Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa is seen to punish the asuras such as Jarāsandha and to assist the devatās like Brahmā. As Brahmā has a predominance of sattva guṇa and the asuras have rajas and tamas, this appears to indicate that Śrī Kṛṣṇa is ‘controlled’ by the guṇas. This goes […]
Bhagavān, in the form of Paramātmā, is present in every living being. And yet, He does not ever identify with any body, unlike the jīva, who, even though present in only one body, and despite hearing from scripture thousands of times, cannot let go of its false misidentification […]
Kṛṣṇa is popularly known to have been born in Mathurā to Devakī in Kaṁsa’s prison. But the ācāryas explain that He was also born in Gokula. Here we examine this extraordinary concept. The main reason for proposing that two Kṛṣṇas were born is to reconcile two statements in […]
A vexing issue for many is the fact that the different scriptures indicate different beings as the Supreme. For example, Śiva purāṇa states Śiva as the supreme, while Viṣṇu purāṇa states Viṣṇu as the supreme. The Devi Bhāgavata mentions Devi as the supreme. Which purāṇa is to be […]
Absolute reality is called advaya-jñāna in the scriptures. What does this term mean?
Prakaṭa means ‘manifest’, and aprakaṭa is the negation of manifest, or ‘unmanifest’. These terms crop up in the discussions of the tenth canto in the context of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s leaving Vṛndāvana for Mathurā. The gopīs are distraught. Śrī Kṛṣṇa promises them that He would return, but He never […]
There are many names of Bhagavān. What is the significance of the name ‘Kṛṣṇa’?
We continue our examination of the mapping of the Vedānta-sūtras onto Bhāgavatam 1.1.1.
The first verse of a book is generally important in establishing its meaning. There are six criteria for establishing the meaning of a book, out of which upakrama or introductory statements is the first one. The first verse of the Bhāgavatam, therefore, is of prime importance to anyone […]
Śrī Gadādhara Goswami, respectfully known as Paṇḍita Goswami, is an enigmatic figure. He is considered the closest friend and follower of Śrī Caitanya. He is not known to have written scholarly works. Whatever is known about Him is through the poetry and writings of others and through the […]
In the Bhagavat Sandarbha, Śrī Jīva Goswami does an extensive and relentless analysis of the relationship between Brahman and Bhagavān. The advaitavādis claim that Bhagavān is nothing but Brahman delimited by māyā. Bhagavān according them is vyavahārika reality, and not pāramārthika reality. That is, the ultimate and only […]
The Bhāgavatam is a long and comprehensive work which has 17000 verses. It is studied by Vaiṣṇavas and Advaita Vedāntins alike. These two groups differ in their interpretation of what the core subject of the Bhāgavatam is. The Advaitins claim it is Brahman. The Caitanya Vaiṣṇavas propose that […]