The Vaishnava Blog

                             भक्त भक्ति भगवन्त गुरू चतुर नाम  वपु एक  (भक्तमाल) शुद्ध भक्त से ही भक्ति की प्राप्ति  होती   हैं  ;भगवद -कृपा से ही साधु संग मिलता हैं ।महा पातकी भी साधु कृपा से परम वैष्णव बन सकते हैं , दैत्य पुत्र प्रह्लाद को ऋषिवर नारद से ' स्मरण' भक्ति प्राप्त हुआ था ।जीवन मुक़्त महात्माओ में भी भगवद भक्ति में लीन रहने वाला भगत दुर्लभ हैं ।अभी , वैसे ही एक वैष्णव आख्यान को अति साधारण शब्दो में लिखने की प्रयास  करूंगा । यह बात हैं पन्ध्रवी शताब्दी की, जब भक्ति संतो ने हरिनाम प्रचार से मानव कल्याण का अनोखी पदखेस्प ग्रहण किया था ; उस काल में उत्तर-पूर्वी भारत में तंत्र शास्त्र का ग्लानि हुआ करता था ;पशुवलि के साथ साथ ही नरवलि तक धर्म का ब्याभिचार हुआ करता था।  उसी शतक के  अंतिम भाग और सोलहबी शतक  में कामरुप ओर आसाम राज्य (तत्कालीन अहोम)मैं  महापुरुष श्रीमंत शंकरदेव ,माधवदेव और दामोदरदेव ने भागवत धर्म का प्रतिष्ठा कर भक्ति से जनकल्याण प्रारम्...

    Bhakti-Ratnakar is a Guhartha Granth (Extensive devotional book),probably the only Sanskrit book of Srimanta Sankardeva ; Sankardeva summarized more than thirty two Vedic scriptures to preach the Eka-Sarana Bhakti or the Single-minded devotion to Sri Krishna .Among those texts ,some important texts are : Srimad Bhagavata,Bhagavat Gita,Pandavi Gita,Padma Puran,Naradiya Puran,Matsya puran,Vishnu Puran,Skandh Puran,Suta Samhita,Bhavartha Deepika,Santi Satak,Bhujanga prayat ,Nirsimha puran,Vishnu-dharamotara ,Yoga-sara,Vaishnavanada,Prabodh Chandrodaya. Here I'm presenting the traditional Assamese poetry trans-creation of  the same book in transliteration. Sri Ramacharan Thakur ,Third in the Disciplic succession from Sankardeva translated the book into Assamese in the late 16th century .This Particular Chapter has the glorification of Bhakatas or the pure devotees of Krsna . I'm trying to render the verses in a simple meaning.           ...

 In the Srimad Bhagavata,the great devotee Udhhava prayed ,' Vande Nanada vrja strina padrenuvrikshasha ',i offer my obeisance to the dust of Gopi's feet .According to Sri Sanatana Gosai (Vaishnava Toshini),Uddhava offered this type of prayers only to the Gopis ,not even to Rukmini and other wives of  Sri Krsna.This implies the greatness of devotees even above the potency of the Lord.In the book of Bhakti-Ratnavali,Vishnupuri Sannyashi too quoted the Bhagavata to glorify the sacred dust of Vraja.      Surdas,the Bhakti poet wrote - Hum Na vai ye Vrindavan Renu , Alas! I have not become the dust of Vrindavan .            Following the Srimad Bhagavata, Srimanta Sankardeva too composed,       Nadaer Braje jata Gopi jak       sada bandu tar pada dhulak   Let me offer my respects to the dust of Gopi's lotus feet constantly . As per Madhavdeva's poetry -  Tasambar pada renu jitu trina vane p...

