dramas and plays. One could argue that only the first wave of BRS has any use for sadhakas in terms of practical hints and tips and the rest of it being examples of lila, and it is also possible to argue that the Sat-sandarbhas were just formulations of the actual doctrine in terms of philosophy, and that the HBV is the "lawbook" that mainly concentrates on the mechanics of rituals, prohibitions and so forth, one cannot seriously expect to resolve any controversies of deviancy or heterodoxy from any of the Gosvamis' books because they appear to be insufficient for those purposes!

One cannot expect BRS to deal with controversies like Gaura-nagara-vada (for example) because the subject is off-scope! The only real controversy is when Sri Visvanath Cakravartipada threw out Rupa Kaviraja for his sakhi-bhekhi ideas (or whatever it was), which wasn't done by any Gosvami because the theory probably wasn't around in their times. Also, arguing that "it is false because the Gosvami's wrote nothing about it" is a logical fallacy.

Therefore I think that comments about the buck stopping at the Gosvamis are ultimately useless for presenting in debates and discussions. It is simply unfair to use the Gosvamis as a weapon to halt or inhibit serious discussion on issues especially when they have nothing substantial to contribute. I also have used the Gosvamis as weapons in the past which is why I can say that it is not a very nice thing to do.

If Krishna is svayam-bhagavan and appears in a certain universe only once in a day of Brahma, the same holds true for Gaura and this is official Gaudiya doctrine. Consequently if Krishna can have a prakat-lila going around like a firebrand yet remain in Nitya-Vrajadham, it can also follow that Gaura similarly follows Krishna like a firebrand and remains similarly situated in Nitya-Navadvipa as it were. Every avatar, no matter how miniscule they are, has their own abode so why not Gaura? And why can't sadhakas go there if they want to? To me, it is absurd.

And stating that "the Gosvamis never said anything about it" is rather unhelpful.

Important to wear tilak

2006-10-09T03:11:00.000+01:00

I was reading Caitanya-Bhagavat today and I came across a verse from Mahaprabhu where He states that it is very important to wear tilak. This took place during His pastimes of being a schoolteacher, and he would shame and (lovingly) embarrass any of his students who had forgotten to put on his tilak that morning before arriving for class. He said that it was proof that they hadn't completed their morning duties properly (sandhya-vandanam) and sent them back, only allowing them back into class when they had worn their tilak. He further said that the forehead of a brahmana on which tilak is not present is like a crematorium. So it is very important to wear tilak.

I remember an incident where a lecture program was due to be held in a non-ISKCON venue, and the lecture was by a visiting ISKCON swami who had been invited. When I arrived at the venue and greeted the swami before the program was due to start, he looked at me joyfully and exclaimed, 'Oh! You have got a nice big tilak!'

So wearing tilak is the sign of a devotee. It 'marks' one as a devotee of Radha-Krishna. It brings joy to Mahaprabhu. It brings joy to the Vaishnava sadhus. That is all that is necessary, the blessings of the Vaishnavas.

A Lovely Ekadasi Treat..

2006-10-06T01:17:00.000+01:00

I do realise that I'm writing this about 3 days after Ekadasi because I was ill (again!) but I'd like to relate soemthing wonderful that happened. You may remember that some time back I mentioned that I had ordered the books of my friend Advaita dasji from someone who was selling his collection. These are Gaudiya scriptures that have been translated by Advaita dasji. Although I had ordered them sometime in mid-August, I was told that it would take three weeks for the delivery to arrive from the USA.

Why so long? I put it down to the terrorist scare that was taking place at the time, extra vigilance on parcels and stuff like that. In any case it was starting to take longer than 3 weeks to arrive and I was getting worried. Had my beloved scriptures been lost in the post? Maybe I shouldn't have been so hasty, and maybe I should have bought it myself from a bookstore. I was kicking myself and worrying. I was even thinking of sending off an email to the devotee-seller and asking him if he knew of anything from his end.

And then what do I find on Ekadasi morning? A nice big sack! :-) A silly thought skitted within my fevered brain; had Christmas come early and Santa left his sack behind?

Seems like the parcel box had been damaged in transit and the postal services had had to go through the motions of authorising it to be delivered in a secure sack. I breathed a huge sigh of relief that the books had at last reached me and they are seriously wonderful:

Asta-kala Lila Padavali - Ray Shekhar
Sri Sri Dana-Keli Cintamani - Sri Raghunath das Gosvami
Sri Mukta-caritra - Sri Raghunath das Gosvami
Sri Krishna Bhavanamrita Mahakavya - Sri Vishvanath Chakravarti Thakur
Sri Govinda Lilamrita - Sri Krishnadas Kaviraj Gosvami

Oh dear, such wonderful books. I still have not gone through all of them fully, because these literatures are so confidential and so highly-placed that I could not take too much of it in one go. And above all, I was almost breathless and awed by the simple act of grace; in spite of any delivery problems it could have come on any day, but it just had to come on Ekadasi and make the whole thing completely auspicious. :-) I was really very happy about that, the fact that they had arrived on Ekadasi. Wonderful!

Qualities of a Madhyama

2006-09-24T04:47:00.000+01:00

īśvare tad adhīneṣu
bāliśeṣu dviṣatsu ca |
prema maitrī kṛpopekṣā
yaḥ karoti sa madhyamaḥ || Bhag 11.2.46 ||

"He, who has love for the Lord, who is a friend of His devotees, who is merciful to the ignorant and neglects the envious, is a madhyama-bhagavata."

How many times have I come across this verse before? And how many times have I stopped to think of it's full significance? I "found" this verse while thinking of a related issue; how Vaishnavas should act towards different types of people. I'm not too interested in the 'madhyama' part of the equation because, since everyone is trying to be humble, would consider themselves to be 'kanisthas' anyway. And we all know how very few count as 'uttamas'.

So part from this being a definition of a 'madhyama' devotee, I think that the above conduct is approved by Bhagavan since the employment of such conduct defines one as such a madhyama, is it not? This is not to suggest that one should not aspire to be uttamas, but I am just trying to figure out whether the above verse rightly describes a devotee who is discriminating. Of course a devotee needs to emply discrimination in all or most circumstances whether they involve contact with people or not.

To my mind, it parallels with the pada of Sri Narottama das Thakura from PBC:

kāma krodha lobha moha, mada mātsarjya dambha saha,
sthāne sthāne niyukta koribo.
ānanda kori hṛdoy, ripu kori parājoy,
anāyāse govinda bhajibo. (21)

"I will engage lust, anger, greed, illusion, envy and pride all in their proper places. Thus I can defeat these enemies with a blissful heart and easily worship Govinda."

kṛṣṇa sevā kāmārpaṇa, krodha bhakta-dveṣī jane,
lobha sādhu-saṅge hari-kathā.
moha iṣṭa lAbha vine, mada kṛṣṇa guṇa gāṇe,
niyukta koribo yathā tathā. (22)

"I offer my lust to the service of Krishna, my anger towards the enemies of His devotees and my greed towards association with saints and topics of Lord Hari. I am deluded without my beloved Lord, and I am proud when I sing Krishna's glories. Thus I engage all them in Krishna's service!"

And since Sri Narottama is a siddha-guru, it is indeed amazing how he speaks as if he were a sadhaka. Such beloved gurus do great works for mankind by leaving behind indication sof signposts so that we may find the way. Doing this in a practical way simply has to be done in order to be experienced properly and how these ideas are fully transcendental. It cannot be understood on a theoretical level, which would be just like licking a jar of honey from the outside of the bottle as an infuential Gaudiya teacher once said.

I also checked out the definition of that Bhagavata verse in Sri Ananta das Babaji's 'Bhakta-tattva Vijnana' book, only to be slightly disappointed with the translation of madhyama as 'mediocre'. I humbly do not agree with the selection of this word, as current usage of 'mediocre' usually tends to refer to something that is rubbish and not worthy of consideration. This is inapplicable when considering the status of devotees; we all know that the madhyama is betwen the 'low' kanistha' and the 'high' uttama. I thought of using 'middling-devotee' to describe 'madhyama' but that is also olde english which would be hard to understand. 'Intermediate' seems to be a much better choice of word. Yes, the madhyama is certainly an intermediate devotee.

Thoughts On Sadhu-Sanga

2006-09-21T06:13:00.000+01:00

A discussion on Vilasa-Kunja about Manindranath Guha's Nectar of the Holy Name is taking place. Minaketan Ramdasji spoke about his experiences with Guhaji:

"One piece of advice he had was that one should stay at home and not mix freely with the Vaishnavas, in order to avoid Vaishnava aparAdha."

To this, I responded:

"I will hold this on my head. This is my feeling too.

"But at the same time I am astounded at the irony. Sadhu-sanga is one of the major principles of our Vaishnavism. Nay, it is one of the top five! And so how ironic it is that sometimes the best way to avoid aparadha is not to associate with Vaishnavas. Oh, the irony!"

Any thoughts?

Guhaji's advice resonates with my own experience; it is sometimes better to avoid Vaishnavas in order not to take the risk of offending them. However there is a marked difference between "avoiding" and "freely mixing", and however you look at it it makes sense in a twisted way.

When this is so, then how to fulfil the principle of sadhu-sanga? This then brings up the topic of who is a sadhu and who is "not".

I will actually want to write my own thoughts on sadhu-sanga later.

Vedanta doubts answered

2006-09-19T01:27:00.000+01:00

An interesting question was brought forward by a devotee recently on the Oppiliappan list. I have corrected the formatting to make it easily readable:

I have some basic questions about the date of the Brahma Sutras of Badarayana. Our Sampradaya identifies the identity of Badarayana with Veda Vyasa, the redactor of the Vedas, Itihaasa-s and Purana-s. The latter's age is said to be around the end of the Treta Yuga, i.e around 3100 BCE. If Badarayana is identified with Veda Vyasa, some problems arise.

This is because the Brahma Sutras of Badarayana refer to Buddhist/Jaina/Naasthika doctrines which are known to have historically been existent only after 400 BCE. If such be the case above, how is badarayana the same as Veda Vyasa?

Two main answers were sent in reply:

Answer 1: As adiyEn heard from a scholar during Kalakshepams, the so called doctrines of Buddhism etc. were in existent even before the advent of the Buddha, Mahavir etc. and therefore there need be no doubt about the references to these in the Brahma Sutras of Badarayana who was none other than Veda Vyasa. Such ideas or views get boosted up by some personalities who become attracted by these ideas. Even in Ramayana, atheistic ideas are discussed and rejected.

Answer 2: Buddhists and Jains themselves believe that that there were many Buddhas and Mahavir's prior to those dated to the 4th and 5th centuries. And that the ideas they expressed are also very old. When adiyEn asked a similar question to a scholar regarding Azhvars dates and their references to Buddhist and Jainist philosophies, I was told the same. That there is no need to tie these philosophies only to the most recent known Buddha or Mahavir.

Well, I found that very gratifying. Did you?

Vedic Chanting

2006-09-19T00:28:00.000+01:00

I recently purchased a CD entitled 'Panchasuktam'. Funnily enough it has six suktas, unless there is somehting that I don't know. Here's the track listing:

Purusha Sukta
Vishnu Sukta
Narayana Sukta
Sri Sukta
Bhu Sukta
Neela Sukta
Pancashanthi
Ghosashanthi
Mantrapushpam

It's quite a good CD, I very much enjoy Vedic chanting. It is true what they say about the efficacy of the chanting as done properly, with attention to proper pronunciation and all of that. You would expect that Vedic chanting of these suktas would comman atention but I like to put on my headphones with the suktas turned up loud, and I feel very peaceful and devotional. And why not? These are Vaishnava suktas after all!

I guess I was lucky. Right now I am surfing the Net for some good CDs of Vedic chanting and almost all of them contain some musical accompaniment. No thanks! I would just like to listen to plain ol' Vedic chanting as should be done properly, just as if we were in an orthodox temple or something. Speaking of which, the pundits who chant the suktas are all Sri Vaishnavas according to their pictures on the CD (I can tell from their tilak) so that is an added bonus, hearing Vaishnava suktas chanted by Vaishnava devotees. Very nice. I like this CD a lot. If anyone knows of any good CDs where I can hear more stotras and things chanted properly and in an orthodox manner, let me know. I'd specifically be interested in Vishnu Sahasranama, and not the one by M.S. Subbulakshmi. A male chanter if preferable.

I also purchased a couple of other CDs. One was a CD of Narasimha mantras from various Vaishnava traditions and the other was of 'Protective Mantras', containing stotras and astakams in praise of Narasimha, Sudarshan and so on. Both CDs were sung by Sri Vidyabhusana, who I think is a Dvaitin and does a lot of service for ISKCON. The problem is that these prayers are sung, although I guessed that already since I have an audio tape of Sri Vidyabhusana singing Brahma-samhita. So I know that he is a singer who sings the prayers on these CDs also. It's not too bad actually, but I tend to find musical accompaniments very distracting (especially when there are lots of musical interludes) and so I prefer just plain chanting. Sure, there can be a mridanga or tabla beat in the background for effect just so long as it doesn't get in the way of chanting.

One of these days I would like to chant Vishnu Sahasranama or Purusha Sukta properly. Since the prayers in the Panchasuktam CD are sung according to the proper 'Vedic' way, I daresay that one can learn from the CD and all you need are the words!!

I love Veda-chanting. Really, it's so nice. I like scripture recitation in general; Bhagavad-gita, Bhagavatam, whatever. It is nice to hear it recited and with minimum musical accompaniment.

Ekadasi Thoughts

2006-09-18T02:46:00.000+01:00

Today was Ekadasi (technically yesterday, Sunday), and as I am still ill I employed the illness exemption. Although I am much recovered now, I am teetering on the brink between sickness and health and if I do anything untoward then I will fall back into sickness. As such, I decided against even visiting the temple because my usual prasad-seva would be done outside in the open air, thus exposing myself to the cold and chill.

Also, I am disappointed at the fact that I could not fast. As my parents brought back the "Ekadasi authorised" food for me to eat then at least I can have something to eat. Although it was Indira Ekadashi, I wanted to write much of this stuff last Ekadashi (Parshva Ekadashi). Parshva was a notable occasion, when Sriman Narayana turns over on His right side. It was also the occasion when I decided to perform Ekadashi in earnest. By earnest I mean full fasting. I find it somewhat disappointing that the majority of devotees I know tend to make use of the allowances that Prabhupada gave in order to eat 'authorised food.'

[For those who don't know, Ekadashi is a bi-monthly date where the consumption of grains and beans are strictly forbidden. This includes most foods.]

As far as ISKCON is concerned, Prabhupada made allowances for devotees who went out doing strenuous activity such as preaching, book distribution and general Harinama processions. In this way certain foods are allowed to be eaten that do not consist of grains and beans, such as potatoes and so on. Even as far as the shastras are concerned, they are all unanimous on the point that eating of food - any food - is strictly forbidden. Food? No water either! So over the years I have experienced a mixture of surprise and disappointment that not many seem to be very interested in taking full advantage of the spiritual benefit that this day offers. Or rather, we are not interested in the benefit but we do it out of love for Krishna. But it seems that people are more interested on 'feasting' on the 'fasting' food! Whatever happened to tapasya? Whatever happened to strength and resolution?

