Gītā on youtube
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 meaning of Vedānta-sūtra 4.4.1
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.
The theory underlying inherent bhakti-vāda
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 meaning of the word ‘tādātmya’
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 […]
Śrī Sanātana Goswami explains that the happiness in the pure ātmā is an absence of misery
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 […]
In mukti, the qualities of the ātmā become manifest, i.e. become observable, to itself
I continue examining the arguments of the inherent bhakti-vādis, who claim that “bhakti is inherent in the ātmā”. While this theory was invented some time in the last two centuries, it has now taken the form that “bhakti is both bestowed on the ātmā and already inherent in […]
Śrī Jīva Goswami explains that śeṣatva= aṁśatva ∵ śaktitva
I continue to examine the arguments offered by inherent bhakti-vādis to support the claim that bhakti is inherent but dormant inside the ātmā. In this article, I examine the claim that the word ‘śeṣatva’, which according to Śrī Jīva Goswami, is an inherent characteristic of the ātmā, implies […]
Do Śrī Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja or Śrī Baladeva teach that bhakti is inherent in the ātmā?
In a previous article, I refuted the claim that the dāsa bhūto harer eva implies inherent bhakti in the ātmā. Here I examine citations that are claimed to support inherent bhakti. The first one is from Śrī Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja. I provide the verse and the cited translation below. […]
Does the dāsa bhūto harer eva verse imply inherent bhakti in the ātmā?
I continue examining the arguments of the inherent bhakti-vādis. Claim: An intrinsic characteristic of the jīva is that it is a dāsa, i.e. a devotee of Bhagavān. This is stated in the Padma Purāṇa 6.226.37: dāsabhūto harereva nānyasya tu kadācana. This is also stated by Śrī Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja: […]
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 tadīyo’pi taj-jñāna-saṁsargābhāva-yuktatvena tan-māyā-parābhūtaḥ sann ātma-svarūpa-jñāna-lopān māyā-kalpitopādhy-āveśāc cānādi-saṁsāra-duḥkhena sambadhyata iti paramātma-sandarbhādāv eva nirūpitam asti | The individual living being (jīva), although belonging to the […]
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, become unmanifest when it is conditioned by māyā. To support this, they cite the Prīti Sandarbha. Here I continue to examine the evidence […]
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 as its purpose. The opponents of inherent bhakti-vāda, that is us, take the position that the absence of suffering is the ātmā’s inherent […]