Should Caitanya Vaiṣṇavas observe Śivarātri?

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 […]

Śrī Jīva Goswami’s commentary on the definition of uttamā bhakti, part II

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 […]

Of surrender and bhakti

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 […]