I had availed myself of the glories of Ekadashi back when I was still a schoolboy, and I made humble and regular attempts to fast. I wrote about this on Gaudiya Discussions many years ago. A time came when I gave up fasting on Ekadashi. I don't know why, perhaps just pure laziness and lack of will-power, which seems strange compared to when I had enough willpower for not even a drop of water to pass my lips. I used to observe on Pandava-Nirjala Ekadashi (the one full-fast Ekadashi of the year which counts for fasting throughout the whole year) but in the back of my mind I think there was always a twinge of guilt that I should get back to the proper orthodox standard. Speaking of which, I never really saw the big deal about Nirjala Ekadashi. Since every Ekadashi was nir-jala for me, I never understood why it was such a huge deal for some people.

But the real orthodox standard simply cannot be done! It consists of a three-day marathon of fasting! You must fast on Dashami (one 'authorised' meal), Ekadashi (no food or water) and Dvadashi (one 'authorised' meal), not to mention keeping awake the whole time. WHAT??? Yes, this is so. But anyhow, generally speaking the main practice is to observe Ekadshi and break it on Dvadashi. The main point which I am trying to make is that it is evry clearly stated that Ekadashi fasts must be full fasts. Perhaps one can get away with eating 'authorised' food in the event of emergency like preaching and so on as they do in ISKCON, but the standard must be known and observed. Full fasting.

Of course, this is inapplicable to those who are elderly, ill, pregnant women and so on; they are allowed to eat 'authorised food' and perhaps not do it altogether. I've been ill lately so I ate 'authorised' food today, which is called havishyanna. But as I said earlier, I'm disappointed that this happened so soon after I resolved to fast in earnest after Parshva Ekadashi. But oh well, what to do?

The funny thing is that, in my experience as well as the experience of those who make a serious comitment to doing full fasting, it is possible. And with practice, the pangs of hunger and thirst will not announce their presence. The really tough part is staying awake all night. This is also part of the Ekadashi-vrata but, ha ha ha, it really is very tough to do. I can go without food but I need my sleep, lol! But on the other hand, anything can be achieved with practice and with a sincere heart that prays for the capability to carry out all these things.

Fever - A Lovely Way To Burn

2006-09-15T04:51:00.000+01:00

I've actually been ill these past few days with a slight fever, so I've been off and taking it easy. I was supposed to go swimming but that is obviously impossible.

Strange as it may sound, I sometimes enjoy having a fever. Of course the suffering in undesirable, but I have noticed that a fevered brain brings surprising moments of clarity. This is especially true in regards to spiritual thoughts; all of a sudden your reading becomes more focused or more impacted depending how meaningful it is to you, your concentration on japa is also notably increased too. Even if you decide to 'take it easy' with japa and do less rounnds than you might normally do, you end up feeling like you want to do more by the time you've reached the end.

How interesting. I 've had these 'moments of clarity' before in previous illnesses but I can't help noticing it happening again. A strange phenomenon, when the most abstract spiritual issue is suddenly crystal clear. And all because of a fevered brain.

Madhava Has Gone!

2006-09-15T04:43:00.000+01:00

Looks like Madhava and his wife have left this samsara behind and gone to Vraja, for good! "All glories" to them both, I sincerely hope that they fulfil their cherished ambitions at the feet of their respected guru.

True Gentlemen

2006-09-07T03:12:00.000+01:00

One thing that sticks out when I think about Vaishnavas is how a Vaishnava is supposed to be the embodiment of good qualities. I cannot find it right now, but there are sections in BG, SB and CC where the essential qualities of Vaishnavas are listed, and how Vaishnavas should strive to achieve these qualities in order to fulfil the dual purpose of pleasing God and being an example to society. As well as one's own progress, of course!

Something I was reflecting on today was the tumultuous nature of some of the debates we used to have on GD. Typically these arguments revolved around the issue of the diksa-parampara and other issues where ISKCON/Gaudiya Math (IGM) comes into conflict with traditional Gaudiya Vaishnavism. I cannot say that I behaved very well myself during these debates. From an honest viewpoint, if I ever offended anybody in my trenchant expressions of what I considered to be the "truth" then I am deeply sorry. Truth may be truth, but also, 'satyam briyat priyam bruyat' - the truth can also be spoken in a palatable manner to prevent hurt feelings and the like.

And, of course, it is in the nature of human beings to point out faults in other people and ignoring the very same faults within themselves (which we must strive to overcome), and so it always used to surprise me how the other participants in such trenchant debates did not behave in a manner expected of a Vaishnava. At far as my vision was concerned anyway. There is really no need to make people feel bad about which line they're in, what kind of bhava they have, and other issues that may cause friction. I used to talk in private with some of these people, and the pain they felt at having their views largely dismissed as too much to bear at times. It is very important to behave as a proper Vaishnava.

In this vein, I've already said that I would ask representatives of various traditions to recommend editions of Vedanta Sutra. After joining some of their online groups (rather, re-activating my subscriptions), I found that one group in particular continues to poke fun of Gaudiyas at every given opportunity. Even if they believe that they are correct in their evaluations, there is really no need to be so vocal about it. This bad behaviour (unrepresentatives of Vaishnavas who are supposedly in the "proper sampradayas") was most disturbing to see and it is still the same now as it was then. However, it did remind me of an example of Sri Vaishnavas (followers of Ramanuja) and how proper Vaishnavas they are. Truly, I have yet to come across a Sri Vaishnava who pokes fun at other traditions. Sri Vaishnavas are really sweet people and really understand the meaning of Vaishnavism, and what it is to be a Vaishnava.

Here is an example of where Sri Vaishnavas of the famous Bhakti List group had every opportunity to malign the Gaudiyas if they wanted to, but they didn't. I have corrected all spelling errors for easy reading:

"bharathradhekrishna.chennu"
Thu Apr 10, 2003 8:04 am

What is the difference between Gaudiya sampradaya and Ramanuja sampradaya? Which sampradaya is useful in understanding Lord Vishnu in less time?

And the answer follows:

"Mr krishna das"
Fri Apr 11, 2003 6:34 pm

Radhekrishna!

Throughout the Bharatadesa 9 different sampradayas or traditions of Vaishnavism are being followed. They areof :Sri Adisankara, SriRamanuja, Madhva, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Nimbarka, Hitha Harivamsa, Vallabhacharya, Gnaneswara, Ramananda. Out of these the Srivaishnava or Ramanuja cult is oldest to the age of Alwars. The cult based on the life experiences & teachings of 12 alwars as reflected in their divine compositions in praise of Lord Vishnu viz the Divyaprabandams which was nourished by the commentaries of Acharyas of South India & propagated & administered by Acharya SriRamanuja is Ramanuja sampradaya or Srivaishnavacult. The cult gains its status through the bhashyams done by Ramanuja on Brahmasutras, Upanishads, & Bagawat Geeta.

The Gaudiya tradition is that started by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu that which is based on the life & teachings of Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, commentaries to Vedic & Puranic literatures & compositions of His disciplic successors, viz Brindavana 6 Goswamis 7 others ,all belonging to the regions comprising Bengal, Orissa, Bihar & some parts of U.P, the area called as Gaudiya desa.

The sampradaya gained its religious & social status through the commentaries given for the three Vedantic works prasnotrathrayam by Baladeva Vidhya Bhushana. It was propagated & brought easily to the public of modern age by Bhakthi Vinoda Thakur, Bhakthisiddanda Saraswathi & Srila A.C. Bhaktivedantha Swami Prabhupada (Iskcon founder).

The difference between Ramanuja sampradaya & Gaudiya sampradaya of Mahaprabhu is that in the latter one Lord Krishna is conidered to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead & Lord Vishnu is regarded as His Amsa, whereas in Srivaisnavism Lord Vishnu is supreme & Krishna is one of His avathara. But the significance of Vishnu & Krishna is equally acknowledged in both. There are many philosophical differences between these sampradayas. But devotees may not go for those things. Devotees are free to take the path of any of the sampradayas of proper origin & good leadership Acharyaparampara of their choice since all are equally good and significant ones. Both are simple & essence of both are: true devotion to the Lord, Bhakthas, singing the Glory of the Lord & chanting His name. So both are simple and easy to be followed.

Radhekrishna!

Krishnadas.A.s

Well,.. WOW! Whether this person is/was sympathetic to IGM is unknown since he clearly doesn't know very much about traditional Gaudiya Vaishnavism as a whole, but I find it remarkable that he can casually and plainly list one or two major philosophical differences between the two sampradayas and not say something mean or bitter in the slightest!

At the time I read this, I used this example as a marked contrast of how certain people/schools of Vaishnavism would react if the same question was put to them regarding their differences with other schools. Would they behave as well as this individual, explaining the differences in a calm and dispassionate way and free from any mention whatsoever of any disputes? History has sadly shown the answer to be a shameful 'no'.

There's always something to be learnt from other people. It's about time that conflict resolution (if any still exist) should be undertaken in a calm and diplomatic manner. That applies across the board; from interactions with members of other groups to relationships between individual Vaishnavas.

Great XHK Tool!

2006-09-04T02:25:00.000+01:00

[Original time & date of post: 03:12 - Aug 21 2006]

[Moved up to facilitate continuing discussion in comments section.]

If you've spotted my use of diacritics in recent posts and wondering how I've managed it, it's all thanks to friends at Gaudiya Kutir Wiki, who have created this nice tool that enables people to write in XHK (Extended Harvard-Kyoto). I haven't figured out all it's intricacies yet (such as capital lettering) but go ahead and download it, it's well worth the time!

Ohhhhhhh, not again!

2006-09-04T02:23:00.000+01:00

As I was busy doing seva by way of serving the prasad today, one of my friends came up to receive a puri and he asked me if I had been to India this year. When I said no, he asked if I would like to join him and a group of about 30 others from the temple on a trip to Vrindavan!!!!

And not just Vrindavan because they would be going on a tour: Vrindavan, Mayapur, Puri, the lot! Anyone who knows me will know that for several years I have been screaming my head off and tearing my hair out about the fact that I have never been to any of the holy dhamas. Here is a perfect opportunity; my first trip would be within a group so I would be "looked after" if I run into any trouble, a responsible devotee will be guiding us around so I can "see the sights" and all, to fulfil a long-cherished ambition of visiting the holy dhamas (especially Navadvip), not to mention coming back with a suitcase full of books! Oh, and the fact that I would get to spend my birthday in the holy dhama.

The trip lasts about 3 weeks and they leave next week. Unfortunately (and yet again!) it was impossible for me to join this group because it would be extremely hard to get a ticket now, most of the people have already had their shots and malaria tablets, what to speak of my own work commitments and so on. Aaaaaarrrrrrrrrggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh! If my friend had informed me earlier about this trip then I could have joined them for sure. This is really a perfect opportunity and I am forced to pass it up. I almost immediately went into a state of gloom.

So I'm really and extremely annoyed about that right now. Very annoyed and completely disappointed.

Radhastami 2006 Cakes and stuff..

2006-09-03T04:50:00.000+01:00

As promised, here are the pics that I didn't upload yesterday...

Closeups of Radhe:

And the cakes:

Zoom up on the white cake and it says, "She has lotus eyes". Zooming up to the green cake (with a golden book made of icing, yum!) we can see that the 'tapta-kañcana-gauraṅgi' has been written there, with it's meaning in English on the other 'page' of the book. The pink cake says, 'She is the abode of love for the residents of Gokula.' :-)

No, you eyes do not deceive you, I deliberately left the best till last. That little Radha and Krishna on the pink cake are so cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute!!!!!!!! I just had to take a closeup of that:

Radhastami 2006 Pics!

2006-09-02T01:02:00.000+01:00

To say that Radhastami was a "fantastic occasion" is probably the understatement of the year! Next to Janmastami (and Gaura Purnima for me), Radhastami is the most important day of the year given our ambitions for Radha-dasyam. The beauty of it all is that, unlike Janmastami which draws huge crowds, it is a relatively intimate occasion that takes place among a templeful of devotees. It is still crowded, no doubt, but not like Janmastami.

Nothing much to report on my side though. I took a half-day off work in order to go to the temple in time for the Raj-bhog arati and perform some seva by way of serving the feast. Of course I took my camera along! And just 'feast' on the results:

Temple Room:

See how beautifully it was decorated...

Gaura-Nitai!:

What you're all waiting for - Sri Sri Radha-Gokulananda in all Their finery!:

The Utsav-deities:

(The third deity in the last pic is that of Smt. Vrinda-devi)

Sri Sri Sita-Rama-Lakshmana-Hanuman (and the Rama-śīla)

I'll post more pics tomorrow of the cakes and closeups.

Mahaprabhu's Dancing On Radhastami

2006-09-01T01:49:00.000+01:00

One day, with a smile, the son of Mother Saci told Pundarika Vidyanidhi Prabhu, "Tomorrow we shal observe the birthday ceremony of Sri Radhika in your house." Vidyanidhi was overjoyed hearing this news. He rushed to his house to arrange everything for the festival. The next day, Prabhu came to the house of Vidyanidhi with His associates and followers, sat down in their midst, and performed the janma-abhiṣeka, bathing ceremony of Sri Radhika on Her birthday. What can I say about the emotions Mahaprabhu exhibited at that time?

āju gorācānda gaṇa-saha gopaveśe
tile tile adhika vibhola se nā rase

Today, Goracanda, accompanied by His
associates and donning a cowherd's
dress, gradually became completely
overwhelemed with rasa.

hāṣe laha laha cāhe gadādhara pāne
vahaye ānanda vāri dhāra du' nayane

He laughed and rocked to and fro'
while glancing towards Gadadhara
with tears of bliss streaming
from His two eyes.

mukunda mādhava vāsu ullāsa hiyāya
rādhikā janama carita sabhe gāya

Greatly delighted, Mukunda, Madhava and
Vasu sing the pastimes of Radhika's birth.

bāje khola karatāla bhuvana-maṅgala
nāce paṅhu dharaṇī karaya ṭalamala

The sounds of the khol and the
karatalas filled the world with
auspiciousness, while the dancing of
myriad feet made the earth tremble.

gaurīdāsa ādi nāce bhāra kari' kāndhe
dekhite se gopa-veśa kebā thire bāndhe

Gauridasa and others dance
while carrying pots on their
shoulders. Seeing their cowherd
dress, who can sit quietly?

kata sāthe nāce puṇdarīka vidyānidhi
chaḍāiyā navanī haladī dudha dadhi

Among them, Pundarika Vidyanidhi dances
and snatches away butter, haldi, milk and yoghurt.

nitāi advaita śrīvāsādi raṅga dekhi'
bhāse sukha samudre phirāte nāre āṅkhi

Seeing the playful pastimes of
Nitai, Advaita, Srivasa and the
others, everyone floated in an ocean of
happiness and couldn't take their eyes away.

kī nārī puruṣa dhāya ei raṅge dekhite
dāṇḍāiyā aṅgane cāhaye cāribhite

Whether woman or man, everyone rushed to see
this playfulness and stood inside the courtyard.

dekhi' goparūpera mādhurī anupama
keha kahe, - 'nāce i'ki kanakera kāma'

Seeing the cowherd boy's form
full of matchless sweetness,
someone said, 'What is this
dancing golden treasure?'

deva-gaṇa nācaye kusuma vṛṣṭhi kari'
jaya jaya diyā raṅge nāce narahari

The devas dance and rain down flowers. Rejoicing and
exclaiming 'jaya! jaya!' Narahari dances with sheer delight.

