The jīva’s root problem: beginningless absence of awareness of the Absolute Reality
In a previous article, I presented Śrī Jīva Goswami’s formulation of the jīva’s basic problem that he defines in the Prīti Sandarbha: atha jīvaś ca […]
Is bhakti dormant?
The awareness of the ātmā of its svarūpa is absent or ‘unmanifest’ in its conditioned state
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, […]
Does the ātmā search for prīti, or love, for Bhagavān?
Proponents of inherent bhakti-vāda (bhakti is inherent in the ātmā) claim that without inherent bhakti, the ātmā would not have prīti or love for Bhagavān […]
‘Svayam-prakāśatva’ refers to the intrinsic jñāna-śakti of the ātmā
Claim: The quality of the jīva of svayam-prakāśatva, discussed in the Paramātmā Sandarbha, means ‘self-manifestation’. This refers to the phenomenon, in which the jīva, upon […]
Bhagavān’s svarūpa śakti is not the same as the jīva’s svarūpa śakti
Claim: In Prīti Sandarbha Anuchheda 5.2, Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī again supports that the ātmā uses māyā’s jñāna śakti or the material jñāna śakti to know […]
The jīva uses the ātmā’s own jñāna śakti, and not Bhagavān’s svarūpa śakti or māyā śakti, to know – Part II
I continue to examine the evidence that some offer to support the claim that the ātmā uses māyā’s jñāna śakti or the material jñāna śakti […]
The jīva uses the ātmā’s own jñāna śakti, and not Bhagavān’s svarūpa śakti or māyā śakti, to know – part I
Some claim that instead of using the ātmā’s intrinsic jñāna śakti, the ātmā uses māyā’s jñāna śakti or the material jñāna śakti to know. Likewise, […]
Of swans and jīvas
Some offer an analogy between swans and jīvas. The analogy goes like this: “Consider a caged swan. Looking at the swan, one would not know […]
Śrī Jīva Goswami’s explanation of the jīva’s knowership and agency in the Sarva-samvādinī
Śrī Jīva Goswami has explained in the Paramātmā Sandarbha that knowership and agency are intrinsic to the pure jīva or ātmā. Some glean a novel, […]
Śrī Viśvanātha explains taṭasthā-śakti
One of the joys of studying the writings of Śrī Viśvanātha is the clarity with which he presents any topic. Here, we examine his beautiful […]
Śrī Jīva Goswami teaches that the pure jīva, i.e. ātmā, is taṭasthā śakti
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 | […]
Śrī Jīva Goswami teaches that the jīvas are taṭasthā-śakti in their svarūpa
Some argue that upon becoming siddha, i.e. getting entry into Goloka, the term taṭasthā is no longer a primary description of the jīva, since the […]