 Just as the divine position of the Ganges among all rivers,as that of Lord Shiva among all the Vaishnavas and as the supreme divine position of Lord Vishnu among all the divine beings ,likewise ,the Srimad Bhagavata is the greatest treasure in the Puranic Literature .(Ref: 12th canto ,13th chapter). The Bhagavata is also the essence of Vedantic conclusion. The other Purans such as Matsya Puran,Padma puran etc too support the greatness of the Bhagavatam.     Sridhara Swami, the foremost commentator on the Bhagavat Purana ,wrote in his commentary-                 Srimatyam Kathayam Srvanakirtanayuktaya Chintaya Sambardhitaya anuvritya tatha tan-nisthena tasya dhama lokameti . Hence,we can directly conclude that, Srvana  and Kirtana of the Bhagavatam is the greatest spiritual way !As in the same chapter,Sridhara said - Anuvrite falmaha--martam iti .   As per Mahapurush Srimanta Sankardeva's Kirtan Ghosha -   ...

  nanu svārtha-vimūḍhānāṁ pramattānāṁ gṛhehayā aho naḥ smārayām āsa gopa-vākyaiḥ satāṁ gatiḥ (Srimad Bhagavata 10.23.45) There are different types of spiritual seekers (or Dharmic) - the Karmis (dedicated to Action without expecting anything in return ),Jnani (Dedicated to Wisdom),Bhakta(Devotee); There are also,Jnana-mishra Karmis (Both Action & Wisdom like king Janaka of the Ramayana),Bhakti-Mishra Karmis(Like King Bali) and then three of them in together(like Arjuna of the Mahabharata) .But ,there's a another type of people known as Karmajadas ,those are blindly attached to the action with desires;mainly, ceremonial activities with a greed of this life and after life !The probability of their result is 50-50,even after enjoying the result of selfish actions,one has to come down even to the level of animals just because of the inner enemies such as lust,jealousy,anger etc .             The Karmajadas can't tolerate the devotees as the path ...

The enormous narration of devotion in the Srimad Bhagavata is esoteric,not everyone can study or hear the full Bhagavata with its occult meaning due to their preoccupation with  material distress of life.For these materially engaged person,mystic or saints have derived the gem of Bhakti suitable and easily assessable . Some of Such literary treasures are Bhavartha Deepika of Sridhara , Bhakti Ratnavali of Vishnupuri and Bhakti Ratnakar of Sankardev.These books are the cream produced from the milk ocean of Bhagavata.                     Visnupuri's Bhakti Ratnavali is a compendium of verses selected from Srimad Bhagavata portraying the nine limbs of devotion or Nabadha Bhakti. Vishnupuri lived somewhere between mid or late 14th century AD to Mid 15th century AD.Ratnavali literary means the Necklace or gem (of devotion) is available with a commentary called ' Kantimala' by the same author .It is written -       ...

There is no difference between Bhagavan Krishna and His pure self-less devotees, their grace is exactly the same! We can explain this simply by quoting the Gita ‘ Prahladachasmi’, ‘Devarshina-chaNarada’, ‘Pandavana Dhanajayah’.  Further in the Padma Puran,it's written –‘S ant ah Ninda Namna paramah Aparadham vitanute yad khyati yadam kathyam u sahate tadvigarhaum' .As in the Gita,‘ Manusim Tanum Ashritam ’.It’s God’s own potency which converts into Nam,Devotees and Guru .There’s no difference between Hari and Harinama as per the scriptural conclusion .As also in Abrahamic faith,the pure son of God Says ' I & My Father Are One!' 'The Word Was God!'   In the medieval India, the Societal Phenomenons were vicious .Kingdoms were fighting against kingdoms( Including Invaders' attack) ! In the Eastern and North Eastern India, the degraded Buddhism at that time had practically no solution for societal reformation .Mainly in North Eastern India the religion of Ta...

                                                     The Word 'Radh' first appeared in the Vedic literature,but there it referred Lord Indra as Radhaspati that means the Lord of extreme wealth or gift. In the Jataka of Buddhism, Radha was a boddhisattva (reborn as a parrot).So, obviously It's not the Radha of Bhakti-Dharma ! The Mahabharata and Harivamsa are slient on the topic of Radha.                        In the medieval Vaishnavism, there are mainly two representation of Sri Radha -Svakriya and Parakriya . Apart from these two,there's one more sahajiya Bhav that describes her as greater than Krsna .Notably ,sometimes South Indian Pinnai is also identified as proto-Radha. As per the first two verses of Narad Pancharatra,Radhika along with other deities and sages are the worshipers of P...