- Adapted from Sri Krishna Kathamrita Bindu #134, originally from Bhakti-ratnakara 12.3178-3213.

On the other hand...

2006-08-31T04:41:00.000+01:00

Various places in the Gaudiya shastras state quite emphatically that nari-sanga is strictly forbidden even in dreams.

dekhi' trāsa upajila saba bhakta-gaṇe
svapne-ha chāḍila sabe strī-sambhāṣaṇe

Observing thus, an atmosphere of fear grew among the
devotees. They gave up talking with women even in dreams.
(CC 3.2.144)

This verse relates to the story of Chota Haridasa; the bhaktas became so fearful of Mahaprabhu's strict treatment of Chota Haridas that they completely gave up talking and dealing with women. It is indeed a very dangrous thing. One should read the full story of Chota Haridasa as contained in CC, it is much better than reading summaries in books as there are a lot of details and insights to be gained.

The Mind of a Prostitute

2006-08-31T04:01:00.000+01:00

Last night I dreamt that I approached a prostitute with the intention of you-know-what. I wonder why. My dreams have taken on a sort of slapstick tone lately; for example, I might dream that I am cooking something and then all sorts of things and events happen within the dream that distract me far away from my purpose and by the end of it I haven't cooked anything. So in the same vein, I dreamt that I approached a prostitute to sleep with her but I never actually got to do the deed thanks to the circumstantial distractions that took place.

Even so, it was a strange dream and I wondered what had occurred to make me dream of such weird things. Recently I have been arguing the virtues of Krishna-worship (God-worship) versus demigod-worship. We all know of those Gita verses where demigod-worship is more or less banned, and also that quote in some Purana or other (Skanda?) that giving up Krishna to worship the demigods is like giving up your mother and living with a witch. Among demigod-worshippers it is usually the case that several demigods are worshipped as in the case of Adi Sankara and his panca-puja idea (worship of five different divinities). It is my own personal thing to term this as spiritual prostitution. I have also used this in the context of jumping from one guru to another, spiritual prostitution. So perhaps the usage of this term with all of it's mundane connotations went into my subconscious and accounted for my dream.

In any case I did realise when I woke up that I should not lend my mind to such ideas even if I do have good intentions like pointing out the irrelevance of demigod-worship. It is just not a good idea to think of things with such strong terms like "prostitution" even though I have been doing it for years.

And then all of a sudden it hit me in a eureka moment: the mind is like a prostitute, flitting from one thought to another in the same way as a prostitutes flits from man to man. After all, one of the side-aims of spiritual practice is to bring the mind under control so that it can be focused on God, who is incidentally the only Man (Purusha). Wow, even though I had to learn this lesson in a rather graphic way, it is still a heck of a lesson to learn!

nirantara sevā kare antarmanā hañā

"At all times, perform service in the mind."
(CC 2.22.159)

In other words, try to think of Krishna constantly, keeping material thoughts to a minimum. Wise words indeed.

Krishna-lila and Caitanya-lila

2006-08-27T04:37:00.000+01:00

kṛṣṇa-līlā amṛta-sāra, tāra śata śata dhāra
daśa-dika vahe yāhā haite
se caitanya-līlā haya, sarovara akṣaya
mano-haṁsa carāha' tāhāte

"The lilas of Krishna are the essence of nectar, from which hundreds of streams are running in the ten directions. The pastimes of Chaitanya are an ever-full lake, and my mind, like a swan, swims in that lake."

- CC 2.25.271

Madhvacharya supports siddha-deha?

2006-08-27T04:28:00.001+01:00

"The Vedānta Sūtras specially discuss the question of how the released spirits enjoy themselves at all, as they have transcended the material plane and have no physical bodies or sense organs and answer the question [4.4.10-16] from different standpoints consistent with the trans-empirical character of the released state. The Sūtrakāra says, for instance, that the released souls can fashion at their will (which is also satyasaṁkalpa in conformity with God's will) suitable bodies out of Shuddhasattva or enjoy themselves with their own spiritual bodes composed of cit, ānanda, etc."

- Philosophy of Sri Madhvacharya, p. 448

History of Dvaita Vedanta etc...

2006-08-27T03:17:00.000+01:00

Ok, so I've skimmed through the book today. It is exactly what it says in the title; a history of the Dvaita Vedanta school, etc. Quite a boring book for those who are not interested in the subject, and quite a bad choice if it's a delineation of Madhvacharya's philosophy that you're after. The other annoying thing about all these religious books from India is that the Sanskrit verses are in Devanagari. Grrr....

Apart from that this is quite a good book if you're into this type of thing. I went through the chapter where Dr. Sharma discusses Madhva's influence on the Caitanya Vaishnavas of Bengal. From the Internet you'll get the impression that Dvaitins are rather inimical to Gaudiya Vaishnavas, but in this particular chapter Sharma discusses the hows and whys of Madhvite influence on Gaudiyas. I cannot really understand the detailed discussions unless I have some rudimentary knowledge of Devanagari and knowledge of Gaudiya siddhanta (Gosvami literatures) but it is very technical and gone over with a toothcomb, I feel. Of course it is the usual thing of "academic" studies for some curious/disturbing facts to come to light but it's actually quite a positive evaluation on a whole. What a surprise. Sharma even goes so far as to defend Gaudiyas when discussing criticisms of GV made by Bengali academics! There are also some very interesting facts about the parampara issue.

Check out the end of the essay:

"Notwithstanding these limitations and shortcomings, Baladeva's commentary on the [Brahma Sutras] bears the stamp of the greatest influence and impact of Mādhva thought and interpretation upon it. In him Mādhva influence on the Caitanya school has certainly reached its zenith." (p. 596)

There is also some discussion about Madhvite influence in the works of Sripada Rupa and Jiva Gosvamis, which I found to be quite a discovery. I never knew that Laghu-bhagavatamrita had Madhvite influence!

Interestingly there is a later appendix (added in the 2000 edition) which discusses problems found in the 1995 edition of Sat-sandarbhas produced by the duo of Satyanarayan and Kundali dasas of the Jiva Institute! It is these problems (an interpolation in Satyanarayan's edition that upsets Sharma by saying that Madhva is a disciplic descendent of Sankara) that lead Sharma to make other criticisms such as the issue of Caitanya's "argument" with the Udupi Math people. As such, I now find the citation of Sharma made here to be rather disingenuous, it's cited totally out of context! Although Sharma's criticisms don't appear to be based in a good grounding of the Gaudiya philosophy either. He would have shifted the blame onto Krishnadas Kaviraja Gosvamipada if he had bothered to do so.

New Books Arrived!

2006-08-26T06:04:00.000+01:00

I finally got my shipment of Madhvacharya books, yippee!

The Philosophy of Madhvacharya
History of the Dvaita School of Vedanta and it's Literature

Both books are by the famous Madhva scholar, Dr. B.N.K. Sharma. Now finally I have some authentic Madhva material in my hands so that I can properly understand Tattvavāda philosophy. After years of being a member of their forums and not understanding a single word of what they say (lol), perhaps now I can make some headway "from the beginning" so to speak.

At first glance they do look a little difficult to comprehend in terms of language, whew! Lots of references to Madhvite influence on Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism. ī'll be looking forward to flicking through these books. I think my next move will be to procure a copy of Sankara's, Ramanuja's and Madhva's commentaries on the Vedanta. I have been searching around and I have found several books supposedly offering a "combo" of all three commentaries but I don't think such a thing is possible, because Vedanta is a big text and the bhashyas even more so. So I might be better off getting separate commentaries. I'll also need to speak to some Advaitins, Sri Vaishnavas and Dvaitins so that they can recommend good editions/authors.

On the other hand, ī was informed around a week ago that my order of Advaita dasji's books will take three weeks to arrive! Sheesh! But at least they're on the way, and I'm looking forward to that delivery too.

Charming Gaura-Nitai

2006-08-21T04:18:00.000+01:00

A charming photo of Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai at Bhaktivedanta Manor on the occasion of Nandotsava 2006.

More Janmastami Pics!

2006-08-21T03:32:00.000+01:00

A devotee has asked me to post more of my Janmastami pics, so here they are! I might add that these pictures are just slightly different versions of those already posted. As any good amateur photographer would know, it is essential to take a few shots of something in the hope that one or two good shots will come out. So these pictures are also good, but in another way here are the out-takes!:

By the way, I recently noticed this fantastic collection of pictures that are way better than mine. Interestingly, I am acquainted with the devotee who takes these pictures. There are some great Janmastami shots there: Bhaktivedanta Manor Flickr Site.

Mahaprabhu gazes at tulasī

2006-08-20T05:32:00.000+01:00

saṅkhya nāma laite ye sthāne prabhu vaise
tathāi rākhena tulasīre prabhu paśe

tulasīre dekhena, japena saṅkhya-nāma
e bhakti-yogera tattva ke bujhibe āna?

"Wherever (Mahā)Prabhu sits to chant His rounds, He keeps tulasī before Him. He gazes at tulasī while He does His japa. Who can comprehend these truths of bhakti-yoga?" - CB 3.6.159-160

I just love this, I don't know why. It's so endearing. Just imagine, Sriman Mahāprabhu doing His japa in front of tulasī. Amazing!

Nandotsava Pics

2006-08-20T04:40:00.000+01:00

Nandotsava celebrations. I was able to get a proper pic of the 'gopi display' this time:

Janmastami Pics!

2006-08-20T03:22:00.000+01:00

My Janmastami report would be incomplete without pics, so here they are! Starting off with the beautiful Deities of course. Just see how beautiful the display was, with several gopis around, glorifying the sacred union of Radha-Gokulananda:

The Utsav-deities get ready to be "abhishek'ed" shortly before midnight:

The abhishek is happening:

The devotees are asked to hold hands and pray. The devotee in the red shirt is Bhakta Mark, a very nice thoughtful devotee:

The utsav-deities bestow their blessing of darshan to the crowds after midnight:

More pics of the (big) deities on Janmastami:

Janmastami 2006 Report

2006-08-20T02:56:00.000+01:00

Janmastami seemed 'easy' this year, I don't know how else to describe it. Of course there are the usual tensions to do with organisation and just general pre-event nerves and anxiety, but on the day itself it seemed somewhat 'easy'. Or maybe I find it like that because I've been through it all a few times and I know roughly what to expect, whereas for some of the newer volunteers they would of course find it overwhelming. Still, Janmastami on a weekday is usually far better than on a Sunday for obvious reasons. Writing a few days after the fact, pleae forgive me if I do not remember certain details or write incoherently in places.

I was kinda excited. I got up in the morning and did the puja for my own dear Sri Sri Nitai-Gaurasundara before getting ready for the temple. Unfortunately I was unable to make it in time for the abhishek and morning kirtan but that is life. I finally got there around 4pm and immediately started my service after taking a quick walk around the field to check out the mela arrangements. The thing is that, just like every other year, my "service" is all over the place. I was officially designated as part of the 'Temple Room' team, yet my team leader told me to station myself near the Ratha-cart to manage the flow of devotees into the darshan lines and the directions of the toilets. Beyond that, it is my usual custom to assist the Utsav-deities on Their tour of the mela and ultimately end up assisting the brahmin priests during the midnight abhishek. For some reason the tour was cancelled this year so I had some extra time on my hands to chant some rounds, which I took!

This year I was unable to attend the preparatory volunteer meetings although my team leader knows me and my usual seva and also that I am a regular, not just on festivals but throughout the whole year, so I guess I didn't have much seva in the way of "strictness". This is probably why I was allowed to get away with chanting rounds during the seva. I'm unsure if chanting is allowed in favour of appearing as a "professional" usher, but I noticed other devotees doing their chanting while doing seva so I figured I may as well do it. More on that later.

So as my seva didn't seem to be quite as strict as previous years, and whereas at times it felt as if I was a superfluous person, it was possible that I was allowed to "get away" with a lot such as chanting and walking around to check out the whole mela. In any case the time came for my usual seva of assisting the brahmin-priests at the midnight-abhishek. As I had missed the morning festivities I felt that this was my one and only chance of participating in a "proper" celebration of Janmastami. I went in the Main Tent about an hour before the abhishek was due to start. At the door I received a rather nice surprise; one devotee told me that he reads my blog! I was kinda taken aback because I didn't know how to deal with that, but wow! I guess I'm glad that this blog has got some readership, haha! Here is the blog of this devotee: Interrupted Love.

Manohar Krishna das was singing on the stage. As I wanted to get on with my chanting, I switched off my hearing aids so that distractions would be minimised. I'd like to state that, by Krishna's supreme grace, a little desire that I had about performing a certain sadhana on Janmastami was fulfilled, against all the odds, and I was very happy about that. But I know that MKd is a good singer who has released some tapes of his own, so occasionally I switched my aids back on to hear it. My other friend Sakhya-Rasa das was playing keyboards. And then all of a sudden, a really modern boppy tune came out and MKd started singing a Hindi bhajan (his own composition?) about Radha-Krishna. It sounded pretty cool.

And then all the fun started: the midnight abhishek! One female devotee was organising the regular fanning of Prabhupada's murti (with chamara) and then she asked me if I would like to do it. Of course I would! Just like I have done in previous years too! So I hurriedly washed my hands, clambered up on the stage and paid my obeisances before taking the chamara and proceeding to fan Prabhupada for around 10 minutes or so before the next devotee came to take over. How nice. Not only do I get the chance to perform seva for Sri Guru-tattva but at least there was someone organising it for people to do it in turns, unlike previous years where you could quite literally do it for hours! Not that I would mind, of course, but it's just nice to see someone taking control of the whole thing.

Of course, since I am not brahmin-initiated I cannot perform the abhishek myself and neither can I "assist" the pujaris as such in the case of passing the liquids along and so on, but it was nice to perform my usual seva of taking the hallowed aratik tray and taking it among the crowds for them to take the holy flame into thei souls. I used to do it regularly almost every Sunday but now there are too many people jostling for competition and the chance to do it, so I guess that I've had my luck's worth and that it's now time for others to do it, but still I haven't done it in so long and it felt so nice to be able to do it again. I deliberately take it as slowly as possible so as to allow the maximum number of devotees to come forward and take the holy flame, a the same time trying to set a balance between the number of people coming forward and the duration of the flame. Must try to get it to as many people as possible before the flame burns out! And due to the intricate seating arrangements in the Main Tent I was unable to go among the crowd, and had to skim along the outer limits so as to allow people to come forward and take the flame. Little did I know that by the time skimming the front was finished, there was still a lot of flame to give and so I took the opportunity to take the arati-tray among the crowds like I should do, so that older people and disabled people could get a chance at taking the arati.

