Reader Ananta wanted me to explain the following notoriously misinterpreted verse by Śrī Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja- nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema ‘sādhya’ kabhu naya śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya To understand this verse properly, we need to first understand something about the Bengali language. In Bengali, the word for ‘cooked’ is ‘siddha’. Use google […]
I was in Vrindavan recently and had the privilege of visiting Shri Haridas Niwas.
Q: I had a question about an article by a devotee. He says that the śuddha citta in which prema manifests is the citta of the spiritual body, and not the material citta. What is your opinion on this? A: How does this author explain this verse from the […]
Reader Raj requested an explanation of SB 12.13.12. The verse is as follows: sarva-vedānta-sāraṁ yad brahmātmaikatva-lakṣaṇam vastv advitīyaṁ tan-niṣṭhaṁ kaivalyaika-prayojanam Śrī Jīva Goswami brings this verse up first in the Tattva Sandarbha Anuccheda 52.1, where he mentions that the verse will be discussed in depth later in the […]
In the Bhakti Sandarbha course that Śrī Babaji is teaching, there was a long discussion on whether the jiva has some kind of prīti in it – not the full blown love for Bhagavān, but some kind of prema, synonymous with the word ānanda or bliss. I summarize […]
Śrī Babaji gave a wonderful answer to a question by one of his students in a class on the Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha.
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 Anuccheda 56 of the Bhagavat Sandarbha, Śrī Jīva Goswami brings out the concept that Bhagavān’s personal form [meaning His personal service] is the ultimate end of all that is to be aspired for. Śrī Babaji’s commentary on this Anuccheda explains the rationale for why loving Kṛṣṇa is […]
We continue our discussion on the Bhāgavatam’s catuḥśloki. The third item of the catuḥśloki according to Bhagavān, the speaker of the catuḥśloki, is rahasya or secret. Yet, a first look at the verse offers no such rahasya to the reader. Śrī Jīva Goswami takes this verse up in […]
In Anuccheda 96 of the Bhagavat Sandarbha, Śrī Jīva Goswami analyzes seven verses spoken by Bhagavān to Brahmā. Four of these seven verses constitute the famous catuḥśloki or four seed-verses of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. The word ‘seed’ here means that these verses constitute the essence of the Śrīmad […]
A book should begin by explaining the following four topics: Sambandha: the relation (sambandha) of the book (vācaka) with its main subject (vācya). Abhidheya: the means of attainment propounded in the book. Prayojana: the completion state or end state brought about by the means stated in point 2. […]
Here we revisit the definition of bhakti rasa and explanations of the terms vibhāva, anubhāva, vyabhicārī and sāttvika bhāvas, but this time as given by Sri Rupa Goswami in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta Sindhu. Definition of bhakti rasa Sri Rupa Goswami defines bhakti rasa (2.1.5) as follows: vibhāvair anubhāvaiḥ ca […]
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