She speaks out because she alone must be his. 33. The Chaitanya Upanishad was first discovered in 1887 by Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, who wrote a commentary on it (http://www.salagram.net/caitanyaupanisad.html). Year 2017, One of the first woman authors, Julian of Norwich produced in Revelations of Divine Love a remarkable work of revelatory, “One of the signs of a great society is the diligence with which it passes culture from one generation to the next. 45. Only after introducing the chanting session with a song about Mahāprabhu would the singer allow it to morph into Rādhā-Krishna kīrtana, using lyrics that show parallels between the golden Lord and the blackish one. 24. 214 Bibliography Dasa, Gopīparāṇadhana, trans., Śrī Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta of Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī, 3 vols. Chapter 9 Rāmānanda Rāya The Viceroy of Devotion The Sanskrit tradition of the Vedas often uses conversational format (samvāda) to convey spiritual truth. Though he loved them deeply, his mind and heart were focused elsewhere, searching for Krishna, his beloved, always anticipating a vision of his dark-eyed Lord. Steven J. Rosen (New York: Folk Books, 1992), 127–140. He does so, ultimately, to set them right and to deepen their love. . © 2023 By Emilia Kent. . With remarkable economy, in language perfectly evincing the highest standards of aesthetic Vedānta, it bestows four key teachings indispensable for achieving perfection on the path of bhakti: (1) It presents a virtual compendium of instructions for progress in devotion; (2) It delineates seven distinct effects of chanting, merely in its first verse; (3) It portrays the devotional mood spontaneously achieved by an ardent chanter; and (4) finally, it unveils the highest spiritual realm, the region to which chanting transports its resolute practitioners, the domain of pure, unequalled love of God. Through Rāmānanda Rāya we learn of the intimate and esoteric relationships—five in number, either as a passive worshipper, a servant, a friend, a parent, or a lover—all living souls have with God in his eternal kingdom and the pinnacle of that loving exchange as exemplified by Śrīmatī Rādhikā, which the tradition views as A Love Supreme. Shukdeb Bhowmick, The Theory of Acintya-bhedābheda (Kolkata: Sanskrit Pustak Bhander, 2004), 14–15. 2, issue 1 (2008), 45–63. In his commentary on his own Bṛhadbhāgavatāmṛta, Sanātana Goswāmī writes, ‘Śrīmatī Rādhikā was the worshipable goddess [işţadevatā] of Śukadeva Goswāmī, so whenever he uttered Her name, he would become āviṣṭa-citta, internally spiritually excited and externally inert. In the end, the Master communicated the essence of his Vaishnava tradition, drawing on both the Vedic scriptures and the Koran, since the Kazi was a Muslim. Jīva Goswāmī’s Bhagavat-sandarbha, trans., Satyanarayana Dasa (Vrindavan: Jiva Institute of Vaishnava Studies, 2014), Anuccheda 25, 244, alludes to the essence of the acintya/viśeṣa principle, that is, how the Lord and all atomic souls are inconceivably identical to their own respective attributes, but a more complete discussion of this occurs in B. N. K. Sharma, History of the Dvaita School of Vedānta and its Literature (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, reprint, 2000), 588–590. Also see Edward C. Dimock, Jr., and Denise Levertov, In Praise of Krishna: Songs from the Bengali (University of Chicago Press, 1967), xi–xii. It is considered one of the seven sacred cities of Hinduism. Joseph T. O’Connell, an expert on Bengali religion and culture, wrote of the traditional Gauḍīya Vaishnava perspective: “During Chaitanya’s own lifetime it became axiomatic among his closer devotees that he was in some fashion Hari/Krishna (even Krishna with the feelings and complexion of Rādhā) descended in human form.”1 Gauḍīya Vaishnavism explains that there are various levels in understanding Śrī Chaitanya.2 For instance, in the Introduction to Edward C. Dimock Jr.’s massive edition of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Tony K. Stewart points out that there are several possible views of Chaitanya’s divinity, which seem to evolve from the earliest biographies to the later ones.3 There are seven major hagiographical texts to which Stewart refers, most of which were written slightly after Mahāprabhu walked the earth and, for the final biography, almost a century later: (1) Murāri Gupta’s first Sanskrit biography of Chaitanya; (2) Kavi Karṇapūra’s initial work, Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta Mahākāvya and his (3) ten-act play, Śrī Caitanyacandrodāya-nāṭakam; (4) Vrindāvandāsa Ṭhākura’s Caitanya-bhāgavata, the earliest Bengali biography of Śrī Chaitanya; (5) Locana Dāsa’s Śrī 39 40 Chapter 3 Caitanya-maṅgala; (6) Jayānanda’s Caitanya-maṅgala; and the cap on the tradition, (7) Krishnadāsa Kavirāja Goswāmī’s Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. For more on the correlation between the eight verses and the mahā-mantra, see “Confidential Secrets of Bhajana: An Overview of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s Bhajana-Rahasya” (Lectures given during Kartika in Vrindavan; October–November, 1996, by Tridandi Svami Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja), 12–15. Merely approaching the outskirts of Vrindāvan proper, he shivered and the hairs of his body stood on end; he experienced all the various symptoms of devotional ecstasy. 