I like that. It's nice to give as many people as possible the chance to take the flame. Some people do it very quickly and people miss out on the blessing, so I always try my best to take it to as many devotees as possible before the flame burns out. As I was doing this in the Main Tent, I could see the obvious joy on some people's faces since they never expected that they would get the blessing, not having come forward when I was skimming the front rows. So it was nice to bring these people a little bit of Janmastami happiness.

After that, I think Ravin (the MC) announced that as the Utsav-deities were getting ready to give the midnight darshan (the time of Lord Krishna's Holy Appearance) and that devotees should stand up, hold hands, and chant 'Hare Krishna' mantra with wholehearted sincerity and to pray for the peace and welfare of the world. Then he began the exciting countdown to midnight, and then at the appropriate moment, the beautiful 'Govindam' prayers boomed out over the speakers and we all joined in the chanting of those holy Brahma-samhita verses to herald the appearance of our Beloved Lord. I love those prayers, it's quite possibly the most beautiful bhajan I've ever heard. Everything about it is perfect; the voice, the tune, the music, everything. No wonder it sent Prabhupada into samadhi when he first heard it!

And then Ravin announced that devotees should line up at both sides of the stage in order to take darshan of the deities and also efficiently join the line to partake of the beautiful abhishek-juice. (the liquids that bathed the deities). I took some nice photos of the 'Midnight Deities' and finished it off by eating a few of the prasadi-raisin garlands and a small glass of abhishek juice in order to break my fast. Fasting completely from dawn until midnight is another Janmastami practice that needs to be performed efficiently, and what a wonderful way to break it, with abhishek-juice! After this, I put on my shoes and went off to the Volunteer's Barn in order to break my fast (properly) with a meal of Ekadasi (simple) food.

I stayed overnight at the temple or the next day, which is simultaneously Prabhupada's birthday and Nandotsava, the festival of Nanda (commemorating Nanda Maharaj's 'public' celebration of Krishna's birth the day after Krishna's birth, lol). I took some more photos of the (big) deities. They looked beautiful as always. They always look beautiful. I can't believe it. Chanting is very very important, very important. One must make a special effort to deepen one's own personal relationship with Radha-Krishna on festival days like these.

Mahaprabhu's Dancing on Janmastami

2006-08-16T01:42:00.000+01:00

(kāmoda raga)

gorā mora gokulera śaśī
kṛṣṇera janama āji kahe hāsi hāsi

My Gora, the moon of Gokul, again and again
declares that today is the birthday of Krishna.

se āveśe thira haite nāre
dhari gopaveśa nāca ullāsa antare

In an introspective mood He has donned the dress of
a cowherd boy, and dances in a way that delights His heart.

nitāi gopera veśa dhari
hāte laiyā laguḍa nācaye bhaṅgi kari

Nitai has also donned a cowherd dress, and
dances in various ways while carrying a stick.

gaurīdāsa rāmāi sundara
nāce gopa-veśe kāndhe bhāra manohara

Gauridasa and Ramai look beautiful, dancing in the
dress of cowherds while carrying clay pots on their shoulders.

śrivāsa advaita gopa-veśe
chāḍaya haladī dadhi manera ullāse

Srivasa and Advaita, dressed as cowherds,
joyfully throw haldi and yoghurt everywhere.

keha keha nānā vādya vāya
mukunda mādhava ye janama-līlā gāya

While different persons played different varieties of music,
Mukunda das and Madhava das sang about Krishna's birth-pastimes.

kare sumaṅgala nārīgaṇa
śrivāsa ālaya yena nandera bhavana

The ladies made many auspicious sounds, as if
Srivasa's home was the palace of Nanda Maharaj.

jaya-dhvani kari bāre bāre
dhyāya loka dhairaja dharite keu nāre

Again and again the devotees shouted
'jaya!', and nobody could control themselves.

kata sādhe dekhe aṅkhi bhari'
śobhāya bhuvana bhule bhaṇe narahari

Eagerly gazing on these pastimes,
everyone felt their eyes to be satisfied.
Narahari declares that the whole world is enchanted by that beauty.

- Adapted from Sri Krishna Kathamrita-bindu #133, originally from Bhakti-ratnakara 12.3148-3168

One year old today!

2006-08-15T01:32:00.000+01:00

I just noticed that this blog has been in operation for exactly a year today, so perhaps I should give myself a pat on the back, haha.

I can't say that I've treated this blog very well as I have neglected it at the best of times when I had nothing much to comment on spiritual issues. Hopefully now that I've recently experienced a bit of a revival (in regards to the recent Vedanta postings and other tidbits) then I'll be presenting the fruit of my thoughts here. A bright future!

Just one question: Where's my cake? ;-)

On the other hand I learnt that one of my friends is selling his collection of Advaita dasji's books, 5 in all. The offer was too good to be true so I snapped it up immediately. I should be expecting them to arrive perhaps by next weekend, give or take a couple of days. Woo hoo! So perhaps I'll get a bit of rasik joy to challenge the recent Vedanta cerebralist inclinations!

But actually I am even more convinced that Vedanta (especially as elucidated by our dear Sri Baladeva) is not cerebral at all. Today I was reading the section about how the form of the Lord cannot be seen. In the next sutra after that, it is described how the form of the Lord can be seen by those whom He wills. The commentary is a beautiful and vivid exposition about how the form of the Lord does not necessarily have to be seen within the mind, but if the Lord wills it, you shall be able to see Him with your own two eyes just as you an see anybody and anything else. The eyes have to be coated with love for Him. I sighed heavily after reading that. Unbelievable that such things are discussed and concluded as a matter of Vedantic certainty.

I HEARTILY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK! GET IT! :-)

Mahaprabhu in the Upanishads!

2006-08-14T05:58:00.000+01:00

I have known about these references for some time, as I got them from Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati's Gaudiya-bhashya to the Caitanya-bhagavat. It seems fitting that while I'm on my current Vedanta craze, I may as well post them here. I can no longer find that purport in the CB so I just found these two bookmarked in my Upanishads book. How nice to see my dear Mahaprabhu in the Upanishads! :-)

yadA paszyaH pazyate rukma-varNaM
kartAram Izam puruSam brahma-yonim
tadA vidvAn puNya-pApe vidhUya
niraJjanaH paramaM sAmyam upaiti

"When a seer sees that creator of golden hue, the Lord, the Person, the source of Brahma, then being a knower, shaking off good and evil and free from stain, he attains supreme equality with the lord." - Mundaka Upanishad 3.1.3

mahAn prabhur vai puruSaH sattvasyaiSa pravartakaH
surnirmalAm imAm prAptim IzAno jyotir avyayaH

"That person is indeed the great lord, the impeller of the highest being. (He has the power of) reaching the purest attainment, the ruler, the imperishable light." - Svetasvatara Upanishad 3.12

And here's another one which I found today:

vedAham etam puruSam mahAntam
Aditya varNaM tamasaH parastAt
tam eva viditvA atimRtyum eti
nAnyaH panthA vidyate'yanAya

"I know the Supreme Person of sunlike colour (lustre) beyond the darkness. Only by knowing Him does one pass over death. There is no other path for going there." - Svetasvatara Upanishad 3.8

Alternative translations welcome. I'm not very happy with the translation of Line 2 in Svet. U. 3.12 but anyway it is better than nothing and the verse itself is nice since it names Mahaprabhu!

Food In Semen

2006-08-14T05:02:00.000+01:00

As if to support what I was saying yesterday, I came across this Upanishadic quote earlier this evening:

annaM vai prajApatiH, tato ha vaitad retaH,
tasmAd imAH prajAH prajAyante

"Food, indeed, is the lord of creation; from this, verily is semen. From this creatures here are born." - Prashna Upanishad 2.1.14

I wouldn't credit Radhakrishnan's translations much ('prajapati' in this context does not mean that food is the lord of all creation!) but it's interesting to see these principles supported everywhere. No wonder semen is derived from the food we eat, as that tallies with my personal experiences also.

Vedanta reflections

2006-08-13T03:45:00.000+01:00

Phew! Those last few posts were a bit cerebral, weren't they? I thought that I was done with cerebral-type arguments and was ready for a bit of the easy life in regards to developing my own bhakti-relationship with Yugal-Kishor. Obviously not, even though it's not actually that bad because at least I am contemplating some ideas of Gaudiya Vaishnava Vedanta.

I personally am not that keen on using scriptures in arguments anymore although I used to be rather active on this front in the past. I just generally feel that scriptures should be properly learned with a view to receiving knowledge, rather than cherry-picking bits and pieces and looking up things for the purpose of using it as a "weapon" in debate. I do this in come places but I am not all that keen on it anymore. Sometimes it has to be done, but not all the time. The most important thing is to properly learn all of this stuff, preferably under the guidance of a guru, and consider the teachings with a sober (dhIraH, calm) mind. At the moment the only guru I have is Chaitya-guru.

Still, it's an absolute joy to read the Govinda-bhashya. My dear friend Advaita dasji recently said, "There seems to be incredibly rasik stuff in the Upanishads." He's not kidding! You would think that Vedanta is a rather cerebral subject but the more I read it, there more I feel that I have come closer to Radha-Krishna. It's so strange, the bhashya is full of Upanishadic quotations and Veda references and all. I guess that I am just feeling extremely gratified how our Gaudiya tattva has been so beautifully elucidated by Sri Baladeva Vidyabhushan. But still, this strange feeling keeps coming every time I read the bhashya.

Of course, the traditional belief is that the bhashya was dictated to Sri Baladeva by Govindaji Himself so there is the concept of reading the direct words of Govindaji. Was it Sri Rupa Gosvami's Govindaji, I wonder? I'm quite sure that Vasu was a devotee. If he was not, then he was at least favourable to the Gaudiyas. He makes a reference to Mahaprabhu being "the last of the Avataras" in his introduction and he signs off his intro with "S.C.B." We all know the Bengali convention of swapping "v's" with "b's" and vice versa so there is a possibility that Vasu was Bengali as well. It appears to have been submitted at Benares in 1912 so it is quite an old book.

But, wow! I'm extremely glad that I got this book, it's worth every penny! There's so much to read and so many little tidbits that can afford illumination on topics that I never considered before. And the beauty of the bhashya (as with any bhashya) is that everything is properly referenced with shastric quotations. Yummy!

Today I found out something interesting. There is a section where the process of reincarnation is described. The idea is that after the soul has squandered his merits in the heavenly planets and needs to come back down again, he brings along with him a snall amount of karma that was not suitable for enjoyment in the heavenly planets and which is suitable for his next life to experience. I can't remember the exact way it works, but it has something to do with the returning soul's connection with plants and food grains (rice, corn, etc). The ideas is that the food-grains will be eaten and the soul will be transferred form the food into the male's semen, which will then be transferred into the woman after sex in order to get a physical vehicle for he next birth. Of course, the type of parents one gets is dependent on the type of karma one returns with.

This made me realise why it is very very important not to waste food and certainly not to throw it away! It also shows how important it is to eat food because if you eat all your food you will be doing th jivas (present in the food) a big favour by offering them the chance to enter your semen and have the chance to be born. Well, only one sperm cell will get that chance so it's survival of the fittest anyway. Eating all of food is thus important, and I was reminded of a story about the Prophet Muhummad which I had encountered in my studies of Islam: The Prophet enjoined his followers to eat every last bit of food and even to lick up all your fingers so as to prevent any amount of wastage, and he did this by his own personal example too.

It's just funny, a lot of things came together when I read that part. Of course I wouldn't expect any rational or scientific-minded person to accept any of this stuff but they wouldn't accept any religious stuff anyway. It also gave me an insight into why grains are forbidden on Ekadashi; the traditional idea is that grains on Ekadashi are contaminated by the sins of everyone in the jagat. Would it have something to do with the jivas who are present in the food grains, and that it is their sins who we are consuming? Baladeva does not directly say this, it is an inference which I am making. It's an interesting consideration. Vedanta has lots of things for consideration.

Vedanta Sutra Digest

2006-08-09T04:30:00.000+01:00

The basic points summarised:

Vedanta Sutra 4.3.16: This relates to the question of being transported to Vaikuntha upon receipt of mukti; does the Lord Himself come to take muktas or are they transported by His messengers (Vishnudutas)? The answer is that in special cases the Lord Himself arrives to personally escort the Nirapeksa (sannyasi, dedicated) devotees. The Nirapeksa devotees are special for another reason; unlike most devotees who apparently have to remain in their liGga-dehas (subtle bodies) for some time, the Nirapeksas are immediately released from both their physical and subtle bodies, and that their celestial (apRakritic) body is given by the Lord immediately.

Vedanta Sutra 4.4.1: This sutra discusses Chan. U. 8.12.3, whereby the description of the mukta and his activities are described. It is then asked "what is meant by the manifestation of 'one's own form'?", as stated in the Chan. U. Srimat Baladeva answers that this refers to the dormant eight-fold qualities of the soul, and that it this is what is referred to as the "manifestation of one's own form". This is confirmed later [VS 4.4.5].

Vedanta Sutra 4.4.2: This sutra confirms that the "manifestation of one's own form" is the state of mukti. "Therefore, Mukti is indeed the manifestation of one's own form, which consists in remaining in one's own natural condition, free from the body, etc., which are produced through the effect of Karmas. This bodiless condition, free from pleasure and pain, is Mukti."

Vedanta Sutra 4.4.3: In the previous sutra a doubt was raised as to the nature of the "Highest Light"; does the term refer to the Sun or does it refer to Brahman? This sutra confirms that the "Highest Light" (param jyotir) refers to Brahman, Hari.

Vedanta Sutra 4.4.5: In VS 4.4.1 it was stated that the manifestation of the latent eight-fold qualities of the soul constituted the "manifestation of one's own form" as mentioned in the Chan. U. This sutra explains those eight-fold qualities to be: (1) he is free from sins, (2) free from old age, (3) free from death, (4) free from grief, (5) free from hunger, (6) free from thirst, (7) he has desires which are instantly realised, and (8), a will which accomplishes its resolution spontaneously. This is the opinion of Jaimini Rishi: The mukta manifests a body that has eight attributes.

Vedanta Sutra 4.4.6: Next, the opinion of Audulomi Rishi is given: The mukta manifests a body that has only one attribute - intelligence (prajJAH).

Vedanta Sutra 4.4.7: After giving the opinion of Jaimini and Audulomi, Badarayana opines that both are true. The soul can simultaneously display it's inherent eight qualities as well as it's one quality (of intelligence), and that these two views do not contradict each other as in the example of a mass of salt. "Therefore, it follows, that in Mukti, the Jiva manifests as pure intelligence, endowed by the Lord with the eight qualities."

Vedanta Sutra 4.4.10: For the mukta who approaches the Highest Light (Hari), has he a body or not? The opinion of Badari is given: The muktas do not have a body, on the reasoning that the existence of a body intimates the existence of pain, etc., and that the description given in the Chan. U. (8.12.3) implies that the soul's exit from the body means that it is above pain and thus bodiless.

