In a previous article, I had discussed the meaning of the word ‘acintya’ in Caitanya Vaiṣṇava theology. There, I had shown that the word ‘acintya’ in the term ‘acintya bheda-abheda’ has the following related meanings: A reader reminded me that I owe readers an article on a related […]
I recently became aware that some Gauḍiyas criticize Śrī Jīva Goswami for teaching svakīya-vāda in the Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha. These people go to the extent of rejecting his commentary on the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, and even the Sandarbhas, outright. They consider Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī to be reliable because he firmly supports […]
Anyone who has followed this website knows that the answer to the question in the title is an unequivocal ‘no’. Yet, there is now an ongoing trend to misinterpret Śrī Jīva Goswami’s teachings to support the theory that the jīva falls from the spiritual world. We at bhaktitattva.com […]
Given the popularity of Caitanya Vaiṣṇavism these days, there is much use of the term ‘acintya bheda-abheda’. I am not sure if the popular descriptions of this term are accurate. I therefore decided to collect the precise language that Śrī Jīva uses to justify the use of acintya […]
I have previously stated in articles on this site that acintya means śāstraika-gamyam – knowable only through śāstra. śāstra states that there is neither bheda nor abheda between Bhagavān and His śaktis. As such, there is no option but to accept acintya bheda-abheda, even though bheda and abheda […]
Reader Sridhar requested a translation of Śrī Jīva Goswami’s Sarva-samvādinī commentary on svābhāvika bheda-abheda-vāda, along with a translation of the late Śrī Ānanda Gopāla Vedānta-tirtha’s commentary on the Sarva-samvādinī. I present the translations below. Before this section, Śrī Jīva Goswami has refuted aupcārika bheda-abheda-vāda. Now he refutes svābhāvika […]
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 […]
The inherent bhakti-vādis claim that the guṇāṣṭaka or group of eight qualities cannot exist in the ātmā without a form, and given that these qualities are in the ātmā’s svarūpa, the form or siddha-deha is proven to be inherent in the ātmā. The mistaken idea of the siddha […]
In a previous article, I refuted the claim that the dāsa bhūto harer eva implies inherent bhakti in the ātmā. Here I examine citations that are claimed to support inherent bhakti. The first one is from Śrī Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja. I provide the verse and the cited translation below. […]
The inherent bhaktivadis claim that intrinsic śaktis of the ātmā like its jñāna-śakti or its ability to know, its ability to act, and so on, become unmanifest when it is conditioned by māyā. To support this, they cite the Prīti Sandarbha. Here I continue to examine the evidence […]
In the Bhagavat Sandarbha Anuccheda 16.4, Śrī Jīva Goswami discusses how Bhagavān has three distinct śaktis. He writes: śaktiś ca tridhā—antaraṅgā, taṭasthā, bahiraṅgā ca | Parabrahman’s śakti is of three types — antaraṅgā, taṭasthā, and bahiraṅgā. Over and over, we see that Śrī Jīva Goswami states that there […]