Meera,an epitome of devotion ,upon hearing whose name every religious Indian find bliss, preached the path of Bhakti though the example of her own life. As in the Gita ,we find 'Yad Yad Acarati Sresthas' whatever deed is performed by a great soul,people follow those footsteps .Specially ,in 16th century ,the medieval society had many predicament components .So, Meera ,a Royal princess upon hearing the pastimes of Sri Krishna developed the mellow of Bhakti, She was married to an another royal family against her will.For Meera,Sri Krishna is her only Husband  ,Jake Seer Mor mukut mero Pati Soi , My husband is he ,who has the peacock feather on his crown .                In her Childhood,once  a saint gave her a deity of Lord Krsna .While her playtime,one-day her mother told her that Krsna is her husband had deeply influenced her. The little Meera then developed her faith by hearing Bhagavata leels from her maternal grandfather .After Her m...

nirapekṣaṁ muniṁ śāntaṁ nirvairaṁ sama-darśanam anuvrajāmy ahaṁ nityaṁ pūyeyety aṅghri-reṇubhiḥ  - Srimad Bhagavata 11.14.16 (Meaning : With the dust of My devotees’ lotus feet I desire to purify the material worlds, which are situated within Me. Thus, I always follow the footsteps of My pure devotees, who are free from all personal desire, rapt in thought of My pastimes, peaceful, without any feelings of enmity, and of equal disposition everywhere.)      Tirth or pilgrimage in Vedic Tradition is the journey to holy places where knowledge, devotion and association of Saints is easily accessible.But unlike normal human beings ,a Sage visits holy places just to purify the material desires of others.Jagnnath Puri is one of the Holiest sites of Vaishnavism.This temple is associated with pastimes of many great personalities.Srimanta Sankardeva Visited Purusttama khestra twice,First somewhere near 1481 AD and later in 1550 AD.Whereas,Dinanath bezbarua wrote that the Mahapu...

Music oft hath such a charm To make bad good, and good provoke to harm. (Measure for Measure, 4.1.14,William Shaspeare )  Soul’s hankering after grail often verbalised through poetry and music ; In the Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna said , ‘ Brihat sama tatha samman (Gita 10.35)’, which means among the hymns of holy Vedas,he is the Brihatsama-gan , that is the Sama Veda’s exquisite melody ! It indicates the place of poetic melody in the affaires of spirituality . The Bhakti movement of India have enriched the subcontinent with a rich treasure of poetry and music .The Alvars,Annamacharya,Meera,Surdas and many other Bhakti saints have expressed their divine estacy through the medium of music . Here I’m going to discuss a brief study of Srimanta Sankardeva (1449-1568) and Sri Haridas Swami (1480-1575).     polymath Sankardeva’s Vaishnava movement somewhere started in the late fifteen century in North Eastern India influencing the kingdoms of Ahom and Kamrup . Based on the...

                                      Archana : One of The Nine-fold Bhagavatic Devotion   Sravana (Hearing),Kirtana(Glorification)and Smaranam(Remembering) are the foundation of Vaishnava Devotion ;after attaining the taste for Lord’s Service,a devotee further continues the Bhakti Yoga with PadaSevanam (serving the Lotus Feet of Sri Hari),Archana (Detailed worship),Vandana (Prayers),Dasya (Servitude) ,Sakhya (Friendly attitude) & Atmanivedanam (Surrender).Archana or worship is one of the scriptural way to increase the Bhava (sentiments) for the Lord. In the Uddhava Gita of Srimad Bhagavata ,Sri Krishna explanied this Archana Vidhi to His devotee Uddhava ; As per krsna’s conclusion ,this archana can be done by observing the Vedic , Tantric or Mixed ways .But, The Vaishnava Archana is also bit different than the other Vedic or other worship methods ; As in the Holy Bhagavata itse...