Vedanta Sutra 4.4.11: Then the opinion of Jaimini: The muktas have a body on the authority of Chan. U. (7.26.2), wherein it is described that the mukta can assume various bodies simultaneously. Furthermore, this is possible because the body of the mukta is celestial (apRakritic).

Vedanta Sutra 4.4.12: The final word on the subject - The mukta has both a body and a bodiless nature because the scriptures describe them in both ways. A technical example of a Vedic sacrifice is given to illustrate this point. However, due to the muktas' release from the body and their quality of 'satya-sankalpa' (having their wishes realised instantaneously), assume a body by the force of their mere will, and they can have as many as they like (within reason!). Those muktas who do not wish to possess a body will not choose to do so. Those muktas who choose to assume bodies do so out of their wish to serve Hari, manifesting His cit-sakti as they do so. Then it is described that the mukta's body has a nature like that of Hari's, whereby they see, hear, smell, perceive and know through His energy alone. Verily, the mukta's body is am aMza of Hari!
Srimat Baladeva writes that the will of the mukta, which is operative in all of this, has to be cultivated from the beginning of the sadhaka's spiritual practice, and that it is the same will that was cultivated during the time of sadhana. "Since this had been his aspiration, even before Mukti, it becomes realised in the state of Mukti."

--

Thus it is concluded that there is no Vedantic support for the "inherent siddha-deha" theory, and that Srimat Baladeva Vidyabhushan concurs with the Vrindaban Gosvamis and other illustrious Gaudiya Vaishnava Acharyas in the matter of sadhana with a view to attaining a spiritual body.

Vedanta Sutra 4.4.12

2006-08-09T04:12:00.000+01:00

dvAdazAha-vad ubhaya-vidham
bAdarAyaNo 'taH

12. For this reason, Badarayana holds that Muktas
are of both kinds (they are both bodiless and have
bodies), just as the twelve days' sacrifice (is
both an ahIna and a sattra. - 549

COMMENTARY

"For this reason," because the Mukta is one whose wish becomes spontaneously realised; therefore, the Lord Badarayana opines that the Mukta has both these natures: because the Scripture describes him in both these ways. In other words he maintains that the Mukta is both bodiless as well as has a body. It is like the twelve days' sacrifice which becomes a sattra, or an ahIna on the mere will of the yajamAna (whether he joins others with him or not), so these Mukta souls have a body or have not a body, on their mere will.

The real truth is this: that the Muktas, through the force of brahma-vidyA, have torn off all corporeal vestures, and have become satya-saGkalpas or beings whose mere will is action. Of these Muktas, there is a class who wish to have a body and they assume a body by the force of their mere will. And with regard to these is the verse of the Chandogya Upanishad [7.26.2], "he becomes one, he becomes three, he becomes five," etc. But those who have no desire to assume a body, do not get a body, and with regard to them the verse [8.12.1] of the Chandogya Upanishad becomes appropriate, and it is said that he is without a body.

Those Muktas, who through their celestial bodies (the brAhmic bodies) always wish to carry out the will of the Supreme Brahman, manifest in their acts the Chit Sakti of the Lord, and with that sakti they work simultaneously in different places. The Muktas always possess this Chit Sakti, and always follow the will of the Lord.

In the Brihadaranya Upanishad [2.4.14] it is said:-

yatra hi dvaitam iva bhavati, tad itara itaraM jighrati, tad itara itaram pazyati, tad itara itaram zrNoti, tad itara itaram abhivadati, tad itara itaram manute, tad itara itaram vijAnAti. yatra itv asya sarvam AtmaivAbhUt, tat kena kaM jighret, tat kena kaM pazyet, tat kena kaM zRNuyat, tat kena kaM abhivadet, tat kena kaM manvIta, tat kena kaM vijAnIyAt?

"For when there is as it were duality, then one sees the other, one smells the other, one hears the other, one salutes the other, one perceives the other, one knows the other, but when the Self only becomes all this for the Mukta, how should he smell another, how should he see another, how should he hear another, how should he salute another, how should he perceive another, how should he know another?"

The above verse shows that when, in the state of Mukti, the Supreme Self has become the direct worker through the Mukta Jiva, when Hari pervades the Mukta Jiva, with his form of bliss, intelligence and all-pervadingness, and when He has become, as it were, all the sense-organs of the Mukta Jiva, his eyes, ears, etc., then how should such a Mukta Jiva see another, and with what he should see another, etc. Verily through the energy of Hari Himself, he sees Hari, through the sense-organs which themselves are Hari. Thus the Mukta sees Hari with the organs which are Hari and the life-energy which is Hari. Hence the Sruti says "when the Self only has become all this for the Mukta, how should he smell another, how should he see another, how should he know another," etc.

This idea is more explicitly expressed in the Sruti of the MadhyandinAyanas which is to the following effect:

"That BrahmaniSTha putting off this mortal body, and having reached Brahman, sees through Brahman, hears through Brahman, yea perceives everything through Brahman."

The smRiti also says the same:- "where dwell these spirits all of them having celestial bodies."

This SaGkalpa, or will, which blooms out in the Mukta, is to be cultivates from the very time of his earliest practice, and must be understood to be the same will, which he was cultivating during his period of sAdhana. Because the Sruti says "YathA kratuH," "as a man wills in this life, so he gets in the next." In fact, the Mukta even before he gets the state of Mukti, has been constantly willing "May I walk through the feet of Vishnu, or rather I am walking through the feet of Vishnu, I am seeing through the eyes of Vishnu," etc. Since this had been his aspiration, even before Mukti, it becomes realised in the state of Mukti.

References:

Chandogya Upanishad 7.26.2:

tad eSa zlokaH:

na pazyo mRtyum pazyati,
na rogaM nota duHkhatAm;
sarvaM ha pazyaH pazyati,
sarvam Apnoti sarvazaH.

iti.

sa ekadhA bhavati, tridhA bhavati, paJcadhA saptadhA navadhA caiva punaz caikAdazaH smRtaH, zataM ca daza caikaz ca sahasrANi ca viMzatiH.

Chandogya Upanishad 8.12.1:

maghavan, martyaM vA idam zarIram Attam mRtyunA, tad asyAmRtasyAzarIrasyAtmano'dhiSThanam, Atto vai sazarIraH, priyApriyAbhyAm, na vai sazarIrasya sataH priyApriyayor apahatir asti, azarIraM vA va santaM na priyApriye spRzataH.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: 2.4.14:

yatra hi dvaitam iva bhavati, tad itara itaraM jighrati, tad itara itaram pazyati, tad itara itaram zrNoti, tad itara itaram abhivadati, tad itara itaram manute, tad itara itaram vijAnAti. yatra itv asya sarvam AtmaivAbhUt, tat kena kaM jighret, tat kena kaM pazyet, tat kena kaM zRNuyat, tat kena kaM abhivadet, tat kena kaM manvIta, tat kena kaM vijAnIyAt?

Vedanta Sutra 4.4.11

2006-08-09T04:11:00.000+01:00

bhAvam jaiminir vikalpAmananAt

11. Jaimini holds that, because the Scripture declares
thus, therefore the Mukta has a body, as the passage
declaring the optional possession of many bodies. - 548.

COMMENTARY

Jaimini holds the view that the Mukta has a body. Why? Because of the declaration of option in the scripture. In the Chandogya Upanishad [7.26.2], where the bhUmA vidyA is described, there is the following:-

tad eSa zlokaH:

na pazyo mRtyum pazyati,
na rogaM nota duHkhatAm;
sarvaM ha pazyaH pazyati,
sarvam Apnoti sarvazaH.

iti.

sa ekadhA bhavati, tridhA bhavati, paJcadhA saptadhA navadhA caiva punaz caikAdazaH smRtaH, zataM ca daza caikaz ca sahasrANi ca viMzatiH.

"There is this verse, 'The Released does not see death, not illness, nor pain. The Released sees everything and obtains everything everywhere. He is one, he becomes three, he becomes five, he becomes seven, he becomes nine, then again he is called the eleventh, and hundred and ten and one thousand and twenty."

The above shows that the soul can assume various bodies simultaneously, and as the soul is atomic in its essential form, its becoming many can be only by its assuming diverse bodies.

Nor can it be said that the above description of the Chandogya Upanishad is not a fact, but an arthavAda. Because the description comes under the topic of Release, and is a bare statement of truth, not a figurative expression. This being so, the statement of the Chandogya Upanishad [7.12.1] regarding the soul being bodiless, in the state of Mukti, means that it has no body dependent on adRiSTa or Karmas. That the soul has a body, not of PrAkRitik matter but of celestial essence, is proved by the smRiti text also: vasanti yatra puruSAH sarve-vaikuNTha murtayaH, "where dwell released souls, all having celestial bodies (Vaikuntha Murti)."

Now the author gives his own opinion in contradistinction to that of Badari and Jaimini.

Vedanta Sutra 4.4.10

2006-08-09T04:10:00.000+01:00

Adhikarana VII.

Now the author shows that the Mukta gets a new Divine body.

Doubt: There arises the following doubt. Has the Mukta who has approached the Highest Light got any body, or has he not? Or has he a body whenever he desires to have one? Or can he not get any body?

Purvapaksa: On this point, the author first gives the opinion of Badari.

abhAvam bAdarir Aha hy evam

10. Badari (opines that the Mukta Jiva) has no
body, because thus the scripture declares. - 547.

COMMENTARY

Badari holds that there is an absence of body with regard to the freed. The body is always the outcome of one's good or bad or mixed Karmas. It is adRiSTa-made. In the state of Release, all Karmas being destroyed, there exists no adRiSTa, so there is no possibility of the origination of a body. Why? Because the Scripture declares thus: because the text of the Chandogya [8.12.1] says so.

maghavan, martyaM vA idam zarIram Attam mRtyunA, tad asyAmRtasyAzarIrasyAtmano'dhiSThanam, Atto vai sazarIraH, priyApriyAbhyAm, na vai sazarIrasya sataH priyApriyayor apahatir asti, azarIraM vA va santaM na priyApriye spRzataH.
azarIro vAyuH, abhram, vidyut, sthanayitnur azarIrANy etAni, tad yathaitAny amuSmAd AkAzAt samutthAya paraM jyotir upasampadya svena svena rUpeNAbhiniSpadyante.
evam evaiSa samprasAdo'smAc charIrAt samutthAya paraM jyotir upasampadya svena rUpeNAbhiniSpadyate, sa uttamaH puruSaH, sa tatra paryeti, jakSat krIDan ramamANaH strIbhir vA yAnair vA jJAtibhir vA nopajanaM smarann idaM zarIram: sa yathA prayogya AcaraNe yuktaH, evam evAyam asmin zarIre prANo yuktaH

"Maghavat, this body is mortal and always held by death. It is the abode of that Self which is immortal and without body. When in the body (by thinking this body is I amd I am this body) the Self is heald by pleasure and pain. But when he is free of the body (when he knows himself different from the body), then neither pleasure nor pain touches him.
"The wind is without body, the cloud, lightning, and thunder are without body, (without hands, feet, etc). Now as these arising from this heavenly ether (space), appear in their own form, as soon as they have approached the highest light.
"Thus does that serene being, arising from this body, appear in its own form, as soon as it approaches the Highest Light. He (in that state) is the highest person (uttama pUruSa). He moves about there laughing (or eating), playing, and rejoicing (in his mind), be it with women, carriages, or relatives, never minding the body into which he was born."

The above passage in the first verse shows that wherever there is a body, there must be pain. It, therefore, says further on "when the soul goes out of the body," etc., then it is above all pain, etc. Thus the Chandogya Upanishad clearly says that the soul in the state of Mukti is bodiless.

The Bhagavata Purana also says:-

"The dwellers of the city of Vaikuntha, devoid
of life-breaths, sense-organs and body."

This is the opinion of the sage Badari. The author next quotes the opinion of Jaimini.

Vedanta Sutra 4.4.7

2006-08-09T04:07:00.000+01:00

evam apy upanyAsAt
pUrva-bhAvAd
avirodham bAdarAyaNaH

7. Even (though the soul be) thus (pure intelligence), yet on account
of the authority (of the words of Prajapati), there is no contradiction
in the existence of the former (eight qualities also in it).
Thus thinks Badarayana. - 544.

COMMENTARY

Though the essential nature of the soul be pure intelligence, as proved by Audulomi, yet there is no contradiction, if the eight qualities also exist in it. This is the opinion of the Lord Badarayana. Why? Because of the authority. The statement made by Prajapati is an authority for holding that the former opinion by Jaimini is right; since those qualities also exist in the soul.

The settled conclusion, therefore, is that since the Srutis give unqualified both these statements - the Brihadaranyaka mentioning that the soul is pure intelligence, and the Chandogya that it has the eight qualities - and since both these statements are of equal authority, the nature of the freed soul consists of both these sets of qualities. Badarayana approves the view that the soul is "even a mass of intelligence" - that is, unqualified intelligence only. For though it be unqualified (Nirguna) intelligence only, yet there is no contradiction, when it is said to possess the eight qualities also. The word eva, "only", used in the Brihadaranyaka (prajJAna-ghana eva), "a mass of intelligence only" - does not prevent the soul possessing other attributes also.

For the above passage of Brihadaranyaka purports to exclude all and every kind of irrationality (Jadatva) from the soul and to teach that the self is self-luminous. Though the Jiva be thus self-luminous, pure intelligence, there is no contradiction if it possesses the eight qualities, known from another equally authoritative text. Thus though a solid salt-crystal be a mass of mere taste, and nothing but taste, yet it has a form, hardness, etc., also, and these qualities do not contradict its being a mass of taste.

Therefore, it follows, that in Mukti, the Jiva manifests as pure intelligence, endowed by the Lord with the eight qualities.

Vedanta Sutra 4.4.6

2006-08-09T04:06:00.000+01:00

citi tan-mAtreNa tad-
AtmakatvAd ity auDulomiH

6. The Mukta Jiva, when it has entered into the All-intelligence,
manifests merely as that (intelligence); because (of the statement
that it is) essentially that alone, thus opines Audulomi. - 543.

COMMENTARY

The Mukta, whose nescience has been burnt away by meditation on Brahman, when it enters into Brahman, whose essence is intelligence, manifests as intelligence only. Why? Because there is a statement that intelligence is essential and only form. In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad [4.5.13] we have the following:

sa yathA saindhava-ghanaH anantaro'bAhyaH, krtsno rasaghana eva, evam vA are'yam AtmA, anantaro'bAhyaH, kRtsnaH prajJAna-ghana eva, etebhyo bhUtebyaH samutthAya, tAny evAnuvinazyati na pretya saMjJAsti, iti are bravImi, iti hovAca yajJavalkyaH.

"'As a mass of salt has neither inside nor outside, but is altogether a mass of taste, thus indeed has that Self neither inside nor outside, but is altogether a mass of knowledge, and having risen out from these elements, vanishes again in them. When he has departed, there is no more knowledge (name), I say, O Maitreyi.' Thus spoke Yajnavalkya."

