Maharajji answers questions in Śrī Guru Darśanam, pp. 343-344 Question: How can we understand these different levels of spiritual development? Sometimes there is a different pace of growth, or even regression in spiritual life. Does this depend on the discipline of the person, on his personality, or is this just […]
We have previously examined the concept of sādhanā bhakti and bhāva bhakti, and the difference between them. The article below explains the difference between them in less technical terms by expanding on concepts introduced in a lecture by Sri Babaji (Bhakti-rasamrta Sindhu lectures, 2017, Vrindavan). The mind of […]
Maharajji answers questions in the Śrī Guru Darśanam, pp. 97-106 Question: What should I concentrate on during chanting? Should it be the sound, a certain deity or a description? Answer: When you chant, you are chanting the name. And you have to keep your mind on the name only and […]
[ādi-guru means the teacher of all teachers, or original teacher]. From Śrī Guru Darśanam, pp. 177 – 178 Question: Previously we have heard that Balarāma and Nityānanda are the ādiguru, and also that the guru is a manifestation of Śrimatī Rādhārāni. Is that true? Answer (by Maharajji): These […]
Question: My friend says that lying to one’s parents is fine if it is for devotion to Kṛṣṇa. She cites the examples of gopis to justify this. I find this unethical. Answer: Scripture contains prescriptions and descriptions. The descriptions of Kṛṣṇa’s lilas with the gopis are meant to […]
Rupa Goswami lists 64 limbs of bhakti in the Bhakti rasamrta sindhu. We will examine these limbs one by one. This preamble examines the significance of the limbs of bhakti. Where the Bhagavad Gita deals with psychology of the material mind, the Bhakti rasamrta sindhu deals with the […]
In kārikā 1.2.9, Rupa Goswami writes that vaidhī bhakti is the duty of everyone in varṇāśrama : इति असौ स्याद् विधिर् नित्यौ सर्व-वर्णाश्रमादिषु| नित्यत्वेSपि अस्य निर्णितम् एकादश्यादिवत् फलम्|| This vidhi (vaidhī bhakti) is a compulsory or regular activity (nitya) for all varṇas and āśramas. Even though it is nitya, […]
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 known to be of two types: vaidhī and rāganugā. There is a common misconception in some modern sects of Caitanya Vaisnavism that vaidhī bhakti […]
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 prākaṭyam hṛdi sādhyatā sādhyatā means the manifestation of the nitya siddha bhāva in the heart. We will unpack each of the words here and […]
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 and परीक्षा. उद्देश्य means listing items, लक्षण means defining the items, and परीक्षा is testing the definition- that is explaining it in detail1. In the भक्तिरसामृत सिंधु […]