Gaṇeśa in Bhakti

A friend recently asked me,

“How come Rupa Goswami said to worship Ganesh? I saw on FB you have a Ganesh altar and since you studied Bhakti Rasamrta Sindhu, I’m asking you for the tika behind that instruction of worshipping Ganesh.”

(A) I don’t exactly have a Gaṇeśa altar. Once upon a time my wife and I bought a wooden statue of Gaṇeśa from a “Pier One” type store. We took it with us when we moved to Japan. My mother in law, whom we live with, created an altar around it. So, it’s not my altar, really.

(B) Rūpa Goswāmī didn’t say to worship Gaṇeśa.  Nectar of Devotion (a summary presentation of Śrī Rūpa’s Bhakti-Rasāmṛta-Sindhu) does say, in Chapter Eight,

“One should begin the worship of the demigod Gaṇapati, who drives away all impediments in the execution of devotional service. In the Brahma-saḿhitā it is stated that Gaṇapati worships the lotus feet of Lord Nṛsiḿhadeva and in that way has become auspicious for the devotees in clearing out all impediments. Therefore, all devotees should worship Gaṇapati.”

This, however, is Śrīla Prabhupāda’s inclusion of material from Śrī Jīva’s commentary on Śrī Rūpa’s Bhakti-Rasāmṛta-Sindhu. The commentary is on BRS 1.2.118, which lists as the 19th item of sādhana “seva-nāmāparādhānāṁ varjanaṁ” (“Casting off the anti-affections in deity worship and chanting of Krishna’s name.”) In his commentary on this verse, Śrī Jīva goes to the extent of enumerating 64 anti-affections (aparādhā, “offenses”) to serve as examples of what to avoid and cast off. One idea that emerges from this list is to avoid jumping into worship unprepared. When you do service to Krishna, you should do it nicely, calmly, and fully from start to finish – not abbreviating it. Abbreviation is likely to be a symptom of anti-affection. Therefore Jīva Goswāmī advises us to be on guard against abbreviation of our services.

One specific way in which abbreviation can take place involves neglect of Gaṇeśa. All auspicious deeds should begin be worshipping Gaṇeśa. This puts the performer in a fortunate, blessed position therefore more likely to carry out the deed / service nicely. If we skip the worship of Gaṇeśa at the beginning of our seva, we are abbreviating our service – and that is likely to be an anti-affection that will ruin the point of the service: to practice affection (bhakti).

Now, the devotee may question:

But Gaṇeśa is a material demigod, and we are not supposed to worship other gods besides Krishna.

This attitude is not exactly, necessarily “wrong” but in most cases today it carries the strong scent of the Judeo-Christian approach to divinity, “Thou shalt have no other Gods before me… For I am a jealous God.” This is not an accurate conception for Krishna. Krishna is generous, not jealous.  There are many other gods, and they are all invested with power by Hari (Krishna), therefore we certainly respect them all – though certainly our heart naturally reserves its true affections for adorable Krishna alone.

This, in fact, is the injunction given by Śrī Rūpa in the verse two verses before the one under discussion here. BRS. 1.2.116 lists the 16th practice of sādhana as anya devajñā (“Following the orders of other gods”) – and Śrī Rūpa quotes Padma Purāṇa to substatiate it: “Always worship Hari – who is the master of all the Gods; but also do not disrespect Brahmā, Rudra, and others.”

There is nothing wrong with worshipping a demigod for the purpose of serving Krishna. What is wrong is to worship a demigod to gain personal rewards. In fact this is the general principle applying to all things: “anukūlyeṇa saṁkalpa, pratikūlyeṇa varjita” - we will do anything for the purpose of serving Krishna, and not do anything for any other purpose.

Gaṇeśa, like all gods, worships the Supreme Person, Hari – to obtain the power to carry out his responsibility as a god. Specifically Śrīla Prabhupāda says that he worships Hari in the form of Nṛsiṁhadeva. Seeing the gods as a class of Vaiṣṇava, we who aspire to be Vaiṣṇava will always respect them as such.

So, if we are very elaborate and “full-format” in our pūjā, we begin with “maṅgalācaraṇa” (auspicious beginning), which traditionally means respecting Gaṇeśa. If we abbreviate this, it is a lack of affection for Krishna – and we should avoid that. Perhaps it is not necessary to include Gaṇeśa in the maṅgalācarana of our pūjā. All gods are respected by respecting the guru. Therefore by remembering and respecting our guru in the beginning of our worship of Krishna – we perform a full maṇgalācarana. And, as Prabhupāda indirectly indicates in the 8th chapter of Nectar of Devotion – a full maṅgalācarana can be effected simply by chanting the all-powerful Hare Krishna mantra in the right state of mind.