This passage shows that intelligence only constitutes the true being of the soul. Thus we know that the essential nature of the Jiva is intelligence, pure and simple, unqualified by any attributes. According to Audulomi, therefore, the Chandogya text attributing sinlessness and the rest to the soul is to be interpreted as not meaning to predicate of it further positive qualities, but only to exclude all those qualities which depend on Avidya or nescience, such as change, pleasure, pain, and so on.

After this giving the opinion of Jaimini and Audulomi, the author gives next his own opinion.

Vedanta Sutra 4.4.5

2006-08-09T04:05:00.000+01:00

Adhikarana III - The attributes of the Mukta Soul.

Now the author is going to determine what are the blessings which the freed soul enjoys. But before doing that, it is necessary to determine the divine attributes such as true resolve (the instantaneous fulfilment of every wish that the soul entertains), and qualities like the same; and the soul's getting a body of celestial texture. For these are the causes, that bring about the enjoyment of blessings. Therefore, the author begins with the determination of the attributes, which the soul shows forth.

Doubt: When the soul reaches the Highest Light, does it manifest itself with a certain group of attributes, or is it merely pure intelligence? Or is it pure intelligence, plus other attributes, because there is no necessary contradiction between them?

Purvapaksa: As a Purvapaksa, the author gives first the opinion of the sage Jaimini.

brAhmeNa jaiminir upanyAsAdibhyaH

5. According to Jaimini, the freed soul manifests with all the
attributes given by Brahman, because of the reference and the
rest, (as contained in other passages of the Upanishad). - 542.

COMMENTARY

The word "Brahma" of the sUtra means, accomplished or completed by the Brahman [as per Panini 4.2.68]. The Mukta appears with the divinely given attributes, mentioned in the Chandogya Upanishad [8.7.1] beginning with "who is free from sins," and ending with "whose will is true." These are the eight Gunas or qualities, which he then possesses. Namely, (1) he is free from sins, (2) free from old age, (3) free from death, (4) free from grief, (5) free from hunger, (6) free from thirst, (7) he has desires which are instantly realised, and (8), a will which accomplishes its resolution spontaneously.

Why do we say so? Because of the reference and the rest. In the above passage of the Chandogya Upanishad [8.7.1] Prajapati suggests that the freed souls also come to possess the eight attributes of Atman, which he has proclaimed so widely; and which reaches the ears of the Devas in heaven, and the Asuras in the nether world.

The words "and the rest" of the sUtra indicate that the soul not only possesses these eight attributes, but that it acts in the way mentioned in the same Upanishad:

"The Mukta moves about there laughing, playing, and rejoicing, with women, with carriages, with other Muktas of his own period or of the past Kalpas. (So great is his ecstasy) that he does not remember even the person standing near him, nor even his own body."

Therefore, Jaimini is of the opinion that the Mukta soul manifests these eight-fold attributes and acts mentioned in this Upanishad. In support of his view there is a smRiti passage also:-

yathA na hriyate jyotsnA, etc. (?)

As a Purvapaksa, the author next gives the opinion of Audulomi, who holds the opinion that the Mukta soul possesses only one attribute, namely, that of pure intelligence.

References:

Chandogya Upanishad 8.7.1:

ya AtmA apahata-pApmA vijaro vimRtyur vizoko vijighatso'pipAsaH satya-kAmaH satya-saMkalpaH, so'nveSTavyaH, sovijijJAsitavyaH sa sarvAMz ca lokAn Apnoti sarvAMz ca kAmAn, yas tam AtmAnam anuvidya vijAnAti: [iti ha prajA-patir uvAca].

Vedanta Sutra 4.4.3

2006-08-09T04:03:00.000+01:00

AtmA prakaraNAt

3. The Atman is that "Highest Light";
because of the context. - 540.

COMMENTARY

That "Highest Light" mentioned in the Chandogya Upanishad is indeed the Atman (the Supreme Self), and not the Solar sphere, because the topic under discussion, where that passage occurs, refers to the Supreme. Though the word jyotiH is a common term, meaning both the sun and Brahman, yet this word here, on account of the topic under discussion, denotes the Supreme Self. As in the sentence "devo jAnati me manaH," the word deva is used in the sense of "You". The sentence means "you know my mind."

The word Atman, in this sUtra, refers to an All-pervading substance whose essential form is knowledge and bliss. The word Atman is derived from the root 'at' meaning "to go continuously, to obtain and to illumine." Thus Atman means that which illumines, secondly, that which is reached by the free souls, third, that which is all-pervading. So it applies both to the human soul as well as to the Supreme Lord. It has several meanings, like the word "Upanishad." And this entity Atman must be admitted to be a person. Because the descriptions of it, given in the passage under discussion is that of a person, it is called there "Uttama PuruSa", the Supreme. [See Chandogya Upanishad 8.12.3]

Therefore, the "Highest Light", which the freed soul attains to, is this Uttama Purusa, the Supreme Person, the Lord Hari: and is not the solar sphere.

References:

Chandogya Upanishad 8.12.3:

evam evaiSa samprasAdo'smAc charIrAt samutthAya paraM jyotir upasampadya svena rUpeNAbhiniSpadyate, sa uttamaH puruSaH, sa tatra paryeti, jakSat krIDan ramamANaH strIbhir vA yAnair vA jJAtibhir vA nopajanaM smarann idaM zarIram: sa yathA prayogya AcaraNe yuktaH, evam evAyam asmin zarIre prANo yuktaH

"He through whose grace this released soul, arising from his last body, and having approached the Highest Light, is restored to his own form is the Highest Person. The Mukta moves about there laughing, playing, and rejoicing, with women, carriages, with other Muktas of his own period or of the past Kalpas. (So great is his ecstasy) that he does not remember even the person standing near him, nor even his own body. And as a charioteer is appointed by his master to drive the carriage, just so is the Prana appointed to drive this chariot of the body."

Vedanta Sutra 4.4.2

2006-08-09T04:02:00.000+01:00

muktaH pratijJAnAt

2. Manifestation in its own form mentioned in
the Chandogya Upanishad [8.12.3] is the condition of
the Mukta, because that is what Prajapati has promised
to teach in the opening part of the Upanishad. - 539

COMMENTARY

It is verily the Mukta who manifests itself in its own form. Why? Because of the promise. In the opening sentence [8.7.1] Brahma describes the condition of the Mukta Jiva thus:-

"The Self which is free from sin, free from old age, free from death and grief, from hunger and thirst, which desires nothing but what it ought to desire, and imagines nothing but what it ought to imagine, that it is which we must search out, that it is which we must try to understand. He who has searched out that Self and understands it, obtains all worlds and desires. [Thus spake Prajapati.]"

This shows the condition of the Mukta Jiva, and Prajapati promises to teach Indra this Mukta condition, by saying "I shall explain the true Self further to you." This promise is given several times. It is first given when Indra, dissatisfied with the waking Self, comes back to Prajapti, again to be taught, and Prajapati says [8.9.3] "I shall explain it further to you. Live with me another thirty-two years". Then he explains to him the Self in dream, and when Indra is not satisfied with that, he teaches him the Self in dreamless sleep; and when Indra is not satisfied with that even, Prajapati at last describes to him the true Self, free from all the three conditions of waking, etc., and teaches the condition of the Self in the state of Mukti in these terms:

"Maghavat, this body is mortal and always held by death. It is the abode of that Self which is immortal and without body. When in the body (by thinking this body is I amd I am this body) the Self is heald by pleasure and pain. But when he is free of the body (when he knows himself different from the body), then neither pleasure nor pain touches him.
"The wind is without body, the cloud, lightning, and thunder are without body, (without hands, feet, etc). Now as these arising from this heavenly ether (space), appear in their own form, as soon as they have approached the highest light.
"Thus does that serene being, arising from this body, appear in its own form, as soon as it approaches the Highest Light. He (in that state) is the highest person (uttama pUruSa). He moves about there laughing (or eating), playing, and rejoicing (in his mind), be it with women, carriages, or relatives, never minding the body into which he was born."

This final teaching of Prajapati is in accordance with his final promise given in [Chandogya Upanishad] 8.11.3, where he says "I shall explain the true Self further to you and nothing more than this." Thus, because of this promise, the teaching about the "Self appearing in its own form" must relate to the condition of the Muktas. Therefore, Mukti is indeed the manifestation of one's own form, which consists in remaining in one's own natural condition, free from the body, etc., which are produced through the effect of Karmas. This bodiless condition, free from pleasure and pain, is Mukti.

This condition is described in the text as coming subsequent to the approaching of the soul to the Highest Light. After the Highest Light is reached, there appears this manifestation.

Doubt: But on this point a further doubt is raised. What is this Highest Light? Is it the solar orb, for light generally means the sun, or is it the Supreme Brahman?

Purvapaksa: The opponent maintains the view that the Highest Light refers here to the solar orb. Because in the Mundaka Upanishad it is said that it is after reaching the sun that one gets Mukti. The present passage also says that it is after reaching the Highest Light that one manifests his own nature. Therefore, the Highest Light of the Chandogya passage is the solar orb mentioned in the Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.11 and it is the same solar orb which comes as the Adityaloka in the ArchirAdi path already mentioned before.

Siddhanta: This view is set aside in the next sutra.

References:

Chandogya Upanishad 8.7.1:

ya AtmA apahata-pApmA vijaro vimRtyur vizoko vijighatso'pipAsaH satya-kAmaH satya-saMkalpaH, so'nveSTavyaH, sovijijJAsitavyaH sa sarvAMz ca lokAn Apnoti sarvAMz ca kAmAn, yas tam AtmAnam anuvidya vijAnAti: [iti ha prajA-patir uvAca].

Chandogya Upanishad 8.9.3:

evam evaiSa, maghavan, iti hovAca, etam tv eva, te bhUyo 'nuvyAkhyAsyAmi; vasAparANi dvAtriMzataM varSANIti.

Chandogya Upanishad 8.11.3:

evam evaiSa, maghavan, iti hovAca, etam tv eva te bhUyo 'nuvyakhyAsyAmi, no evAnyatraitasmAt.

Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.11:

na tatra sUryo bhAti, na candra-tArakam, nemA vidyuto bhAnti, kuto'yam agniH.
tam eva bhAntam anubhAti sarvam, tasya bhAsA sarvam, idaM vibhAti.

Vedanta Sutra 4.4.1

2006-08-09T04:01:00.000+01:00

Adhikarana I - The form of the Souls in Mukti.

In this chapter is determined the enjoyment of lordliness and the rest which the freed souls experience, as well as the nature of such souls. In the Chandogya Upanishad is heard the following (8.12.3):-

evam evaiSa samprasAdo'smAc charIrAt samutthAya paraM jyotir upasampadya svena rUpeNAbhiniSpadyate, sa uttamaH puruSaH, sa tatra paryeti, jakSat krIDan ramamANaH strIbhir vA yAnair vA jJAtibhir vA nopajanaM smarann idaM zarIram: sa yathA prayogya AcaraNe yuktaH, evam evAyam asmin zarIre prANo yuktaH

"He through whose grace this released soul, arising from his last body, and having approached the Highest Light, is restored to his own form is the Highest Person. The Mukta moves about there laughing, playing, and rejoicing, with women, carriages, with other Muktas of his own period or of the past Kalpas. (So great is his ecstasy) that he does not remember even the person standing near him, nor even his own body. And as a charioteer is appointed by his master to drive the carriage, just so is the Prana appointed to drive this chariot of the body."

Doubt: Here arises the doubt - does the soul, in getting Mukti, get a shape and body which is a result accomplished, and which is to be brought about then as, for example, the body of a Deva; or is it only manifesting its own natural character? In other words, what is the meaning of the phrase "svena rUpeNa abhiniSpadyate", "appears in his true form"? Does this "appearance in true form" mean getting a new body, like that of the messengers of Vishnu, or manifesting its own nature?

Purvapaksa: The opponent maintains the view that the soul assumes a new body, to be brought about by then. Because the meaning of the word 'abhiniSpatti' is accomplishment, so the body is one which the soul accomplishes or makes. If it were otherwise, the the above word would have no meaning at all; and the scriptural texts relating to release would declare what was of no advantage to man. If the word "abhiniSpatti" meant "manifestation of one's own natural charater," then since this natural character already exists in man, it cannot be said to be something accomplished, and it can be of no advantage to man. Therefore, the phrase "manifests itself in its own form" means that he assumes a new body, to be brought about then.

Siddhanta: This view is set aside in the next sUtra.

sampad-AvirbhAvaH svena-zabdAt

1. The phrase 'accomplishing one's own form,' means
manifestation in one's real form, because the word Svena,
"in its own," indicates that. - 538

COMMENTARY

When the soul approaches the Highest Light, through the force of its devotion, accompanied by knowledge and dispassion, then there is release for it from the chain of Karma, and there is manifestation in it of the eight-fold superior qualities, which from latency come into manifestation then. It is then said that there has taken place the manifestation of its natural character. This particular condition, characterised by the rise of one's natural condition to the surface is called svarUpa abhiniSpatti. Why? Because the word Svena in the above text requires this explanation. This word is an adjective qualifying the word rUpa in the above. If the soul assumed a ne wbody, then this word would have no force. Because, even without that, it would be clear that the new body belonged to the soul. The other meaning of Svena would be "belonging to it" and rUpena would mean "in a form belonging to it." This would be purely a useless expression, for the body, which the soul takes, must ipso facto belong to it. Moreover the word niSpatti does not always mean accomplishment, but manifestation also. As in the phrase "idam ekam suniSpannam."

To the objection that the soul's own true nature is something eternally accomplished, and hence the manifestation of that nature cannot be the soul of man (puruSArtha) we reply; true, it is the eternal nature of the soul that manifests in Mukti. And yet such manifestation cannot be said to be useless, because the very object and end of all human exertion is to bring about this manifestation. Consequently all such efforts are not useless because they subserve the purpose of bringing about this manifestation. The School of Patanjali holds the view that the mere cessation of pain which arises through the super-imposition of prakRiti, constitutes the well-being of the soul which has approached the Highest Light, and that niSpatti is nothing more than this condition of the Self-luminous, pure intelligence. This however is not the VedAnta view. The "release" of the VedAnta is not a state of negation, not a state in which there is merely an absence of all sufferings caused by prakRiti, but it is a positive state of enjoyment of bliss, as we find in the Taittiriya Upanishad (2.7), "For having tasted a flavour of the Supreme, he experiences bliss." This shows that in the state of Mukti there is experiencing of intense bliss and not merely a cessation of pain.

But, how do we know that approaching the Highest Light is Mukti? To this question the next sUtra gives a reply.

Note - To understand the argument fully it is necessary to know the context of the whole passage of the Chandogya Upanishad in which the above text of "approaching the Highest Light" occurs. One must read the whole of the history of the teaching given by Prajapati to Indra and Virochana as we find in the Chandogya Upanishad (8.7-12). It is in those Khandas from 7-12 that Prajapati teaches the nature of the soul in the waking state as well as in the dreaming and dreamless sleep. When, however, Indra is not satisfied with these partial truths, Prajapati finally promises "I shall explain him further to you, and nothing more than this." In fulfilment of this promise, he teaches the condition of the soul in Mukti.