56 (Cambridge, MA: The Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies, Harvard University, 1999). ———, Gīta Govinda: Love Songs of Rādhā and Krishna (New York University Press, Clay Sanskrit Library, 2009). For Prabhupāda, bhakti was not a “lip service” kind of love. However, its specific scientific name is Nymphaea lotus, a nomenclature that probably both reflects confusion and adds to it as well. We need to show, in short, that the perspectives of the practitioners of traditions are not merely confessional—not resulting merely in statements of belief—but are capable of producing substantive knowledge that contributes not only to a particular tradition, but to the wider academic discourse as well. Most Upanishads, in fact, center on the edifying exchanges that occur between spiritual teachers and their students. The sages of the tradition relate that experiencing Krishna is comparable to tasting honey. The skepticism with which both scholars and devotees, in general, view Jayānanda’s biography is summarized in the words of Walther Eidlitz: “This work, provided it is not a downright forgery, was unknown until the mid-18th century and it Śrī Gaura Tattva 69 is neither read nor recited by the followers of Caitanya . The Hare Krishna Movement: Forty Years of Chant and Change (New York: I. The meeting at Kheturi, in the Rajshahi district of East Bengal, was more than the poignant birthday celebration it facilitated (in honor of Śrī Chaitanya). 25. Thus, if one is going to research a tradition in a scholarly way, one must be somewhat removed. All would have been well and good except for the following. Hare! See Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.2.39–40. The sixth to the eighth ślokas, and especially the seventh to the eighth, deal with prema-bhakti [fully developed love of Godhead].30 Gauḍīya Vaishnavas continue commenting on the Śikṣāṣṭakam even today, utilizing all of the insights and terminology of the tradition and that of modernity as well. . Here, what is necessary actually is. In the entry, “Krishna Chaitanya” (Volume 2, 1,183), the author notes that, “The commentator Viṭṭhaleśvara considers ‘Śrī Krishna-premāmṛtastotra’ as having manifested from the moonlike mouth of Śrī Krishna Chaitanya. The metaphor originates in Locana Dāsa Ṭhākura’s Caitanya-maṅgala, one of the standard biographies of Śrī Chaitanya from the 16th century. By March 1510, Mahāprabhu arrived in Purī, Odisha, not only to fulfill his mother’s desire but to see the deity of Lord Jagannāth, who is Krishna himself in a distinct, uncommon, and very particular form.53 Approaching the temple in a state of ecstasy, he indeed saw Jagannāth and immediately fainted as a result of ecstatic love. For more on ahaṅgrahopāsana, see Śrīla Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja, “The Five Principles of Rāgānuga-Bhakti” (http:// www.purebhakti.com/teachers/bhakti-discourses-mainmenu-61/57-discourses2010/1150-the-five-principles-of-raganuga-bhakti.html). Copyright © 2020 DOKUMEN.PUB. 20 (2009), 38. See also S. R. Rao, Lost City of Dvārakā (New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan, 1999). This is likely the origin of Haridāsa’s identity as the Nāmācārya. ———, “The Devotee and the Deity: Living a Personalistic Theology.” in Gods of Flesh Gods of Stone: The Embodiment of Divinity in India, ed. See also “Bābā Premānanda Bhāratī’s ‘Privileged View’ of Christianity,” in Journal of Vaishnava Studies, Volume 13, No. 1998–2005). Anartha-nivṛtti. 33. Dāsa, Locana, Chaitanya-maṅgala, ed. Why would Śukadeva Goswāmī go into an ecstatic trance at the mere mention of the name of Śrīmatī Rādhikā? He does not want to be transferred even to the highest planet, Goloka Vṛndāvana. But of all such verbal interchange, the 17th-century Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 8) gives us what is arguably the most profound. See David Norcliffe, Islam: Faith and Practice (Portland, Oregon: Sussex Academic Press, 1999), 56–60. 47. Jīva Gosvāmin’s Answer.” in International Journal of Hindu Studies, vol. See Hansadutta Dasa, “Why Chant Hare Krishna?” (https://theharekrishnamovement.org/2011/04/). The main point is that one who has bhakti naturally wants to give it to others. Other online information (http://www.smithsonianmag. . This is stated in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (1.3.24), in the Gīta-govinda’s daśāvatāra-stotram, and elsewhere. As stated in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Ādi 4.56): rādhā-kṛṣṇa eka ātmā, dui deha dhari’, anyonye vilase rasa āsvādana kari’. A few prominent examples: The Gauḍīya Tradition 13 (a) puṇya-kṣetre navadvīpe bhaviṣyāmi śacī-sutaḥ: “I shall appear in the holy land of Navadvīpa as the son of Śacīdevī.” (Krishna-yāmala-tantra) (b) kalau saṅkīrtanārambhe bhaviṣyāmi śacī-sutaḥ: “In the Age of Kali when the saṅkīrtana movement is inaugurated, I shall descend as the son of Śacīdevī.” (Vāyu Purāṇa) (c) atha vāhaṁ dharādhāme/ bhūtvā mad-bhakta-rūpa-dhṛk// māyāyāṁ ca bhaviṣyāmi/ kalau saṅkīrtanāgame//: “Sometimes I personally appear on the surface of the world in the garb of a devotee. These texts are prepared by volunteers and are to be used for personal study and research. But “inhabitants of Vraja” would also include the great souls who reside on the earthly plane, in terrestrial Vraja, that is, Śrī Rūpa Goswāmī, Sanātana Goswāmī, and others. The movement was now in fact a movement. But in terms of transcendental relationship (rasa), which is higher, they are simple village girls, and this is how their exchange with Krishna manifests and produces consummate pleasure.