One might ask:

Why is Gaṇeśa traditionally associated with auspicious beginnings?

The answer is that Gaṇeśa is the god of thresholds. You can investigate the story of Gaṇeśa getting an elephant’s head to see that his mother Pārvatī put him in charge of guarding the door, the threshold. A doorway is the entrance to, thus the beginning of, a place. So, by being the guardian of thresholds, Gaṇeśa Jī is the guardian of beginnings. If you want a new endeavor to “get off to the right start” you should remember Gaṇeśa while starting, and ask him humbly for his blessing of your crossing the threshold.

I hope this helps satisfy your curiosity.

 

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The Bhagavad-Gita – with all its depth and detail – in simple, succinct, straightforward terms.

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“Just Hear” the Name???

This can be what “Hare Krishna, Hare Rama” LOOKS like when you hear it.

Krishna’s name is a noun, a transcendent noun.

Nouns are words, sounds that carry meaning. When you hear a word in a language you don’t understand – it is only sound. But as you repeatedly listen with curiosity and intelligence the meaning becomes clear. When you understand a language, hearing the sound of a word immediately invokes your awareness of the meanings and implications of the word.

There is no real meaning to “hearing the sound” of Krishna’s name without the sound of that name causing you to become aware of Krishna.

When we are “newborn” we don’t understand much in the sound of words (Krishna’s names). So it behooves us to listen carefully to the sound, with curiousity and intelligence (i.e. do our best to learn as much as we can about the person being named,  mainly by reading Śrīmad Bhāgavatam). When we are “a few years old” we begin to understand words. When we hear the names of Krishna, the sound will invoke in us awareness of the person being named – naturally, that is simply what nouns do.

However, the names of Krishna are transcendental nouns. Therefore as we become “full grown” in hearing and chanting these nouns – hearing the name of Krishna will invoke in our awareness direct cognition of the named (Krishna). At this stage we begin to experience in the name more than what we read about Krishna – more directly, more personally. The name is becoming pure and showing its inherent nature of non-duality from the named.

The effort to “simply hear” the name, without “remembering Krishna” as a result of hearing it is rather like an infant trying to remain an infant and never learn how to use words.

Crows at the ISKCON Garbage Dump

Here is the problem with most of the people who want to change ISKCON – they are acting like crows – congregating around heaps and heaps of garbage, dishing it all out and inviting you to smell all the rottenness of it. You are not going to create anything beautiful by giving guided tours of the rubbish heaps of ISKCON’s past and, to some extent at least, present. You are just going to make people want to vomit.

Here is how you change ISKCON (this is what Aindra taught in his book if anyone has the patience to read it and figure out what he’s actually saying): You change the garbage by being beautiful! You bring the Supreme Beauty, Sri Sri Radha Krishna into the scene and forcibly inject them everywhere boldly and powerfully by loud, constant, passionate, ongoing hari-nāma-saṁkīrtana. You chant Hare Krishna constantly in a mood of wanting to please and delight Radha-Krishna and their eternal associates by doing so. This forces out all the garbage – hṛdyanta stho hyabhadrani vidhunoti!

So IF YOU WANT TO HELP PRABHUPADA STOP WRITING SO MANY GARBAGE BLOG POSTS ABOUT EVERYTHING THATS WRONG, AND START A KIRTAN, AND KEEP THAT KIRTAN GOING 24 HOURS A DAY, EVERY DAY.

The Five Most Important Sadhanas

Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu, by Śrī Rūpa Goswāmī, is the cornerstone textbook for the practice of bhakti-yoga among those who follow Śrīman Mahāprabhu. In ISKCON, a very prominent branch of such practitioners, the founding Guru, Śrīla Prabhupāda presented this book very, very early on; calling it The Nectar of Devotion.

The second section of the first division of Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu deals with sādhana-bhakti - the practice of cultivating divine love. There, Śrī Rūpa enumerates 64 important practices. He concludes the list, the 60-64^th practices, with the most important practices. About these five he says [1.2.238]:

durūhādbhuta vīrye ‘smin śraddhā ‘stu pancake |
yatra svalpo ‘pi sambandhaḥ sad-dhiyāṁ bhāva-janmane ||

“These five are so amazingly powerful
That they bring about the dawning of perfection
In any well-intentioned person who even slightly takes to them,
Even without very firm faith.”