References:

Taittiriya Upanishad 2.7:

asad vA idam agra AsIt, tato vai sad ajAyata, tad AtmAnaM svayam akuruta, tasmAt tat sukRtam ucyate.
yad vai tat sukRtam, raso vai saH, rasAm hy evAyaM labdhvAnandI bhavati, ko hy evAnyat kaH prANyAt, yad eSa AkAza Anando na syAt, eSa hy evAnandayAti, yathA hy evaiSa etasmin nadRzye'nAtmye'nirukte'nilayane'bhayaM pratiSThaM vindate, atha so'bhayaM gato bhavati, yadA hy evaiSa etasminn udaram antaraM kurute, atha tasya bhayam bhavati, tattveva bhayaM viduSo'manvAnasya.

"Non-existent, verily, was this (world) in the beginning, Therefrom, verily was existence produced. That made itself a soul. Therefore is it called the well-made.
"Verily, what that well-made is - that, verily, is the essence of existence. For, truly, on getting the essence, one becomes blissful. For who, indeed, could live, who breathe, if there were not this bliss in space? This, verily is it that bestows bliss. For truly, when one finds fearlessness as support in Him who is invisible, bodiless, undefined, without support, then has he reached fearlessness. When, however, this (soul) makes in this One the smallest interval, the, for him, there is fear. That, verily, is the fear of the knower, who does not reflect. As to that, there is also this verse." (S. Radhakrishnan)

Chandogya Upanishad 8.12.3 Alternative translation:

"Even so that serene one when he rises up from this body and reaches the highest light appears in his own form. Such a person is the Supreme Person. There such a one moves about, laughing, playinmg, rejoicing with women, chariots or relations, not remembering the appendages of this body. As an animal is attached to a cart so is life attached to this body." (S. Radhakrishnan)

Vedanta Sutra 4.3.16

2006-08-09T03:16:00.000+01:00

Adhikarana IX.

Now the author teaches that as regards certain NirapekSas the Lord Himself comes to take them to His abode and does not leave that task to any of His messengers.

Visaya: In the Gopala Purva Tapani we have the following:-

1. They who constantly harmonised and without heedlessness fully worship the Supreme state of Vishnu, not with the desire of getting rewards, to them that Cow-herd-shaped One verily then carefully reveals his own state.
2. He who repeats silently this five-syllabled prayer of Govinda with the word 'Om' preceding it, him verily the Lord Himself shows His own Form, therefore, let the seeker of freedom always recite this mantra in order to get eternal peace.

Doubt: Are the Nirapeksa [sannyasi] worshippers of the Lord carried also by the AtivAhika divinities to the Lord, or are they carried by the Lord Himself.

Purvapaksa: The opponent maintains the view that the Lord Himself carries no one. The scriptures mention only two paths, the path of the Devas and the path of the PitRis. All knowers of Brahman have to go by the path of light, and are to be carried by the divinities of that path. The scripture also declares that the Lord is the causal agent in everything, for He never directly does anything. His agents work out His will.

Siddhanta: This view is set aside in the next sUtra.

vizeSam ca darzayati

16. And the Scripture itself shows the special case
with regard to some Nirapeksas. - 537.

COMMENTARY

The general rule is no doubt that the conducting divinities carry all the knowers of Brahman to Brahman. But with regard to those Nirapeksa devotees who are extremely ardent, and much suffering in their yearning, in their case the Lord Himself comes to fetch them to Himself; because He Himself feels impatient to bring such souls at once to Him. This is a special case only. The scripture also shows this. The two verses of the Gopala Tapani quoted above are an authority for this proposition.

In the Gita also [12.6-7] we find that the Lord Himself comes to carry His ardent devotees to Himself:

ye tu sarvāṇi karmāṇi
mayi sannyasya mat-parāḥ
ananyenaiva yogena
māḿ dhyāyanta upāsate

"Those verily who, renouncing all actions in Me and
intent on Me, worship meditating in Me, with whole-hearted Yoga."

teṣām ahaḿ samuddhartā
mṛtyu-saḿsāra-sāgarāt
bhavāmi na cirāt pārtha
mayy āveśita-cetasām

"Those I speedily lift up from the ocean of death and
existence, O Partha, their minds being fixed on me."

The word "Cha", "and", used in the sUtra means by implication that as soon as such devotees die and shake off final body or LiGga Deha, the Lord gives them the celestial or apRAkritic body at once. These devotees get rid of their LiGga Deha along with their physical body, at the time of death. Other devotees have to remain in their LiGga Deha for some time after death.

Nor is it correct to say that there are only two paths and no third, and that all the knowers of Brahman must pass over the road to archirAdi, to the abode of the Lord. For in the Varaha Purana we have the following:

"I bring him seated on the shoulder of Garuda, without hindrance and according to my own will, to my Supreme abode, by a path other than that of archirAdi."

Therefore, what the author has said is perfectly correct. The above passage is to be found at the end of the Varaha Purana.

Vedanta of the Siddha-Deha

2006-08-09T03:00:00.000+01:00

Opinions have clashed with regards to the subject matter of cultivating a spiritual body and identity for the sadhaka to operate with in his sublime desire of possessing said identity upon his entrance into the spiritual world. One school of devotees hold that this identity and body (siddha-deha) is given to the disciple by the guru after a period of deep contemplation and revelation, and that they will realise that identity in the course of their spiritual practice and especially after their achievement of liberation.
The other school holds that the siddha-deha is an inherent feature of the soul which is "covered" by lifetimes of sin and avidya. The intensity of spiritual practice and the mercy of the guru and Vaishnavas etc. will itself bring forth the siddha-deha at the opportune time for the sadhaka to realise it and interact with the Lord within it, which is also especially true upon the sadhaka's achievement of liberation.

The proponents of the latter theory have employed the Vedanta-sutras in support of their arguments, also claiming that Srimat Baladeva Vidyabhushan - Gaudiya Vedanta-bhashyakara - is in agreement with their views. As I have recently acquired a copy of 'The Vedantasutras of Badarayana - with the commentary of Baladeva' by Srisa Chandra Vasu, I took the liberty of typing up the relevant sections for the good of the public. I believe that, in agreement with the mainstream Gaudiya tradition and practice at large and also in line with scriptural reasoning, the former view of being bestowed a siddha-deha is true.

I have corrected spelling mistakes where necessary, added Upanishadic references at the end of each entry when the text made reference to them, and also highlighted relevant portions of the commentary in bold. Below are the links for each Vedanta Sutra with Baladeva's commentary. If it is all too hard to understand, please feel free to go straight to the digest where the main points of each sutra have been summed up.

Vedanta Sutra 4.3.16

Vedanta Sutra 4.4.1

Vedanta Sutra 4.4.2

Vedanta Sutra 4.4.3

Vedanta Sutra 4.4.5

Vedanta Sutra 4.4.6

Vedanta Sutra 4.4.7

Vedanta Sutra 4.4.10

Vedanta Sutra 4.4.11

Vedanta Sutra 4.4.12

Vedanta Sutra Digest

Spiritual Form on MadanGopal

2006-08-07T02:43:00.000+01:00

With regards to my recent post on the spiritual form, my dear friend Sriman Advaita dasji has posted a summary of a conversation he had with another devotee on this topic. Please read about it on his blog. Some interesting points have been made there.

I may eventually collect all of them but one thing is for sure, I will need to type up quite a bit of the Govinda-bhashya and put it online somewhere! Probably here.

Guha's book - finally arrived

2006-08-04T02:02:00.000+01:00

Manindranath Guha's 'Nectar of the Holy Name' has finally arrived and it is a beautiful cover. I spent the whole day just to read the introduction, prefaces and letters of appreciation from various babajis because they take up about 15% of the whole text!

By the time I got past all of that I only had time to flick through a couple of pages of the text itself, and then just skim through the book. It seems pretty nice and I can see why it popular amongst devotees, but I guess the full significance of it will hit me only when I start to read it properly. It looks like Guha Babu was the shishya of Srimat Kanupriya Gosvami, another one of my heroes. Some time back I composed an exact copy of Kanupriya Gosvami's "Golden Age" book and put it up on the Net for everyone to download.

Speaking of which, I need to improve upon that text and bring out a 'second edition'.

So I could see Srimat Kanupriya's influence in the text since the book is composed of a fictional (?) dialogue between a guru and his disciple, believed to be descriptive extenstions of Kanupriya and Guha's own discussions.

The book is translated by Dr. Neal Delmonico (Nitai das) and I think that it's about time he got around to publishing! All those years of research and scholarship so it is high time that we started seeing some fruits. The same goes for the rest of the 'scholarly' Gaudiyas out there; why not concentrate on translating more books for public consumption when all of these jewels are locked up in Bengali and Sanskrit? There is a serious demand for these literatures and it would be more productive to supply this demand instead of spreading themselves everywhere in a variety of projects. Not that those projects are to be minimised, but a strong literary basis is what is wanted, with prominence given to shastras rather than "notebooks" like Guha's. But that does not mean to diminish the glories of Guha's book either for it is a definite spiritual classic of sorts. I honesly believe that it is high time people started coming together and applying their knowledge of Sanskrit/Bengali to bring out all these books.

Anyway, Nitai says that he has translated the text with both scholarly and devotee audiences in mind, and it shows. However, I think that the Devanagari footnotes are unnecessary and is what I would consider to be showing off". Scholarly or not, not that many people read Devanagari so what is the use? It would be much better to put Romanised Sanskrit so that everybody can at least have an idea of what is being said.

But apart from that it should be a great book.

The Spiritual Form

2006-08-03T05:29:00.000+01:00

For a couple of years now, a Vaishnava has been going around thinking that he has "defeated" the proponents of raganuga-bhakti, specifically in his "research" and interpretation on the siddha-pranali issue. Basically his point was that the siddha-pranali idea of being "bestowed" a spiritual body by the guru is a falsity as the liberated jiva attains "his own form " at the stage of mukti. Therefore what is the use of a "bestowed" body when mukti includes the realisation of one's "own" form?

The guy quoted Sri Baladeva Vidyabhushan's Govinda-bhashya to support this. Here is a typical quotation:

Vedanta Sütra 4.4.1
sampadyävirbhävaù svena-çabdät
sampadya—of he who has attained; ävirbhävaù—manifestation; svena—svena; çabdät—by the word.

Because of the word "svena" it is the manifestation of he who has gone.
Commentary by Çréla Baladeva Vidyäbhüñaëa
The individual soul who, by means of devotional service accompanied with knowledge and renunciation, attains the effulgent Supreme, becomes free from the bondage of karma and attains a body endowed with eight virtues. This body is said to be the soul's original form. Why is that? The sütra explains, "svena-çabdät" (because of the word "svena"). The word "svena" here means, "in his own original form". For this reason it cannot be said that this passage means, "the soul arrives there and then accepts a form which is an external imposition". In that way it is proved that the form here is the original form of the soul. This is not contradicted by the use of the word "niñpadyate" in the verse of Chändogya Upaniñad, for that word is also used to mean, "is manifested". An example of that usage is seen in the following words found elsewhere the Çruti-çästra:
idam ekaà su-niñpannam
"He is manifested."

Also, it is not that the manifestation of the soul's original form cannot be a goal of human endeavour, because it already exists. This is so because even though the soul's original form exists it is not openly manifested. Therefore it is not useless to say that the soul may endeavour to make manifest the original form of the soul.

Sound familiar?

For the record, I highlighted several problems with this view, not least the fact that the Vaishnava was relying heavily on an English translation of the Govinda-bhashya and couldn't be sure if the original Sanskrit supported the point. Anyway I found these tidbits here today. I recently received a copy of David Haberman's 'Acting As A Way To Salvation' and I couldn't help digging in. And it wasn't long before I found the juice:

In his Priti Sandarbha, Jiva Gosvamin has described the form (rUpa) or body (deha) given to the liberated souls who have attained Bhagavan Krsna. In so doing, he also gives the scriptural authority for the Gaudiya Vaisnava understanding of the siddha-rUpa. He writes:

The Lord makes a body for the liberated one that is identical to those eternal bodies of the people of Vaikuntha (Vraja), which consist of a particle of light from the Lord of Vaikuntha (Vraja).

That is, after the bhakta attains liberation, the Lord will grant him or her an eternal body with which to reside in the eternal world. Once again we see that it is an identity/body that connects one with a particular world. The scriptural authority for this statement comes from the Bhagavata Purana. Jiva cites two verses:

All the people living there are endowed with a form of Vaikuntha (vaikuntha-mUrtI).

When I was transformed into a pure divine body (bhAgavatI-tanu), my earthly body in which past karmic effects had been extinguished fell away.

Jiva also cites Sridhara's commentary on the latter verse. This authoritative commentary indicates that the 'companion body' (pArSada-tanu) of those acting in Krsna's lila is pure, eternal, and devoid of karma.

So there you have it. Makes a body, endowed with a form, transformed into a pure divine body and all of that. For reference, the first statement ("The Lord makes a body..") is from Priti Sandarbha 10 (Puridasa Edition, 1951). The Bhagavata references are 3.15.14 and 1.6.29 respectively. Here's the Sanskrit text for both of them:

vasanti yatra puruSAH
sarve vaikuNTha-mUrtayaH
ye 'nimitta-nimmitena
dharmeNArAdhyan harim

prayujyamAne mayi tAM
zuddhAM bhAgavatiM tanum
Arabhda-karma-nirvANo
nyapatat pAJca-bhautikaH

Haberman may have been quoting from a critical edition of Bhagavata or he was one verse off, because the second verse is 1.6.28 in the ISKCON edition. it should also be noted that this carries the weight of Sripada Jiva Gosvami, another great Gosvami along with Srimat Rupa Gosvami and Srimat Sanatana Gosvami. All these three outdated Sripada Baladeva Vidyabhusan by several hundred years or so? Sripada Baladeva's commentary on the Vedantasutra needs to be analysed but it is suffice to say that he had to follow the structure of Vedanta, but that doesnt deny the fact that at least three Vrindaban Gosvamis subscribe to the "given" theory rather than the "inherent" theory.

Either way, make of this what you will.

Govinda-bhashya

2006-08-03T04:50:00.000+01:00

Now I've actually got it! :-)

And am I excited about it or what?! It's a major honour to hold it in my hands. This is the Gaudiya commentary on the Vedantasutra, penned by none other than Sri Baladeva Vidyabhushan himself! Looks like it was first printed in 1912 so it is quite old (this reprint, 2002). It doesn't look like the inside jacket-cover was written by the author (Rao Bahadur Srisa Chandra Vasu) because there is a very silly error claiming that Sri Baladeva was a disciple of Sriman Mahaprabhu, obviously incorrect.

Interestingly the intro says that "Baladeva, the author of the Govinda Bhasya, was a follower of Sri Caitanya, the last of the Avataras." Wow. Did Vasu believe that Mahaprabhu was an avatar? If so, does this mean that Vasu was a Gaudiya Vaishnava? It's quite possible that this is a devotional commentary after all!

