CLAIM/CHALLENGE: Hare Krishna! Quite honestly, I think you guys take raganuga-bhakti for very cheap and  I think you are watering down this high class process very much. According to you, raganuga-bhakti seems an effortless path and anyone can join in. Raganuga-bhakti is only for very advanced souls who are fully liberated from material desires. ANSWER: … Continue reading Effortless raganuga-bhakti?

Bhakti is the essence of Śrī Bhagavān’s svarūpa-śaktis named hlādinī and samvit. This svarūpa-śakti exists within Śrī Bhagavān as three faculties, namely hlādinī, samvit and sandhinī,but not within the jīva-śakti or bahiraṅgā-māyā-śakti. By God’s mercy, the hlādinī and samvit faculties of this svarūpa-śakti enter into the heart of the jīva, and when his sādhana and bhajana mature, the jīva’s … Continue reading Spiritual alchemy

Śrīla Narottama Ṭhākura Mahāśaya starts his glorious book,  Prema-Bhakti-Candrikā, with the following famous verse: ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā | cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ || PBC 1 || "I lie prostrate at the lotus feet of Śrī Gurudeva, who has opened my eyes, once blinded by the darkness of ignorance, with the collyrium stick of knowledge." … Continue reading The collyrium stick of knowledge

  uddāma smara-keli saṅgara bhare kāmaṁ vanāntaḥ khale kṛṣṇenāṅkita pīna parvata kuca dvandvāṁ nakhair astrakaiḥ tad darpeṇa tathā madoddhuram aho taṁ viddham ākurvatīṁ dūre svālikulaiḥ kṛtāśiṣam aho rādhāṁ kadāhaṁ bhaje O! When will I serve Śrī Rādhā, who enjoyed a great playful erotic battle of Cupid in the forest with Kṛṣṇa, who scratched Her huge, … Continue reading Sri-Sri Utkantha Dasakam – Ten Anxious Prayers for worshipping Srimati Radharani (5)

rāse prema-rasena kṛṣṇa-vidhunā sārdhaṁ sakhībhir vṛtāṁ bhāvair aṣṭabhir eva sāttvikatarair lāsyaṁ rasais tanvatīm vīṇā veṇu mṛdaṅga kiṅkiṇi calan mañjīra cūḍocchalad dhvānaiḥ sphīta sugīta mañju nitarāṁ rādhāṁ kadāhaṁ bhaje When will I serve Śrī Rādhā in the Rāsa-dance, when She is lovingly dancing with the moonlike Kṛṣṇa and She is surrounded by Her girlfriends? When She … Continue reading Sri-Sri Utkantha Dasakam – Ten Anxious Prayers for worshipping Srimati Radharani (4)

মনের স্মরণ প্রাণ, মধুর মধুর ধাম, যুগলবিলাস স্মৃতিসার । সাধ্য সাধন এই, ইহা বই আর নাই, এই তত্ত্ব সর্ববিধি সার ॥ ৬১ ॥ manera smaraṇa prāṇa, madhura madhura dhāma, yugala-bilāsa smṛti-sāra | sādhya sādhana ei, ihā bai āra nāi, ei tattva sarba-bidhi sāra || 61 || Smaraṇa is the life of the mind and the … Continue reading Thinking about Krishna (smaranam) – we are allowed to start somewhere

prema-bhakti-rīti yata,        nija granthe subekata, likhiyāche dui mahāśaya | yāhāra śrabaṇa haite,         premānande bhāse cite, yugala madhura rasāśraya || 9 || These two great souls have written books that clearly reveal all the practices of prema-bhakti. The minds and hearts of those who hear these descriptions float in premānanda and become vessels for yugala-madhura-rasa. (Prema … Continue reading The glories of reading the books of our Goswamis, part 2

The leaders of the eternally perfect mañjarīs, Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī and Labaṅga Mañjarī, who are Rūpa and Sanātana in Śrī Gaura's pastimes, are called yugala ujjvalamaya tanu by Srila Narottama das Thakur, the embodiments of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa's brilliant amorous love. The question may now be raised— 'Why would those who are Vraja's eternally perfect mañjarīs, now … Continue reading The glories of reading the books of our Goswamis, part 1

If there is no humility, then pride is coming – and that kills the life of bhajan. He who is proud cannot have bhakti. He is in samsara. The identification with the body is coming from so many lifetimes. Sanatana Goswami is saying that we should do our bhajan without pride. Even somebody who has … Continue reading Humility is the protection of our bhajan