Category: Bhagavān

Why no one can know Bhagavān

One of the defining characteristics of Bhagavān is that it is most difficult to understand how He functions. In Anuchheda 40 of the Bhagavat Sandarbha, Śrī Jīva Goswami analyzes Brahmā’s prayers to Bhagavān from the tenth canto of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, and gleans the four ways in which […]

vijñāna in the catuḥśloki

As discussed in a previous article, the four topics of the Bhāgavata’s catuḥśloki are jñāna, vijñāna, bhakti and prema. The first of the catuḥśloki gives jñāna, while the second gives vijñāna. Śrī Jīva Goswami analyzes the second verse in Anuccheda 96 of the Bhagavat Sandarbha, which goes as […]

The Bhāgavatam’s Advaitavāda

We continue our discussion of Śrī Jīva Goswami’s commentary on the catuḥśloki in Anuchheda 96 of the Bhagavat Sandarbha. As discussed in a previous article, the four topics of the catuḥśloki are jñāna, vijñāna, bhakti and prema. The first of the catuḥśloki gives jñāna: aham evāsam evāgre nānyad yat sad-asat […]

The nine characteristics of Vaikuṇṭha

Understanding Bhagavān is a difficult task because knowledge of Him is not easily comprehensible, and the scriptures do not always speak directly about Him. In the Bhagavat Sandarbha, Śrī Jīva took considerable effort to analyze the Bhāgavatam and distill key concepts about Him. One important concept is that Bhagavān’s […]