The five practices are, stated in an unsophisticated, unspecific way:

1. Worshipping the Deity of Krishna
2. Discussing Krishna
3. Associating with Devotees of Krishna
4. Chanting
5. Living in a sacred place

The exact words Śrī Rūpa uses to describe each of these are very important to really understanding what is powerful about the five practices.

Deity Worship

He describes this as [1.2.225]:

śrī-mūrter-anghri-sevane prītaḥ

“Caring for the feet of the beautiful form, with great affection”

The quote he gives to illustrate the power of this practice, from Ādi Purāṇa, shows that we should affectionately care for the beautiful form of Krishna while singing Krishna’s name.

Discussing Krishna

He describes this as [1.2.226]

śrī bhāgavata-artha-svado

“Relishing the meanings of the beautiful Bhāgavatam”

All our discussion of Krishna should be rooted in discussing Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. That Purāṇa is full of the nectar of bhakti-rasa in a format that is easily accessible and understandable. Other books elaborating on the Bhāgavatam are non-different from Bhāgavatam, but still the Bhāgavatam itself must always hold the place of paramount importance. We should relish hearing and discussing such things.

Associating with Devotees of Krishna

He describes this as [1.2.228]:

sajātīyāśaya-snigdha śrī-bhagavad-bhakta-sango

“Becoming close with those who have affection for the Beautiful All-Attractive,
and who are naturally affectionate and of similar mood”

It is not that hanging out with anyone who wears neck beads is one of the five most powerful devotional practices. We must find person who we can easily identify with, both in a mundane sense (we have a similar or compatible background as we) and in a spiritual sense (they conceive of Godhead in a similar or compatible manner as we, and have specific spiritual aspirations that are compatible with our own). Finding such person, we don’t just hang around together, but we become close and seek to emulate their good qualities and appreciate their spiritual devotion.

Chanting

He describes this as [1.2.230]:

śrī-nāma-saṁkīrtana

“Fully glorifying the beautiful name”

The qualifier fully means two things: it means to glorify the name from your heart, with sincere emotions; and it also means to decorate the name with melody, rhythm, emotion, and dance – especially (but not exclusively) in congregational groups. The words śrī-nāma specify that he is talking specifically about glorifying Krishna’s name – not simply chanting devotional songs. That is wonderful, but it is not this particular practice (perhaps it can be inclusively counted as a type of “hearing about Krishna” discussed earlier). One can compose songs made of Krishna’s names – such as jaya-rādhā-mādhava and vibhāvari-śeṣa – but the most potent of all is to do Hare Krishna mahā-mantra nāma saṁkīrtan.

This is the most powerful of all the five processes – the other four are meant to enrich and support this. Evidence of the eminence nāma-saṁkīrtan among the five most powerful practices is the fact that Śrī Rūpa quoted four verses illustrating the power of nāma-saṁkīrtan whereas the other four practices he only illustrated with one or two verses. Additionally, Śrī Rūpa composed an original verse for clarifying the topic of nāma-saṁkīrtan and did not do so for any of the other four.

Living in a Sacred Place

He describes this as [1.2.235]:

śrī mathurā maṇḍale sthitiḥ

“Be situated in the circumference of beautiful Mathurā”

Although we can extrapolate that it is very advantageous to make a sacred space within our room, or a sacred room within our house, or even to live in a temple of Krishna, or to live in some holy place such as India, or Purī, or perhaps even Śrīdhāma Māyāpura… still Śrī Rūpa specifically says that we must reside within Mathurā, the greater district of Vṛṇdāvana, if we are to perform this fifth of the five most powerful sādhanas.

Beautiful Illustrations

Śrī Rūpa concludes his description of the five most powerful practices of bhakti-yoga by composing a beautiful original poem for each. I would like to share those five poems with you.

Caring for the Beautiful Form

Smiling, in his amazing triple-bending posture, with his expanding sidelong glance
With newly blossomed lips set upon his flute, that shines so brightly in the moonlight.
This form of Hari called “Govinda” awaits you near the riverbank at Keśi-ghāṭ
My friend, don’t go there! You will give up your love for everything else if you do!

Hearing the Bhāgavatam

The sounds of the letters of the poems of the tenth canto
Seem to have traveled the pathways to your ears.

Oh what a fool you are, child!

Now you will abandon the most auspicious goals:
Pleasure, prestige, and morality…
You will even discard the bliss of liberation!

