I continue the discussion from the previous article on Śrī Sanātana Goswami’s commentary on Śrī Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Goswami’s Hari Bhakti Vilāsa. Śrī Gopāla Bhaṭṭa further explains why not observing Śivarātri is displeasing to Śrī Bhagavān by citing another verse from the Kūrma purāṇa: yo māṁ samarcayennityam ekāntaṁ bhāvamāśritaḥ […]
Śrī Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Goswami wrote a section in the Hari Bhakti Vilāsa, where he states that Śivarātri must be observed by Vaiṣṇavas. Here I translate his statements and Śrī Sanatana Goswami’s commentary on them. Śrī Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Goswami begins the section with: śivarātrivratamidaṁ yadyapyāvaśyakaṁ na hi | vaiṣṇavānāṁ […]
Question: Should Caitanya Vaiṣṇavas observe Śivarātri? Answer: In the Gadādhara parivāra, we fast on Śivarātri. Q: Some say that there is no need to observe Śivarātri. They cite the following from Śrī Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Goswami: śivarātrivratamidaṁ yadyapyāvaśyakaṁ na hi | vaiṣṇavānāṁ tathāpyatra sadācārādvilikhyate ||186|| Could you help me […]
I have presented Śrī Babaji’s translations of the ten offenses to Hari-nāma from the Bhakti Sandarbha in a previous article which were based on Śrī Jīva’s commentary. Here I present my translations of Śrī Sanātana’s commentary on each of the ten offenses. The first two offenses are: satāṁ […]
In Anuccheda 256 of the Bhakti Sandarbha, Śrī Jīva Goswami explains the ten aparādhas or offenses to be avoided during chanting of Hari-nāma. I will present Śrī Babaji’s translation of Śrī Jīva’s list of offenses below, and follow up with Śrī Jīva’s explanations of each of the offenses […]
Some argue that quitting one’s profession, and “depending fully” on Bhagavān for one’s maintenance is necessary for one’s bhakti to qualify as uttamā bhakti. In their view, any other lifestyle indicates a lack of faith in Bhagavān. These proponents quote the yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham verse from the Bhagavad […]
I continue translating Śrī Jīva Goswami’s commentary on the definition of uttamā bhakti given in the Bhakti rasāmṛta sindhu by Śrī Rūpa Goswami. He concludes the previous topic by pointing out that all that discussion was about the inherent characteristics of bhakti: tad etat svarūpa-lakṣaṇam – this was […]
I continue translating Śrī Jīva Goswami’s commentary on the definition of uttamā bhakti given in the Bhakti rasāmṛta sindhu by Śrī Rūpa Goswami. In the first article, I examined the meaning of kṛṣṇānuśīlanam. Śrī Jīva writes: kṛṣṇa-śabdaś cātra svayaṁbhagavataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇasya tad-rūpāṇāṁ cānyeṣām api grāhakaḥ | tāratamyaṁ cāgre vivecanīyam […]
I finally decided to sit down and translate Śrī Jīva Goswami’s commentary on the definition of uttamā bhakti given in the Bhakti rasāmṛta sindhu by Śrī Rūpa Goswami. I also consulted the commentary by Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravarti where needed. This is a very deep and difficult topic discussed […]
I received more challenges from a reader. One of the comments is worth addressing. To my suggestion that one should learn from a teacher, and not by self-study, the reader writes: “There is no authorised proof till date that there is unbroken chain of learning sat sandarbas stemming […]
A reader recently argued that if one works to earn a livelihood, then their bhakti is a type of mixed bhakti which cannot be classified as uttamā bhakti. The argument is two fold: 1) harboring ‘faith’ independently in one’s livelihood means bhakti becomes covered, 2) one is not […]
In a previous article, I examined Śrī Jīva Goswami’s definition of bhakti. Here I will present Śrī Jīva Goswami’s classification scheme in Anuccheda 217 of the Bhakti Sandarbha, in which he details the different sub-types of bhakti. Āropa-siddhā, Saṅga-siddhā, and Svarūpa-siddhā-bhakti Śrī Jīva Goswami divides bhakti into three […]
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