But we should pay special attention to the following:

"This translation of the Govinda Bhasya is more in the nature of a paraphrase than a literal translation. I have not hesitated in expanding the author's arguments, and supplementing his short references by fuller quotations from the sacerd texts."

Having peeked through the text, I noticed that there were long Upanishadic quotations used as "proofs" and clearly it may not have been done like that by Sri Baladeva, who may have referred to these passages with the like of bracketed references and footnotes. On the other hand the Upanishadic quotations prove useful in proving the point and I can always cross-check them because I have a huge copy of the Upanishads too! It is possible (thankfully) to discern between the writings of Sri Baladeva and the translator (Vasu).

The only thing that I'd complain about is that there is no Romanised Sanskrit text, only the Devanagari is included and I can't read Devanagari. It doesn't matter because the Vedantasutras are available in both Devanagari and Romanised text online, and the Sanskrit of the full Govinda-bhashya is included in the GGM database I think.

But other than that, it's brilliant! I found the bit I was looking for (about Radha-Krishna worship being authorised) which was one of the contentious points brought forth by the Ramanandis of Galta, but I think I'll need to digest that before I discuss it here. It's full of other tidbits too, very exciting ones.

There are two appendices; one, Vasu's own essay where he discusses the influence of Christianity on the Bhakti traditions of medieval India, and two, a very nice translation of Sri Baladeva's Prameya Ratnavali. Again the text of the PR is in Devanagari but I can download a romanised version from GGM with no problems.

You readers have no idea how excited I am about this book! :-) I have been waiting for this one for years and now I have finally got it! :-)

Books Arrived! And More On The Way!

2006-08-03T04:32:00.000+01:00

Yay! I woke up to find that two orders finally arrived this morning:

Haberman, David L. - Acting As A Way Of Salvation
Vasu, Srisa Chandra - The Vedantasutras of Badarayana With The Commentary Of Baladeva

For sure you can expect some scintillating tidbits from them on this blog in the forthcoming days and weeks! I forgot all about my swimming routine as I sat down all day with my nose buried deep in thee books. I personally considered the Vedanta book to be more important but when I perused Haberman's books I quickly got hooked onto that one.

So although my readings so far have been nothing more than cursory flickings, I have already found scintillating bits of info that should rock someone's world. More on that in a minute.

And it took a while, but I finally found the part in Govinda-bhashya where the topic of worshipping Bhagavan along with His Shakti (Krishna with Radha) is discussed. Unfortunately my reading was that cursory that I need to read it a few more times in order to digest that particular piece of info. But of course I'll discuss it here, along with a lot more!

One more book should be on the way; Manindranath Guha's 'Nectar Of The Holy Name'.

By the way, I've ordered two more books and of which I received shipping confirmation today: 'Philosophy of Madhvacharya' and 'History of the Dvaita school of Vedanta and it's Literature', both by Dr. B.N.K. Sharma. I've decided that since I have long been a member of the Dvaita forums and since I cannot understand a single clue about what they're discussing, it's about time I decided to find out about it.

I'm also considering two more books: D.N. Shanbag's 'Sri Madhvacharya and his Cardinal Doctrines' and S.M. Srinivasa Chari's 'The Philosophy of the Vedantasutra: A Study Based On The Evaluation of the Commentaries of Samkara, Ramanuja and Madhva'. Looks like I'm well on my way to becoming a philosophical egghead! :-) And with Vedanta too, wow, will my puny mind ever grasp it?

But in reality I would like to find out about other philosophies, specifically Madhvacharya's what with all the Gaudiya connections to it and all. On the Gaudiya side I am considering whether I should get the books of S.K. De and Majumdar - any hints or tips? Thoughts? Suggestions?

Temple Visit

2006-07-30T01:02:00.000+01:00

As I was shopping in London today, I decided to pop into the local Hare Krishna temple. Yes, there is a Krishna temple smack dab in the middle of London! It's been quite a while since I've been there; I used to be a regular visitor but my interest seems to have waned sorta, none of my friends are around anymore and they seem to be selling the same old books. Although I did pop in because I am interested in buying the final part of the Caitanya-bhagavata series and I wanted to see if they have it.

Unfortunately they didn't, but I ended up buying a VCD of Srimad Gour Govinda Swami's lecture instead. I was surprised to see it there - and on sale too! - because despite my reading of his books and my deep admiration for him, I had never seen him "live" on video and I thought this would be a good opportunity to see it. They also had the Vishnu Purana by H.H. Wilson there. I had seen it before and I found the reference to Kalki last time but I couldn't find it today. It was incredibly hot today and sweat was pouring off my face. I would like to keep that Kalki reference on record, but I am specifically interested in Wilson's translation of the Padma Purana. I haven't seen that yet.

It is unlikely that I would have bought the CB if I was there because of their unnecessarily high prices, but I thought I'd just go and take a look at it anyway. I might have bought it if the mood had taken me, but I guess I can wait. I have enough of the previous volumes to read anyway!

Good thing that I had arrived shortly before the curtains closed for darshan in preparation for the 7pm arati, so I quickly rushed in, paid my respects and took a few photos. Today the Deities there were wearing tartan! I had to laugh to myself and I wondered if a Scottish devotee had been behind that idea, but it was definitely unusual. Here are some of the shots that I took:

And I was so engrossed in this as well as trying to take these pics as quickly as possible before the curtains closed, I forgot to take a pic of my beloved Gaura-Nitai! :-( Would have been nice to have a pic of Them wearing tartan.

And also I met my dear friend Monica there. I have known her for years and she is like a sister to me, I love her very much. Such a soft and sweet person she is, almost as if she's stepped out of a fairytale book. People like her are very rare these days. She owned a complete video set of Prabhupada's lectures of which I borrowed a couple of installments. Actually I still have them and haven't given them back! Argh! Anyway so I guess she became influenced by those videos and she joined ISKCON. Now she has become one of the top book distributors and was recently initiated by H.H. Radhanatha Swami during a six-week trip to the New Vrindavan temple in West Virginia. Her new name is Mana-biharini devi-dasi.

It was good to catch up with her. Here is a picture of her, my dear sweet sister:

Ridiculous!

2006-07-30T00:56:00.000+01:00

I was expecting Guha's book to arrive yesterday morning, but last night I received word in email that it had just been posted yesterday and it is due to reach me in around 10 days or thereabouts! Ridiculous! I specifically chose a British bookseller because the book would reach me in a matter of a couple of days, and now it seems that they have to import the book from their US warehouse!

If you want to touch your nose, all you have to do is lift your finger to your nose (in front of you) and touch it. Some people seem to enjoy twisting and contorting their arm behind their head in order to touch their nose. They may touch their nose, but see the silly roundabout way in which they did it instead of the normal and simpler way.

But fair enough, they might have run out of stock and thus need to import it from their US warehouse. Hardly! It may be a very good book but it is hardly a best-seller at the top of the New York Times book list for half a year! Incidentally, it is Nitai who is behind the production of the book and I wonder if that has something to do with it. The information states that the book is printed on demand, implying that it will only be printed on a one-by-one basis according to the number of orders received. Interesting way of doing things, I'll say!

Oh well, just as long as it doesn't cost me extra. Speaking of which, I had better check that out....

Sacinandan Leaves Home

2006-07-28T02:14:00.000+01:00

One of the most painful episodes of Gaura-lila is the acceptance of sannyasa by Sriman Gaurasundara Mahaprabhu and it's consequence of leaving home as well as leaving devoted kith and kin. You can bet that much has been made over this issue. The father of Sripada Srinivasa Acharya is described as having met Mahaprabhu for the first time at Katwa where the sannyasa-ceremony was taking place. Oh, how he wept as the barber shaved off Mahaprabhu's beautiful locks!

These two padas describe the anguish of the residents of Navadvipa and were copied from KK Bindu #111: They were collected by the Orissan State Museum in Bhubaneswar from palm leaf manuscripts written in Oriya script. In 1992 they published these and some other rare songs of Raya Ramananda in a book titled, 'Raya Ramananda Padyavali.'

Pada One:

(1)
nadiAte bhaktagana sakali milila
harinAma dhUnI gorA nadIyA kampAla he

Gathered together with Gauranga, the devotees
performed such uproarious harinama that all of Nadia trembled.

(2)
sanyAsake jAba boli bole gauramanI
mAtAra Agare kahe atirasa khAnI

Gauranga, the golden jewel, told His mother the
unbearable news that he was about to take sannyasa.

(3)
zuna mAye ogo Ami sannyAsake jAba
kabu mAtA Ami gRhakhAne rakhAiba

"Listen, O mother! I will accept sannyAsa.
How long will you keep me in this house?"

(4)
zuni zacI ThAkurAnI kAndiyAM bolite
na jA-a sannyAse gorA AmAre chADite

Hearing this, Sachi Thakurani started to cry
and said, "O Gaura, don’t go. Don’t leave me."

(5)
rAye rAmAnanda bole vikala hoila
navIna kuñcita keza gaura muNDAila

muNDAila kezabhAra kapinI daNDa kamaNDala

Raya Ramananda says, “I have become
perturbed! Gaura has shaved off His youthful curly hair.”

Coda: Cutting the burden of his hair, he has accepted
a shaven head, loincloth, staff, and water pot.

Pada Two:

(1)
muNDAila kezabhAra navIna ga-urabara
daNDa kamaNDala ka-upine

Youthful Gaura has shaved his head and relieved himself of the
burden of hair. He has accepted a sannyasa danda, kamandalu, and kaupina.

(2)
dekhi zacI ThAkurANI paDila tucchA dharanI
kena keza gaura muNDAila

Seeing this, Sachi Thakurani became faint
and said, "Why has Gaura shaved his head?"

(3)
kAhAra mukha Ami cAite kemani rahibu grIhate
more sane nia gaurAmanI

"How can I live without seeing his face? How can I
stay in this house? O Gauramani, take me with you!"

(4)
tumi jadi sanyAse jAba Amire garala khAba
rAye rAmAnanda rasavAnI

gaurAcAnda tumi thAki more nA kariA duHkhI

Ray Ramananda says with feeling,
"If you accept sannyasa, then I will eat poison."

Coda: O Gaurachandra, stay here! Don’t put me in distress!

The entire story of Gaura's sannyasa-lila is inexpressibly painful to read and hear about.

Although it is relatively well-known that Sri Kesava Bharati was the incarnation of Sandipani Muni in Krishna-lila, I spotted this line in Sri Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika that highlights a different angle on Sri Kesava Bharati's role in Gaura-lila:

iti kecit prabhASante
'krurah kezava-bhAratI

"Some opine that Kesava Bharati
is certainly the incarnation of Akrura."
(SGGD 117)

A nice parallel. Just as Akrura was blamed for stealing Krishna away from Vraja and plunging all the Gopis and other residents in an ocean of sorrow, so also does it seem that Kesava Bharati was responsible for stealing away the young and beautiful Nimai Pandit and thus drenching all of Navadvipa in tears.

Govinda-bhashya

2006-07-27T05:56:00.000+01:00

No, I haven't received it yet. According to my information it will reach me on or before Aug 22. Dang! Oh well, I just wanted to say that I hope that the text will help me go some way in answering the following points:

Radha and Krishna as one, divided into two

Ontological position of Srimati Radharani, in Gaudiya Vaishnavism

I brought up those subjects and I was disappointed that they didn't "take off" mostly because, to my recollection, most board participants seemed to be more intent on hearing the latest gossip on Pete (and by extension, Jagat) as it was all going down then at the time.

From a Vedantic point of view Bhagavan and His Shakti are distinct entities (I think!) and interact with ech other. The Gaudiya view appears to regard Bhagavan and Shakti (Krishna and Radha) as two distinct entities of the same substance, am I correct? I guess I'll find out.

avatArI kRSNa yaiche kare avatAra
aMzinI rAdhA haite tina gaNera vistAra

Just as Krishna, the source of all incarnations, takes incarnations, so is Radha the source of these three groups. [Lakshmis, Mahishis, Vraja-devis]

rAdhA - pUrna-zakti kRSNa - pUrna-zaktimAn
dui vastu bheda nAi, zAstra-paramANa

Radha is the fullness of sakti, and Krishna is the full possessor of sakti. The two are not different, as evidenced by the scripture.

mRgamada, tAra gandha - yaiche aviccheda
agni, jvAlAte - yaiche kabhu nAhi bheda

Just as musk and it's scent are inseparable and just as fire and it's heat are insperable, so too are are They nondifferent.

rAdhA-kRSNa aiche adA eka-i svarUpa
lIlA-rasa AsvAdite dhare dui-rUpa

In this way Radha and Krishna are of one nature, and have manifested in two forms in order to taste lila-rasa.

Eka-i svarUpa, dui-rUpa. That's interesting. So I want to find out how Sripada Baladeva explained all of this in the context of Vedanta. You know, the fact that the Gaudiyas actually have a Vedanta-bhashya fills me with immense pride (of the good kind!) and makes my chest swell with said pride. :-) I'm so proud.

Books I Have Ordered

2006-07-26T04:24:00.000+01:00

Haberman, David L., Acting As A Way Of Salvation.

Guha, Manindranath, Nectar Of The Holy Name.

Vasu, Rao Bahadur Srisa Chandra, The Vedanta Sutras of Badarayana: With The Commentary of Baladeva.

The first one (Haberman) has been spoken about for a very long time (since my days on GD) so I thought that might be a useful addition to my library. Guha's book appears to be very popular among devotees so I thought I'd check it out.

Vasu's book, well, I've been waiting a long time for someone (preferably a Gaudiya Vaishnava) to come up with a translation of the Govinda-bhashya of Sripada Baladeva Vidyabhushan and none has come forth. There is an ISKCON edition I think but ISKCON editions are usually slanted translations; I think I heard that Haridas Sastri's ashram has come out with an edition but, if true, it would be useless for me since it is reportedly in Hindi.

In any case, I've been wondering for a very long time about the Vedantic basis of our tradition and so I figured I had better get off my behind and find it out. I'm not sure if Vasu's book is the best but it appears to be the only one out there and, from the whisperings I've heard, it appears to be "satisfactory" for now in the matter of explaining Sripada Vidyabhushan's Govinda-bhashya explanations of Vedantasutra.

It's all very well having your head in the clouds (literally) where Radha-Krishna lila is concerned but it's nice to have a little bit of intellectualism thrown in now and again. If intellectualism wasn't important (at least to a certain extent) then why did Sripada Jiva Gosvami take the trouble to write the Sat-Sandarbhas?

Speaking of which, the Sat-Sandarbhas will be next on my list once I hear that it has been printed in full. Tripurari Swami, Stuart Elkman and Satyanarayan das have each brought out a version of Tattva-Sandarbha, but what about the other five? Apparently the Jiva Institute are due to release Bhakti-Sandarbha but anyway, just so long as I can get some good editions.

Has anyone read the Tattva-sandarbhas out there by Tripurari, Elkman and Satyanarayan? Any good? Any recommendations?