Krishna’s Devotees

Bathed in the tears of his own eyes
Decorated by blossoms of goose-bumps, shivering
Stumbling under the weight of his fully-blossomed, overflowing heart…

Since I have seen that person, my mind no longer finds delight in ordinary things.
I don’t know why.

The Name

When the cooling sound of that musician’s song graced the path of my ears
Glorifying the Name and destroying all misfortune,
Oh, my child, at that instant the Name overwhelmed my inner mind
And erased all its previous desires and attractions.

The Area of Mathurā

That splendid, golden place
On the bank of the blue-black river
Where bees hum sonorously around trees
Heavy with Kadamba flowers…

Why does this heavenly forest decorate my mind
with such inexpressible sweetness?

Three Kinds of Life

This summarizes what Krishna teaches in Bhagavad-Gita, chapter 18, texts 20 through 39. It is an except from my book (available in May 2013), “An Interview With Krishna.”

Sattva - Clarity

Clarity sees the unity in all things. Clear people don’t differentiate “desirable” from “undesirable.” Thus their actions are motivated not by desire but by duty. Their intellect is set on clarifying what is their duty and what is not. Their willpower is fixed on not allowing themselves to be deviated from their duty. Although this all seems to disciplined and strict, clear people are the happiest of all because by stilling their external self they come into contact with their blissful inner self.

Rajas – Passion

Passion sees things as being essentially different. Therefore passionate people find some things “desirable” and others “undesirable.” Based on that, they act with the motive to obtain the desirable and avoid the undesirable; they don’t act out of duty. Their intellect doesn’t care to distinguish what is dutiful from what is not; it is obsessed instead with differentiating the desirable from the undesirable. They apply their willpower to achieve the things they desire. Although this seems like fun, it winds up exhausting and lands them in conflict and misery.

Tamas - Darkness

Darkness doesn’t really care about anything, so it produces haphazard and aimless actions. The darkened criticize others but do nothing themselves, except procrastinate. Their intellect doesn’t distinguish between anything – everything is the same to them: duty and non-duty, desirable and undesirable. Therefore they have no ambition or willpower for anything other than fantasy and dreams. Happiness never really exists for them, outside of dreams.

Kirtana in Raganuga Sadhana

There is nothing “higher” or “more intimate” than hari-nama-samkirtan, nor is there anything more basic and practical. It is the central cynosure of all stages of bhakti: prema, bhava, and both types of sadhana- vaidhi and raganuga.

If there is a doubt that kirtana is the main focus of raganuga practice, I would like to show how kirtana is indicated in all three of Sri Rupa Goswami’s three verses defining the practice of raganuga-sadhana (Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu 1.2.294-296).

The first verse states:

kṛṣṇaḿ smaran janaḿ cāsya preṣṭhaḿ nija-samīhitam tat-tat-kathā-rataś cāsau kuryād vāsaḿ vraje sadā

Remember Krishna along with the beloved person who epitomizes your own aspiration for devotion. Always delight in discussing their affection And thus always live in Vraja

In this verse the word katha is synonymous with kirtan. The essence of raganuga sadhana is to always glorify (kirtana/katha) the names, forms, pastimes, and qualities of Krishna and the beloved devotee who epitomizes the perfection of your own devotional aspirations. By constantly performing such kirtan you will always reside in the sacred realm, Vraja.

If the description of raganuga practices was left at only this verse a misconception would be likely: that raganuga is a practice done solely with the mind and voice. Therefore Sri Rupa adds another verse:

sevā sādhaka-rūpeṇa siddha-rūpeṇa cātra hi tad-bhāva-lipsunā kāryā vraja-lokānusārataḥ

Infuse your practices in this world With the desire to attain the mood Of the services you desire in your perfected form As a resident of Vraja

This verse clarifies that the mental and vocal aspect of raganuga sadhana must be brought to bear upon ones practical activities as a sadhaka. One must perform one’s practical services infused with the thoughts of how they correspond to the perfected services one desires to attain in the spiritual world.

Raganuga-kirtan is different from vaidhi-kirtan because the vaidhika practitioner merely chants because he or she knows it is the best thing to do, and wants to do the right thing; the raganugika practitioner, however, additionally chants while inwardly feeling the correlation of the kirtan to the perfected services they desire: for example, singing and dancing in rasa-lila, singing for Radha-Krishna while they ride a boat in Manasa Ganga, etc.

