Preaching is not a limb of uttamā bhakti
Some modern Caitanya bhakti sects emphasize preaching as the most important duty of a devotee. Preaching in this context carries the meaning of proselytizing, that […]
Rupa Goswami
Rupa Goswami defines bhāva, part I
We now examine the definition of bhāva by Sri Rupa Goswami. As a reminder, bhāva is the sādhya or goal of sādhanā bhakti. Sri Rupa Goswami defines bhāva as follows:
śuddha-sattva-viśeṣātmā prema-sūryāṁśu-sāmya-bhāk | rucibhiś citta-māsṛṇya-kṛd asau bhāva ucyate ||
The don’ts of bhakti, Part 1
Limbs eleven to twenty are prohibitions or the dont’s of bhakti. They are as important 1 as the previous ten prescriptions. Here are the first […]
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 […]