I am interested in Chaitanya Vaishnavism. This site is inspired by the teachings of Sri Satyanarayana dasa Babaji, scholar and practitioner.
We now examine the rest of the limbs of bhakti. Rupa Goswami writes about these: eṣām atra daśāṅgānāṁ bhavet prārambha-rupatā: these ten limbs are the beginning of bhakti. We list them below (starting from the fourth limb as the first three limbs are discussed elsewhere). guru-pādāśraya tasmāt = taking […]
Before we dive into this topic, lets start with the meaning of the word ‘Science’ from wikipedia: “Science (from Latin scientia, meaning “knowledge”) is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.” In modern India, the word vijñāna is the […]
Of the 64 limbs of bhakti ennumerated by Rupa Goswami, Jiva Goswami comments that the first twenty are doors that give entry into bhakti (अस्याः भक्तौ प्रवेशाय विंशति-अंगानाम् द्वारत्वेSपि), but of these, the first three are most important, i.e. they are the doors that open to the next […]
Rupa Goswami lists 64 limbs of bhakti in the Bhakti rasamrta sindhu. We will examine these limbs one by one. This preamble examines the significance of the limbs of bhakti. Where the Bhagavad Gita deals with psychology of the material mind, the Bhakti rasamrta sindhu deals with the […]
The word anartha means anything that is not artha- or that which is not the goal. Anything which is undesirable for bhakti to Kṛṣṇa is anartha, even though it may fall under dharma, artha, kāma or mokṣa. There are five types of anarthas which progress from the first to […]
Rupa and Jiva Goswami take great pains to clearly distinguish between karma, jñāna and the bhakti mārga. Not understanding these distinctions can cause problems in the practice of uttama bhakti. Here we examine Jiva Goswami’s commentary on this point. We begin with Rupa Goswami’s writing in the Bhakti […]
I recently met a young smart Indian girl studying in the tenth grade who grew up in America. I started to talk to her about science. When I inquired about the theory of evolution, she replied: “the theory of evolution is a conspiracy by scientists to reject God. […]
An example where the primary meaning of scripture can be misleading is Kṛṣṇa’s rāsa līlā described in the Bhāgavatam. Here, there are references to intimate interactions between Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs, which appear sexual in nature in their primary meaning, no different from an ordinary book of romance. And yet, at the end […]
In Sanskrit kāvya, words have three kinds of meaning. Kavi-karṇapūra’s Alaṅkāra-kaustubha describes these meanings in detail 1. They are abhidhā-vṛtti, lakṣaṇā-vṛtti and vyañjanā-vṛtti. The meanings of these words are best understood through an example. Consider the words: gaṅgāyāṁ ghoṣaḥ. The abhidhā or primary meaning of these words is […]
Rupa Goswami quotes the following verse from the sixth canto of the भागवतम् in भक्तिरसामृत सिंधु 1.2.52: मुक्तानाम् अपि सिद्धानां नारायणपरायणः| सुदुर्लभः प्रशान्तात्मा कोटीषु अपि महामुनेः|| muktānām api siddhānāṁ nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇaḥ su-durlabhaḥ praśāntātmā koṭiṣv api mahā-mune Jiva Goswami helps us translate this verse by defining the terms in it. […]
Kṛṣṇa lists four types of devotees in the Bhagavad Gītā 7.16. Rupa Goswami examines Kṛṣṇa’s list in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, and explains that these devotees are not uttama bhaktas. Rupa Goswami writes: तत्र गीतादिषूक्तानां चतुर्णाम् अधिकारिणां मध्ये| Among the four adhikārīs in the Gītā verses, यस्मिन् भगवतः कृपा स्यात् तत्-प्रियस्य वा || […]
When Rupa goswami describes the limbs of bhakti, he writes the first limb as: guru-pādāśrayas tasmāt kṛṣṇa-dīkṣādi-śikṣaṇam | Guru-pādāśraya means taking shelter of the guru. This is followed by kṛṣṇa-dīkṣā, which means taking the dīkṣā mantra from the guru. Next, one undergoes śikṣaṇam – one learns the scriptures systematically […]
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