If the delineation of raganuga practices were left at only these two verses it would remain unclear exactly what this verse means. Does it mean that we should practically imitate our desired services, as some people do by dressing as gopis and physically imitating the activities of gopis; or does it mean that our practical services should reflect the mood (“tad-bhava”) of such perfected services? To make it explicitly clear that he means the latter, Sri Rupa concludes with the following verse:

śravanot-kīrtanādīni vaidha-bhakty uditāni tu yāny angāni ca tany atra atra vijñeyāni manīṣibhiḥ

Hearing and chanting (kirtan) I mentioned while discussing vaidhi-bhakti Those practices must be applied here too in a realized way, as understood by the wise

With this final verse on the subject, Sri Rupa explicitly states that the 64 limbs of vaidhi-sadhana, of which hearing and chanting (kirtana) are the most important, are the vehicle through which the raganuga sadhaka cultivates constant remembrance of Krishna and his beloved, and through which the practitioner develops his or her own longing for and concept of participation in the loving relationship of Krishna and that beloved.

Radha-and-Krishna-hand-drawing (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Divine Seasons and Months

The twelve months result from the moon having twelve cycles (full to new and back) in a single solar cycle (aka year). The vedic calendar is dual, one is solar and one is lunar. The lunar calendar is for rituals and religion – so it is much more familiar to us who are mainly connected to India via our religion.

The solar months are named after the weather characteristic of them. The lunar months are named (loosely) after the star in whose vicinity the Moon becomes full during that month. One of the 27 stars is named Krittika – and the month Kartika is the month named for the full moon being near that star.

Vaishnavas have a second set of names for the lunar months – each named after a different aspect of Krishna. Vaishnavas therefore also refer to the kartikka month as “Damodara month.”

Two stars after Krittika in the heavens is the star named Mrigashirsha. The month in which the Moon comes full near Mrigashirsha is called Margashirsha. This month is famous because Krishna identifies it as representing him (see Gita, chapter 10). The reason is that the harvest occurs at this time. Just as everything comes from God, so we get everything from Margashirsha masa – we harvest.

Seasons are more connected to the solar calendar – though Vedic scriptures also identify theoretical seasons for the lunar calendar – mostly as a theoretical construct. In any case, the practical seasons are connected to the weather, and thus the solar calendar. Weather is specific to locale, so not every place will have identical seasons. But in India, especially thousands of years ago, there were six clear-cut seasons. Each one was exactly two months long. The vernal equinox anchored the MIDPOINT of spring, the autumnal equinox anchored the MIDPOINT of autumn, and the cold and hot seasons were split into two distinct halves by the winter and summer solstices. The distinction between the hot seasons is that the first was really hot, and the second was stormy and rainy. The distinction between the cold seasons is that the first was chilly, and the second became bitter cold.

Krishna says (again in Gita, chapter 10) that the spring best represents him among the seasons. It is called the “season of flowers.” There are a few reasons I can think of. 1) Krishna is so attractive, like flowers. 2) Krishna is the independent source of everything, producing without need for an ontological partner – so is a flower. 3) Spring is just such a relief

Jai Radhe Shyama

- Vic DiCara

www.vicdicara.com

Aindra Had Bogus Bhava???

The internet might not afford an appropriate venue for discussing  such very important and heartfelt topics. Nonetheless I cannot restrain myself. I have seen too much doubt in the eyes of those who admire and gain great inspiration from Aindra Prabhu; and too much frustration in the hearts of even his dedicated and intimate friends and followers, at the challenge of addressing the topic. So please excuse my inability to refrain from posting this broadly. I do meekly beg that you  step out of internet-mentality, and adopt your deeper calm, peaceful, devotional mood while reading and contemplating this post.

Unfortunately, some people have come under the sway of an impression that Aindra Prabhu’s spiritual aspirations are not exactly harmonious with what is known as the mañjarī bhāva of the rūpānugā sampradāya. It seems to me that this confusion initially arose as a sad consequence of a few vociferous people hastily skimming Aindra’s deep words, without the patience born of deep lobha and mature ruci, and still somewhat influenced by the habit of wanting to seem knowledgeable and authoritative whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Their specific misconception is that Aindra’s preference was for the service of Krishna rather than Rādhārāṇī. Although the language in Aindra’s book is certainly oblique, I must still say that only people who are too timid or uninterested could remain impressed with such a misconception after reading his own words on the subject:

