The definition of vaidhī uttamā sādhanā bhakti
Having defined uttamā sādhanā bhakti, Rupa Goswami lists its two divisions: वैधी रागानुगा चेति सा द्विधा साधनाभिधा| vaidhī rāganugā ceti sā dvidhā sādhanābhidhā That sādhanā bhakti […]
Is the sādhya, bhāva or prema?
Rupa Goswami in his भक्तिरसामृत सिंधु has presented three divisions of उत्तमा भक्ति (uttamā bhakti): sādhanā, bhāva and prema. sādhya and sādhana are only two. Jiva Goswami and […]
sādhanā purifies the citta for the manifestation of bhāva
We have seen that साधना (sādhanā) is the activities of the senses (इंद्रिय-व्यापार) that result in भाव (bhāva). Someone who has bhāva will also serve […]
bhāva: dormant or absent?
There are two opposing views on where bhāva, the sādhya of sādhanā bhakti1, exists before it manifests in the heart (heart refers to the unconscious mind). […]
Śrī Rūpa defines sādhanā bhakti, Part II
The second line of the definition of साधना भक्ति given by Śrī Rūpa Goswami is as follows: नित्य सिद्धस्य भावस्य प्राकट्यम् हृदि साध्यता| nitya siddhasya bhāvasya […]
Śrī Rūpa defines sādhanā bhakti, Part I
There is a method to Śrī Rūpa Goswami’s presentation in the भक्तिरसामृत सिंधु which is borrowed from न्याय. It has three elements to it: उद्देश्य, लक्षण […]
Cause and effect in uttamā bhakti
In Indian philosophy1, साधन (sādhana) and साध्य (sādhya) refer to cause and effect, or ingredient and product. Say for example, we are preparing soup. Before […]
Other equivalent definitions of uttamā bhakti
Rupa Goswami goes on to point out in his master piece भक्ति रसामृत सिंधु (Bhakti rasāmṛta sindhu) that उत्तमा भक्ति (uttamā bhakti) is also defined […]
Śrī Rūpa Goswami defines uttamā bhakti, Part III
Continuing our discussion of the तटस्थ लक्षणम् (taṭastha lakṣaṇam) from a previous post, we now explore the words ज्ञान कर्माद्यनावृतम् (jñāna karmādy anāvṛtam) in this article. The […]
Śrī Rūpa Goswami defines uttamā bhakti, Part II
In a previous post, we examined the definition of uttamā bhakti and saw that स्वरूप लक्षणम् (svarūpa lakṣaṇam) = अानुकूल्येन कृष्णानुशीलनम् (ānukulyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanam) or the […]
Śrī Rūpa Goswami defines uttamā bhakti, Part I
The genius of Śrī Rūpa Goswami (1489–1564) was to compose the book भक्ति रसामृत सिंधु (Bhakti rasāmṛta sindhu) which examines the psychology of Kṛṣṇa’s devotees. He […]