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 […]
Question: Should Caitanya Vaiṣṇavas observe Śivarātri? Answer: In the Gadādhara parivāra, we fast on Śivarātri. Q: Some say that there is no need to observe Śivarātri. They cite the following from Śrī Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Goswami: śivarātrivratamidaṁ yadyapyāvaśyakaṁ na hi | vaiṣṇavānāṁ tathāpyatra sadācārādvilikhyate ||186|| Could you help me […]
I have presented Śrī Babaji’s translations of the ten offenses to Hari-nāma from the Bhakti Sandarbha in a previous article which were based on Śrī Jīva’s commentary. Here I present my translations of Śrī Sanātana’s commentary on each of the ten offenses. The first two offenses are: satāṁ […]
Some argue that quitting one’s profession, and “depending fully” on Bhagavān for one’s maintenance is necessary for one’s bhakti to qualify as uttamā bhakti. In their view, any other lifestyle indicates a lack of faith in Bhagavān. These proponents quote the yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham verse from the Bhagavad […]
I continue translating Śrī Jīva Goswami’s commentary on the definition of uttamā bhakti given in the Bhakti rasāmṛta sindhu by Śrī Rūpa Goswami. He concludes the previous topic by pointing out that all that discussion was about the inherent characteristics of bhakti: tad etat svarūpa-lakṣaṇam – this was […]
In previous articles, I discussed the characteristics of the uttama and madhyama bhāgavatas as explained in the Bhakti Sandarbha. Here, I examine Śrī Jīva’s explanation of the characteristics of the kaniṣṭha bhāgavata presented in the Bhakti Sandarbha Anuccheda 190. He writes: atha bhagavad-dharmācaraṇa-rūpeṇa kāyikena kiñcin mānasena ca liṅgena […]
In a previous article, I discussed the characteristics of the uttama bhāgavata. Here, I will examine Śrī Jīva’s explanation of the characteristics of the madhyama bhāgavata presented in the Bhakti Sandarbha Anuccheda 189. There Śrī Jīva cites a verse from the Bhāgavata purāṇa, which has become quite popular […]
At the request of reader Ananta Krsna dasa, I have decided to post 15 min Gītā videos on youtube. The plan is to take the reader word-by-word through Cakravartīpāda’s commentary. The first video is here – -Tkd
The inherent bhakti-vādis claim that Vedānta-sūtra 4.4.1 shows the inherence of the siddha deha inside the ātmā. Śrī Babaji has refuted this incorrect idea in his book, Jīva tattva. I reproduce his refutation below.
I am now getting to the end of my refutations of inherent bhakti-vāda. I have probably written around 30 articles on the topic so far. My understanding of the position of the inherent bhakti-vādis has evolved with each new article. Initially, I thought that I was only refuting […]
The inherent bhakti-vādis claim that the primary meaning of the word ‘tādātmya’ is ‘relationship of something with itself’. They then proceed to argue that the ātmā’s relation with the siddha deha is one of ‘tādātmya’ where tādātmya is defined in the previous sentence. That is, the ātmā is […]
I continue my refutation of the concept that bhakti is inherent and also bestowed on the ātmā. One of the qualities of the ātmā mentioned in the Paramātmā Sandarbha is ānanda which Śrī Jīva Goswami has glossed as duḥkha-pratiyogi. The inherent bhakti-vādis, being apparently unaware of the technical […]
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