Dear most merciful Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī! I will ever attach the desires of my heart, the activities of my perfect spiritual body, my eternal life, the transcendentally situated soul of my very being, my everything and my all-and-all to the shoreless nectar-ocean of the pastimes of Your tender lotus feet. By the unfailing influence of Your special causeless mercy upon me, my heart will be ever-increasingly overwhelmed with undeniable, transcendentally passionate loving attraction to the Lord of Your life. Still, I will never, abandoning the consideration of Your ultimate satisfaction, independently endeavor to please Your beloved Śyāma, even if He, in a secluded grove, unceremoniously tries to force Himself upon my frail existence. Śyāma belongs to You, and You, by Your boundless benignity, belong to me.[1]

This sounds clear, but many readers again become confused when Aindra writes more specifically of his aspirations, for example his ardent hope to dance with Krishna during rāsa-līlā. Afraid or unable to probe deeply into such subjects, the masses of onlookers seem to superficially believe that love for Śrī Rādhā is separable, distinct, and different from love for Śrī Krishna. A kind person should warn them patiently that such an attitude is not only shallow; it is objectionable, being a mere hair’s breadth away from the kartābhajā apasiddhānta which loves and worships the devotee separately from Krishna.

We cannot deeply love any person without also loving the people and things that person deeply loves. I love my daughter very much. How much could you really love me if you remain insensitive and oblivious to my daughter? No one could possibly love anyone else more deeply and absolutely than Śrī Rādhā loves Śrī Krishna. Therefore it expresses an embarrassing lack of common sense to say that one can love and serve Śrī Rādhā without loving and serving Śrī Krishna, or that loving and serving Śrī Krishna is an indication of a lack of loving service to Śrī Rādhā.

Aindra expresses this here:

You will always be my supreme svāminī. My enthusiastic singing of His Holy Names; my earnest glorification and recollection of His form, qualities, and pastimes; my sincere friendships with His devotees; my ardent longing for His occasional encounter; my acceptance of His mercy upon Your ever-loyal, incorruptible, unalloyed maidservant – all will be done exclusively with the aim of satisfying You… to relieve the para-duḥkha-duḥkhī heartfelt anguish You feel when apprehending the disconsolate condition of His ever-insatiable transcendentally impassioned heart. He Svāminī Rādhe! I will thus have no separate interest apart from Your own.[2]

There is another doubt. In Bhakti-Rasāmṛta-Sindhu 1.2.298-299, Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī differentiates between those who aspire for direct union with Krishna (“sambhoga-iccha”) and those who desire to appreciate such things in a more subtle, sophisticated manner – through the persons who are expert in such things (“tad-bhāva-iccha”). Śrī Rūpa Goswāmī does not state it, but it seems to be the common understanding that the former is an aspiration for sakhī-bhava and only the latter is an aspiration for mañjarī-bhava. Even very learned and mature persons sometimes wonder which category Aindra falls into.

A patient reading of Aindra’s words, however, make it doubtless that he desires to approach a romantic relationship with Śrī Krishna only in the context of his relationship with Śrī Rādhā (Thus his aspiration is in the category of tad-bhāva-iccha / mañjarī-bhava). Here he states it directly, with explicit reference to the terminology of Bhakti-Rasāmṛta-Sindhu:

My dearmost beloved Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī! You undoubtedly relish ten million times the happiness of Your own intimate meetings with Śyāma by sharing Him with Your confidential companions! […and Śyāma also very highly desires the company of those who are exclusively devoted to you…] Therefore, from time to time You are thrilled to facilitate such a variety of happiness in Him… Thus, some of Your sakhī-snehādhika kinkarīs [mañjarīs, who are primarily concerned with serving Śrī Rādhā] will certainly, under special conditions prearranged by You, sometimes agree to meet with Your beloved when wholly convinced of Your absolute delight… The amplified ānanda within your heart spontaneously inundates their intensely absorbed tad-bhāvecchātmikā consciousness. This makes it possible for them, in all circumstances, to relish a pleasure ten million times that which they could ever access by direct sambhogecchāmayī association with the Lord.[3]

I hope it is now clear that the aspirations expressed and illustrated in Aindra’s book are beautifully harmonious with the most cherished objectives of the followers of Śrī Rūpa Goswāmī. In so clarifying, perhaps the objectives themselves have somehow also come into clearer focus.

Reading through the third division of his book with this more clearly understood, one will find delightful reinforcement after delightful reinforcement of the conclusion we have arrived at here.

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[1] Pg. 174

[2] Pgs. 174-175

[3] Pgs. 175-176

A Captivating New Presentation of Bhagavatam