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Mādhurya Upāsanā: Dāsya Prema Part 1

  [Baba is describing the meeting of Rāya Rāmānanda and Sri Chaitanya Māhāprabhu and the discussion about “Sadhya-Sadhana tatva” (what is the highest form of Bhakti attainable by a sadhak and how can it be attained) that follows. While Sri Chaitanya Māhāprabhu asks him to describe the highest goal of spiritual practice, Rāya Rāmānanda answers in a step-by-step manner and the discussion proceeds towards the highest form of Prema Bhakti, that is, the Bhāvollāsā Rati (Manjari Bhāva). In this series of satsangas on Mādhurya Upāsanā path, I will translate from where Baba discusses the moods of love in divine Vraja.] Sri Chaitanya Māhāprabhu: Rāya Rāmānanda, tell me, what kind of spiritual practice should a sadhak follow to attain the ultimate goal of Prema Bhakti? Rāya Rāmānanda: To follow Sva-dharma (duty according to one’s Varna and Ashram) is Krishna Bhakti. Māhāprabhu: This is an external (or superficial) aspect of Bhakti. Tell me about deeper spiritual practices. Rāya Rāmāna
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Mādhurya Upāsanā: The Divine Quality of Vraja Dham Part 2

  When Radha and Krishna appear on earth to manifest Their Prakat Lila, the divine Goloka Dham appears along with them. At that time, the divine quality of the Drishyamana Vrindavan (Vraja) is unveiled by Yogamaya. This divine abode of Radha and Krishna, which is the platform on which They manifest Their Lilas or pastimes, is made of the Chinmayi Shakti or Swarupa Shakti (internal potency of Krishna, Yogamaya). From the leaves, flowers, trees, etc to people, houses and the ghats around the lakes, everything is made of Chinmayi Shakti. It is untouched by external Maya and its three modes and imperceptible by material senses. When Radha and Krishna disappear from the earth, the divine quality of earthly Vraja Dham gets veiled gradually. The Vraja Dham is the same as that at the time of Krishna’s appearance, but due to the influence of Kaliyuga, Yogamaya veils its divine quality. With the material eyes, people see that this Vraja Dham looks no different from any other place. The peop

Mādhurya Upāsanā: The Divine Quality of Vraja Dham Part 1

  “V ṛ i ndāvana ṁ parityajya sa kvacin naiva gacchati. ” (Laghu Bhagavatamritam 1.5.461) Meaning: Krishna,   the son of  Nanda   Mahārāja , never at any time leaves  V ṛ i ndāvana .   Krishna never goes even a footstep outside of Vraja Dham. Even today He resides in Vrindavan. The Mādhuryamaya form of Krishna who is the centre of our Mādhurya Upāsanā path, the personification of Sat, Chit and Ananda, and the “Tribhanga Murari” (an elegant posture of Krishna where He is bent at three places: neck, torso and knee) of Vrindavan has never left Vrindavan by even a footstep and still resides in this earthly (Drishyamāna) Vraja Dham. “ Chintāma ṇ i-bhūmi, kalpa-v ṛ k ṣ a-maya vana, carma-cak ṣ e dekhe tāre prapañcera sama. Prema-netre dekhe tāra svarūpa-prakāśa, gopa-gopī-sa ṅ ge yā ṅ hā Krish ṇ era vilāsa.” (Chaitanya Charitamrita Adi 5.20-21) Meaning: The land there is like a touchstone [cintāma ṇ i] that fulfils one’s desires, and the forests abound with desire tree

Mādhurya Upāsanā: Occasional Omniscience in Vraja Pastimes

  “Ananta-koti-vishnu-loka-namra-padmajārchite, Himādrijā-Pulomajā-Virinchijā-vara-prade.” (Radha Kripa Kataksha Stotra, verse 11) Meaning: You who is humbly bowed to by all the Lord Brahmas of countless millions of universes created by Lord Vishnu! Oh, you who is the bestower of boons to the daughter of the Himalayas (Parvati), to the daughter of Puloma (Indra’s wife Saci), and to Brahma’s daughter (Sarasvati)! Radharani is non-different from Krishna. The above-mentioned verse signifies the Aishwarya Prakash of Radharani. Gyānamaya Prakash, Aishwaryamaya Prakash and Mādhuryamaya Prakash together make up the complete Lordship of God. In Mādhuryamaya Prakash of God, God forgets His identity as God. He becomes so absorbed in the divine and intimate love of His devotees that He becomes Mugdha and receives immense pleasure from His interactions with His devotees. His pastimes with His devotees are amazing and full of divine Bhāva (mood of love for Radha Krishna) and Ānanda (divine

Mādhurya Upāsanā: Where Krishna is not Omniscient

  [Words used in this article: Prakat Lila = earthly pastimes of God when He descends to the material world (Prakat means manifest) Aprakat Lila = pastimes of eternal Goloka Dham which is unseen by worldly people (Aprakat means unmanifest) Mugdha = A state in which Krishna and Radha are ignorant of Their omniscience Sarvagya = omniscient] God’s pastimes are eternal, transcendental, ever-blissful, and untouched by Maya and its Gunas (modes of material nature). There is no pleasurable treasure in this material world that can compare to anything belonging to the transcendental abode of God. But for the sake of understanding, various pure devotees have explained the pastimes of God with examples from the material world. God is said to engage in pastimes with His pure devotees like an ordinary man. In the eternal pastimes of Goloka Dham, He is eternally Mugdha. He is not Sarvagya (omniscient). In abodes like Vaikuntha, Sada Shiva Loka, etc, God is Sarvagya. There are infinite